Update! They Didn't Love Lucy in Seattle; How Will She Play in New York?
The 1974 discovery of an early fossil skeleton in Ethiopia reshaped our understanding of human evolution. The bones of the female hominid, dubbed "Lucy," are the focal point of a touring exhibit of the actual fossils plus displays on Ethiopian history and culture called "Lucy's Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia."

      While the Lucy exhibit had respectable attendance at its originating museum in Houston, earlier this year in Seattle the touring version of the exhibit reached only 50% of its optimistic attendance projections and lost over $1 million, dashing hopes that it would become a blockbuster. Lucy was slated to travel next to Field Museum in Chicago but did not due to the 30% drop in Field's endowment, which led to employee buyouts and other cost-cutting that made risking a million-dollar loss on the Lucy exhibit unthinkable.  

      Most major natural history and science museums have boycotted the Lucy exhibit less for financial reasons and more because they believe it is dangerous and irresponsible to allow the fragile and irreplaceable fossils to be shipped around the world. According to the Houston Chronicle, famed paleontologist Richard Leakey even accused the exhibit's originator, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, of prostituting Lucy to raise money. However, neither the huge Seattle deficit nor the opposition of much of the international scientific community has deterred a private New York City company from presenting the Lucy show in a for-profit exhibit space in the old NY Times building. Lucy shares the large exhibit hall with a separate display of (and separate admission fee for) artifacts from the Titanic. The NY Times' review of Lucy in Seattle is here; and the Times' review of the current New York Lucy exhibit is here. 

      Despite its fiscal problems and scientific controversy the Lucy exhibit is probably worth the steep ticket fee; besides, this may be the last chance to see Lucy in the US since she may be headed for China next. The opening date is June 24, 2009, with closing in mid or late October. Tickets when ordered in advance are $19.50 for adults, $18.50 for seniors and $17.50 for children; audio guides are an additional $5 each. For more information visit the Lucy exhibit web site here or call 866-987-9692. And while you're in New York, be sure to try one or more of its many Ethiopian restaurants.       

       Update:  The Lucy exhibit completing its New York run last month (October 2009); rumor is it may go to China next but the organizing institution (Houston Museum of Natural Science) has not announced anything official yet.

EE2s Write Books
Rob Albritton has just published "Let Them Eat Junk: How Capitalism Creates Hunger and Obesity," the first book to analyze the food industry from a Marxist perspective. Respected economist Robert Albritton argues that the capitalist system, far from delivering on the promise of cheap, nutritious food for all, has created a world where 25% of the population are over-fed and 25% are hungry. This malnourishment of 50% of the world's population is explained systematically, a refreshing change from accounts that focus on cultural factors and individual greed. Albritton details the economic relations and connections that have put us in a situation of simultaneous oversupply and undersupply of food. This explosive book provides yet more evidence that the human cost of capitalism is much bigger than those in power will admit. Available from Amazon.com; price:  from each according to his ability (just kidding, $28.95).