AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Who’s Minding the Gates?
Good Morning
The Kennedy Center laid off more staff Friday, with much of its programming department terminated or redirected toward venue rentals (Washington Post). Meanwhile the AP is offering buyouts as it formally pivots away from newspapers — which now account for just 10% of its revenue (NiemanLab).
The gatekeeping infrastructure keeps thinning. David Bell chronicles the slow death of the book review and what it takes with it (Liberties Journal), while the New York Review of Books asks why writers still bother with political satire when the political targets don’t read (NYRB). And into the vacuum: AI influencers now good enough to fool their audiences (The Atlantic).
A stolen Van Gogh, returned in an Ikea bag with a blood-stained pillow, has been restored to its former glory (Smithsonian). Art finds a way.
All of our stories below.
- Chopin Waltzes as a Cycle — A Triumph for Seong-Jin Cho
That Chopin’s 24 Preludes are commonly performed as a set makes sense. They are individually short and concise, they vary greatly in mood and texture, they suggest a trajectory beginning with a clearing of the throat and ending with a firestorm.
That Chopin’s waltzes are not commonly performed as a
- Language And The Battle For Democracy
If ‘language is one of the keys to individual autonomy’, the central challenge in a linguistic landscape being flattened and standardized by AI is to ‘continue to believe in language learning as a tool of emancipation and liberation’. – Eurozine
- Hilde Limondjian, Longtime Met Museum Music Curator, 89
Hilde Limondjian, who spent more than four decades bringing music to the auditorium — and the galleries — of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, died on Jan. 24. She was 89. – The New York Times
- Obama Library Announces Artist Commissions For The Presidential Library
The latest set of commissions will be realized by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Jeffrey Gibson, Rashid Johnson, Hugo McCloud, Martin Puryear, Lorna Simpson, and Norman Teague. – ARTnews
ISSUES
- Obama Library Announces Artist Commissions For The Presidential Library
The latest set of commissions will be realized by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Jeffrey Gibson, Rashid Johnson, Hugo McCloud, Martin Puryear, Lorna Simpson, and Norman Teague. – ARTnews
- LA Museums Polish Up for Their Olympic Moment
The Getty and Page Museum are getting Olympic-ready makeovers, because nothing says ‘world-class cultural destination’ like frantically renovating before the global spotlight hits. Strategic timing or happy coincidence? — Artnet
- German Dealers Learn Local Isn’t Always Loyal
The art world’s great pivot to regional collectors hits a Teutonic reality check. Turns out courting hometown buyers is neither easier nor more profitable than globe-trotting—just different complications. — Artnet
- Chicago Art Fairs: Fair Weather Friends to Local Scene?
Expo Chicago’s glittering circus rolls into town promising cultural cachet, but who’s actually invited to the party? A reality check on whether the fair circuit lifts all boats or just the ones already floating. — Hyperallergic
- And Now: Designs For An Arc d’Trump
As part of Donald Trump’s legacy-building quest during his second term in office, the so-called “Arc de Trump” would stand 250ft tall, feature a 60ft golden Lady Liberty, and include a viewing deck. – The Guardian
MEDIA
- There Were More Layoffs Friday At The Kennedy Center
One person familiar with the cuts said much of the programming department’s work has been either terminated or redirected toward campus rentals, for which venue fees have to be paid up front. – Washington Post
- What We Shouldn’t Learn From Mississippi’s Education Miracle
Fixing education is never that simple. If states really want to replicate our success, they need to understand that what Mississippi did wasn’t a miracle at all. – The Atlantic
- Japan Struggles With What Some There Call “Tourism Pollution”
“As the country’s economic malaise deepens, officials are eager for the economic boost of increased tourism, even as local communities find themselves entirely unprepared for what a small army of foreign visitors means for their communities.” – AP
- South Korea Shakes Up Its Cultural Leadership
South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has announced a series of high-profile appointments across its leading arts institutions, led by the naming of conductor and cellist Chang Han-na as the new president and chief executive of the Seoul Arts Center. – Moto Perpetuo
- Trump Administration Abandons Appeal, Gives Up Attempt To Dismantle Institute Of Museum And Library Services
“A federal court granted the administration’s request to withdraw its appeal of a federal judge’s earlier ruling that struck down Trump’s attempt last year to dismantle the agency” by executive order. However, the fiscal 2027 budget which the White House is submitting to Congress includes no funding for IMLS. – Publishers Weekly
MUSIC
- If They Aren’t Reading, Why Are We Making Fun Of Them?
Literary ridicule used to sting politicians into shame. Now they don’t read books, don’t care about cultural criticism, and certainly don’t lose sleep over clever wordplay. Writers are shadowboxing with ghosts. — New York Review of Books
- Book Reviews Die Hard: Taking Enlightenment With Them
As traditional literary criticism gasps its last, so goes reasoned public discourse. David Bell chronicles how digital age killed the gatekeepers—and maybe critical thinking itself. — Liberties Journal
- Poets Are All About Words. What Happens When Those Words Start Slipping Away?
Because the cells that make up the mind are material, they can degrade or die. When neurons degrade, starve, or die, the essential connections our minds make to our muscles start to sputter. – LA Review of Books
- When The AI Police Are Wrong
The Originality.ai reports on his draft, which he shared with The Times, showed that adding or deleting even just a few sentences produced wildly different results. “What if publishers or agents start running these A.I. tools on everybody?” Bricio said. “Everybody is going to walk on eggshells from now on.” – The New York Times
- Pew Study On Reading: Americans Still Prefer Print Books
Print continues to be the only book format used by a majority of Americans. Roughly two-thirds of adults say they have read a physical book in the past 12 months, according to our October survey. – Pew Center
PEOPLE
- Who’s Minding the Gates?
Good Morning
The Kennedy Center laid off more staff Friday, with much of its programming department terminated or redirected toward venue rentals (Washington Post). Meanwhile the AP is offering buyouts as it formally pivots away from newspapers — which now account for just 10% of its revenue (NiemanLab).
The gatekeeping infrastructure keeps thinning. David Bell chronicles the slow death of the book review and what it takes with it (Liberties Journal), while the New York Review of Books asks why writers still bother with political satire when the political targets don’t read (NYRB). And into the vacuum: AI influencers now good enough to fool their audiences (The Atlantic).
A stolen Van Gogh, returned in an Ikea bag with a blood-stained pillow, has been restored to its former glory (Smithsonian). Art finds a way.
All of our stories below.
- Chopin Waltzes as a Cycle — A Triumph for Seong-Jin Cho
That Chopin’s 24 Preludes are commonly performed as a set makes sense. They are individually short and concise, they vary greatly in mood and texture, they suggest a trajectory beginning with a clearing of the throat and ending with a firestorm.
That Chopin’s waltzes are not commonly performed as a
- Language And The Battle For Democracy
If ‘language is one of the keys to individual autonomy’, the central challenge in a linguistic landscape being flattened and standardized by AI is to ‘continue to believe in language learning as a tool of emancipation and liberation’. – Eurozine
- Hilde Limondjian, Longtime Met Museum Music Curator, 89
Hilde Limondjian, who spent more than four decades bringing music to the auditorium — and the galleries — of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, died on Jan. 24. She was 89. – The New York Times
- Obama Library Announces Artist Commissions For The Presidential Library
The latest set of commissions will be realized by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Jeffrey Gibson, Rashid Johnson, Hugo McCloud, Martin Puryear, Lorna Simpson, and Norman Teague. – ARTnews
PEOPLE
- Who’s Minding the Gates?
Good Morning
The Kennedy Center laid off more staff Friday, with much of its programming department terminated or redirected toward venue rentals (Washington Post). Meanwhile the AP is offering buyouts as it formally pivots away from newspapers — which now account for just 10% of its revenue (NiemanLab).
The gatekeeping infrastructure keeps thinning. David Bell chronicles the slow death of the book review and what it takes with it (Liberties Journal), while the New York Review of Books asks why writers still bother with political satire when the political targets don’t read (NYRB). And into the vacuum: AI influencers now good enough to fool their audiences (The Atlantic).
A stolen Van Gogh, returned in an Ikea bag with a blood-stained pillow, has been restored to its former glory (Smithsonian). Art finds a way.
All of our stories below.
- Chopin Waltzes as a Cycle — A Triumph for Seong-Jin Cho
That Chopin’s 24 Preludes are commonly performed as a set makes sense. They are individually short and concise, they vary greatly in mood and texture, they suggest a trajectory beginning with a clearing of the throat and ending with a firestorm.
That Chopin’s waltzes are not commonly performed as a
- Language And The Battle For Democracy
If ‘language is one of the keys to individual autonomy’, the central challenge in a linguistic landscape being flattened and standardized by AI is to ‘continue to believe in language learning as a tool of emancipation and liberation’. – Eurozine
- Hilde Limondjian, Longtime Met Museum Music Curator, 89
Hilde Limondjian, who spent more than four decades bringing music to the auditorium — and the galleries — of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, died on Jan. 24. She was 89. – The New York Times
- Obama Library Announces Artist Commissions For The Presidential Library
The latest set of commissions will be realized by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Jeffrey Gibson, Rashid Johnson, Hugo McCloud, Martin Puryear, Lorna Simpson, and Norman Teague. – ARTnews
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Language And The Battle For Democracy
If ‘language is one of the keys to individual autonomy’, the central challenge in a linguistic landscape being flattened and standardized by AI is to ‘continue to believe in language learning as a tool of emancipation and liberation’. – Eurozine
- When Your Novel Rides Off Into Someone Else’s Sunset
A Texas novelist discovers the hard way that authorial intent is no match for America’s hunger for mythology. Sometimes the culture writes the ending, whether you like it or not. — The American Scholar
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being Nobody in Particular
A Danish writer discovers what Instagram influencers fear most: that maybe there’s no authentic self to brand after all. Thank goodness for Austrian modernists who made existential fragmentation fashionable. — Aeon
- Paranoia In Perspective: Welcome To The “Dark” Enlightenment
Largely ignored by academic philosophers, the “Dark Enlightenment” movement and Yarvin have curried favor and influence with tech executives in recent years. A software engineer by training, Yarvin has become a kind of official philosopher for tech leaders like PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel and Mosaic founder Marc Andreessen. — Time
- Rise Of The AI Influencers
Some of these online influencers are pretty easy to spot, but others are good enough that they’re duping people. And in some cases, it seems almost impossible to know for certain whether a specific influencer is real or not. – The Atlantic
