Yearly Archives: 2023
LA’s Metro Turns To Classical Music For Crowd Control
The music — described to me as “earplugs-at-a-concert loud” by one frequent commuter — is the audio version of hostile architecture, where bumpy benches...
Is Being Profound Overrated?
In a conversation, when we’re talking with and not at each other, profundity is an impediment to the flow of thought. It’s more fitting...
Our Failure To Expand Our Definition Of Life Is Holding Us Back
No matter which way we’ve tried to turn, we’ve encountered ruptures and revisions and counterexamples that obstruct our progress toward a universal definition. Despite...
What Does A Film/TV Choreographer Do? More Than Just Dance Numbers
For instance, anytime there's a scene in a club, a choreographer will suggest moves for the extras so they don't look awkward (which is...
How Ann Philbin Transformed LA’s Hammer Museum
The renovation — part of a building boom that is transforming the vibrant Los Angeles museum world — caps the Hammer’s emergence as one...
Adobe And Nvidia Team Up To Address AI Copyright Issues
The companies will work together on this—they’ll codevelop new generative A.I. models, and Firefly is partially hosted on Picasso—and have accordingly come up with...
The Suffering, Death, And Rebirth Of Professional Orchestral Music In San Antonio
After three decades of financial difficulties and musician-vs.-management strife culminated in a nine-month strike, the board threw up its hands and dissolved the San...
The Internet Archive Is Defending Its Digital Library In Court
The court will consider whether the Open Library violated copyright law by letting users “check out” digitized copies of physical books, an assertion several...
Resurrecting The Gargoyles Of Notre-Dame De Paris
Here's a look-in on the sculptors who are carefully restoring or, where necessary, reproducing the delightfully grotesque waterspouts (yes, they help drain rainwater from...
Why Kids Aren’t Developing A Love Of Reading
The ubiquity and allure of screens surely play a large part in this—most American children have smartphones by the age of 11—as does learning loss during...
The New San Antonio Philharmonic Now Has A Proper Union Contract
"The musicians of the San Antonio Philharmonic have reached their first collective bargaining agreement with the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) union Local 23."...
Paradise For Young Playwrights: Jeremy O. Harris Leads A Residency In The Hills Of...
"(They're) eating gourmet meals in a medieval village turned boutique hotel with breathtaking views of the postcard-perfect Val d'Orcia countryside. With access to a...
Researchers May Have Just Found A “Lost” Shakespeare Sonnet Inside A Ben Jonson Play
"Beyond 'compelling' stylistic evidence, the sonnet, titled 'To the Deserving Author', is signed with the mysterious pseudonym Cygnus, after the mythical figure who was...
A Major Piece Of Gospel Music’s History Has Been Rediscovered In Pittsburgh
"Charles Henry Pace … was one of the first African American gospel music composers in the United States, and the owner of one of...
BET Is For Sale, And The Cable Network Has Several Bidders
"Tyler Perry's Black Entertainment Television? It could happen: The prolific producer/director/actor is one of several very famous, very rich businessmen who have signaled an...
How’s Ireland’s Basic-Income-For-Artists Scheme Working So Far?
Six months into a pilot program that pays 2,000 working artists €325 per week/€16,000 ($18,200) per year, the results look good: as one recipient...
Oklahoma Moves To Revoke License From Teacher Who Directed Students To Brooklyn Public Library’s...
State Superintendent Ryan Walters has filed paperwork to cancel Summer Boismier's teaching certificate — despite the fact that she's now moved to New York...
Florida School Principal Forced To Resign After Sixth-Graders Were Shown Michelangelo’s “David”
Hope Carasquilla was ousted from Tallahassee Classical School after several parents complained about the lesson in a Renaissance art class. (One parent called the...
The BBC Singers Are Saved: Decision To Dissolve Choir Is Reversed After Outcry
The decision to close the BBC Singers, announced in March, was expected to result in the loss of 20 posts, but was met with...
Van Gogh And Rethinking The Tortured Genius Narrative
A 2014 study even discovered that van Gogh’s work was perceived as higher quality by viewers exposed to his mental health story. In promoting suffering over...
Let’s Look Again At That Definition Of Liberalism
A liberal is someone who’s tolerant of ambiguity, who can join arguments that he doesn’t have to win, who can live with people who...
Copyright Office: Some AI-Assisted Work Will Now Be Copyrightable
Effective March 16, the Copyright Office’s statement of policy indicates that copyright applicants are permitted to submit AI-assisted works (across literature and visual arts)...
Last Fall Aaron Sorkin Suffered A Stroke
“For about a month afterward, was slurring words. He had trouble typing; he was discouraged from flying for a few weeks; and until...
Can You Copyright A Rhythm? The Lawsuit That’s Shaking Up A Corner Of The...
The track featured the first known example of what would come to be known as a “dembow” rhythm – the percussive, slightly syncopated four-to-the-floor...
