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US Federal Grants To Museums And Libraries Restored Following Court Case

“The Institute of Museum and Library Services is reinstating all grants that were previously terminated by the Trump administration. A short statement posted on the agency's website Wednesday reads, ‘this action supersedes any prior notices which may have been received related to grant termination.’” - NPR

London’s Barbican Centre To Get An Overhaul That Might Just Make It Easier To Navigate

It will be a mammoth task, and a necessary one. The 43-year-old Brutalist landmark in central London has never been renovated, and its physical plant is starting to literally crack up. What’s more, the Barbican is notorious for being confusing to get around in, and that will finally be addressed. - The Guardian

Troubled San Antonio Philharmonic Cancels Its Holiday Concerts

While next weekend’s classical programs are still scheduled, the orchestra’s Holiday Pops shows for the weekend before Christmas and its New Year’s Eve Gala have been called off. - San Antonio Current

Royal Shakespeare Company To Eliminate Its Music Department

As part of its company-wide layoffs, the RSC will terminate its entire live music staff and switch to using recorded music. - The Stage (UK)

Netflix To Buy Warner Bros. Discovery For $82.7 Billion

“The deal has a total enterprise value (including debt) of approximately $82.7 billion, with an equity value of $72 billion, the companies said. The announcement … came after a weeks-long bidding war that pitted the streaming giant against David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance and Comcast.” - Variety

Pantone’s 2026 Color Of The Year Is … White?

Well, Pantone is calling it “Cloud Dancer” and describing it with a lot of verbiage that strains credibility, but yes, it is white. As reporter Vittoria Benzine observes, “Maybe this is a good moment to note that white isn’t the absence of color, but the simultaneous presence of all hues.” - Artnet

Now Bollywood Has A Rival For The Spotlight In India’s Enormous Movie Industry

Bollywood, based in Bombay/Mumbai and producing movies in Hindi, has always been the center of India’s cinematic universe. Yet there are centers of filmmaking in other Indian languages based in other state capitals. One of those centers — Tollywood, which produces Telugu-language movies in Hyderabad — has been enjoying a big run of successes. - AP

Countries Boycotting Eurovision Over Decision To Allow Israel To Compete

Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia will boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, after Israel was allowed to compete. - BBC

Ailey Company Launches Its First Season Under Director Alicia Graf Mack

Mack, who did two stints as a principal dancer with the company (and got a master’s degree in-between), says her vision is to balance between Alvin Ailey’s own “powerful, visceral” choreography and new pieces by Fredrick Earl Mosley, Matthew Neenan, Jamar Roberts, and Urban Bush Women founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. - NPR

Russia Blocks Facetime, Roblox

Both restrictions are part of an accelerating clampdown on foreign tech platforms: In the case of FaceTime, Russian authorities allege it is being used for criminal activity, while Roblox was accused of distributing extremist materials and "LGBT propaganda." - CBC

Is Appointment TV Making A Comeback?

As more shows switch to a weekly release schedule, it gives viewers a chance to watch the episodes as they become available and take part in the same cultural moment, but experts suggest what's happening is more of a happy middle ground between appointment viewing and binge watching. - CBC

Paramount Claims Bias In Warner Deal

“It has become increasingly clear, through media reporting and otherwise, that WBD appears to have abandoned the semblance and reality of a fair transaction process, thereby abdicating its duties to stockholders, and embarked on a myopic process with a predetermined outcome that favors a single bidder. - Deadline

“The Picasso Of India” Finally Has A Dedicated Museum — In Qatar

“More than a decade after his death, the Indian Modernist M.F. Husain is getting the monumental tribute he long imagined. Qatar” — where he lived in exile after repeated death threats from Hindu nationalists — “has unveiled a new museum dedicated entirely to the artist, … cementing his place in global art history.” - Artnet

The Importance Of Style In Science

Style, as I see it, is much more idiosyncratic and manifests in scientists who may practice in the same field and utilize similar methods, but who nonetheless differ in the way they conduct and produce their work. - Undark

Why We Shouldn’t Bring Back Gatekeepers

Put simply: Once established institutions lost the privilege to control the public conversation, they acquired an obligation to participate within it, which, so far, they have mostly failed to do. - Conspicuous Cognition

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