The headline dominating the conversation today is the Kennedy Center Board voting unanimously to rename the nation’s performing arts complex the Trump-Kennedy Center. Let’s be clear though: the unilateral renaming is not legal (for what it’s worth). Meanwhile a report on what it’s like to be a musician performing in these newly-politicized halls.
While Washington rebrands buildings, Silicon Valley is dismantling broadcast infrastructure. The Academy Awards announced a historic shift: they will abandon network television entirely after 2028, moving the Oscars broadcast exclusively to YouTube. Simultaneously, YouTube is flexing its muscle against another legacy gatekeeper, pulling its data from Billboard’s charts in a dispute over how modern listening habits are valued.
While the platforms fight over distribution, the people inside the institutions are organizing. Staff at LACMA have voted to unionize , while workers at the Louvre have voted to continue their strike, leaving tourists to navigate a disrupted museum.
All of today’s stories arranged by topic below:
