The survey compared responses by older adults to those under 55, and while there were definitely differences, the interests of the two groups often aligned quite closely. - Artnet
The underlying logic of brain-rot, a messy mutual entanglement between brain and culture, endures. In particular, the idea that lower, popular forms of culture might dangerously intermingle with the physical structures of the brain is remarkably persistent. - Psyche
"I’m sure the Met is thought of as a conservative institution in some quarters, I believe this is no time to be conservative. I don’t think we are thought of as conservative any longer. I think over the period of time that I’ve been here, things have changed dramatically." - Van
"For me, at least, fandom has started to feel like a phenomenon akin to cryptocurrency or economic populism—a history-shaping force that we’d be foolish to ignore." - The New Yorker
Stephen Marche: "The love story below is my attempt to develop an idealized love story out of all the love stories that I have admired. ... "Autotuned Love Story" certainly isn't mine. ... It's the love story of the machines interacting with all the love stories I have loved." - Literary Hub
You don’t know it’s art by looking at it. You know it’s art because galleries want to show it, dealers want to sell it, collectors want to buy it, museums want to exhibit it, and critics can explain it. When the parts are in synch, you have a market. - The New Yorker
Magic and mystery are what make jokes funny and creativity so tantalizing. Revealing how a magic trick is done or giving away a punchline will not win you any friends. So, as much as we profess interest in divining the “secret” to creative thinking, we’re also wary. - Washington Post
It’s curious that booing is absent from modern theatre, because it’s as old as European drama. The earliest reports of audience booing were recorded at the annual festival of Dionysus in Athens where playwrights competed to win prizes for their efforts. - The Spectator
Looking at the data revealed in The Stage’s West End ticketing survey this week, it appears producers are trying to straddle both horses, with top prices rising at rates above inflation but bottom prices rising at a rate lower than inflation. - The Stage
It seems to me that the one indisputable thing we can say about our current illiberalisms, of the left and the right: All illiberalisms are intrinsically mechanistic. It is always their goal for mechanization to take command—as long as mechanization serves their ends. - Hedgehog Review
Conventional accounts of the effect of school closures focus on the shift from in-person to online teaching and the academic losses that resulted. This familiar story isn’t false, but it’s only a part of the truth, and it understates both the disruption and the inequities that COVID wrought on students’ lives. - The Atlantic
For thousands of years, global wealth – at least our best approximations of it – barely budged. But beginning around 150-200 years ago, everything changed. The world economy suddenly began to grow exponentially. Global life expectancy climbed from less than 30 years to more than 70 years. - BBC
The competition was overshadowed by Russia's attacks on Ukraine; silver medal winner Anna Geniushene fled Russia for Lithuania and has been critical of the war, and bronze medalist Dmytro Choni is from Ukraine. Yunchan Lim, who won gold, is the youngest winner ever, at 18. - The New York Times
When I hear people in the corporate world talking about creativity and storytelling — how what they’re really doing is ‘telling a story,’ how everything is about creativity and storytelling, how everything is narrative — I hear it and think: Do you actually know what it means to be creative? - Chicago Tribune
The Museum of Rescued Art opened this week in part of the ancient Baths of Diocletian in Rome. Its exhibits will rotate every month, with various objects recovered by the Carabineri's admired "art squad" displayed there temporarily before being returned to their region of origin. - AP
Gary Ginstling, currently executive director of the National Symphony at DC's Kennedy Center, will assume the title of executive director this fall and move fully into Borda's position, president and chief executive, as of next July. Borda, now 72, will remain available as a consultant. - The New York Times
After almost nine months of no labor contract and a musicians' strike over wage cuts, the board decided on Thursday to file for Chapter 7 (liquidation) bankruptcy. (The board last declared bankruptcy in 2003, and the orchestra has struggled financially ever since resuming operations in 2004-05.) - Texas Public Radio
That was the proposition of Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of Wired: if you can amass 1,000 people who'll each spend $100 annually to support your work, that's a good middle-class living. That didn't work out in the '90s or '00s, but might it be possible now? - The New Yorker
“BAM isn’t just for one audience. We were consistently sold out this season and more often than not had a standby line. That’s because the programming is doing lots of different things. And that diversity of programming allows us to reflect the diversity of this borough.” - Variety
