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- How The Pedant Became A Stock Character In Theater
Going all the way back to before 1600, the cantankerous, pompous, book-smart nincompoop has been a figure of mockery on European stages, a target for venting people’s dislike for know-it-all behavior. Some of the stereotypes associated with the character, however, were rather nasty. – The Public Domain Review
- We Should Worry About How AI Might Change Us With Its Use
How, then, could an automated oracle help? It cannot tell you what to feel, because feeling is not something you can summon by obedience. But neither can it settle the matter by telling you what to do. Reasons matter, and to be a morally responsible agent you must reason for yourself. – Humanist Review
- What If Smartphones Are Not Responsible For What Ails Our Kids?
Which change that happened 15 years ago was the real source of so much misery for children? “You can’t run experiments on history,” Haidt said, so we’ll never be able to prove that smartphones and social media caused the steep decline in youth mental health. – The Atlantic
- Brooklyn Man Sentenced To 20 Years For Fatal Stabbing Of Dancer O’Shae Sibley
Though Dmitriy Popov, now 20, was acquitted of murder, he was convicted of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime and other charges for attacking Sibley — a Black and visibly gay man — with a knife and puncturing his heart while Sibley and friends were dancing outside a Brooklyn gas station in 2023. – Gothamist
- FCC Will End Ownership Caps On Local TV Companies
“Today, national programmers can distribute their programming to 100 percent of the country — either through their own streaming services or through deals they cut with nationwide ‘virtual cable companies,’ like YouTube TV. The cap no longer constrains their control over distribution in this respect,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr wrote. – Variety
- Why TikTok Has Become A Force In Book Buying
One of the reasons TikTok’s book-review videos, known collectively as BookTok, have become so popular—and powerful in the publishing world—is that they offer a human-based, quasi-critical recommendation portal for fans and genre devotees to connect, commiserate, and promote their favorite work. – The New Yorker
- Gen Z Has Big Nostalgia For Eras Before They Were Born
- Brenda Fricker, First Irish Actress To Win An Oscar, Has Died At 81
She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1990 for playing the mother of disabled painter/writer Christy Brown (Daniel Day-Lewis) in My Left Foot. She’s remembered by a (mostly) different set of moviegoers as the Central Park Pigeon Lady in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. – The Hollywood Reporter
- Who’s Reading Less? It’s Older Americans, Not Younger
In 2003, older Americans read on average just under an hour each day — 58.5 minutes. By last year, that had fallen nearly by half, to roughly 32.4 minutes each day, a drop that represents the lion’s share of overall reading declines. – The New York Times
- Why Trump Is Fixated On Smithsonian History
People often joke about how Trumpism would like to return us to some version of the 1950s, when America supposedly was “great.” In this report, the administration has done just that. The report would prefer that nothing had ever happened since the ’50s to mar the White House’s polished, superficial, puerile version of America’s past. – The New York Times
- Culture Shift: Why Young People Are Choosing Culture That Brings Them Together
We human beings remain stubbornly, beautifully starving for one another. More surprising — and heartening — we are looking upward and outward, and returning to one another after being tethered for so long to our screens. This all portends well for the entertainment business, no doubt. – The New York Times
- How Vanderbilt University Made Itself Competitive With The Ivy League
Twenty years ago, the school’s acceptance rate was 38%; now it’s under 5%, roughly equivalent to Yale’s, and its undergraduates are reportedly the happiest in the country. The change is the result of deliberate, planned effort by two successive presidents over 20 years. – New York Magazine (MSN)
- Hong Kong Government Gives Ominous Warning To Booksellers
“Hong Kong’s top security official said Thursday that booksellers should ensure the titles they sell do not harm national security, a day after five people linked to two bookstores were arrested. The police operation on Wednesday was the third round of arrests targeting independent bookstores within four months.” – AP
- Madison Symphony Appoints Laura Jackson Music Director
Jackson is currently music director of the Reno Philharmonic in Nevada — a position she’ll keep through 2028-29 — and will officially take up this post as of the 2027-28 season. She succeeds John DeMain, who retired in June after 32 years. – The Cap Times (Madison, WI)
- White House May Bring US Government Into Trump’s Lawsuit Against BBC
“According to filings seen by the FT, the US government told the court in Florida ‘that it is considering participating in this litigation’. … The ‘conflict of interest is clear and stark’, the BBC said in a filing responding to the US government’s submission.” – Financial Times
- Trump Drops A Portion Of His Defamation Case Against The BBC
“Trump is demanding damages from the corporation, claiming a Panorama documentary defamed him because of an allegedly misleading edit of footage of one of his speeches. … However, while (he) is pressing on with the case as a whole, he has dismissed defamation claims against … the broadcaster’s commercial and production arms.” – The Telegraph (UK) (Yahoo!)
- Nashville Symphony’s New CEO: Mark Cantrell Of Colorado Symphony
“Cantrell’s appointment comes after a nationwide search sparked by the retirement of longtime Nashville Symphony leader Alan Valentine, who served in the role for 28 years. Cantrell, who will officially assume the position on Aug. 1., comes to Nashville Symphony from the Colorado Symphony in Denver.” – Nashville Post
- Ravinia Festival Cancels Performance Due To Wildfire Smoke
The July 16 performance of Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio, with James Conlon conducting the Chicago Symphony and soloists including Katherine Lewek and Miles Mykkanen, was called off due to hazardous air quality caused by smoke from wildfires raging in Canada. – Ravinia Festival
- Mahler: Fact and Fiction
- The Howard Theatre in Washington, DC, seeks an Executive Director.
Position Summary
- The Howard Theatre seeks a strategic, entrepreneurial, and externally compelling Executive Director to lead the organization through its next phase of growth.
- This is a formative leadership opportunity for an executive who will shape the organization’s next chapter. The next Executive Director will not inherit a mature nonprofit operating platform. They will help create one. The Howard has an extraordinary legacy, renewed Board energy, strong public symbolism, and real momentum behind a mission-led future. At the same time, it is still converting that potential into a durable institutional model, stronger philanthropic support, and a clearer public identity. The Executive Director will be the day-to-day driver of that transition.
- The Howard’s strategic direction is clear. The organization aims to reestablish the Theatre as a premier cultural hub and a platform for Black artistic excellence, talent discovery, education, and civic life. The Howard intends to move from a largely producer-driven venue model toward a mission-led performing arts center, with signature programming, stronger audience ownership, a disciplined advancement effort, and a higher-functioning governance model.
- The Executive Director will lead that work in close partnership with the Board of Directors and alongside Union Stage, which is expected to remain an operating partner for the foreseeable future.
- This position is ideal for a leader who combines fundraising ambition, programming judgment, public presence, and strong execution. The successful candidate will be equally comfortable in a donor meeting, a board room, a partnership negotiation, and a community-facing cultural setting.
Reporting Relationship
The Executive Director will report to the Board of Directors of The Howard Theatre Foundation, working closely with the Board Chair and Executive Committee.
The Opportunity
Historic Howard Theatre exists to preserve, protect, and celebrate one of America’s most important cultural landmarks. Its mission is to:
• Preserve the physical theatre—its architecture, legacy, and landmark designation as a Save Our American Treasures site.
• Preserve the cultural history of performance, storytelling, and innovation that define the Theatre’s legacy.
• Educate the community through partnerships, heritage tourism, and programs that connect history to modern audiences.
• Present diverse, world-class performances that unite artists and audiences of all backgrounds.
Its vision is to be recognized nationally and internationally as a beacon of creativity, inclusion, and excellence in live performance—where the Theatre’s historic spirit meets future-facing innovation.
The strategic plan identifies a set of tangible institutional opportunities:
• Build a stronger mission-led artistic identity rather than functioning primarily as an event venue.
• Expand signature programming, education, and community-rooted initiatives that reflect the Howard’s role in Black artistic and civic life.
• Launch an independent institutional marketing platform, including a Howard-branded website, audience data ownership, and a stronger public narrative.
• Build the fundamental components of a development operation, including donor systems, sponsorship packaging, major gift cultivation, and Board-supported fundraising.
• Strengthen Board engagement, accountability, and recruitment as the organization grows.Key Responsibilities
1. Provide institutional leadership and execute the strategic plan
Serve as the chief executive of the Foundation and translate Board strategy into a practical, sequenced, measurable operating agenda. Build alignment around priorities, pace, decision-making, and accountability. Help the organization move from aspiration to implementation.
2. Build the Howard’s fundraising engine from the ground up
Partner actively with the Board to raise ambitious levels of philanthropic support from individuals, corporations, foundations, and public sources. Develop donor strategy, prospect pipelines, sponsorship opportunities, cultivation activity, and stewardship practices. Support the Board in becoming a stronger fundraising body and serve as a visible ambassador in major gift and institutional conversations.
This is a frontline fundraising role. The Executive Director must be ready to carry a portfolio, make asks, host cultivation activities, and help build a culture of philanthropy from day one. The strategic plan is explicit that core development building blocks are not yet in place and must be established quickly.
3. Shape the first phase of Foundation-led programming
Lead the early development of Howard-produced and Howard-sponsored programming that communicates institutional identity, artistic intent, and public momentum. Work with the Board and partners to clarify which activities are mission-led, which are partnership-based, and which are primarily commercial. Over time, hire and supervise programming leadership to expand this portfolio.
4. Build the institutional brand and audience relationship
Lead the launch of an independent Howard marketing platform, including website, audience data strategy, email and CRM systems, public narrative, and institutional communications. Ensure that the Howard is known not only for individual events, but as a cultural institution with a distinct purpose, point of view, and role in Washington.
5. Strengthen governance and Board performance
Support the Board as it continues evolving into a more disciplined, high-functioning governing and fundraising body. Clarify committee roles, prospect expectations, policy priorities, Board recruitment needs, and performance standards. Help shape a Board culture that is ambitious, accountable, and aligned with the scale of the institution’s aspirations.
6. Lead through partnership and complexity
Work effectively within a hybrid operating structure that includes key external partners, most notably Union Stage. Build strong working relationships, define responsibilities clearly, and protect the Foundation’s strategic and institutional interests while advancing collaboration where it serves mission and growth.
7. Build the first phase of staff capacity
Recruit, supervise, and develop the Foundation’s early team and outside consultants. Establish strong management practices, realistic workplans, and clear performance expectations. The Executive Director will begin with broad scope and should be comfortable leading before a full staff infrastructure is in place.
8. Represent the Howard publicly
Serve as a persuasive and credible ambassador for the institution with donors, artists, civic leaders, elected officials, media, education partners, neighborhood stakeholders, and the broader cultural community.Priority Outcomes for the First 12 to 18 Months
The Board expects the Executive Director to deliver early progress in five areas:
1. Foundation-led programming and public momentum
Develop and begin executing the first coherent slate of Foundation-led programs that signals artistic direction, mission, and relevance.
2. Fundraising infrastructure and early gifts
Build a practical donor pipeline, launch cultivation activity with the Board, package sponsorship opportunities, and close early major gifts and institutional support.
3. Independent audience and marketing systems
Launch the Howard-branded website, establish core CRM and email systems, and begin building direct audience relationships.
4. Board-staff-partner alignment
Establish disciplined working norms across the Board, Foundation leadership, and operating partners, including clearer responsibility for execution and decision-making.
5. Early institutional team build-out
Recruit initial staff and/or consultants in ways that expand the Foundation’s capacity without overbuilding too quickly.Candidate Profile
The Board understands that few candidates will bring equal depth in every dimension of this role. The strongest candidates will show a compelling mix of the following:
Required strengths
• Senior leadership experience in a nonprofit cultural, performing arts, civic, or mission-driven institution of comparable complexity
• A strong track record in frontline fundraising, especially major gifts, sponsorships, and Board-partnered development
• Demonstrated ability to build systems, teams, and discipline in a growing or transitional organization
• Excellent public communication skills and the presence to serve as an institutional ambassador from day one
• Sound strategic judgment and the ability to translate broad plans into clear priorities and measurable action
• Experience working effectively with Boards, high-level volunteers, and external stakeholders
• Strong financial literacy, including budget oversight, planning, and resource allocation
• Deep alignment with the Howard’s mission and a credible understanding of the role Black cultural institutions play in artistic life, public memory, and civic identityEspecially valuable
• Experience in presenting, producing, or curating multidisciplinary performing arts programming
• Experience building institutional brand, audience engagement, and public profile
• Experience leading in a founder-like, turnaround, or scale-building environment
• Strong relationships in Washington, DC, or the ability to build local fluency quickly
• Experience navigating complex partnership structures where authority is shared across organizations
• Experience working with artists, cultural leaders, and communities historically rooted in Black artistic traditions and institutionsSearch Priorities
This is a national search. The Board is open to candidates whose public profile is still emerging, provided they can demonstrate the fundraising instinct, institutional presence, and ambassadorial skill required to represent the Howard immediately and grow that presence over time.
Candidates do not need to come from venue operations. The more important question is whether they can build a strong cultural institution, raise money with confidence, shape mission-led public activity, and work effectively with the Board and the operating partner in a complex environment.Compensation
Salary range: $150,000 to $180,000, commensurate with experience. A benefits package will be provided.
All applications and/or inquiries should be sent via email only to:
Dmitry Samogray, DeVos Institute of Arts and Nonprofit Management
dasamogray@devosinstitute.netMS Word or PDF (preferred) attachments only.
Subject Line: HOWARD THEATRE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR applicationNo phone calls please.
File names of all resumes and attachments should include applicant’s last name. - Creativity Is a Team Sport
Good Morning,
MIT researchers have landed on something: AI makes individuals more creative and groups less so (MIT). Creativity, it turns out, is social infrastructure.
Exhibit A: the Boston Symphony, where conductor Andris Nelsons and CEO Chad Smith haven’t had a meaningful conversation in two years (Boston Globe) — a world-class collective that stopped talking (Boston Magazine). Contrast Vienna, where Alessandra Ferri says she runs the State Ballet on vision rather than strategy (Hube) — leadership as chamber music, not an org chart.
Madrid renters facing eviction turned their apartment block into a stage and every news channel into an audience (The Guardian) to protest their landlords. In Moscow, art has moved into kitchens and living rooms — private shows, oblique theatre, a rerun of the late Soviet years (The New York Times) as the political climate has turned oppressive.
And Salzburg has unveiled 300 gold statuettes of Mozart, each with his favorite dog, Pimperl (AP).
All of our stories below.
- What Does A Future Vision For The Boston Symphony Mean?
It’s a story about many things, including music and money; excellence and equity; tradition and change. But mostly it’s about two questions: What should an orchestra be in a city like Boston in 2026? And even more important: Who gets to decide? – Boston Magazine
- Solving The Mysterious Deaths Of A Medici Couple 439 Years Ago
“In 1587, Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici and his wife, Bianca Cappello, died within hours of each other after days of agony. … Rumors of an assassination immediately spread, pointing to Francesco’s younger brother and rival, Ferdinando, as the perpetrator.” Or was it simply malaria? Here’s what DNA evidence reveals. – CNN (MSN)
- The Uncomfortable Truths About Vinyl Records
Vinyl record sales in the US have increased for 19 consecutive years, surpassing $1 billion in revenue in 2025. As vinyl’s popularity has surged, so has scrutiny of its environmental cost—and the music industry’s efforts to address it. – LongReads
- Salzburg Is Swarming With Little Golden Statues Of Mozart (And His Little Dog, Too)
“The Mozarteum Foundation on Wednesday unveiled 300 gold-colored statuettes of Mozart, which are barely 50 centimeters (less than 20 inches) tall. … To give the statues a human touch, (artist Ottmar) Hörl depicted the composer with his favorite dog, Pimperl.” – AP
- The Difference Between A Book And The Idea Of A Book
There is the book a writer writes, which is to say the actual words on the page, and then there is what I call its hologram—the shimmering, ethereal version of the book that the author must pitch to their publisher, and which their publisher then pitches to the public. – LitHub
- The Future Of Writing In The Age Of AI
“It reminded me of what happened when the internet came of age and you saw a difference in the texture of novels: something about the research process that had become expansive and yet somehow just a little more hollow than the pre-internet novel.” – Yale Review
- A Dance Influencer Before Dance Influencing Was A Thing
Nobody has definitive data, but Anne Green Gilbert has reached thousands of people during her career as the creator of, and advocate for, something she calls Brain-Compatible Dance Education. – Seattle Times
- Mixing Flamenco With Shakespearean Comedy At The Globe
When director Indiana Lown-Collins, who’s half-Spanish, first worked at Shakespeare’s Globe, she decided that flamenco steps would sound terrific there, thundering on the wooden floor and resounding around the circular space. Now she’s settled on the perfect vehicle: Love’s Labours Lost. – The Guardian
- FCC Chairman: Local TV News Companies Should Get Bigger
“It’s really been holding back local broadcasters from reaching the scale necessary to invest in local news and journalism reporting,” Brendan Carr said. – The Hill
- Studies: How AI Affects Creativity
We have found that although AI can enhance individual creativity, it reduces collective creativity. To explain why this occurs, we should first clarify what we mean by creativity. – MIT
- Inside The Dysfunctional Boston Symphony
Two years. That’s how long it’s been since Andris Nelsons, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has had a meaningful conversation with the orchestra’s chief executive Chad Smith. In fact, the two barely speak at all. – Boston Globe
- Alessandra Ferri Famously Doesn’t Follow Strategies, So How Does She Run The Vienna State Ballet?
“It’s not that I don’t have a strategy — I just don’t have one for my life. I don’t plan it. Some people define their next goal and know exactly what they want. I let things come. … I have a vision about how I want to run the company.” – Hube
- Are Movies Bad For Us?
Whether in the spirit of saving or eulogizing the industry, the question of its influence deserves serious thought. – The Atlantic
- How Madrid Renters Are Using Art To Protest Landlords
When their homes came under threat, they instinctively reached for the tools they had to hand: their social and cultural capital. That’s how an apartment block in Madrid became a stage, broadcast on every news channel. – The Guardian
