Today’s AJ highlights: As machine-generated content floods the internet, actual human thinking is becoming exponentially more valuable—and, it turns out, AI itself prefers human thought to its own (Fast Company). This drive for unmediated connection is fueling a surge in audiobook obsession (Washington Post) and a renewed praise for the “certainty” of obsolete physical technologies like CDs and DVDs (The Guardian). Even the youngest among us are benefiting from this analog return; a new study confirms that reading aloud to children significantly boosts empathy and social skills, regardless of the parents’ technique (The Conversation).
This premium on the “real” is perhaps most visible when art is used as a tool for survival. In Ukraine, a theater company of wounded veterans is finding rehabilitation and socialization through a parody of Virgil’s Aeneid (Deutsche Welle). The Berlin Film Festival will open with the first-ever Afghan romantic comedy, a daring, genre-bending look at a Kabul newsroom on the eve of the Taliban’s return (The Guardian).
However, the physical and critical infrastructure that supports these voices is undergoing a painful contraction. The proposed Jersey City branch of the Pompidou Center is officially “dead” following a municipal deficit (NJ.com), and the Kennedy Center is warning of significant job cuts during its upcoming two-year shutdown (AP). We also look at the Washington Post Book World, one of the last great sections that readers opened out of genuine desire rather than professional obligation (LitHub).
Leonard Slatkin has been named Music Director of the Nashville Symphony (Nashville Scene), and we celebrate the enduring legacies of Bud Cort (Deadline) and the Bach specialist Helmuth Rilling (Moto Perpetuo).
All our stories from the week are below.
