“Orwell would have been more disturbed by the mendacity of those claiming to have been canceled than he would have been by the decision of some media not to publish them.” - The Smart Set

The great discoveries of humanity have always taught us that we are not masters in our own house: Copernicus removed the Earth from the centre of the cosmos, Darwin spoiled our species’ idea of divine creation, Freud showed that we neither know nor control our desires. The humiliation by AI is subtler. - The Guardian

It is unclear how ordinary citizens can reliably evaluate the ideas circulating within the public sphere. Figuring out the truth about complex political issues is highly challenging. If people are selling untruths—simplistic, unfounded, or inaccurate ideas—how would ordinary citizens know? - Conspicuous Cognition

The very fun of being a creative is solving problems people don't even know to exist. Eventually, if you are creative and curious enough, one finding leads to another, and one way or the other, you learn more than just SEO, social media, and the thousand other things that felt overwhelming beforehand. - Creative Boom

Millennials and Gen Z are taking over now. "The KHive has ditched the bee and gone coconuts now that Joe Biden has dropped out of the 2024 election and endorsed Kamala Harris. What’s more, Harris’s laugh is getting remixed into songs by just about every pop diva.” - Vulture

It’s confusing and not fully theorized, but “over the past few years, a community of physicists, computer scientists, and neuroscientists has been working toward a better understanding. These researchers have developed theoretical tools for identifying when emergence has occurred." - Wired

Something about this “Brat” summer we’re living through gets me down — something about our eagerness to replace the seasons of our lives with industry promo cycles, about how contemporary pop fandom feels like a zombie publicity reflex, about hype’s uncanny ability to blot out the thing it’s hyping. - Washington Post

Inspired by opera houses, the grands magasins were astonishing spectacles, built on a pharaonic scale. A new exhibition in the French capital charts the golden age of a dying concept. - The Guardian

As of June 28, the House of Representatives has approved $203.9 million each to the NEA and the NEH, evenly distributing the Biden-Harris administration’s original allocations of $210 million for the arts and $200 million for the humanities. - Hyperallergic

Have the buildings created as lodging for thousands of athletes really provided housing and other benefits for their neighborhoods after the Games are over? Don't cynically assume that the answer is no: the record is quite mixed. Perhaps the best example: Helsinki. - BBC

"Erector-set arenas have sprung up like crystals in the city’s traffic circles and parks, often with Parisian landmarks as backdrops. There are temporary pools, temporary television studios, and temporary bleachers to watch the swimming events in the Seine, where there is a temporary floating halfpipe." - Slate

"Disney has reached a tentative agreement with four unions representing thousands of workers at its California theme parks, including ride operators, candy makers and parking attendants. … The deal comes days after workers overwhelmingly authorized a potential strike, following months of negotiations over wages, sick leave and other benefits." - AP

I am having trouble thinking of an app update fiasco large enough to compare it to this one, because in my time as a consumer tech reporter and editor, I cannot think of another software update that took away users' ability to control the volume. - Wired

Research has shown that many aspects of memory are affected by ageing, such as recall tasks that require real-time processing, whereas recognition tasks that rely on well-known information and automatic processes are not. - Nature

"The company is liable for few of the major criticisms levied at the opera world, with varying degrees of justification, by politicians and their quangos. And yet … the company has been bullied into an acquiescent silence concerning its forced transformation into a shadow of its former self." - Classical Music (UK)

"Further, with the news of Sharon’s extended stay (as artistic director) in Detroit (through 2028), the company announced overarching themes for its next three programming seasons: America, faith and sustainability." - Detroit Free Press

This month, with the release of a new album of live recordings, fresh material has been added to the ongoing debates about Armstrong's contradictions. - BBC

Cara Kizer, the horn player who was denied tenure after reporting an alleged rape by associate principal trumpet Matthew Muckey, says now-former CEO Gary Ginstling was the only orchestra executive ever to reach out to her since the 2010 incident. And there's a chance she could return to the Philharmonic. - Vulture (MSN)

"The collection, which includes contemporary and historical artworks, design objects, and artifacts, was targeted on January 8, 2023, when riots erupted in Brasília following the defeat of then-president Jair Bolsonaro by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the general election." - ARTnews

In the background of a tweet from the regional government in the English county of Warwickshire, an art historian recognized what turned out to be a portrait of the king painted for famous tapestry-maker Ralph Sheldon in the 1590s. - BBC

For the fiscal year just ended, US visitors totaled 5.5 million, slightly above the (pre-pandemic) figure for 2019. What's more, just over half of those visitors were nonwhite, the highest level ever. The attendance totals for those from abroad, however, are still half of what they were before COVID. - Hyperallergic

The Philadelphia museum has eliminated a dozen positions, about 6% of its staff, over six months, despite the fact that it has a budget surplus. One ex-staffer, in the new position of Assistant Curator for Art of the African Diaspora, maintains that he was personally fired by the Barnes's director. - ARTnews

"The US Justice Department has reached an agreement with Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, the former general counsel of Malaysia’s sovereign investment development fund (1MDB), to recover a $1.27 million drawing by Pablo Picasso … (purchased) using misappropriated 1MDB funds from a bond sale underwritten by Goldman Sachs." - ARTnews

The sculpture, a replica of the 16th-century original (kept in the Bargello Museum) by Giambologna, is on a street corner near the Ponte Vecchio. Bacchus appears to be undamaged from the moment of passion, which, of course, the amorous young lady posted on social media. - CNN

"Vivendi has updated its plans to separate into … three new companies. One of these would be newly named company, Louis Hachette Group, which includes Vivendi’s 63.5% majority stake in Lagardère, the parent company of Hachette Livre, and 100% ownership of Prisma Media, which is primarily a magazine publisher." - Publishers Weekly

"According to school records, only about 50 books were checked out by students during the 2023 fall semester. In response, the administration has decided to take a different approach, rebranding the library as a student union — a communal space for students to interact and complete school work." - The Nation

The study, commissioned by the charity the Reading Agency, saw 15% of adults reporting that they have never been regular readers, and 35% saying that they are lapsed readers, meaning that they used to read regularly for pleasure, but rarely or never do now. - The Guardian

The pigments used in bookbinding cloth in the 19th century gave book covers some vibrant colors — hues attained with lead (blue), chromium (yellow), mercury (red), and, most poisonous of all, arsenic (green), which flakes off onto your hands. And yes, this attracts some purchasers. - The Washington Post (MSN)

Though book bans have been a familiar tactic in culture wars, today we’re witnessing an attack on libraries themselves as social institutions. There’s a reason for this escalation. - Washington Post

In the first half of 2024, print sales of middle reader books, intended for children ages 9 to 12, dropped by 5 percent from the same period the previous year, or 1.8 million fewer units sold, deepening a dip in the market for children’s books that’s held since 2022. - The New York Times

 As viewers, we’re being flattened by a fire hose of programming — and the experience of watching TV feels like a ritual of submission, passively accepting a slush of shows served up by a streaming service’s algorithm. - The New York Times

"Hollywood’s video game performers voted to go on strike Thursday after negotiations with industry giants that began nearly two years ago came to a halt over artificial intelligence protections. Leaders of the (union) have billed the issues behind the labor dispute — and AI in particular — as an existential crisis for performers." -...

The popularity of memes means they have become an important vehicle for political communication. In my research, I have identified four roles of memes: political mindbombs, fast-food media, everyday slang and a soothing device. - The Conversation

The film, which follows the first film’s heroine as she hits puberty, has just overtaken Barbie in terms of global ticket sales, as well as becoming the fastest animated film to make $1bn (in 19 days) and is now the 13th biggest film of all time. - The Guardian

These movies, made outside the the big studio systems, usually in languages other than Hindi, forgo Bollywood's song-dance-melodrama formula in favor of stories about ordinary people's lives. Since the pandemic, theaters avoid these films in favor of crowd-pleasers, while Modi's government has intimidated streaming services away from them. - The Washington Post (MSN)

Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are all cutting back to reduce their streaming losses. Amazon has the resources to compete with Netflix, but is still figuring out the best path to streaming sustainability. Even Apple, which has seemingly unlimited resources, is growing a little more cost-conscious. - Bloomberg

"Senior breaking is one of a growing category of sports tailored to Japan’s large population of older people who, thanks to the country’s extraordinary longevity statistics, are determined to keep popping and locking for as long as their bodies will allow." Their inspiration: breaking as an Olympic sport. - The Guardian

A dancer's day is all about discipline, be that in relation to movement or intake (even healthy, appropriate eating: food is fuel etc). So when it comes time to leave the constrained environment, is it any wonder if things go off the scale in the opposite direction? - Gramilano

When you’re dancing with another person, or folk-dancing in a big group circle, or country line-dance, or disco dance—that’s how I started—you’re concentrating on being with other people, and realizing what your body is doing. You’re not scheming power trips. - Dance Magazine

"After negotiations between the SFA-CGT union representing performers, Paris 2024 organizers and Panam 24 (the producers of the opening ceremony) ended in a stalemate and a continued strike notice Tuesday, the union said Wednesday it accepted an offer involving increased pay for performers’ broadcasting rights." - USA Today

"(They) worry this is yet another attempt at gentrifying their art form and ways of life. (Breaker) Anne Nguyen … argues that the 'sportification' of breaking will push dancers to forego improvisation and individual spirit. 'Instead, they will be strategic, planning everything from A to Z, to get high scores.'" - Condé Nast Traveler

"This year’s theme is 'We Humans,' a title that might conjure fleshy bodies and emotional connection, but the opening weekend’s performances focused as much on physics, formal systems, busy brains and interactions with technology, in keeping with (artistic director Wayne) McGregor’s own preoccupations." - The Guardian

"… more fitting might be a theater proselytizer. ... In his eyes, theater should be as much a part of the American story as music is: 'Music has figured out a way to really brand itself as necessary, because people can see the tangible links to profit.'" - The Washington Post

The new venue — sort of a deluxe, sturdy version of the tent the festival uses currently, with the Hudson River and highlands as a backdrop — comes from Studio Gang, the Chicago-based architectural firm of MacArthur fellow Jeanne Gang. The structure's opening is scheduled for summer 2026. - Playbill

The city of Gorizia/Nova Gorica was divided as the Iron Curtain arose after World War II, with an actual wall in place until 1994. At Mittelfest, an event created to help bridge the mental border that remains, the director staged an epic play about the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. - The Guardian

In London, the mood on the theater steps was upbeat and there seemed little concern that when this “Slave Play” transfer — including two Black Out performances — was announced in February, it drew the wrath of some British commentators, and got caught up in ongoing debates over race in British cultural institutions. - The...

Although virtually "taking away" one of their five senses, the show banks on spectators' reliance on their four other forms of perception: the venue features a 3D -surround sound experience, a chemical company was tapped to create some of the scents used during the show... - Time Out New York

At Vineyard Theatre, her home for the last seven years, Suzanne Appel successfully managed the theater’s finances during the pandemic, keeping the entire full-time staff employed, and she created a four-year plan to raise employees’ wages more than 30 percent by 2026. - CultureOC

Few currently active conductors have developed such a natural affinity with the recording studio. The independent producer Andrew Keener, who collaborated on his UK recordings, tells me that Slatkin always stood out as ‘a conductor who is totally studio wise, and who knew how to apportion time in the studio. - Gramophone

"His exquisite, relaxed playing (of the 21-stringed hard) mixed the ancient and modern, as he switched from pieces that dated back hundreds of years to his own compositions that he said reflected influences ranging from other African artists to Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding and Pink Floyd." - The Guardian

When Mr. Gottlieb, who died last June at 92, wasn’t heartlessly lancing thousands of words out of Robert Caro’s biographical volumes or marking up the manuscripts of Toni Morrison and Salman Rushdie, he loved watching movies. Along the course of his career, he built a vast collection of books on Hollywood’s golden age. - The...

Born into a very old and eminent family (though one no longer, by his day, very rich), he wrote about the American aristocracy with skepticism and even scorn. Twice he reinvented one of the country's oldest magazines, attracting readers, attention and respect (though never profit). - The Washington Post (MSN)

"(He) fashioned a 43-year career at The Inquirer that featured hundreds of influential stories about Philadelphia’s art and culture and the people who shaped them. He first covered cultural life ... in 1989 and, until he retired in 2022, focused as much on the newsmakers as the culture they created." - The Philadelphia Inquirer

"A multi-instrumentalist who sang and played guitar, keyboards and harmonica, Mr. Mayall was better known as a bandleader who had a superb eye for talent and a steadfast devotion to the purity of the blues." He also helped launch the careers of Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac. - The Washington Post (MSN)