Colón’s “driving musical energy and mischievous bad-boy image — he was long promoted as ‘El Malo’ — helped made him a luminary of New York salsa music, and 1978 collaboration with Rubén Blades, Siembra, became one of the top-selling salsa albums of all time.” - The New York Times
“The Berlinale has gained a reputation as the most overtly political of the major festivals, not only for its programming choices, but for its history of engaging with global crises. ... Critics say that despite being vocal on other issues, the Berlinale has not spoken out about Gaza.” - NPR
Cameron even wants the U.S. Senate to block the Netflix bid. Either way, “the clock is ticking, but for those who may not be following the corporate back-and-forth closely, here's a look at what each deal could mean.” - CBC
It’s a design flaw, and it can be fixed. “We have been here before. Not just once, but repeatedly, in a pattern so consistent it reveals something essential about how cultural elites respond to changes in how knowledge moves through society.” - Aeon
“The directive to hew to Trump’s preferences unnerved some grant writers, reviewers and former recipients accustomed to nonpartisanship from the agency, stirring debate over what it would mean to accept their funding.” - Washington Post (MSN)
“Some called for boycotts. Some found it insulting that if pre-show screen time were being given to short films, AMC would feature AI-generated content rather than human-made movies. Almost all seemed to agree that the move was, as one disgruntled user put it, ‘hot garbage.’” - Fast Company
One British producer in a year in which exactly one British actor was nominated in the two major acting awards: “The Baftas fall between two stools: it’s both a British awards show and an Oscars bellwether. It makes sense to do both, but it’s a real dilemma.” - The Guardian (UK)
If you’re in Hollywood, well, “the BAFTAs are the British movie industry’s major award show and also widely seen as a bellwether for the Oscars because of the overlap in their voting academies.” - The New York Times
“Fiction has no obligation to dispel ambiguity. It can make use of it—even intensify it—in order to evoke and transform experience. In Beloved, Morrison does take possession of the master’s tools, but she bends them, breaks them, and then uses them to reshape the house.” - LitHub
The writers didn’t want to focus on the survivor’s trauma. “The story serves to bolster the emotional arc of the show’s healthcare providers, in this case Dana, who assists with the exam from start to finish as the department’s certified SANE nurse.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)
“It seems we’re in a particularly fruitful era of artistic innovation in skating. What’s driving the current wave — and how might it shape the future of the sport? - Dance Magazine
In January, the Taliban announced a new criminal code that, among other provisions, allows domestic violence and the corporal punishment of children and appears to legitimize slavery through the use of the word “slave.” - The Walrus
With the Taliban having outlawed the education of girls and severely restricted women’s other rights, a clandestine group of women gather weekly to read books ranging from Orwell and Hemingway to contemporary Iranian fiction. - The Guardian
Comedian Anthony Novak was nabbed by Parma police, tossed into the county jail and charged “with a felony punishable by up to 18 months in prison,” all for the alleged crime of making fun of said police force. - Deadline
The case, known as the Fish Market dispute, asks whether a looping beat widely associated with reggaeton can be protected by copyright. More than 150 artists and producers have been named as defendants, and around 3,600 songs are implicated. - The Conversation
