Stories

Japan Struggles With What Some There Call “Tourism Pollution”

“As the country’s economic malaise deepens, officials are eager for the economic boost of increased tourism, even as local communities find themselves entirely unprepared for what a small army of foreign visitors means for their communities.” - AP

Australian State Abandons Plans To Refocus Library On “Digital Experiences”

Many of Australia’s most prominent writers, researchers and artists, along with thousands of members of the public, had expressed outrage over the proposal to cut 39 jobs and refocus the 171-year-old institution – and Australia’s oldest public library – on tourist-oriented “digital experiences”. - The Guardian

Translating “Swan Lake” Into Cambodian Classical Dance

In Lowell, Mass., a center of America's Cambodian diaspora, the Angkor Dance Troupe has worked hard to preserve the dance traditions nearly wiped out by the Khmer Rouge. Yet the company also wants to expand the repertory and reach a wider community; adapting the Tchaikovsky classic seemed an ideal option. - WBUR (Boston)

Poets Are All About Words. What Happens When Those Words Start Slipping Away?

Because the cells that make up the mind are material, they can degrade or die. When neurons degrade, starve, or die, the essential connections our minds make to our muscles start to sputter. - LA Review of Books

When The AI Police Are Wrong

The Originality.ai reports on his draft, which he shared with The Times, showed that adding or deleting even just a few sentences produced wildly different results. “What if publishers or agents start running these A.I. tools on everybody?” Bricio said. “Everybody is going to walk on eggshells from now on.” - The New York Times

Greece’s New Law To Combat Art Theft

The bill, approved by Parliament in late January, establishes strict criminal penalties calibrated to the severity of the offense, including prison sentences ranging from six months to ten years and fines of up to €300,000 in the most serious cases. - ARTnews

One Of France’s Most Prominent Writers Had A Past As A Failed Antiquities Looter

André Malraux went on to fight in the WWII resistance, write celebrated novels, get nominated repeatedly for the Nobel Prize, and serve as de Gaulle’s culture minister. In his 20s, however, he and his wife decided they could get rich quick by going to Cambodia and stealing ancient statuary. - Smithsonian Magazine

Could (Should?) AI Replace Art Experts?

Attribution, in this sense, is not merely a scholarly exercise. It is the keystone of an economic and cultural structure. Without it, prices collapse, catalogues unravel, and historical narratives lose coherence. And yet attribution is also deeply human, shaped by judgment, intuition, training and, inevitably, bias. - Aeon

Hip-Hop Pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, 68

Bambaataa and the parties where he DJ'ed swelled in popularity throughout the decade and well into the 1980s, when he released a series of electro tracks that helped shaped the burgeoning hip-hop and electro-funk music movements. - NPR

Closing Arguments In The Live Nation Case

The heart of the case before the jury involves accusations that Live Nation has pressured artists to use the company’s promotions arm to play at its amphitheaters, and has also forced venues — sometimes with threats — to sign exclusive deals with Ticketmaster or risk losing access to Live Nation’s popular tours. - The New York Times

She Built Russia’s Only Major Contemporary Art Museum Outside Moscow. Then She Was Chased Out Of The Country.

Nailya Allakhverdiyeva turned PERMM (in Perm, 700 miles from Moscow) into one of the country’s most respected museums. She tried to cooperate with authorities over any concrete objections to PERMM’s projects, but continuing harassment by law enforcement and an ultimatum from the regional cultural minister drove her away. - The New York Times

AI And The End Of Homework: AI Can Now Do All The Work

Need to take an online math quiz? Write a biology-lab report? Create a PowerPoint presentation for history class? AI can do all of this and more. One high schooler recently told me that he struggles to think of a single assignment that AI wouldn’t be able to do for him. - The Atlantic

Pew Study On Reading: Americans Still Prefer Print Books

Print continues to be the only book format used by a majority of Americans. Roughly two-thirds of adults say they have read a physical book in the past 12 months, according to our October survey. - Pew Center

How Martin Luther Changed Music History

He realised how powerful music could be in spreading his new doctrine, that it could “incite people to do good and to teach them”. He’s one of several figures to whom the phrase: “Why should the devil have all the best tunes?” has been credited. He almost certainly didn’t say it, but he should have. - The Guardian

Do All The Tax Breaks And Subsidies That States Hurl At Hollywood Really Create Local Jobs?

Some local jobs, yes, but probably not enough for the amount of money states are spending, according to recent research. The exceptions appear to be the places where critical masses of industry workers already live: California and metro New York/New Jersey. - The Hollywood Reporter

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