Stories

What Happens To Democracy When The Comedians Are Gone

"Because there’s no platform, no space or infrastructure for that kind of satire to be accepted, we were basically pushed out … We are up against generations of people who don’t have this kind of mindset. That’s why it was an uphill battle for us.” - The Guardian

FTC, Seven States Sue Ticketmaster Over Deceptive Practices

The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California, accused Ticketmaster of deceptive practices that advertised lower prices than were available, as well as falsely claiming it set limits on the number of tickets people could buy. - The New York Times

Actor Gary Busey Sentenced To Probation For “Criminal Sexual Contact”

“The 81-year-old Buddy Holly Story star had pleaded guilty in July to a single count of criminal sexual contact for touching a woman’s buttocks ‘over clothing during an 8-10 second photo op’ …  at the Monster-Mania Convention at the Doubletree Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia.” - AP

Time To Rethink What An “Emerging” Artist Means?

Our institutions insist on enforcing chrononormativity. They set age caps, define categories vaguely, and reward those who stay closest to the script. My experience with the Van Lier studio residency is a case in point. - Hyperallergic

Harvard Is Translating Archives Into AI Databases

In June, the initiative shared nearly a million books from a Harvard Library collection with AI researchers, spanning more than 254 languages and dating as far back as the 1400s. Currently, the initiative is tackling newspaper collections and government documents from the Boston Public Library’s collection. - The Harvard Crimson

Are Visa And Border Issues Causing International Performers To Reconsider US Tours?

Performers, event presenters, booking agents and lawyers tell NPR that they are dealing with a lot of uncertainty right now – and they have been very hesitant to speak on the record. They fear retaliation, including by those who hold decision-making power over visa approvals. - NPR

Fire Devastates Artists’ Complex In Brooklyn

The four-story former warehouse, built in the 1870s in the Red Hook neighborhood, was home to the 400-member Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition as well as artists’ studios, woodshops, furniture makers, and small businesses. - Hyperallergic

Inside Philly’s New Calder Museum

It is one of the strangest cultural complexes to be built anywhere in recent years. On an unpromising site no larger than a football pitch, wedged between two highways, a beguiling sequence of spaces take visitors on a journey of discovery deep into the ground. It is part barn, part cave and part rolling meadow. - The Guardian

What AI Doomers Get Wrong About Artificial Intelligence

To take one of their examples, a superintelligent chatbot “trained to delight and retain users so that they can be charged higher monthly fees to keep conversing” could end up wanting to replace us with simpler and more reliable automated conversation partners. - The Atlantic

How Late Night TV Fell Apart

Though late-night shows still attract millions of viewers across more channels than ever—including YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram—writers say that networks have still not figured out how to monetize that engagement. There are mitigating factors, but sources say the networks themselves have dropped the ball, in increasingly catastrophic ways. - Vanity Fair

Executive Director Who Fired Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s Dancers Is Out

Zenetta Drew, who presided over last year’s fiasco — which cost the company $560,000 in a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board and $248,000 in withdrawn city funding — will retire later this year. Meanwhile, the board unanimously accepted the recommendations in an advisory task force’s report on repairing DBDT. - KERA (Dallas)

Times Square Casino Plan Killed In Victory For Theater Folks

“A state-commissioned community advisory committee brought the curtain down on the $5.4 billion plan to redevelop an office tower into a Caesars Palace-branded hotel, gambling and entertainment complex … in a vote that occurred after public hearings in which actors, stagehands, restaurant owners and neighborhood residents lined up to oppose the project.” - AP

Taliban Bans Books By Female Authors And Books On Human Rights From Afghan Universities

“Some 140 books by women — including titles like "Safety in the Chemical Laboratory" — were among 680 books found to be of ‘concern’ due to ‘anti-Sharia and Taliban policies.’ The universities were further told they were no longer allowed to teach 18 subjects, including human rights.” - BBC (Yahoo!)

Despite Federal Funding Cuts, Rhode Island’s Public Radio And TV Avoid Layoffs

“Rhode Island’s newly created public media entity will not lay off any employees, after enough workers opted to take voluntary buyouts, Pam Johnston, CEO of Rhode Island PBS and The Public’s Radio, said in an email to company employees Wednesday.” - Rhode Island Current

Vancouver Symphony Musicians Vote Overwhelmingly To Authorize Strike

The musicians, who voted 97.4% in favor of the authorization, have been without a contract since July and have been negotiating with management since April. Their main complaint is being paid roughly 25% less than their peer orchestras in Canada while living in one of the world’s most expensive housing markets. - CBC

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