AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- If You Want Privacy, Never Watch TV
Why? “Your TV and smartphone are far more interoperable and indistinguishable than ever before, and an inescapable user-tracking singularity is developing, accordingly, in your own living room.” – Slate
- The Pianist Who Cut Short His Career Because Of Stage Fright, And Then Became A Movie Star For Ethan Hawke, Has Died At 99
“Although he managed to perform well despite his stage fright, [Seymour] Bernstein eventually decided to quit. He gave his final public concert in 1977, at the age of 50.” – The New York Times
- Wait, Portland Has Another New Analysis Saying Two Concert Halls Would Be Just Fine
Competing studies find that Portland can support one performing arts center or maybe two performing arts centers, or not. And of course, “Portland has appointed a number of advisory committees to study the choices more closely before holding public hearings to make a final decision.” – Oregon ArtsWatch
- The White House’s Potential New Ballroom Has Even More Issues
“Each fence, bollard, and inch of blast-resistant laminated glass is a barrier between the people and their government. Virtually every modern presidency has understood this, leaning into discretion. … It was a bit of a fiction, but now we see the alternative, and it is grim.” – The Atlantic
- Consumers Sue To Block Paramount Merger With Warner Bros
“The lawsuit … alleges the Paramount-Warner deal will lead to increased prices, fewer consumer choices and reduce production of film and TV since a major rival in the entertainment business will be eliminated.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
ISSUES
- The Epic Journey Of Ukraine’s Origami Concrete Deer To The Venice Biennale
The journey began in 2018. “Over time [the deer] became a landmark, a well-known feature of the city. It was a peaceable, delicate creature to replace a symbol of military domination and violence. Fast forward to the summer of 2024.” – The Guardian (UK)
- London’s New Banksy Statue Appears In The Middle of The Night
The sculpture depicts a man marching forward off a plinth while carrying a large, billowing flag that obscures his face. A video Banksy posted on social media shows the statue being towed to Westminster in the dead of night, alongside shots of the nearby statue of Winston Churchill. – The Guardian
- Gallery Appoints Economist-In-Residence
“We radically, radically need something new, because old thinking isn’t getting us anywhere. In my 30 years in the cultural sector I’ve never known a situation in which so many major institutions — the National Gallery, Tate — are in such a precarious economic state. If they catch cold, the rest of us will get pneumonia.” – Financial Times
- Check Out The Plans For Putting An Actual Park In The Middle Of Park Avenue
“A century ago, the median down … Park Avenue was much more welcoming than it is today, a place with seating and substantial plantings where you’d consider spending time. … In 2024, (New York City) announced a call for proposals wherein those two lanes would be reclaimed from traffic for leisure and greenery.” – Vulture (MSN)
- The Entire Venice Biennale Jury Has Resigned
“(The move was made) just nine days before the world’s oldest and most important contemporary art fair opens, amid tensions over Russia’s participation and the panel’s decision to bar prizes for countries accused of crimes against humanity.” – AP
MEDIA
- If You Want Privacy, Never Watch TV
Why? “Your TV and smartphone are far more interoperable and indistinguishable than ever before, and an inescapable user-tracking singularity is developing, accordingly, in your own living room.” – Slate
- The White House’s Potential New Ballroom Has Even More Issues
“Each fence, bollard, and inch of blast-resistant laminated glass is a barrier between the people and their government. Virtually every modern presidency has understood this, leaning into discretion. … It was a bit of a fiction, but now we see the alternative, and it is grim.” – The Atlantic
- Consumers Sue To Block Paramount Merger With Warner Bros
“The lawsuit … alleges the Paramount-Warner deal will lead to increased prices, fewer consumer choices and reduce production of film and TV since a major rival in the entertainment business will be eliminated.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- City Of San Francisco Names Its First-Ever Arts And Culture Czar
“Longtime arts and city government veteran Matthew Goudeau has been named San Francisco’s first executive director of arts and culture. … To that end, Goudeau will oversee three of the city’s most important arts entities: the San Francisco Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts and the Film Commission.” – San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
- Money Troubles And Layoffs At California Academy Of Sciences In San Francisco
“The museum and research center … plans to lay off 53 employees and scale back some programs as it grapples with a growing budget deficit driven by rising costs and lagging revenue. The cuts, announced Tuesday, will affect about 9.3% of the academy’s workforce.” – San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
MUSIC
- How Booker-Nominated Author Katie Kitamura Reads
“Even a book that I know I wouldn’t enjoy now would still be interesting to read, to figure out how both it and I had changed. And there is always the possibility that I would enjoy it after all. Books are always surprising you.” – The Guardian (UK)
- The Struggle To Protect Mauritania’s Medieval Library Town
Chinguetti developed as a trading post on the trans-Sahara caravan route to Timbuktu — and, as in Timbuktu, over the centuries Chinguetti families came to amass important collections of medieval manuscripts on religion, law, and science. Now, as the population dwindles and the desert sand encroaches, preserving these collections is a challenge. – The Dial
- Idaho Legislature Changes Book Ban As Court Challenges Continue
The three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit wrote that HB 710 enables a “system of informal censorship” and potentially “encourages formal censorship through the legal process. The First Amendment does not tolerate either outcome.” – Publishers Weekly
- The Guardian Now Has More American Readers Than The Washington Post Has
“(The Guardian) has found a lane in the U.S. news market as a progressive alternative to institutional American media, … backed by a voluntary contribution model that has attracted 700,000 supporters, 500,000 of them recurring. Reader revenue has grown 35% a year for the past two years, with a still-growing 150-person newsroom.” – The Rebooting
- Lost Copy Of Oldest Surviving English Poem Turns Up In Rome
“Scholars from Trinity College Dublin uncovered the manuscript that contains Caedmon’s Hymn at the National Central Library of Rome. Bede, the medieval theologian revered as the father of English history, recorded the nine-line poem in the eighth century.” – The Guardian
PEOPLE
- If You Want Privacy, Never Watch TV
Why? “Your TV and smartphone are far more interoperable and indistinguishable than ever before, and an inescapable user-tracking singularity is developing, accordingly, in your own living room.” – Slate
- The Pianist Who Cut Short His Career Because Of Stage Fright, And Then Became A Movie Star For Ethan Hawke, Has Died At 99
“Although he managed to perform well despite his stage fright, [Seymour] Bernstein eventually decided to quit. He gave his final public concert in 1977, at the age of 50.” – The New York Times
- Wait, Portland Has Another New Analysis Saying Two Concert Halls Would Be Just Fine
Competing studies find that Portland can support one performing arts center or maybe two performing arts centers, or not. And of course, “Portland has appointed a number of advisory committees to study the choices more closely before holding public hearings to make a final decision.” – Oregon ArtsWatch
- The White House’s Potential New Ballroom Has Even More Issues
“Each fence, bollard, and inch of blast-resistant laminated glass is a barrier between the people and their government. Virtually every modern presidency has understood this, leaning into discretion. … It was a bit of a fiction, but now we see the alternative, and it is grim.” – The Atlantic
- Consumers Sue To Block Paramount Merger With Warner Bros
“The lawsuit … alleges the Paramount-Warner deal will lead to increased prices, fewer consumer choices and reduce production of film and TV since a major rival in the entertainment business will be eliminated.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
PEOPLE
- If You Want Privacy, Never Watch TV
Why? “Your TV and smartphone are far more interoperable and indistinguishable than ever before, and an inescapable user-tracking singularity is developing, accordingly, in your own living room.” – Slate
- The Pianist Who Cut Short His Career Because Of Stage Fright, And Then Became A Movie Star For Ethan Hawke, Has Died At 99
“Although he managed to perform well despite his stage fright, [Seymour] Bernstein eventually decided to quit. He gave his final public concert in 1977, at the age of 50.” – The New York Times
- Wait, Portland Has Another New Analysis Saying Two Concert Halls Would Be Just Fine
Competing studies find that Portland can support one performing arts center or maybe two performing arts centers, or not. And of course, “Portland has appointed a number of advisory committees to study the choices more closely before holding public hearings to make a final decision.” – Oregon ArtsWatch
- The White House’s Potential New Ballroom Has Even More Issues
“Each fence, bollard, and inch of blast-resistant laminated glass is a barrier between the people and their government. Virtually every modern presidency has understood this, leaning into discretion. … It was a bit of a fiction, but now we see the alternative, and it is grim.” – The Atlantic
- Consumers Sue To Block Paramount Merger With Warner Bros
“The lawsuit … alleges the Paramount-Warner deal will lead to increased prices, fewer consumer choices and reduce production of film and TV since a major rival in the entertainment business will be eliminated.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Wait, Portland Has Another New Analysis Saying Two Concert Halls Would Be Just Fine
Competing studies find that Portland can support one performing arts center or maybe two performing arts centers, or not. And of course, “Portland has appointed a number of advisory committees to study the choices more closely before holding public hearings to make a final decision.” – Oregon ArtsWatch
- Wait, Just How Big Is Trump’s Desired Garden Of Heroes Supposed To Be Now?
Big, with a “Heroes Walk,’” and “accompanying the statues would be formal gardens, reflecting pools and plazas arranged in a style reminiscent of classical European planning traditions, according to renderings.” – The New York Times
- Are Online Worlds The Only Place Children Have Unsupervised Freedom?
According to results from a 2025 Harris Poll, 62 per cent of American kids aged eight to 12 have never walked or biked somewhere without an adult. Roughly the same percentage have never made plans with friends without adult assistance, and almost half have never walked in a different aisle than their parents at a store. – Psyche
- What If There’s No Such Thing As Infinity?
“A lot of mathematicians just find the whole proposal preposterous,” said Joel David Hamkins(opens a new tab), a set theorist at the University of Notre Dame. Ultrafinitism is not polite talk at a mathematical society dinner. – Quanta
- AI And A Permanent Underclass
Whether you talk with engineers, venture capitalists, founders or managers, or with doomers, accelerationists, lefties or libertarians, the so-called San Francisco consensus on the impact of A.I. for workers is bleak. – The New York Times
