AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- A Jury Just Called Ticketmaster What Everyone Else Already Did
Good Morning
Sometimes the moral arc of the universe does begin to bend in the right direction. A federal jury has ruled that Ticketmaster and Live Nation operate an illegal monopoly in the ticketing market — a finding that directly rebukes the DOJ settlement reportedly ordered by President Trump just last month (Variety). The question now isn’t whether they’re a monopoly. It’s what anyone is going to do about it.
Meanwhile, the fight over who controls access keeps showing up everywhere. Theater owners are pushing back hard against the Paramount/Warner merger, warning it will concentrate too much power over what gets shown on American screens (Los Angeles Times). We hear that that letter signed by 1000 Hollywood industry people protesting the deal has now surged past 3000. And the V&A quietly deleted images from its own exhibition catalogues because its Chinese printer flagged them as violating Chinese censorship laws (The Guardian). A British museum, editing itself for Beijing.
On the survival front: the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, three weeks from shutting down, has been acquired by the nonprofit behind The Baltimore Banner (Nieman Lab). Hampshire College wasn’t as lucky — the experimental liberal arts school is closing for good (WBUR).
And Jackie Chan is directing Turandot. With martial arts. Each character gets a warrior incarnation. Puccini would have had questions.
All of our stories below.
- – Doug
- A Dynastic Succession In The Kabuki Theater World Is A Dramatic Affair
“Handing down a name over generations is a central part of the traditional Japanese artform, … and that ceremony gets celebrated at theaters and special events every few years. Now, the ritual is taking place with the eighth Kikugoro, who is having that honor passed down from his 83-year-old father, the seventh Kikugoro.” – AP
- The Pressure To Go Viral: These Days You Can’t Be An Artist Without It
All of a sudden, chefs, lawyers, podcasters, critics – all people with jobs once associated with an off-camera existence – are turning the lens on themselves. Even film director Werner Herzog, a once proud non-social media user, is now sizzling steaks and doing unboxing videos to camera. – The Guardian
- France Passes Law To Expedite Return Of Looted Artworks
“The bill aims to simplify the return of cultural property taken illegally from France’s former colonies, particularly focusing on items taken between 1815 and 1972 — the year UNESCO’s convention for the protection of cultural heritage came into force.” – Euronews
- Man Wins $1.2M Picasso In Christie’s Raffle
“How do I know this isn’t a prank?” the 58-year-old asked when he was told he was the new owner of the 1941 work by the Spanish master. Organisers said more than 120,000 tickets for the prize draw were sold at €100 (£87; $118) each, raising around €11m (£10m; $13m) for Alzheimer’s research. – BBC
ISSUES
- France Passes Law To Expedite Return Of Looted Artworks
“The bill aims to simplify the return of cultural property taken illegally from France’s former colonies, particularly focusing on items taken between 1815 and 1972 — the year UNESCO’s convention for the protection of cultural heritage came into force.” – Euronews
- Man Wins $1.2M Picasso In Christie’s Raffle
“How do I know this isn’t a prank?” the 58-year-old asked when he was told he was the new owner of the 1941 work by the Spanish master. Organisers said more than 120,000 tickets for the prize draw were sold at €100 (£87; $118) each, raising around €11m (£10m; $13m) for Alzheimer’s research. – BBC
- Two Major Atlanta Museums Ponder Their Place In The City
The two museums now share a similar challenge: to reach across racial, economic, educational and even geographic lines to feel vital and necessary to a vast cross-section of people who constitute Atlanta. And to do so at a time when it seems there is more competition for attention and resources than ever before. – The New York Times
- Victoria & Albert Museum Deleted Images From Catalogues That Violated Chinese Censorship Laws
The Victoria and Albert Museum has agreed to requests by the Chinese printing company to delete maps and images from at least two recent exhibition catalogues, according to documents released to the Guardian after freedom of information requests. – The Guardian
- Ex-COO Of Atlanta’s High Museum Of Art Pleads Not Guilty To Theft Charges
“On Tuesday, during (Brady) Lum’s arraignment in federal court in Atlanta, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia accused Lum of manipulating financial records and authorizing illegitimate purchases for his personal benefit, including high-end musical instruments, private lessons, and workshop equipment.” – ARTnews
MEDIA
- What 100 Years Of Data Shows Us About Who Gets Guggenheim Grants
If 100 years of data are any indication, then an outsized share of the new recipients work at the most renowned universities in the US. Over time and across fellowships, the high prevalence of winners from well-resourced, high-status institutions can understandably bring to mind Percy Bysshe Shelley’s adage that “the rich have become richer.” – PublicBooks
- Kennedy Center Boss: See? We Really Do Need To Renovate!
“Matt Floca, the new executive director and COO, is leading tours this month that show water damage and intrusion to expansion joints, marble slabs and exterior pavers. Participants are guided through the building’s water and HVAC systems, as well as the parking garages and loading docks said to need repairs.” – AP
- Hampshire College Will Shut Down At End Of Year
“Founded in 1965, and opening its doors to students five years later as a campus determined to ‘radically reimagine liberal arts education,’ the small liberal arts college (in Amherst, Mass.) started facing significant financial headwinds seven years ago.” – WBUR (Boston)
- Performing Arts Touring In England Is “In Crisis” And Needs “Radical Rethink”: Report
“A report commissioned by Arts Council England finds that touring is ‘in crisis’, though ‘not entirely broken’, given some parts of the sector, such as large-scale commercial touring in major cities, are going ‘from strength to strength’. However, touring to smaller and mid-scale venues is ‘increasingly unsustainable’.” – Arts Professional (UK)
- Jury Rules Ticketmaster and LiveNation Are Illegal Monopolies
The ruling is essentially a rebuke to the Department of Justice’s settlement with Live Nation last month — reportedly ordered directly by President Donald Trump — in which the company agreed to a series of structural changes to its business, including changes to ticketing deals with venues, capping certain service fees, and paying a $280 million fine. – Variety
MUSIC
- I Survived A Year Inside Stephen King’s Archives
This book is Caroline Bicks’s account of what happened when King gave her permission to spend a year in his archive, poring over the drafts of five of his most popular novels, including Pet Sematary, The Shining and Carrie. Bicks’s particular aim is to spot what she calls King’s “biblio‑magic” in action. – The Guardian
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Is Saved, Three Weeks Before It Was To Close
“The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, the nonprofit parent organization of The Baltimore Banner, reached an agreement with Block Communications to acquire the I, which was slated to shut down in May.” – Nieman Lab
- Other Legacy U.S. Newspapers Which Have Gone Nonprofit
So far, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is the fourth large one (not including The Philadelphia Inquirer, which remains for-profit itself though it is owned by a nonprofit organization). – AP
- LGBTQ Bookstores Had Been Slowly Disappearing For Years, Now There’s A New Generation Of Them.
“The number of LGBTQ+-focused bookstores in the U.S. has slowly but steadily increased over the past five years. While this new generation of booksellers all give a nod to their predecessors, they’ve also made a point of doing things differently.” – Publishers Weekly
- A Professor Gets Besotted With His Chatbot
An English professor burns the midnight oil talking to Microsoft Copilot about Shakespeare, Dickinson, Hawthorne, and a play he’s been working on—and comes away deeply impressed by its literary insights. – Quillette
PEOPLE
- A Jury Just Called Ticketmaster What Everyone Else Already Did
Good Morning
Sometimes the moral arc of the universe does begin to bend in the right direction. A federal jury has ruled that Ticketmaster and Live Nation operate an illegal monopoly in the ticketing market — a finding that directly rebukes the DOJ settlement reportedly ordered by President Trump just last month (Variety). The question now isn’t whether they’re a monopoly. It’s what anyone is going to do about it.
Meanwhile, the fight over who controls access keeps showing up everywhere. Theater owners are pushing back hard against the Paramount/Warner merger, warning it will concentrate too much power over what gets shown on American screens (Los Angeles Times). We hear that that letter signed by 1000 Hollywood industry people protesting the deal has now surged past 3000. And the V&A quietly deleted images from its own exhibition catalogues because its Chinese printer flagged them as violating Chinese censorship laws (The Guardian). A British museum, editing itself for Beijing.
On the survival front: the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, three weeks from shutting down, has been acquired by the nonprofit behind The Baltimore Banner (Nieman Lab). Hampshire College wasn’t as lucky — the experimental liberal arts school is closing for good (WBUR).
And Jackie Chan is directing Turandot. With martial arts. Each character gets a warrior incarnation. Puccini would have had questions.
All of our stories below.
- – Doug
- A Dynastic Succession In The Kabuki Theater World Is A Dramatic Affair
“Handing down a name over generations is a central part of the traditional Japanese artform, … and that ceremony gets celebrated at theaters and special events every few years. Now, the ritual is taking place with the eighth Kikugoro, who is having that honor passed down from his 83-year-old father, the seventh Kikugoro.” – AP
- The Pressure To Go Viral: These Days You Can’t Be An Artist Without It
All of a sudden, chefs, lawyers, podcasters, critics – all people with jobs once associated with an off-camera existence – are turning the lens on themselves. Even film director Werner Herzog, a once proud non-social media user, is now sizzling steaks and doing unboxing videos to camera. – The Guardian
- France Passes Law To Expedite Return Of Looted Artworks
“The bill aims to simplify the return of cultural property taken illegally from France’s former colonies, particularly focusing on items taken between 1815 and 1972 — the year UNESCO’s convention for the protection of cultural heritage came into force.” – Euronews
- Man Wins $1.2M Picasso In Christie’s Raffle
“How do I know this isn’t a prank?” the 58-year-old asked when he was told he was the new owner of the 1941 work by the Spanish master. Organisers said more than 120,000 tickets for the prize draw were sold at €100 (£87; $118) each, raising around €11m (£10m; $13m) for Alzheimer’s research. – BBC
PEOPLE
- A Jury Just Called Ticketmaster What Everyone Else Already Did
Good Morning
Sometimes the moral arc of the universe does begin to bend in the right direction. A federal jury has ruled that Ticketmaster and Live Nation operate an illegal monopoly in the ticketing market — a finding that directly rebukes the DOJ settlement reportedly ordered by President Trump just last month (Variety). The question now isn’t whether they’re a monopoly. It’s what anyone is going to do about it.
Meanwhile, the fight over who controls access keeps showing up everywhere. Theater owners are pushing back hard against the Paramount/Warner merger, warning it will concentrate too much power over what gets shown on American screens (Los Angeles Times). We hear that that letter signed by 1000 Hollywood industry people protesting the deal has now surged past 3000. And the V&A quietly deleted images from its own exhibition catalogues because its Chinese printer flagged them as violating Chinese censorship laws (The Guardian). A British museum, editing itself for Beijing.
On the survival front: the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, three weeks from shutting down, has been acquired by the nonprofit behind The Baltimore Banner (Nieman Lab). Hampshire College wasn’t as lucky — the experimental liberal arts school is closing for good (WBUR).
And Jackie Chan is directing Turandot. With martial arts. Each character gets a warrior incarnation. Puccini would have had questions.
All of our stories below.
- – Doug
- A Dynastic Succession In The Kabuki Theater World Is A Dramatic Affair
“Handing down a name over generations is a central part of the traditional Japanese artform, … and that ceremony gets celebrated at theaters and special events every few years. Now, the ritual is taking place with the eighth Kikugoro, who is having that honor passed down from his 83-year-old father, the seventh Kikugoro.” – AP
- The Pressure To Go Viral: These Days You Can’t Be An Artist Without It
All of a sudden, chefs, lawyers, podcasters, critics – all people with jobs once associated with an off-camera existence – are turning the lens on themselves. Even film director Werner Herzog, a once proud non-social media user, is now sizzling steaks and doing unboxing videos to camera. – The Guardian
- France Passes Law To Expedite Return Of Looted Artworks
“The bill aims to simplify the return of cultural property taken illegally from France’s former colonies, particularly focusing on items taken between 1815 and 1972 — the year UNESCO’s convention for the protection of cultural heritage came into force.” – Euronews
- Man Wins $1.2M Picasso In Christie’s Raffle
“How do I know this isn’t a prank?” the 58-year-old asked when he was told he was the new owner of the 1941 work by the Spanish master. Organisers said more than 120,000 tickets for the prize draw were sold at €100 (£87; $118) each, raising around €11m (£10m; $13m) for Alzheimer’s research. – BBC
THEATRE
VISUAL
- The Pressure To Go Viral: These Days You Can’t Be An Artist Without It
All of a sudden, chefs, lawyers, podcasters, critics – all people with jobs once associated with an off-camera existence – are turning the lens on themselves. Even film director Werner Herzog, a once proud non-social media user, is now sizzling steaks and doing unboxing videos to camera. – The Guardian
- How AI Will Kill Content Platforms
Not only will AI agents compete away the revenue streams of the giant digital platforms, but they will also render irrelevant the data on which the platforms built their competitive advantage. – Harvard Business Review
- Why Has Culture Gone Flat?
Capitalism—and then late capitalism, and then late, late capitalism—has been identified as the culprit for culture’s flattening for at least a century. David Marx borrows heavily from Fredric Jameson’s account of postmodernism. – LA Review of Books
- All In? (Or Not): The Existential Bet On AI
Artificial intelligence will bring us heaven on earth or kill us all. It is the most important invention in human history or a scam. – The Nation
- Do-Gooders And The Pointlessness Of Jobs
The few jobs today that are tangibly useful—say, social workers and science teachers—pay far less than the mass of uninspiring administrative and middle-management roles that prop them up. As a result, many opt for the paycheck, even if that means resigning oneself to working a job that doesn’t really need to be done. – The Point
