ISSUES

A New Arts-And-Culture Magazine Focused On “The Creative Process”

“Former Pitchfork and Spin editor-in-chief Puja Patel is launching Totei, a publication dedicated to ‘craft and craftsmanship.’ The online magazine will publish content weekly, including profiles of artists and musicians, photo essays, reported features, and interviews. Crucially, Totei aims to spotlight rarely seen materials showing how art is created.” - Semafor

Israeli Organization Threatens Suit Against Canadian Museum for Human Rights Exhibit

A prominent Israeli legal organization is threatening legal action against the Canadian Museum for Human Rights over an upcoming exhibit on the Palestinian Nakba, alleging the Winnipeg museum is promoting a politically one-sided narrative that could fuel antisemitism and violate federal law. - Winnipeg Sun

Boston’s Investment In The Arts Is Deflating

The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture more than doubled its operating budget and staff, and the city earmarked $26.2 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to bolster Boston’s creative sector. All that is set to change, as federal pandemic funds run out and the city cuts grant programs to balance the budget. - WBUR

The Americanization Of Tourism

We’re selling vibes, textures. A sunset on the hills in Chianti, riding a bike on an island in Sicily. Imagine us discussing it in parliament with an Italian accent: l’importanza del made in Italy. We use the English expression unironically. It’s aimed at Americans. - The Dial

Chicago Arts Groups Are Asking Patrons To Turn Over Their Phones At The Door

“If you want a deep dive into Chicago arts and culture, check your phone at the door: The ‘unplugged’ trend is growing locally among arts groups responding to a collective desire for more phone-free experiences.” - WBEZ (Chicago)

France’s Top TV Production House Says It Will Blacklist Artists Who Protest Billionaire

The head of France’s biggest film producer, Canal+, has said the group will no longer work with hundreds of cinema figures who signed a petition voicing concern over the growing influence of the rightwing billionaire owner Vincent Bolloré. - The Guardian

How AI Has Taken Over My College Education At Stanford

Stanford has always been a haven for aspiring techies, but recent events have taken the school into uncharted territory. A.I. is everything. We talk about it at the dining halls and in history classes, on dates and while smoking with friends, at the gym and in communal dorm bathrooms. - The New York Times

Humanities Make A Comeback As AI Gobbles Up Tech Jobs

As it turns out, tech jobs may be drying up after years of students rushing to computer science. Who needs to code? AI does that for you. What AI can’t do – yet – is the stuff that makes us human: empathy, emotion, psychology, critical thinking. - Irish Times

The Smithsonian Adds That Impeachment Language Back To The Portrait Of The Current President

"In the new wall text accompanying a portrait of Mr. Trump, the impeachments are mentioned in a list of important events from the president’s first term.” - The New York Times

Our Feeds Are Products Of Stealth Marketing — And Thus, Mostly Fake

The head of one viral marketing firm says 90 percent of what we see online is advertising. And of course, “the point of this kind of marketing is that nobody is supposed to notice it. But lately, the machinery has started to show.” - Vulture

Seth Rogen Says If You Want To Use AI To ‘Write’ Your Scripts, You Should Simply Stop Working As A ‘Writer’ And Go Do...

"Every time I see a video on Instagram that’s like, ‘Hollywood is cooked,’ what follows is the most stupid dog shit I’ve ever seen in my life.” - Variety

A Popular Pre-Print Publication Will Ban Anyone Who Sends Papers With Evidence Of AI Slop

“If a paper has ‘incontrovertible evidence that the authors did not check the results of LLM generation,’ such as hallucinated references or “meta-comments” left by an LLM, authors will be banned from ArXiv for a year.” The responses have been … er, interesting. - The Verge

The Anti-AI Backlash Is Growing

Even absent any uptick in AI-induced layoffs, the anti-AI sentiment is likely to keep growing. - The Atlantic

Would Paying Reviewers Help Fix The Peer Review Problem?

“The current system of unpaid reviews undermines the standards of the peer-review process. It produces late reviews and excludes large segments of the research community who cannot afford to work for free. If you have a financial commitment from the reviewer, it creates a lever for expecting quality. Payment creates accountability, not corruption.” - InsideHigherEd

Staffers At San Francisco Arts Commission Want To Know Where The Hell Their Boss Is

“Employees and artists are speaking out about turmoil in the San Francisco Arts Commission, alleging that its leader has been chronically absent and arguing that it's harming the arts by cutting staff and changing how it funds artists.” - San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss