Stories

Tasmania’s “Provocative” Museum Of Old And New Art To Open Branch In Bangkok

MONA, owned and run (in famously quirky style) by gambling mogul David Walsh in Australia’s island state, is slated to open its first satellite museum on the banks of the Chao Phraya River in the Thai capital in 2029. - Artnet

Arts And Culture In Moscow Are Starting To Resemble The Late Soviet Years

Art shows in apartments or offices, open to friends only, featuring artists forbidden to exhibit publicly. Philosophy clubs in people's kitchens and living rooms. Small theater companies careful to refer to sensitive topics (like the Ukraine war or Putin) obliquely or not at all.  A pervasive climate of fear. - The New York Times

Investor Sues Paramount CEO David Ellison And His Father (And Funder) Over Alleged Side Deal With Trump To Rein In CNN

“Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison and his tech billionaire dad Larry Ellison have been sued by a Paramount shareholder who alleged they cut an ‘illegal’ deal with President Donald Trump to secure U.S. governmental approval for the takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.” - Variety

BBC Lost More Than Half A Million License-Fee Payers Last Year

“Today’s BBC Annual Report showed that license fee payers slid by 539,000 last year to around 23.3 million. This is the biggest decline since 2020-21 and likely one of the biggest of all time. … News of the decline in license-fee payers comes with the BBC seeking some sort of revamped financial model.” - Deadline

Trump Administration Removes Mentions Of Slavery From Site Of George Washington’s House In Philadelphia

“The original panels” — removed on Wednesday following a court decision — “were put in place in 2010 and told the story of how nine slaves lived in the home along with George and Martha Washington in the 1790s, when Philadelphia was briefly the nation’s capital.” - AP

Letters Confirm That André Breton’s Wife Was Frida Kahlo’s Lover

“A revelatory new biography of the overlooked French Surrealist painter Jacqueline Lamba brings to light her long-rumored affair with Frida Kahlo — all thanks to a cache of newly-discovered love letters. Kahlo specialist Salomon Grimberg has long hoped to revive Lamba’s reputation, which he believes has been unfairly overshadowed by that of her husband, the Surrealist icon André Breton.” - Artnet

Why Betting Site Kalshi Is Pushing Into Bets On Reality TV

Millions of dollars in bets on “Love Island USA” signal prediction platform Kalshi’s push into pop culture, where reality TV fandoms are fueling a rapid surge in entertainment trading volume. - Los Angeles Times

Six Decades After It Was First Performed, Yoko Ono’s “Cut Piece” Is Still Frightening

Ono debuted the work at Carnegie Hall in 1964, sitting motionless onstage as people took turns cutting off her clothes with scissors. The Broad in Los Angeles is presenting Cut Piece twice this weekend across the street at REDCAT. The performer, known as MPA, is scared — but not of the scissors. - The Guardian

What If Americans Just Don’t Want To Participate In Community?

Over and over again, Americans choose to sever bonds that connect us with each other: We move away from our hometowns, we leave our churches, we quit our unions, we quit our parties, we stay in instead of going out, we donate instead of volunteering, we let friendships fade away. - Matt Pearce

No, AI Is Not Killing Reading

AI summaries differ in speed, scale, and uncertain accuracy, but not in their basic educational function. They compress and translate. They can provide a map before we enter unfamiliar territory. - AI In

Utah’s Board Of Education Bans Stephen King’s “Different Seasons”

“It’s a collection that includes stories which inspired the acclaimed movies ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and ‘Stand By Me’. Libraries in (four) school districts removed the book. Under a 2022 Utah law, that means it can be removed from schools statewide, since at least three districts banned it.” - Utah Public Radio

“Catcher In The Rye” At 75

Pour out a Scotch and soda — make that a malted milk — for this spry codger of a novel that’s stayed on the dance floor long past when might be expected, leaping over book bans from the right and dodging cancellation from the left. - The New York Times

Why CNN Is An Important Piece Of The Paramount/Warner Deal

CNN is more important to the deal than it might seem at first glance, for two simple reasons: Politics, and debt. - The Hollywood Reporter

How Foucault Anticipated What’s Happening Today

“What Is an Author?” predicted a future where old ideas about authorship would give way to new questions about technology and power. “What are the modes of existence of this discourse?” Foucault asked. “Where does it come from, how is it circulated” and — perhaps most important — “who controls it?” - The New York Times

Did Munich’s Ballet Company Just Fire One Of Its Principal Dancers Via Instagram?

So claims Julian MacKay, who was a principal at the Bavarian State Ballet from 2022 until this week. He says he complained about unfair treatment and threatened to resign, then was dismissed without warning while on sick leave. The company says he was properly terminated in an in-person meeting. - The Violin Channel

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