The Changing Face of British TV Drama: The Guardian’s Carole Cadwalladr takes a critical eye to the current landscape of British TV drama and sees one group repeatedly marginalized: the working class. BBC’s recent hit drama The Night Manager, Cadwalladr argues, exemplifies the British obsession with “posh” narrative and privileged casting choices, featuring stars Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston, and Tom Hollander (all privately educated) in a fictional world of money and privilege. The increasingly rarified British acting world is making it harder for anyone from working-class backgrounds to break into the scene. A recent study from the London School of Economics and Goldsmiths College found that only 27% of actors come from a working-class background– concluding the profession is “heavily skewed towards the privileged.” Another source reports that 67% of British Oscar winners and 42% of Bafta winners went to a private school. Stars have spoken out about the changing composition of the acting world; Julie Walters argues: “people like me wouldn’t get the chance today.” Ultimately, Cadwalladr argues, the British acting world has evolved as Britain itself has–stemming back to inequality, privilege, and class. Her analysis makes you wonder: how many future talents will the world never see simply because their background does not afford them access to the privileged world of professional acting?

Portraits of an Apartment Building Community: Designer, painter, and photographer Peter Glebo has used his artistic talents to meet his neighbors in the Master Apartments on the Upper West Side of New York City. Glebo, inspired by how little he knew about his own surroundings, decided to photograph residents and display the images in a gallery space in the building’s lobby. He explains: “I’ve always been curious who are my neighbors, so I asked if I could exhibit people who live and work in the building.” After doing a sample piece for the co-op board, Glebo received about fifty requests from residents for their own photo shoots. His exhibit ultimately included 25 residents as well as portrait’s of the building’s staff, including porters and the superintendent. Glebo’s project sheds light on the often unexamined small communities in which we live–what a creative way to meet the neighbors!

Combining Birdsong with Classical Music: BBC Radio 3 is set to run a new series of programs in which classical musicians play alongside nightingales. Listeners will be treated to a new bird’s song each weekend, paired with music recorded in the Sussex woods. The new programs come as the latest component of “slow radio,” a movement in the style of “slow TV,” a Norwegian small-screen phenomenon that focuses on the leisurely pace of reality rather than edits and the manufactured urgency of drama. According to Alan Davey, controller of BBC Radio 3, the station “wants to connect people with remarkable music and culture, and one way [to] do that is to encourage people to discover a different pace and to reconnect with both music and the world around them in a distinctive and beautiful way.” The birdsong series will feature a singer, fiddler, saxophonist, and team player. An innovative way to connect the beauty of both classical music and nature!

Proposed Biosphere May Be Future Cultural Hub in Montreal: In anticipation of the upcoming 50th anniversary of Expo 67, Studio Dror has proposed a 150-meter-wide vegetated dome for Montreal’s Park Jean Drapeau. The park is currently host to Buckminster Fuller’s Biosphere, constructed for the original Expo 67 (the short name for the 1967 International and Universal Exposition in Montreal). Studio Dror hopes that the proposed vegetated dome would complement the Biosphere, providing a partner for the “lonesome structure.” They argue their design, a “living dome” with a vegetated sound buffer, is “a catalyst for dreaming. The possibilities are endless.” The dome would be home to year-round music festivals, live performances, and art exhibitions. To see stunning renditions of the project, read on here. Hopefully this beautiful structure can become a reality, hosting cultural events and connecting the community through art and music.