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British Government Announces £60 Million In New Arts And Culture Funding

"The £60 million funding package includes £40 million for initiatives such as the Create Growth Programme, the Supporting Grassroots Music Fund, the UK Games Fund, the Music Export Growth Scheme, and the UK Global Screen Fund. Additionally, £16.2 million will be allocated to four cultural projects under the Cultural Development Fund." - WhatsOnStage (UK)

The Winning Strategy For A Successful Bookstore: Be Nice To Customers

In this challenging retail environment, my local bookshop has hit on an incredible strategy: simply being nice to anyone who walks in. - The Guardian

David Schneiderman, Village Voice Editor and Publisher, 77

After being named editor in chief in 1978, Mr. Schneiderman elevated The Voice’s journalistic game, diversified a newsroom that was nearly all white and all male, and reckoned with an increasingly competitive landscape in which traditional newspapers and magazines imitated The Voice’s cutting-edge cultural and media coverage, as well as its insouciant tone. - The New York Times

Why Sad Posts On Social Media Get Such Big Audiences

The internet is flooded with what some call 'sadbait'. It gets far less attention, but some of today's most successful online content is melancholy and melodramatic. - BBC

Ghana’s Government Investigates Stalled National Cathedral Designed By David Adjaye

"The Ghanaian-British architect first revealed designs for the National Cathedral of Ghana in 2018. In the years since, the cathedral has been fiercely debated among Ghanaian politicians, who have raised questions about its (cost and) funding" — more so now that construction appeared to have halted. - ARTnews

Netflix Breaks The 300 Million Subscriber Mark

"Netflix revealed it has now reached 301.63 million subscribers globally when it reported its fourth-quarter 2024 earnings Tuesday. … (The company) smashed expectations by adding a record-breaking 18.91 million subscribers, a year-over-year increase of 15.9%." - Variety

Inside The Professional Theater Scene In Las Vegas

"It’s scrappy, sure, with its rock’n’roll energy but theatermakers here are resourceful and don’t fit in boxes. … There's a palpable hunger to make theater against the odds, locals who can keep it viable are ready for it and artists enjoy the freedom of straddling aesthetic and artistic worlds." - The New York Times

Aaron De Groft, Director At Center Of Orlando Museum’s Fake Basquiat Scandal, Has Died At 59

"De Groft became director of the Orlando Museum of Art in 2021 and set out to bring more attention to the museum by programming exhibitions featuring big names in the art world. The museum soon was making headlines, but not in the way De Groft wanted." - Orlando Sentinel (MSN)

Under-35s Are More Likely To Listen To Orchestral Music Than Older People: Study

"Surveying 2,000 people, the 2022 report shows that 65 percent of people aged 18–34 listen to orchestral music regularly, compared to 57 percent of people aged 55+ and 56 percent for those aged 35–54." However, "older people are more likely to listen to orchestral music in a concert hall." - Limelight (Australia)

US Art Museum Directors Worry About Censorship But Have No Procedures For Dealing With It

"Fully one-fifth of respondents indicated that censorship is 'a very big problem.' Nearly three-quarters judged it 'somewhat of a problem,' and 55 percent say that, compared to 10 years ago, censorship is a 'much bigger problem for museums today.' … (Yet) "90 percent of respondents do not have a written censorship policy." - Artnet

US Book Industry Seriously Contemplates Life After BookTok

"While acknowledgment of the platform’s marketing and publicity power is overwhelming, many also assert that any concern over a drop in sales is overblown … (and) that another social media platform would come along to fill any BookTok-sized hole." - Publishers Weekly

Provocative Filmmaker Bertrand Blier Is Dead At 85

"(He had) a long history of provocative offerings including Les Valseuses (Going Places), Tenue de Soirée (Evening Dress) and Trop Belle Pour Toi (Too Beautiful for You). … His greatest successes in the 70s and '80s (were) a series of outrage-baiting films, many featuring Gérard Depardieu, ... exposing wounded male machismo." - The Guardian

As We Lose The Ability To Write By Hand, What Else Are We Losing?

Even if you're unmoved by the idea that we're losing touch with a physical human practice thousands of years old, there are measurable cognitive skills which are strengthened by writing by hand and weakened in those who never learn to do it. - The Guardian

Consumers Highly Value Reviews. Problem is, Most Are Fake

Survey participants placed the value of online reviews above price, free shipping, brand, and recommendations from family and friends. The survey found 94 percent of customers ranked it as the single most important factor, and four out of five said they won’t shop on a website unless it has customer reviews. - The Walrus

Remembering Actor Joan Plowright, 95

Plowright was “perhaps the greatest Anglophone actor of the 20th century”, in Variety’s words. She was certainly a leading pioneer in post-war British theatre’s modernisation – particularly in terms of her theatrical style, as well as her geographic and class origins. - The Conversation

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