During the end of every calendar year, a particular holiday performance pops up in African American communities and cultural centers across the nation. 'Black Nativity' is a cherished cultural tradition to some and completely unknown to others. One wonderful yet confounding thing about this show is that depending on where you see it, you will see significantly different productions ' from Intiman Theatre in Seattle to Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul or the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Boston. Hughes, a noted although still underappreciated writer, is often associated with the Harlem Renaissance just after World War I, which spurred the growth of jazz. This era ' when he penned some of his most famous poems, such as 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' ' was the first African American arts movement since Emancipation. But Hughes is one of a handful of artists whose work spanned both the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and '70s, which partnered with the modern Civil Rights Movement. In 1961, when Hughes created 'Black Nativity,' the Black Arts Movement was still in its infancy, but its early ethos was in the air....

During her time as an actor, designer, and technical crew member in student-driven theater at MIT, Oloko has overseen the chaos of 'tech week,' where design decisions and rehearsals come together on a pressure-cooker timeline. She calls theater a team sport: 'If you mess something up or you drop the ball, it doesn't just impact you. It impacts the entire production and the entire end product,' she recounts. But just like team sports, theater is, at its heart, a kind of play, whether under the limelight, backstage, or in the classroom. 'We're always laughing during rehearsals or technical meetings because you're always surrounded by a bunch of other creative people. And you're bouncing ideas off each other as you're all bonded together by a common goal,' says Oloko. In the theater world, a team of designers, makers, and actors often bring a writer's script to the stage with the help of a director. Traditionally, design responsibilities in theater are taken on by different people ' set, sound, lighting, and costume designers form the core of the design team. Just as in a sport, each team member is entrusted with bringing out their best while cooperating with the whole team....

Just like no one wants to hear a restaurant reviewer complain about eating at high-end restaurants with his friends every night, no one really wants to listen to a gadget reviewer who can't get a high-end home theater system to work. When I was assigned this piece, I could not imagine anything more amazing that having Sonos send me its complete Ultimate Immersive bundle ($2,596), which consists of the Arc Dolby Atmos soundbar, two Era 300s, and the Sonos sub. I also pilfered the Sonos Ace headphones from my coworker for silent after-hours listening. While the bundle gives you a bit of a discount, in total this is over $3,000 worth of high-end audio equipment. It was Christmas in May! My husband and I immediately unboxed it all and plugged it into our Roku Pro Series TV. My colleagues have all reviewed these products separately. Each has earned its own separate high score. My coworker Simon Lucas called the Sonos Era 300 stunning (9/10, WIRED Recommends). I'm listening to Par Avion while wearing the Sonos Ace and having the best time. But operating all these units together in one system has been a bit of a nightmare. At this point, I suspect that in lieu of software engineers, Sonos has secretly hired one lone tiny man, sitting behind a curtain, to write most of its code using an AI bot....

Bass is foundational. A dedicated speaker capable of reproducing convincing bass and sub-bass not only makes music and films feel more authentic, but can even improve the detail and dynamics of the higher registers by freeing up sonic space below. So attempting to jam a real subwoofer into a handheld speaker is by no means a crazy idea'it's just crazy difficult. That's what makes the Brane X so impressive. Over the years, I've heard lofty claims about low-extension 'woofers' in virtually every kind of compact speaker, but the Brane X is the first to hit all the notes literally. It does so with a specialized RAD (Repel Attract Driver) that seems to perform physics-defying magic from within the speaker's stout frame. That's matched by multiple high-frequency drivers above for clear and surprisingly expansive performance across registers. To land this kind of breakthrough bass in a package you can take virtually anywhere, Brane charges a fee that will make most casual buyers spit up their beverages. But if your budget is negotiable, the Brane X is a fabulous wireless speaker that comes as close as I've heard to putting a full home audio system in a pint-sized box....