AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- AI Paul Gigot Responds To WSJ Opinion Page Editor Paul Gigot
“I have been thinking about this for close to 20 minutes, and I have concluded that human writing is finished.” – The Atlantic
- The Problem That Can’t (Currently) Be Fixed At The Kennedy Center
Each new development and court filing in opposition makes the same structural problem clearer: A judge can restrain the board’s actions time and time again, but “if the problem is a governance problem, there is not much that a court can do.” – The Atlantic
- Why Dictators Fear “Common Knowledge”
The difference between private knowledge, even when widely shared, and common knowledge is not a mere logical nicety. It can unify knowers in coordinated action and sometimes explode a social status quo. – Persuasion
- Why We Love Trashy Movies
The movies in the good-because-bad canon are not forgettably bad, like cheesy Hallmark fare or the thousandth predictable sequel in a superhero franchise; they are not skillfully and expensively bad, like botched Oscar bait. – The New Yorker
- Why “Star Trek” Still Resonates 60 Years Later
From its very first broadcast episode on September 8 1966, Star Trek established that its true subject was the exploration of humanity itself. – The Conversation
ISSUES
- Leader Of Sydney’s Biggest Culture Project This Century, Resigns Ten Weeks Before Opening
Since her 2018 appointment, Havilah has been overseeing the $915 million build of Powerhouse Parramatta—the city’s most significant cultural infrastructure project since the Sydney Opera House, which opened in 1973 for an estimated cost of AU$102 million. – ARTnews
- Critics Blast Met Museum For Honoring Disgraced Fashion Designer
John Galliano, who transformed Dior into a global powerhouse before his disgrace, is scheduled to be the subject of a nine-month exhibition sponsored by the Met’s Costume Institute. – The New York Times
- “Aesthetically Terrifying”? What US State Department’s Removal Of A Painting Is Really About
“It was very woke,” Dan Scavino explained. “It was by the gentleman who did Obama’s portrait. And it was aesthetically terrifying.” Strong words for a group portrait of four fully dressed, largely expressionless sitters in front of a background adorned with flowers. – The New York Times
- A Fight Over Frida Kahlo And Access
The fight about these priceless works — where they should remain and who can have access to them — is really a battle over cultural patrimony and national sovereignty, and it’s one the Mexican government seems to have forfeited. – The New York Times
- Heist Of Spanish Museum’s Bronze Age Gold Took Four Minutes
The raid on Thursday morning of the 66 mostly gold objects in the Spanish town of Villena lasted just minutes, officials said. – The Guardian
MEDIA
- The Problem That Can’t (Currently) Be Fixed At The Kennedy Center
Each new development and court filing in opposition makes the same structural problem clearer: A judge can restrain the board’s actions time and time again, but “if the problem is a governance problem, there is not much that a court can do.” – The Atlantic
- Kennedy Center Board Says It Will Delay Putting Trump’s Name Back On The Building
The announcement followed an emergency court hearing prompted by a Justice Department filing this week warning that the Kennedy Center could be demolished and potentially replaced with an outdoor amphitheater if the board is not allowed to close the building for two years for repairs. – ARTnews
- What Happened To Philadelphia’s Arts Funding?
“Philadelphia experienced the greatest contraction of all of the cities that we were looking at. It has gone from 7 percent of local government coverage of expenses in 2019 down to 1 percent in 2024.” – Philadelphia Citizen
- Lessons From The Edinburgh Fringe: How To Manage Controversy
At a time when mainstream media coverage of festivals such as Edinburgh has shrunk significantly, her debut inevitably pulled headlines towards the infamy of one performer and risked becoming the token fringe story – the celebrity whom everybody outside the festival bubble recognises. – The Stage
- Judge To Kennedy Center Board: Why Did You Vote To Put Trump’s Name On The Building Right After I Ordered You Not To?
“A judge on Thursday expressed skepticism about the Kennedy Center’s intention to return President Donald Trump’s name to the historic performing arts venue by early next month, challenging the board’s insistence on moving forward even in the face of a court ruling that blocked and reversed a previous effort.” – AP
MUSIC
- AI Paul Gigot Responds To WSJ Opinion Page Editor Paul Gigot
“I have been thinking about this for close to 20 minutes, and I have concluded that human writing is finished.” – The Atlantic
- Making Books The Old Fashioned Way
Arion bills itself as the only printer in the country that makes books entirely by hand under one roof, from casting metal type to printing pages to binding them together into exquisite volumes prized by collectors. – The New York Times
- A Turning Point In The Battles Over AI Writing
“Many contributors, especially prominent politicians or CEOs, employ speechwriters or hire a Beltway writing shop,” he wrote. “How different is that from using AI to streamline an essay?” – The Atlantic
- After All This, Emily Wilson Is Retranslating The Odyssey From Scratch
“She says her translation methods have become more sophisticated and that enough time has passed for her to see some flaws in her work. … The new edition will be longer, she says, and will better reflect the differing social worlds of Homer’s poem.” – AP
- Where’s The Evidence That Colleges Are Committed To Teaching Writing?
AI has both clarified what we should be doing when we teach writing and made it much harder to teach writing than in the days prior to the technology’s existence. – InsideHigherEd
PEOPLE
- AI Paul Gigot Responds To WSJ Opinion Page Editor Paul Gigot
“I have been thinking about this for close to 20 minutes, and I have concluded that human writing is finished.” – The Atlantic
- The Problem That Can’t (Currently) Be Fixed At The Kennedy Center
Each new development and court filing in opposition makes the same structural problem clearer: A judge can restrain the board’s actions time and time again, but “if the problem is a governance problem, there is not much that a court can do.” – The Atlantic
- Why Dictators Fear “Common Knowledge”
The difference between private knowledge, even when widely shared, and common knowledge is not a mere logical nicety. It can unify knowers in coordinated action and sometimes explode a social status quo. – Persuasion
- Why We Love Trashy Movies
The movies in the good-because-bad canon are not forgettably bad, like cheesy Hallmark fare or the thousandth predictable sequel in a superhero franchise; they are not skillfully and expensively bad, like botched Oscar bait. – The New Yorker
- Why “Star Trek” Still Resonates 60 Years Later
From its very first broadcast episode on September 8 1966, Star Trek established that its true subject was the exploration of humanity itself. – The Conversation
PEOPLE
- AI Paul Gigot Responds To WSJ Opinion Page Editor Paul Gigot
“I have been thinking about this for close to 20 minutes, and I have concluded that human writing is finished.” – The Atlantic
- The Problem That Can’t (Currently) Be Fixed At The Kennedy Center
Each new development and court filing in opposition makes the same structural problem clearer: A judge can restrain the board’s actions time and time again, but “if the problem is a governance problem, there is not much that a court can do.” – The Atlantic
- Why Dictators Fear “Common Knowledge”
The difference between private knowledge, even when widely shared, and common knowledge is not a mere logical nicety. It can unify knowers in coordinated action and sometimes explode a social status quo. – Persuasion
- Why We Love Trashy Movies
The movies in the good-because-bad canon are not forgettably bad, like cheesy Hallmark fare or the thousandth predictable sequel in a superhero franchise; they are not skillfully and expensively bad, like botched Oscar bait. – The New Yorker
- Why “Star Trek” Still Resonates 60 Years Later
From its very first broadcast episode on September 8 1966, Star Trek established that its true subject was the exploration of humanity itself. – The Conversation
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Why Dictators Fear “Common Knowledge”
The difference between private knowledge, even when widely shared, and common knowledge is not a mere logical nicety. It can unify knowers in coordinated action and sometimes explode a social status quo. – Persuasion
- The Very Definition Of Kitsch
In one moment, you see children playing on the grass, and you are genuinely moved. In the second moment, you see the children playing, and you think how nice it would be to be moved. The latter is the substance of kitsch. – 3 Quarks Daily
- Group Chats: Our Own Little Neighborhoods
In one chat that I share with literary friends, we sometimes joke that after we’re all dead, if historians try to unearth our correspondence, they will find only this sprawling, years-long museum of absurdities. – The New Yorker
- Study: To Get Employees to Use a Benefit, Make Signing Up a Little Harder
In some cases, you need to make it (ever-so-slightly) harder for people to sign up for the program to help them feel like it’s worth the effort, suggests research forthcoming in Management Science. – Harvard Business Review
- A Case For Limiting AI In Culture
If we fail to think through and delimit the role of AI in our lives, we risk undermining the intelligibility of our own guiding cultural concepts, and thus initiating a period in our own society of which it may someday be possible to say that “nothing happened.” – The Point