To be meta was to flex your self-awareness for social currency, to demonstrate proficiency in the language of smirky dissociative irony that was the trendy cultural refuge from the massive information shitstorm. - The Atlantic
If, in fact, book reviews are on the whole too positive, as some suggest, does this mean that the purpose of book reviewing is to sniff out what’s rotten? Or, if book reviews are too negative, does this mean that public-facing literary criticism’s purpose is to highlight what’s worth reading? - LA Review of Books
The National Gallery of Australia needs to urgently find more than $67 million to protect its $6.1 billion art collection with a backlog of repairs to its 40-year-old building left unfunded by the Morrison government. - Sydney Morning Herald
Nathaniel Silberschlag, who became the Cleveland Orchestra's principal hornist at age 21, astounds even jaded professional orchestra musicians. His teacher, Met Opera principal hornist Julie Landsman, calls him "brilliant, motivated, personable and talented beyond belief" and told Franz Welser-Möst that he's "the biggest talent I've ever seen." - The New York Times
The US – like many other Western nations – has gone from a place “where it seemed like some sort of consensus was possible”, to a new order in which “every cultural and political moment of significance gets interpreted in two radically different ways”, with there being “very little overlap”, said Glass. - New Statesman
Golden State Ballet first took the stage late last year, reviving the now-defunct California Ballet's staging of Nutcracker, but this week the company presents its first original program, a four-piece mixed bill including a world premiere commissioned from choreographer Andrea Schermoly. - The San Diego Union-Tribune
Although the city had repealed its Cabaret Law, a 1926 regulation that made it illegal to host dancing, singing or musical entertainment without a license, zoning law restrictions left many establishments unable to permit dancing. - The New York Times
"Through its lengthy development process, A Strange Loop underwent countless loop-the-loops of revisions, workshops, and more revisions. Here, its key players detail the dizzying path to production — and the sense of déjà vu that drove its success." - New York Magazine
"Her desire for procedural accuracy and the developments in criminology and medicolegal sciences her writing tracks show clearly the progression of forensics into the field of study it now is." - CrimeReads
Amid war with Russia, the city’s challenge is to integrate tens of thousands of residents displaced from fighting in eastern Ukraine without sacrificing Lviv’s aesthetics or derailing its efforts to become a sustainable, livable European city. - The New York Times
The skilled artisans on the Venetian island have been struggling for many years against competition from mass-produced glass — and that was before the invasion of Ukraine sent fuel prices sky-high. Now some enterprising designers are working with Murano glassmakers to develop a market for new high-end work. - The New York Times
"With his compassionate humor, Chekhov neither indicts his characters nor lets them off the hook for their myopic concerns. His plays are a tonic reminder to artists across disciplines that lives are lived not in headlines but in passing moments." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
"Over the past few months, new advancements in A.I." — in particular, the platforms Sudowrite (text) and Dall-E (images) — "have made it clear that writers, illustrators, photographers, journalists, and novelists could soon be driven from the workforce and replaced by high-tech player pianos." - Vanity Fair
"More than three months into the (Ukraine) war, reports are surfacing about illicit screenings of Hollywood movies at Russian cinemas, with initial reports naming The Batman, Red Notice, Disney animation Turning Red and Michael Bay crime actioner Ambulance." - Variety
