Stories

The German Government Really Isn’t Happy About This Guy’s Popular Novella

A fiction author gets a phone call from the government: “Jügler was asked to explain what historical source material he had consulted for Mayfly Season and which period he was planning to tackle in his next book.” - The Guardian (UK)

How Do K-Pop Performers Maintain Their Dance Routines On Four Hours Of Sleep A Night During Tours?

Sure, they’re relatively young, but that doesn’t avoid the energy and kinetic demands of high-energy dance and music performances. The stars “must train to develop stamina and prevent injuries while also maintaining the specific physique that their industry demands.” - The New York Times

Sorry, Emmys, ‘Heated Rivalry’ Can’t Make You Popular Again

“Heated Rivalry became a bona fide great TV show, as worthy of Emmy consideration as shows about emergency medicine and international diplomacy and AI. But we’re not having that conversation for the dumbest of all possible reasons: the rules.” - Vulture

How Are U.S. Libraries Doing Amid Book Bans And Culture Wars?

It’s rough in these reading streets. “Librarians across the country are fighting to maintain students’ access to books and to keep their jobs amid cuts to library programs and persistent efforts to restrict reading materials.” - Salon

Ireland’s Artist Basic Income May Not Account For Artists With Disabilities

“Ó Ceallacháin says many artists with disabilities feel as though they need to “]exist between ‘professional enough’ to be a ‘real’ artist for the Department of Culture and ‘disabled enough’ to receive support from the Department of Social Protection.” - Irish Times

The Next Director Of The Tate Has To Confront An Unwieldy ‘Beast’ Of An Institution

“Visitor numbers have indeed recovered after falling from their peak in 2019, but finances were hit hard during the pandemic. Those financial headwinds have led to multiple rounds of redundancies, restructures and several ‘culture war’ battles.” - The Guardian (UK)

A Cultural Critic Admits They Were Very Wrong About A 2010s Flashpoint

“There was something very intentional to Girls, something that spoke to me. I could’ve connected with it. Instead, I rejected it dramatically. I wasn’t the only one.” - Slate

The Writers Guild Gives Its New Contract A Green Light

The contract, which is oddly long but helps shore up health care, earned the approval of more than 90 percent of the members who voted. - The Hollywood Reporter

In Lawsuit Over Unlicensed Robert Indiana Art, Indiana’s Former Business Partner Is Awarded One Hundred Million Dollars

“The wide-ranging battle over control of the Indiana legacy — which included accusations of forgery, unpaid royalties, elder abuse and copyright infringement — clouded the market for the artist’s work.” - The New York Times

It’s Been A Century Since The Term ‘Scientifiction’ Was Coined

That was for Amazing Stories, a magazine that published Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and other stories driven both by ideas and some possibly limited characters (who could, however, fill science books with their thoughts). - NPR

Every Single Fictional Pop Star Feels So Phony

Not to go all Holden Caulfield, but honesty, the fakery - it burns. Yes, including Mother Mary. - Variety

As Indie Bookstore Day Gives Stores A Boost, They Talk About Battling Amazon

“There are about 70% more bookstores now than there were six years ago in the United States. After 20 years of declining numbers, they’re coming roaring back.” - Fast Company

You Might Have Associated Michael Tilson Thomas With San Francisco, But He Was Actually The Embodiment Of Los Angelesa

Mark Swed: “MTT made music matter by making hope matter. He was, moreover, one of us. He achieved greatness though an epic amplification of a uniquely L.A. positivity in which grumpy became wistful.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)

The Deep, Inescapable Unease Of The New Michael Jackson Biopic

And ‘unease’ is too kind a way to put it: “Everything left unsaid still lingers between the lines, sandwiched between the formidable melodies of his greatest hits, like toxic ooze leaking out from the middle of two slices of Wonderbread.” - Salon

But Opera Will Die If We Can’t Wrest It Back From Big Tech

“There is something in the embodied expression of a trained singer, on stage, in a room with other human beings, that no synthetic content can touch. But in an age when AI generates infinite aesthetic stuff at effectively zero cost, ‘irreplaceable’ needs to be made explicit.” - Opera America

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