Today's Stories

Middle Schoolers, Blocked From Most Social Media, Turn Comments On An NPR Podcast Into A Hangout Spot

“When Glass asked one of the kids why they picked this particular podcast, they said, ‘We just, like, looked for podcasts that didn’t have many comments.’” Ouch. But also, creative as heck. - The Verge

An Ohio School District Cancels A Popular Play, And The Fallout Is Ongoing

“Copley Superintendent Aimee Kirsch said the play was canceled not because of its gay themes but because the proper vetting procedure wasn't followed.” Unh-hunh. The students cast in the canceled She Kills Monsters were offered parts in the newly approved Alice in Wonderland. - Akron Beacon Journal (Yahoo)

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger On Creativity

A culture of creativity is also a culture accepting of failure. Creativity is not a science. You can’t possibly bat 1,000. There are inevitable failures, and it’s really important to know as a culture how to process failure so that when you do, it doesn’t destroy people’s ability to continue to create. - Harvard Business Review

Paramount Boss David Ellison’s Big Challenge: Winning Over Hollywood

The Paramount Skydance chief executive will have to work hard to repair badly frayed relations with Hollywood talent who fiercely opposed the consolidation of two historic studios as a bad deal for workers. - Los Angeles Times

Why America Looks The Way It Does

It would be hard to overstate how ignorant the Founders of the United States were about their own country. The main map they’d used to negotiate the postwar peace with Britain was woefully inaccurate. - The New Yorker

The Glenn Gould Of Imagination

The first thing anyone notices about Gould’s playing is the precision of his articulation, and that articulation is so precise that you might—not that you should, but you might—think of him as mechanical, if you didn’t also see him. - Hedgehog Review

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Why Viewers Love To See What People Will Suffer For Money

Beast Games does not provoke debates about who can or should win and how. Rather, it stages a demonstration of what money can make people agree to. - The Conversation

AI And The Flattening Of Creative Aesthetic

Like the coffee shops of 2016, widespread AI adoption is generating a massive amount of content and products that share an eerie sameness. - Noema

Congress Considers New Tax Breaks To Save Hollywood

The bill provides a tax credit of at least 20 percent on the wages of the vast array of workers who create movies and TV shows. That includes actors and directors as well as camera operators and makeup artists. - The New York Times

Theatre As A Public Good

To me, Theatre as Public Good argues that the convening power of theatre, and the belonging and connection it creates, is essential, and should therefore be classified as a public good. - Karthik Subramanian

The Checks And Balances That Could Have Saved The Kennedy Center Failed

Even as these and other construction-related lawsuits are pending, the Trump administration has proven its willingness and ability to build, renovate or destroy federal landmarks without clear authority to do so. - The Conversation

The NAZA Filmmakers Defend Themselves And The Film At Its NY Premiere

“'These crimes that you saw are ongoing,’ Abraham said. ‘They’re ongoing because it’s what our country is doing, and because of what your country is supporting and funding.’” - The Guardian (UK)

What Will Westminster Do With Banksy’s Flag Statue?

“The council said it had spent almost £60,000 on safety barriers, administration and for a security guard to keep watch over it.” - BBC

Booksellers Are Sounding The Alarm About A Presidential Memorandum

“The presidential security memo issued last year specifically targets what the regime sees as leftist ideas in books, zines, and other publications, which is a major concern for all of us that care about books and freedom of expression.” - LitHub

When Hallmark Movies Have Something In Common With Concrete

It’s all about attention to mundane detail. The new The History of Concrete fits Hallmark "because that’s the kind of living proof that this rhythmic cyclical way of storytelling is actually soothing and attractive to people over long periods of time.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

If You’re A Northern Irish Actor, You’ve Probably Been In A Show About The Troubles

Lola Petticrew wasn’t just in one show about the Troubles before she left Northern Ireland; she starred in - and was acclaimed for - two. “A lot of the questions that were raised were questions that I, as a young adult, have about how we heal and move on,” she said. - The New York Times

What Happens To Your Art When You Become The Set Designer For Everything, Including The Olympics?

“In the 30 years since she won the Linbury prize for stage design in 1995, Es Devlin has established herself as a go-to set designer for highbrow theatre, international opera, global pop …, official celebrations …, fashion runways and public sculpture.” - The Guardian (UK)

When Collecting Becomes Nearly A Blood Sport

Well, a bot sport, anyway. Bots are doing so much online work that regular collectors just can’t keep up - and are getting excluded from the things they love as a result. - The Verge

The Mighty Sparrow, One Of The Last Great Calypso Singers, Has Died At 91

“A singer, songwriter and guitarist, Sparrow — his given name was Slinger Francisco — was renowned for his sonorous voice, unremitting energy and extraordinary command of the verbal prestidigitation and sly double-entendre that are among the hallmarks of calypso lyrics.” - The New York Times

Survivor’s Host And Producer May Work At Paramount, But He’s Not Abandoning Diversity

Jeff Probst doesn’t care about the Trump-loving network owners. Instead, he says, he cares about story. “Our stories are so much more interesting now because we have people from completely different walks of life.” - Variety

By Topic

Middle Schoolers, Blocked From Most Social Media, Turn Comments On An NPR Podcast Into A Hangout Spot

“When Glass asked one of the kids why they picked this particular podcast, they said, ‘We just, like, looked for podcasts that didn’t have many comments.’” Ouch. But also, creative as heck. - The Verge

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger On Creativity

A culture of creativity is also a culture accepting of failure. Creativity is not a science. You can’t possibly bat 1,000. There are inevitable failures, and it’s really important to know as a culture how to process failure so that when you do, it doesn’t destroy people’s ability to continue to create. - Harvard Business Review

Why America Looks The Way It Does

It would be hard to overstate how ignorant the Founders of the United States were about their own country. The main map they’d used to negotiate the postwar peace with Britain was woefully inaccurate. - The New Yorker

AI And The Flattening Of Creative Aesthetic

Like the coffee shops of 2016, widespread AI adoption is generating a massive amount of content and products that share an eerie sameness. - Noema

Habermas’ Ideas On Public Debate

He explained the three types of discourse that characterise deliberation – moral, ethical, and pragmatic – and was clear that when it comes to the moral, there are no experts: only individuals working out, together, what’s right in a given context. - Aeon

Is AI Above The Law? Outside? Under?

At least for now, then, robots legally are things, not persons. But neither category quite fits. Instead, robots are outlaws: they lie outside the protection of the law, and their actions are not answerable to it. - The New Yorker

The Checks And Balances That Could Have Saved The Kennedy Center Failed

Even as these and other construction-related lawsuits are pending, the Trump administration has proven its willingness and ability to build, renovate or destroy federal landmarks without clear authority to do so. - The Conversation

The NAZA Filmmakers Defend Themselves And The Film At Its NY Premiere

“'These crimes that you saw are ongoing,’ Abraham said. ‘They’re ongoing because it’s what our country is doing, and because of what your country is supporting and funding.’” - The Guardian (UK)

Meta’s New Surveillance Mascot Looks Like A Toy

It’s supposed to be for adults only, but it looks like a Tamagotchi. Will the cuddliness cause us all to forget the deep, deep creep factor? - Wired

Major Social Media Platforms Are All Turning Down Paid Advertising For The Documentary About Elon Musk

No one will be surprised that X (formerly Twitter) won’t take the ads for Alex Gibney’s award-winning movie, but what’s up with TikTok, YouTube, and Meta? - The Hollywood Reporter

Who Killed Paulina Borsook’s Tech Writing Career?

Maybe it wasn’t one person, or one magazine - maybe it was just the Zeitgeist changing. Right? (Because that’s the way it always goes for “difficult” women.) - Wired

In Colombia, Arts Workers Of All Sorts March To Protest Cuts To Culture Budget

“Hundreds of artists, students and cultural workers gathered outside of (the) Ministry of Culture in Bogotá on Monday, protesting a proposed 30% cut to the cultural budget in 2027 and a suspension of national arts awards.” - The Art Newspaper

The Glenn Gould Of Imagination

The first thing anyone notices about Gould’s playing is the precision of his articulation, and that articulation is so precise that you might—not that you should, but you might—think of him as mechanical, if you didn’t also see him. - Hedgehog Review

Dolly Parton’s Estate Is In Shambles Over Accusations, Lawsuits, And Restraining Orders

“While the family appeared to be putting on a united front, behind the scenes, things were far from harmonious. Employees were afraid to come to work and some were allegedly quitting.” Then there was the security guy’s threats. - Vulture

The Strike Is Over In Cleveland

“In a deal reached late Saturday night and ratified Sunday by the union, the two sides agreed to a three-year contract that includes a 5 percent annual raise for each of the three years, according to the orchestra.” - The New York Times

In Leipzig, Ousted Boston Symphony Orchestra Director Andris Nelsons Feels The Love

“When he conducts, he does not think in English or German or Latvian, even if that would be his own. But he thinks directly in music, and this is so direct. … Sometimes in a concert you have suddenly a new gesture never seen before, that everybody understands.” - Boston Globe

What The Grammys Usually Get Wrong About K-Pop, And Asian Music In General

“If eligibility is determined by musical style, what does language have to do with it? Why should a K-pop act’s music be labeled ‘Asian’ on the basis of language—and if a recording is performed entirely in English, does it somehow cease to be ‘Asian pop’?” - Time

While Some Cleveland Musicians Are On The Picket Line, Others Are Performing Free For The Community

One musician: “This is for our community and for the people who love what we do with our music. ...The concert came together very quickly and we have many people who are excited to play chamber music for our fans.” - WKYC

What Will Westminster Do With Banksy’s Flag Statue?

“The council said it had spent almost £60,000 on safety barriers, administration and for a security guard to keep watch over it.” - BBC

What Happens To Your Art When You Become The Set Designer For Everything, Including The Olympics?

“In the 30 years since she won the Linbury prize for stage design in 1995, Es Devlin has established herself as a go-to set designer for highbrow theatre, international opera, global pop …, official celebrations …, fashion runways and public sculpture.” - The Guardian (UK)

An Art Crawl, By Bike, In Melbourne

“Even as a Melbourne local and a longtime art lover I find it near impossible to keep up with the independent openings happening in my city.” - The Guardian (UK)

Milwaukee Museum Returns Enslaved Artist David Drake’s Works To His Descendants

“Drake made and inscribed ambitious stoneware jars while enslaved in South Carolina in the 1800s, despite punishing conditions and anti-literacy laws that prevented teaching enslaved persons to read.” - The New York Times

Correcting The Record On Lee Krasner

Krasner and Pollock were, in mid-20th-century New York, at the heart of the artistic movement that would become Abstract Expressionism. At that time, the only label more detrimental to a talented artist’s career than “woman” was the handle “wife.” - The New York Times

At Long Last, MOCA In L.A. Has Its New Director

“After almost two decades of high leadership turnover and a more than year-long search, the Museum of Contemporary Art has appointed Jonathan Abbott as its new director and chief executive.” He comes from Boston’s PBS affiliate, GBH, where he was CEO for 15 years. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)

Booksellers Are Sounding The Alarm About A Presidential Memorandum

“The presidential security memo issued last year specifically targets what the regime sees as leftist ideas in books, zines, and other publications, which is a major concern for all of us that care about books and freedom of expression.” - LitHub

Rose Tremain Knows Her Generation Of Novelists Is Dying, But She’ll Keep Going As Long As She Can

“Contrary to what publishers hope and expect, serious writers don’t think obsessively about readers, or even about sales, royalties and prizes. What we talk to each other about, what we dream of, what we can’t live without is the work itself.” - The Guardian (UK)

Ashland, Oregon, Is Known For Its Shakespeare Fest, But Now It’s Got A Murder Fest As Well

OK, you could argue that Shakespeare is a murderfest of his own, but “Mystery Fest has given cozy mystery fans a new reason to discover Ashland, attracting readers who might not otherwise have put the city on their travel list.” - Oregon ArtsWatch

Haitian-Canadian Author’s Book Withdrawn From Goncourt Short List Over Accusations Of AI

“As critics sparred with defenders of Mr. Orélien, who is Black, over whether he was targeted because of his race and his book’s treatment of migrants, he was accused of plagiarism in earlier writings, inflaming the controversy.” - The New York Times

A Guy Who Scammed Writers And Publishers For Years Sure Appears To Be Back, If Hidden, Online

“The messages bear the hallmarks of Bernardini’s original scheme: look-alike emails, carefully replicated fonts and signatures, fluency in industry slang and an intimate knowledge of relationships in the book world.” Then there are the poop emojis. - The New York Times

Survey: How Libraries Are Using AI

Respondents were most likely to use AI for enhancing staff productivity (57.7%), supporting student learning (55.8%), and improving content discovery (53.3%). They were less likely to use AI tools for digital preservation (21.3%) or collection management (27.5%). - Publishers Weekly

Paramount Boss David Ellison’s Big Challenge: Winning Over Hollywood

The Paramount Skydance chief executive will have to work hard to repair badly frayed relations with Hollywood talent who fiercely opposed the consolidation of two historic studios as a bad deal for workers. - Los Angeles Times

Why Viewers Love To See What People Will Suffer For Money

Beast Games does not provoke debates about who can or should win and how. Rather, it stages a demonstration of what money can make people agree to. - The Conversation

Congress Considers New Tax Breaks To Save Hollywood

The bill provides a tax credit of at least 20 percent on the wages of the vast array of workers who create movies and TV shows. That includes actors and directors as well as camera operators and makeup artists. - The New York Times

When Hallmark Movies Have Something In Common With Concrete

It’s all about attention to mundane detail. The new The History of Concrete fits Hallmark "because that’s the kind of living proof that this rhythmic cyclical way of storytelling is actually soothing and attractive to people over long periods of time.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

When Collecting Becomes Nearly A Blood Sport

Well, a bot sport, anyway. Bots are doing so much online work that regular collectors just can’t keep up - and are getting excluded from the things they love as a result. - The Verge

Survivor’s Host And Producer May Work At Paramount, But He’s Not Abandoning Diversity

Jeff Probst doesn’t care about the Trump-loving network owners. Instead, he says, he cares about story. “Our stories are so much more interesting now because we have people from completely different walks of life.” - Variety

The All-Night Song And Dance Parties Of Veracruz

“This syncopated, jubilant folk music is a melange of European, Caribbean and Indigenous influences. While fandangos — where folks gather to play their instruments, sing and dance — are more than 300 years old, their popularity is now spreading around the world.” - NPR

City Ballet Finally Gets A Woman On Its Choreography Staff

She - Tiler Peck - just happens to be a City Ballet principal dancer as well. - The New York Times

Atlanta Ballet Cuts Way Back On Its Orchestra, And Musicians Picket

Members of the pit orchestra protested outside the theater last weekend at performances of the company’s season-opening program, which was danced to recorded music. Atlanta Ballet management says it can afford a live orchestra this season only for its stagings of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. - ArtsATL

Australian Ballet Gets Its First Black Principal

Davi Ramos grew up in a Rio favela and didn’t start ballet lessons until he was 12. Only two years later, he competed in Youth America Grand Prix and, subsequently, the Prix de Lausanne; he studied in London and apprenticed in Amsterdam before coming to Melbourne, drawn by AD David Hallberg. - Dance Australia

Hong Kong To Get Its First Dedicated Dance Venue

The “Dancehouse” will be part of the WestK Performing Arts Centre, opening next year in the West Kowloon Cultural District. The theater will be the new home of Hong Kong Ballet, which will be able to increase the length of its season. - South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)

Robbie Fairchild’s Debut As A Choreographer Is About Shakespeare’s “Lovely Boy”

The first dance created by the former New York City Ballet principal and Broadway star looks at the young man to whom Shakespeare addressed over 100 sonnets. The piece, Lord Chamberlain’s Men, imagines that he was an actor in the playwright’s company — and an inspiration for Romeo and Juliet. - The New York...

An Ohio School District Cancels A Popular Play, And The Fallout Is Ongoing

“Copley Superintendent Aimee Kirsch said the play was canceled not because of its gay themes but because the proper vetting procedure wasn't followed.” Unh-hunh. The students cast in the canceled She Kills Monsters were offered parts in the newly approved Alice in Wonderland. - Akron Beacon Journal (Yahoo)

Theatre As A Public Good

To me, Theatre as Public Good argues that the convening power of theatre, and the belonging and connection it creates, is essential, and should therefore be classified as a public good. - Karthik Subramanian

Beckett Is Only Bleak If You Have No Sense Of Humor

“I think Irish actors and directors have an innate advantage in dealing with Beckett. They get his humour.” - Irish Times

The School District That Tried To Cancel ‘Ragtime’ Claimed It Was A Miscommunication, But Emails Reveal A Different Story

“In emails with members of the public obtained by KyCIR, Duncan repeatedly said the show was never canceled because Balasubramanian ‘went rogue.’” That’s a little different from a miscommunication. - WFPL

We Don’t Make People Pay To Access Public Parks

Public parks are widely considered a social good, and we know that because our tax dollars go to maintain them, we don’t have to pay every time we go to a park. What if the same were true for theatre? - American Theatre

Shakespeare’s Globe Opens London’s First Dedicated Shakespeare Library And Research Centre

“The library sits underground, beneath the Globe in London’s South Bank, and is accessible to the public, containing more than 6,000 books about Shakespeare, early modern literature and the history of dramatic performance around the world. A digital performance archive is also available to the public by appointment.” - The Bookseller (UK)

If You’re A Northern Irish Actor, You’ve Probably Been In A Show About The Troubles

Lola Petticrew wasn’t just in one show about the Troubles before she left Northern Ireland; she starred in - and was acclaimed for - two. “A lot of the questions that were raised were questions that I, as a young adult, have about how we heal and move on,” she said. - The New...

The Mighty Sparrow, One Of The Last Great Calypso Singers, Has Died At 91

“A singer, songwriter and guitarist, Sparrow — his given name was Slinger Francisco — was renowned for his sonorous voice, unremitting energy and extraordinary command of the verbal prestidigitation and sly double-entendre that are among the hallmarks of calypso lyrics.” - The New York Times

Sylvester Stallone Finally Reckons With Decades Of Trauma

“When I look at that footage, I look distorted. I was gone for a few seconds. Sometimes in acting or painting or writing, you just subliminally lose yourself. You do not know where you are. ... What was that?” - The New York Times

Catching Up With Art Dealer Inigo Philbrick, Now That He’s Out Of Prison

“I’ve done my time, and all that I ask is that people give me the benefit of the doubt. I may not be given a second chance — but at least recognize that I’ve suffered a lot from what happened.” - Artnet

Steve Reich At 90: Most Music Isn’t Very Good

Born in New York in 1936, Reich has spent the last six decades producing music that has changed the soundtrack of modern life in Europe and North America, and inspired superlatives from a wide array of music critics. The New Yorker has called him “the most original musical thinker of our time”. - The...

Harvey Weinstein Sentenced To 15 Years In New York Sexual Assault Case

“The landmark New York prosecution began nearly a decade ago with multiple accusers, but after retrials, mistrials, acquittals and appeals, it was whittled to a single victim: Miriam Haley, who … had worked briefly on the Weinstein-produced reality series Project Runway.” - AP

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The Strike Is Over In Cleveland

“In a deal reached late Saturday night and ratified Sunday by the union, the two sides agreed to a three-year contract that includes a 5 percent annual raise for each of the three years, according to the orchestra.” - The New York Times

In Leipzig, Ousted Boston Symphony Orchestra Director Andris Nelsons Feels The Love

“When he conducts, he does not think in English or German or Latvian, even if that would be his own. But he thinks directly in music, and this is so direct. … Sometimes in a concert you have suddenly a new gesture never seen before, that everybody understands.” - Boston Globe

Sylvester Stallone Finally Reckons With Decades Of Trauma

“When I look at that footage, I look distorted. I was gone for a few seconds. Sometimes in acting or painting or writing, you just subliminally lose yourself. You do not know where you are. ... What was that?” - The New York Times

Haitian-Canadian Author’s Book Withdrawn From Goncourt Short List Over Accusations Of AI

“As critics sparred with defenders of Mr. Orélien, who is Black, over whether he was targeted because of his race and his book’s treatment of migrants, he was accused of plagiarism in earlier writings, inflaming the controversy.” - The New York Times

We Don’t Make People Pay To Access Public Parks

Public parks are widely considered a social good, and we know that because our tax dollars go to maintain them, we don’t have to pay every time we go to a park. What if the same were true for theatre? - American Theatre

A Guy Who Scammed Writers And Publishers For Years Sure Appears To Be Back, If Hidden, Online

“The messages bear the hallmarks of Bernardini’s original scheme: look-alike emails, carefully replicated fonts and signatures, fluency in industry slang and an intimate knowledge of relationships in the book world.” Then there are the poop emojis. - The New York Times

Mark Swed’s Farewell Column As L.A. Times Classical Music Critic

“When I accidentally stumbled into music criticism with an academic penchant for music analysis, my crutches for writing about music were technical and of little use in a newspaper. I had to find a way to simply listen. It gave me new ears, and I was hooked.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)

Mamdani And The Met To Give Away 70,000 Free Opera Tickets A Year

The program, which the mayor said would continue indefinitely, will draw from the pool of unsold tickets, which will be distributed by lottery via the Metropolitan Opera app. The catch: you’re not eligible if you’ve bought Met tickets any time since fall 2018. - The New York Times

Cleveland Orchestra Musicians On Strike

“Violinist Elayna Duitman, head of the (musicians’ negotiating) committee, said their pay lags both inflation and the other ‘Big Five’ orchestras in Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Chicago, while upper management is well-compensated. … Their most recent contract extension expired earlier this week.” - Ideastream Public Media (Cleveland)

Financial Crisis At Nashville Symphony, “Restructuring” Is Being Planned

Money troubles aren’t new to the orchestra, but in the wake of the recent death of longtime benefactor Martha Ingram, “the organization does not have sufficient cash on hand to sustain operations at its current level. The Symphony's executive committee is developing a restructuring plan designed to stabilize the organization.” - Nashville Scene

When You Get Offered A Met Opera, But At The Last Minute, Do You Take The Job?

Louisa Proske: "It was insane and thrilling. … It was like, ‘the director has to assemble a team, and we kind of need the design yesterday.’” - The New York Times

A Full Report From Inside The U.S. Administration’s Commitment To Breaking The Kennedy Center

So much art was planned to be decommissioned. For instance: “The removal plan targeted 15 artworks in the African Lounge. ... The lounge’s textiles, artwork and a carved wood sculpture from Ghana representing Africans’ grief over Kennedy’s death were removed without public explanation.” - The New York Times

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