ISSUES

Seaside Towns In Brittany Are Fed Up With Parisian Tourists

“The anger is running high across Finistère, where local populations swell to triple their normal size every summer, and heatwave conditions in the south of France have added to the influx this year. … Hostile messages have been scratched on car doors, and holidaymakers from Paris have had insults hurled at them on the street.” - The Telegraph (UK) (MSN)

Report: Revenue Cratered At The Kennedy Center After Name Change

Ticket sales had already dropped in the10 months following Trump’s takeover, but both ticket sales and donations plunged after the Trump-led board of trustees voted in December to rename the center after him and put his name on the front of the building, according to the records. - Washington Post

Historic LA Performing Center Reopens After 15-Year Renovation

After a 15-year renovation, South L.A.’s historic Vision Theatre Performing Arts Center is reopening, marking a major milestone for Leimert Park and a $40-million investment in Black arts and culture. - Los Angeles Times

Elections Flip Control Of Florida School Board At Center Of Book Bans And Culture Wars

“Two Democratic-backed candidates beat out conservatives in Tuesday's school board election in Sarasota, Florida, flipping the board's majority. Helmed for the past year by a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, … the board is moving in a new direction, the winners said.” - The Washington Post (Yahoo!)

LinkedIn Added An AI Slop Button, And People Are Clicking It A Whole, Whole Lot

Since July 30th, more than a million people have clicked on the button accessible on each post. - The Verge

Viral, Often AI-Generated, TikToks Have Police Announcing The Cat In The Hat Isn’t Real

Wild: “Many of the AI generated images have been centred on the Irish counties of Limerick and Wexford, where shaky videos purportedly showed the character wandering through the streets, causing alarm and confusion among residents.” - BBC

The Mayor Of Los Angeles Suddenly Loves The Warnermount Merger

What in the rolling over for rich people hell, Karen Bass? - Vulture

Weird Idea Spreads On Chinese Internet That Tang Dynasty Never Existed

The Tang era (618-907 CE) is considered a golden age, a period of territorial expansion, prosperity and high culture which every Chinese schoolchild learns about. Claiming it never happened is like telling Brits there was no Norman Conquest. Yet the bogus idea has caught on widely enough that China’s government is weighing in. - CNN

How The COVID Crisis Shifted Culture Funding

In 2019, arts organizations in BIPOC-majority neighborhoods of a major U.S. city received 16% less median grant funding than those in white-majority neighborhoods. By 2022, they were receiving 289% more. - SMU Cultural Data

How The Kennedy Center Plans To Put Trump’s Name Back

In a status report submitted late Tuesday to a federal court, the Kennedy Center outlined its plans to put President Trump's name back on the arts complex. - NPR

Refurbishment Plans For The Kennedy Center Detailed

More than 160 pages of plans, assembled by the real estate company JLL and presented to the board of trustees, outline extensive changes throughout the building. - Washington Post

Google Now Has An AI Tool To Catch Fake AI Images

“After (a fact-checker) upload(s) an image and enter(s) a basic question, Backstory can automatically run checks to determine whether the image is AI-generated, whether it shows signs of manipulation, and where else the image has appeared throughout its lifetime on the internet.” - Nieman Lab

Many Of New York City’s Most Prominent Cultural Institutions Don’t Pay Fines For Fire Code Violations

The Met Museum, Carnegie Hall, BAM, Lincoln Center, even the Brooklyn Children’s Museum — in fact, none of the 39 institutions in what’s called the Cultural Institutions Group have to pay Fire Dept. summonses. There is, in fact, a logical reason for this. - Gothamist

Kennedy Center Management Explains Why That Tarp Is Still There

The fabric barrier and scaffolding put up while Trump’s name was removed from the building’s façade are still in place more than two months later. In a court filing this week, management stated that there is still work being done at and around that area. - The Independent (UK)

The Case Of The Fake Ancient Roman Amphitheatre

“Picture this: a hillside ‘archaeological site’ complete with what were marketed as Neolithic and Greco-Roman artefacts, impressive enough that visitors were charged a hefty 40-euro entrance fee. … Except it wasn’t ancient at all.” And the perpetrator had cleared a protected hillside forest to build it. - Gramilano

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