There is a flaw at the heart of the concept of scaling, though it can be hard to articulate in the face of “bigger is better.” Looking back to the roots of “scale” can help us pinpoint what conventional wisdom might be missing. - Harvard Business Review

Whether you do it while in the heart of the Amazon or on your walk to work, deep listening is a form of mindfulness. Mindfulness practice can strengthen attention, empathy, and compassion, increase positive emotions, help to control negative emotions, and reduce emotional exhaustion. - Psyche

The configuration and language of the four directions is common to many—though not all—cultures. - LitHub

Unlike bones, we can’t dig up ancient languages to study how they developed over time. While we may be unable to study the true evolution of human language, perhaps a simulation could provide some insights. That’s where AI comes in—a fascinating field of research called emergent communication. - Singularity Hub

True crime, also known as “murder shows” and “murder podcasts,” really appeal to more women than men. Why? “Most of the true crime I watch reflects a black and white moral universe where victims ultimately get justice, even if it is delayed.” - The New York Times

Turns out playing a game makes you smarter - but only at playing that game. - The Conversation (Fast Company)

"Black America tracing itself to Egypt makes as much historical sense as would Czechs deciding to … favor tartans as an expression of being European. … The abiding fondness for the Egypt idea tends to sideline the astonishing history of the empires that enslaved Americans actually emerged from." - The New York Times

In contrast to the seeming clarity of colonialism (however much it elides that process’s own complications), current discussions of decolonisation can seem amorphous and slippery. This is not surprising since so many different people and groups are using the concept, at times at cross purposes. - Aeon

The city argues that its new method of funding organizations creates a more equitable process to sustain the city’s myriad creative centers. But many of Portland’s smaller arts organizations say the shift in who decides their funding has led to the exact opposite result, leaving them less money for the following year than expected....

"This is a troubling turn of events, particularly for the arts, where nonprofit organizations are prominent players in the form of museums, alternative art spaces, galleries, and even some publications, not to mention institutions of higher education. If it passes, will this bill muffle artistic expression? My guess is yes." - Hyperallergic

This legislation would allow the Secretary of the Treasury to designate section 501(c) nonprofits as “terrorist supporting organizations” at the Secretary’s discretion, without requiring the Secretary to share their full evidence or reasoning with accused nonprofits. - Non-Profit Quarterly

In many ways the cultural legacy of the first Trump administration was more visible in backlash and protest. But it’s possible the second time around, the impact will be an affirmative one. - The New York Times

“We need to show our industry and music-loving public that there are consequences for inappropriate behaviour,” Katherine Needleman says. - Baltimore Banner

The longtime Toronto Star classical music critic reflects: Littler remembers the words of a former editor who told him, your job is to take us to that event. It’s about recreating the experience for your readers. And, whatever that experience was, it’s not written in stone. - Ludwig Van

They do not feel like fun experiments or celebrations of beloved albums. They feel like the onward acceleration of a culture industry that is unsettlingly dedicated — not just in our concert halls but on our screens and everywhere else it can reach us — to monetizing our nostalgic attachment to media from the...

He declared opera in America “in grave danger,” entrapped by a “star system” enforced by a social elite. He advocated American opera and opera in English. He urged the substitution of smaller auditoriums, shedding the glamour of opera houses in New York, Chicago, and San Franciso that far exceeded in scale European norms. - The...

"The project responded to ongoing reports of record-breaking levels of first-time attendance. Since full houses are central to the artistic and financial health of opera companies, OPERA America set out to uncover ways to retain and convert these newcomers into a sustaining audience for the future." - Opera America

"ENO says it will be 'firmly established' in Greater Manchester by 2029. But it will start working in the city before that, with productions at the Lowry, Bridgewater Hall and Aviva Studios from 2025, and plans for (a youth opera company and) a mass singing project with grassroots football teams." - BBC

"Italian authorities have recovered precious 3rd century B.C. artifacts from an Etruscan necropolis looted by a couple of bungling tomb raiders in Umbria who stumbled across the haul on their land. … The artifacts, including eight urns, two sarcophagi and beauty accessories …, are worth at least 8 million euros ($8.5 million)." - CNN

Nora Abrams, who has been the director of Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art since 2019, will succeed Jill Medvedow, who will leave her position in March 2025. - WBUR

Maurizio Cattelan's conceptual piece, titled Comedian, first sold for $120,000 at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019; last night, cryptocurrency mogul Justin Sun agreed to pay more than 50 times that amount. He gets a roll of duct tape, a banana, official instructions for installation and a certificate of authenticity. - CNN

He painted them, back in 1889, in a deep, vibrant purple. Here's how two conservators at the Getty figured that out — and why the irises have turned blue over the intervening 135 years. - Hyperallergic

The Museum of West African Art (Mowaa), a constellation of buildings and outdoor performance spaces spread out across a 6-hectare (15-acre) campus, will hold its inaugural exhibition in May 2025. - The Guardian

One of several versions of René Magritte's "L’Empire des lumières” sold for $121 million at auction at Christie's New York. - CNN

Onion CEO Ben Collins's first thought was, "That’d be one of the funniest jokes of all time if we pulled this off." Once it became a serious possibility, Collins saw the opportunity to use Onion-style satire to expose the fear-mongering, guns-and-dietary-supplements-peddling scam that right-wing outlets like Infowars run. - New York Magazine

This year’s winner of France’s biggest book prize is being sued in Algeria over claims he stole the story from a patient of his psychiatrist wife. - BBC

When do we feel compelled to say “etcetera” or “ityadi” or even “blah blah,” not just literally or in a manner of speaking but in the way we experience and create the world? - LA Review of Books

"The formal 600-year-old word (has) been given new life by Olympians like Simone Biles, entertainers like Dua Lipa, and people across social media who increasingly use the word to describe channelling their dreams into successes." - CBC

Everett's revisionist riff on Huckleberry Finn continued its prizewinning streak in the fiction category; in nonfiction, de León's Soldiers and Kings pipped Knife, Rushdie's memoir of his stabbing and recovery. Lena Khalaf Tuffaha's Something About Living took poetry honors; Shifa Saltagi Safadi’s Kareem Between won for young people's literature. - AP

A.I. chatbots can imitate famous poets like William Shakespeare well enough to fool many human readers, according to a new paper published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports. In addition, many study participants actually preferred the chatbot’s poetry over the works of renowned writers. - Smithsonian

On Thursday, the European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO), a research body, published its annual report on the theatrical performance of European movies worldwide. It’s not a pretty picture. - The Hollywood Reporter

Parent company Comcast is spinning off its cable channels but keeping its broadcast networks, including NBC. Both CNBC and MSNBC share, along with the brand name, correspondents and other resources with NBC News; the latter even shares office space at Rockefeller Center in New York. How to untangle all that? - AP

Peter Kyle, the secretary of state for science and technology, is trying to convince social media platforms to do more to prevent online harms, with new laws coming into effect next year that could result in heavy fines and even jail in cases where online safety is breached. - The Guardian

"Nicholson previously served as chief film critic at LA Weekly beginning in 2013, then at MTV News starting in 2016. She has written for publications including The New York Times, Variety, The Washington Post, The Guardian and Rolling Stone." - Los Angeles Times

It's a real movie, not just a morbid curiosity, but the latter can't help but overshadow the former — especially at a cinematography festival. The film is now world-famous, after all, only because its star accidentally shot its cinematographer to death on set. - Vulture (MSN)

"Comcast's move is the strongest sign yet of alarm reverberating throughout Hollywood's traditional companies. Cable channels have long been a key economic pillar, generating billions of dollars in distribution fees that more than covered up the misses when big-budget movies flopped or during advertising recessions. No more." - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

The 45-year-old educator, an Ailey alumna who has been dean of the Juilliard School's dance division since 2018, will take the helm at the company in July. She succeeds Robert Battle, who resigned suddenly this time last year for health and personal reasons. - The New York Times

"Founded 30 years ago by two former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dancers, ... the company has developed a signature style that’s both immediately recognizable and widely influential. Echoes of it can be seen all over today’s opera houses, competition ballrooms, and TV screens." - Dance Magazine

The performers, ages 69 to 80, will dance the roles they created while footage from that first production, filmed by Rolf Borzik, plays alongside them onstage. - The New York Times

The original building, the smallest of the dance festival's three venues, was destroyed by fire four years ago. The rebuilt Duke, opening July 9, is three times the size of the old one, has flexible configurations for both stage and audience, and is equipped to livestream performances. - The Berkshire Eagle

Judy Morr "decided to do something nobody else was doing in Southern California, which was to bring major international dance companies to Orange County. That’s how it all started. Dance became the way to establish the Center’s reputation nationally and internationally.” - CultureOC

Meryl Tankard was one of the dancers in the 1978 premiere of Bausch's Kontakthof, and she has now restaged the piece with herself and eight other performers from the first run dancing alongside film footage of the original production. - The New York Times

Says the creator and star of hit parodies Titanique and The Big Gay Jamboree, "I liken myself to the homeless man’s Lin-Manuel Miranda. I’m still broke, but I’ve excelled at carving out a little queer millennial piece of the pie." - Variety

For the most part, show tunes on Broadway still sound more influenced by Andrew Lloyd Webber than by, say, Morgan Wallen. But country music is making inroads. - Christian Science Monitor

"From eliciting boos and hisses from audiences of all ages, to making sure there are enough local jokes and updating old stories for today, Holly Williams hears from playwrights tackling their first pantos and veterans who pen several every year about how they keep the tradition alive." - The Stage

Between that obstinate Elphaba and the bubbly Glinda the Good — “Wicked” has grossed more than $1.6 billion on Broadway while enduring as itsfourth-longest-running show. - Washington Post

Les Misérables was originally written in French by two Frenchmen, based on a classic French historical novel — and the musical has been wildly popular just about everywhere except France. Yet an updated version of the show at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris might just catch on. - The New York Times

School district officials cancelled Santa Rosa High School's production of Dog Sees God, which depicts the characters of the comic strip Peanuts in high school and deals with themes of bullying, gun violence, and homophobia. A privately-owned theater nearby hosted the production instead. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

In almost any Auerbach oil painting, early or late, rawness is thick on the ground. So dense, so clotted, and so busily heaped is the pigment that you’re not sure whether to gaze at it, lick it, chew it, or file a weather report. - The New Yorker

In 2021, he was convicted for staging a fake hate crime against himself in Chicago in January 2019. But the local DA had dropped charges, and, under public pressure, a special prosecutor revived the case. The Illinois Supreme Court has now ruled that this violated Smollett's civil rights. - CNN

"Clarisse Yeung, 38, is an artist and, previously, an elected member of Hong Kong’s district council. She first rose to prominence during the 2014 pro-democracy protests. … (She) was among 45 of 47 defendants convicted under the national security law for their roles in an unofficial party primary election (in 2020)." - Artnet

In our fragmented media landscape, it can be difficult to grasp just how large Carson loomed over the culture. At the center of late-night for 30 years — he presided from 1962 to 1992 — he is the most influential talk-show host of all time, and possibly the most popular figure in the history...

"He was part of the founding editorial crew of Time Out Chicago, once a major force in local arts coverage. … Vire stayed with (Time Out) until 2018, then moved on to a busy freelance career, eventually landing at the Tribune-owned Chicago magazine as a freelance arts-and-entertainment editor." - Chicago Tribune (MSN)

Multiple Vladimir Putin adversaries have died after falling from windows. The term “Sudden Russian Death Syndrome” was born after many notable Russian figureheads who have spoken out against Putin’s reign died in puzzling ways. One of the most common causes of the deaths are window falls. - The Daily Beast