ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

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Can Algorithms Be Protected Speech?

Recommendation systems pose difficult questions about what it means to speak, and whether speaking is something that only a person does. How do we draw a line between expressions and actions? And who (or what) can be considered a ‘speaker’? - Psyche

India’s First Prime Minister Himself Decided Whether “Lolita” Was Too Obscene To Be Allowed Into The Country

It was quite the literary drama: Customs in Bombay had impounded the first shipment of Nabokov's novel, the ministers of justice and finance were involved, and back then (1959) there was no Censor Board. So Jawaharlal Nehru himself read the book and rendered his decision. - Scroll (India)

The Internet As Endless Doom Scroll

It might seem the other way around: that our fleeting attention is the result of an internet that’s unrelentingly feeding us the now. But my hunch is that people feel stuck or move on because online, these events feel like things that have happened, rather than something that is happening. - The Atlantic

The Scene In “How I Learned To Drive” That Paula Vogel Herself Says Makes No Sense

Declares the playwright, "It makes no sense in the structure of the play. It's a complete interruption of the narrative."  But she won't cut it because "I don't think it came from me. ... (Writing it) literally felt like I was taking dictation." Yet actor David Morse made sense of it. - Variety

Stalin – Man Of Ideas

Stalin was a man of ideas, to the point where he thought that by changing the ideas to which people are exposed he could redesign human nature itself. - New Criterion

Facing Protests, Britain’s Largest Cinema Chain Cancels A Film About The Prophet Muhammad’s Daughter

The Lady of Heaven, about Fatima and her husband Ali (the first Shia imam), was written by a Shia cleric and seems intended to be reverent. But following angry protests calling the movie blasphemous and sectarian, the Cineworld chain has pulled it from screens. - BBC

The Scoop On This Sunday’s Tonys

There are around 831 eligible voters—and still ballots to be completed and votes totted up. The Daily Beast spoke to three voters anonymously about who and what they were voting for, and what buzz and gossip they had heard from fellow voters. - The Daily Beast

Why This Half-Spanish-Half-Ukrainian Ballet Star Had To Leave Moscow

Laura Fernandez, who studied and then danced at the Mariinsky in St. Petersburg before becoming first soloist at Moscow's Stanislavsky Theatre, has family in Mariupol. "I would tell my friends in Moscow and they would say, 'No, it's fine, they're not killing those guys, they're saving them'." - The Guardian

After 44 Years, Carol Burnett Is Returning To Regular Series TV

While she has done repeating guest-star roles and specials (and the unforgettable miniseries Fresno), the 89-year-old actress has not had a regular role in a series since her variety show ended in 1978. Burnett will star alongside Kristen Wiig in the Apple comedy series Mrs. American Pie. - The Hollywood Reporter

How Things Fell Apart At Santa Fe Pro Musica

It all seemed promising two years ago, when pianist Anne-Marie McDermott was hired as artistic director to replace the orchestra/concert presenter's retiring co-founders. Now McDermott has resigned, key staffers have been fired or fled, and the organization's largest donor has walked away in disgust. - Santa Fe New Mexican

Florida’s New Budget Doubles Arts Funding

"The budget signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis allocates slightly more than $59 million for three major grant categories, up from the $26.7 million last year. Once again this year, the budget provides no money for the cultural endowments category" and focuses largely on programming grants. - Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Philadelphia Museum Of Art’s Next Director: Sasha Suda Of The National Gallery Of Canada

At 41, Alexandra Suda will be the youngest director in the PMA's history, and she comes to Philadelphia after three years at the helm in Ottawa. She succeeds Timothy Rub, whose 12-year tenure in Philadelphia included both a $500 million renovation/expansion and considerable staff turmoil. - MSN (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

France Suspends Indicted Former Louvre Director From His New Post

The Ministry of Culture has put Jean-Luc Martinez, who left Paris's flagship museum at the end of last year and was then appointed a cultural heritage ambassador, on temporary leave in the wake of his being formally charged with complicity in organized fraud and money laundering. - Artnet

Martha Myers, A Doyenne Of America’s Dance Educators, Dead At 97

"(She) influenced generations of dancers both as the founder of the noted dance department at Connecticut College and as the longtime dean of the school of the American Dance Festival." - The New York Times

Can Murano’s Struggling Glass Factories Be Saved By Design?

Reversing Murano’s fate would be a monumental task, especially at this pivotal moment when soaring gas prices, caused by the war in Ukraine, have forced small, independently-owned factories to shut down their furnaces. - The New York Times

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