When a rare bottle of Scotch whisky sold for US$2.7 million in November 2023, I was stunned, but I wasn’t surprised. The whiskey market has been booming for some time. Bourbon brands…
Tag: Authenticity
Norman Lear’s ’70s TV comedies brought people together to confront issues in a way Gen Z would appreciate
Even Americans who strongly disagree with each other may find common ground when they watch the same TV shows and movies, especially those that make us laugh or cry. Norman Lear, who…
New research identifies why people prefer spontaneity in entertainment
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Audiences love to see athletes and entertainers behaving spontaneously, according to our recent research, because ad-libbed lines, spectacular…
Merriam-Webster’s word of the year – authentic – reflects growing concerns over AI’s ability to deceive and dehumanize
When Merriam-Webster announced that its word of the year for 2023 was “authentic,” it did so with over a month to go in the calendar year. Even then, the dictionary publisher was…
What is vernacular art? A visual artist explains
Vernacular art is a genre of visual art made by artists who are usually self-taught. They tend to work outside of art academies and commercial galleries, which have traditionally been the purview…
Why Elon Musk is obsessed with casting X as the most ‘authentic’ social media platform
With X, formerly known as Twitter, hitting the one-year anniversary of Elon Musk’s US$44 billion takeover of the social media platform, it can feel disorienting to try to make sense of all…