In 2025, slop is everywhere. Low-effort, low-quality, AI-generated nonsense is polluting our social media feeds, search engine results, scientific journals, music streaming services, eBook marketplaces, universities, legal filings, and more. - Mother Jones
“Medhi Walerski will leave his role as of June 30, 2027, following the company’s big 40th-anniversary season. Walerski has led the company since July 2020 after the departure of Emily Molnar to Nederlands Dans Theater, guiding it past pandemic shutdowns into an era of extensive international touring and energized packed houses.” - Stir (Vancouver)
Over time, this popularity has become both a blessing and a terrible burden, and daring jewel heists are only the most eye-catching of the museum’s problems: it is bursting at the seams, at times literally. - The Guardian
While it’s easy to see buildings and public spaces as somewhat neutral or superficial, it’s not. Like the frame of a painting, it frames the spaces in which politics takes place, both literally and symbolically. - The Conversation
“They used . . . as though his work aligned with their values, i.e., promoting this segregationist vision of America. And so of course we were upset by this, because Norman Rockwell was really very clearly anti-segregationist.” - The Bulwark
“The industry is investing heavily in the future of series like it: low-budget, mobile-only ‘microdramas’ with episodes between 60 and 90 seconds. These shows, also known as ‘verticals’ for their phone orientation, have already become widely popular in China.” - The Guardian
“Verticals as the next big thing for Vancouver creatives and crews follows a major consumer shift in the entertainment ecosystem where made-in-China microdramas that combine the immediacy of social media with the soapy emotions of TV dramas have started to captivate U.S. audiences.” - The Hollywood Reporter
In 2012, as an octogenarian artist with failing eyesight, she achieved worldwide (what’s the euphemism we want here?) recognition when her attempt to restore a painting of Christ on a church wall in Spain went awry and then went viral. - Euronews
“Some Bay Area artists have found a way to ply their trades inside AI companies, to both parties' benefit. The catch: the techies have to take the artists' skills seriously, and the artists have to define their moral boundaries within a much-maligned, constantly evolving industry.” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
Esther Hwang alleges that she was assaulted by a senior orchestra member in 2017 — and that, after complaining to management, she was forced to sign an NDA and then edged out of the ensemble. VSO attorneys have threatened to sue her for violating that NDA. - Vancouver Sun
The UK Treasury is guaranteeing around £800 million to insure the 230-foot-long tapestry against damage or loss during its journey to and from its home museum in France to the UK. No money will be paid in advance, however; the £800 million comes into play only if something goes wrong. - ARTnews
“Jazz supergroup The Cookers, scheduled to perform two concerts at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday as part of ‘A Jazz New Year’s Eve,’ have canceled both shows, the band announced on Monday.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
At the very top of the list is James by Percival Everett, the Pulitzer Prize–winning retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from Jim’s perspective. Close behind is Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods, a moody literary thriller that also landed on NYPL’s Best Books list last year. - Time Out New York
The limited expectations for 21st-century rock may just have turned out to be freeing. For songwriters, musicians and — with luck — enough fans to support them, rock is far from played out. - The New York Times
