Stories

The Art Of Attention

“You can’t talk about aesthetics,” he wrote, “without talking about the principle of hope and the existence of evil.” Attention, for him, was a matter of life and death, or at least of their cultural equivalents, remembering and forgetting. - The New York Times

Dealers Scramble To Get Work Out Of Art Basel Paris After Surprise Early Closing

Multiple dealers told ARTnews they’d received an email announcing the decision at around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. By then, many had already suspected Saturday’s opening might be canceled. The loss of Sunday came as more of a surprise. - ARTnews

How One Donor Came To Give $10.5 Million To The Philadelphia Orchestra

David Cohen said that after his return, he “very quickly circled around arts and culture as the space where I thought I could make a real difference, a place where obviously Philadelphia has prominence and wonderful organizations, but where I still felt were a little under-appreciated.” - Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

How “Star Trek” Was Saved By, Of All People, Lucille Ball

Most people who know Ball only through her crazy-redhead I Love Lucy character don’t realize that she was a savvy TV mogul, and it was her company, Desilu Productions, that saved Star Trek from oblivion after NBC cancelled it at the end of its third season in 1969. - The Hollywood Reporter

Canadian News Orgs Sue Anthropic Over Copyright

The statement of claim says Anthropic breached the news media websites’ terms of service and circumvented technological protection measures they put in place to restrict copying of their content. - Canadian Press News

Why Friction Is Necessary For Making Progress

The reality is that friction, despite seeming so antagonistic, is necessary and even productive. The force that resists motion has, since humans first struck a spark from a stone, been the very thing that propels us forward. - Aeon

Legendary LA Recording Studio For Sale

The list of household names who have recorded at Conway Recording Studios spans generations and genres. Burt Bacharach, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, U2, Guns N’ Roses, Daft Punk, Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar are just a few of the artists who have recorded there. - Los Angeles Times

“Why Satire Is No Laughing Matter”: An Essay By Sacha Baron Cohen

“Satire doesn’t just needle politicians or regimes — it occasionally helps bring them down. … Historian Ben Lewis credits Soviet joke-­telling with helping to topple communism, by making it impossible for even the system’s own enforcers to take it seriously. … ‘Every joke,’ George Orwell observed, ‘is a tiny revolution.’” - Time

Bard College Investigating Explosive Epstein Email

Someone writing from the Bard president’s email address asks Mr. Epstein whether a young woman was “for me, or are you keeping her for yourself.” The contention over the email is the latest, and perhaps most intense, dispute over the former Bard president’s ties to Mr. Epstein. - The New York Times

Inside Shanghai’s Striking New Opera House

“Our initial thought wasn’t about what the building should look like, but rather: How can an important cultural institution be integrated into everyday public life in one of the world’s most vibrant cities?” - Architectural Digest

Might Live Nation Be Broken Up After Losing Court Battle?

Across the country, some 480 independent venues and 240 music festivals have shut since 2020, with 160 shuttering so far this year, according to the National Independent Venue Assn., a trade group for the industry.  - Los Angeles Times

Another Guy Who Didn’t Read His Release Form Threatens To Sue Sacha Baron Cohen

The chair of the El Paso (Texas) County Republican Party, Michael Aboud, says he intends to sue Baron Cohen over footage shown in the latter’s latest guerrilla mockumentary, Ali G: Who Iz I? Unwitting subjects in Baron Cohen’s films have sued several times in the past; none has ever won. - The Guardian

How Politics Has Hollowed Out Scientific American, The Oldest Magazine In The US

“Interviews conducted this summer and fall with a over a dozen current and former Scientific American employees depict a magazine that, especially over the past two years, has struggled to protect its editorial independence in the face of sometimes overwhelming pressure from its corporate ownership.” - The Nation

Financial Fraud Discovered At Luxembourg’s Main Concert Hall

“Luxembourg’s Philharmonie has uncovered fraudulent transactions within the organisation totalling €160,000 following internal inspections, the concert hall said on Monday. … The concert hall said it is cooperating ‘fully with the authorities to establish the facts and determine any potential liability’." - Luxembourg Times

Noah Adams, Longtime Host Of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Dead At 84

“He guided listeners through major events like Ronald Reagan’s landslide electoral victories, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the September 11 terrorist attacks. But to the people who worked alongside him in the newsroom, Adams’s journalism shone through in the softer features he reported.” - NPR

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