AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Europe’s museums will save you from the heat
Good Morning,
Manhattan’s borough president just routed his entire $50 million discretionary budget to the arts (The New York Times) — an extraordinary move.
In art machine news: New software is poised to replace live musicians in musical-theater pits (The Guardian), an LA museum built entirely on AI is asking whether it’s a whole new genre (Artnet), and an essay wonders if prompting is the oldest writerly skill in new clothes (The Conversation).
Four small colleges are adding dance majors while their peers are cutting everything outside STEM (Dance Magazine), and Lin-Manuel Miranda is bringing his first full musical since Hamilton to Broadway next spring (AP).
Meanwhile, Europe’s museums have found an unexpected civic role this week: air-conditioned refuges from the heat wave (Le Monde).
All of our stories below.
- Why The Onion Is Going Ahead With Its Infowars Parody Even Though The Case Is Still Tied Up In Court
Basically, if Alex Jones can play dirty, then The Onion can play dirty, too. – Law and Chaos
- How AI Prompting Poses The Classic Writer’s Challenge
This is one novel frustration of the AI age, yet millions of users searching for the “right prompt” are engaging in an old literary practice: turning mental images, vague desires and atmospheric intuitions into precise language. – The Conversation
- Even Award-Winning Indie Filmmakers Make Shockingly Little Money
Brady Corbet, who made The Brutalist, earned, he says “zero dollars” for his work on the movie. The five directors who agreed to be interviewed for this article talk about the day jobs they keep even after their films have been well-received and how they keep it all going. – Vulture
- Warning: European Museums Vulnerable To Cyberattacks
The warning comes less than three years after the British Museum revealed that about 2,000 objects had been stolen, damaged or gone missing from its collections over a period of years, in a scandal that led to the resignation of its director, Hartwig Fischer. – The Guardian
ISSUES
- Warning: European Museums Vulnerable To Cyberattacks
The warning comes less than three years after the British Museum revealed that about 2,000 objects had been stolen, damaged or gone missing from its collections over a period of years, in a scandal that led to the resignation of its director, Hartwig Fischer. – The Guardian
- The Barnes Picks A New Chief Curator
Connie Choi is currently curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where she has worked for nearly a decade. At the Studio Museum, she worked closely with Thelma Golden, its director and chief curator, to map out the museum’s curatorial vision, including its recent reopening last fall. – ARTnews
- Is LA’s New AI Art Museum A Whole New Genre Of Contemporary Art?
- Air Conditioned Museums In Europe Become “Refuges From The Heat” During This Week’s Heat Wave
“When I see people taking refuge for an hour in a supermarket, I say to myself: ‘Why shouldn’t the museum be a place of respite, rather than cafés or shops?’ – Le Monde
- How Smithsonian Chief Lonnie Bunch’s Lunch With Trump Went
Over chicken and gravy, Trump asked Bunch his opinion on four chandelier samples for the Oval Office; discussed the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which Trump has proposed painting white; and talked about Republican calls to relocate the space shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum annex to Houston. – ARTnews
MEDIA
- Manhattan’s Borough President Directs His Entire Discretionary Budget — $50 Million — To The Arts
“Fifty-five cultural institutions and 28 schools will benefit from grants ranging from $60,000 to $2 million,” with much of the money designated for buildings or infrastructure. “In previous years, the discretionary budget has been divided into small grants … across sectors like the arts, public housing, social services and parks.” – The New York Times
- Is The Smithsonian Next?
From the start of the second Trump administration, the entire Smithsonian had been a target of those on the MAGA right who are preoccupied with expunging what they understand to be “wokeness” from prominent institutions. – The Atlantic
- Lonnie Bunch Works To Keep Smithsonian Independent And Functional Amid Trumpist Turmoil
“Bunch has been cast by many of his admirers as something of a resistance figure — one of the only high-profile leaders standing up to Trump by single-handedly preventing the president from rewriting American history itself.” – The Atlantic
- Kennedy Center Says It Isn’t Required To Book Any Shows
“The Court’s order did not affirmatively require the Board to reschedule programming that had previously been cancelled or to seek new programming,” the lawyers wrote in the filing. – AP News
- With The Roku Sale To Fox, Not To Mention The Paramount Deal, Right-Wing Interests Dominate Streaming
“The scale of this quiet coup is staggering. … In practical terms, Roku controls the television home screen.” – Salon
MUSIC
- Too Many Books, Too Quickly: Australia’s Publishing Industry Is Too Prolific For Its Own Good
“Talk to authors, talk to prize judges, talk to critics and to editors and you hear versions of the same story. … What might have been excellent books are marred by shoddy copy editing, flat-out errors, cursory proofreading — and, in some cases, an obvious lack of revision.” – The Guardian
- The Next Bookstore?
Samir Pail argues that the publishing industry is fundamentally flawed insofar as publishers and authors generate consumer demand, then hand buyers off to companies like Amazon, which takes a significant cut and then owns the customer relationship. – Publishers Weekly
- Benjamin Franklin’s Library Given 1,500 Rare Books About Sex
The collection is the latest donation to the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded by Franklin in 1731, by Charles Rosenberg, a now-retired historian of science at Harvard University. He described this collection, including volumes dating to the late 1600s, as largely “how-to-run-your-sex-life books.” – The New York Times
- With Book Reviews Disappearing From Newspapers, This Bookstore Decided To Start Doing Its Own
“The Porter Square Review of Books launched this month. The (Cambridge, Mass.) store’s booksellers and writers-in-residence have begun publishing weekly(ish) book reviews on its website, on Thursdays; at about 500 words, these are deeper looks at books than the couple of sentences you’ll find describing ‘staff picks’ in-store.” – Nieman Lab
- Who Is America’s Great Poet?
Do we have a great poet who captures the American spirit, the American story, the American identity? We asked a posse of authors and poets to send us their votes. – Plough
PEOPLE
- Europe’s museums will save you from the heat
Good Morning,
Manhattan’s borough president just routed his entire $50 million discretionary budget to the arts (The New York Times) — an extraordinary move.
In art machine news: New software is poised to replace live musicians in musical-theater pits (The Guardian), an LA museum built entirely on AI is asking whether it’s a whole new genre (Artnet), and an essay wonders if prompting is the oldest writerly skill in new clothes (The Conversation).
Four small colleges are adding dance majors while their peers are cutting everything outside STEM (Dance Magazine), and Lin-Manuel Miranda is bringing his first full musical since Hamilton to Broadway next spring (AP).
Meanwhile, Europe’s museums have found an unexpected civic role this week: air-conditioned refuges from the heat wave (Le Monde).
All of our stories below.
- Why The Onion Is Going Ahead With Its Infowars Parody Even Though The Case Is Still Tied Up In Court
Basically, if Alex Jones can play dirty, then The Onion can play dirty, too. – Law and Chaos
- How AI Prompting Poses The Classic Writer’s Challenge
This is one novel frustration of the AI age, yet millions of users searching for the “right prompt” are engaging in an old literary practice: turning mental images, vague desires and atmospheric intuitions into precise language. – The Conversation
- Even Award-Winning Indie Filmmakers Make Shockingly Little Money
Brady Corbet, who made The Brutalist, earned, he says “zero dollars” for his work on the movie. The five directors who agreed to be interviewed for this article talk about the day jobs they keep even after their films have been well-received and how they keep it all going. – Vulture
- Warning: European Museums Vulnerable To Cyberattacks
The warning comes less than three years after the British Museum revealed that about 2,000 objects had been stolen, damaged or gone missing from its collections over a period of years, in a scandal that led to the resignation of its director, Hartwig Fischer. – The Guardian
PEOPLE
- Europe’s museums will save you from the heat
Good Morning,
Manhattan’s borough president just routed his entire $50 million discretionary budget to the arts (The New York Times) — an extraordinary move.
In art machine news: New software is poised to replace live musicians in musical-theater pits (The Guardian), an LA museum built entirely on AI is asking whether it’s a whole new genre (Artnet), and an essay wonders if prompting is the oldest writerly skill in new clothes (The Conversation).
Four small colleges are adding dance majors while their peers are cutting everything outside STEM (Dance Magazine), and Lin-Manuel Miranda is bringing his first full musical since Hamilton to Broadway next spring (AP).
Meanwhile, Europe’s museums have found an unexpected civic role this week: air-conditioned refuges from the heat wave (Le Monde).
All of our stories below.
- Why The Onion Is Going Ahead With Its Infowars Parody Even Though The Case Is Still Tied Up In Court
Basically, if Alex Jones can play dirty, then The Onion can play dirty, too. – Law and Chaos
- How AI Prompting Poses The Classic Writer’s Challenge
This is one novel frustration of the AI age, yet millions of users searching for the “right prompt” are engaging in an old literary practice: turning mental images, vague desires and atmospheric intuitions into precise language. – The Conversation
- Even Award-Winning Indie Filmmakers Make Shockingly Little Money
Brady Corbet, who made The Brutalist, earned, he says “zero dollars” for his work on the movie. The five directors who agreed to be interviewed for this article talk about the day jobs they keep even after their films have been well-received and how they keep it all going. – Vulture
- Warning: European Museums Vulnerable To Cyberattacks
The warning comes less than three years after the British Museum revealed that about 2,000 objects had been stolen, damaged or gone missing from its collections over a period of years, in a scandal that led to the resignation of its director, Hartwig Fischer. – The Guardian
THEATRE
VISUAL
- How AI Prompting Poses The Classic Writer’s Challenge
This is one novel frustration of the AI age, yet millions of users searching for the “right prompt” are engaging in an old literary practice: turning mental images, vague desires and atmospheric intuitions into precise language. – The Conversation
- Has Blogging Ceased To Matter?
Anyway, the reason I’m writing all of this is not to brag, but to complain. Over the last two years, I’ve felt like my job has become a bit less important than it used to be, for three reasons. – Noahpinion
- Why Meritocracy Is A Deeply Flawed Idea
Zhuangzi insists that even in idealised situations where values can be straightforward, the idea that hierarchies and institutions can reflect that moral map is a profound misunderstanding of how power actually works. – Aeon
- The Philosophers Attempting To Explain This Baffling Time
That must have been revelatory at a time when most people seemed to believe that science was infallible. But expertise has been downgraded—and more people are getting their information from podcasters and influencers. Who could help us understand this shift? – The Atlantic
- A Monolith Built To Record The End Of Planet Earth
“The purpose of the device is to provide an unbiased account of the events that lead to the demise of the planet, hold accountability for future generations, and inspire urgent action,” the Earth’s Black Box website states. “How the story ends is completely up to us.” – Gizmodo
