Am I stuck in an AI-curated loop, feeding the same preferences back into the system until my tastes become a closed circuit? Is Spotify’s recommendation algorithm making me predictable – and, dare I say it, boring? - TechRadar
“The Substance is a mess, full of sound and fury, signifying little, with Moore given scant else to do besides ‘react with horror to her latest mutation.’ Indeed, Moore is, well, just fine in it.” (Note: Sometimes, that’s not why people win Oscars … sadly.) - Slate
Brandon Jay "said he drew inspiration from buy-nothing groups that encourage participants to give and receive items within a community rather than buy them. … 'It’s been so heartwarming and lovely to connect people,’” he said. “'And a big portion of it is helping heal what you lost.’” - LAist
The project was "an anarchic happening somewhere between a pop concert, a community sewing party and experimental theatre,” partly in reaction to Germany’s far-right party - The Guardian (UK)
Praise or blame Col Needham, “he is in many ways one of the last remaining relics of the promise of the internet, of a community-minded goodness that gave rise to other user-run platforms.” His site, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), turns 35 this year. - Washington Post (Yahoo)
Oscars voting is finished, but who is one of the bigger voting blocs for the Oscars? That’s right … the actors. So Demi Moore’s win for The Substance and the win for the British film about choosing a new Pope might be strong bellwethers for next week’s big show. - The New York Times
The director at first claims his Oscar wins changed nothing, but then he says that "the Oscars probably did help raise budget and ease along the casting process, particularly with regards to securing participation of” star Robert Pattinson.” - The Guardian (UK)
A complaint signed by thousands of people has been filed, but artist Fabián Cháirez says, “I think there are other issues we should be protesting against, such as the church’s abuse of power and sexual abuses within the church.” - Hyperallergic
“Democracy cannot get underway without the kind of imaginative experiment that literature provides, a perspective provided by the rearrangement of temporal and spatial coordinates that suggest that the parameters of this world are not the limits of all possible worlds.” - LitHub
The pieces were stolen from Nigeria's Kingdom of Benin by British soldiers in 1897. The British went on to sell their spoils, and the treasures made their way to the Dutch government,” which is now ready to return 119 pieces of art. - NPR
That is to say, music. Says the Doctor Who star's label manager, “People seem to recognise the voice, but they can't place the singer. I say, if you can guess, you can have a free copy.” - BBC
One rock band frontman: “I feel bad for the people who have worked there for many years and the people who booked us. I hope that it returns to its former mission. But currently, it’s an institution that I’m not interested in supporting or offering my show to.” - Washington Post (MSN)
Best Director winner Sean Baker "spoke passionately about the difficulty of making independent films in an industry that is no longer able to fund riskier projects. He said indies are in danger of becoming calling card films — movies made only as a means to get hired for bigger projects.” - CBC
Turns out, pretty far. This is for the economy, the government claims - though "the proposed film studio is not crucial infrastructure or needed housing, unlike much of the other development the government has vowed to speed up.” - The New York Times
