AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Have American Universities Forgotten What, And Whom, They’re For?
For years, the numbers of fully-employed faculty have fallen as universities use poorly-paid adjunct professors instead. Yet tuition prices keep soaring. Why? Because the number of paid administrators keeps soaring, too. Maybe students and faculty should be eliminated so universities can be run by and for their bureaucrats? – The Atlantic (MSN)
- Despite Boos And Protests, Israel Makes It To Eurovision Song Contest Final
“(Eden Golan) was one of 10 acts who made it through Thursday’s semifinal, which was decided by votes from Eurovision viewers around the world. … Bookmakers say she is likely to finish in the top half of the final competition, decided by a mix of public votes and national music-industry juries.” – AP
- Yet Another Public Radio Station Is Offering Buyouts And Preparing For Layoffs
This time Southern California Public Radio, the entity that combines KPCC and the website LAist. All full- and part-time staffers in the newsroom who work at least 24 hours per week are eligible for the voluntary buyouts. – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- Kids’ Interest in Reading Is Dying. What’s The Reason?
At least among one audience, books are dying. Alarmingly, it’s the exact audience whose departure from reading might actually presage a catastrophe for the publishing industry—and for the entire concept of pleasure reading as a common pursuit. – Slate
- The Complete Bach — All 1000+ Pieces — Over 11 Years
This will be one the first occasions, if not the first, that all of Bach’s works have been performed live and in-person in a complete cycle. A project like this is possible in Worcester because of its unique musical resources and traditions, organizers said. – Worcester Magazine
ISSUES
- Some Museums In L.A. Are Trying An Experiment: Cutting Back On The Air Conditioning
“Museums have historically maintained strict, narrow ranges of temperatures and relative humidity since the British Museum created the standards around 100 years ago. New research and international art conservation guidelines suggest that a wider range of climate controls can be safe for artwork (while cutting) energy use.” – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- Should UK Museums Start Charging Admission?
For all kinds of reasons and on all kinds of levels, charging entrance would create a more equal culture and a more equal society. – The Art Newspaper
- AI Helps Identify Forgeries Of Monet, Renoir On eBay
“Dr. Carina Popovici, a specialist in authenticating artwork, said she applied cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology to pictures advertised on the online platform and was shocked to discover that many had a ‘high probability’ of being ‘not authentic’.” One fake Monet was being offered for $599,000. – The Guardian
- Visitors Buying Tickets To Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum Scammed By Fraudsters
Around 50 people sounded the alarm to the institution after coming across an imitation website purporting to sell tickets to see Van Gogh’s greatest works—but was actually harvesting bank details. – The Art Newspaper
- Museum That Was Court-Ordered To Admit Men To Its Women-Only Exhibition Finds A Work-Around
Kirsha Kaechele’s installation Ladies Lounge at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Tasmania will be made into an actual ladies’ lounge with the addition of a (luxurious) toilet. A church will be added as well; both churches and washrooms are exempt from anti-discrimination regulations. – BBC
MEDIA
- Have American Universities Forgotten What, And Whom, They’re For?
For years, the numbers of fully-employed faculty have fallen as universities use poorly-paid adjunct professors instead. Yet tuition prices keep soaring. Why? Because the number of paid administrators keeps soaring, too. Maybe students and faculty should be eliminated so universities can be run by and for their bureaucrats? – The Atlantic (MSN)
- UCal Davis Gets $20 Million Gift To Beef Up Arts Programs
“San Francisco philanthropist Maria Manetti Shrem has promised UC Davis the largest gift ever to arts at the school — $20 million to create the multifaceted ‘Maria Manetti Shrem Arts Renaissance’ program at the College of Letters and Science.” – San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
- Study: Arts Branding Results Down, Values Up
Arts and cultural organisations that are achieving the strongest audience growth right now are not necessarily those pouring the most money into their branding and marketing campaigns. – ArtsHub
- Minnesota Passes “Taylor Swift Law” Protecting Online Ticket Buyers
“The law, prompted by the frustration a legislator felt at not being able to buy tickets to Swift’s 2023 concert in Minneapolis, will require ticket sellers (for live events) to disclose all fees up front and prohibit resellers from selling more than one copy of a ticket, among other measures.” – AP
- After Recent Events, What Will Academic Freedom Look Like?
Professors and students have a right to express themselves on campuses but universities have restricted when and how they can do so, with limitations on things like amplified sound outside classrooms. But when it comes to punishing or censoring particular ideas “that to me is inconsistent with the First Amendment and academic freedom.” – InsideHigherEd
MUSIC
- Professor Argues AI LLMs Refute Some Fundamental Ideas Of Linguistics
He argues that LLMs demonstrate a wide range of powerful language abilities and disprove foundational assumptions underpinning Noam Chomsky’s theories and, as a consequence, negate parts of modern Linguistics. – Slator
- The Prolific, Proud, Perverse Prince Of Latin American Literature
At 75, César Aira has written more than 100 books, has been translated into 37 languages, and has lately been tipped for a Nobel Prize. He accepts no money for his books within Argentina, won’t talk to local media, and rarely leaves his Buenos Aires neighborhood, let alone the country. – The Guardian
- The Eccentric Volunteers That Make The Oxford English Dictionary Work
Though the OED is published by Oxford University Press, it is, in many respects, the spiritual and intellectual opposite of an elite university. For one thing, its admissions policy is quite forgiving. – Commonweal
- Why Yan Lianke Would Prefer That You Not Call Him “China’s Most Censored Author”
“Several years ago, a Chinese author spent hundreds of thousands of yuan bribing the Chinese publishing industry (to) criticize and ban his works,” so that US publishers would be interested in them. “Authors should be very clear that being banned is not synonymous with artistic success.” – Literary Hub
- Does The World Really Need Literary Criticism?
If we look at the longer history of the study of literature… it’s only at the very end of the 20th century that we got something that is professional, that can be called criticism, that has to do specifically with the judgment of literary works. – Public Books
PEOPLE
- Have American Universities Forgotten What, And Whom, They’re For?
For years, the numbers of fully-employed faculty have fallen as universities use poorly-paid adjunct professors instead. Yet tuition prices keep soaring. Why? Because the number of paid administrators keeps soaring, too. Maybe students and faculty should be eliminated so universities can be run by and for their bureaucrats? – The Atlantic (MSN)
- Despite Boos And Protests, Israel Makes It To Eurovision Song Contest Final
“(Eden Golan) was one of 10 acts who made it through Thursday’s semifinal, which was decided by votes from Eurovision viewers around the world. … Bookmakers say she is likely to finish in the top half of the final competition, decided by a mix of public votes and national music-industry juries.” – AP
- Yet Another Public Radio Station Is Offering Buyouts And Preparing For Layoffs
This time Southern California Public Radio, the entity that combines KPCC and the website LAist. All full- and part-time staffers in the newsroom who work at least 24 hours per week are eligible for the voluntary buyouts. – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- Kids’ Interest in Reading Is Dying. What’s The Reason?
At least among one audience, books are dying. Alarmingly, it’s the exact audience whose departure from reading might actually presage a catastrophe for the publishing industry—and for the entire concept of pleasure reading as a common pursuit. – Slate
- The Complete Bach — All 1000+ Pieces — Over 11 Years
This will be one the first occasions, if not the first, that all of Bach’s works have been performed live and in-person in a complete cycle. A project like this is possible in Worcester because of its unique musical resources and traditions, organizers said. – Worcester Magazine
PEOPLE
- Have American Universities Forgotten What, And Whom, They’re For?
For years, the numbers of fully-employed faculty have fallen as universities use poorly-paid adjunct professors instead. Yet tuition prices keep soaring. Why? Because the number of paid administrators keeps soaring, too. Maybe students and faculty should be eliminated so universities can be run by and for their bureaucrats? – The Atlantic (MSN)
- Despite Boos And Protests, Israel Makes It To Eurovision Song Contest Final
“(Eden Golan) was one of 10 acts who made it through Thursday’s semifinal, which was decided by votes from Eurovision viewers around the world. … Bookmakers say she is likely to finish in the top half of the final competition, decided by a mix of public votes and national music-industry juries.” – AP
- Yet Another Public Radio Station Is Offering Buyouts And Preparing For Layoffs
This time Southern California Public Radio, the entity that combines KPCC and the website LAist. All full- and part-time staffers in the newsroom who work at least 24 hours per week are eligible for the voluntary buyouts. – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- Kids’ Interest in Reading Is Dying. What’s The Reason?
At least among one audience, books are dying. Alarmingly, it’s the exact audience whose departure from reading might actually presage a catastrophe for the publishing industry—and for the entire concept of pleasure reading as a common pursuit. – Slate
- The Complete Bach — All 1000+ Pieces — Over 11 Years
This will be one the first occasions, if not the first, that all of Bach’s works have been performed live and in-person in a complete cycle. A project like this is possible in Worcester because of its unique musical resources and traditions, organizers said. – Worcester Magazine
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Kids’ Interest in Reading Is Dying. What’s The Reason?
At least among one audience, books are dying. Alarmingly, it’s the exact audience whose departure from reading might actually presage a catastrophe for the publishing industry—and for the entire concept of pleasure reading as a common pursuit. – Slate
- Reinventing The Meaning Of Work In Europe
Data suggest that something is amiss: across Europe, the average proportion of 15-29-year-olds not in work nor education or training exceeds the EU’s 9% target. Last year in France, the figure peaked at 12.5%. Yet a Europe-wide study has found that young people value work just as much as older generations. – Eurozine
- Reaching For Historical Parallels: Why Thucydides Still Resonates
Thucydides knew that we did not have full control of the analogies that shape our deliberations, especially in public life. Our analogical vocabulary is woven directly into the cultural fabric, a product of the contingencies that shape collective memory. – Aeon
- Work Sucks. But What Could Replace It?
It’s no wonder that anti-work thought has gained such traction in recent years. – The New Yorker
- Kurt Cobain, 1994 And The Rise Of “Authenticity”
The embrace of Nirvana showed how the recording industry has changed tactics to embrace what was once underground culture. – 3 Quarks Daily