Here are today’s AJ highlights. The Booker Prize remains a career rocket booster, but then what? An analysis from the Bookseller (UK) tracks the long arc of post-prize pressure. Publishing can’t quit its chase for the instantly “buzzy,” argues The Walrus, diagnosing an industry addicted to speed over depth. And the media ecosystem continues its own implosion as Dr. Phil’s flagship network unravels, a fall charted by the Los Angeles Times (MSN).
Onstage and on tour, strain shows. Kristin Chenoweth’s Queen of Versailles will close far early after bruising reviews, reports Entertainment Weekly. And in Canada, Ballet Jörgen’s touring Nutcracker lost its entire set in a truck theft, according to CBC—a very 2025 twist on seasonal fragility.
The rest of today’s stories below.
