A philosophy professor was ordered to remove Plato’s Symposium from the list of assigned readings for the class “Contemporary Moral Issues.” Plato fell victim to a policy adopted by the university in the fall, which states that classes cannot “advocate race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity." - The Atlantic

When I am photographing humans, I want to hear about their lives and aspirations. I care about their aesthetic sensibilities, what they are wearing, how they want to present themselves. Photographing an object feels different. I still savor the aesthetics of my subject, but my appreciation extends back to the object’s creator.  - The New Yorker

“This isn’t A.I.’s problem. This is our political system’s problem. If you get a massive increase in productivity, how does that wealth get shared around?” If A.I. abundance does materialize, that will be a central question. - The New Yorker

We ask for help from artificial customer service representatives. Some of us accept friend requests from bots and are, thereafter, influenced by the content they post. This is a momentous change to the nature of the public square. - 3 Quarks Daily

If Canada wants its cultural policy to survive the age of slop, it will have to insist that what claims to be human—and Canadian—be verified as such. Sovereignty, in this context, is not just about protecting domestic production from foreign influence. - The Walrus

It’s far worse: It does wrong by Shakespeare. "Hamnet changes many details and events in Shakespeare’s life to tell its story, but it is in its prestigeiness that it truly does Shakespeare dirty.” - Slate

The risks of using generative artificial intelligence to educate children and teens currently overshadow the benefits, according to a new study by the Brookings Institution's Center for Universal Education. - NPR

“The deal, being announced Tuesday by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, marks the latest development for the Nashville, Tenn., institution, sometimes called the Harvard of the South. … The new San Francisco location will host 1,000 full-time students and 100 faculty.” - The Wall Street Journal (MSN)

“The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of several funding measures, including … the bill that determines the annual allocations for the NEA, NEH, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art, the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), and other cultural programs. … The Senate is expected to pass the bill.” -...

“Off-Broadway's Park Avenue Armory has named Deborah Warner its new artistic director, with the tenure to begin immediately. The theatre and opera director succeeds the group's most recent leader, Pierre Audi, following his sudden death last year." - Playbill

“The Smithsonian Institution on Tuesday submitted documents to the Trump administration including digital photographs of labels, placards and other texts on display in its museums … for the administration’s sweeping content review, which aims to rid the Smithsonian of what the White House has called ‘improper ideology’.” - The Washington Post (MSN)

The number of regular churchgoers in Germany has plunged over the past quarter-century, during which time roughly a thousand churches have been deconsecrated. Yes, some are torn down and the land repurposed, but others have been converted into apartments, cafés, medical offices, bicycle shops, soccer courts, and, of course, performance venues. - Deutsche Welle

 "We believe that the human connection found through music is a vital part of our society and culture, and that music is much more than a product to be consumed," the company wrote. - Engadget

Just playing the instrument is difficult enough; making top-quality oboes is fiendishly complicated, and breaking even while doing it is challenging enough that Laubin Oboes was essentially bankrupt when Jim Phelan bought the firm in 2022. He has made some very promising changes. - The New York Times

Unlike creators, a performer does not have the benefit of a personal product (or several) that persist over time like a symphony or novel or painting. - Nightingale Sonata

“The real reason I’ve left (the U.S.) is deeper than politics: it’s the culture. The culture creates the politics. … The relentless commercialisation, rising tides of xenophobia, the strident acrimony of social discourse, the violence, and the increasingly hysterical tenor of life in the USA have simply worn us down.” - The Saturday Paper...

We have gone from clapping to drumming, and from using drum machines in recording studios to generating “new” sounds with AI. Yet now that I have completed these experiments, I realise that one thing remains the same. - The Conversation

Financially, it’s likely to be good for the Opera. “The news of the split could inspire a groundswell of support from longtime patrons who pumped the brakes on their operagoing in 2025 amid the Trump takeover. It may even serve to restore projects that were thought lost.” - Washington Post (Yahoo)

The Trump effect is being felt through executive orders and federal cuts: 34% of museums suffered the cancellation of government grants or contracts; 29% saw a decrease in attendance due to changes in travel/tourism and/or economic uncertainty... - The Guardian

The site, just across a canal from the museum, will be designed by landscape architect Piet Blanckaert, with Foster + Partners overseeing the renovation of three “Amsterdam School” pavilions. Among the sculptors with works to be included there are Alberto Giacometti, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, and Henry Moore. - ARTnews

A gallery specialising in art once owned by members of the Third Reich’s leadership, including works personally owned by Adolf Hitler, has prompted conversations about how Nazi-era art circulates, how it should be contextualised and who engages with it. - The Art Newspaper

Nobody currently with the museum who was interviewed for this article would agree to be named, but some former members went on the record, as did Suda herself — extensively. Perforce the story is told largely (though not entirely) from her side, but it is quite a tale. - Philadelphia Magazine

It now contrasts with portraits of other former presidents, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, which all hang alongside wall text highlighting events during their time in office. Clinton’s notes his impeachment. - Washington Post

“While the museums offered severance, the layoffs were announced without warning on a (Friday) afternoon Zoom call, according to former employees. Museum representatives (said) that the staff cuts stemmed from reduced funding and were approved by the museum’s executive committee of the board.” - ARTnews

“Novelist Arturo Pérez-Reverte (accused) the Spanish Royal Academy (RAE) – of which he is a member – of failing (its mission) of ‘cleaning, fixing and giving shine’ to the Spanish language. These days ‘an illiterate pundit, YouTuber or influencer can have more linguistic influence than a Cervantes prize winner’, he said.” - The Guardian

The truth is—and this may come as a surprise to some of you—the English language does not exist. English is an entirely borrowed language. There was Anglo-Saxon, and overlays of Norse from the Vikings, then the French invasion brought some upper-class words. - Harper's

In contemporary European literature, a book these days is often the beginning of a familial feud. With thinly disguised autobiographical accounts of family strife undergoing a sustained boom across the continent, it can increasingly lead to family reunions in courtrooms. - The Guardian

In response to the festival board’s earlier intervention to disinvite Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah, more than 180 writers and speakers cancelled their appearances at the February-March event and half the board resigned. Now the remaining board members have quit and the festival has been called off. - The Guardian

As Gen Z ditch books at record levels, students are arriving to classrooms unable to complete assigned reading on par with previous expectations. It’s leaving colleges no choice but to lower their expectations. - Fortune (MSN)

In case you need a list of dystopian novels to read instead of, hm, the news. - The Guardian (UK)

By presenting an alternative to Meta and Twitter TikTok challenged the idea, pervasive in the early 2020s, that social media’s destiny was terminal decline, what the extremely online would call a “vibe sink.”  - The Nation

While Paramount is hoping to find a weakness in the Netflix offer, experts say the lawsuit has a low chance of success and would only add further complications and delays to what is expected to be a protracted approval process. - The Wrap (MSN)

That depends on the category. For Best Picture, on which the entire Academy membership votes for nominees, you’ll need 922 first-place nods this year. But each of the Academy’s specialist branches chooses nominees for its specialty, and some branches are small. For Best Editing, you’ll need 68 votes; for Best Casting, only 30. -...

Search traffic to news sites has already plunged by a third in a single year globally, with the rise of AI overviews and chatbots, as well as changes to the search algorithms that have been the lifeblood of some media companies since the rise of the internet. - The Guardian

“PBS News Weekend signed off Sunday, ‘at least for the foreseeable future,’ anchor John Yang said. ... Starting Saturday, PBS will air the weekly show Horizons on science and technology issues. The new show Compass Points will focus on foreign affairs Sunday.” - AP

Here’s the thinking: A lack of cost savings could dissuade employers from using AI-generated performers instead of real actors like Emma Stone or Viola Davis. “In my opinion, if synthetics cost the same as a human, they’re going to choose a human every time." - The Hollywood Reporter

“For artists entering or exiting the country for professional purposes, some of these challenges stem from clearly stated updates to fees, forms, and policies. But there are also greater degrees of uncertainty embedded within application and approval processes, making it harder to predict … the potential outcomes.” - Dance Magazine

The 85-year-old contemporary dance pioneer has accepted a five-year appointment with the company. She will begin with restaging her 2015 work Canto Ostinato and will develop a full-length work, scheduled to premiere in 2027, to “honor a milestone birthday of one of (her) most enduring musical collaborators,” presumably Philip Glass. - BroadwayWorld

Supporters argue that performing at the center now risks aligning the Ballet with an institution they say has been politicized under Trump’s leadership. - San Francisco Chronicle

“The court conflict involves Dance Theatre of Harlem; its former archivist, Judy Tyrus; and ChromaDiverse, a nonprofit Tyrus founded to preserve the records of performing arts groups. Dance Theatre of Harlem has accused the heirs of their one-time photographer of illegally donating 16 boxes of archival materials to Tyrus’s organization.” - Gothamist

That lack of recognition has real consequences. Across Europe, most public heritage funding is absorbed by monuments, libraries and museums. Dance, which exists only in the moment of its performance, is rarely included. - Horizon

“A former Richmond Ballet student is suing the performance organization for $11.5 million, alleging sexual, emotional and psychological abuse at the hands of staff members during her eight years (there). The 85-page complaint … is the third lawsuit filed by a former student … in the past five years.” - WTVR (Richmond)

When the old National Theatre of Wales closed in late 2024, Sheen came up with a plan. "Ultimately, I found myself arguing for something that I realised I” — with fame, professional connections, and deep-ish pockets — “was in the best position to deliver. … It could happen, but only if I did it." -...

Attendance for the week ending January 11 was 272,911, down about 13% from the previous week. About 92% of all Broadway seats were filled, compared with 98% during the New Year’s week. Average ticket prices took a $40 drop from the holiday prices, to an average $126.76 last week. - Deadline

The Los Angeles theater world underwent a historic leadership shift in 2023 when two artistic directors of color were placed at the helm of the city’s most prestigious nonprofit companies. -Los Angeles Times

“You are seated, waiting for the show to begin. Through your special glasses, you can see … four actors (entering). They come close to your chair and look directly at you. ‘Don’t panic,’ Ian McKellen tells you. But Ian McKellen isn’t really there. Neither are the other three actors.” - The New York Times

“I want it to be a theatre where theatre people can come and see a show and that generates a kind of warmth,” he says. “You’ll often find actors in the bar afterwards.” - The Times (UK)

“'The shared laughter in a crowded theater, the eager debrief after a musical, the heavy silence that hangs over all of us in a drama — these are moments that every New Yorker deserves,’ Mamdani said.” - The New York Times

The 47-year-old Oscar winner has overtaken Scarlett Johansson after the success of Avatar: Fire and Ash added more than $1.2bn to her total. Saldaña’s films have now made more than $15.46bn worldwide, according to the Numbers. - The Guardian

When they looked at this 2,100-ton hunk of metal, they envisioned a floating event space, with two restaurants, six bars, a concert venue and hotel rooms with private sundecks. But as the years have gone by, it seems as if they might have paid $280,000 too much for it. - The New York Times

“(His) popular comic strip captured the frustration of beleaguered, white-collar cubicle workers and satirized the ridiculousness of modern office culture until he was abruptly dropped from syndication in 2023 for racist remarks.” - AP

“Clements joined the Guardian arts team in August 1993, succeeding Edward Greenfield as the paper’s chief music critic. His appointment was clinched by a personal recommendation to the editor from the late Alfred Brendel. … For the next 32 years, Clements ranged across all fields of classical music … and often beyond.” - The Guardian

“(He) rose to prominence in 1968 with the publication of … Chariots of the Gods, … (which) was followed by more than two dozen similar books, spawning a literary niche in which fact and fantasy were mixed together against all historical and scientific evidence.” He became the first winner of the Ig Nobel Prize....

“His detour into literature began in 2000, when he was asked by Martin Blaser, the chairman of N.Y.U.’s department of medicine, to join him and Danielle Ofri, who had worked with Dr. Lowenstein when she was a resident at N.Y.U., to start the Bellevue Literary Review.” - The New York Times