AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Voting for real life experiences (enthusiastically!)
Good Morning,
Two threads running through today’s stories. First: the craft behind finished products keeps getting harder to see. Lit Hub argues that AI in contemporary publishing is really a labor story: editing time compressed, care squeezed out (LitHub). Variety walks through the small army of artisans required to build a single synthetic pop star for Mother Mary (Variety). And the Guardian pokes fun at our odd hunger to believe actors improvise their best lines, a preference for accident over something planned and rehearsed (The Guardian).
The second thread cuts the other way: audiences are increasingly voting with their feet for real life experiences. Indie bookstores opened 422 new shops in 2025, a 31% jump (The Guardian). Hollywood is “screenmaxxing” to pull people back to PLF screens (The Guardian). And the NYT walks through the paradox of museums trying to be porous and heist-proof at the same time (The New York Times).
All of our stories below.
- It’s Getting Harder To Spot AI In Contemporary Publishing
And, frankly, it’s a labor issue: “The more time an editor has to edit a particular book, the more care they can put into it.” – LitHub
- Very Short Concerts Aren’t A Scam
OK: “The beauty of the less-than-an-hour show is that it ends before 10. You can get a drink or even dinner or hustle home.” – Washington Post (Yahoo)
- Chains Dominate Retail, But Indie Bookstore Numbers Are Way Up
“About 422 new indie bookshops opened in 2025, according to the American Booksellers Association, a 31% rise from 2024.” What the heck? – The Guardian (UK)
- It Is Physically Painful To Write This, But Hollywood Is ‘Screenmaxxing’ Now
“Screenmaxxing is big business for an imperiled theatrical exhibition industry. … PLF screens seem to be an effective way to lure them out of the house, and charge a little (or a lot) extra for the assurance that they’re seeing a version of the movie that goes above and beyond.” – The Guardian (UK)
ISSUES
- How Do You Secure A Museum From Heists Without Closing It Off Entirely?
“Transparency, porousness — all the buzzwords of architecture today are antithetical to security. It’s a paradox implicit to museum design today.” – The New York Times
- Trump’s Arts Commission Approves Preliminary Design Of Arch
The Commission of Fine Arts, which is filled with Mr. Trump’s appointees, has an advisory role on the design of the project, but no enforcement power. It asked the administration to return with updated drawings before a final vote on the project. – The New York Times
- Architect Peter Zumthor On Criticism Of His New Building At LACMA
On the fact that there’s less exhibition space than in the previous building: “What is this with bigness? What kind of a hang-up is this? You don’t have to be big. It has the right scale. … Small museums are beautiful, big museums tend to be really difficult.” – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- As V&A Museum’s Newest Branch Opens, Staffers Campaign For Living Wage
“On Saturday, V&A East will open its doors in Stratford, east London, showcasing stunning fabrics, photos and black British music. … While the V&A complies with all legal minimum-wage requirements, … campaigners say some of the lowest-paid staff and contractors in London are not in receipt of the living wage.” – The Guardian
- Trump’s Plan For A Supersized Arch Alienates Even Supporters
Trump’s push to build the giant arch — more than quadrupling its size from original plans — has alienated early proponents of the project, classical architects and veterans groups who say it will diminish nearby Arlington Cemetery. – The New York Times
MEDIA
- This RAM Shortage Thing Isn’t Going Away
Yikes: “Everything from phones and laptops, to VR headsets and gaming handhelds have seen price increases due to the RAM shortage.” – The Verge
- Some Companies You Probably Love Are Taking Trademarks Too Far
“If you have a granola group, seed society, cherry circle, or risotto ring, and a lawyer league owns a trademark on one of them, they might just airdrop cease-and-desist letters like leaflets over a city in World War II.” – Slate
- Yale Report: Universities Themselves Are To Blame For Lowered Trust Of Higher Ed
High costs, murky admissions practices, uneven academic standards and fears about free speech on campuses, the committee said, are among the reasons for widening discontent over higher education’s worthiness. – The New York Times
- Inside The Kennedy Center Dumpster Fire (OMG!)
Richard Grenell, told me to “get rid of everything” in the permanent collection because we needed all new art for the reopening. Although I had slow-walked this demand for several weeks by pretending I was waiting on another colleague for updates, I now had only two hours to tie up loose ends. – The Atlantic
- New Hope For The Arts In Hungary After The Fall Of Viktor Orbán?
“A key question is what will happen to … the ‘ideologically burdened’ Hungarian Academy of Arts, an institution given significant funding powers by (Orbán’s party) that is seen as having been an instrument of the government’s conservative agenda. More broadly, members of the art scene hope to see increased institutional autonomy.” – The Art Newspaper
MUSIC
- It’s Getting Harder To Spot AI In Contemporary Publishing
And, frankly, it’s a labor issue: “The more time an editor has to edit a particular book, the more care they can put into it.” – LitHub
- Chains Dominate Retail, But Indie Bookstore Numbers Are Way Up
“About 422 new indie bookshops opened in 2025, according to the American Booksellers Association, a 31% rise from 2024.” What the heck? – The Guardian (UK)
- All The Science Fiction And Fantasy Novels Reimagining China’s Past May Be Doing Weird Political Things Today
“Web novels have become a massive and highly profitable industry in China, and many titles have been adapted into blockbuster movies and TV series in recent years” – and they may be reinforcing authoritarian regimes today. – Wired
- An Author’s Main Characters Might Resemble Her Demographically, But That Doesn’t Mean They’re The Same
“Writing for Ms. Riley is both straightforward and a little bit mysterious. ‘Animal instinct, honestly,’ she said.” – The New York Times
- Children’s Author Jon Klassen Is The First Canadian To Win This Huge Children’s Literature Prize
“The Winnipeg-born children’s book author and illustrator of I Want My Hat Back, has won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, which is worth nearly $750,00” (Canadian). – CBC
PEOPLE
- Voting for real life experiences (enthusiastically!)
Good Morning,
Two threads running through today’s stories. First: the craft behind finished products keeps getting harder to see. Lit Hub argues that AI in contemporary publishing is really a labor story: editing time compressed, care squeezed out (LitHub). Variety walks through the small army of artisans required to build a single synthetic pop star for Mother Mary (Variety). And the Guardian pokes fun at our odd hunger to believe actors improvise their best lines, a preference for accident over something planned and rehearsed (The Guardian).
The second thread cuts the other way: audiences are increasingly voting with their feet for real life experiences. Indie bookstores opened 422 new shops in 2025, a 31% jump (The Guardian). Hollywood is “screenmaxxing” to pull people back to PLF screens (The Guardian). And the NYT walks through the paradox of museums trying to be porous and heist-proof at the same time (The New York Times).
All of our stories below.
- It’s Getting Harder To Spot AI In Contemporary Publishing
And, frankly, it’s a labor issue: “The more time an editor has to edit a particular book, the more care they can put into it.” – LitHub
- Very Short Concerts Aren’t A Scam
OK: “The beauty of the less-than-an-hour show is that it ends before 10. You can get a drink or even dinner or hustle home.” – Washington Post (Yahoo)
- Chains Dominate Retail, But Indie Bookstore Numbers Are Way Up
“About 422 new indie bookshops opened in 2025, according to the American Booksellers Association, a 31% rise from 2024.” What the heck? – The Guardian (UK)
- It Is Physically Painful To Write This, But Hollywood Is ‘Screenmaxxing’ Now
“Screenmaxxing is big business for an imperiled theatrical exhibition industry. … PLF screens seem to be an effective way to lure them out of the house, and charge a little (or a lot) extra for the assurance that they’re seeing a version of the movie that goes above and beyond.” – The Guardian (UK)
PEOPLE
- Voting for real life experiences (enthusiastically!)
Good Morning,
Two threads running through today’s stories. First: the craft behind finished products keeps getting harder to see. Lit Hub argues that AI in contemporary publishing is really a labor story: editing time compressed, care squeezed out (LitHub). Variety walks through the small army of artisans required to build a single synthetic pop star for Mother Mary (Variety). And the Guardian pokes fun at our odd hunger to believe actors improvise their best lines, a preference for accident over something planned and rehearsed (The Guardian).
The second thread cuts the other way: audiences are increasingly voting with their feet for real life experiences. Indie bookstores opened 422 new shops in 2025, a 31% jump (The Guardian). Hollywood is “screenmaxxing” to pull people back to PLF screens (The Guardian). And the NYT walks through the paradox of museums trying to be porous and heist-proof at the same time (The New York Times).
All of our stories below.
- It’s Getting Harder To Spot AI In Contemporary Publishing
And, frankly, it’s a labor issue: “The more time an editor has to edit a particular book, the more care they can put into it.” – LitHub
- Very Short Concerts Aren’t A Scam
OK: “The beauty of the less-than-an-hour show is that it ends before 10. You can get a drink or even dinner or hustle home.” – Washington Post (Yahoo)
- Chains Dominate Retail, But Indie Bookstore Numbers Are Way Up
“About 422 new indie bookshops opened in 2025, according to the American Booksellers Association, a 31% rise from 2024.” What the heck? – The Guardian (UK)
- It Is Physically Painful To Write This, But Hollywood Is ‘Screenmaxxing’ Now
“Screenmaxxing is big business for an imperiled theatrical exhibition industry. … PLF screens seem to be an effective way to lure them out of the house, and charge a little (or a lot) extra for the assurance that they’re seeing a version of the movie that goes above and beyond.” – The Guardian (UK)
THEATRE
VISUAL
- The V&A East Is Just One Example Of How England, And The Entire UK, Could Put Money Back Into The Arts
Make the United Kingdom truly good again – with culture. – The Guardian (UK)
- The Film About France During WWII That Is Very, Alarmingly Relevant To Several Other Countries Right Now
Yes, you need to watch The Sorrow and the Pity, and you need to do it right now. Why? Because “Ophuls’s film is illuminating precisely because its lessons about complicity apply to evil and corruption of all kinds.” – The Atlantic
- Study: The Antidote To Mindless Phone Rot — A Surprising Finding
The results after doing so were eye-opening even to them: among a totally random population, levels of creativity for the people watching the experimental films were immediately higher compared to those watching YouTube videos, which didn’t move much at all. So was openness to seeing the world in new ways. – The Hollywood Reporter
- AI’s Are Beginning To Get Emotional Intelligence
Emotions are the AI industry’s new fixation. Not only are growing numbers of start-ups such as Amotions AI promising tools that interpret feelings; the major AI companies are developing chatbots that apparently aren’t just smarter—they get you. – The Atlantic
- The Pressure To Go Viral: These Days You Can’t Be An Artist Without It
All of a sudden, chefs, lawyers, podcasters, critics – all people with jobs once associated with an off-camera existence – are turning the lens on themselves. Even film director Werner Herzog, a once proud non-social media user, is now sizzling steaks and doing unboxing videos to camera. – The Guardian
