Over the course of decades in America, the one thing that has brought a divided country together has been the arts.
Eric Schaeffer – File Photo by Todd Franson
The arts are a vessel that brings ideas to life, introducing each of us to different, and sometimes challenging, points of view. They help us begin conversations and understanding about different people, different ideas and different ways of thinking altogether. They provide a safe place where no one is judged while thoughts and ideas are exchanged. Songs can move us, words can change us and music notes can stir our soul.
I hope the next four years we can use art to heal, accept different points of view and grow as a country that continues to be a melting pot of immigrants founded with the principle of free speech.
As President Kennedy said, “I see little of more importance to the future of our country and of civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist. If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.”
The opinions expressed in these letters are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations and this magazine, its staff and contributors.
Hail to the queef, the cunt, and the many other colorful phrases, obscenities, and epithets that get volleyed around the White House in Selina Fillinger's political satire POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.
Politics ain't for babies, especially at the highest level, so blowing off steam by cursing like a sailor just seems to be what gets an overtaxed, under-appreciated staffer through a tough day.
And this day, as it careens ahead into one disaster after another, will be especially tough for staffers, the First Lady, and POTUS himself, who never actually appears onstage. But he gets the whole shitstorm started by referring to his wife as "cunty" -- and not in a good way -- during a meeting with foreign dignitaries.
Gay tech billionaire Peter Thiel, a once-ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump, says he's already experiencing backlash for refusing to donate large sums of money to Trump's 2024 presidential bid.
Thiel, who co-founded online payments company PayPal and data analytics company Palantir, told The Atlantic that he would no longer be financially supporting Trump -- or any other candidate -- in 2024, taking a step back from involvement in the political realm.
A source close to Thiel told Reuters in April that Thiel, a father of two children who is married to businessman Matt Danzeisen, thought Republicans were making a mistake by emphasizing culture-war issues rather than U.S. technical innovation and the need to compete with China.
She's an ageless beauty, glamorous yet humble, and a seasoned stage performer who almost always makes a spectacular entrance. She's not the star of the show, but the vintage Model T Ford driven onto the stage at a pivotal moment of Signature Theatre's well-appointed production of the epic musical Ragtime always wows the audience.
Luckily, the show's director, Matthew Gardiner, also Signature's artistic director since 2021, doesn't have to worry about sudden success going to this performer's head. "It's been in several productions," Gardiner says of the sturdy player, powered by a golf cart engine.
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