AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- 80 Books Were Banned In Minnesota Last Year. They Were All At One School.
Among the titles involved were The Handmaid’s Tale, The Kite Runner, and a cookbook. Outraged students protested. And, mind you, this was after Minnesota passed a law forbidding book bans in public schools. – The Minnesota Star Tribune
- Author Of France’s Hit Novel Of The Fall Denies Using AI But Admits To Past Plagiarism
“The novel by Thélyson Orélien, C’était ça ou mourir, which translates to ‘It was either that or dying,’ came under scrutiny last month over allegations of AI use. This was followed by other news reports that raised questions about passages in the author’s previous work.” – The Canadian Press
- Sculptors’ Favorite Plaster Is Being Discontinued, And They’re Freaking Out
“The specialty plaster is a type of gypsum product known as Hydrocal, which … is durable enough for metal casting but soft enough for direct sculpting. In addition to artworks, it is used in architectural restoration projects, dental molds, orthopedic molds and the customization of prosthetic limbs.” – The New York Times
- New York Public Radio’s CEO Steps Down After Only Eight Months
The press release said only, “The Board of Trustees thanks Christy (Tanner) for her contributions to NYPR and wishes her well.” Her predecessor, LaFontaine Oliver, is stepping in as interim Acting President and CEO. – Gothamist
- A Texas School District Cancels “Little Shop Of Horrors” Because A Girl Was Cast As Seymour
District officials canceled South Grand Prairie High School’s production largely out of concern about breaking Texas’s recent law banning drag performances in front of minors. Meanwhile, the student actress points out that denying her the chance to perform because she’s female violates Title IX. – Fort Worth Star-Telegram
ISSUES
- Sculptors’ Favorite Plaster Is Being Discontinued, And They’re Freaking Out
“The specialty plaster is a type of gypsum product known as Hydrocal, which … is durable enough for metal casting but soft enough for direct sculpting. In addition to artworks, it is used in architectural restoration projects, dental molds, orthopedic molds and the customization of prosthetic limbs.” – The New York Times
- Was This The First-Ever Mirror-Selfie?
Okay, not the first painted self-portrait, but a photo taken by Mia Jackson (younger sister of early photographer Julia Margaret Cameron and grandmother of Virginia Woolf) sometime in the late 1850s is evidently the oldest known image in which the camera is deliberately aimed at the subject in a mirror. – Artnet
- Who Are The Most-Faked Artists?
Art trickery can get tricky. And yet it persists. Some experts estimate that around half of the secondary art market consists of forgeries and misattributions. – ARTnews
- Getty Images To Declare Bankruptcy And Go Private
After abandoning a $3.7 billion merger with rival Shutterstock in late June over a regulatory roadblock, Getty Images now plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and go private in partnership with Charles Koch’s investment firm. – The Hollywood Reporter
- How French Police Solved The Renoir Heist So Quickly
A lot of things went right in this investigation, starting with the fact that police arrived only four minutes after the museum’s alarm went off — and they found that the thieves had dropped two of the stolen paintings in their haste to escape. – AP
MEDIA
- Why King Arthur Still Resonates In Our Popular Culture
Arthur and the chivalric culture he evokes remain part of our cultural lexicon, as shown by his continued reimagining in popular media. – Jstor
- Seattle Artists Make A Case For Funding From City’s Public Safety Budget
What matters most is how they made the case. They didn’t ask Seattle to support the arts because culture enriches a city. They asked the city to treat arts and culture as public safety infrastructure. – Return on Art (LinkedIn)
- Two SC Arts Commission Members Resign Following Denial Of Grants To LGBTQ+ Groups
Russell Parks, the board member who led the effort to deny funding to two Greenville-based LGBTQ+ performing arts groups, and board chair Flavia Harton (who didn’t vote on the issue) are both leaving the Commission before their terms expire. Neither gave any reason other than time constraints. – The Post and Courier (Charleston) (Yahoo!)
- “Coolest Market In Paris” Has Burned Down
The Marché des Enfants Rouges, a covered food market in the Marais neighborhood which dates back to 1615, was “totally destroyed” in a blaze which broke out at about 3 am Monday. – The Guardian
- Amazon Fumbled The Bag With Spider Noir – And With Nic Cage
Cage: “I am not an AI-friendly actor, so it’s like, connect those dots! I’m not a member of their club. I didn’t sign the waiver to let him use AI on Spider Noir. I’m probably not going to be working with that studio again.” – Variety
MUSIC
- 80 Books Were Banned In Minnesota Last Year. They Were All At One School.
Among the titles involved were The Handmaid’s Tale, The Kite Runner, and a cookbook. Outraged students protested. And, mind you, this was after Minnesota passed a law forbidding book bans in public schools. – The Minnesota Star Tribune
- Author Of France’s Hit Novel Of The Fall Denies Using AI But Admits To Past Plagiarism
“The novel by Thélyson Orélien, C’était ça ou mourir, which translates to ‘It was either that or dying,’ came under scrutiny last month over allegations of AI use. This was followed by other news reports that raised questions about passages in the author’s previous work.” – The Canadian Press
- Think You Can Spot AI Writing? Probably Not
A question that is turning us all into different kinds of readers—skeptical, antagonistic, and less willing to give our fellow humans the benefit of the doubt. Trying to figure out what AI writing looks like is turning writer and reader into adversaries. And I’m going to tell you why. – The Walrus
- Non-Fiction Is In Trouble?
What if, like a thumb on the scales tipping debut novels toward more favourable outcomes, nonfiction’s bleaker fate was also a product of accumulated choices—choices about where the money goes and how the story of these books gets told? – The Walrus
- Book-Banning In US Schools Reached Record High In 2025-26
“PEN recorded nearly 12,000 instances of book banning affecting 7,370 unique titles across 114 U.S. school districts during the 2025-26 academic year, a record high since PEN began tracking literary censorship in American public schools in 2021.” The “vast majority” of the bans were in Texas and Florida. – Publishers Weekly
PEOPLE
- 80 Books Were Banned In Minnesota Last Year. They Were All At One School.
Among the titles involved were The Handmaid’s Tale, The Kite Runner, and a cookbook. Outraged students protested. And, mind you, this was after Minnesota passed a law forbidding book bans in public schools. – The Minnesota Star Tribune
- Author Of France’s Hit Novel Of The Fall Denies Using AI But Admits To Past Plagiarism
“The novel by Thélyson Orélien, C’était ça ou mourir, which translates to ‘It was either that or dying,’ came under scrutiny last month over allegations of AI use. This was followed by other news reports that raised questions about passages in the author’s previous work.” – The Canadian Press
- Sculptors’ Favorite Plaster Is Being Discontinued, And They’re Freaking Out
“The specialty plaster is a type of gypsum product known as Hydrocal, which … is durable enough for metal casting but soft enough for direct sculpting. In addition to artworks, it is used in architectural restoration projects, dental molds, orthopedic molds and the customization of prosthetic limbs.” – The New York Times
- New York Public Radio’s CEO Steps Down After Only Eight Months
The press release said only, “The Board of Trustees thanks Christy (Tanner) for her contributions to NYPR and wishes her well.” Her predecessor, LaFontaine Oliver, is stepping in as interim Acting President and CEO. – Gothamist
- A Texas School District Cancels “Little Shop Of Horrors” Because A Girl Was Cast As Seymour
District officials canceled South Grand Prairie High School’s production largely out of concern about breaking Texas’s recent law banning drag performances in front of minors. Meanwhile, the student actress points out that denying her the chance to perform because she’s female violates Title IX. – Fort Worth Star-Telegram
PEOPLE
- 80 Books Were Banned In Minnesota Last Year. They Were All At One School.
Among the titles involved were The Handmaid’s Tale, The Kite Runner, and a cookbook. Outraged students protested. And, mind you, this was after Minnesota passed a law forbidding book bans in public schools. – The Minnesota Star Tribune
- Author Of France’s Hit Novel Of The Fall Denies Using AI But Admits To Past Plagiarism
“The novel by Thélyson Orélien, C’était ça ou mourir, which translates to ‘It was either that or dying,’ came under scrutiny last month over allegations of AI use. This was followed by other news reports that raised questions about passages in the author’s previous work.” – The Canadian Press
- Sculptors’ Favorite Plaster Is Being Discontinued, And They’re Freaking Out
“The specialty plaster is a type of gypsum product known as Hydrocal, which … is durable enough for metal casting but soft enough for direct sculpting. In addition to artworks, it is used in architectural restoration projects, dental molds, orthopedic molds and the customization of prosthetic limbs.” – The New York Times
- New York Public Radio’s CEO Steps Down After Only Eight Months
The press release said only, “The Board of Trustees thanks Christy (Tanner) for her contributions to NYPR and wishes her well.” Her predecessor, LaFontaine Oliver, is stepping in as interim Acting President and CEO. – Gothamist
- A Texas School District Cancels “Little Shop Of Horrors” Because A Girl Was Cast As Seymour
District officials canceled South Grand Prairie High School’s production largely out of concern about breaking Texas’s recent law banning drag performances in front of minors. Meanwhile, the student actress points out that denying her the chance to perform because she’s female violates Title IX. – Fort Worth Star-Telegram
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Sorry, But The Reading “Crisis” Isn’t One
The practice of using our eyes to create and absorb systems of language instead is so difficult and so weird, in fact, that, as best as we can tell, and as Marriott reminds us, it’s been invented no more than four times in our 300,000 years as a species. – The New Republic
- American Retirees Aren’t Spending Down Their Savings. This Is A Problem
A survey of older adults with at least $100,000 showed that only 28 percent were comfortable watching their savings taper off to cover living expenses, ostensibly exactly what the money was saved for in the first place. This is a problem—not just for retirees but for the country. – The Atlantic
- A Three-Year Arts Launchpad In Boston Provides A Path For Smaller Arts Groups
The Boston Center for the Arts Launchpad “is meant to provide both an anchor and a resource without restricting what each company might create.” – Boston Globe
- Why We Need A Four (Or More) Hour Documentary About Elon Musk
“This small group of people has tried to basically run a con on all of us. ‘We’re doing this out of the goodness of our own hearts. We’re making the world better.’ No, you’re padding your bottom lines and all you care about is you.” – The New York Times
- The Helpful Science Behind Spooky Season
“Seeking out fear is our way of preparing our bodies for the sometimes scary real world. And this vaccine is actually fun for most people.” – NPR