A heavy day for losses. Robert Duvall, who disappeared into roles so completely that you forgot you were watching acting, has died at 95 (Washington Post). Frederick Wiseman, who spent six decades turning the camera on American institutions — hospitals, courts, high schools, ballet companies — and letting them speak for themselves, has died at 96 (AP). And Michael Silverblatt, whose KCRW interviews were so deeply prepared that authors were sometimes astonished by how well he knew their own work, is gone at 73 (Los Angeles Times). Three artists who understood that the job is to pay attention.
In the land of the living, CBS lawyers killed a Colbert interview with a Texas state legislator while the guest was already in the studio (NYT). He responded in a very Colbert way, getting massive view of YouTube. (Can we call this the “Carr Effect” after FCC chair Brendan Carr?) And the San Antonio Philharmonic has cancelled the rest of its season — no music director, no venue, no concerts (San Antonio Current).
