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The Carnage In The Podcasting Industry Isn’t As Bad As It Looks

"This constant stream of layoffs and show cancellations — not just at Spotify, but at other prominent shops across the industry — has made the podcasting world a gloomy place. But the narrative around podcasting is complicated: It’s still a growing media sector for listeners and advertisers." - Slate

A Greatly Diminished ArtForum Magazine Hits Newsstands After Boycott

At least six members of the editorial team resigned and nearly 600 writers signed letters boycotting the magazine and its sister publications like ARTnews and Art in America. - The New York Times

The Movie Biz Seems Surprisingly Interested In Classical Music Lately

In roughly two years, there've been Tár, Maestro, Chevalier (a biopic of Black composer Joseph Bologne), the documentary American Symphony, and upcoming Callas biopic Maria. "Hollywood doesn’t usually give this much attention to the world of classical music. … The sudden profusion is striking, and not easily explained." - MSN (San Francisco Chronicle)

A New Harlem Renaissance

Even with a general climate of crisis in the theatre industry at large, Harlem organizations are expanding in both literal and metaphorical ways: embarking on ambitious renovations, celebrating landmark seasons, and uprooting traditional modes of storytelling. - American Theatre

DeSantis’s Handpicked Board To Govern Disney World Accuses Its (Disney-Approved) Predecessors Of “Corporate Cronyism”

The current board — installed following Disney's public criticism of DeSantis's "don't say gay" law — described the previous one as "the most egregious exhibition of corporate cronyism in modern American history." Disney responded that the new board's report is "neither objective nor credible." - AP

The $15,000 Rembrandt That Just Sold For $14 Million

When Christie's auctioned off Adoration of the Kings (1628) in Amsterdam two years ago, the house attributed it to "the circle of Rembrandt" and valued it at between €10,000 and €15,000; an anonymous buyer purchased it for €860,000 and subsequently consigned it to Sotheby's, which authenticated the painting as Rembrandt. - CNN

San Diego City Council Votes To Double Arts Funding

"(Members) unanimously voted to recommend the city use nearly 10% of its annual Transient Occupancy Tax revenue to fund arts and culture, nearly double the current amount. Tuesday's action doesn't immediately allocate the funds, but does send a message to Mayor Todd Gloria for next year's budget process." - KPBS (San Diego)

Virginia Museum Of Fine Arts Is Repatriating 44 Ancient Artifacts Confirmed As Looted

"New York authorities will facilitate the return of the objects to officials of their origin countries" — Italy, Egypt, and Turkey. "The works include a bronze statue of an Etruscan warrior dated from the 5th Century B.C.E., a terracotta Italian wine flask from 330 B.C.E. and an ancient Egyptian cosmetics vessel." - ARTnews

Three Congressmembers Introduce Bill To Combat Book Bans In Schools

"Introduced by Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-FL), Frederica Wilson (D-FL), and Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the Fight Book Bans Act would offer school districts funding to defend against the ongoing surge in challenges to books and educational materials that has led to thousands of titles being pulled from school library bookshelves." - Publishers Weekly

Another Actress Accuses Gérard Depardieu Of Sexual Assault

Hélène Darras filed a complaint with law enforcement in Paris alleging that the veteran actor repeatedly groped her when she was an extra on the set of the 2007 film Disco. Depardieu is already under indictment for the alleged rape of actress Charlotte Arnould, a charge filed in 2018. - Variety

UNESCO Gives Italian Opera Singing “Intangible Cultural Heritage” Status

In its citation, the United Nations cultural agency defined the practice as "a physiologically controlled way of singing that enhances the carrying power of the voice in acoustic spaces such as amphitheatres and churches." - BBC

Art Basel — Where The Super-Rich Buy Art

I’d understood that rich people could buy lots of art, but I hadn’t realized until this moment that my definitions of rich and lots were off by many orders of magnitude. “Clients ask me, ‘Are we collectors?’ And I say, ‘Has the word warehouse entered your vocabulary?’” - The Atlantic

How Norman Lear Changed TV

If anyone knew how to watch, it was Lear. His great appreciation for the work of making television reflected his commitment to the less glamorous task of observing and attempting to understand other people. - The Atlantic

How Martha Graham Redefined Dance

Martha understood that movement was melody. Her insistence that she was creating art rather than a diversion often bewildered audiences, who wanted to be entertained and couldn’t make the imaginative leap into her landscapes. - The American Scholar

The Point Of Decorating Buildings

What is the function of all that bric-a-brac? they would ask. Why all the fuss when a flush door with a thin steel frame would do just as well? Why carve words when a ready-made embossed plastic plaque is available? Isn’t it all just a waste of money? - The American Scholar

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