“Changes to how Joan of Arc and other touchstone historical figures are taught in elementary school, as well as changes to how French, Latin and Greek are introduced, have sparked fierce arguments between right-leaning politicians and intellectuals, who believe schools should foster national pride, and the Socialist education minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem and her defenders, who argue that the curriculum should reflect changes in society.”

“When researchers get the message that they better not produce data that might offend the powerful, they end up telling us not what is true, but what we want to hear. Policy separates from reality, and we end up with waste and poor outcomes in education, healthcare, economics, and the justice system. Good policy cannot be built on comfortable fantasies.”

“Instruction is the least important part of education. Most information is accessible from books and the media. Basic literacy and numeracy are important, but many if not most skills used by adults in daily life are picked up on the job. The main objective of education in every enduring society is to transmit authoritative cultural, political, and ethical traditions from one generation to the next.”

“Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs … revealed a new plan, in a memo to county leaders, that lays out a path to get the arts center the final $45 million in tourist development tax dollars it needs to start the $185 million second phase that includes the 1,700-seat Steinmetz Hall acoustical theater.”

“The new museum opens with all the usual tensions already in place. Among its major donors are banks that played a brutal role in predatory loan scandals that targeted African American communities as well as companies that manufacture the cigarettes, food and soft drinks that play such a big part in the plague of diabetes and other health issues that afflict the black population. This doesn’t mean that the museum can’t be independent, or that the scholars and curators who created the exhibitions were in any way compromised by pressure. But it does mean that it could take substantial fortitude to, say, mount an exhibition about racism and professional sports when one of museum’s major funders is the NFL. In the age of the modern, mass-market museum, freedom and independence are never a given; they must be reasserted and defended with every new exhibition.”

“Think about it. For every article singing the praises of new science, how often do you see one that is critical? Not often. Unless you’re talking about eugenics or fission bombs, a new scientific result or technology is almost always treated as an unequivocally good thing.”

Francine Prose: “Like much of Shriver’s talk, this paragraph contains a kernel of truth encased by a husk of cultural and historical blindness. It seems clear that one part of the fiction writer’s job is ‘to step into other people’s shoes.’ But to paraphrase Freud, sometimes a hat is more than just a hat. Sometimes it is a symbol—and a racist one, at that.”

“Hattar, a Christian, was arrested on August 13 after posting a caricature on his Facebook account that depicted a bearded man in heaven smoking in bed with women, asking God to bring him wine and cashews.”

“I’m sick to death of being asked to go on panels about why there aren’t more women in the industry. We all know there aren’t enough. It’s time we stopped saying, ‘Isn’t it a shame?’ I want to see actual physical change.”

“For this continental European, it seems as if the famed British practicality didn’t quite work out this time, and the challenge came precisely from thinking that issues are always practical, forgetting that what truly matters are the foundation, the philosophy. Well-worn stereotypes say that the Germans resort to Kant and the French to Voltaire, while the Brits weigh the pros and cons (and Italians, like myself, just sing a song). But beyond the pros and cons, there are motivations, impulses, values and ideals, and ultimately that is what drives history.”

Tate boss Sir Nicholas Serota responded with disbelief to presenter Sue MacGregor when she told him of ACE’s plans to introduce Quality Metrics to measure artistic quality and said “the Arts Council is going to say if it doesn’t tick these boxes we’re not going to give money to it.” Serota responded: “I suspect you caricature the decision”, which MacGregor denied, saying: “No, I’m almost quoting it word for word from the press release.”

“The phone call always was an invasive form of communication, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that as soon as a plausible substitute presented itself we grabbed it.”

“The topic is a complicated and sensitive one, and Shriver’s first mistake, I think, was to ignore that complexity and sensitivity by adopting a tone that ranged from jauntiness to mockery and contempt. … To paraphrase Freud, sometimes a hat is more than just a hat.”

“The civics teacher from Massey Hill Classical High School in Fayetteville, N.C., was giving a lesson last week about the Bill of Rights that touched on Texas v. Johnson, the Supreme Court case upholding the constitutional right to burn the American flag. To illustrate the landmark decision, Francis pulled out a full-size Star-Spangled Banner and laid it on the classroom floor. ‘Does anybody have a lighter,’ he asked the class. When no one responded, Francis stepped on the flag several times.”

“The letter was initiated by the Natural History Museum, a project of the New York-based art collective Not An Alternative, which has sought to politicize science and natural history museums around issues of climate change.”

“So how the hell did they gain so much notoriety the Hillary Clinton campaign felt a need to respond to their memes? What happened? It all stems from an interesting collision between those trolls and another group of people – political journalists and operatives – who have very different incentive systems.”

“To begin with, auditions taught me to get through airports. In the end, it was the other way around.” Actor Riz Ahmed’s career may be flourishing, but his experiences with immigration officials, in both the US and his native UK, have gone from frightening (and illegal) to tedious to humorous.

“Agencies’ only asset is their people, so it makes sense to put a premium on the the multitude of intangibles that make up “culture.” After all, it’s hard to get through an issue of Harvard Business Review without coming across an article related to corporate culture. But for some, the focus on culture is often a way to keep out people not like those hiring.”

“If there is a distinctive power to queer grief, it lies in the styles of mourning that have emerged from queer cultures over time. These styles set the shape and tone of the activism that comes out of grief – and activism, of course, is itself a type of mourning. To address Polgreen’s question, we must examine how queerness behaves when it is at a loss. How a community grieves can tell us a lot about who they are.”

“Dedicated ‘artist zones’ could be created in areas such as Hackney Wick and Peckham to offer protection against developers and soaring rents, under proposals being worked on by the deputy mayor for culture.”

“As hotels work harder to distinguish themselves in the age of Airbnb, many have focused on using local art to give their décor a one-of-a-kind look. But with artist-in-residence programs, some hotels in the United States and abroad are going further, aiming to make the art experience even more immersive for guests.”

Manohla Dargis: “How could it be otherwise given that the history of American cinema is also the history of American racism?”

“One might then assume that Silicon Valley and the surrounding Bay Area would be the ideal place for a tech-focused nonprofit to set up shop. After all, the region is packed with tech talent, and its local tech companies regularly boast about their commitment to helping nonprofit organizations in their communities, as it helps attract talent and can be good for business overall. But in reality, the skyrocketing cost of living is taking its toll on vital community institutions, while a war for talent continues to drive tech workers’ salaries beyond the reach of the nonprofit sector.”

ACE is pressing ahead with a roll-out of the scheme despite the feedback. Organisations across all artforms will be “required to use a specified system to complete an agreed number of evaluations each year and support each other by providing peer reviews”. This will be mandatory for NPOs receiving more than £250k a year in regular funding, while those funded below this level will be encouraged and supported to use it.

“A game-changer for global performing arts is certainly the powerhouse taking shape in Hong Kong: the West Kowloon Cultural District. Spread across 40 hectares of land reclaimed in the 1990s as part of the HK$200 billion (£20 billion) Airport Core Programme, the hub is run by the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority and will include 17 core arts and cultural venues, as well as space for arts education.”