At the event, about workers’ rights and the upcoming Olympics in L.A., “protesters from the Fair Games Coalition — wearing Jedi robes and Jar Jar Binks masks and carrying lightsabers — rallied together outside the new museum.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

Sure, they started with Miss Marple and the written word, but “the Small Murder Town really came into its own with the advent of film—and not just any film. Small Murder Towns thrive on the small screen; this is a trope that was made for television.” - Reactor

For instance: “Macklemore, who hasn’t had a major hit since the 2010s, is relevant again. He has the support of artists, fans and thousands more outraged by his dismissal.” Then there’s NAZA. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)

As A.I. leaders warn about the dangers of their own technology, the dissonance between optimism of university leaders and the fears of many students and professors may increase. Professors and students are often in a bind about what they should do: Use more A.I. to stay relevant, or dial back to preserve learning and thinking? - The New York...

In at least 36 states, opponents of the technology have taken matters into their own hands, destroying or impairing ALPRs rather than wait for local governments to step in. - The Conversation

Jacob Coxon, the engineer who recently resigned from Anthropic to protest its safety policies, says A.I. could “kill us all by the end of the decade.” But if A.I. is so outrageously dangerous, why should we accept modest proposals to “pace” its development? Why not call in the Turing cops, and pull the plug? - The New Yorker

So much art was planned to be decommissioned. For instance: “The removal plan targeted 15 artworks in the African Lounge. ... The lounge’s textiles, artwork and a carved wood sculpture from Ghana representing Africans’ grief over Kennedy’s death were removed without public explanation.” - The New York Times

CNN is not OK with press passes being revoked: “We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right.” - CNN

“Life on Earth has evolved in two phases: first, biological, then cultural. But we may now be on the verge of the next critical juncture in the history of life.” - The Guardian (UK)

At the least, the very least, create a burner account for the email you use to log into the device, and prefereably all of the streaming services as well. - The Verge

“For decades, many residents  didn’t even know about the blockbuster musical that put their city on the map for global audiences. Those who did often dismissed it as kitsch.” - The New York Times

Although the president caricatured it as an elite institution, and slandered it as anti-American and a danger to youth, the Kennedy Center was perhaps the most authentically populist major arts center in the country. - Washington Post

The boycott is because of “the ‘appalling’ ongoing killing in Gaza, the national broadcaster has said.” - The Guardian (UK)

“It was Sandler ... who both came up with the idea that they could create an income source by building opera sets and renting them out to other companies, and also Sandler who sold that idea,” including to Missouri’s Republican governor. - Kansas City Stack

This summer the Chicago Symphony’s summer home re-opened its concert pavilion after a $70 million revamp. Next on the to-do list, with work starting in October, is a $38 million makeover of the Martin Theatre, the last remaining structure from when Ravinia’s park-like grounds first opened in 1904. - WBEZ (Chicago)

The 68-year-old (as of Thursday) Austrian will become Principal Conductor of London’s Philharmonia Orchestra in 2028, succeeding Santtu-Matias Rouvali.  That same season he starts as the San Francisco Symphony’s Festival Director, a new title in which he’ll program and conduct a three-week festival for each of the next five seasons. - Moto Perpetuo

“San Francisco Opera management and its orchestra musicians have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, ending a strike that began nearly a week ago and forced the cancellation of multiple performances at the start of the company's 2026-27 season.” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

The RPO findings show that there is a rising interest among young people – the nationally representative poll of 2,000 adults revealing that 89 per cent of adults would be interested in attending a concert or performance featuring classical or orchestral music. This figure is up from 79 per cent in 2018. - Gramophone

The watchmaker inscribed words about Fort Sumter being attacked, and then wrote, “Thank God we have a government.” - NPR

“The paintings were among many looted from Goudstikker by the Nazi Reichsmarshall Hermann Goering in 1940 and later recovered by Allied forces who returned them to Dutch officials.” - The New York Times

Rarely does such a cohesive, poignant theme emerge from any given New York Fashion Week. But this September, a surprising number of designers showed work that seemed to yearn for a breath of fresh air, for the obliviating embrace of the wilderness and the natural world. - Washington Post

“The sponsor of the bill to save it is Representative Scott Perry, Republican of Pennsylvania and former chairman of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, whose mission statement expressing support for ‘limited government’ is the very antithesis of the social welfare programs celebrated in the Cohen building’s artworks.” - The New Republic

The real game-changer is a landmark donation of over 180 works worth more than €16 million ($18.5 million) from the Thyssen-Bornemisza family, plus a loan of 180 more, worth €10 million ($11.5 million). - Artnet

AI companies, after losing copyright lawsuits over using pirated books found in digital formats, found a way forward, since the law doesn’t prohibit them from buying physical books and destroying them. In another ironic twist, they are looking only for books printed before 2022, because they want books that definitely have not been produced...

Why not? Her creator sure did - and, originally, Death on the Nile was supposed to be a Marple mystery, so Miss Marple can travel. - The Guardian (UK)

“(The literature-and-human-rights advocacy group) has named Phil Klay as its new president. … Klay's appointment comes after novelist Dinaw Mengestu resigned from his post as president in July following the organization’s report on cultural boycotts and the ‘rising isolation and exclusion’ of Israeli and Jewish writers.” - Publishers Weekly

“Under the scheme, readers accrue points that can be redeemed for a few cents. People will have to log 50 daily reading sessions (of 15 minutes or more) on a government website to earn S$1 (80 cents US). ... One reading session is allowed daily.” - The Guardian

Joseph-Beth Booksellers, which has two locations in metro Cincinnati, is the third independent retail business that B&N has acquired in three years. The chain bought Denver’s Tattered Cover in 2024 and the Bay Area's Books Inc. last year; both companies had filed for bankruptcy. - Publishers Weekly

The criminalization of left-wing literature and those who publish or distribute it, the booksellers said, should also concern mainstream bookstores, which should be able to carry “a broad range of viewpoints without fear of government scrutiny or interference. - Publishers Weekly

As AI-generated writing floods the internet, more people are trying to detect which creators are using such tools to spin up copy. That means writers penning all their own work—and people who acknowledge using chatbots for help—are trying to master something they never worried about before: how to sound human. - The Wall Street...

So who’s on for 2027? (Hint: Look to a serious underdog.) - Vulture

The Editors Guild wanted a much larger credit, but hey, the editors still "see the more modest allocation as a positive first step.” - Variety

“Students at Aardman's Academy are also being taught to embrace imperfection in the painstaking art of stop-motion, where every blink, smile and movement is created by hand.” - BBC

Katherine Maher said the organization is fundamentally reimagining its digital presence, looking for more ways to capitalize on its network of 243 newsrooms and member stations, and expanding its programming portfolio beyond what audiences traditionally associate with NPR. - Inside Radio

Viewership for the season premiere of “60 Minutes” fell roughly 21 percent from a year ago, according to Nielsen, making it the lowest-rated premiere of the long-running show in recent memory. - The New York Times

Microsoft Director of Applied Science Brent Hecht repeatedly warned in documents that scraping news for AI training was “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” calling it perhaps the “largest theft of labor in human history,” news orgs said. - Ars Technica

Nicholas Dragga, currently executive director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, will take the same job at the Fort Worth-based company as of January 1. He succeeds Vanessa Logan, who stepped down in June 2025 to become managing director of Goodspeed Musicals in Connecticut. - Fort Worth Report

“During Angelini’s (31-year) tenure as artistic director, Tulsa Ballet has grown from a well-regarded regional troupe — best known for its efforts to preserve the Ballet Russe traditions championed by its founders, Roman Jasinski and Moscelyne Larkin — into a versatile dance company that many critics consider among the best in the United States.”...

For four weeks, MoMA is turning its large second-floor atrium over to choreographer Sarah Michelson, who has made a piece titled “nowhere.” “At the forefront of ‘nowhere’”, writes Gia Kourlas, “is a question that only seems simple: What is a dance?” - The New York Times

The Ratmanskys’ arrival coincided with one of the worst periods of the war, a time of constant attacks on the capital that sent them and others scurrying to bomb shelters multiple times a day. “It is difficult in every sense,” Tatiana said, “mental, physical.” - The New York Times

Architecture critic Inga Saffron observes that, if the company wants to be welcoming to the community and engage potential new fans, their new headquarters does exactly the wrong thing. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

“Physical bodies and physical space. As an art form, dance requires little else, but in New York, the latter is especially hard to come by — even for the oldest dance troupe in the country.” No longer. - The New York Times

What if actors and backstage workers who live in Inwood could walk home from work? That’s part of the appeal of the new, Lin-Manuel Miranda-supported, permanent buildling for the People’s Theatre: Centro Cultural Inmigrante on 206th Street. - The New York Times

J. Harrison Ghee, who won a Tony in 2023 for playing Jerry/Daphne in Some Like It Hot, was cast as Mary’s Husband for the first part of the tour, then Mary herself as of January. Ghee, who lives with kidney disease, has been advised not to perform until at least November 1. - TheaterMania

There’s a new play atop the list: Kimberly Belflower’s John Proctor Is the Villain, followed by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's Purpose and Bess Wohl’s Pulitzer-winning Liberation. Among playwrights, once-perennial leader Lauren Gunderson is down to fourth place; the late August Wilson is number one, followed by Belflower and Jacobs-Jenkins. - American Theatre

“August Wilson and I were very close, but also we fell out a lot. Every time he and I had a debate, the word from the cast was always ‘They’re going to fire you.’ And instead of firing me, he would write another role for me.” - The New York Times

Arthurs’s departure is the latest in a series of big shakeups in recent months at the upper echelons of Toronto’s major arts institutions, including Hot Docs, the Art Gallery of Ontario and Factory Theatre. - Toronto Star

Whatever their circumstances, at the end of the day, all theaters have to program a season that affirms their mission. Each has to do it while working within its limitations—or joining forces with others to do something greater. - Washington City Paper

“Do not whine to Kathy Griffin about cancel culture. She’s lived through it, not the version stand-up bros claim to have suffered during their latest Netflix specials.” - Salon

He directed more than 35 titles for film and TV, including The Lady Vanishes and Middlemarch, but had even greater impact in theatre: he staged numerous classics in London and New York, notably by Beckett and Albee, and won a Tony for directing Janet McTeer in Ibsen's A Doll’s House. - Playbill

“(His) alt-pop hit ‘Barely Breathing’ became a Generation X touchstone, but (he) squirmed under the label of MTV heartthrob and eventually decamped to Broadway, winning two Tonys for composing the smash musical.” - The New York Times

“Through savvy marketing, his … color-saturated, almost hallucinatory depictions of stars, sun rays and people in profile showed up on walls and coffee mugs, on clothing, clocks, stationery, and even airplanes and cruise ships. In some ways, Mr. Max created the graphic equivalent of the rock-and-roll revolution in music.” - The Washington Post (Yahoo!)

The Little Burgundy legend received numerous honours in his illustrious career. Among his accolades are numerous Juno and Félix awards. Jones was also appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in 1993 and awarded the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in 2005. - Montreal Gazette

“With the publication of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek in 1974, Ms. Dillard, just 28, was recognized as a major new voice in American letters. … In the years to come, she would publish essays, meditations on religion, poems, a theory of literature, two novels, journalism, (and) a best-selling autobiography.” - The New York Times