AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- If Hollywood won’t bite, Make it Yourself
Good Morning,
Two writers this week set their own terms. Hayley Kiyoko wanted her song “Girls Like Girls” turned into a film; when Hollywood dragged its feet, she just wrote the book first, and the movie followed (The New York Times). Judy Blume, 50 years in, has decided she’s said enough and now runs a bookstore instead (NPR).
The movie Obsession has grossed $300 million on a $750,000 budget, yet its art director cleared $6,741 for three weeks’ work (The New York Times). The Atlantic, meanwhile, maps the mountain of music quietly pulled into AI training sets that was never “supposed to be free” (The Atlantic).
With Roku going to Fox, right-leaning owners now sit astride much of what reaches the living-room screen (Salon).
All of our stories below.
- Judy Blume, She Says, Has Written Enough
The author says, “You’re living with [your characters] for months, sometimes years. And you’re locked up in a little room all day with them. That’s why 50 years is enough. I was ready to come out into the world. Now, she owns and runs a bookstore. – NPR
- Have Movies Doomed Us All?
Seriously: Movies have “proved to be a tool of dictators, an instrument of propaganda and the weapon of ruthless, unaccountable corporate interests.” – The New York Times
- With The Roku Sale To Fox, Not To Mention The Paramount Deal, Right-Wing Interests Dominate Streaming
“The scale of this quiet coup is staggering. … In practical terms, Roku controls the television home screen.” – Salon
- Apparently, There’s Such A Thing As ‘Dad Cinema,’ So Happy Father’s Day
The number one movie in Dad Cinema is, of course, a Kevin Costner classic. But there are many others, including classic Mel Brooks fare. – The New York Times
ISSUES
- In New York, The City’s Oldest Museum Celebrates An Expansive View Of Democracy
The New York Historical’s new wing features a show that’s “historically broad, thematically loose, unabashedly polemical, made up of equal then and now.” – The New York Times
- Norway Had Its Own John Singer Sargent
“Asta Norregaard was a sought-after portrait painter among the rich and famous in Norway at the turn of the 20th century, but when she exhibited her work in the country’s capital, critics were quick to dismiss her pictures as decorative and frivolous.” – The New York Times
- What Might Have Been: Gaudí’s Design For A New York Skyscraper
A supertall skyscraper, no less, topping out at 360 meters/1180 feet. The great Barcelona architect did a speculative design of a hotel complex in 1908 for a pair of Manhattan businessmen. AI artist Thierry Lechanteur has used Gaudi’s surviving drawings to create renderings of the project. – Dezeen
- Gaudí Was A Superstar. Why Didn’t He Have More Influence On Future Architects?
Architectural history and Antoni Gaudí just weren’t headed in the same direction. – Dezeen
- The Obama Center: The Difference Between Libraries And Monuments
There is no question about its monumentality. It is at once colossal, haughty and ultimately inscrutable—as a great monument should be. The question is whether it should have been a monument in the first place. – The Wall Street Journal
MEDIA
- With The Roku Sale To Fox, Not To Mention The Paramount Deal, Right-Wing Interests Dominate Streaming
“The scale of this quiet coup is staggering. … In practical terms, Roku controls the television home screen.” – Salon
- Court Says Trump Administration May Alter Slavery Exhibit At George Washngton’s Philadelphia House (And Philadelphia May Not)
When the Trump administration removed from the site panels telling the history of the enslaved people who lived with the Washingtons there, the city of Philadelphia sued. A lower-court federal judge ordered the panels restored; a three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed that order. – The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
- David Hockney Was Working Class. Artists From The Working Class Have A Much More Difficult Time Today
Through policies and schemes, previously unheard-of opportunities for people of his background began to open up, without which he would not have become the success he is considered today. The situation today for aspiring artists from a similar background is much starker. – The Conversation
- Ballmer And Bezos And Benioff: Mega-donors To The Obama Library
The foundation collected six donations of $50 million-plus, including one anonymous contributor. – Chicago Sun-Times
- The Woman Trying To Rebuild Oakland’s Arts Program
Oakland currently allots its entire arts community only $300,000 in grants — in contrast to the combined $29 million that Grants for the Arts and the San Francisco Arts Commission apportioned across the bay last fiscal year. – San Francisco Chronicle
MUSIC
- Judy Blume, She Says, Has Written Enough
The author says, “You’re living with [your characters] for months, sometimes years. And you’re locked up in a little room all day with them. That’s why 50 years is enough. I was ready to come out into the world. Now, she owns and runs a bookstore. – NPR
- Burned By AI, Granta Will No Longer Publish External Award Winning Short Stories
Ouf. “For the sake of our own editorial integrity, the Granta Trust board has now taken the decision that we will no longer engage in external publishing partnerships. We … wish our former partner, the Commonwealth Foundation, all the best in its work.” – The Guardian (UK)
- What Should Ghosts Look Like In Children’s Books?
“What children know of ghosts, and at what age they know it, is murky territory. … And if you show even a very young child a picture of a ghost, in my experience they can often tell you that it is, indeed, a ghost.” – The New York Times
- So, If The Obama Presidential Center Isn’t A Library Or Archive, Then What Exactly Is It?
The Obama Foundation opted not to have the National Archives and Records Administration, which keeps presidential archives, involved in the Center; it will make Obama’s papers available digitally. So what is the Obama Center? Part museum, part public park, with a branch of the Chicago Public Library. – The Christian Science Monitor
- Why The New Obama Presidential Center Is Not Officially A Library
It isn’t a presidential library if it isn’t run by the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Obama Foundation had two big reasons for deciding not having NARA involved. So President Obama’s papers and archives will be made available to the public digitally while the Obama Center serves other functions. – Chicago Sun-Times
PEOPLE
- If Hollywood won’t bite, Make it Yourself
Good Morning,
Two writers this week set their own terms. Hayley Kiyoko wanted her song “Girls Like Girls” turned into a film; when Hollywood dragged its feet, she just wrote the book first, and the movie followed (The New York Times). Judy Blume, 50 years in, has decided she’s said enough and now runs a bookstore instead (NPR).
The movie Obsession has grossed $300 million on a $750,000 budget, yet its art director cleared $6,741 for three weeks’ work (The New York Times). The Atlantic, meanwhile, maps the mountain of music quietly pulled into AI training sets that was never “supposed to be free” (The Atlantic).
With Roku going to Fox, right-leaning owners now sit astride much of what reaches the living-room screen (Salon).
All of our stories below.
- Judy Blume, She Says, Has Written Enough
The author says, “You’re living with [your characters] for months, sometimes years. And you’re locked up in a little room all day with them. That’s why 50 years is enough. I was ready to come out into the world. Now, she owns and runs a bookstore. – NPR
- Have Movies Doomed Us All?
Seriously: Movies have “proved to be a tool of dictators, an instrument of propaganda and the weapon of ruthless, unaccountable corporate interests.” – The New York Times
- With The Roku Sale To Fox, Not To Mention The Paramount Deal, Right-Wing Interests Dominate Streaming
“The scale of this quiet coup is staggering. … In practical terms, Roku controls the television home screen.” – Salon
- Apparently, There’s Such A Thing As ‘Dad Cinema,’ So Happy Father’s Day
The number one movie in Dad Cinema is, of course, a Kevin Costner classic. But there are many others, including classic Mel Brooks fare. – The New York Times
PEOPLE
- If Hollywood won’t bite, Make it Yourself
Good Morning,
Two writers this week set their own terms. Hayley Kiyoko wanted her song “Girls Like Girls” turned into a film; when Hollywood dragged its feet, she just wrote the book first, and the movie followed (The New York Times). Judy Blume, 50 years in, has decided she’s said enough and now runs a bookstore instead (NPR).
The movie Obsession has grossed $300 million on a $750,000 budget, yet its art director cleared $6,741 for three weeks’ work (The New York Times). The Atlantic, meanwhile, maps the mountain of music quietly pulled into AI training sets that was never “supposed to be free” (The Atlantic).
With Roku going to Fox, right-leaning owners now sit astride much of what reaches the living-room screen (Salon).
All of our stories below.
- Judy Blume, She Says, Has Written Enough
The author says, “You’re living with [your characters] for months, sometimes years. And you’re locked up in a little room all day with them. That’s why 50 years is enough. I was ready to come out into the world. Now, she owns and runs a bookstore. – NPR
- Have Movies Doomed Us All?
Seriously: Movies have “proved to be a tool of dictators, an instrument of propaganda and the weapon of ruthless, unaccountable corporate interests.” – The New York Times
- With The Roku Sale To Fox, Not To Mention The Paramount Deal, Right-Wing Interests Dominate Streaming
“The scale of this quiet coup is staggering. … In practical terms, Roku controls the television home screen.” – Salon
- Apparently, There’s Such A Thing As ‘Dad Cinema,’ So Happy Father’s Day
The number one movie in Dad Cinema is, of course, a Kevin Costner classic. But there are many others, including classic Mel Brooks fare. – The New York Times
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Have Movies Doomed Us All?
Seriously: Movies have “proved to be a tool of dictators, an instrument of propaganda and the weapon of ruthless, unaccountable corporate interests.” – The New York Times
- Have Our Devices Dulled Our Sensory Experiences?
“The way we consume such content, by swiping idly on a glass screen, stands in stark contrast with the content of the content, the skillful manipulation of resolutely tangible material. It’s ironic, and a bit dystopian, this disjuncture, but I’m entranced by the videos anyway.” – The New Yorker
- Last Remaining Chinese Theatre In America Seeks Emergency Funding
City records describe it as a 410-seat performing arts and film theater and the last remaining Chinese theater in any Chinatown in the United States. The theater at 636 Jackson St. opened in 1925 as the Great China Theater for Chinese opera. Over the decades, it also became a movie house and community gathering place. – San Francisco Chronicle
- Why Writers Should Embrace AI
AI may well be terrible news for software engineers, but I think it’s an intriguing development for people who care about language and ideas – precisely the people who currently reject it the most. – Aeon
- What Literature Teaches Us About Neurodivergence
Far from being a modern phenomenon, neurodivergence has a long history. In other words, people whose ways of thinking, sensing or behaving differed from social expectations have always existed. Members of my research project have described discovering these historical figures as like finding neurodivergent ancestors. – The Conversation
