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- UK Government Leaves Theatres Out Of New Tax Break For Other Venues
“The Government has announced a 20% reduction in business rates bills for pubs, social clubs and live music venues in England from April next year. … However, the decision to exclude theatres from this targeted relief has raised questions: many theatres and arts centres share (similar) operational models, overheads and community functions.” – WhatsOnStage (UK)
- The End Of Big Broadway Musicals?
“We’re in this environment where I’m watching a lot of shows not quite find the audience that can sustain them at the level that they need to be sustained because the costs have gone up so much.” – The Hollywood Reporter
- The 2020s Have Been A Movie Revolution
If you look closer, this has actually been one of the most innovative decades that cinema has ever seen. Whether down to technology or desperation, the film industry has spent these last few years figuring out new ways to make films that simply could not have existed even at the turn of the decade. – The Guardian
- Netflix Has Broken Its Model
Of late, Netflix’s investors have been shocked to find that viewers aren’t returning for the second seasons of even some of its biggest hits. – Slate
- Ecuador Selects A Second Design For Its New National Museum After Everybody Hated The First One
The ungainly white box proposed by Spain’s Studio Alberto Campo Baeza was greeted with online objections by over 20,000 Ecuadorians and was withdrawn earlier this month. The new design, by Tokyo-based studio SANAA, is described as “a system of interconnected vertical plazas” wrapped in rounded façades of terracotta brick. – Dezeen
- Why Did This Children’s Lit Festival Remove Comments On Diversity?
Authors said that their comments criticising the festival for its lack of representation under a post on its Instagram page were deleted, with the original post later removed and comments limited on other posts. – The Guardian
- The Odessey And The Culture Wars
This mapping of contemporary Western values onto the plot of a Greek epic poem is the true artistic project of Mr. Nolan’s film, and it makes for a better political debate than anything about colorblind casting or imagined D.E.I. – The New York Times
- A Ballerina’s 75-Year Career
Yoko Morishita, who will turn 78 in December, is the prima ballerina in Japan’s storied Matsuyama Ballet Company. One of Japan’s most-celebrated dancers, she performed with Rudolf Nureyev 200 times and toured with Margot Fonteyn. – The Wall Street Journal
- Meet Matthew Bogdanos, Chief Of The Manhattan D.A.’S Antiquities Trafficking Unit
“Bogdanos himself is just as incongruous as these idols on the storeroom. He has the build of the sinewy boxers in the George Bellows prints on his office wall — he still competes as an amateur middleweight — and the manner of a man who enjoys a fight more than he will admit.” – Financial Times
- Tips From Experts On How To Get Your Book Published
We asked five literary experts – a mix of published authors and publishing professionals – for their top tips on getting published. – The Conversation
- Why We Buy Books We Don’t Read
An unread book is a good example. It may remain closed for weeks or months, but the brain has already recognised its potential value, enjoying the prospect before the first page has been turned. – The Conversation
- A Year Ago Congress Killed CPB. What’s Public Media Look Like Now?
For consumers, the most noticeable change is that NPR and local stations are constantly reminding people that the federal money is gone and asking them to become a supporter or to increase their gift. – NPR
- In This City, The Pay-What-You-Choose Model Is Starting To Spread. How’s It Working Out So Far?
The parameters are different for each company — Opera Philadelphia, an early adopter, sets an $11 minimum — but a number of different troupes and presenters in Philly have been trying the scheme. Here are some of the lessons, expected and unexpected, that they’ve learned so far. – Broad Street Review (Philadelphia)
- Microseries Are Now A $150 Billion Industry (And That’s Not Including China, Their Biggest Market)
“The vertical video economy has increased 41% compared to last year,” according to their first-ever State of Microdrama report. “The male audience for (the) microseries platform MyDrama increased by 2,800% in the past seven quarters, jumping from 1.1% of monthly active users to 30.3% users.” – TheWrap (MSN)
- One Year After Losing All Federal Funding, South Dakota Public Broadcasting Bounces Back
“Just like that, six decades of bipartisan support and funding were gone” when the Republican-led Congress and the Trump administration withdrew previously-approved grants and ended future federal support. “The state network laid off a bunch of journalists. It canceled some shows. And then … some surprising things started to unfold.” – NPR
- National Choreographers Initiative Makes Its Last Dance
Ultimately dating back to 1991 and in its current form — four choreographers working with 16 professional dancers, creating pieces for three weeks and then performing for an audience which gives direct feedback, taking place each July at UCal-Irvine — since 2004. This year’s final edition features work by four alumni. – Pointe Magazine
- Proposed Massachusetts Law Would Help Keep Arts Spaces From Being Evicted Or Priced Out
“Artist studios, rehearsal spaces and performance venues frequently contend with rent hikes and evictions as developers gobble up property across the state. … The Creative Space Act would allow municipalities to establish a trust fund to acquire cultural spaces threatened by displacement.” – WBUR (Boston)
- Alan Turing Wrote A Short Story — And It’s About Cruising For Sex
The unfinished six-page story, titled “Pryce’s Buoy,” was known about by Turing experts but never before studied. Says scholar Sarah Dillon, “He’s been seen as socially unaware, entirely concerned with logic and numbers, and pretty isolated. His short story reveals a different man: playful, cheeky, literary, and someone who really liked sex.” – The Guardian
- Bill McGlaughlin, Longtime Classical Radio Host, Has Died At 82
His long career included stints as a trombonist (Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony) and conductor (Kansas City Symphony, among others), but he was best-known to public radio listeners as the host of St. Paul Sunday (1980-2007) and Exploring Music (2003 until earlier this year). – WWFM
- Who’s Stealing our Words?
Good Morning,
Researchers who spent years eavesdropping on thousands of people found we’re speaking about 338 fewer words a day, every year — roughly a Sense and Sensibility-worth of talk gone annually, steepest among the under-25s (The New Yorker). Put that next to a Mississippi teacher’s smart, capable students who simply won’t read (Wired) and Meta’s new app that generates children’s bedtime stories (TechCrunch), and the pattern isn’t declining ability. We’re automating away the moments where language happens.
Chicago reported that cultural events pumped $395 million into the Loop last quarter, up 20 percent (Chicago Sun-Times). But the Art Institute laid off its entire custodial staff to outsource the work (Chicago Sun-Times).
The Glasgow School of Art has concluded that rebuilding Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s fire-gutted masterpiece building would cost $355 million it doesn’t have (The New York Times). That probably won’t happen.
The Louvre, at least, has reopened the gallery where thieves took the crown jewels last fall. It’s empty — but the room is interesting (AFP (MSN)).
All of our stories below.
- A View From Second-Class On The Titanic In A Rare Surviving Letter From A Passenger
Henry Hodges, a musical instrument salesman, sent the letter from Queenstown (now Cobh), in Cork Harbour in Ireland, the ship’s final stop before crossing the Atlantic on its first and last voyage in 1912. The document provides a little-seen look at accommodations and activities for second-class travelers. – Smithsonian Magazine
- How Hierarchy Hides in How We Think
The question is not whether the technological revolution already underway will abolish hierarchy. It will not. The question is different: what will the new currency of rank be, and will it better recognise ability, responsibility, and work, or give old advantages a new language? – 3 Quarks Daily
- The Film Indian Censors Have Been Blocking For Three Years
Satluj, director Honey Trehan’s feature about an activist whom police tortured to death after exposed atrocities committed during a 1990s crackdown on violent Sikh separatists in Punjab, was withheld by India’s national censorship board since 2022. When Trehan released it online last week, it was taken down on government orders. – The Guardian
- Why Philanthropists Give?
For some, this elevated focus on philanthropy is not so much a voluntary strategic choice, but rather a response to their existing funders encouraging them to diversify their revenue streams and achieve what they see as a more sustainable future for the sector as a whole. – ArtsHub
- Is It A Reading Crisis Or A Comprehension Crisis?
Plenty of her students are smart and capable, but she’s never encountered a group less interested in reading. And neither she nor anyone else seems to have any idea how to fix it. – Wired
- Jeff Koons Wins Case Accusing Him Of Copyright Infringement
A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling in favor of pop artist Jeff Koons in a copyright dispute with a sculptor who had accused Koons of using his sculpture without permission in a 1989 series of artworks. – Reuters
- Big, Shiny Concert Hall In Georgia’s Capital To Be Demolished After 14 Years Of Sitting Unfinished And Unused
Rike Concert Hall in Tbilisi, designed by Rome-based practice Studio Fuksas, was built, and nearly completed, between 2010 and 2012 at a cost of €40 million. Work stopped with a change in the national government; the project was abandoned in 2017, and the property was sold to a developer in 2022 for €10 million. – Dezeen
- Why Are Classical Musicians So Afraid To Take Time Off?
Different careers, different instruments and different stages of life, yet the same quiet anxiety. Perhaps the question is not whether musicians need recovery. Perhaps the real question is why so many of us are afraid of it. – The Strad
- It Might Cost Too Much To Rebuild Mackintosh’s Glasgow School Of Art
Rebuilding the school in line with Mackintosh’s designs would cost 265 million pounds, about $355 million, the school said in a news release. That is “an amount that is not affordable and which would compromise the financial sustainability of the organization,” it said. – The New York Times
- An AI That Will Write Your Bedtime Stories?
A Meta spokesperson described StoryKit as a creative storytelling app used to craft personalized, imaginative storybooks for children and noted that it uses AI safety filters with no social features and is only available to users over the age of 18. – TechCrunch
- Arts And Culture Events In Downtown Chicago Contributed $395 Million To City’s Economy In Last Three Months
The figure is a 20% increase over the second quarter last year. There were slightly under 1.5 million visitors in that period, and foot traffic in the Loop on weekdays is still below pre-pandemic levels. – Chicago Sun-Times
- A Coachella For Broadway Theatre?
For decades, theater fans have flocked to Broadway hoping to catch their favorite performers onstage. But what if, instead of seeing one show, they could spend an entire weekend surrounded by stage stars — watching concerts under the stars, singing show tunes around a campfire, dancing at a Broadway rave? – People
- How Congressional Republicans Attacked American History At The Smithsonian This Week
Whether “love” is really the metric by which one should assess a historian’s credibility seemed outside the scope of the discussion. Nuance was treated like a threat. – The Atlantic
- Scientists Discover We’re Speaking Fewer Words Every Year. What’s That About?
Each year the number of words spoken daily seemed to decline by about three hundred and thirty-eight. That translates into around a hundred and twenty thousand words a year—about the length of “Sense and Sensibility.” And Mehl noticed that the decline was even steeper for people under twenty-five. – The New Yorker
- Brazil Gets A New Professional Orchestra
“São Paulo’s Teatro B32 has announced the creation of the ECO Orchestra, a new professional ensemble that will present its inaugural season between September 2026 and June 2027. American conductor Ira Levin has been appointed Artistic Director.” – Moto Perpetuo