2/2020 Business SpotlightTHE BIG PICTURE
NEW YORK
A turn of
events
MEDIUMUS
The blue whale pictured here is swim-
ming over guests attending a gala held at
the American Museum of Natural His-
tory (AMNH) in New York. Like many
other museums, the AMNH earns extra
money by renting out its impressive space
to individuals and businesses for events.
These events can sometimes cause
headaches for the museums, which are
under increasing pressure to be models
of social responsibility (see issue 1/2020,
pp. 62–63). In the spring of 2019, many
people were outraged when they learned
that the museum was allowing the
Brazilian–American Chamber of Com-
merce to host an event in its blue whale
room honoring Jair Bolsonaro, the pre-
sident of Brazil. Since Bolsonaro took of-
fice in January 2019, he has been accused
of humanitarian and environmental
trespasses.
Under pressure, the AMNH cancelled
the event. The museum tweeted that it
was not the “optimal location” for the gala
dinner. It was widely applauded for the
decision: “Thank you!” tweeted Amazon
Watch, a non-profit organization. New
York mayor Bill de Blasio also thanked the
museum “on behalf of our city.”
applaud sb./sth. for sth.
[E(plO:d fO:r*]
, jmdn./etw. für etw. loben
chamber of commerce
[)tSeImb&r Ev (kA:m&rs*]
, Handelskammer
headache
[(hedeIk] ifml.
, hier: Problem
host sth. [hoUst*]
, etw. veranstalten
learn sth. [l§:n]
, hier: etw. erfahren
mayor [(meI&r*]
, Bürgermeister
on behalf of
[)A:n bi(hÄf Vv*]
, im Namen von
outraged
[(aUtreIdZd]
, aufgebracht, empört
take office
[)teIk (A:fEs*]
, sein Amt antreten
trespass [(trespEs]
, Vergehen
tweet sth. [twi:t]
, etw. twittern
* This symbol marks
standard US pronunciation.7