ISSUES

Foreign Artists Are Skipping The US Because Of Broken Visa Process

The time it takes to process a visa has dramatically increased. The number of available interview slots at U.S. embassies is backlogged. Application costs have surged. And there's an added layer of uncertainty: paperwork can be perfect, fees can be paid, and yet artists still can be turned away at the border. - NPR

What Happens To Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center Without Robert Wilson?

“’Bob was always saying he didn’t want Watermill to become an institution,’ said Charles Chemin, Watermill’s new artistic director. ‘He didn’t want to create a Bob Wilson school. But Watermill is filled with the vision of Bob Wilson, with his unique form of composition and his unique way of collaborating.’” - The New York Times

Report: UK Humanities Programs Being Axed By Hard-Up Universities

Analysis of the latest official data by the academy for the Guardian shows that nearly 4,000 academic posts in social sciences, humanities and the arts have been axed in one year alone.  - The Guardian

Trump Admin’s Critique Of The Smithsonian Is Laughably Wrong

Even when judged by the standards of the form, the White House’s anti-woke polemic is a shoddy piece of workmanship not unlike the peeling blue sealant in the $15 million renovation of the Reflecting Pool. - The New Republic

Trump Administration Is Keeping Smithsonian Board Seats Vacant, And Nobody Is Saying Much About It

“There have been three openings on the board since April, and by October, the terms of three more trustees will have expired. But the names proposed by the board, which have not been publicly disclosed, have yet to make their way to Congress, and without clear explanation.” - The New York Times

The Private Concierges Of Rome (Culture On Demand)

The secret to the company’s success lies in its network of “partners”—museums and churches and palazzi, but also artists and photographers and scholars. Each has something special to offer if they can be persuaded to provide it.  - The Atlantic

Why Debates Over Free Speech Can Lead To So Much Fury

“The free speech wars of recent years are not just about rules – they’re about what it means to be a good person.” - The Guardian (UK)

The Question Remains

Can genAI art or writing ever, ever be more than mid? - Glasstire

What Would A Post-Literate World Look Like, Though?

“We are making real trade-offs as we shift to communication through short-form video, and maybe it will be worth it, but we certainly are losing a lot.” - NPR

Is The U.S. Really Ready To Face The Mythmaking Of Little House On The Prairie?

A new Netflix adaptation would argue that some people - though likely not those trying to ban anything not “positive” in history texts - are so ready. - Salon

The New York Times’ Article On Kerri Greenidge Has Weird Timing And Research Issues

“The article offers no convincing explanation for a response this totalizing. It does not solve the mystery. It compounds it.” - Study Marry Kill

Whistleblowers Accuse The Trump Administration Of Harming The Kennedy Center

“The documents — sent to a Senate and a House committee last month by lawyers for unidentified clients referred to as whistle-blowers — detail how vendors were selected for work without competitive bidding under rationales that are depicted as flawed.” - The New York Times

Meta Installs AI Deepfake Tool For Instagram On Tuesday, Removes It On Friday

That went well. "Just because Meta owns one of the largest social media platforms, and we're forced to use it, it's been taking it as an excuse to violate our consent and privacy again and again.” Uh, oops. - Business Insider

A Lot Of True Believers Sponsored ‘The Chosen’ Before It Became A Money-Printing Juggernaut

But they seem to have been left behind. “A shareholder lawsuit, quietly filed this past week against 5&2 Studios in the Delaware Court of Chancery, alleges that some of those early acolytes were prevented from sharing in the miracle.” - Puck

New York Times, Ziff Davis, The Intercept, Others Accuse OpenAI Of Possible Obstruction Of Justice

As part of their broader lawsuits against OpenAI for copyright infringement for training its software on their media products without consent or compensation, the plaintiffs filed a motion accusing the company of lying during discovery by deliberately hiding evidence that its training datasets and output logs are searchable. - Variety

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