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- 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
- Robin Morgan, Who Helped Found Second-Wave Feminism, Has Died At 85
“Morgan caused shock waves in 1970 when she published an essay in Rat, an underground newspaper. The article, titled ‘Goodbye to All That,’ named specific men as sexists. ‘Goodbye to Hip Culture and the so-called Sexual Revolution,’ she wrote.” – The New York Times
- With Freedom And Community, Music Has The Power To Transform Young Lives
“If you want to get a young person out of trouble, put a trumpet in their hands – then just watch what they do.” – The Guardian (UK)
- Trying To Revitalize A Tiny ‘Lost’ Town With Traditional Arts In North Carolina
“In the wake of Helene and the subsequent inland migration, the [Lost Province Center for Cultural Arts] is teaching so-called Old World skills — like fiber arts and clay throwing — as essential tools in the modern age.” – The New York Times
- Court In Argentina Rules In Favor Of Jewish Art Dealer’s Heir
“Portrait of a Lady by Italian baroque painter Giuseppe Ghislandi was missing for eight decades before being photographed in 2025 hanging in the home of the daughter of a senior Nazi officer who had fled to Argentina after the second world war.” – The Guardian (UK)
- Remembering Gloria Steinem As A Writer
As she said, “It’s one of the ironies of trying to be a writer and an activist at the same time that just when you feel you have the most to write about, you have the least time in which to write it.” – The New York Times
- Bad Bunny Finally Gets An Emmy, For The Super Bowl
The so-called “Primetime Emmys” happen next week, but Bad Bunny cleaned up with seven “creative Emmys” for his halftime show at the huge sporting event. – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- Turns Out AI Can’t Turn Dakota Johnson Into Marilyn Monroe
And Maggie Gyllenhaal is kind of sorry she ever tried something “the people who commissioned this project” wanted. – Vulture
- CD Sales Are Booming, Alongside Vinyl And Cassettes
“Despite the increased interest in physical media and the ongoing iPod revival, people are not leaving streaming in droves. Streaming revenue grew by 4.7 percent to $4.9 billion — dwarfing all physical media combined.” – The Verge
- What To Do With All Of Europe’s Empty Churches?
Sure, indoor pickleball courts can work, but there are many arts options. – The New York Times
- Arts funding as basic infrastructure
Good Morning:
Many of the week’s stories kept circling one question: when the old money for culture’s civic middle retreats, what replaces it? In the US, mostly nothing yet. Philadelphia’s local government share of arts budgets fell from 7% in 2019 to 1% in 2024 (Philadelphia Citizen), Chicago cut its arts agency this cycle (WBEZ), and Philadelphia’s 200-year-old Academy of Natural Sciences came within a day of closing before a rescue deal (Philadelphia Inquirer). Washington, meanwhile, is converting support into leverage — threatening to pull all federal aid from the Smithsonian (Washington Post).
Elsewhere, governments are building new plumbing rather than waiting for philanthropy. Scotland will pilot a minimum income for 2,000 artists (The Herald), Edinburgh is routing a tourist levy into a 25% funding boost for its summer festivals (The Stage), and California will pay newsrooms tax credits per journalist hired (NiemanLab). Even Toronto’s symphony found a toll-highway operator to bankroll five years of suburban concerts (Toronto Star). The common design principle: treat culture as infrastructure and price it into revenue streams that already exist, rather than asking it to compete as a discretionary line item.
One model asks culture to prove its worth every budget season; the other stops asking.
All this week’s stories below, organized by topic.
- Afa Dworkin talks about the key events celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Sphinx Organization
Afa Dworkin, President & Artistic Director of the The Sphinx Organization, shares the three keystone events of their milestone 30th Anniversary.
- Artistic Director -Florida Studio Theatre working with Management Consultants for the Arts
Florida Studio Theatre (FST) is seeking a talented theater professional to lead the planning and execution of the organization’s core programming as Artistic Director. This newly conceived role will be part of a reimagined leadership team as FST’s long-serving Producing Artistic Director transitions into retirement and top leadership of the organization transfers to an Executive Director, a role effectively defined as a chief executive officer leading a team that includes the Artistic Director and an incoming Managing Director.
The purview of the Artistic Director will be to shape the programming for the plays and musical offerings that annually define FST’s Winter and Summer Mainstage Series (seven productions), Stage III (three productions), Children’s Theatre (four productions), and New Play Development. The Artistic Director will be skilled in creating seasons that respond to and extend FST’s mission, engaging artistic and production talent to create in full alignment with FST’s aesthetic focused in authentic and engaging storytelling that does not rely on outsized production spectacle.
The Artistic Director will participate in the artistic life of FST through their own artistic practice as a stage director, actor, designer, or other individual artistic practice, but will fully understand that the primary responsibilities of the role are to serve as the overall producer of FST’s principle theatrical offerings. Working closely with FST’s Executive Director, the Artistic Director will balance artistic ambition with responsiveness to audience needs. Florida Studio Theatre has engaged Management Consultants for the Arts to lead the search, and interested candidates may apply for this position by visiting this link: https://www.mcaonline.com/searches/artistic-director-fst
FST hopes to make a hiring decision by Spring of 2027, with the selected candidate transitioning into the position sometime in the Fall of 2027. The salary range starts at $160,000 annually and includes a full benefit package. FST is an equal opportunity employer that celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Any offer of employment will be conditional upon satisfactory completion of a background check and reference conversations.
Florida Studio Theatre was founded in 1973 by artist Jon Spelman as an alternative touring group, reaching out to isolated and underserved audiences in nursing homes, migrant farms, and prisons. When Richard Hopkins was named Producing Artistic Director in 1980, he founded FST’s Mainstage Series with a modest 103 subscribers. Today, FST reaches over 45,000 subscribers and an annual audience of more than 225,000 across its diverse programs, making FST the largest subscription theatre in the state of Florida. Now in its 53rd Season, FST is proud of its reach and impact across its five stages and through over 20 professional productions each year. More about Florida Studio Theatre can be found at https://www.floridastudiotheatre.org/
- Managing Director -Florida Studio Theatre working with Management Consultants for the Arts
Florida Studio Theatre (FST) invites applications for its Managing Director, a role for individuals with strong talent for running complex, multi-venue producing operations. The new Managing Director will lead the day-to-day administration of an organization producing more than 1,600 performances annually across five stages, with three additional stages and expanded housing and campus operations coming online at the end of 2027 with the creation of the McGillicuddy Arts Plaza.
In a newly conceived leadership structure that anticipates the retirement of FST’s long serving Producing Artistic Director, the Managing Director will report directly to the Executive Director, a role recently filled by FST’s long-serving Managing Director. The Managing Director will be the staff lead overseeing finance, marketing, development, and the full range of forward-facing customer service areas associated with the company’s self-produced theatre productions, cabaret performances, education, children’s theatre, new play development, improv and comedy series, and restaurant operations.
As FST expands its physical footprint with the opening of The McGillicuddy Arts Plaza, the Managing Director will ensure that all facilities are well-maintained, staffed appropriately, and activated to their full capacity. Taking the lead from the Executive Director as FST’s visionary leader, the Managing Director will work closely with a new Artistic Director and other senior leaders to execute FST’s mission in a manner that invites audiences into accessible and meaningful live performance experiences. Florida Studio Theatre has engaged Management Consultants for the Arts to lead the search, and interested candidates may apply for this position by visiting this link: https://www.mcaonline.com/searches/managing-director-fst
FST hopes to make a hiring decision by Spring of 2027, with the selected candidate transitioning into the position sometime before the Fall of 2027. The salary range starts at $160,000 annually and includes a full benefit package. FST is an equal opportunity employer that celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Any offer of employment will be conditional upon satisfactory completion of a background check and reference conversations.
Florida Studio Theatre was founded in 1973 by artist Jon Spelman as an alternative touring group, reaching out to isolated and underserved audiences in nursing homes, migrant farms, and prisons. When Richard Hopkins was named Producing Artistic Director in 1980, he founded FST’s Mainstage Series with a modest 103 subscribers.
Today, FST reaches over 45,000 subscribers and an annual audience of more than 225,000 across its diverse programs, making FST the largest subscription theatre in the state of Florida. Now in its 53rd Season, FST is proud of its reach and impact across its five stages and through over 20 professional productions each year. More about Florida Studio Theatre can be found at https://www.floridastudiotheatre.org/
- Maurizio “Banana Taped To The Wall” Cattelan Insists He’s Serious (And He’s Probably Right)
The art world’s merriest prankster; the guy who duct-taped a banana to a gallery wall, called it “Comedian,” and saw it get eaten, sold for $6.2 million, and then eaten again — he says “My work has always been serious. The problem is people often stop at the joke.” – The Guardian
- How Errol Flynn Beat The Rap For Statutory Rape
Two credible allegations of sex with teenage girls would by themselves be enough to get Flynn cancelled today, especially since both complainants said that he forced himself on them. Unfortunately, that’s not how it played out in 1942 and ‘43 for Hollywood’s biggest star. – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- Why The Bayeux Tapestry Thrilled Ancient Audiences
If we look at the meanings incorporated into different objects during the early medieval period, we see that the Bayeux tapestry is a visual form of the scop, an early medieval storyteller who told tales of heroes and great deeds, helping to preserve the oral tradition of the early English peoples. – The Conversation
- Have We Wrecked Childhood?
This doesn’t sound like a very nice life, does it? It’s an existence in which you’re micromanaged and surveilled, given almost no freedom or privacy, and put under constant pressure while, at the same time, being seen as incompetent and lazy. – The New Yorker
- Twilight Of The Oxford Dons
These same dons disdained Britain’s provincial universities—known pejoratively as Redbrick—as well as academics in the U.S., whom they scorned for going about their business with “woefully unnecessary seriousness.” A don, by contrast, was effortlessly successful. – The Wall Street Journal
- This May Not Be The Great American Novel, But It’s Got To Be The Great American Manuscript
That would be the 120-foot scroll of architectural tracing paper on which Jack Kerouac typed — single-spaced — his original draft of On the Road. He produced the whole megillah in three very caffeinated weeks. – AP
- Vancouver Police Break Into Gallery Mistaking Sculpture For Person In Distress
According to the VPD, a caller reported seeing a person’s feet sticking out from behind a counter and believed medical assistance was needed. – Vancouver City News
- Iconic Salt Lake City Temple Has Been Transformed. Now A Rare Look Inside
After years of extensive renovation and structural upgrades, the LDS Church will open its signature temple April 5 to the public — Mormons and non-Mormons alike – for six months of unprecedented tours. – CNN
- Far-Right German Party Attacks Iconic Bauhaus School
Attacks on Bauhaus by Alternative for Germany, also known as AfD, come as Saxony-Anhalt in eastern Germany is about to vote in an election that could see a far-right party take control of one of the country’s states for the first time since World War II. – AP
- In Some Places, Congress’s Defunding Of Public TV And Radio Is Literally Dangerous
“Public television stations are not only broadcasters. They are physical infrastructure inside FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System — one of the pathways that pushes AMBER Alerts, severe-weather warnings, and evacuation orders to the phone in your pocket.” And if rural communities lose their public stations, those alerts disappear. – The Hollywood Reporter
- What Makes Good Writing For Video Games?
“The kinds of writing that players encounter in games comes as a direct result of the medium’s competing needs and origins.” – Washington Post
- What Will Become Of Broadway’s Ed Sullivan Theatre Now That Colbert Has Left?
What will happen to the stage where Elvis’s swiveling pelvis was kept demurely out of frame, where the Beatles made their American debut, where Jackie Mason may or may not have flipped the bird at the host, where Topo Gigio found inexplicable fame? – Curbed
- Cleveland Orchestra Musicians Authorize Strike
The bargaining committee said it’s far apart from management with regard to compensation, repetitive stress injuries and gaining a voice in the orchestra’s artistic direction. – Ideastream
- How City Arts Funding In Chicago Stacks Up Against That Of Other Big U.S. Cities
“Across the country’s five largest cities, Chicago was the only one to cut the funding for its local arts agency during its most recent budget cycle. And while its spending dwarfs that of the larger Los Angeles, and trails only behind New York per capita, the pressure is mounting to do more.” – WBEZ (Chicago)
- The Most Successful Work Of Art About 9/11? A Canadian Musical
“In the quarter-century since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the horror of that day has inspired novels, films, television shows, paintings and sculpture. But the most enduring artistic response has been … Come From Away, about a small town with a big airport where nearly 7,000 travelers were diverted.” – The New York Times
- Michael Sheen’s Welsh National Theatre Takes On A Subject That, Shockingly, No One Has Done Until Now
That subject is the Welsh nobleman Owain Glyndŵr, who led a major rebellion against the English in the 15th century. Despite his fame, Sheen says, Glyndŵr’s story wasn’t taught in Welsh schools and nobody had ever staged it on a large scale before. – The Guardian