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- Federal Judge Orders Trump To Take His Name Off The Kennedy Center
A federal judge Friday ordered that President Donald Trump’s name be removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and that officials halt its plan to close the venue for two years. – Washington Post
- Cancellation as a growth strategy
Good Morning,
Of course the top story is that a federal judge has ordered the removal of Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center. AND that the administration stop plans to close the center for two years. But whether the order sticks or not, the Kennedy Center has already been severely damaged. (Washington Post)
Two numbers tell today’s Hollywood story. Top executive pay at the major studios jumped an astonishing 51 percent last year — to $615 million — even as the industry shed 17,000 jobs (The Wrap). And then there’s CBS, which will turn a $40 million annual loss into a $55 million profit not by producing better late-night programming but by handing Stephen Colbert’s former slot to comedian Byron Allen and walking away (Variety). And who cares about the ratings? They no longer have anything to do with the bottom line. Contraction is the business model now.
The pressure from above isn’t easing either. ABC’s local stations called the FCC’s early license review “unlawful, arbitrary and unconstitutional”; Disney followed with a filing arguing the move violates the First Amendment (AP, Wall Street Journal). In the UK, Arts Council England rolled back its “Let’s Create” inclusivity push in favor of a return to “excellence.” The DEI era is truly gone. (The Stage).
We learn more about how AI is changing creative input: a study of hundreds of thousands of college essays finds the prose gets smoother but the underlying ideas collapse into a handful of templates (New York Times). Publishers, meanwhile, are bracing for nonfiction to follow fiction into the AI flood (New York Magazine).
And a reveal about the man who built a career on stage-fright silence: newly surfaced audio of Harpo Marx actually speaking (The Guardian).
All of our stories below.
Doug
- OMG, Audio Of Harpo Marx Actually Speaking!
Harpo (né Arthur) developed his silent persona due to his own stage fright; in later years he said he didn’t want to “tear down a character it took me decades to build.” On rare occasions, though, he did speak in public, though not when microphones were around — except for this one time. – The Guardian
- Top Hollywood Exec Pay Rose 51 Percent As Industry Shed 17,000 Jobs
The total compensation for the top executives surged a stunning 51% from a year earlier, based on a tally of $615 million vs. $408.5 million in 2024. – The Wrap
- ESPN Meets The Savannah Bananas’ Choreographer
“Maceo Harrison deftly designs routines that emphasize charisma over technical precision and spotlight the teams’ natural showmen while camouflaging the players with two left feet. … Sometimes he has mere hours to choreograph and just as little time to teach his routines to the players.” – ESPN
- The Art Looter Who Supplied Museums
Latchford’s success depended not just on criminal networks that supplied and transported these objects, but on the willingness of museums, dealers, collectors, and scholars to accept fragmented or problematic provenance so long as the objects themselves retained the aura of rarity and beauty. – Hyperallergic
- Universities Rethink The SAT
“We now observe preparation gaps so severe that instructors must reteach middle-school mathematics while simultaneously teaching the material students need for sciences, engineering, economics, and other quantitatively demanding fields,” the professors write in an open letter to the Board of Regents. – The Wall Street Journal
- Summing Up Dudamel’s Time With The LA Philharmonic
Unlike his immediate predecessor, Esa-Pekka Salonen, who also served as the Philharmonic’s music director for 17 seasons, Mr. Dudamel seems not to have matured on the podium. – The Wall Street Journal
- Hudson Valley Shakespeare Finally Has A Real Theater Building
Designed by award-winning architects Studio Gang, the 451-seat Scripps Theater Center — in Garrison, NY, 60 miles north of New York City — is a curved mass-timber structure with open sides, set on 98 landscaped acres overlooking the Hudson River. Year-round facilities will let the festival expand beyond a summer schedule. – Time Out New York
- FCC Action Against ABC Is A Threat To Free Speech, Says Disney
“The order is inconsistent with a legitimate exercise of investigative authority and is plainly incompatible with the First Amendment,” Disney said in its Thursday filing. Carr has insisted the early renewal order is strictly about DEI. – The Wall Street Journal
- Looking At 100s Of Thousands Of College Essays: AI Flattens Creativity
This seems to be especially true for students. A.I.’s smooth sentences, elegant transitions and rich vocabulary give the illusion of expansive creativity and individuality. But the underlying ideas often converge into a few homogenized categories. – The New York Times
- Gehry Partners Will Work On Renovation Of The Getty Center
Gehry Partners will design a variety of upgrades to the Getty Center — including a major revamp of its entry experience — during its upcoming year-long closure, the museum announced Thursday. – Los Angeles Times
- English Can Be A Weird Language. That’s Why It’s Perfect For Competitive Spelling Bees.
Sure, there are some other languages whose speakers have spelling contests, but there are plenty — Italian, Finnish, Malay, etc. — whose words are spelled exactly as they’re pronounced. But English? In what other language could “ough” be pronounced eight different ways, depending on the word? – The New York Times Magazine
- The Publishing Industry Is Very Vulnerable To AI
The book-publishing industry had already been wrestling with the prospect of a flood of AI-authored texts in the fiction market, and now the Rosenbaum scandal was showing the way AI could blow a hole in the nonfiction sector, too. – New York Magazine
- YouTube Will Start Labeling AI Video
YouTube is making AI-generated content labels more prominent for viewers — and it’s going to start automatically applying the labels if it detects that a video includes “significant photorealistic AI use.” – Variety
- Science: Yes, Pianists Can Control Sound By Their Touch
Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), suggest that the subtle motions of a pianist’s fingers and hands influence how listeners perceive qualities such as brightness, heaviness, and clarity in musical notes. – Science Daily
- Smithsonian Chief Lonnie Bunch Has Curated A New Exhibit About America’s Ideals. He Thinks It May Be His Last Show.
“(He) did not set out to make the exhibit American Aspirations his swan song. But he said that his organizing of an exhibition that honors America’s 250th anniversary could well be among his final acts as secretary. ‘It’s probably the last exhibit I will curate, there’s no doubt about that.’” – The New York Times
- England’s Arts Funding Body Changes Its Criteria To Re-Focus On “Excellence”
Arts Council England has unveiled a new strategy to replace the “Let’s Create” regime, which was widely criticized for appearing to de-emphasize high quality in favor of inclusiveness. The new policy aims for ACE’s grants to “support excellence, deliver for everybody, and reach everywhere.” – The Stage (UK)
- ARTnews Lists “The 100 Best Artworks About America”
“What, exactly, defines America? It’s a question that’s been asked for more than two centuries, and it’s unlikely to be conclusively answered anytime soon. But, with the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding fast approaching, we took the occasion to hash out a response to that query, using art as a guide.” – ARTnews
- How We Selected Our “100 Best Artworks About America”
“We started working on this list over a year ago and spent more than a month alone wrestling with how best to define its purview. We decided this would not be a list of the best American artworks, which is both too challenging an exercise and too wide a net to cast.” – ARTnews
- ABC TV Stations Say Trump FCC’s Review Of Their Broadcast Licenses Is Illegal
“Local TV stations owned by ABC across the United States blasted the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday for launching an ‘unlawful, arbitrary and unconstitutional’ early review of their broadcast licenses as a dispute between the network and the Trump-controlled agency intensifies.” – AP
- CBS Says It Will Be Making $15 Million In Profit From Stephen Colbert’s Former Time Slot
A network spokesperson argued that producing its own programming for the late-night talk-show slot is now “cost-prohibitive” — and that, by leasing that airtime to comedian/TV mogul Byron Allen, CBS will turn a $40 million annual loss into a $55 million annual profit. – Variety
- Broadway’s “The Book of Mormon” Reopens After Three-Week Closure Due to Fire
“The Book of Mormon, one of Broadway’s biggest hits, resumed performances on Wednesday night after a three-week shutdown prompted by a damaging three-alarm electrical fire at the theater where the musical comedy has been running for 15 years.” – The New York Times
- Trump Camp Announces Summer Pop Concert Series On National Mall. Stars Promptly Start Withdrawing.
“A day after the President Donald Trump -affiliated Freedom 250 announced the ‘first wave’ of performers for ‘The Great American State Fair’ shows on Washington’s National Mall in June and July, the lineup has been hit with a wave of cancellations.” – AP
- Who Was Alma Mahler?
Esther van Zyl as Alma Mahler in my play “The Marriage,” as performed at Colorado Mahlerfest two
- America’s First Late-Night Talk-Show Host Was A Woman
Faye Emerson was a Hollywood actress specializing in noir films; then she married FDR’s son, moved to New York and got into TV. From 1949-1951, she hosted a 15-minute program, The Faye Emerson Show, weeknights at 11:00 pm — becoming such a success that she was called “the First Lady of Television.” – Smithsonian Magazine
- The Savannah Philharmonic seeks Chief Executive Officer
Aspen Leadership Group is proud to partner with the Savannah Philharmonic in the search for a Chief Executive Officer.
Reporting to the Board of Directors through the Board Chair, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will partner closely with board and artistic leadership to implement policies and advance institutional priorities, including the organization’s 2025–2031 Strategic Plan. The CEO will be responsible for setting and executing organizational strategy and operating plans; ensuring financial sustainability through both earned and contributed revenue; and clearly articulating the mission, vision, and values of the Savannah Philharmonic to a broad range of stakeholders.
Serving as the organization’s chief executive and primary public representative, the CEO will lead efforts to strengthen education and community engagement, expand audience participation, and deepen the Philharmonic’s presence across the region. This leader will bring a contemporary understanding of nonprofit business models and drive a forward-looking vision that integrates artistic excellence with meaningful educational and community impact.
The Savannah Philharmonic Corporation (SavPhil) is a dynamic and rapidly evolving cultural organization that has become an integral part of the artistic life of Savannah and the broader Southeast region. Founded in 2009, the Savannah Philharmonic has grown into a highly-respected professional orchestra and auditioned chorus known for vibrant performances, imaginative programming, and a deep commitment to community engagement and music education. Today, the organization serves as both a leading cultural institution and an increasingly visible civic partner in one of America’s most historic and creatively energized cities.
The Savannah Philharmonic is actively exploring opportunities for long-term institutional growth and civic partnership that will support expanded programming, increased organizational capacity, and the continued evolution of the organization’s artistic and community presence. As it looks toward its next chapter, the Savannah Philharmonic is positioned for continued artistic growth, expanded community impact, and deeper organizational sustainability. The organization seeks a CEO who will build upon this momentum, strengthen institutional capacity, deepen relationships throughout the community, and help shape the future of one of the Southeast’s most promising and community-centered orchestras.
A bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience and at least seven years of senior-level leadership experience, preferably within a nonprofit performing arts, cultural, or mission-driven organization is required for this position. Experience working with or in partnership with a professional orchestra or performing arts organization is strongly preferred.
The Savannah Philharmonic will consider candidates with a broad range of backgrounds. If you are excited about this role and feel that you can contribute to SavPhil, but your experience does not exactly align with every qualification listed above, we encourage you to apply. All applications must be accompanied by a cover letter and résumé. Cover letters should be responsive to the mission of the Savannah Philharmonic and the responsibilities and qualifications specified in the position prospectus.
The salary range for this position is $125,000 to $130,000. The Savannah Philharmonic offers a comprehensive package of benefits, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) retirement plan, professional development support, and generous paid time off.
If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, or participating in the selection process, please contact Millie Taylor at millietaylor@aspenleadershipgroup.com.
To apply for this position, visit: https://apptrkr.com/7186911.
- Colbert’s Late Night Replacement On CBS Pulls Small Ratings
According to The Daily Beast, even Colbert’s YouTube channel is nearly outperforming Allen’s show. Colbert’s appearance on the public access TV show “Only in Monroe” drew 928,000 views on Colbert’s YouTube, which doesn’t include viewers who watched via other channels and platforms. – TV Insider
- How Does A Choreographer Make Dance About Her Hometown Getting Ravaged By A Wildfire?
Alice Topp, a former principal dancer and choreographer-in-residence at the Australian Ballet, already had the idea of basing her first commission for Houston Ballet on the Finnish concept of sisu (stubbornly determined resilience). Then, this past January, came unhappy inspiration: bushfires struck her rural hometown 75 miles northwest of Melbourne. – Houston Chronicle (Yahoo!)
- How Have The Great Pyramids Survived Millennia Of Earthquakes? By Design, Of Course
“The Great Pyramid behaves as a single, cohesive unit that naturally vibrates at a fundamental frequency of approximately 2.3 Hz. The frequency difference prevents the destructive phenomenon of resonance, the primary culprit behind the collapse of modern buildings, when a structure’s frequency matches the earthquakes vibrations.” – Artnet
- Spotify Has Become A Huge Player In Audiobooks
Spotify announced that the total number of hours of audiobooks listened to on the service are up 60% year-over-year, with one million people having paid for Audiobooks+, an add-on launched last year that allows listeners to unlock additional hours of audiobooks on top of those already included with its premium service. – Publishers Weekly
- Opera Is Being Reinvented In The Australian Outback
Song has always been a part of storytelling in our country. And perhaps, in remote towns, opera finally sheds the elitism that has followed it for decades. Out there, it becomes what it was always meant to be: a connection between people and place. – ArtsHub
- Margot Wellington, Campaigner Who Helped Save Grand Central Station From Wrecking Ball, Has Died At 91
“During her seven-year tenure (as executive director of the Municipal Art Society), she led pioneering campaigns to form historic landmark districts, renovate blighted blocks and rescue threatened edifices like Radio City Music Hall. … Saving Grand Central was her crowning achievement.” – The New York Times
- Hollywood Largely Skipped Cannes This Year. Did Anyone Miss Them?
Whether you were a sales agent eyeing a leisurely buyer’s market or a freelance journalist picking up fewer interview commissions than usual, this felt like a low-key Cannes. – Variety
- The Economics Of Late Night TV Are Moving To Streaming
Roughly 20% of lost late night dollars ends up going to YouTube, data insights company Guideline found last year, with 6% going to Amazon and another 6% going to Instagram and Facebook. – The Wrap (Yahoo)
