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- The Point Of Reading Pauline Kael
I don’t read Pauline Kael to track my sensibility with hers on an aesthetic oscilloscope. I read her because I think she—more than any writer I know, including Agee—brings the whole of herself to writing about movies. – Hedgehog Review
- How Art And AI Can Hold Each Other Accountable
Beyond pushing our concepts of “who” can make art, AI provides a new medium for art experience — it is immersive and participatory. – Stanford
- What We Didn’t Understand About Yayoi Kusama
When she died last month, 37 years later, Ms. Kusama — in her life and her art — was obscured, paradoxically, by too much fame. – The New York Times
- Would A NYT Lawsuit Win Against Anthropic Be A Disaster For Smaller Publishers?
“If the administration’s position was accepted, it would result in an unprecedented, uncompensated transfer of IP rights from news organizations to tech companies,” said Matt Topic, a lawyer at Loevy & Loevy who is representing The Intercept in the case. – NiemanLab
- UK Loans Parthenon Pieces To Germany
The British Museum will lend two fragments of the Parthenon sculptures to an exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany, while Greece has rejected a request to lend nine Parthenon fragments from the Acropolis Museum for the same exhibition. – Greek Reporter
- Officials Renew Calls To Close After Falling Ceiling Piece At Kennedy Center
A Kennedy Center Spokesperson called the partial ceiling collapse Friday “another example of the urgent need to close for renovation and revitalization, as our Chairman President Trump has championed.” – AP
- The Lucas Museum’s Populist Bet
It would be easy to describe the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which opens Sept. 22, as “unconventional,” a description the museum’s leaders seem to favor, though “oppositional” also comes to mind. – Los Angeles Times
- Visions of ‘Ground Zero’ That Fell by the Wayside<a href="https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/2026/09/visions-of-ground-zero-that-fell-by-the-wayside.html" title="Visions of ‘Ground Zero’ That Fell by the
- Other Industry Leaders Say Not To Worry About AI, At Least If You’re A Designer
In Britain, “the head of the Society of Garden and Landscape Designers said many people working in his industry were nervous about AI. He said design companies were more likely to use AI as ‘the intern in the office’ than as a replacement for skilled staff.” – The Guardian (UK)
- Bill Gates, Yes, That Bill Gates, Sounds A Strong Alarm Over AI
“He laid out five broad areas of concern: jobs, biotechnology, cyberattacks, psychosocial harms and whether humans will be able to maintain control over the systems they are building.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- Rob Reiner Wins A Posthumous Emmy For His Work On The Bear
“The award was Reiner’s third Emmy. He won his first in 1974 for best supporting actor in a comedy for his portrayal of Mike Stivic in All in the Family, and a second in 1978 for his work in the same show.” – The New York Times
- Are Actors Who Support Gaza Getting Blacklisted In Hollywood?
Susan Sarandon certainly thinks so. “Sarandon said resistance to hiring outspoken critics of Israel remained particularly strong among major studios.” – The Guardian (UK)
- Want To Hear What Anyplace In The World Sounds Like?
Try this site. Though many recordings are from the UK, Europe, and the US, “it’s still quite fun and soothing to set the globe to rotate automatically, and as the reticle nears points on the Earth, it transitions to those new sounds.” – The Verge
- Marian Anderson’s Importance As A Groundbreaking Singer Means We Sometimes Forget Her Skills And Ambition
“Anderson (1897-1993) won renown as a true, rare contralto with a rich, resonant low range who could also soar into the soprano sphere. Yet from the start, just being an excellent singer was not enough.” – The New York Times
- The ‘Cult Of Male Directors’ Must End
Venice only has two films directed by women this year – and one of those directors says that “the enduring cult of male genius is keeping down female film-makers.” – The Guardian (UK)
- Who’s The Next Bond?
The interest levels, and rumors, are rather off the charts right now. After all, “in the last decade alone the UK has had more prime ministers, and twice as many people have walked on the moon than have played the British secret agent.” – BBC
- Jacob’s Pillow Finally Has A Full Season Again
In the wake of a beloved production manager’s death in a tragic accident last year, questions remain about how staff and interns manage the intense dance festival workload. – The New York Times
- When The Quebecois Version Of ‘The Simpsons’ Was Shut Down Last Year, The Protests Were Immediate And Intense
Dubbing is important in Québec; “The characters spoke in regional Quebec accents, including joual, the colloquial dialect associated with working-class Montreal, while U.S. people and places were swapped out for local references.” – CBC
- Silo Started As A Book, And Then Apple Made It Into A Wildly Complex TV Show
“’This has been the most complicated thing I’ve ever worked on,’ said the showrunner Graham Yost, who has also been an executive producer on Justified, The Americans and Slow Horses. But, he added, ‘It’s been the best experience I’ve ever had.’” – The New York Times
- What Happened To The Pieces Of Steel Salvaged From The World Trade Center?
“Everyone experienced the attacks on 9/11 as this really, really intense television event, and bringing a piece of steel from the World Trade Center … allowed people to lay hands on these artifacts and to really feel this kind of deep expression of complex and lingering grief.” – NPR
- When You’re Suddenly Very Famous, Fairly Young, Things Can Be Difficult
At least that was the experience of Maisie Williams – Arya Stark, to all of the many, many, many Game of Thrones watchers out there. – The Guardian (UK)
- What’s So Horror-Filled About Consistency?
Well, OK, not consistency, but repetition. – The New York Times
- It’s Not Just Physical Media
Landlines are making a slightly abashed return. “The phone itself is a sleek black with gold trim, and the cord connecting the receiver is all coiled up—just like the ones I grew up with back in the ’90s.” – Maclean‘s
- The Machine Can’t Do Marilyn
Good Morning,
Today’s stories ask the question: when machines can make something, what’s left that only people can make? Start with the flop. A commissioned AI attempt to turn Dakota Johnson into Marilyn Monroe didn’t work, and Maggie Gyllenhaal isn’t sorry it failed (Vulture). Meanwhile the Anthropic settlement, sold as a win for authors, has become a fight among publishers, authors, and third parties over who actually gets paid (The New York Times). Money is easier to extract than to distribute.
Bigger picture: The Atlantic asks whether the internet is already dead, with bots texting bots all the way down (The Atlantic). Readers seem to have noticed. CD sales are booming alongside vinyl and cassettes, not as a revolt against streaming but as a market for objects you can hold (The Verge). And in a North Carolina town hollowed out after Helene, a new center is teaching fiber arts and clay as survival skills, not nostalgia (The New York Times).
Which makes the Boston Globe‘s case against Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey more pointed: Homer’s poem is about waiting, and the movie refuses to do it (Boston Globe).
Europe’s empty churches, it turns out, make fine concert halls. Also pickleball courts (The New York Times).
All of our stories below.
- Was Renoir Actually A Fairly Bad Painter?
The age-old question returns. “Surely Renoir would at least have benefitted from being slightly less prolific.” – Artnet
- At Crystal Bridges, Renovation And Expansion Are The Order Of The Day
Of course, “while the museum and the Walton family espouse natural connections between art, community and general well-being (see also recent major investments in healthcare), the urge to collect continues apace.” – KC Studio
- The Wealthy Friends Interfering In Mexico’s Frida Kahlo Legacy
“If it were not so tragic for Mexican art, the story would make an excellent detective novel. All the characters and ingredients are there.” – Le Monde English
- Another Long Dive On How The Bayeux Tapestry Made It Back To England
“Among the French, the mood is anxious. The tapestry’s early life is shrouded in mystery, but it seems to have led a fameless existence in Bayeux for hundreds of years.” – The New Yorker
- Why Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey Is Destined To Be Forgotten
It’s “a nearly three-hour barn burner, racing from event to event with whirlwind kinetic energy. … Nolan’s reluctance to take a pause should, actually, give us pause. After all, Homer’s poem doesn’t just involve a lot of waiting. It is a postwar tale about waiting.” – Boston Globe
- A Comedian And Content Creator Sees Shakespeare As His Future
The aim of this actor’s comedic videos, “he says, was to land on ‘something bigger and onto a new challenge’ – such as theatre acting.” – BBC
- In A World With Awards For Writing Badly About Sex, LitHub Has Tips For Doing The Opposite
“Even if you’re writing about stereotypically bad sex, your language should be fresh and surprising.” – LitHub
- The Anthropic Settlement Is Turning Into Yet More Struggle For Authors Whose Works Were Stolen
Publishers and authors are wrangling, and third parties are getting into it, and in general, this isn’t great. – The New York Times
- Is The Internet Dead?
“It’s no longer strange to think that AI might be everywhere, edging out all forms of human interaction: bots talking to bots, all the way down.” This is … not great. – The Atlantic
- Grim New Video Games Are Out, From The Governing Party Of The United States
The games, reflecting the political goals of the president, resemble gaming classics. Tetris is unhappy with “Build the Wall,” a little too close to Tetris itself. Then there’s one like Snake, where gamers “patrol the Rio Grande and capture figures representing migrants.” – Salon
- Let Movies Be Movies Again, Hollywood
Don’t make a “verse,” like “The Monsterverse.” Just make a movie. They don’t all have to tie in together! – The Atlantic