Tempting as it is to blame Trump for the Kennedy Center’s fate, he does not bear sole responsibility. The idea of a national arts center was always more of a noble dream than a reality. - The New Yorker
"The Voice of America has been breaching the Constitutional and statutory rules that require that outlet not to push propaganda or censorship," one of the lead attorneys on the lawsuit, Norm Eisen, tells NPR. - NPR
The lawsuit seeks to have the White House and the Kennedy Center board comply with existing historic preservation laws and secure Congress' approval before moving ahead with the renovations. - NPR
Recently Barnes & Noble has tried to convince more publishers to publish paperback originals, particularly for YA and middle grade books. But choosing a format to please one vendor, no matter the size of that vendor, is limiting, especially when smaller indie bookstores run on such tight margins in the first place. - LitHub
A chatbot is not (or not yet) an individual, and therefore bears no moral responsibility, but to lay hold of what it delivers, and to pass it off as one’s own work, could be construed as handling stolen goods. - The New Yorker
Along with his happy student-teacher alliance with Hammerstein, the defining association of Sondheim’s life was his tortured relationship with the mother he described as a “monster,” among harsher words. - The Atlantic
These proposals, the rush to realize them, the stacking of key oversight groups with Trump loyalists and flunkies and the collaboration of firms like Shalom Baranes Associates, have upended and effectively destroyed the process of design review — which has until now preserved Washington as a monumental, picturesque capital. - Washington Post
One of the White House’s most compelling features has always been its domestic scale and ornamentation. In a city where architectural bombast has often been favored over architectural quality, the White House has stood apart for its grace and modesty. - Chicago Tribune
Visitors will discover that it’s a dramatically different place than a decade ago: lines of bikes and throngs of pedestrians where lanes were once jammed with cars, greenery encroaching on former pavement, summer swimming in the once-grimy Seine river — and a corresponding drop in air and water pollution. - Bloomberg
“The seven story addition introduces three levels of gallery space that plug directly into existing floors. Not only does this create much needed airflow, it allows the museum to remain open during exhibition turnover.” - The Guardian (UK)
Yes, even if you’re not great at it (yet). "Make it up as you go along. If nobody else wants to sing, you sing. Be a zealot about keeping your instrument in tune but nothing else. Force yourself to write one new song a week.” - The New York Times
“The Moda Center has always been a candidate for upgraded design. Which is to say nothing of the 30-acre Rose Quarter property the arena is part of: an unequivocal urban-planning disaster. … The Rose Quarter needs radical reconstructive surgery even more than the arena.” - Oregon ArtsWatch
For one thing, they met some of the Hail Mary crew on Solo. "We met Neal Scanlan and the creature shop team that we worked with to make Rocky, for example. We had such a great experience with them, making these aliens and robots together.” - The New York Times
It’s “is a replica of one that protesters in Baltimore tore down and dumped into the city’s Inner Harbor in the summer of 2020. The statue’s marble pieces were retrieved from the harbor, and a Maryland artist used them to guide the creation of the replica." - The New York Times
