AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Research: Majority Of Americans Are Anxious About AI
Today, 52% of Americans say they are more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life – up from 37% in 2021. Another 9% are more excited than concerned and 37% say they’re equally excited and concerned, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted June 22-28, 2026. – Pew Research
- A Dance Critic Considers High-Level Surfing As Ballet
Gia Kourlas on champion Caitlin Simmers: “Her undulating torso, her sensitivity to the fluctuations of an unsteady surface and her speed are all part of her power. … Her clarity comes from her deep center of gravity, which allows her to slice up and down waves like a silken ribbon.” – The New York Times
- How Melancholy Became Hungary’s Literary Brand
Melancholy, an affinity with oblivion without a concrete cause, suffuses the Hungarian fiction translated for foreign audiences over the past 30 years, from the tortured tales of Sándor Márai to the taut novels of Magda Szabó. – The Guardian
- Did Smartphones Really Kill Reading?
It is tempting to blame smartphones for this condition and conclude that some kind of ban would solve the problem. But a historical perspective shows that this is not enough: reading was in decline before the smartphone appeared. – LitHub
- New Website Tracks Author Events
LitCircle’s database will track author readings and signings, as well as book clubs and literary festivals across the country, and alert readers to upcoming literary programming in their vicinity. George partnered with Patrick DiMichele, a technology consultant and a longtime Volumes customer, to build the platform. – Publishers Weekly
ISSUES
- Colombian Cultural Heritage Sites Damaged In The Earthquake
The report, published on 14 August, identifies 40 nationally protected cultural properties in the seven departments hardest hit by the disaster that suffered some degree of damage, 22 of which were severely impacted. Of the remaining properties, 13 suffered moderate damage and five were only lightly affected. – The Art Newspaper
- This Summer’s European Heat Waves Are Damaging Monet’s Gardens At Giverny
Horticultural staff are reporting that some foliage is scorched and many flowers are wilting, though they’ve been able to mitigate the weather’s worst effects by careful watering and moving some plants around. Chief gardeners also say they may have to change some of the seasonal scheduling and choice of plantings. – ARTnews
- Brazen: Thieves Steal Four Renaissance Paintings From Italian Museum
Taking advantage of an annual religious celebration that brings tens of thousands to Messina’s streets, thieves made off with three of five panels that constitute the Polyptych of San Gregorio as well as a small double-sided devotional painting. – The New York Times
- Preservation Group Appeals To Supreme Court To Stop White House Construction
The preservationist group trying to stop President Trump’s White House ballroom urged the Supreme Court to deny the administration’s emergency request to allow construction, calling it “astonishing” on Tuesday. – The Hill
- Sudden Power Outages And Overcrowding Plague Several Chinese Museums This Summer
“China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration has ordered public museums across the country to strengthen emergency management protocols to protect visitors and artefacts, following a string of power outages and overcrowding incidents during the summer holiday season. The directive follows several infrastructural breakdowns at major cultural institutions.” – The Art Newspaper
MEDIA
- Refurbishment Plans For The Kennedy Center Detailed
More than 160 pages of plans, assembled by the real estate company JLL and presented to the board of trustees, outline extensive changes throughout the building. – Washington Post
- Google Now Has An AI Tool To Catch Fake AI Images
“After (a fact-checker) upload(s) an image and enter(s) a basic question, Backstory can automatically run checks to determine whether the image is AI-generated, whether it shows signs of manipulation, and where else the image has appeared throughout its lifetime on the internet.” – Nieman Lab
- Many Of New York City’s Most Prominent Cultural Institutions Don’t Pay Fines For Fire Code Violations
The Met Museum, Carnegie Hall, BAM, Lincoln Center, even the Brooklyn Children’s Museum — in fact, none of the 39 institutions in what’s called the Cultural Institutions Group have to pay Fire Dept. summonses. There is, in fact, a logical reason for this. – Gothamist
- Kennedy Center Management Explains Why That Tarp Is Still There
The fabric barrier and scaffolding put up while Trump’s name was removed from the building’s façade are still in place more than two months later. In a court filing this week, management stated that there is still work being done at and around that area. – The Independent (UK)
- The Case Of The Fake Ancient Roman Amphitheatre
“Picture this: a hillside ‘archaeological site’ complete with what were marketed as Neolithic and Greco-Roman artefacts, impressive enough that visitors were charged a hefty 40-euro entrance fee. … Except it wasn’t ancient at all.” And the perpetrator had cleared a protected hillside forest to build it. – Gramilano
MUSIC
- How Melancholy Became Hungary’s Literary Brand
Melancholy, an affinity with oblivion without a concrete cause, suffuses the Hungarian fiction translated for foreign audiences over the past 30 years, from the tortured tales of Sándor Márai to the taut novels of Magda Szabó. – The Guardian
- Did Smartphones Really Kill Reading?
It is tempting to blame smartphones for this condition and conclude that some kind of ban would solve the problem. But a historical perspective shows that this is not enough: reading was in decline before the smartphone appeared. – LitHub
- New Website Tracks Author Events
LitCircle’s database will track author readings and signings, as well as book clubs and literary festivals across the country, and alert readers to upcoming literary programming in their vicinity. George partnered with Patrick DiMichele, a technology consultant and a longtime Volumes customer, to build the platform. – Publishers Weekly
- Penguin Random House Suspends New Mamdani Biography Following Plagiarism Accusations Against Author
The publisher has halted promotion and public sales of The Revolutionary: Zohran Mamdani and the Remaking of American Politics by Ross Barkan in the wake of allegations that the author plagiarized parts of numerous columns he wrote as a freelancer for New York magazine. – The Washington Post (MSN)
- An Expressive History Of Punctuation
The exclamation point arrived in the middle of the 14th century, bringing what many felt was “a welcome infusion of emotion onto the page,” and was joined, over the 15th century, by parentheses and the apostrophe. – The Wall Street Journal
PEOPLE
- Research: Majority Of Americans Are Anxious About AI
Today, 52% of Americans say they are more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life – up from 37% in 2021. Another 9% are more excited than concerned and 37% say they’re equally excited and concerned, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted June 22-28, 2026. – Pew Research
- A Dance Critic Considers High-Level Surfing As Ballet
Gia Kourlas on champion Caitlin Simmers: “Her undulating torso, her sensitivity to the fluctuations of an unsteady surface and her speed are all part of her power. … Her clarity comes from her deep center of gravity, which allows her to slice up and down waves like a silken ribbon.” – The New York Times
- How Melancholy Became Hungary’s Literary Brand
Melancholy, an affinity with oblivion without a concrete cause, suffuses the Hungarian fiction translated for foreign audiences over the past 30 years, from the tortured tales of Sándor Márai to the taut novels of Magda Szabó. – The Guardian
- Did Smartphones Really Kill Reading?
It is tempting to blame smartphones for this condition and conclude that some kind of ban would solve the problem. But a historical perspective shows that this is not enough: reading was in decline before the smartphone appeared. – LitHub
- New Website Tracks Author Events
LitCircle’s database will track author readings and signings, as well as book clubs and literary festivals across the country, and alert readers to upcoming literary programming in their vicinity. George partnered with Patrick DiMichele, a technology consultant and a longtime Volumes customer, to build the platform. – Publishers Weekly
PEOPLE
- Research: Majority Of Americans Are Anxious About AI
Today, 52% of Americans say they are more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life – up from 37% in 2021. Another 9% are more excited than concerned and 37% say they’re equally excited and concerned, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted June 22-28, 2026. – Pew Research
- A Dance Critic Considers High-Level Surfing As Ballet
Gia Kourlas on champion Caitlin Simmers: “Her undulating torso, her sensitivity to the fluctuations of an unsteady surface and her speed are all part of her power. … Her clarity comes from her deep center of gravity, which allows her to slice up and down waves like a silken ribbon.” – The New York Times
- How Melancholy Became Hungary’s Literary Brand
Melancholy, an affinity with oblivion without a concrete cause, suffuses the Hungarian fiction translated for foreign audiences over the past 30 years, from the tortured tales of Sándor Márai to the taut novels of Magda Szabó. – The Guardian
- Did Smartphones Really Kill Reading?
It is tempting to blame smartphones for this condition and conclude that some kind of ban would solve the problem. But a historical perspective shows that this is not enough: reading was in decline before the smartphone appeared. – LitHub
- New Website Tracks Author Events
LitCircle’s database will track author readings and signings, as well as book clubs and literary festivals across the country, and alert readers to upcoming literary programming in their vicinity. George partnered with Patrick DiMichele, a technology consultant and a longtime Volumes customer, to build the platform. – Publishers Weekly
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Research: Majority Of Americans Are Anxious About AI
Today, 52% of Americans say they are more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life – up from 37% in 2021. Another 9% are more excited than concerned and 37% say they’re equally excited and concerned, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted June 22-28, 2026. – Pew Research
- Some Of The Sharpest Political Writers In 18th-Century Britain Were Fictional
British writers in the 18th century repeatedly invented fictional characters to intervene in the politics and culture of their day. – The Conversation
- Research: Why We’re Bothered More When We Think People Are Wrong (And It’s Not Just A Different Opinion)
Our new research finds that people are more disturbed by others’ beliefs when they feel those beliefs are not merely different from their own but are based on incorrect information. – The Conversation
- The End Of Nostalgia?
What if businesses become too good at selling nostalgia? Research I carried out with colleagues suggests that digital technology is changing nostalgia itself. Ironically, by making the past permanently available, companies may be weakening the very notion they are trying to sell. – The Conversation
- Warning: Screen Time Is Having An Impact On Kids’ Cognitive Abilities
“Our children are less cognitively capable than we were at their age. For nearly two centuries, the west experienced steady generational progress. Each new cohort of children grew up, on average, healthier, happier, and better educated than the last. Until now.” – The Guardian