If this attempt to reclaim the instrument of my youth had been a mistake, I wasn’t alone in making it. Asking around, I became aware of other older people who were returning to music or even taking it up for the first time. - The New Yorker
The major exhibition “Ngura Puḻka – Epic Country,” was supposed to open at the National Gallery in Canberra in 2023. It was almost entirely installed when The Australian (a Murdoch paper) published allegations which led to a string of investigations, sustained and divisive public commentary, a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, and a three-year postponement. - The Guardian
An English professor burns the midnight oil talking to Microsoft Copilot about Shakespeare, Dickinson, Hawthorne, and a play he’s been working on—and comes away deeply impressed by its literary insights. - Quillette
Capitalism—and then late capitalism, and then late, late capitalism—has been identified as the culprit for culture’s flattening for at least a century. David Marx borrows heavily from Fredric Jameson’s account of postmodernism. - LA Review of Books
According to analysis by the artificial-intelligence-detection startup Originality AI, 23 major news sites are currently blocking ia_archiverbot, the web crawler commonly used by the Internet Archive for the Wayback project. - Wired
A puppeteer since childhood, Sid, with his younger brother Marty (who died 2½ years ago), produced H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost, The Bugaloos, Lidsville and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters and created the look of The Banana Splits — all using a psychedelic 1970s day-glo style and flashes of knowing grownup humor. - Deadline
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, to use the full name, has been popular all over the country and overseas for decades. Now some venues worry that what little government funding they get will be cancelled if they present a drag troupe, even one that’s been around for 50 years. - The Irish Times
“The new imprint will develop new publishing content based on properties from Paramount’s various divisions, such as SpongeBob SquarePants, ... Star Trek, and Yellowstone, complementing the work of its licensed publishers. … The imprint will also allow the company to generate original intellectual properties with potential for extension into entertainment and experiences.” - Publishers Weekly
“(The corporation) is restructuring its operations with plans for hundreds of layoffs across its film, TV and corporate divisions. Sources tell Variety the layoffs … are expected to result in a ‘few hundred’ eliminations out of 12,000 employees … globally.” - Variety
One the one hand, you have the Buffalo Philharmonic’s JoAnn Falletta and the South Dakota Symphony’s Delta David Gier, both thoroughly embedded in their communities. On the other, you have Klaus Mäkelä with three orchestras and Andris Nelsons, who's losing his Boston Symphony job partly because he's so busy elsewhere. - The New York Times
“U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles in Florida wrote in the order that Trump had failed to make the argument that the article was published with the intent to be malicious, but gave the president a chance to file an amended complaint.” - AP
“More than 100 cultural venues, museums, and libraries will share £130 million extra funding as part of the largest cash injection into the arts for a decade. ... The investment forms part of the Arts Everywhere Fund, a £1.5 billion package to support cultural infrastructure projects over the course of this parliament.” - The Guardian
The letter warns that merging two of Hollywood’s major studios will result in “fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world.” - The New York Times
A raffle in France is offering the chance to win a portrait by Pablo Picasso for the price of a €100 (£87) ticket, with proceeds going to Alzheimer’s research. - The Guardian
Bhosle, who recorded more than 12,000 songs, became her country’s pre-eminent exponent of playback singing – recording tracks that were then lip-synced on film by actors. She also boldly embraced cabaret and western-influenced melodies to forge a distinctive musical identity. - The Guardian
