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Is Personalization Making Prices Higher?

The Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project warns automated tools are reshaping what Canadians are charged for essential goods and services, including groceries and fuel. Companies can now use software to tailor prices based on everything from our browsing patterns, location, loyalty history, device type, and operating system. - The Walrus

How Bennett Cerf Got Truman Capote To Start — And Then Finish — “In Cold Blood”

“When people met Capote, Bennett admitted, they often were inclined ‘to laugh,’ but ‘don’t let that first impression fool you.’ Nonetheless, even armed with McCain’s goodwill, Capote was well aware that a tense rural hamlet reeling from multiple murders might not take kindly to a high-pitched elfin outsider … nosing around.” - Literary Hub

Bob Ross To The Rescue: More Paintings Sold To Benefit Public Television

On the heels of a record-breaking sale in November—which (briefly) set a new auction record for Bob Ross—American Public Television (APT) is sending another group of artworks by the late painter to the block. - Artnet

As AI Takes Over, Making Art Might Be The Last Refuge

Great art is impossible without some measure of ego. - LitHub

Why California College of the Arts Shut Down

CCA, which currently has 1,295 students, has long been in dire financial straits. Enrollment had fallen almost one third from its 2019 peak of 1,800, with the most recent class including only 207 undergraduate and 117 graduate students, according to the EDU Ledger. - Artnet

There’s A New Generation In Charge At London’s Royal Opera

Following on Antonio Pappano’s widely-praised 22-year reign as the company’s music director, 44-year-old Jakub Hrůša has taken the baton, with Speranza Scappucci joining as the Royal Opera’s first principal guest conductor in three decades. - AP

Iran’s Art Galleries Close

Describing the state of the economy as “in its worst condition”, the gallerist says many people can no longer afford basic necessities such as meat, bread, eggs or oil. Instability makes even simple purchases impossible. - The Art Newspaper

Rocky Relocates To The Top Of Philadelphia’s Steps

The city’s famed Rocky statue has been cleared for installation atop the Philadelphia Art Museum’s iconic steps later this year following an Art Commission vote Wednesday. - Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

Why The National Symphony Can’t Leave The Kennedy Center

The reason the Washington National Opera can leave, while the National Symphony Orchestra would find it extraordinarily difficult to do so under ordinary conditions, has little to do with repertoire, prestige, or audience relevance. - William Ford

Plan To Dismantle Antwerp’s Contemporary Art Museum Is Put On Hold

Following ferocious criticism from the art world in Belgium and internationally, Flemish culture minister Caroline Gennez has agreed not to put her plan to reorganize the system of museums in Flanders — a plan which includes the dismantling of Belgium’s oldest museum of contemporary art — on the government’s agenda just yet. - Belgian News Agency

Philadelphia Breaks Ground On $150 Million Overhaul Of “Avenue Of The Arts”

The project — a complete redesign of the streetscape of Broad Street, home to a number of the city’s leading arts institutions, from City Hall to the edge of South Philadelphia — will start modestly but will speed up after the America 250 celebrations this year. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

Director Frank Dunlop, Founder Of London’s Young Vic Theater, Has Died At 98

“A pocket dynamo of a man who seemed to bounce as he walked along, Frank Dunlop will be remembered for many outstanding and remarkable achievements, but most notably as the founding director of the Young Vic in 1969 and as a controversial director of the Edinburgh International Festival from 1983 to 1991.” - The Guardian

Congressional Spending Bill Funds Voice Of America Despite Trump’s Shutdown Order

“A bipartisan spending bill … would allocate $643 million for broadcasting from the U.S. Agency for Global Media. … Trump signed an executive order in March calling for the dismantlement of the agency, which oversees Voice of America and funds nonprofit groups including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.” - The Washington Post (MSN)

SXSW Quietly Closes Down Its Edition In Sydney

A press release stated, “The decision reflects a changing global environment that is impacting major events, festivals and cultural programs worldwide. … SXSW Sydney worked … to explore potential pathways forward for the event; however, prevailing market conditions mean the Sydney edition will not be going ahead at this time.” - ArtsHub (Australia)

What Harper Lee Really Thought, As Found In A Newly-Released Trove Of Letters

“The letters cover more than two decades and in them (she) discusses growing old, her aversion to public attention, … her opinions of fellow writers like Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams and Eudora Welty, … (and) her take on the Deep South’s transition from Depression-era segregation to the Civil Rights movement.” - The New York Times

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