"Pakistan has reversed course and lifted a ban on its Oscars entry, Joyland, but the film will receive some cuts by local censors. ... The film features a love story between a married man and a transgender woman, which sparked controversy among some conservatives." - The Hollywood Reporter
While the share of Americans listening to spoken word audio increased across all age groups, it increased the most for those ages 13 to 34, the report found. That age group now dedicates 26% of its listening hours to spoken word audio (instead of music) — up from just 12% in 2014. - NiemanLab
"In interviews over the last few weeks, many of those involved in bringing The Lion King to Broadway in 1997 spoke about the show's genesis. This oral history contains edited excerpts from those interviews." - The New York Times
Lord Neil Mendoza: "It's just not right — it's absolutely not fair. We're so London-focused. ... There's this idea that once you've had funding it's a human right that funding will continue. That's not true. ... No one's lost anything, because no one's guaranteed anything." - Financial Times
Last month, shortly after the 12th edition of the annual art competition in Grand Rapids ended, the board announced that "we know the time is right to conclude the original ArtPrize experiment and open up space for new energy and creativity."Â They say that an "ArtPrize 2.0" is coming. - Artnet
"Facing mounting vendor debt and depressed ticket sales since the pandemic shutdown ended, the group has decided to fold, says longtime pops president Frank Giordano, ... leaving the city without a stand-alone pops orchestra and the Kimmel Center with one fewer resident company." - The Philadelphia Inquirer
More specifically: Imani Perry's South to America (nonfiction), Tess Gunty's The Rabbit Hutch (fiction), Sabaa Tahir's All My Rage (young people's literature), John Keene's Punks: New and Selected Poems (poetry), and Argentine author Samanta Schweblin's Seven Empty Houses, translated by Megan McDowell (literature in translation). - AP
"Right now they're in that progression of somewhere between deep second and third-degree burns to the face," says his doctor. "We're hoping we can keep them from progressing by using these alternate treatments, including good wound care and hyperbaric oxygen and aggressive surgical management." - CNN
"The Crown Prosecution Service said (Spacey) has been charged over 'a number of sexual assaults against one man between 2001 and 2004'. It also authorised 'one charge of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent' against the 63-year-old actor, who lives in the United States." - MSN (AFP)
 Art Basel Miami is the annual neon orgy of high-octane contemporary art, endless wealth, and celebrity bacchanalia where the art world’s most prominent high rollers are as carefully guarded as the astronomically priced artwork on display at Miami Beach Convention Center. - The Daily Beast
Is this the beginning of the end for BBC radio? The history of the medium provides some answers about the role radio still plays today. - The Conversation
AI-generated content can be of higher quality than content created by humans, due to the fact that AI models are able to learn from a large amount of data and identify patterns that humans may not be able to see. This can result in more accurate and informative content. - Harvard Business Review
Most books don’t succeed either in terms of sales or critical unanimity. Most writers don’t earn a living wage from their writing. Tenure-track appointments (I teach college writing) are rare as unicorns. But being a writer is not a sentence handed down, it’s a choice I’ve made. - The New York Times
Longtermism is a technocratic dream that purports to give some of the wealthiest people in the world the ability to plan the far future of humanity according to their personal whims. It is hubris. - New Statesman
