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- Authoritarian Politics Are Threatening Culture Worldwide
In addition to established understandings of intrinsic esthetic and historic values of heritage, new emphasis on development reconceptualizes heritage as a resource that can generate economic development, tourism, employment and social cohesion. – The Conversation
- What, Exactly, Is Literary Substack?
As Substack has become a more respectable platform and mainstream academics have begun to join in some numbers, they have encountered a strange simulacrum of fields they thought they knew intimately. Cultural and symbolic capital seem to work differently here. – Paroxysms
- Smithsonian Is Using AI To Help Interpret Its Collection
The goal is to allow the public and scholars to both search the institution’s collection and draw connections across the Smithsonian and other organizations, such as the Library of Congress, to gain a deeper sense of how communities formed and functioned at the nation’s birth. – AP News
- How Ravinia Reconfigured Itself
The pavilion reopened partway through the 2026 summer season after two seasons of design and construction, then quickly began demonstrating its newfound flexibility. – Architect Magazine
- How AI Might Help Humanize Museums
In addition to museum workers, of course, the public and artists are already using AI, which means that AI is already affecting any museum’s digital strategy, ability to attract visitors, understanding of the ever-changing art world, and capacity to fulfill its mission. Avoidance is not an option. – ReMuseum
- Christopher Jackson Makes A Return To ‘Hamilton’ As An Older, Wiser Washington
But Hamilton plays differently now. “The show was written in a time where hope was what we were striving for, holding on to, and the pandemic did a lot to diminish that and exhaust people and scare people.” – The New York Times
- Philadelphia’s Beloved Academy Of Sciences Almost Made It To 200
“When they announced the one month notice it was a surprise for everybody. … It’s like the leadership didn’t even try to keep it open, and that’s why there’s a lot of frustration around what’s happening. It’s just not right.” – NPR
- The Radio Wasn’t A Live Music Killer
Instead, it brought classical music to much wider audiences, especially during and just after WWII. – Classical Music (BBC)
- Protesters In Culver City Demand That Media Companies Commit To Democracy
“Spotlighting Sony Pictures Studios, Apple, Pinterest and Amazon MGM Studios, all with local offices, protesters demanded that the companies sign on to the ‘Business for Democracy Pledge’ ahead of the elections in November.” – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)
- Peppino Mazzullo, The Voice And Soul Of Puppet Topo Gigio, Has Died At 100
Mazzullo was “an Italian actor who for more than 40 years provided the endearing voice of the floppy-eared mouse puppet Topo Gigio, a TV character beloved by children all over the world,” not to mention by Ed Sullivan. – The New York Times
- Sadly, It’s Rational For Musicians To Fear, And Worry About, The Music Biz
For Liz Harris, “an elevated digital profile comes with a range of new concerns – like fake remixes and songs posted with the same titles as hers by bad actors trying to skim whatever royalties they can.” – The Guardian (UK)
- Why The Back Of The House Shouldn’t Choose The Dining Music
Screamo isn’t it. “Music can manipulate consumer moods. It’s why soothing, well-known songs for the local demo play in the grocery store (so you feel comfortable and familiar), why fancy restaurants play jazz, classical, or piano music (to create a sense of elevated place, influencing a higher spend).” – Ravenous
- Los Angeles’ Mayoral Frontrunner Promised To Be A ‘Relentless Advocate’ For Hollywood
“Nithya Raman comes by her Hollywood bona fides honestly. Her husband, after all, is Vali Chandrasekaran, writer on Modern Family, 30 Rock and other TV hits.” – The Hollywood Reporter
- After Years Of Renovation And Work, A Maryland Theatre Is Reborn
“Theater is so hard to do for so many reasons,” says one actor in the renovated Olney Theatre. He’s pleased “to see an actual new facility come up out of the ground, and to see talent and audience members come into this space and relish in the experience.” – Washington Post
- Gillian Anderson, Doing Theatre, Asks Her Superfans To Get Out Of The Front Row
She was laughing, but the X-Files (and current Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf) star told her fans, “It’s so distracting. You can’t come 20 times and sit in the front row, it’s driving me mad.” – The Telegraph (Yahoo)
- Freaked Out About Artificial Intelligence?
Look to Kant. – Aeon
- Powwow Dances Aren’t Always Very Accessible
One man is trying to change that. ”You can come down with your blankets, your tablets, your headphones. You don’t have to be in regalia. You can have your caregivers with you. You can have your parents with you, a support person or persons.” – OPB
- NPR Goes Back In Time To Talk To A Younger Steve Reich
As the composer turns 90, Fresh Air mines the archives – and it’s worth a listen. “I don’t work as a scientist. That’s not an intellectual – it’s not an emotionally rewarding way to work. I was just following my intuition, just following my nose, so to speak.” – NPR
- In Censor-Happy Texas, School Librarians And Teachers Are Afraid To Discuss Books
“When you put your finger on every single book in order to type it into a spreadsheet, you really do think, ‘Am I willing to lose my job over this particular book?’ … I think that is a real concern for teachers around the state.” – The 74
- Nashville Symphony’s Musicians ‘Blindsided’ By The Cancellations And Furloughs
Violinist Dawn Gingrich: “We have new hires this season who upended their lives and moved to Nashville at the end of August … gave up prestigious fellowships and positions with other orchestras because they believed that the work here was secure.” – The Tennessean (Yahoo)
- Anton Seidl and the Lost Promise of American Classical Music
- Eight Million Books Burned in Kharkiv
Good Morning,
A Russian drone strike in August destroyed 8 million books at a Kharkiv warehouse belonging to Ranok, a Ukrainian publisher, more than 85% of its stock, including 628,000 new schoolbooks. The government estimates 13 million Ukrainian books were destroyed this summer, a third of everything printed in the country this year (The Guardian).
The British Museum, which has the Bayeux Tapestry on loan from France until July 2027, will now run an audio-described tour after Yusuf Ali Osman, who has no sight in either eye, filed an Equality Act claim. The museum had said light limits on the tapestry meant self-guided visits took priority (BBC).
Robert Lazzarini, the sculptor known for distorted American symbols, has shown the work planned for the Venice Biennale’s US pavilion, which went to Alma Allen after the University of South Florida couldn’t raise $5 million. It’s at MassArt’s museum in Boston (The New York Times).
And David Fincher’s six-year Netflix deal is over; Mank cost $25 million and spent one day on the streamer’s top 10, while The Killer took $452,000 at the box office against a $175 million budget (The Verge). Lenny Pearce, an Australian DJ, is selling out North American venues with raves for children under 5, home by 8 p.m. (NPR).
Told on X that the AI generator Suno has “solved infinite personalized music,” a Salon writer recalls sorting college-radio mail by its RIYL stickers and finding Fleet Foxes that way (Salon).
All of our stories below.
- Digital Lists Are Destroying The Fabric Of Society
“The issue goes deeper than presents. I have four kids from elementary to high-school age, and as hard as I try to expose them to life’s realities, they remain sheltered from disappointment and dissatisfaction at every turn.” – Slate
- The British Museum Adds An Audio Tour To The Bayeux Tapestry in Response To Blind Man’s Lawsuit
The museum apparently hadn’t thought of adding an audio description to its app, or having more audio description tours, before the lawsuit – despite saying they worked with specialists on accessibility. – BBC
- We’re In A Gross ‘Great Man’ Statuary Backlash, But Look At Ancient Egypt
“The great public efforts—the colossal statuary, the expansive propaganda programs, the image campaigns, the attempts to remake the world of living people—have been shattered, defaced, and refaced.” – The Atlantic
- The Joys Of Music Discovery Don’t Include Robots
With AI-generated “music,” “It’s not just the lack of discovery. … It’s more about the lack of anything personal behind the music. No history, no struggle, no catharsis, no exploration, no humanity. I listen to music because it’s flawed, raw and human.” – Salon
- Turning Millennial Nostalgia For Raves Into A Big Business
But this one’s for the real kids (of Millennials and older Gen-Zers): “We wanted to get the baby into the rave scene,” says one set of parents. – NPR
- As A New Show Opens, It’s Past Time To Reevaluate Our Reactions To Lee Krasner’s Work
“Her response to life with a mean and desperate drunk was to cannibalize her old canvases and explode into the pugnacious scale, audacious color, and thrusting verticles of collages.” – The New York Times
- Russia’s War On Ukraine’s Books
“In total, this summer, 13 [million] Ukrainian books have been destroyed by Russian missiles or drones – a third, estimates the government, of all books printed in Ukraine this year.” – The Guardian (UK)
- So Now There’s Apparently ‘Weird Girl Lit’?
Emerging from Reddit, the subgenre is not fully defined, but “books that get called weird girl lit tend to deal in uncanny or dreamlike circumstances.” – The New York Times
- Netflix Had A Little Pivot Toward Prestige, But That’s Ending
Prestige movies don’t reliably make money on streaming. “It seems like Netflix’s main game plan is to put an increased focus on producing lower-budget series, live events, and sports programming.” – The Verge
- When Will We Know The Answers To AI’s Most Important Questions?
“Several of the most fundamental debates about the future and safety of AI remain unresolved. I believe we can’t expect these disagreements to be resolved until it’s too late to change course.” – Time
- Eugenia Errazuriz, Who Made Picasso Possible
Errázuriz was “a patron, adviser, connector and tastemaker whose influence expanded beyond Picasso and Stravinsky to fashion and interior design. She … opened doors, offered criticism and used her considerable wealth to steer artists toward the work that would make them famous.” – The New York Times
- What It’s Like For Musician And Filmmaker Hayley Kiyoko To Be Called ‘Lesbian Jesus’ By Her Fans
She’s felt a pretty big responsibility, honestly, and she’s proud of the film Girls Like Girls. “We go to watch movies to dream and to fantasise and to see representation that maybe we lack in our lives.” – The Guardian (UK)
- This Administration Is Moving The Kennedy Center Honors To Capital One Arena
“As Mr. Trump pushes to close the center for two years of renovations, he is trading the ruby-red Opera House for the 20,000-seat home of the N.B.A.’s Washington Wizards and the N.H.L.’s Washington Capitals.” – The New York Times
