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- Why Reading Was Intended To Be Done Out Loud
Until approximately the tenth century, when the practice of silent reading expanded thanks to the invention of punctuation, reading was synonymous with reading aloud. Silent reading was terribly strange, and, frankly, missed the point of sharing words to entertain, educate, and bond. – The Atlantic
- Is AI Ruining Facebook?
The Meta AI experience has so far been a spam-filled one. Nowhere is that clearer than on Instagram where the search function, once a place to look up a friend’s account, now exists seemingly to usher users into conversation with a chatbot. – Fast Company
- Report On Misogyny In The UK Music Industry Is Rejected
The report was widely heralded as a turning point. Finally, the boys’ club of the music industry was laid bare. But on Friday, April 19, the government issued its response to the report’s recommendations – a wholesale rejection. – The Conversation
- German University Study Center Named Best New Building In Europe
The architects describe the building as acting like a microchip on a circuit board, a central meeting point connected to all parts of the university campus. There is no front or back, but nine equal entrances all around the 1,000 square metre (10,760 sq ft) building, making it feel like an open hub. – The Guardian
- No One Is Going To Buy Your Book
The DOJ’s lawyer collected data on 58,000 titles published in a year and discovered that 90 percent of them sold fewer than 2,000 copies and 50 percent sold less than a dozen copies. – The Elysian
- “The Movie Critic” Was Supposed To Be Quentin Tarantino’s Final Film. Why Did It Fall Apart?
He reportedly had major stars attached and very enthusiastic studio (Sony) behind the project. Yet he dropped it all last week; he’ll still make a 10th film, but it won’t be this one. He’s not saying why, but some observers have ideas. – The Hollywood Reporter
- Exit Interview: Chicago Lyric Opera’s Anthony Freud
I think the simplistic stereotype of my European colleagues assuming that American general directors are kicked around mercilessly by unconscionable wealthy donors is as wrong as the American perspective of European general directors dreaming about art and waiting for the next public funding check to drop through the letterbox. – Van
- Has Tamara Rojo Pulled Off A Miracle At San Francisco Ballet?
A new ballet so popular it got an extra seven performances at the end of the season. Big — and younger — crowds. Conga lines in the lobby at after-parties. In her first four months of programming, Rojo has transformed the vibe at War Memorial Opera House. – The San Francisco Standard
- FCC Fines Non-Profit WBAI For Broadcasting Commercials
FCC Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer says they negotiated a consent decree with Pacifica in which the broadcaster acknowledges that it has violated the underwriting laws and sponsorship ID rules. – Inside Radio
- Over the Stage of Kansas A Lifetime of Charles Plymell’s Inspired Poetry<a href="https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/2024/04/over-the-stage-of-kansas-a-lifetime-of-charles-plymells-inspired-poetry.html" title="Over the Stage of Kansas
A Lifetime - With DeSantis’s Feuds Fading, Government At Disney World Is Blessedly Boring Again
“What made this (latest) meeting different from most during the past year or so was that it came a month after Disney and DeSantis’s board appointees reached a deal to end their state court lawsuits over DeSantis’s takeover of the district.” – AP
- Is TikTok Going Away Soon? Short Answer: No!
Should the court-y things not go in ByteDance’s favor, then? They could always push the next Congress, and the next president, to repeal the law. Or they could simply abide by the legislation and sell this popular asset for scads and scads of cash. – Yahoo!
- Journalists At Italy’s National Broadcaster Plan A Strike Over Political Interference
“Journalists at Italian state broadcaster RAI will strike next month in protest against the ‘suffocating control’ over their work by Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government. The reporters’ trade union … criticised political attempts ‘to turn RAI into a mouthpiece for the government’ among … grievances behind the 24-hour strike scheduled for May 6.” – Reuters
- A Moral Obligation To Disrupt On Behalf Of The Planet?
As a citizen waking up to this terrible truth, as the situation becomes more and more desperate, does the obligation to take desperate measures – in terms of the tactics we’re prepared to undertake, not just the policies we’re looking to bring about – increase? – Aeon
- After 20-Odd Years, Shelley Duvall Has Returned To Acting. Here’s Where She’s Been All This Time.
She returned to her home state, Texas, and settled in a rural town not far from Austin. Yes, there have been struggles with mental illness and mobility (from a longstanding foot injury), but, at 74, she’s happy to be acting again, and her director praises her work. – The New York Times
- Jazz Is Pulled From Phoenix Public Radio Station KJZZ
A statement from station management said, “After years of observing audience data, it is clear that listeners are not staying for music programming. The KJZZ news and information programming has greater loyalty.” (A separate jazz service remains available online and on high-definition radio.) – Arizona Republic (Phoenix)
- A Bad Omen: At Le Moulin Rouge In Paris, The Blades Fell Off The Red Windmill
“The blades fell onto the street below in the early hours of the morning. The cause of the collapse is not clear. Police say there were no injuries. The first three letters of the Moulin Rouge sign also fell off.” – BBC
- The Onion Has Been Sold To A Very Apt Buyer
“Chicago-based firm Global Tetrahedron — which shares a name with a mock corporation that served as a long-running gag on the satirical news site and was featured in its staffers’ 1999 book Our Dumb Century — has purchased The Onion (from) G/O Media.” – HuffPost
- Godard Finished This Film The Day Before He Died. It’s Premiering Next Month At Cannes.
“Scénarios is an 18-minute short that the film-maker finished in 2022 the day before he died via an assisted suicide procedure in Switzerland. Godard also made an accompanying 34-minute introduction which is a combination of ‘still and moving images, halfway between reading and seeing’ that will be screened alongside it.” – The Guardian
- Esperanza Spalding, Chay Yew, Nataki Garrett Among Winners Of $525,000 Doris Duke Artist Awards
The MacArthur-like prizes, given annually to up to six artists working in contemporary dance, theater, and jazz, go this year to theater directors Chay Yew and Nataki Garrett, dance artists Shamel Pitts and Acosia Red Elk, and jazz musicians esperanza spalding and Miguel Zenón. – Doris Duke Foundation
- The Louvre Is Considering Moving Mona Lisa To Its Own Underground Room
“A recent survey showed tourists did not enjoy the experience (of seeing the famous portrait), with comments ranging from ‘never been so disappointed’ to ‘torture.'” Says the museum’s director, “Moving the Mona Lisa to a separate room could put an end to public disappointment.” – The Telegraph (UK) (MSN)
- The Recycle Wars: When Literature Begets Literature
The rewriting of old books is hardly a new practice, though it’s one that critics often like to complain about. Doesn’t anyone have an original idea? Can’t we just leave the classics alone? – The New York Times
- Behind San Francisco Conservatory’s Big Bets On The Future
“At Curtis, it’s just the music, but [at SFCM] we tell you [that] you’ll know something about how the music business works and we think you should know something about risk-taking. … And now we’ve expanded to say you should think about how performance experiences will be successful in the future.” – San Francisco Classical Voice
- How Losing Non-Compete Clauses Will Affect Hollywood
“The new FTC rule shines a klieg light on how best to retain quality employees in the industry — noncompetes are on their way out, so companies need a better solution.” – Hollywood Reporter
- Arts Council England Is Broken. Theatre Leaders Have Some Ideas To Fix It
Leaders from across the theatre sector have outlined their vision for a reformed Arts Council England, warning that an unchanged funding body could stoke competition for cash in its current “binary system of extremes”. – The Stage
- Poet Leslie Sainz
We’re celebrating National Poetry Month with 2021 NEA Literature Fellow and poet Leslie Sainz who discusses her debut poetry collection, “Have You Been Long Enough at Table.” Sainz reads from her collection and talks about its major themes including the ambiguity, displacement, and impact of cultural heritage as a daughter of Cuban immigrants. She discusses the variety of poetic forms used in her collection, allowing form to be guided by the emotional and thematic demands of her work. Sainz also talks about the impact of receiving a 2021 NEA Literature Fellowship for Poetry on her career and the validation it provided and offers advice to other poets and writers, especially regarding the NEA fellowship application process. Sainz also discusses her involvement as a judge in the NEA’s Poetry Out Loud competition and shares her experiences from organizing regional competitions to judging the national semifinals and her appreciation for the performative and memorization components that enhance both the understanding and the emotional experience of poetry. She also gives us a glimpse into her upcoming project, tentatively titled “I Believe in Evil and Evil Believes in You,” exploring new thematic territories and expanding her creative boundaries. And, on April 17, the day after our conversation, Leslie Sainz’s collection , “Have You Been Long Enough at Table” was awarded the 2024 Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry!
For a transcript, click here
- Study: New Zealanders’ Participation In The Arts
Among the encouraging stats, participation in the arts has reached its highest level since the survey began in 2005, up to 54%. Young people, deaf and disabled, Māori and Pacific peoples participate in the arts most frequently. Engagement in the arts has had a bump too, up three per cent from the last survey at 78%. – Big Idea
- Study: Our Perception Of Time Is Influenced By What We Experience
When viewing larger or less-cluttered scenes, participants were more likely to experience time dilation; thinking that they had viewed the picture for longer than they actually did. The opposite effect — time constriction — occurred when viewing smaller-scale, more cluttered images. – Nature
- Standup Comedian Asks Mother With Fussy Baby To Leave Venue, Brouhaha Breaks Out
“Comedian Arj Barker’s interaction with a mother who brought a seven-month-old baby to his comedy show in Melbourne on Saturday night has sparked outrage, sympathy and debate about the woman’s decision to bring her infant to the gig and his decision to ask her to leave.” – The Guardian
- No-Name Philadelphia Pops Orchestra Now Wants The Name
The self-organized group of musicians playing under the No Name Pops banner is negotiating with the family of late pianist and conductor Peter Nero to acquire the Philly Pops name. – Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
- Bringing Professional Ballet To Green Bay, Wisconsin
Pacific Northwest Ballet principals Kyle Davis and Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan had long wanted to bring fully professional dance to Davis’s hometown. After several years of preparation and (of course) delay because of the pandemic, the first Green Bay Ballet Festival is now underway. – Pointe Magazine
- How America Got Hooked On Credit Card Culture
By the late 1960s, bankers increasingly saw credit cards, which combined innovative information technology with access to affluent consumer markets, as the road to the future – as the key to innovating around the restrictive financial rules. – Aeon
- Opera Philadelphia Picks A New General Director
Anthony Roth Costanzo, 41, has a history with Philadelphia going back almost 30 years. His first appearance at the Academy of Music was in 1996 at the tender age of 14, performing the Shepherd Boy in Puccini’s “Tosca,” in a traveling production created by Luciano Pavarotti. – WHYY
- Washington National Opera Institutes New Award For Trans/Nonbinary Singers
“On May 1, the Washington National Opera will recognize transgender singer Katherine Goforth as the inaugural recipient of” the True Voice Award, to be given triennially and “intended to help support the training of transgender and nonbinary opera singers, as well as increase their visibility in the industry.” – The Washington Post (MSN)
- How AI Will Be (Is) Wrecking The Internet
LLMs have begun to disrupt the traditional relationship between writer and reader. Type how to fix broken headlight into a search engine, and it returns a list of links to websites and videos that explain the process. Ask an LLM the same thing and it will just tell you how to do it. – The Atlantic