AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Good Morning
The Met Opera is the largest performing arts company in the country, and it is quietly desperate — box-office receipts down $20 million from a decade ago, deficits mounting, and no obvious fix in sight (The New York Times). The Boston Symphony, meanwhile, just fired its music director, and the postmortem is not gentle: Andris Nelsons is being held up as the cautionary symbol of the “overstretched, overtired, overindulged modern music director” (The New York Times). Big institutions, big problems.
The Toronto Film Critics Association is effectively in freefall after an Indigenous filmmaker’s pro-Palestine acceptance speech was cut from a broadcast. She returned her trophy, the president resigned, and 16 members have quit — with more weighing it (The Hollywood Reporter). The Voice of America got better news: a federal judge ruled Kari Lake’s appointment invalid, potentially reinstating more than 1,000 journalists and restoring broadcasts to China, Russia, and Iran (The New York Times).
And then there’s Timothée Chalamet, who declared that nobody cares about opera and ballet. Opera and ballet companies responded by posting sold-out notices and offering discount ticket codes in his name (NBC). Somebody cares.
All of our stories below.
- The Best Actor Race Is Weirdly Up For Grabs
“‘When there’s not unanimity in the lead acting races, it can get really weird.’ In that situation, voters stop gaming out front-runners and simply vote for their guy. Which means that truly anything can happen.” – Vulture
- Romance And Romantasy Fans Are Driving A Potential Literary Shift
- Amazon Tried To Sponsor A Book Festival In France, And That Went About As Well As You Might Expect
Many – most, even – of France’s booksellers pulled out of . Then the organizers got Amazon to “mutually agree” to end its sponsorship. Who thought this was a good idea in the first place? – The Guardian (UK)
- It’s Such A Brutal Time For Both Theatre And Arts Journalism
So what’s an NYT theatre critic to do? “There are so many things beyond our control … but somewhere amid all the hubbub, someone is making something, and you need to pay attention.” – The New York Times
ISSUES
- The Giant Nude Woman In SF’s Embarcadero Plaza Will Be Staying All This Summer
“On Tuesday, March 4, commissioners voted to keep the temporary installation of ‘R-Evolution’ on display through October. The 48-foot-tall, steel-and-mesh figure of a naked woman by Petaluma artist Marco Cochrane was previously approved to be on view from mid-March 2025 to early March.” – San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
- Architect: What’s Wrong With Trump’s Grandiose Ballroom Design
“The net effect of this is to adversely impact what is the most important historic — the most identifiable historic — house in the entire United States. This is permanent, what it will do to the White House.” – AP
- Zaha Hadid’s Successor Wins Right To Rename Her Architecture Firm
Britain’s Court of Appeal has overruled a High Court judgement from 2024 over a licensing agreement which required the studio Zaha Hadid Architects to retain her name and pay a fee to use it. The ruling opens the door for current principal Patrick Schumacher to change the firm’s name or to renegotiate the contract. – Dezeen
- The British Museum Employee Who Stole More Than 300 Prints
“Nigel Peverett, who worked at the museum’s Department of Prints and Drawings in the early 1970s, had remained a ‘frequent visitor’ until one day in April 1992, when he was caught.” He was prosecuted, hospitalized after a suicide attempt, and got a suspended sentence. Amazingly, he kept his employee pension. – The Independent (UK)
- Russia Returns To Exhibiting At The Venice Biennale
Russia will host a pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale, the world’s most important art event — the latest sign of the country’s will to end its pariah status in global cultural and sporting life amid the war in Ukraine. – The New York Times
MEDIA
- The Cosplayers Taking Emerald City Comic Con To Task For Its Deep Connections To ICE
“The problem lies in a rotten, corporate family tree,” and the self-described nerds aren’t going to let anyone forget it. For instance, in one panel, “it’ll be much, much more about fascism than a steamy book panel usually would be.” – The Stranger (Seattle)
- Grammarly Openly Steals The Work Of Writers Living And Dead
Gross: “Using Grammarly’s ‘Expert Review’ allows an approximation of Stephen King and Neil deGrasse Tyson to nitpick your work. While Tyson has the opportunity to say whether he’d like to be turned into a chatbot, other authors, like Carl Sagan, cannot because they are dead.” – AV Club
- Congresswoman Files Suit To Stop Trump From Closing The Kennedy Center
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) on Friday filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to block President Trump from closing the Kennedy Center after he announced last month that it would shut down to allow for renovations. – The Hill
- Classic Reconsidered: Hudson’s Bay Coat Gets Historical Reality Check
That vintage striped coat commanding boutique prices? Turns out its colonial baggage is heavier than its wool. Fashion meets reckoning as shoppers discover their thrift store treasure carries more than just warmth. — The Walrus
- Mexico Sees Increasing Backlash Against Over-Tourism
“The Guardian visits Oaxaca, … where tourism has grown 77% since the pandemic and once-private family rituals such as the Day of the Dead are now big international parties. But with this opportunity comes a growing backlash across the country, as local people struggle with a cost-of-living crisis.” (video) – The Guardian
MUSIC
- Romance And Romantasy Fans Are Driving A Potential Literary Shift
- Amazon Tried To Sponsor A Book Festival In France, And That Went About As Well As You Might Expect
Many – most, even – of France’s booksellers pulled out of . Then the organizers got Amazon to “mutually agree” to end its sponsorship. Who thought this was a good idea in the first place? – The Guardian (UK)
- When Your Reading List Becomes A High Score (Is That Good?)
LitHub explores how platforms like Letterboxd and Goodreads transform intimate cultural experiences into competitive metrics. Because apparently we can’t enjoy a book anymore without turning it into content for our personal brand. — Literary Hub
- Britain’s Daily Telegraph Bought By German Media Conglomerate Axel Springer
Axel Springer, which owns the German publications Bild and Die Welt and the US website group Politico, will pay £575 million ($766 million) for Telegraph Media Group. Springer intends to “turbocharge” the Telegraph’s expansion into the U.S. marker and to make it “the leading center-right media outlet in the English-speaking world.” – AP
- Why Dictionaries Still Matter
The book is formal and highly structured; it seems like something from another, vaguely bygone time. Still, dictionary editors have long paid close attention to how language is used and perused—in signs, in novels, in articles and pronouncements, and lately on the Web. – The Nation
PEOPLE
- Good Morning
The Met Opera is the largest performing arts company in the country, and it is quietly desperate — box-office receipts down $20 million from a decade ago, deficits mounting, and no obvious fix in sight (The New York Times). The Boston Symphony, meanwhile, just fired its music director, and the postmortem is not gentle: Andris Nelsons is being held up as the cautionary symbol of the “overstretched, overtired, overindulged modern music director” (The New York Times). Big institutions, big problems.
The Toronto Film Critics Association is effectively in freefall after an Indigenous filmmaker’s pro-Palestine acceptance speech was cut from a broadcast. She returned her trophy, the president resigned, and 16 members have quit — with more weighing it (The Hollywood Reporter). The Voice of America got better news: a federal judge ruled Kari Lake’s appointment invalid, potentially reinstating more than 1,000 journalists and restoring broadcasts to China, Russia, and Iran (The New York Times).
And then there’s Timothée Chalamet, who declared that nobody cares about opera and ballet. Opera and ballet companies responded by posting sold-out notices and offering discount ticket codes in his name (NBC). Somebody cares.
All of our stories below.
- The Best Actor Race Is Weirdly Up For Grabs
“‘When there’s not unanimity in the lead acting races, it can get really weird.’ In that situation, voters stop gaming out front-runners and simply vote for their guy. Which means that truly anything can happen.” – Vulture
- Romance And Romantasy Fans Are Driving A Potential Literary Shift
- Amazon Tried To Sponsor A Book Festival In France, And That Went About As Well As You Might Expect
Many – most, even – of France’s booksellers pulled out of . Then the organizers got Amazon to “mutually agree” to end its sponsorship. Who thought this was a good idea in the first place? – The Guardian (UK)
- It’s Such A Brutal Time For Both Theatre And Arts Journalism
So what’s an NYT theatre critic to do? “There are so many things beyond our control … but somewhere amid all the hubbub, someone is making something, and you need to pay attention.” – The New York Times
PEOPLE
- Good Morning
The Met Opera is the largest performing arts company in the country, and it is quietly desperate — box-office receipts down $20 million from a decade ago, deficits mounting, and no obvious fix in sight (The New York Times). The Boston Symphony, meanwhile, just fired its music director, and the postmortem is not gentle: Andris Nelsons is being held up as the cautionary symbol of the “overstretched, overtired, overindulged modern music director” (The New York Times). Big institutions, big problems.
The Toronto Film Critics Association is effectively in freefall after an Indigenous filmmaker’s pro-Palestine acceptance speech was cut from a broadcast. She returned her trophy, the president resigned, and 16 members have quit — with more weighing it (The Hollywood Reporter). The Voice of America got better news: a federal judge ruled Kari Lake’s appointment invalid, potentially reinstating more than 1,000 journalists and restoring broadcasts to China, Russia, and Iran (The New York Times).
And then there’s Timothée Chalamet, who declared that nobody cares about opera and ballet. Opera and ballet companies responded by posting sold-out notices and offering discount ticket codes in his name (NBC). Somebody cares.
All of our stories below.
- The Best Actor Race Is Weirdly Up For Grabs
“‘When there’s not unanimity in the lead acting races, it can get really weird.’ In that situation, voters stop gaming out front-runners and simply vote for their guy. Which means that truly anything can happen.” – Vulture
- Romance And Romantasy Fans Are Driving A Potential Literary Shift
- Amazon Tried To Sponsor A Book Festival In France, And That Went About As Well As You Might Expect
Many – most, even – of France’s booksellers pulled out of . Then the organizers got Amazon to “mutually agree” to end its sponsorship. Who thought this was a good idea in the first place? – The Guardian (UK)
- It’s Such A Brutal Time For Both Theatre And Arts Journalism
So what’s an NYT theatre critic to do? “There are so many things beyond our control … but somewhere amid all the hubbub, someone is making something, and you need to pay attention.” – The New York Times
THEATRE
VISUAL
- For Dublin’s Arts Council, Meetings With Property Developers Are Always On The Schedule
“Our job is to ‘opportunity-make’ a space.’ … A lot of people think cultural development shouldn’t exist. There should be housing development, factory development and office development. But culture? What is that?” – Irish Times
- Whether He Had A Point Or Not, Opera (And Ballet) Are Clapping Back At Chalamet
The Seattle Opera offered a deal on tickets to Carmen using the code Timothee, and LA Opera “posted a photo from the opera Akhnaten … with the caption ‘Sorry, @tchalamet. We’d offer you complimentary tickets to Akhnaten, but it’s selling out.’” – NBC
- Why Are Twins Or Doppelgangers Everywhere Right Now?
“From spyware as standard to the conspiracy theorists who insist that Melania Trump has been replaced by an impersonator, we are in a deeply paranoid moment. Fittingly, the figure of the doppelganger stalks right across contemporary culture, through books, fashion and film.” – The Guardian (UK)
- An Ethics Problem: AI Agents Go Rogue, Write Hit Pieces
When a coder rejected an autonomous AI’s contribution, the digital diva researched and published a personalized attack piece. Welcome to the age when artificial intelligence doesn’t just create—it retaliates with very human pettiness. – Undark
- Let’s Not Call It “Intelligence”
“When I speak to high-school and college students (including my own children), I worry that at the time when they should be developing their own voices, they’re being told they don’t need to bother. AI writes for us, reads for us, thinks for us. It replaces our voice with its own.” – The Atlantic
