The Moscow Diaries: Meyerhold, Stanislavsky and the Death of Theater
During my time in Moscow, I took a class in an apartment where a woman had her eyes gouged out by Stalin’s secret police.
Jeremy Fassler
Writer and journalist in Washington, D.C. Substack: The Big Board. Former: The Capitol Forum, The Daily Banter. Bylines: New York Times, Daily Beast, Vulture, Atlantic. Books: The Deadwood Bible: A Lie Agreed Upon (MZS Press, 2022.)
My Latest Work
Why Republicans Wait Till the Last Minute to Get Pennsylvania
“Pennsylvania is the epicenter of the electoral college,” says Tiffany Carlock, an activist and organizer who has worked in Pennsylvania several times. “You don’t win the election without winning it."
The Olivia Nuzzi Scandal is an Indictment on Journalism
Journalists spent the better part of a decade protecting her, coddling her, encouraging her to write gossip and call it “news,” no matter what her critics said. And now she has become the embodiment of one of the most vile, hackneyed clichés in the book.
A Senate Debate Over Who’s to Blame for Shrinking Competition
A hearing on corporate consolidation led by Senate antitrust subcommittee chair Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Ranking Member Mike Lee (R-UT) turned into a debate over whether government is the solution to the problem—or the cause.
Why Sony’s Bid for Paramount Is a Regulatory Action Movie Waiting to Happen
An article analyzing the antitrust implications of Sony Pictures and Apollo Management's Bid for Paramount Global
Six Flags/Cedar Fair: Elimination of Close Competition in 3 Metropolitan Areas Likely Focus of DOJ Review
Six Flags Entertainment and Cedar Fair’s proposed “merger of equals” would eliminate close competition between the theme park operators in three metropolitan areas—an outcome that’s the likely focus of DOJ’s antitrust review of the $8 billion deal, according to a Capitol Forum analysis.
Learning from Robert Brustein
If every institution is endowed with the broken parts of its creator, whether we want them to be or not, then Brustein’s A.R.T. and Yale Rep embodied both his love of theatre, and the prejudice by which he only allowed a certain kind of art to thrive within those walls.
Amid Exile and Fire, a Revered Russian Theater Director Is Reborn
Dmitry Krymov, one of Russia’s most eminent directors, is among the dozens of artists who have left their homeland since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Can Systems Thinking Solve the Climate Crisis
Clean hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) are two technologies that can potentially move the needle by reducing emissions in so-called hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation, shipping, and road freight. If they’re effectively deployed either separately or together, the technologies could reduce emissions by more than 50 percent by 2070, according to Deloitte,.
Every Oscar Winner for Best Animated Short Film, Ranked
The 90 winners of the Best Animated Short Oscar are a microcosm of the history of world animation. From some ambitious misfires to timeless classics that help define the medium, here is an attempt to rank every cartoon to win.
Mikhail Gorbachev, Theater Lover
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died on Tuesday at the age of 91, presided over period of artistic freedom in the U.S.S.R. that had not been seen since the post-Revolutionary era. Russian culture flourished under his leadership, particularly in the theater, in which he took an active interest. But unlike other Soviet leaders, Gorbachev did not make himself the arbiter of which plays could and could not be performed. He was more fan than censor.
All the World's A Stage: The Theatricality of Deadwood
In Deadwood, David Milch embraced theatricality in a way no other TV show has before or since.
Simon & Schuster will distribute Jan. 6 report with foreword by conspiracy theorist
Simon & Schuster has announced that it will distribute the final report of the congressional committee investigating the insurrection. But this edition of the report will come with a foreword from Darren Beattie—a January 6 conspiracy theorist.
Leftists Use Bad History to Argue Against NATO Intervention
Both Jeremy Scahill and MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan have been criticized by some political scientists and ex-diplomats for downplaying Milosević’s crimes against humanity to frame NATO as little more than a defender of Western imperialism. Not only does this narrative ignore the reasons for NATO’s intervention in the Balkans, but it’s a dishonest way of trying to convince the public that NATO shouldn’t intervene in Ukraine.
"It’s an Artist’s Job to ‘Hold the Mirror Up to the Oppressor"
When Succession won the SAG Award for Best Ensemble last month, Brian Cox used his time onstage to speak about one of the many ripple effects of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, explaining how artists and performers in Russia “are told under pain of high treason that they cannot say a word about Ukraine.” Following his speech, Cox spoke to Vulture and offered some more details about his love of Russia, his disdain for Putin, and supporting artists in times of crisis.
Succession Recaps, a.k.a. the "F*ck Off!" Files
By the end of the first episode, when Logan learns Kendall got Lisa on his side and he says he’s going “full fucking beast,” we know who has the upper hand. And there’s gonna be blood on the floor before this season is done.
A Call to Diversify Those Calling the Cues
“A stage manager is like a conductor,” said Lisa Porter, who over a 25-year career has worked on shows at the Public Theater and the La Jolla Playhouse, among others. “We conduct the tempo and the tone of rehearsals throughout the entire process.
“That’s why,” she added, “I believe fluency around antiracism is so important.”
“That’s why,” she added, “I believe fluency around antiracism is so important.”
The Woman in the Hat – Columbia Libraries Podcasts
In 1970, Bella Abzug took on an incumbent Democratic Congressman––and won. A tough Jewish lawyer raised in the Bronx, Bella would become one of the icons of second-wave feminism, passing laws that changed the lives of men and women. 50 years after she first ran for Congress, Bella has had a resurgence. In the past few years there have been plays, movies, and TV shows about her life. Why does she still spark such fascination today? How did she rise to power so quickly? And why didn’t she stay in power longer? All we’ll say for now is that everyone we interviewed for this podcast couldn’t stop talking as soon as we said the words “Bella Abzug.”
Kobach Teamed Up with Wichita Businessman to Sell COVID-Killing Device. An Investigation Found No Validity to Their Claims.
In early October, Kris Kobach, Kansas’ former Secretary of State, and Daniel Drake, a Wichita-based venture capitalist-turned-CEO, made a sales pitch to Kansas legislators. The duo wheeled in what looked to lawmakers like a “refrigerator” — a shiny metal box Drake called a “revolutionary” device that would “kill COVID” and bring “several hundred jobs back to Wichita.”
The Virus Cost Performers Their Work, Then Their Health Coverage
Ellyn Marie Marsh was getting ready to appear in a new off-Broadway musical last year when the pandemic struck, theaters were shut and her work evaporated.
Those months of lost wages carried another cost that only became clear much later: She did not get enough work to qualify to keep the health insurance she had been getting as a member of Actors’ Equity.
She is far from alone.
Those months of lost wages carried another cost that only became clear much later: She did not get enough work to qualify to keep the health insurance she had been getting as a member of Actors’ Equity.
She is far from alone.
Meet the Mind Behind the All-POC Sketch Show, Who Made the Potato Salad?
The first Saturday of every other month, Xochitl Mayo arrives at the Tank in midtown Manhattan at 8 a.m. with a team of writers who pitch comedy sketches to her. Between 3 and 4, they read sketches. From 4 to 5, they cast actors. From 5 to 9, they rehearse. 9:30 to 10:30 is tech, after which the audience enters the theater. By 11 p.m., Who Made the Potato Salad?, a sketch-comedy show created entirely by people of color, goes live.
“Members Only: Why Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman is a Modern Masterpiece”
Spike Lee's latest fire-and-brimstone sermon, BlacKkKlansman, is a masterpiece.
EXCLUSIVE: Dana Rohrabacher Called the Cops On Woman Who Asked Tough Questions
Rohrabacher, running for his 15th consecutive term in California's 48th district, is one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the 2018 midterms. But if you call his offices in Washington D.C. and Huntington Beach, CA, to register your dissent, you'll be treated very poorly - or worse, reported to the police.
Dianne Feinstein Releases Fusion GPS Transcript
Today, California Senator Dianne Feinstein dropped a bomb on her Republican colleagues by releasing the transcript of the Judiciary Committee's interview with Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson, whose company funded the Steele Dossier.
