The benefits of excessive licensing are unsubstantiated, theoretical, or minimal. But the drawbacks? Those are very real for workers and consumers alike. - The Atlantic
To hide the precarity of its rule, the government wants to erase its people from political discourse. It has transformed the rich and varied history of the Arabia it came to control over the last century into the history of the House of Saud. - Catalyst
As the one-year anniversary of the deadly 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches, we take a close look at the ongoing work of hundreds of professionals across a landscape of Ukrainian and international organizations to defend endangered cultural heritage. - Smithsonian
Chiwoniso Kaitano is the former executive director of Girl Be Heard, a nongovernmental organization that uses theater and the performing arts to advocate for social change. Originally from Zimbabwe, she also serves on the boards of several arts organizations. - AP
"More than $3.7 million in state gaming tax revenue is flowing to 43 nonprofit and municipal performing arts centers, allowing them to compete with the state's casinos when booking touring artists and performances, the Mass Cultural Council announced Tuesday." - WBUR (Boston)
In recent years, the number of employers offering sabbaticals has grown exponentially. In addition, many more workers, especially employees in managerial and professional roles, are taking their own unpaid sabbaticals when their organizations fail to offer them. - Harvard Business Review
I think in some areas of the arts we’ve moved backwards. It seems to me what you might call the design of neighborhoods, in the United States, is not obviously progressing. I think Hollywood movies are getting worse... There are definitely areas where there’s either no progress or retrogression. - The Point
Proposition 28 creates a guaranteed annual funding stream for music and arts education by setting aside 1% from the state’s general fund. In 2023, that comes out to roughly $941 million. - EdSource
The law firm MinterEllison, a major supporter of the Southern Hemisphere's counterpart to the Edinburgh Festivals, pulled back after several participants withdrew from Adelaide Writers' Week over the appearance of two authors, both harshly critical of Israel and one of whom takes a Putinist line on Ukraine. - The Age (Melbourne)
"Cuts of around £6.6m," made by the cabinet of recently departed First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, "to Scotland's arts and culture sector funded by the state were reversed – but (the acting Finance Minister) warned this was the 'absolute limit' of funding he could offer Creative Scotland." - The National (Scotland)
In the budget proposal he submitted to the legislature, Gov. Tony Evers has called for $100 million from the state's general fund to be placed in an Artistic Endowment Fund, with the interest from that money distributed annually in grants to arts organizations across Wisconsin. - WXPR (Rhinelander, WI)
"Pictures of the city showed gondolas stuck in canals reduced to muddy ditches, revealing the ancient foundations of buildings. ... The problems in Venice are being blamed on a combination of factors — the lack of rain, a high pressure system, a full moon and sea currents." - The Independent (UK)
There have now been more than a thousand versions of Monopoly, based not only on different cities but on properties such as “The Big Bang Theory,” “The Powerpuff Girls,” and M&M’s. The message, though, remains the same. - The New Yorker
What theatres need "are the movies that grease the wheels of the theatrical experience: the friendly bread-and-butter formula films for adults that audiences can depend on, that can keep them hooked on the act of moviegoing." - Variety
The site is - of course - going to become a residential development. "The artifacts found at the site include pottery sherds, stone tools, and humans remains likely dating back to the Tequesta people who lived along the Miami river." - ARTnews
