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- Made by People
Good Morning,
A run of today’s stories shares a new chore: proving something was actually made by a person. The Commonwealth Short Story Prize spent its week clearing this year’s winners of suspicion that AI wrote them (The Independent). So when fabrication is free, certifying human becomes considerable work. It cuts the other way too. That feel-good clip of an audience member sight-reading at La La Land in Concert turns out to be considerably staged (The Guardian).
Meanwhile Hollywood studios are industrializing microdramas (The New York Times) that have taken over social media. The Wrap worked on making its own to show what AI can crank one out start to finish (Yahoo).
The New Republic nominates the 15 artworks that most shaped the country (The New Republic) — canon-making as a civic act in a year when even the Constitution is up for reinterpretation (Boston Review).
And in Paris, the Marquis de Lafayette has become an unlikely selfie magnet (MSN).
Doug
- The Marquis De Lafayette Has Become A Selfie Magnet In Paris
In France, feelings about him are more mixed than in the U.S. (For one thing, during and after the French Revolution, he favored a constitutional monarchy, not the most popular position then.) But an exhibition at France’s National Archives which tells Lafayette’s full story has become a hit. – The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
- Competing At Istanbul’s Tango Championship
The Turkish metropolis has become one of the world’s major centers of tango, perhaps behind only Buenos Aires itself. This month Istanbul hosted La Turca Tango Marathon and Championship, a three-day festival and competition which saw 56 dancers from around Europe competing in six categories. – The New York Times
- The Elusive Illusion Of Utopia (And Its Uses In Our Imagination)
Some patterns emerge: many utopias employ a framing device in which the narrator is accidentally or fantastically transported to a new land, and then subjected to reams of expository monologue about how it all works. – The Guardian
- What To Make Of The US Constitution When The Country Is In Turmoil?
How should we remember the American Revolution when millions march in the streets and shout “No Kings!”? When squads of masked thugs invade homes without warrant, kangaroo immigration “courts” deport hundreds of thousands without due process, and an executive agency buys up warehouses to use as internment camps? – Boston Review
- Ancient Roman “Curse Tablet” Translated
Dutch archaeologists found this curse tablet in a pit beneath Heerlen‘s town hall square. Archaeologists often frequent this area situated amid the former site of Coriovallum, a Roman military settlement along the Via Belgica, which once connected Belgium’s Tongeren region to Cologne. – Artnet
- An Actor With Alzheiner’s Performs Beckett’s “Krapp’s Last Tape”
Peter Marinker, now 84, first played Krapp in 1983, and he’s reusing the tapes he made back then for this production in London. He’ll have an earpiece to get prompts if necessary, but when his memory fails, he refers to a poem written by the aging Beckett himself after developing aphasia. – The Guardian
- Archaeologists Discovery Intact Ancient Mayan City
Located deep within the jungles of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, the city—which the researchers have named “Minanbé,” a Maya Yucatec phrase meaning “there is no road”—had been hidden by vegetation for over a thousand years. – ARTnews
- NYC’s Street-Scaffolding Sheds Are Ugly. Can We Design Something Better?
The city wants structures that will go up smoothly, look good while they last, and go away quickly. Those are separate goals, none of them easy to achieve. – New York Magazine (MSN)
- Southbank Center Chairman To Step Down After Social Media Controversy
In May, Misan Harriman was accused by the Telegraph of sharing a social media post that contained a conspiracy theory about the Golders Green attack because it questioned the amount of coverage given to the Muslim victim, Ishmail Hussein. – The Guardian
- Commonwealth Short Story Prize Determines That None Of This Year’s Winners Were Written By AI
“The Commonwealth Foundation dismissed accusations that the short stories which won its literary prize this year were generated with artificial intelligence, saying a month-long review had found ‘AI wasn’t used’ to write them.’” – The Independent (UK)
- Sony Pictures Invests $100M In “Shared Reality” Company
Cosm, founded in 2020 by Steve Winn, has opened several dome structures throughout the U.S. Cosm’s venues — three in Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta, with upcoming venues in Detroit and Cleveland— allow fans to experience sporting events and other entertainment experiences through various 87-foot, 12K LED dome displays. – Variety
- That Feel-Good Story About The Audience-Member Stepping In To Sight Read Has A Dark Side
Two musicians who were part of the orchestra have given a different version of events, saying the keyboardist left after tension between Hurwitz and the orchestra during rehearsals on the day of the performance. – The Guardian
- LA’s KUSC Is Now America’s Most-Listened-To Classical Music Station
The station reached more than 705,000 listeners during the ratings period, surpassing major public radio outlets including WNYC in New York (693,000 listeners) and KQED in San Francisco (645,000 listeners). – Nielsen
- The New Republic’s 20 Images That Define American History
In 15 photographs, four paintings, and one very iconic sculpture, “a visual chronicle of the national experience, from Iwo Jima to Emmett Till to January 6.” – The New Republic
- Early Reviews Are In Book Launch in Brooklyn: ‘The Midnight Special’<a href="https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/2026/06/early-reviews-are-in-book-launch-in-brooklyn-the-midnight-special.html" title="Early Reviews Are In
Book Launch in Brooklyn: - Vatican Begins First-Ever Restoration Of Raphael Frescoes In Apostolic Palace
“The Vatican Museums on Wednesday announced the start of a five-year, $5.5 million project to clean and restore the Raphael Loggia, a 65-meter (yard) long, 4-meter (yard) wide corridor that is considered one of the highest expressions of Renaissance figurative art.” – AP
- Major Hollywood Studios Are Starting To Produce Their Own Microdramas
“While comparatively obscure microdrama companies, with names like DramaBox and GammaTime, have received significant investment in the past year from venture capitalists and entertainment studios, NBCUniversal, BET, A+E Global and Fox have all announced plans to produce microdrama series.” And there’s serious money to be made. – The New York Times
- When TheWrap Used AI To Make A Microdrama
“After four days and $150 worth of digital credits to access the tool, we created four minute-long episodes designed as a take on the popular hockey romance series Off Campus. … The ‘actors,’ the sets and the script were all generated by AI.” Is it any good? Not in this case, but … – TheWrap (Yahoo!)
- The New Republic’s 15 Most Important Artworks In U.S. History
The editors have chosen four movies, six books, two songs, a piece of classical music, a painting, and a monument “whose impact extended beyond culture to society as a whole.” – The New Republic
- Revamp Of Philadelphia’s “Avenue Of The Arts”: The Beta Test Is Complete
“A landscaped median under construction for months in front of the Kimmel Center has reached completion — the down payment on a promised major redo of the Avenue of the Arts streetscape. The leafy ribbon down the middle of Broad Street from Spruce to Pine Streets was officially unveiled Wednesday.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
- Live Nation’s CEO Spoke Directly With Trump Before Surprise Dept. Of Justice Settlement
“Live Nation has confirmed that the company had several meetings with the Department of Justice and the Office of the White House Counsel before a surprise antitrust trial settlement, while its president and CEO, Michael Rapino, held a conversation with President Donald Trump.” – Variety
- Why The Onion Is Going Ahead With Its Infowars Parody Even Though The Case Is Still Tied Up In Court
Basically, if Alex Jones can play dirty, then The Onion can play dirty, too. – Law and Chaos
- How AI Prompting Poses The Classic Writer’s Challenge
This is one novel frustration of the AI age, yet millions of users searching for the “right prompt” are engaging in an old literary practice: turning mental images, vague desires and atmospheric intuitions into precise language. – The Conversation
- Even Award-Winning Indie Filmmakers Make Shockingly Little Money
Brady Corbet, who made The Brutalist, earned, he says “zero dollars” for his work on the movie. The five directors who agreed to be interviewed for this article talk about the day jobs they keep even after their films have been well-received and how they keep it all going. – Vulture
- Warning: European Museums Vulnerable To Cyberattacks
The warning comes less than three years after the British Museum revealed that about 2,000 objects had been stolen, damaged or gone missing from its collections over a period of years, in a scandal that led to the resignation of its director, Hartwig Fischer. – The Guardian
- The Barnes Picks A New Chief Curator
Connie Choi is currently curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where she has worked for nearly a decade. At the Studio Museum, she worked closely with Thelma Golden, its director and chief curator, to map out the museum’s curatorial vision, including its recent reopening last fall. – ARTnews
- Consensus Growing For A Federal Tax Credit For Movie Production
While production incentives are available in 39 U.S. states, the only federal aid that American productions can take advantage of is Section 181, a Bush-era incentive that allows studios to take a tax deduction on up to the first $15 million in production spending, or $20 million for shoots in low-income areas. – The Wrap (Yahoo)
- As Other Small Colleges Shrink Non-STEM Programs, These Four Are Adding New Dance Majors
“To get a new major approved, faculty must demonstrate that there’s a genuine hunger for more dance on campus. They must lay out the benefits not only for future students, but also for the institution as a whole — its reputation and its bottom line.” Here’s how these four colleges did it. – Dance Magazine
- Judge Dismisses Class Action Against Spotify Over Inflating AI Streams
A US federal judge has dismissed a proposed class action that accused Spotify of allowing billions of bot-generated fake streams to inflate the play counts of Drake and other artists. – MusicBusinessWorldwide
- How Will AI Impact The Arts?
Well, it’s a mixed picture. ISPA recently convened a panel to examine the evidence. Watch the video here. – ISPA (Video)
- Next-Gen Music Software Threatens To Replace Musicians In Theatres
A next-generation orchestral software from the German company KeyComp threatens to inflict the deepest cuts yet on what has traditionally been a steady gig for professional musicians. – The Guardian
- Attendance At Pittsburgh Symphony’s Classical Concerts Is Back Up To 50%
The average audience at Heinz Hall for the flagship classical series is roughly 1,450, just over half of the venue’s capacity and up 14% (!) from the previous season. Attendance at pops concerts continues to fall, but it’s rising at educational events and live-film-score concerts. – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- Is LA’s New AI Art Museum A Whole New Genre Of Contemporary Art?
- Air Conditioned Museums In Europe Become “Refuges From The Heat” During This Week’s Heat Wave
“When I see people taking refuge for an hour in a supermarket, I say to myself: ‘Why shouldn’t the museum be a place of respite, rather than cafés or shops?’ – Le Monde
