Stories

The Best Actor Race Is Weirdly Up For Grabs

“‘When there’s not unanimity in the lead acting races, it can get really weird.’ In that situation, voters stop gaming out front-runners and simply vote for their guy. Which means that truly anything can happen.” - Vulture

Romance And Romantasy Fans Are Driving A Potential Literary Shift

“Readers’ increasingly vocal partiality for first-person perspective over third person amounts to a profound shift in taste. Even while publishing is in dire straits elsewhere, the romance genre is in the midst of an unprecedented boom period.” - Slate

Amazon Tried To Sponsor A Book Festival In France, And That Went About As Well As You Might Expect

Many - most, even - of France's booksellers pulled out of . Then the organizers got Amazon to “mutually agree” to end its sponsorship. Who thought this was a good idea in the first place? - The Guardian (UK)

It’s Such A Brutal Time For Both Theatre And Arts Journalism

So what’s an NYT theatre critic to do? “There are so many things beyond our control ... but somewhere amid all the hubbub, someone is making something, and you need to pay attention.” - The New York Times

The Man In Charge Of Pixar Cuts Any Content He Sees As Therapy

Especially if that content is, you know, gay. Surely that will fix the fabled studio! - Wall Street Journal (MSN)

Federal Judge Rules Appointment Of Kari Lake Invalid, Voiding Mass Layoffs At The Voice Of America

“If upheld by higher courts, Judge Lamberth’s ruling would allow more than 1,000 journalists and support staff members at the news group to return to their jobs” - and to keep broadcasting to places like China, Russia, and Iran. - The New York Times

For Dublin’s Arts Council, Meetings With Property Developers Are Always On The Schedule

“Our job is to ‘opportunity-make’ a space.’ … A lot of people think cultural development shouldn’t exist. There should be housing development, factory development and office development. But culture? What is that?” - Irish Times

The Met Is The Largest Performing Arts Company In The US, And It’s Desperate For Money

“The core problem has been ticket revenues, which were weakening even before the coronavirus pandemic shuttered its theater with a devastating financial impact. Box-office receipts last year were down $20 million from a decade earlier.” - The New York Times

How The Musical Suffs Emerged From The 2016 Election

“To me, a great protagonist for a musical is somebody who wants something so desperately, who is going to be relentless to the point of recklessness. … Alice lived until 1977. She was the author of the Equal Rights Amendment. She never stopped.” - Boston Globe

Tatjana Wood, A Skilled Comic Colorist Who Worked On Famous Teams For DC, Has Died At 99

“Anyone who laid eyes on a DC Comics cover from 1973 to 1983 was likely seeing an example of Ms. Wood’s work. She colored nearly every cover for the company, whether the image was for a horror title, a war comic or a superhero adventure.” - The New York Times

The Cosplayers Taking Emerald City Comic Con To Task For Its Deep Connections To ICE

“The problem lies in a rotten, corporate family tree,” and the self-described nerds aren’t going to let anyone forget it. For instance, in one panel, “it’ll be much, much more about fascism than a steamy book panel usually would be.” - The Stranger (Seattle)

After An Indigenous Filmmaker’s Speech Is Cut Fore Broadcast, The Toronto Film Critics Association Is Falling Apart

“Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers returned her trophy, the president resigned and 16 members have quit — with more considering their position.” - The Hollywood Reporter

Does This Musician’s Nostalgic Performance Prove The Brits Are Becoming More Conservative Again?

“For all that the audience are loving it, the enthusiastic self-infantilisation feels depressing to me. Is Middle England so deprived of communal singing – the pub, the church, the local choir – it makes this appealing?” - The Guardian (UK)

Remaking The Art Of The Fugue As A Ballet, In Denmark, After Fleeing The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine

“When the tanks entered Ukraine, Ratmansky gathered his artistic team and left for New York, severing ties with the Bolshoi and with Russia.” - New York Review of Books

The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Firing Of Nelsons Provides Conductors With A Cautionary Tale

“Nelsons, 47, has become one of the most unfortunate symbols of all that is irresponsible about the overstretched, overtired, overindulged modern music director. It has been not only deeply frustrating, but genuinely sad, to witness his trajectory.” - The New York Times

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