The difficulties of using AI in Africa are also linguistic. By the summer of 2025, only 42 languages in Africa were supported by an LLM, out of more than 2,000 found in the continent; 98 per cent of African languages have no meaningful AI support at all. - Aeon

Boredom isn’t merely the result of a boring external environment, as a schoolchild might think, or inadequate mental resources, as my mother suggested. It is either a mysterious nexus of dysfunction or a healthy adaptive function (it’s complicated) that afflicts both individuals and societies at large. - Portico Quarterly

“Efforts were initially focused around putting in simple black-and-white guardrails, such as forbidding a model from talking about bombs entirely. But these proved clumsy and easy to circumvent. Now, companies are pursuing methods that lean heavily on a philosophical understanding of right and wrong.” - The AI Humanist

According to its Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages—which counts business establishments by industry down to the county level going back to 1990—the U.S. has lost a fifth of its movie theaters and nearly a third of its bowling alleys since 2001. - Fortune

Google briefly allowed anyone to create AI-modified versions of satellite imagery available in Google Earth—before quickly reversing its decision as people shared examples of AI-generated pictures that illustrated the potential for misinformation and disinformation. - Ars Technica

Sure, everyone has phones, but “the phone still needs to be pulled out, held up, and have its camera activated to capture a photo or film a video. Smart glasses, with small built-in cameras and the user’s ability to obfuscate the recording notification, are much sneakier.” - Wired

Justin Davidson on New York’s Perelman Arts Center and The Shed: “Now the boldest experimenters can take advantage of walls that move at the touch of a button, precision lifts, rooms that shrink and expand, projected images (on) moving surfaces. … Yet the revolution, now that it’s here, feels anticlimactic and overpriced.” - Curbed...

Even now, as the museum complex continues to face a pressure campaign from the White House, public fondness for the Smithsonian—for its free entry and eclectic collections—is hard to break among those otherwise receptive to President Trump’s anti-institutionalism. - The Atlantic

The San Diego Arts Pass — inspired by New York City’s Culture Pass, Britain’s National Art Pass, and the like — will offer purchasers reduced-price or free admission to over 40 organizations, including the Old Globe, San Diego Symphony, and La Jolla Playhouse, in San Diego County and metro Tijuana. - The San Diego...

This innovative new venture is perhaps best described as a super-smart business strategy that could also be a blueprint for other entrepreneurs to ignite arts spaces in their own communities, boost social connectedness and give young, emerging artists some much-needed financial support. - ArtsHub

“For fiscal year 2027, the White House has proposed giving the Smithsonian $961.3 million in federal funding, roughly an 11% cut from the $1.08 billion Congress provided to it fiscal year 2026 and the institution’s lowest proposed funding level since at least 2020.” - ARTnews

“The historic Covent Garden venue … has reported a ‘critical’ need to invest in its stage infrastructure and the ‘fabric of our building’. Without doing so, the theatre is at risk of equipment failures and performance cancellations, according to a review of the organisation’s financial health.” - The Times (UK)

It’s the year’s worst pop trend: fans paying the highest price to pre-order what is ostensibly the most desirable, collectible or elaborate edition of an album are instead receiving incomplete or unpolished versions of the music. - The Guardian

A decade ago, the average ticket to a top 100 tour went for $83.74, according to Billboard Boxscore. By 2024, that had risen to $130.36. That’s before taxes, fees and additional markups if tickets end up on the secondary market. - The Wall Street Journal

Shilvock became San Francisco Opera’s seventh general director in August 2016, following in the footsteps of his mentor David Gockley. He has led the company for ten seasons and has introduced several premieres. - Operawire

Composer Charles Amirkhanian, who co-founded the festival/audio producer/archive in 1992, is retiring as executive and artistic director as of January. Joseph Bohigian, currently Other Minds’ associate director, will become artistic director, and the search process for a new executive director is currently underway. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

These days, classical music is underground; it is no longer part of mainstream culture. By “underground,” I don’t mean that the San Francisco Symphony is punk, but that classical music has become something you will only hear if you seek it out.  - San Francisco Classical Voice

The Connecticut-born maestro, who is also music director at Opera Colorado, has been Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor at the California company since 2023. As of the coming season, he is Music Director and Chief Conductor, a newly-created title. - Moto Perpetuo

The Fiesole Altarpiece, painted in the 1420s, suffered its first damage during an updating in 1501; it was subsequently broken up, had some of its parts looted or sold off, and was gnawed by wood-boring insects. The work has now been restored to roughly its 1501 condition with an ingenious spring-fitted wood frame. -...

“Until 2001, many of the capital’s most important cultural institutions required visitors to pay for entry. … It’s impossible to overstate just how revolutionary this (change) was. In the decade after free admission was introduced, visits to formerly paid-for museums in London increased by around 151%.” - LBC (UK)

To choose the 25 most important works of sculpture made since 1945, we asked a panel of experts to gather at the New York Times building in March. - The New York Times

She complained of a “lack of context” in the exhibition about the forced displacement of Palestinians during the creation of Israel, such as the omission of information about the Palestinian rejection of a state that was offered in the United Nations’ 1947 partition plan and about Jews displaced in Arab lands. - The Art...

“This is because it was only as the exhibition — ‘Democracy Matters’ — was about to open on June 18 that the museum fully reckoned with the fact that windows in the new gallery would shower sunshine on some very light-sensitive artworks.” - The New York Times

“After a long period of being fenced off and closed to the public, a reflecting pool will soon be reopening after a major renovation. No, not that one. This reflecting pool is in the center of the Hirshhorn Museum’s sculpture garden, which will reopen Oct. 31.” - The Washington Post (MSN)

The author accused of using artificial intelligence to craft the debut novel that landed him a multimillion-dollar book deal said he was innocent and that the claims against him were racially motivated. - The Wall Street Journal

Just since May 1, Russian drones and bombs have damaged or burned at least 9.65 million books. That equals 74% of the Ukrainian publishing industry’s output so far in 2026 and nearly 29% of books printed throughout the country in all of 2025. - United24 Media (Ukraine)

Joyce Carol Oates is known for her strict style. One of her students once described her crossing through the first several pages of a story and asking: “What’s the point?” I commiserated with him, but he looked at me and said: “No, that’s what I want. To be ripped to shreds.” - The Guardian

“According to its website, Giggle Academy is a nonprofit and was started by cryptocurrency mogul and Binance founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao in 2024. It also claims to have one million users in 182 countries.” Hundreds of poems, evidently copied from the Poetry Foundation’s website, are on Giggle Academy’s website without permission. - Publishers Weekly

The book, The Antiquities of Athens, published in 1858, “was discovered inside a tea crate bricked into a sealed fireplace.” Normal place to put a book down and then never see it again, right? - Salon

Virginia Woolf with Flush, Paul Auster with Timbuktu, Garth Stein with The Art of Racing in the Rain, and now another Paul - Yoon - with Etna. Why? Yoon says, “I deeply believe dogs have superpowers and secrets.” - The New York Times

I want to build a company with the strength and resources to deliver for those audiences who turn to us, for the storytellers who rely on us and for the country that dreamed this all up. - The New York Times

As movies and shows like "Super Mario Galaxy Movie," "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" and "Fallout" prove Hollywood has finally figured out how to successfully adapt video games -- after years of failure so deep a "video game movie curse" moniker was coined -- the makers of those games are in disarray. - The Wrap...

The trial of the lawsuit brought by 12 state attorneys-general seeking to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger is now scheduled to start next March 2. The problem: Paramount will owe a fee to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders of $7 million per day from Oct. 1 until the deal closes.  - Variety

“The Walt Disney Co. has sold its 50% equity stake in A+E Global Media to Hearst for $1.2 billion in cash, ending the joint venture that was first created in 1984. The deal will see Hearst take full control of the media company formerly known as A+E Networks, which owns brands like A&E, History and Lifetime.” - The Hollywood Reporter

“Brett Morris, the CEO of World 1, wants you to watch his ‘Microsports,’ which he describes as ‘entirely original sports where world titles are won or lost in 30 seconds.’” - The Hollywood Reporter

As strong as Jeopardy! remains on broadcast, rapid changes to the television business have demonstrated how quickly viewing habits can shift and why studios and platforms need to constantly rethink how they connect with audiences.  - Vulture (MSN)

Youngjun Choi, who has created dance routines for some of South Korea's biggest pop stars (including BTS), and Joon Jung, a choreographer-turned-tech exec, co-founded the startup MVNT to build an AI system for dance, much like Suno, the generative AI music platform. - Business Insider

ENB said some customer email address and business contact information "may have been included in the affected data" from the cyber attack and that it was taking the matter seriously. - The Standard

As co-founder Ericka Squire puts it, “Palm Beach County is ripe for a festival that feels like Jacob's Pillow” — a pitch that worked on the right funders. The first-ever Banyan Dance Festival is running this week in downtown West Palm Beach. - WLRN (Miami)

“It’s about creating opportunity. It’s about creating access. It’s about continuing to not just be a voice in my time, but how are we setting up the next generation?” - The New York Times

“When we’re learning choreography, we’re asking the brain to do so many things at once: remember sequences, process music, coordinate movement, adapt when we make mistakes, and stay present with other people in the room. It’s a perfect puzzle for keeping the mind fresh.” - Harper’s Bazaar

Idanna Abignente, who lives in a suburb of Turin, started pole dancing at around age 70 to keep fit. She developed a passion for it and eventually joined the competition circuit, where she frequently wins her age division for lack of other competitors. - New York Post

Pandji Pragiwaksono was a household name in Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country. In a Netflix special last year, he made fun of the president and was interrogated on criminal charges. Now he’s in New York, working comedy clubs, learning which routines don’t translate, and preparing for his first English-language tour. - Variety

Okay, they’re not doing Long Day’s Journey Into Night or Titus Andronicus; after all, the audience is on vacation. But cruises from the UK have started presenting professional productions like Come From Away and the RSC staging of The Constant Wife. Ambassador Cruise Line even has a playwriting competition. - The Guardian

Yes, Macbeth has been around for a while. “Fun fact: Samuel Pepys saw it at least nine times himself.” - LitHub

For instance, in one video clip that surfaced after Geno Segers was announced as Hades, "Segers likens transgender people to people pretending they are service animals in hopes of receiving discounts on airfare.” - The New York Times

Next month, the 1980s New Wave pop icon, now 65, was going to play King Herod in the London revival of the musical. But his June release, “We Will Dance Again,” takes strong and controversial positions on the Israel-Palestine conflict; after weeks of heavy criticism, he cancelled his run in the role. - Playbill

His vision was to turn Pitlochry Festival Theatre into both an artistic retreat and a producing powerhouse. It was to invite exciting creatives to Perthshire and create and premiere a show, then for that show to be sent on to London, New York and elsewhere. - The Stage

In poems, short stories, novels, and two widely-praised (and occasionally censored) books of young-adult fiction, he drew on his gay identity and on life on the US-Mexico border around El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. He received the PEN/Faulkner Award in 2013 for his story collection Everything Begins & Ends at the Kentucky Club. -...

After a life and career around Europe that might euphemistically be described as picaresque, da Ponte fled to Philadelphia and New York, ran a grocery store in rural Pennsylvania, and ended up as Columbia University’s first professor of Italian. For eight generations, his family has held onto his memory. - The New York Times

“It was theater that ultimately changed her life. Between the ages of 14 and 16 she began acting while, offstage, she kept stealing food to survive, used drugs and accumulated several arrests for violent incidents.” - El País English

“The 89-year-old Oscar-winning actor has voiced God and presidents, and he is the go-to narrator for your favorite documentarian. He still brushes aside the impact of his immediately recognizable, resonant baritone.” - The New York Times

Pastore once said, “It’s easier for me to play a tough guy than it is to play the good guy. … I grew up in a tough neighborhood. I didn’t study the classics. I’m a street actor. A lot of my training was on the set.” - The New York Times

Perhaps the bike-loving, gardening, SCUBA-diving actor is having what might be called another moment, a few years after Past Lives garnered her some attention. - The New York Times