You are viewing your 1 free article this month The deal followed a bidding war with four other publishers and Doubleday will publish this summer Scribner acquired North American rights from Julie Flanagan and Mollie Glick at CAA German rights were acquired by DTV and Spanish by Alba The synopsis reads: “Years after escaping her unbearable art world friends in New York for a new life in London an unnamed writer finds herself back on the Lower East Side attending a dinner party hosted by Eugene and Nicole – an artist-curator couple – and attended by their pretentious circle “It’s the evening after the funeral of their mutual friend and if the narrator once loved and admired Eugene and Nicole and their important friends she despises herself for being lured back to this cavernous apartment for a dinner party that isn’t even being thrown in their deceased friend’s honour but in the honour of an up-and-coming actress who is by now several hours late “As the guests sip at their drinks and await the actress’s arrival from her vantage point in the corner seat of a white sofa entertains herself – and us – with a silent Mostyn-Owen said: “Happiness and Love is an intelligent novel It is also a novel about absolutely hating your friends I wrote this book from a feeling of grossed-out loneliness regarding the cultural avant-garde I’d encountered on both sides of the Atlantic A part of me wanted to laugh at the cultural elite But what this book is really about is how easily someone could be enticed by that scene and build their life around it without even noticing Doubleday got that this novel is as much a takedown of ‘the art world’ as it is a book about the yuckiest bits of our egos – and I’m pleased to have such great collaborators in the UK.” Her fiction has appeared in Granta and her nonfiction in the New York Times readers will delve into the heart of New York City’s contemporary art scene where the rich and unaccomplished children of famous artists host dinner parties for writers Over the course of one of these ‘cultural evenings’ drinking wine in an expensively decorated Manhattan apartment a young woman watches her old circle of friends — the one she thought she had escaped years ago — and quietly muses about how much she hates them all Dubno’s novel offers a modern reinterpretation of Woodcutters by Thomas Bernhard and much like in Bernhard’s portrait of an artistically decadent society the narrator in Happiness and Love monologues for nearly the entirety of the book about consumerism and the pseudo-intellectualism of her peers and surprisingly engrossing; the pages fly by even if the plot consists of little more than a woman sitting in a corner It also shows the narrator’s hypocrisy in a satisfying way that reveals the real complexity of the social dynamics she condemns Happiness and Love is a smart and entertaining debut but if its plot is borrowed from Bernhard and its ideas come unadulterated from Bourdieu and the last century of Cultural Studies the book’s proposal can be reduced to another account of a woman’s love-hate relationship with her privileged New York lifestyle Doubleday, 10 Jul Dreaming of an English tea party–themed bridal shower How about an engagement party straight out of a fairy tale Or maybe a rehearsal dinner that transports you to an Italian villa thanks to a new wedding service being provided by two local business owners a new company that takes the work of decorating your next event off your hands “The amount of detail that goes along with getting events staged and decorated is not small,” says Danna Dubno who recently launched The Saratoga Set with business partner Ann Murphy “We are there to completely focus on all those details so the couple can focus on other aspects of their day while we make their dream décor become reality.” Dubno is no stranger to the world of event design—she owns PaperDolls of Saratoga, a brick-and-mortar stationery, gift and event décor store that specializes in custom invitations for weddings and other events. When she hired Murphy, owner of home staging and interior design company Love It Designs to revamp the product displays at her Saratoga Marketplace shop the two women discovered not only that they had a lot in common but also that they had complementary skills They put their minds together and The Saratoga Set was born Dubno and Murphy already have a few events under their belts but are looking to expand The Saratoga Set into the world of weddings in 2025—think showers The first step to working with them is to schedule an in-person or virtual consultation after which they can begin sourcing materials and coming up with a design that truly reflects the couple and the spirit of their day Dubno is also in the process of reimagining PaperDolls What was once a stationery store offering custom design services is now also the home base for The Saratoga Set Dubno’s also been getting some new merchandise including home décor and hospitality items reflective of Murphy’s Love It Designs style One new brand PaperDolls is now carrying is Rebecca Ray equestrian-inspired line of bags and accessories that previously wasn’t available anywhere in Saratoga.  Love It Designs and The Saratoga Set all share a common ethos and strive to make it enjoyable for everyone who comes through our doors.” Saratoga Springs   |   518.583.4084   |   saratogapaperdolls@gmail.com ShareSaveCommentLeadershipLeadership StrategiesThe Transformative Power Of Pay For Success ProgramsByThe Sorenson Impact Institute Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. We help organizations achieve their impact vision.for Sorenson ImpactFollow AuthorMay 28 Prevention is cheaper and more effective than remediation and federal governments know this all too well But budget constraints often mean that addressing the problems of today limits the ability of governments to prevent the problems of tomorrow That’s where Pay for Success (PFS) models fill a critical need — using private money upfront where government funds are limited or unavailable entirely Janis Dubno, Managing Director of Impact Finance at the Sorenson Impact Institute is a global leader and pioneer in developing and executing PFS and other innovative financial structures that drive positive social and environmental systems change Dubno cut her teeth on Wall Street working at The First Boston Corporation Dubno took a leave of absence from the Institute to join the Obama Administration as a Pay for Success Fellow and led the Department of Education’s Pay for Success initiative Through her work with the federal government Dubno has dedicated much of her esteemed career to changing systems through innovative financial structures “The whole idea is that ultimately you have better outcomes for the people you're trying to serve It's a very effective tool if you want systems change.” which connect private capital and social programs with government resources to scale positive outcomes are innovative solutions to persistent barriers that have stymied large-scale interventions in the past Pay for Success models address the so-called “wrong pockets” problem Many interventions benefit different government agencies or jurisdictions and create real savings But because those savings are generally spread across multiple agencies there’s sometimes not enough for any one agency to pay for the whole intervention a range of stakeholders who mutually benefit from the program are brought together to fund the programs by paying for specific outcomes to fund effective work driving measurable outcomes a PFS model pools resources and transfers the risk of performance to the private sector “This is a model that organizations that advocate for evidence-based policies really rally around,” said Dubno “If the benefits outweigh the costs and outcomes are improved there are organizations and institutions that will want to invest.” Executing a PFS model is not without its challenges “Nothing ever goes exactly as you think it should,” she warns “You have to try to streamline as much as possible and don’t underestimate how long data collection takes and how difficult it is Build resilient financial models that can withstand changes and external shocks.” Dubno points to the South Carolina-based Hello Family project as a successful example of a resilient financial model with the flexibility to adapt The project aims to improve birth outcomes and kindergarten readiness and enhance family stability outcomes in Spartanburg It uses four interventions over five years targeting community-based prenatal to age 8 services “I am very proud of the partnership between the Institute of Child Success and Sorenson in developing the Hello Family PFS project,” said Dubno “It has been wildly successful in its goals around improved birth outcomes and enhanced childhood health and well-being.” Hello Family was the first program to provide support through a continuum of services from birth through age 8 The program is being scaled county-wide with a $75 million commitment from multiple stakeholders “That is the holy grail of success,” said Dubno The project led to transformative systems change in Utah in the financing of early education Combined with two subsequent PFS projects undertaken by Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams in homelessness and recidivism these programs established Salt Lake County as a hub for social impact finance “We weren't trying to do finance,” said Dubno “We were just trying to get kids in preschool.” One such challenge was convincing political leaders of the merits of the idea “We have a fiscally conservative legislature in Utah,” observes Dubno “A lot of people might think that a program that seeks to invest in social or environmental impact isn’t going to appeal to conservatives especially when these programs create long-term fiscal savings and societal benefits What’s great about these finance models is they are actually appealing to fiscal conservatives because you only pay when results are achieved.” Another element of PFS that appeals to elected officials and taxpayers alike is accountability government funds are tied to measurable outcomes and work to leverage private funding to scale public-private partnerships and fund evidence-based or promising interventions What's really important is improving the lives of the people being served through the funding The transparency and accountability for outcomes all serve that purpose PFS models have already led to systems change at scale and Dubno believes that will grow as practitioners become more adept at execution “For PFS to remain successful and become commercialized and institutionalized “That’s a big part of why we do this at the Institute but we get better at it each time we do it and make PFS less time-consuming and burdensome so they can be managed faster and more efficiently “People want to use their money for good,” said Dubno Cookies allow us to understand how you use this site and improve your experience. Our detailed Cookie Policy can be found here By continuing to use this website you accept our use of cookies Mandatory cookies help make this website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website Our website cannot function properly without these cookies Statistic cookies help us understand how visitors interact with this website for example seeing which pages are most popular This information is collected anonymously and helps us improve the site by making the most sought after information easy to find Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites allowing the display of ads that are relevant and engaging for the visitor Whilst we do not display any advertising on the WJC website allowing marketing cooking may allow other sites to see that you have visited our site Children’s librarians across the Island talk about the joy and satisfaction they gain through their work I’m aware of the fabulous children’s librarians in our local libraries All you need to do is read the myriad of programs they offer — and hear the squeals coming from the children’s rooms in the libraries as you walk by Learning that Mikaela Lawson was leaving the West Tisbury library I thought it was the perfect time to speak to the people who created these special spaces and experiences for the Island’s children While they share responsibilities like collection development and running toddler and children’s programs like crafts and story time each brings something special to the position She began at the West Tisbury library in 2020 having never planned to enter the profession she happened to work in the Oak Bluffs library’s children’s room and when her graduate program was canceled “I started questioning if I wanted to study psychology as I had planned.“ Lawson reflects on having taken the position at the West Tisbury library “It was probably the greatest job I’ll ever have.” the best part of the job is the kids: “They keep me on my toes Every day there’s something funny that comes out of their mouths there wouldn’t be that energy and fun that makes people want to come back.” She continues “I always thought of the children’s room as a reflection of the community it’s really easy to have a good children’s room.” Michelle Lynch began at the Oak Bluffs library about a year and a half ago including as the guidance counselor at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School realized that the field was not the best fit for her “I remembered being in the Oak Bluffs library when my kids were young this is the career I would have gone for.’ I went back to school and then the position opened at Oak Bluffs.” Lynch is just starting up a bilingual story time in which she and a co-facilitator will be reading and singing songs in Portuguese She is partnering with Community Services for an arts and crafts playtime While Lynch also does programs in the classroom since I come from a family with a lot of diversity I’ve always worked with diverse populations,” says Lynch Elyce Retmier at the Edgartown library started 13 years ago holding different jobs there until the prior children’s librarian retired “I always knew I wanted to gravitate toward that position,” she says Retmier spoke about their built-in audience with the school next door and they play on the computers and outside,” she says with a completion rate of about 80 percent which was amazing.” Retmier changed the prize system from little plastic toys to experiences and coupons offered by local businesses “They are earning the experiences or bringing their family for a treat,” Retmier says “The best part of the job is to see the kids start to come over when they’re eight years old and then graduating eighth grade hiring some of them to work for me when they are in high school I’m creating this space for the next generation of kids to grow up in.” Emily LaPierre has been in the position at Vineyard Haven library for five years Originally in school for criminal justice and psychology she ended up teaching everything from preschool through sixth grade She adores being a children’s librarian: “It lets me do all the things I love and play alongside the kids while they are learning new things all while helping the youth community grow and figure out who they are and what they like It’s one of the most passionate jobs I’ve had in my lifetime.” having just started at the Chilmark library in May He was an early childhood teacher in New York and here “But I was also thinking about what else I was trying to do with my skills as an educator.” When the position opened up “Everything was pointing to me checking this out as a new career path I recognized there was a lot of overlap with what I do but also this is a whole new institution and type of work I was ready to learn about.” Dubno enjoys building programs such as story time around a single theme “Whether it’s chickens or going back to school all of the things within the story time will relate to the theme so that there’s something holding it together.” Using a singular focus with many variations is something he did in many of his classrooms they used the emergent curriculum approach You listen to the students and hear what their natural interests are and then develop a curriculum off that instead of having predecided themes and activities.” Asked about what he likes best about the job Dubno tells me about a moment that had happened that day when a child came in to get her library card and went to the front desk to check them out Her mom and I watched her just walk right over While each of our children’s librarians is unique they all echoed what Lawson said was ultimately most important: “You want it to feel like a home away from home for the kids who come.” The MV Times comment policy requires first and last name for all comments Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More Erica Dubno has spent nearly every Sunday morning the same way for the last 25 years volunteering for the Special Olympics It was 1995 - Dubno was fresh out of law school - and had little free time to spare.  she was looking for a way to bridge a life-long love of sports with giving back to her community "It's the perfect combination for me because I've always been a volunteer and I've always been a jock," Dubno said Special Olympics gives year-round sports training to children and adults with special needs In the winter you'll find Dubno on the basketball court "I've been doing this for half of my life and I feel like this is something that does define me my work is extremely important to me but I consider Special Olympics to be an extremely important part of my life While training can be intense and her athletes certainly take it seriously Dubno says the experience goes well beyond the physical and friendship - all while having fun.  "Special Olympics has done so much for me and as long as I'm physically fit I will continue on helping and coaching and competing in bowling with Special Olympics," said Steven Maiman Dubno says Special Olympics has as much of an impact on her as it does the athletes she coaches "I feel that I'm more complete as a person and I feel like I get so much from the people - the volunteers It's just a wonderful experience," Dubno added for helping all athletes get their shot on the court As books become intellectual property assets publishers become asset managers trying to future-proof their toxic investments The news that many of Roald Dahl’s books had been edited by the publisher Puffin to excise “offensive references to gender and race” has unleashed a brouhaha among the literary establishment anti-woke crusaders and just about everyone online Read moreI’m skeptical of the motives of those desperate for works of fiction for children to remain hateful – even Dahl himself changed his Oompa Loompas from Black to orange when it seemed expedient – but I’m equally wary of a publishing and film industry that hides behind humane ends in order to safeguard the value of blockbuster intellectual properties The head honchos of the culture industry say that they’re interested in making sure their titles can be “enjoyed by all today” wouldn’t the most natural thing be to leave books as they are perhaps with explanatory warnings as introductions like so many offensive stories already have making space for new works that deserve to be amplified that would be a much riskier financial proposition than pumping out remakes and reprints of evergreen bestsellers The argument for revising Dahl was to protect children; but it appears, with Bond, that adult fiction is also getting the sensitivity treatment. Fleming’s estate decided to remove material that could be “considered offensive”, but news reports paint a strange picture of what was deemed acceptable but 007 still muses that all women secretly “love semi-rape” and Bond is excited by “the sweet tang of rape” Fleming’s many uses of the N-word are gone but Bond alludes to Koreans as “rather lower than apes” Who is Bond but a misogynistic relic of imperial decline? And why should he and Fleming escape our judgment? Perhaps it is possible to make a lethal spy woke; after all, the CIA made a recruitment video calling on “intersectional” people to enlist As for Dahl, he wasn’t a victim of cancel culture run amok; he was unapologetically antisemitic throughout his life. In a 1983 interview, Dahl said “there is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity … even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason.” But it was the personal conduct of those authors If we are told to separate the art from the artist why does Dahl – whose art and life both fail the social acceptability test – get a pass but far less attention has been paid to the readers who vet these books The Dahl edits were facilitated by an outside firm, Inclusive Minds, that bills itself as a “network of experts by experience”. Readers tend to work freelance and most of them are under 30 In 2021 I interviewed a freelance sensitivity reader who gave me a glimpse of the industry’s workings was paid 0.009 cents per word to check that books’ content fit with the reality of their lived experience This compensation was impossible to live on meaning they were trading on their otherness for a precarious foothold in publishing when employed as an assistant at a major publishing firm to actually address the racial elephant in the room: they were the “darkest person there” but their outlook on race was “not a welcome addition” So it makes sense, given their overwhelming whiteness, that publishers would need racial sensitivity readers. They can farm out the labor to a precarious freelance labor pool, avoiding having to hire more minority editors and extracting value from a group that by its own definition needs protection and support. I actually have a different problem with sensitivity readers Authors have always sent drafts to friends for feedback but hedging the impact of your writing by the use of paid sensitivity readers seems like yet another instance of the confused financialization of art Authors need to take responsibility for their work for the low price of a fraction of a cent per word should we be allowed to outsource our capacity for understanding the world If authors are so desperate to depict characters dissimilar to themselves shouldn’t we have met people similar to those characters or at least have people to call on to ask if what we’re writing is inaccurate or offensive My novel would only cost a couple of hundred dollars to get the official stamp of approval of a sensitivity reader That price sounds too cheap for a clear conscience '#' : location.hash;window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUQuery = location.search === '' && location.href.slice(0 location.href.length - window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash.length).indexOf('?') !== -1 '?' : location.search;if (window.history && window.history.replaceState) {var ogU = location.pathname + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUQuery + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash;history.replaceState(null "\/the-gaon-and-the-maggid\/?__cf_chl_rt_tk=B6BJwd9_en6vRMgKDg3V0APKRXtDuyyezWZvleqI_KQ-1746503290-1.0.1.1-X_D66aDjcVb0plM3VjtJ8CU1ZX8cyBkiTopcAjZTtPw" + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash);cpo.onload = function() {history.replaceState(null ogU);}}document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(cpo);}()); Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights and the living things found in it.Follow AuthorJun 23 12:17am EDTShareSaveCommentThere is a symmetry between exploration and failure So it’s ironic that the expedition of five rich people to arguably the most famous underwater wreckage on this planet will be better known for its catastrophic end than its originally planned brief exploration The OceanGate "Titan" submersible Among the deep questions that people everywhere are asking—why take the risk How much more does anyone need to know about the sinking in April 1912 of the British passenger ship the RMS Titanic Scene of the sinking Titanic depicted in 1912 More luxary liner struck an iceberg off New Foundland It was a diving operation as ultrasophisticated as the doomed OceanGate’s Titan was unsophisticated He traveled in a purpose-built two-person submersible a thick titanium sphere designed to take even greater pressure than was anticipated at Challenger Deep The vessel was built by world-class aerospace and defense company Triton Submarines and aboard it Dubno descended almost 7 miles to the lowest ocean floor on Earth supported by a well-manned expedition ship and guided closely through every intricately planned step Dubno considered the experience an acceptable risk boarding the customized vessel to visit the Challenger Deep He says he’s always been interested in seeing the remains of the Titanic “It’s one of the enduring mysteries of our age It’s something epic films have been made about It’s one of the primary tragedies of the ocean And seeing the ship with my own eyes is of course a draw.” In a statement about the lost crew of five—OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet—the Oceangate company called the men “true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans.” having inherited wealth or worked feverishly and brilliantly to earn it find themselves seeking out the next big thing they can master A member of the elite Explorers Club of New York he’s seen things the average person hasn’t “What I find is impact in each exploration you go up to the North Pole which looks like ice If you walk a hundred feet in another direction you wouldn’t know that’s not the North Pole,” he explains “But there’s something about being at the North Pole where you realize that the Earth is spinning below you You realize that you’re in every time zone at the same time.” “I know what to expect when I go to France: I will have very good cheese and baguettes and a good time.” says Dubno And when you go to the bottom of the ocean you have an imagination as to what you will see and it usually doesn’t come close to matching because you’ve never been there So each one of these things is a brand-new perspective.” As the drama of the Titan submersible was about to unfold Dubno was in close touch with a network of fellow adventurers all watching the impending launch of the Titan off the coast of Newfoundland British born pilot and businessman Hamish Harding was excited about the dive Harding also had explored the Mariana Trench alongside Dubno training for exploration of the Mariana .. a company whistleblower with safety concerns was fired OceanGate was eager to press on with building the business and leading the way to expanding ocean exploration because “arguing with engineers is one of the best ways to learn.” “I think you want any machine that you’re risking your life with Everything else might fail around you but the submersible will make it back to the surface because it will automatically do several things and rise When I take a look at some of the specs on Titan It’s made of two different materials on the outside—titanium for the front and the tube itself is carbon fiber which is less stable than a sphere.” And on Titan they put in strain gauges to detect if there are issues That’s kind of an active system that’s watching rather than a passive system that just works.” OceanGate Expeditions crew lost on Titan submersible: Shahzada Dawood and working at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab “If you’re in the Navy and you do submarine service you have to do two years of training before you even step foot on a submarine Plus nonstop exams and boards with a very high dropout rate They don’t just let anybody step onto these things And they make it clear to folks from the very beginning that you can do the wrong thing and you can kill everybody onboard And you are constantly practicing for when things go wrong It’s just a chance Wermus would never take but the super-rich seem to have fewer reservations Rich people get pilots’ licenses for cheap and disasters happen all the time.” Seasoned by years on Navy submarines Wermus doesn’t get the civilian fascination with the wreck of the Titanic something they can brag to their friends about.” Dubno says the Titan submersible was not a vessel that he would have boarded and he knows that at least one friend had told Harding he had reservations about it But there’s a thought process that sets in you’re in the moment and focused on what to see and do and so on If you went down there and you were scared the entire time the riveting drama of the Titan commanded the world’s attention Dubno asks for an understanding of the humanity of the tragedy “It’s easy to think of this in the abstract—rich boys with toys But it’s also about real people and the desire to explore and take risks.” Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker please click the box below to let us know you're not a robot Get the most important global markets news at your fingertips with a Bloomberg.com subscription. Send help right to the people and causes you care about Your donation is protected by the GoFundMe Giving Guarantee Get the most important global markets news at your fingertips with a Bloomberg.com subscription TrendingPoliticsNew YorkANo tease: City wins court battle to reduce adult businesses10 adult clubs in the city could face closure following appellate court decision Two decades after Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s administration began a crackdown on smut the city won a hard-fought court battle on Tuesday that will sharply reduce the number of strip clubs and other adult businesses New York’s Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the city in a decision that prevents strip clubs and adult business from operating within 500 feet of churches Five of six appellate court judges ruled in favor of the ban A spokesman for the city’s Law Department praised the decision, saying it would “stem the widespread circumvention of zoning regulations intended to protect our quality of life.” an attorney representing the adult industry said her clients are considering whether to bring the case to the U.S Dubno and the late free speech activist and lawyer Herald Price Fahringer won a court decision creating the so-called 60/40 rule which allowed businesses to stay open if they restricted the amount of floor space devoted to adult material to 40 percent Scores and the Hustler Club — won’t be impacted because they already possess special adult entertainment licenses “Over the years we had the opportunity to open clubs that would operate under the 60/40 rule but we refrained because there has long been uncertainty [over] whether they would eventually be banned,” he said clubs with licenses are poised to clean up “If you have a market where there are 20 businesses and half go away that’s going to be a boost for the remaining participants.” Last month, Crain’s reported that the three buildings owned by Manhattan’s porno king, Richard Basciano, might now be in play following his death In 2013, The Real Deal found that a city law aimed at curbing erotic massage parlors mostly burdens health clubs. [Crain’s] — E.B