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What I saw From Inside The Kennedy Center Meltdown

Palermo also said Trump's Truth Social post about handing control back to Congress sounded like an attempt to distance himself from an institution. He adds that he believes the Trump administration has driven the center into bankruptcy. - NPR

The Problem With Responses To AI Creations

At its core, this is a debate about values. A short story implies a human artistic act with intentional imaginative labour—the exact practice whose future is now at risk if the literary world doesn’t take a stand. - The Walrus

Will People Embrace The First AI Art Museum?

Dataland — a museum built with artificial intelligence — arrives as debates explode across socio-political lines about the impact of the advancing technology on our culture, cognition, communication, economy, environment and careers, including in the arts. - Los Angeles Times

Tired Of Streaming, People Are Turning To Physical Media

"Ten years ago, the average age of people walking in here were, 40, 50, 60. Now 20 and 22, we are even getting teenagers." - ABC

States Say They Will Sue To Block Paramount/Warner Deal

If Paramount doesn’t lock this down by October, it’s on the hook to pay shareholders a near-$6.9 million daily fee. - Gizmodo

Paramount Launches A Games Studio

Paramount Games Studio launches as Paramount Skydance is awaiting regulatory approval on its pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. WBD has its own in-house video game studio, which produces titles based on Harry Potter, “Game of Thrones,” the DC Universe and more WBD IP. - Variety

Sotheby’s Tried To Quietly Sell A Pollock For $50M. It Didn’t Go Well

According to one source familiar with the effort, Sotheby’s could not find enough bidders to get the auction off the ground. The auction was ultimately called off, though it remains unclear whether the painting was returned to Glimcher, sold privately, or remains with Sotheby’s. - ARTnews

Audiobook Sales Up 9 Percent In 2025, To $2.4B

General fiction accounted for the largest share of audiobook revenue at 27%, with science fiction/fantasy, romance, and mysteries/thrillers/suspense rounding out the top genres. The fastest-growing genres in 2025 were humor, general fiction, and children's, including YA. - Publishers Weekly

Trying To Remember Which Memes Were Important Back In The Day?

The British Film Institute has your back. - The New York Times

Minneapolis Gets A Massive Land Art Mural

Franco-Swiss artist Saype “said he decided to pick Minneapolis for the project during the federal immigration enforcement surge after seeing neighbors helping each other.” - Minnesota Public Radio

Why Is Philly’s Gem Of A Bridge So Badly Neglected?

“The University Avenue Bridge was designed and built as a prime specimen of the City Beautiful aesthetic. … Today, the bridge that connects West Philadelphia and Grays Ferry is a monument to decrepitude.” - Philadelphia Inquirer

What’s Gone Deeply Wrong With Social Media

“Something seems to have broken down in the functionality of the internet, between Facebook’s erratic algorithm and Google search results now headed by fabricated, AI-generated content and sponsored ads.” - El País English

When Los Angeles Turns The Cameras On Itself

“There's something really ugly and beautiful about Los Angeles, I think, and that's what these films capture - the idea that anything could happen here, that people could become overnight famous in LA for something they did really well or something really horrible.” - NPR

The New School In Manhattan Lays Off Nearly 90 People

It’s a body blow to the institution’s humanities sectors. “All 19 impacted faculty members were in the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts and the New School for Social Research.” - Hyperallergic

Vinyl Is Back, But It’s Also Polluting The Planet

“Modern vinyl records are crafted with PVC resin, which makes up more than 75% of an average disk The synthetic polymer itself is made of chlorine and fossil fuel-derived feed stock.” Um, yikes? - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)

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