Critical Mass Speaker Series
A new speaker series, Critical Mass pairs three high-profile critics in the fields of music, architecture and fashion with Canadian media personalities for three 90-minute conversations about the latest trends and ideas fuelling their field. Critical Mass will bring to the stage musician and pop-music critic for The New Yorker Sasha Frere-Jones in conversation with veteran broadcaster and writer Eric Friesen, Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic and writer for The New Yorker Paul Goldberger in conversation with CBC’s Michael Enright, and Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion critic and style writer with The Washington Post Robin Givhan in conversation with CTV Fashion Television’s Jeanne Beker.
The New Yorker’s Sasha Frere-Jones in Conversation with Veteran Broadcaster and Writer Eric Friesen
Saturday, May 1, at 7:00 pm
Al Green Theatre – Miles Nadal Centre, 750 Spadina Avenue
A musician and pop-music critic for The New Yorker, Frere-Jones was named one of the top 30 critics in the world by The Economist’s lifestyle publication, Intelligent Life. His controversial essay “A Paler Shade of White,” which examines the changing role of race in pop-music, generated more response mail for The New Yorker than any essay the magazine had published in the past ten years.
The New Yorker’s Paul Goldberger in Conversation with the CBC’s Michael Enright
Monday, May 3, at 7:00 pm
Al Green Theatre – Miles Nadal Centre, 750 Spadina Avenue
Critical Mass will present an evening with Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic and writer for The New Yorker, Paul Goldberger. Goldberger has written The New Yorker’s celebrated “Sky Line” column since 1997. The author of numerous books on architecture, he began his career at The New York Times, where in 1984 his architecture criticism was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism, the highest award in journalism.
The Washington Post’s Robin Givhan in Conversation with CTV Fashion Television’s Jeanne Beker
Friday, May 7, at 7:00 pm
University of Toronto’s Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle
The speaker series will conclude with guest Robin Givhan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion critic and style writer with The Washington Post, where she covers the news, trends and business of the international fashion industry. Her work is distinguished by the way in which it examines fashion through the lens of popular culture, politics and social anthropology. Givhan received the Eugenia Sheppard award for journalism from the Council of Fashion Designers of America and, in 2006, won the Pulitzer Prize in criticism for her fashion coverage. In 2009, she began covering Michelle Obama and the cultural and social shifts stirred by the first African American family in the White House.
Funding for Critical Mass is provided by the Government of Ontario.
