Today's Stories

Louvre Temporarily Closes During French Protests

The Louvre temporarily closed Monday due to about 50 protesting arts and culture students, who blocked its glass pyramid entrance, Le Figaro reports.  - ARTnews

Why Awards Shows Are Leaving Broadcast For Streaming

In recent years, the shows have become money losers and the network TV business — faced with a decline in viewers that is squeezing profits — are cutting them loose. - Los Angeles Times

Pilot Draws Mona Lisa In The Sky

After four hours of these intricate aerobatics, he had sketched a version of the Mona Lisa instantly recognizable to anyone tracking his flight online. - The New York Times

Writers Are Struggling To Prove They’re Human

As AI-generated writing floods the internet, more people are trying to detect which creators are using such tools to spin up copy. That means writers penning all their own work—and people who acknowledge using chatbots for help—are trying to master something they never worried about before: how to sound human. - The Wall Street Journal

Shanghai’s Elegant New Opera House Is Completed

Shanghai Grand Opera House's defining feature is its spiral staircase, which dramatically cantilevers at its peak and was intended to emulate everything from an unfolding fan to a dancer or a set of piano keys. - Dezeen

Does AI Collapse The Need To Get Bigger?

AI is making enterprise-grade capabilities available to companies that are a fraction of the size and without all of the bureaucratic weight that historically came along with it. If Goldberg is right, the rules of competition are changing for good, and companies no longer need to be big to compete. - Wired

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Breaking Down What Theatre Gets Produced (And Produced Again)

A first-time playwright now has a one-in-five shot at a second production within two seasons. If mine gets one and keeps traveling, the money waits in a catalogue Bertelsmann owns.  - Jared Harbour

Ticket Broker Sued In $120M Ticket Bot Scheme

The DOJ and FTC allege that REPS & Co violated the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act by opening thousands of accounts across Ticketmaster, AXS and other ticket services and circumventing the ticket platforms’ purchase limits. - The Hollywood Reporter

An Idea To Spur More Indie Production In Hollywood?

This week, a new organization called the American Entertainment Alliance will begin publicly pushing for legislation to force the biggest entertainment and streaming companies — including Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime Video and Skydance — to allocate half of their original content budgets to shows and movies from independent producers in the United States. - The New...

After The Watts Rebellion, Two Brothers Opened The First Black-Owned Gallery In Los Angeles

"'As soon as we opened we were aware of the lack of opportunity for the entire minority community,' said Dale, 80, in a recent interview. 'It was definitely the mission.'” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

For Now, Art Basel Miami Beach Won’t Move To Las Vegas

"The sticking point, as discussed by city officials at a public meeting last Wednesday before a vote on a revised contract, was Art Basel’s demand to essentially halve the nearly $1 million annual rent the fair had previously paid to Miami Beach." - The New York Times

What If Climate Fiction And Movies Have Been Hitting The Wrong Buttons?

Fear spreads its message more quickly - but it also paralyzes most people to inaction, exactly not what most writers of climate fiction would prefer. - The Guardian (UK)

Toledo Still Wants To Be The City Of Glass

"Toledo's art scene has long been tied to its glass industry. In 1962 ... local workers created the studio glass art movement here." - NPR

We’ve Never Seen Numbers Like This Before

That is to say, Netflix is reporting box office numbers, for the very first time, for La Bola Negra. - Los Angeles Times

The Tyranny Of Those Who Hate Colorful Buildings Made The Guggenheim White

"Pink was precisely the color Frank Lloyd Wright envisioned for this museum in his plans, and it’s the color we would see across the street from Central Park today had prejudices not stood in the way." - El País English

Will Humans Still Know How To Clean It Up When AI Flubs Major Tasks?

"As people become less involved in a task, they can become less prepared to step in when needed. Researchers have called this the out-of-the-loop performance problem." - The Conversation

Saturday Night Live UK Ripped Into US SNL For Shane Gillis’s Blithering Misogyny

"A representative for Michaels did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday." - The New York Times

The Fine Art Of Literary Adaptation

Though some books are more easily adapted than others, "the quality of the source is irrelevant." - The Guardian (UK)

For Those Currently Obsessed With ‘You Can See Everything,’ Who Is The Film’s Antagonist?

By now, anyone at all online knows it's Billy Evans - but who is he? - The New York Times

Three Recent Films Demonstrate How We See Poetry – And Poets

Ouf. "Is it wistful or cruel, the movies looking at poets only to find them pitiable, even or especially when they’re howling at the moon? The last artists who can’t make money, who have a pressing and practical concern about old books and what’s in them." - LitHub

By Topic

Does AI Collapse The Need To Get Bigger?

AI is making enterprise-grade capabilities available to companies that are a fraction of the size and without all of the bureaucratic weight that historically came along with it. If Goldberg is right, the rules of competition are changing for good, and companies no longer need to be big to compete. - Wired

Creating Art In A Time Of International And Creative Crisis

Elif Shafak's latest book "arose out of our own historical moment, which Shafak has dubbed 'The age of three As: Angst, Anger and AI.'" - The Guardian (UK)

Bernie Sanders: Let’s Not Let Big Tech Dictate The Future Of Humanity

If these were the fantasies of teenage boys obsessed with science fiction, we could laugh them off. They are not. These are the foundational beliefs of the most powerful people in the world, who are mobilizing trillions of dollars to turn them into reality. - The Atlantic

Is Their A Limit To Human Knowledge? Or Do We Keep Moving The Goalposts?

Are certain questions closed to the human mind? Are there truths about the world that we can never know? - Aeon

Yes, Reading Has Changed. Adapt.

“We have everything we need to be happy,” the hero of Fahrenheit 451 observes, “but we aren’t happy.” Maybe that’s the ultimate lever to pull: the growing awareness that our devices are exhausting and eroding us. - The American Scholar

We’re Losing Our Skills As We Lean Into Technology

We have fallen into habits that are steadily deskilling the human body, eroding capacities honed by evolution to support our wellbeing as we move through the world. Some of these capacities are weakening through disuse: we have come to rely on our phones, for example, and now, increasingly, on AI. - Aeon

Ticket Broker Sued In $120M Ticket Bot Scheme

The DOJ and FTC allege that REPS & Co violated the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act by opening thousands of accounts across Ticketmaster, AXS and other ticket services and circumventing the ticket platforms’ purchase limits. - The Hollywood Reporter

Will Humans Still Know How To Clean It Up When AI Flubs Major Tasks?

"As people become less involved in a task, they can become less prepared to step in when needed. Researchers have called this the out-of-the-loop performance problem." - The Conversation

Saturday Night Live UK Ripped Into US SNL For Shane Gillis’s Blithering Misogyny

"A representative for Michaels did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday." - The New York Times

If We Force Chatbots Into Third Person, Will People Stop Thinking Of Them As Sentient?

Sherry Turkle: An AI is "really not afraid of death, it’s not afraid of illness, it's not afraid of pain, it doesn't love its children, and it doesn't care if you kill yourself or make dinner." - Wired

During And After Protests, Gangs Spread Fires Across France

In Limoges, the city hall burned. At the actual protests, demonstrators "complained about inflation sent soaring over 3% by the war in the Middle East. Others slammed perceived police brutality in student protests that have gripped France over the past four weeks." - Le Monde English

TikTok Has Banned The Musk Documentary Advertiser From The Platform

Hunh: "Distributor Bleecker Street was informed Friday afternoon a 'permanent suspension' was coming regarding any ads it tried to buy, and the company was unable to do so shortly after." - The Hollywood Reporter

Shanghai’s Elegant New Opera House Is Completed

Shanghai Grand Opera House's defining feature is its spiral staircase, which dramatically cantilevers at its peak and was intended to emulate everything from an unfolding fan to a dancer or a set of piano keys. - Dezeen

How The Music Of ‘Traitors’ Manipulates Our Emotions

Composer Sam Watts: "I knew it was going to be a bit camp and high drama and all the glorious things. ... So I just went with that - dark but fun." - BBC

Playing A Rock Concert Is Like Giving Yourself A Concussion, Doctors Tell Billy Joel

His neurologist says performing is out for now. "He describes the combination of extreme sound volume, lighting, stress and energy as the concern. Further testing, he adds, will help determine whether he can return." - The Hollywood Reporter

Traditional Chinese Opera’s Biggest Star Is Also Its Most Controversial

Mao Weitao has performed in Yue opera (the form from the city of Shaoxing) for almost 50 years, and she’s one of very few performers in traditional Chinese theater to have achieved mainstream celebrity. And she’s done that in part by upending the conventions of the genre. - Sixth Tone

Berlin Philharmonic’s Concert Hall Renovation Will Take At Least Eight Years

We already knew that the cost would be huge — €1.15 billion for the overhaul and a temporary venue at the former Tempelhof Airport — but Philharmonie management announced that the project is expected to last from 2032 to 2040. (And that’s before overruns.) - AP

Minnesota Opera Orchestra Unanimously Votes To Strike

The musicians say that, in contract negotiations, management has rejected any cost-of-living increases in pay. (Their salaries have been flat for the past four years.) The company’s season begins on Halloween with the world premiere of The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by composer Kamala Sankaram and librettist Minita Gandhi. - Minnesota Public Radio

Louvre Temporarily Closes During French Protests

The Louvre temporarily closed Monday due to about 50 protesting arts and culture students, who blocked its glass pyramid entrance, Le Figaro reports.  - ARTnews

Pilot Draws Mona Lisa In The Sky

After four hours of these intricate aerobatics, he had sketched a version of the Mona Lisa instantly recognizable to anyone tracking his flight online. - The New York Times

After The Watts Rebellion, Two Brothers Opened The First Black-Owned Gallery In Los Angeles

"'As soon as we opened we were aware of the lack of opportunity for the entire minority community,' said Dale, 80, in a recent interview. 'It was definitely the mission.'” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

For Now, Art Basel Miami Beach Won’t Move To Las Vegas

"The sticking point, as discussed by city officials at a public meeting last Wednesday before a vote on a revised contract, was Art Basel’s demand to essentially halve the nearly $1 million annual rent the fair had previously paid to Miami Beach." - The New York Times

Toledo Still Wants To Be The City Of Glass

"Toledo's art scene has long been tied to its glass industry. In 1962 ... local workers created the studio glass art movement here." - NPR

The Tyranny Of Those Who Hate Colorful Buildings Made The Guggenheim White

"Pink was precisely the color Frank Lloyd Wright envisioned for this museum in his plans, and it’s the color we would see across the street from Central Park today had prejudices not stood in the way." - El País English

Writers Are Struggling To Prove They’re Human

As AI-generated writing floods the internet, more people are trying to detect which creators are using such tools to spin up copy. That means writers penning all their own work—and people who acknowledge using chatbots for help—are trying to master something they never worried about before: how to sound human. - The Wall Street...

What If Climate Fiction And Movies Have Been Hitting The Wrong Buttons?

Fear spreads its message more quickly - but it also paralyzes most people to inaction, exactly not what most writers of climate fiction would prefer. - The Guardian (UK)

Three Recent Films Demonstrate How We See Poetry – And Poets

Ouf. "Is it wistful or cruel, the movies looking at poets only to find them pitiable, even or especially when they’re howling at the moon? The last artists who can’t make money, who have a pressing and practical concern about old books and what’s in them." - LitHub

Isabel Allende, Writing Under A Pseudonym, Wins A Major Literary Prize In Spain

"The prize is open to unpublished manuscripts, with the option of submitting under a pseudonym, and Allende entered under the name Luz Ventura, with the fictional title Los que faltan." - The Guardian (UK)

Does Frankfurt Have The Best Book Parties Of The Year?

It's definitely got big, not to mention packed and chatty, fêtes. "In an era when book auctions are held regularly over email, it’s that sense of community that keeps the publishers coming back." - The New York Times

How Ukrainians Are Fighting Back Against Russia’s Destruction Of Their Books

“The Ukrainian response has been a renewal of patriotism and engagement with national culture, along with enthusiastic defiance: the queues outside bookshops that formed in response to … the destruction, the orders that flooded in for e-books, or customers content to wait months for physical copies.” - The Bookseller (UK)

Why Awards Shows Are Leaving Broadcast For Streaming

In recent years, the shows have become money losers and the network TV business — faced with a decline in viewers that is squeezing profits — are cutting them loose. - Los Angeles Times

An Idea To Spur More Indie Production In Hollywood?

This week, a new organization called the American Entertainment Alliance will begin publicly pushing for legislation to force the biggest entertainment and streaming companies — including Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime Video and Skydance — to allocate half of their original content budgets to shows and movies from independent producers in the United States. -...

We’ve Never Seen Numbers Like This Before

That is to say, Netflix is reporting box office numbers, for the very first time, for La Bola Negra. - Los Angeles Times

The Fine Art Of Literary Adaptation

Though some books are more easily adapted than others, "the quality of the source is irrelevant." - The Guardian (UK)

Is It Possible To ‘Do Jane Austen Justice’ With Movie Costumes?

Says the new Sense and Sensibility's costume designer, "It was an amazing experience to try and fight those two sides, making historic accuracy marry up with how I wanted to give us a more modern take in the film." - Variety

CNN Signs Deal With Google For Generative AI Development

CNN says the partnership would unlock “new pathways for audiences to access CNN’s unparalleled journalism while being compensated for the delivery and use of our unique intellectual property in connection with AI products.” - Variety

Remounting A Rarely Seen Balanchine Gives A Window Into The 1960s

"Pithoprakta is a wrenching, urgent work that pushes ballet’s otherworldly quality to a darker dimension, both uncanny and mystical. This is no place for chiffon. It’s not polite." - The New York Times

Ice Dancing Champion Tessa Virtue Makes Her Professional Debut Dancing On Dry Land

“In the studio, Virtue has found new freedom in the ‘ability to get grounded with the floor,’ she says. ‘I’m not just gliding across the surface, but I’m actually using the floor as an impetus to step and move and turn.’” - Dance Magazine

Pop Star’s Performance En Pointe On Saturday Night Live: Was It Real?

Rosalía left audiences in awe with her Saturday Night Live performance of “Reliquia” over the weekend, appearing to stand en pointe for nearly four minutes while singing. But ballet professionals aren’t convinced she pulled off the feat without some theatrical assistance. And, surprisingly, they don’t seem to mind. - Consequence

The Latest Viral Dance Moves In China Are Landing People In The Hospital

The steps, known in Chinese as the “flash step”, “prodigal kicking the ball” and “black bear shaking fur,” took off from videos by professional dance instructors, and some people who are picking them up online (rather than in a class) are injuring themselves. - South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)

A Company For Lapsed Ballet Dancers To Return To Training And Performing

“There have long been ballet classes for children, and classes for adult beginners have grown in popularity. But there are relatively few designated spaces for serious former students to practice and perform at a high level, with no dreams of going pro.” Enter the Ballet Salon. - The New York Times

The New York City Ballet Star Who’s Retiring After An Actual Near-Death Experience

Two years ago, Adrian Danchig-Waring suffered a herniated disc which ended up completely dissolving into fluid, and an epidural injection led to a severe bacterial infection. He lost 25 pounds and the ability to walk. Then he made a deal with the universe ... - The New York Times

Breaking Down What Theatre Gets Produced (And Produced Again)

A first-time playwright now has a one-in-five shot at a second production within two seasons. If mine gets one and keeps traveling, the money waits in a catalogue Bertelsmann owns.  - Jared Harbour

Let’s Talk About Why ‘John Proctor Is The Villain’ Is So Massively Popular

Basically? "It’s a two-hour whirlwind of pop music-infused teen joy, thoughtful discussion of cultural revisionism, complex young characters, and dynamic performances." - KC Studio

A New Collective In Portland Would Really Like To Provide A Living Wage To Theatre Workers

Possible? Maybe: "Davidson found sources for Puddletown’s business structure by looking backward, to the kind of cooperative arrangements used by first traveling commedia dell’arte companies to Shakespeare’s players, on down to late 19th and early century repertory troupes." Its first show is free. - Oregon ArtsWatch

How – And Why – NBC Brought Back Live Musicals On TV

Nobody quite knew what they had when 2011's first revival started. But "Sound of Music Live delivered an astounding 18 million-plus viewers — well past the hope internally that it would reach at least 10 million." - Variety

Texas School Board Say That It’s Not An Anti-Drag Law, But An Anti-DEI Law, Stopping Little Shop Of Horrors

"However, there was no explanation given of exactly how a girl performing as a male character runs afoul of the more recent SB12, leaving only the implication that perhaps gender equality has been nixed under its provisions." - Downstage Center

Ian McKellan To Perform As A Hologram In New Play

Sir Ian McKellen is set to star in the European premier of a play in which he appears as a hologram. - BBC

For Those Currently Obsessed With ‘You Can See Everything,’ Who Is The Film’s Antagonist?

By now, anyone at all online knows it's Billy Evans - but who is he? - The New York Times

Peter Nagy, Artist Turned Influential Art Dealer In India, Has Died At 66

Nagy was "a prescient artist turned canny art dealer who brought the New York gallery system to India and contemporary Indian art to the world." - The New York Times

Tom Di Nardo, Longtime Philadelphia Classical Music And Jazz Critic, Has Died At 89

For 43 years, he wrote hundreds of reviews, profiles and features, first for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, then the Philadelphia Daily News and Inquirer. Music criticism was his second career: he worked for more than three decades as an electrical engineer for PECO, the region’s electricity and gas utility. - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Alan Mandell, The “Beating Heart Of LA Theatre”, Dies At 98

Actor Alan Mandell, who died at 98, helped shape Los Angeles theater as a performer, director, administrator and arts supporter whose influence stretched from experimental stages to the Mark Taper Forum. - Los Angeles Times

Soprano Martina Arroyo Is Dead At 90

Along with Leontyne Price, Shirley Verrett, and Grace Bumbry, Arroyo was part of the first generation of Black singers to become opera stars on both sides of the Atlantic. A frequent guest on television talk shows, she was arguably the most personally beloved of the four. - The New York Times

Meghan O’Gieblyn On The Limits And Opportunities Of Knowing Ourselves

When we read her work, we come to understand her in part through her acts of self-discovery, how, not unlike Montaigne, she comes to know herself by reckoning with the ways in which she may have remained unknown to herself. - The Point

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John Berger Is The Antidote To The Scroll

"It’s his essays about art and artists that matter most to me now. Reading them, you often feel you’re standing next to him in the museum or even looking through his eyes at a painting or a sculpture. You pay attention to his attention." - The New York Times

If We Force Chatbots Into Third Person, Will People Stop Thinking Of Them As Sentient?

Sherry Turkle: An AI is "really not afraid of death, it’s not afraid of illness, it's not afraid of pain, it doesn't love its children, and it doesn't care if you kill yourself or make dinner." - Wired

Creating Art In A Time Of International And Creative Crisis

Elif Shafak's latest book "arose out of our own historical moment, which Shafak has dubbed 'The age of three As: Angst, Anger and AI.'" - The Guardian (UK)

Isabel Allende, Writing Under A Pseudonym, Wins A Major Literary Prize In Spain

"The prize is open to unpublished manuscripts, with the option of submitting under a pseudonym, and Allende entered under the name Luz Ventura, with the fictional title Los que faltan." - The Guardian (UK)

TikTok Has Banned The Musk Documentary Advertiser From The Platform

Hunh: "Distributor Bleecker Street was informed Friday afternoon a 'permanent suspension' was coming regarding any ads it tried to buy, and the company was unable to do so shortly after." - The Hollywood Reporter

Indie Publisher New Directions Keeps Finding Nobel Prize Winners

"In an era when corporate publishers dominate a rapidly consolidating industry, New Directions has remained independent and continued its long tradition of seeking out and nurturing some of the world’s most seminal authors." - The New York Times

Why Do Opera Singers Quit?

Andrew Potter says it's the money. "We just have to start telling the truth, and that is that unless you're in the top 1- or 2% of singers in the world, this is not something that you'll be able to sustain a family with." - NPR

Please, No More Articles On The End Of Reading

Just stop. We know, already. Got anything new to say? - Slate

Book Publishers Are Using More AI Behind The Scenes, And Workers Are Furious

"Publishers are now using LLMs like Claude and ChatGPT to email literary agents, write publicity and back-cover copy, design cover art, and generate marketing materials, often at the direction of their executives." - Wired

Ousted Kennedy Center Chair Buys Sculpture Rejected By Trump’s People

"Billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein has purchased the abstract sculpture called Blue that was removed from the grounds last week. ... It will eventually be displayed in the Sculpture Garden of the National Gallery of Art." - The New York Times

Artist Manager For Rock Stars To Be Kennedy Center’s Next Programming Chief

“Rick Canny, … a longtime talent manager who worked with several prominent rock stars from the 1980s and ‘90s, … will soon be elevated to an executive artistic director position, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.” - CNN (MSN)

Anne Carson Wins 2026 Nobel Prize For Literature

The Canadian poet, essayist, and translator of ancient Greek drama was cited “for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.” - AP

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