In Ireland, despite how often the government uses Irish arts to market the country to tourists, "more than 56 per cent of artists and arts workers experience enforced deprivation (that’s three times the rate in the general population).” - Irish Times (Archive Today)

It’s a design flaw, and it can be fixed. “We have been here before. Not just once, but repeatedly, in a pattern so consistent it reveals something essential about how cultural elites respond to changes in how knowledge moves through society.” - Aeon

Like many other words that have been “problematised” using post-structural approaches in the humanities, “care” is no longer simply a benign building block of a sentence, but is now part of a broader academic nexus that underpins its public expression. - The Critic

There are good reasons why people, at least at first, feel positive about their relationship with an AI companion. But new research is showing that these feelings change over time. Artificial empathy, it turns out, comes at a cost. - Psyche

The same teenager who supposedly lacks attention span can maintain game focus for hours while parsing a complex narrative across multiple storylines, coordinating with teammates, adapting strategy in real time. That’s not inferior cognition. It’s different cognition. And the difference isn’t the screen. It’s the environment. - Aeon

Literacy literally restructured our consciousness, and the demise of literate culture—the decline of reading and the rise of social media—is again transforming what it feels like to be a thinking, living person. - Derek Thompson

Hackers discovered the Peter Thiel-backed verification software, Persona, "bundled in an interface that pairs facial recognition with financial reporting – and a parallel implementation that appears designed to serve federal agencies.” Discord swiftly decided to kick Persona to the curb. - The Rage

“The Berlinale has gained a reputation as the most overtly political of the major festivals, not only for its programming choices, but for its history of engaging with global crises. ... Critics say that despite being vocal on other issues, the Berlinale has not spoken out about Gaza.” - NPR

“Some called for boycotts. Some found it insulting that if pre-show screen time were being given to short films, AMC would feature AI-generated content rather than human-made movies. Almost all seemed to agree that the move was, as one disgruntled user put it, ‘hot garbage.’” - Fast Company

In January, the Taliban announced a new criminal code that, among other provisions, allows domestic violence and the corporal punishment of children and appears to legitimize slavery through the use of the word “slave.” - The Walrus

From 2022 to 2026, the grant pool distributed by state arts agency Creative Victoria has fallen by over 25%, from $81.2 million to $59.4 million (Aus), with little hope of any change. Said one arts leader, “(Melbourne) is going to go from the cultural capital to the least funded city in Australia.” - The...

The stories and images that had been on display for two decades were abruptly removed last month following an executive order by President Donald Trump. The city subsequently sued for the exhibit to be rehung and a federal judge set a Friday deadline for its full restoration. - AP

For Spencer Richardson, who finds, repairs, and sells tape players, “his customers include older baby boomers and Gen X‑ers nostalgic for the players of their childhood, but most have been millennials like himself, drawn to something tactile and analog.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)

The case, known as the Fish Market dispute, asks whether a looping beat widely associated with reggaeton can be protected by copyright. More than 150 artists and producers have been named as defendants, and around 3,600 songs are implicated. - The Conversation

Up-and-coming composers, looking for a break-out moment with their immense musical feel and depth, probably have their arms and tapping their feet wondering to themselves: where are our champions of new classical music? - The Critic

“Benaroya Hall, the longtime home of the Seattle Symphony …, will close for six weeks beginning in July for the final phase of a $20 million renovation to the building’s entrances, lobby and public-facing spaces, the Symphony announced Thursday. (No performance spaces are part of the renovation plans.)” - The Seattle Times

The company’s general manager — who drew widespread praise in his first few years but has recently come under fire as the Met has suffered financially — will depart when his current contract expires at the end of the 2029-30 season. - OperaWire

During its 2026-27 season, the Metropolitan Opera will present only 17 productions, the fewest in a full season since (at least) the company moved into its Lincoln Center home in 1966. More than a third of the total number of performances will be of either Aïda, La Bohème, or Tosca. - AP

“The move comes after the country’s right-wing culture minister Gayton McKenzie scrapped a pavilion proposal by artist Gabrielle Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo.” They said, “The space will remain empty: a space of erasure, cancellation, censure.” - Hyperallergic

“The directive to hew to Trump’s preferences unnerved some grant writers, reviewers and former recipients accustomed to nonpartisanship from the agency, stirring debate over what it would mean to accept their funding.” - Washington Post (MSN)

“It’s sad that a majority of the commissioners lack expertise in art and architecture,” the person told CNN. “There is only one architect, yet he recused himself from reviewing the ballroom. This means that not a single architect will be reviewing the White House project." - CNN

There is by now an untold variety of Frida merch, from watches to candles to tequila to home décor to a branded Miami condo building to (yes) sanitary pads. One reason is that Kahlo’s family members have lost control of the corporation which controls rights to her likeness and work. - The Times (UK)

“The drawings picture the East Wing volume extending well into the White House lawn. At roughly 90,000 square feet, its footprint is more than twice the size of the previous East Wing building, which is now fully demolished. … The documentation includes site plans, building plans, elevations, landscape drawings and renders.” - Dezeen

Because people keep knocking it off — most recently, this past weekend, when police found the four-inch marble fragment from the left tusk on the pavement nearby. - AP

“Fiction has no obligation to dispel ambiguity. It can make use of it—even intensify it—in order to evoke and transform experience. In Beloved, Morrison does take possession of the master’s tools, but she bends them, breaks them, and then uses them to reshape the house.” - LitHub

With the Taliban having outlawed the education of girls and severely restricted women’s other rights, a clandestine group of women gather weekly to read books ranging from Orwell and Hemingway to contemporary Iranian fiction. - The Guardian

Chicago’s Newberry Library has received $4 million from the Mellon Foundation that will help widen access to Indigenous languages, some of which have been on the brink of disappearance. - WBEZ

Bindery Books, a startup founded by publishing veterans, uses social media book influencers as acquiring editors to champion underrepresented authors and build engaged reader communities. - Los Angeles Times

“So many children are now falling behind,” Dent said. “The vocabulary gap is getting bigger and there is a real perception that vocabulary development is suffering and that impacts on learning.” - The Guardian

“To begin with, a Book of the Dead is a misnomer, applied by 19th-century Western scholars. A more accurate translation of the title would be ‘Spells of Coming Forth by Day.’ Unlike obituaries, they aren’t biographies. They aren’t even books. And, they’re not of the dead. They’re for the dead.” - The New York Times

“The film Isabella is a narrative tool for Heathcliff rather than developing in her own right. She becomes another victim of ‘fridging,’ a term coined by Gail Simone that references the way in which many female characters are disposable, depthless plot devices.” - The Guardian (UK)

Cameron even wants the U.S. Senate to block the Netflix bid. Either way, “the clock is ticking, but for those who may not be following the corporate back-and-forth closely, here's a look at what each deal could mean.” - CBC

One British producer in a year in which exactly one British actor was nominated in the two major acting awards: “The Baftas fall between two stools: it’s both a British awards show and an Oscars bellwether. It makes sense to do both, but it’s a real dilemma.” - The Guardian (UK)

If you’re in Hollywood, well, “the BAFTAs are the British movie industry’s major award show and also widely seen as a bellwether for the Oscars because of the overlap in their voting academies.” - The New York Times

The writers didn’t want to focus on the survivor’s trauma. “The story serves to bolster the emotional arc of the show’s healthcare providers, in this case Dana, who assists with the exam from start to finish as the department’s certified SANE nurse.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)

Between a reduction of €10 million ($11.8 million) in federal subsidies and the requirement to cut €11 million ($12.9 million) in expenses due to contractually mandated pay increases, Germany’s equivalent of the BBC World Service will eliminate its Greek broadcasts entirely and scale back its portfolio in other languages. - DPA (Yahoo!)

“It seems we’re in a particularly fruitful era of artistic innovation in skating. What’s driving the current wave — and how might it shape the future of the sport? - Dance Magazine

How a cross between rock climbing, rappelling, circus aerobatics and contemporary dance turned into a performing art of its own. - The Mercury News (San Jose)

“Grand Rapids Ballet has dismissed executive director Mary Jennings after less than two years in the role, replacing her with an interim CEO as the ballet rethinks its leadership strategy.” - Crain’s Grand Rapids Business

“I’m not, um, young,” she says. “And I do have help. I don’t go in without somebody there who can help to translate and who understands my movement. But my favorite thing is to make things.” - The New York Times

Nothing is “nutty” in the Olympics now. Ski ballet was a demonstration sport in 1988 and 1992, but "unlike the other two freestyle disciplines, aerials and moguls, ski ballet didn’t graduate to full Olympic medal status.” - The New York Times

“Because information about lion dancing in English is scarce, Chan led a group of Kei Lun Martial Arts members on a research trip to China in 2000. They studied with skilled craftspeople in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.” - The New York Times

“These mythological creatures tap into our anxiety over what would happen if we became otherly human. … As the horror author Grady Hendrix put it: ‘Vampires are the only monster that looks like us.’” - The New York Times

Comedian Anthony Novak was nabbed by Parma police, tossed into the county jail and charged “with a felony punishable by up to 18 months in prison,” all for the alleged crime of making fun of said police force. - Deadline

Nike Imoru said that for last year’s staging of The Odyssey, she was told to get cornrows but was not provided with a competent stylist as Equity’s contract requires — and that the backstage worker who did the work instead left her with permanent damage, including the loss of most of her hair. -...

George R.R. Martin, author of the series of novels at the heart of the franchise, says that the RSC was the ‘obvious choice’ to produce the play — Game of Thrones: The Mad King — because Shakespeare had been a constant source of inspiration to him. - The Guardian

In the first third of 2026, we’ll see 11 plays and only six musicals on Broadway. And many of the musicals that will open share a certain downtown sensibility instead of, say, a stately Sondheim import or Disneyfied cheer. - The New York Times

Creative coordinator Sammi Cannold: “I think what would surprise people most is how mathematical it is. From the outside, it looks like pure spectacle and emotion. But behind the scenes, it’s geometry, timecode, safety protocols, wind calculations, the positioning of 35 cameras, traffic flow for hundreds of performers, etc.” - Playbill

Colón’s “driving musical energy and mischievous bad-boy image — he was long promoted as ‘El Malo’ — helped made him a luminary of New York salsa music, and 1978 collaboration with Rubén Blades, Siembra, became one of the top-selling salsa albums of all time.” - The New York Times

A self-taught mosaicist, Mr. Zagar used broken bottles, handmade tiles, mirrors, and other found objects to cover walls across the city, particularly in South Philly. His Magic Gardens on South Street has become a landmark, attracting 150,000 visitors a year. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

On top of a career designing sets and lights for more than 50 Broadway productions and over 30 George Balanchine ballets, he became, in 1967, the founding artistic director of the National Theater of the Deaf, which combined spoken dialogue and sign language to create, in effect, a new genre. - The New York...

“For more than four decades, he was a central figure in European opera, admired not for flamboyance but for integrity, stylistic intelligence, and a distinctive vocal timbre that combined gravity with warmth.” - Moto Perpetuo

Between 1967 and 2023, he made forty-seven features (nearly one a year), many of them running considerably more than two hours. His body of work, considered in terms of number of features and of total running time, is one that probably no one in his generation or younger can match.  - The New Yorker

He is charged with two counts of simple battery following incidents in the midnight hours of Tuesday morning. This is, of course, by no means his first run-in with law enforcement. - AP