“Glasgow is slowly becoming a hollow shadow of the thriving, radical and creatively edgy place it once was. ... If you’re a young creative person studying in Glasgow today, why would you stay here after graduation?” - The Guardian (UK)
The Paramount Skydance president is "facing new scrutiny after his Paramount bosses hired a law firm to investigate his surreptitious dealings with a Las Vegas high-roller and self-styled ‘fixer.’ Investigators are reviewing whether Shell leaked sensitive corporate secrets.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
So says a new report, which “criticises the industry for failing to consider how it might adapt to better accommodate parents, with the result that many, in particular women, drop out.” - The Guardian (UK)
The self-taught Mosley's works “show as much concern for pure form as any modernist’s, and reflect the influence of Constantin Brancusi and Isamu Noguchi, two particular heroes, as well as that of pre-modern African tribal sculpture.” - The New York Times
Ashley Ford needed “a reason to believe that giving myself over to a creative life didn’t also mean condemning myself to poverty and invisibility. What I needed was that constant source of air to turn my spark of creativity into a flame I could share with the world.” - Service 95
DOGE employees used ChatGPT to make their choices. “The prompt was simple: ‘Does the following relate at all to D.E.I.? Respond factually in less than 120 characters. Begin with ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’’ The results were sweeping, and sometimes bizarre.” - The New York Times
“Afroza Bano’s hands, once calloused from planting and weaving reed mats, now grow nimble with needle and thread. But sometimes, they get pricked by sharp pins or roughened by handling coarse fabric.” - The Xylom
Buckley doesn’t like cats. Big deal, right? Well … yes. Huge deal: "I have to come out and say it: Have we all lost our minds?” Or is this a carefully orchestrated campaign to win someone else the Best Actress Oscar? - Slate
“‘For McAllen, mariachi is like the Friday Night Lights of high school,’ said Anthony Medrano, a prominent San Antonio mariachi musician. ‘There’s pride in it.’” - The New York Times
“‘When there’s not unanimity in the lead acting races, it can get really weird.’ In that situation, voters stop gaming out front-runners and simply vote for their guy. Which means that truly anything can happen.” - Vulture
“Readers’ increasingly vocal partiality for first-person perspective over third person amounts to a profound shift in taste. Even while publishing is in dire straits elsewhere, the romance genre is in the midst of an unprecedented boom period.” - Slate
Many - most, even - of France's booksellers pulled out of . Then the organizers got Amazon to “mutually agree” to end its sponsorship. Who thought this was a good idea in the first place? - The Guardian (UK)
So what’s an NYT theatre critic to do? “There are so many things beyond our control ... but somewhere amid all the hubbub, someone is making something, and you need to pay attention.” - The New York Times