Kevin Ng
@kevinng.bsky.social
I write about science, music, and culture.
Pinned
Is Beatrice Venezi’s Appointment Really Based on Merit?
Everywhere you look, politics are seeping into opera. In New York, Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb, accompanied onstage by Democratic senator Chuck Schumer, gave a rousing opening-night ...
van-magazine.com
On Giorgia Meloni’s favourite conductor, for @vanmagazin.bsky.social
van-magazine.com/mag/beatrice...
van-magazine.com/mag/beatrice...
Reposted by Kevin Ng
Breaking News: Tatsuya Nakadai, the Japanese film star known for “Ran” and other classic movies, has died at 92.
Tatsuya Nakadai, Japanese Star Known for ‘Ran’ and Other Classics, Dies at 92
He was a fixture of postwar Japanese cinema and starred in films by Akira Kurosawa and other directors of that era.
nyti.ms
November 11, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Breaking News: Tatsuya Nakadai, the Japanese film star known for “Ran” and other classic movies, has died at 92.
Reposted by Kevin Ng
For years, advertising has been how Stereogum made money to pay its writers. While we made progress moving away from that model, Google AI search has decimated the business almost overnight. Today we relaunch with a greater focus on subscription. We’d love your support: stereogum.com/2478838/ster...
November 10, 2025 at 11:40 PM
For years, advertising has been how Stereogum made money to pay its writers. While we made progress moving away from that model, Google AI search has decimated the business almost overnight. Today we relaunch with a greater focus on subscription. We’d love your support: stereogum.com/2478838/ster...
Reposted by Kevin Ng
Literal shot: Questionable methodological chaser:
November 10, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Literal shot: Questionable methodological chaser:
Reposted by Kevin Ng
Canada lost its #measles elimination status today.
Here's something @jwnickerson.bsky.social and I wrote a while back in @theconversation.com for @msf.ca:
"Measles is a humanitarian issue, and its unwelcome reappearance in Canada is a reminder of its importance"
theconversation.com/measles-is-a...
Here's something @jwnickerson.bsky.social and I wrote a while back in @theconversation.com for @msf.ca:
"Measles is a humanitarian issue, and its unwelcome reappearance in Canada is a reminder of its importance"
theconversation.com/measles-is-a...
Measles is a humanitarian issue, and its unwelcome reappearance in Canada is a reminder of its importance
Any upsurge in measles is of real concern, but in settings aggravated by poor living conditions and malnutrition, it can be disastrous. It can affect adults, but young children are at particular risk.
theconversation.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Canada lost its #measles elimination status today.
Here's something @jwnickerson.bsky.social and I wrote a while back in @theconversation.com for @msf.ca:
"Measles is a humanitarian issue, and its unwelcome reappearance in Canada is a reminder of its importance"
theconversation.com/measles-is-a...
Here's something @jwnickerson.bsky.social and I wrote a while back in @theconversation.com for @msf.ca:
"Measles is a humanitarian issue, and its unwelcome reappearance in Canada is a reminder of its importance"
theconversation.com/measles-is-a...
Reposted by Kevin Ng
Making my way through this extraordinary interview between @garthgreenwell.bsky.social and Brandon Taylor while I should be working, and this paragraph, about all the things that cut people off from each other, absolutely hit me in the face.
November 10, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Making my way through this extraordinary interview between @garthgreenwell.bsky.social and Brandon Taylor while I should be working, and this paragraph, about all the things that cut people off from each other, absolutely hit me in the face.
Reposted by Kevin Ng
"Budget's $2.7B cut to foreign aid leaves international development in limbo, say NGOs" #Budget2025 #Canada www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
Budget's $2.7B cut to foreign aid leaves international development in limbo, say NGOs | CBC News
Canada is being accused of retreating from its role as an international development leader after the Liberal government’s budget announced it will cut $2.7 billion in foreign aid over the next four ye...
www.cbc.ca
November 10, 2025 at 4:17 PM
"Budget's $2.7B cut to foreign aid leaves international development in limbo, say NGOs" #Budget2025 #Canada www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
Reposted by Kevin Ng
Did you know that in Canada, if a budget doesn’t pass the government doesn’t shut down?
Federal workers aren’t furloughed.
Funding for social services doesn’t dry up.
Failure to pass a budget triggers an election.
It puts the politicians jobs on the line.
They get the budget passed.
Federal workers aren’t furloughed.
Funding for social services doesn’t dry up.
Failure to pass a budget triggers an election.
It puts the politicians jobs on the line.
They get the budget passed.
November 9, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Did you know that in Canada, if a budget doesn’t pass the government doesn’t shut down?
Federal workers aren’t furloughed.
Funding for social services doesn’t dry up.
Failure to pass a budget triggers an election.
It puts the politicians jobs on the line.
They get the budget passed.
Federal workers aren’t furloughed.
Funding for social services doesn’t dry up.
Failure to pass a budget triggers an election.
It puts the politicians jobs on the line.
They get the budget passed.
Reposted by Kevin Ng
Interesting that NY gov Kathy Hochul felt compelled to put out a statement against Dems' deal to end the shutdown
November 10, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Interesting that NY gov Kathy Hochul felt compelled to put out a statement against Dems' deal to end the shutdown
Reposted by Kevin Ng
“The problem is that when it is installed in a health sector that prizes efficiency, surveillance and profit extraction, AI becomes not a tool for care and community but simply another instrument for commodifying human life.”
What we lose when we surrender care to algorithms | Eric Reinhart
A dangerous faith in AI is sweeping American healthcare – with consequences for the basis of society itself
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:09 PM
“The problem is that when it is installed in a health sector that prizes efficiency, surveillance and profit extraction, AI becomes not a tool for care and community but simply another instrument for commodifying human life.”
It’s been a busy writing week! In case you missed it:
On Rosalía’s new album, and why the classical-pop divide matters less than we might think
On Rosalía’s new album, and why the classical-pop divide matters less than we might think
Rosalía and the classical avant-garde — Kevin Ng
Is it pop? Is it classical? Does it matter?
www.kevinwng.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:55 PM
It’s been a busy writing week! In case you missed it:
On Rosalía’s new album, and why the classical-pop divide matters less than we might think
On Rosalía’s new album, and why the classical-pop divide matters less than we might think
Reposted by Kevin Ng
Update on the Guardian article about Washington National Opera, featuring some shocking quotes from Francesca Zambello: as heard on NPR, the Kennedy Center has responded to the article to say that the idea that WNO is considering leaving the KC is false www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Washington National Opera may move out of Kennedy Center due to Trump ‘takeover’
Ticket sales at about 40% unsold compared with before president made himself chair of US performing arts center
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Update on the Guardian article about Washington National Opera, featuring some shocking quotes from Francesca Zambello: as heard on NPR, the Kennedy Center has responded to the article to say that the idea that WNO is considering leaving the KC is false www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Kevin Ng
Excellent interview by @kevinng.bsky.social with soprano Nadine Sierra on bel canto, new roles... and the Met Sonnambula that very nearly didn’t happen: bachtrack.com/interview-na...
November 9, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Excellent interview by @kevinng.bsky.social with soprano Nadine Sierra on bel canto, new roles... and the Met Sonnambula that very nearly didn’t happen: bachtrack.com/interview-na...
Reposted by Kevin Ng
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
Reposted by Kevin Ng
Reposted by Kevin Ng
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Reposted by Kevin Ng
Recent celebratory concerts dedicated to the two composers Arvo Pärt and Terry Riley have been sites “not of reverence but of restless rediscovery,” Alex Ross writes. “Both retain the power to make the familiar strange.” https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/8foDqy
At Ninety, Arvo Pärt and Terry Riley Still Sound Vital
Both composers remain intriguing outliers, notable for the stubbornness with which they have held to their youthful convictions.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 8, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Recent celebratory concerts dedicated to the two composers Arvo Pärt and Terry Riley have been sites “not of reverence but of restless rediscovery,” Alex Ross writes. “Both retain the power to make the familiar strange.” https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/8foDqy
I have unfortunately discovered the Zohran sign generator
November 8, 2025 at 11:24 PM
I have unfortunately discovered the Zohran sign generator
Reposted by Kevin Ng
I regret to inform you that The Menace just discovered the Mamdani sign generator
November 8, 2025 at 11:10 PM
I regret to inform you that The Menace just discovered the Mamdani sign generator
Reposted by Kevin Ng
«My inspirations are people like Mirella Freni or Mariella Devia, who sang the same roles over and over again throughout their career and kept the longevity of their voice.»
You cannot be wrong with those role models !
By @kevinng.bsky.social
bachtrack.com/interview-na...
You cannot be wrong with those role models !
By @kevinng.bsky.social
bachtrack.com/interview-na...
bachtrack.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:37 PM
«My inspirations are people like Mirella Freni or Mariella Devia, who sang the same roles over and over again throughout their career and kept the longevity of their voice.»
You cannot be wrong with those role models !
By @kevinng.bsky.social
bachtrack.com/interview-na...
You cannot be wrong with those role models !
By @kevinng.bsky.social
bachtrack.com/interview-na...
Reposted by Kevin Ng
Interview: “We need to listen to our inner voice, not just the voice that wants to stroke our ego.”
Beyond the fever dream: soprano Nadine Sierra reclaims her narrative
✍️ @kevinng.bsky.social
bachtrack.com/interview-na...
Beyond the fever dream: soprano Nadine Sierra reclaims her narrative
✍️ @kevinng.bsky.social
bachtrack.com/interview-na...
November 8, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Interview: “We need to listen to our inner voice, not just the voice that wants to stroke our ego.”
Beyond the fever dream: soprano Nadine Sierra reclaims her narrative
✍️ @kevinng.bsky.social
bachtrack.com/interview-na...
Beyond the fever dream: soprano Nadine Sierra reclaims her narrative
✍️ @kevinng.bsky.social
bachtrack.com/interview-na...
Reposted by Kevin Ng
If you liked that @lithub.com.web.brid.gy essay on not talking to the NYT about Mamdani, read this @nplusonemag.com piece by the same author on working class higher ed and its enemies.
www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...
www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...
Memos of Blood and Fire | Peter Coviello
So if you ask me about the signature strength of the department where I work, I will tell you. It is world-caliber field-defining research, wedded to a fantastically dynamic practice of instruction, a...
www.nplusonemag.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:30 PM
If you liked that @lithub.com.web.brid.gy essay on not talking to the NYT about Mamdani, read this @nplusonemag.com piece by the same author on working class higher ed and its enemies.
www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...
www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...
Reposted by Kevin Ng
📣New publication! “The gendered costs of human-wildlife conflict: A global systematic review” in @ambio-journal.bsky.social. Led by Katie Adler, also w/Dr. Meredith Gore. We found that costs vary significantly by location & context, & deserve more study.
Check it out:
doi.org/10.1007/s132...
🧪🌏
Check it out:
doi.org/10.1007/s132...
🧪🌏
November 8, 2025 at 7:11 PM
📣New publication! “The gendered costs of human-wildlife conflict: A global systematic review” in @ambio-journal.bsky.social. Led by Katie Adler, also w/Dr. Meredith Gore. We found that costs vary significantly by location & context, & deserve more study.
Check it out:
doi.org/10.1007/s132...
🧪🌏
Check it out:
doi.org/10.1007/s132...
🧪🌏
Reposted by Kevin Ng
sometimes an Oxford comma can make all the difference
November 8, 2025 at 12:36 PM
sometimes an Oxford comma can make all the difference