Aja Raden | |
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Born | 1980or1981(age 43–44) [1] |
Aja Raden is an author, historian, scientist and jewelry designer. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] She wrote a widely-reviewed 2015 nonfiction book about the social history of gems but is more well-known for her appearance in the 2022 documentary Nothing Lasts Forever.[ citation needed ]
Raden studied physics and ancient history at the University of Chicago. [1] She worked for the House of Kahn Estate Jewelers in Chicago and for Tacori in California. [1]
Kirkus called her 2015 nonfiction work discussing the history of jewelry, Stoned, "a lively, incisive cultural and social history". [2]
The Wall Street Journal described her appearance on the 2022 documentary Nothing Lasts Forever as "comically caustic". [6] Decider called her appearance "an extremely witty breath of fresh air" and said that her "go-for-broke, take-no-prisoners disdain for bullshit is inspiring". [7] Variety called her appearance "endlessly quotable". [8] Indiewire called her the documentary's standout and a "natural scene stealer", saying she "radiates charisma with dramatic turns of phrase and a highly attuned bullshit meter". [9]
Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος amethystos from α-a-, "not" and μεθύσκωmethysko / μεθώmetho, "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness. Ancient Greeks wore amethyst and carved drinking vessels from it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication.
A gemstone is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. Certain rocks and occasionally organic materials that are not minerals may also be used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some softer minerals such as brazilianite may be used in jewelry because of their color or luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. However, generally speaking, soft minerals are not typically used as gemstones by virtue of their brittleness and lack of durability.
Ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum. Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires. Ruby is one of the traditional cardinal gems, alongside amethyst, sapphire, emerald, and diamond. The word ruby comes from ruber, Latin for red. The color of a ruby is due to the element chromium.
Roger Joseph Ebert was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. Ebert was known for his intimate, Midwestern writing style and critical views informed by values of populism and humanism. Writing in a prose style intended to be entertaining and direct, he made sophisticated cinematic and analytical ideas more accessible to non-specialist audiences. Ebert frequently endorsed foreign and independent films he believed would be appreciated by mainstream viewers, championing filmmakers like Woody Allen, Spike Lee, Werner Herzog and Errol Morris, as well as Martin Scorsese, whose first published review he wrote. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun-Times said Ebert "was without question the nation's most prominent and influential film critic," and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called him "the best-known film critic in America."
Van Cleef & Arpels is a French luxury jewelry company. It was founded in 1896 by the Dutch diamond-cutter Alfred Van Cleef and his father-in-law Salomon Arpels in Paris. Their pieces often feature flowers, animals, and fairies, and have been worn by style icons and royalty such as Grace Kelly; Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis; Diana, Princess of Wales; Ava Gardner; Farah Pahlavi; Eva Perón; Elizabeth Taylor; the Duchess of Windsor; Queen Nazli of Egypt; Queen Camilla; Gwyneth Paltrow; and Reese Witherspoon. Top-ranked tennis players such as Grigor Dimitrov, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elina Svitolina also have sported Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry.
A diamond cut is a style or design guide used when shaping a diamond for polishing such as the brilliant cut. Cut refers to shape, and also the symmetry, proportioning and polish of a diamond. The cut of a diamond greatly affects a diamond's brilliance—a poorly-cut diamond is less luminous.
Sarah Miriam Schulman is an American novelist, playwright, nonfiction writer, screenwriter, gay activist, and AIDS historian. She holds an endowed chair in nonfiction at Northwestern University and is a fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities. She is a recipient of the Bill Whitehead Award and the Lambda Literary Award.
Roya Hakakian is an Iranian American Jewish journalist, lecturer, and writer. Born in Iran, she came to the United States as a refugee and is now a naturalized citizen. She is the author of several books, including an acclaimed memoir in English called Journey from the Land of No (Crown), Assassins of the Turquoise Palace (Grove/Atlantic), and A Beginner's Guide to America: For the Immigrant and the Curious (Knopf).
Harry Winston was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade. He also traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963 in exchange for 3,800 carats of small diamonds.
"Forever in Blue Jeans" is a song by Neil Diamond which he co-wrote with his guitarist Richard Bennett. The up-tempo track was released as a single by Columbia in February 1979, having featured on Diamond's album You Don't Bring Me Flowers which was released the previous year. Diamond said about the song: "the simple things are really the important things". It peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #2 on the Easy Listening chart in March 1979.
Alissa Quart is an American nonfiction writer, critic, journalist, editor, and poet. Her nonfiction books are Republic of Outsiders: The Power of Amateurs, Dreamers and Rebels (2013), Hothouse Kids: The Dilemma of the Gifted Child (2007), Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers (2003), Squeezed: Why Our Families Can't Afford America (2018), and Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream (2023); her poetry books are Monetized (2015) and Thoughts and Prayers (2019).
Golconda diamonds are mined in the Godavari-Krishna delta region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Golconda Fort in the western part of modern-day Hyderabad was a seat of the Golconda Sultanate and became an important centre for diamond enhancement, lapidary, and trading. Golconda diamonds are graded as Type IIa, are formed of pure carbon, are devoid of nitrogen, and are large with high clarity. They are often described as diamonds of the first water, making them among history's most-celebrated diamonds. The phrase "Golconda diamond" became synonymous with diamonds of incomparable quality.
Céline: A Biography is a 1988 book by the French writer Frédéric Vitoux, on the author Louis-Ferdinand Céline. It was published in English in 1992.
Chaz Ebert is an American businesswoman. She is the wife and widow of film critic Roger Ebert, having been married to him from 1992 until his death in 2013.
The Case Against Adnan Syed is a 2019 true-crime docuseries about Adnan Syed's murder conviction for the killing of Hae Min Lee. It was directed by Amy J. Berg and produced by Working Title Television, among others. The first episode of the four-part series premiered March 10, 2019, on HBO.
Christina Soontornvat is an American author, educator, and mechanical engineer. She won two Newbery Honors in 2021 for the children's books A Wish in the Dark and All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team, and another Newbery Honor in 2023 for the middle grade novel "The Last Mapmaker".
The Territory is a 2022 internationally co-produced documentary film directed by Alex Pritz. It follows a young Indigenous leader of the Uru-eu-wau-wau people fighting back against farmers, colonizers and settlers who encroach on a protected area of the Amazon Rainforest. Filmed on location in Brazil from 2018 to 2020, the film utilizes almost exclusively on-the-ground, primary source material, including footage produced directly by the Uru-eu-wau-wau. Darren Aronofsky serves as a producer under his Protozoa Pictures banner.
Raya is a fictional character in Walt Disney Animation Studios' animated film Raya and the Last Dragon (2021). Created by screenwriters Adele Lim and Qui Nguyen, Raya is the thirteenth official member of the Disney Princess line-up and Disney's first Southeast Asian princess. She is voiced by American actress Kelly Marie Tran. Cassie Steele was initially cast in the role until the character underwent changes and the filmmakers decided to find a different type of performer for Raya and replaced her with Tran.
Descendant is a 2022 American historical documentary film directed by Margaret Brown, chronicling the story behind Africatown in Alabama, and the descendants of the last known enslaved Africans brought to the United States aboard the Clotilda. The film premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, where it was picked up for wider distribution by Higher Ground Productions and Netflix. It received a theatrical release on October 21, 2022 and was available to stream on Netflix that day as well.