AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Is TikTok Ruining Books, Or Publishing In General?
Personal testimony is paramount on BookTok; a book is deemed successful if it ‘breaks’ or ‘destroys’ a “reader. The most common book-review content on the app understands books as pleasure-spiking torment factories.” – The New Yorker
- A timeless Odyssey
Good Morning,
Three thousand years in, we still can’t stop retelling the Odyssey — The Guardian traces its bloodstream from Homer through Finding Nemo to Nolan’s new film.
The University of North Texas didn’t wait for anyone to complain about an art show critical of ICE — the provost took down the whole exhibition himself, texting that it would “be easier to manage any barking from our friends in Austin” (NPR). Nobody censored UNT. UNT got there first. In Melbourne, a court sided with the city’s symphony orchestra against pianist Jayson Gillham, dropped after speaking from the stage about journalists killed in Gaza (The New York Times). The stage legally belongs to the institution. And Meta keeps pursuing the author of Careless People so relentlessly that the lawsuit has become the book’s best advertising (Wired). The same Meta, for the record, shipped an AI deepfake tool for Instagram on Tuesday and yanked it by Friday (Business Insider).
Meanwhile, a Dutch gallery is covering its floor in peanut butter, per the late artist’s instructions. Smooth, not chunky, in case you were wondering (The Guardian).
All of our stories below.
- Sometimes Book To Movie Adaptations Don’t Work Out For The Author
But this one may become legendary. “Tomi Adeyemi, the author of the bestselling fantasy Children of Blood and Bone, isn’t planning to see the forthcoming film adaptation — even though she co-wrote it.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- Seneca, Worried About The Crisis Of Attention, Had An Idea For A Fix
Too much scrolling (of papyrus) in ancient Rome had the philosopher Seneca in search of an answer. His advice, “which he outlined in his Letters From a Stoic: Devote your attention to one idea a day.” – The New York Times
- The University Of North Texas Can’t Handle An Art Show With Work Critical Of ICE
“Initially, the administrators discussed removing some of the pieces from the show. But then the provost texted that he wanted to take down the entire exhibition instead. [He] wrote, ‘I think it’ll be easier to manage any barking from our friends in Austin.’” – NPR
ISSUES
- The University Of North Texas Can’t Handle An Art Show With Work Critical Of ICE
“Initially, the administrators discussed removing some of the pieces from the show. But then the provost texted that he wanted to take down the entire exhibition instead. [He] wrote, ‘I think it’ll be easier to manage any barking from our friends in Austin.’” – NPR
- This Artwork Requires Covering The Gallery Floor In Peanut Butter
Smooth, not chunky – the artist wasn’t a monster. – The Guardian (UK)
- Anish Kapoor And The Meaning Of The Void
“When Kapoor first made one of these works in Prussian blue, he was stunned to find ‘it wasn’t an empty space painted blue,’ he said. ‘It was full of blueness or, as I say, darkness. What was empty became full. How can that be?’” – ArtNet
- The Bayeux Tapestry Arrives In Britain, Under Armed Guard, For The First Time In A While
Where “a while” equals 900 years. – BBC
- The Bacteria That Causes Legionnaire’s Disease Has Been Found In The Guggenheim’s Cooling Tower
But, er, don’t freak out, New York. “The building remains safe for employees and visitors, according to both the museum and the union that represents its workers.” – The Art Newspaper
MEDIA
- Is The U.S. Really Ready To Face The Mythmaking Of Little House On The Prairie?
A new Netflix adaptation would argue that some people – though likely not those trying to ban anything not “positive” in history texts – are so ready. – Salon
- The New York Times’ Article On Kerri Greenidge Has Weird Timing And Research Issues
“The article offers no convincing explanation for a response this totalizing. It does not solve the mystery. It compounds it.” – Study Marry Kill
- Whistleblowers Accuse The Trump Administration Of Harming The Kennedy Center
“The documents — sent to a Senate and a House committee last month by lawyers for unidentified clients referred to as whistle-blowers — detail how vendors were selected for work without competitive bidding under rationales that are depicted as flawed.” – The New York Times
- Meta Installs AI Deepfake Tool For Instagram On Tuesday, Removes It On Friday
That went well. “Just because Meta owns one of the largest social media platforms, and we’re forced to use it, it’s been taking it as an excuse to violate our consent and privacy again and again.” Uh, oops. – Business Insider
- A Lot Of True Believers Sponsored ‘The Chosen’ Before It Became A Money-Printing Juggernaut
But they seem to have been left behind. “A shareholder lawsuit, quietly filed this past week against 5&2 Studios in the Delaware Court of Chancery, alleges that some of those early acolytes were prevented from sharing in the miracle.” – Puck
MUSIC
- Is TikTok Ruining Books, Or Publishing In General?
Personal testimony is paramount on BookTok; a book is deemed successful if it ‘breaks’ or ‘destroys’ a “reader. The most common book-review content on the app understands books as pleasure-spiking torment factories.” – The New Yorker
- Sometimes Book To Movie Adaptations Don’t Work Out For The Author
But this one may become legendary. “Tomi Adeyemi, the author of the bestselling fantasy Children of Blood and Bone, isn’t planning to see the forthcoming film adaptation — even though she co-wrote it.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- Enjoying All Of The Agatha Christie Adaptations Out There?
Then you might want to read more Golden Age mysteries, including Josephine Tey (and not just Daughter of Time). – The New York Times
- Meta Won’t Stop Going After The Author Of Careless People, Proving The Book’s Point Over And Over And Over Again
“The optics of the case speak louder than the niceties of any contract dispute. Those optics advance the narrative that Meta is a heartless and negative force determined to stifle the truth about its misdeeds.” (In other words, buy physical copies of the book.) – Wired
- What In The Living Heck Happened To Decorated Historian Kerri Greenidge, And Her Most Famous Work?
“A major publisher appeared to pull a prizewinning history book about a prominent South Carolina slaveholding family and its role in the abolitionist movement, after several scholars accused the author of misleading readers” – and it looks like the historian lost her job at Tufts as well. – The New York Times
PEOPLE
- Is TikTok Ruining Books, Or Publishing In General?
Personal testimony is paramount on BookTok; a book is deemed successful if it ‘breaks’ or ‘destroys’ a “reader. The most common book-review content on the app understands books as pleasure-spiking torment factories.” – The New Yorker
- A timeless Odyssey
Good Morning,
Three thousand years in, we still can’t stop retelling the Odyssey — The Guardian traces its bloodstream from Homer through Finding Nemo to Nolan’s new film.
The University of North Texas didn’t wait for anyone to complain about an art show critical of ICE — the provost took down the whole exhibition himself, texting that it would “be easier to manage any barking from our friends in Austin” (NPR). Nobody censored UNT. UNT got there first. In Melbourne, a court sided with the city’s symphony orchestra against pianist Jayson Gillham, dropped after speaking from the stage about journalists killed in Gaza (The New York Times). The stage legally belongs to the institution. And Meta keeps pursuing the author of Careless People so relentlessly that the lawsuit has become the book’s best advertising (Wired). The same Meta, for the record, shipped an AI deepfake tool for Instagram on Tuesday and yanked it by Friday (Business Insider).
Meanwhile, a Dutch gallery is covering its floor in peanut butter, per the late artist’s instructions. Smooth, not chunky, in case you were wondering (The Guardian).
All of our stories below.
- Sometimes Book To Movie Adaptations Don’t Work Out For The Author
But this one may become legendary. “Tomi Adeyemi, the author of the bestselling fantasy Children of Blood and Bone, isn’t planning to see the forthcoming film adaptation — even though she co-wrote it.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- Seneca, Worried About The Crisis Of Attention, Had An Idea For A Fix
Too much scrolling (of papyrus) in ancient Rome had the philosopher Seneca in search of an answer. His advice, “which he outlined in his Letters From a Stoic: Devote your attention to one idea a day.” – The New York Times
- The University Of North Texas Can’t Handle An Art Show With Work Critical Of ICE
“Initially, the administrators discussed removing some of the pieces from the show. But then the provost texted that he wanted to take down the entire exhibition instead. [He] wrote, ‘I think it’ll be easier to manage any barking from our friends in Austin.’” – NPR
PEOPLE
- Is TikTok Ruining Books, Or Publishing In General?
Personal testimony is paramount on BookTok; a book is deemed successful if it ‘breaks’ or ‘destroys’ a “reader. The most common book-review content on the app understands books as pleasure-spiking torment factories.” – The New Yorker
- A timeless Odyssey
Good Morning,
Three thousand years in, we still can’t stop retelling the Odyssey — The Guardian traces its bloodstream from Homer through Finding Nemo to Nolan’s new film.
The University of North Texas didn’t wait for anyone to complain about an art show critical of ICE — the provost took down the whole exhibition himself, texting that it would “be easier to manage any barking from our friends in Austin” (NPR). Nobody censored UNT. UNT got there first. In Melbourne, a court sided with the city’s symphony orchestra against pianist Jayson Gillham, dropped after speaking from the stage about journalists killed in Gaza (The New York Times). The stage legally belongs to the institution. And Meta keeps pursuing the author of Careless People so relentlessly that the lawsuit has become the book’s best advertising (Wired). The same Meta, for the record, shipped an AI deepfake tool for Instagram on Tuesday and yanked it by Friday (Business Insider).
Meanwhile, a Dutch gallery is covering its floor in peanut butter, per the late artist’s instructions. Smooth, not chunky, in case you were wondering (The Guardian).
All of our stories below.
- Sometimes Book To Movie Adaptations Don’t Work Out For The Author
But this one may become legendary. “Tomi Adeyemi, the author of the bestselling fantasy Children of Blood and Bone, isn’t planning to see the forthcoming film adaptation — even though she co-wrote it.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- Seneca, Worried About The Crisis Of Attention, Had An Idea For A Fix
Too much scrolling (of papyrus) in ancient Rome had the philosopher Seneca in search of an answer. His advice, “which he outlined in his Letters From a Stoic: Devote your attention to one idea a day.” – The New York Times
- The University Of North Texas Can’t Handle An Art Show With Work Critical Of ICE
“Initially, the administrators discussed removing some of the pieces from the show. But then the provost texted that he wanted to take down the entire exhibition instead. [He] wrote, ‘I think it’ll be easier to manage any barking from our friends in Austin.’” – NPR
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Seneca, Worried About The Crisis Of Attention, Had An Idea For A Fix
Too much scrolling (of papyrus) in ancient Rome had the philosopher Seneca in search of an answer. His advice, “which he outlined in his Letters From a Stoic: Devote your attention to one idea a day.” – The New York Times
- As Yet Another Version Hits Cinemas, Why Are We Still So Obsessed With The Odyssey?
“The Odyssey – the story of a warrior’s homecoming, his long and tortuous journey to reintegrate himself within his own household – has passed into the bloodstream of many storytelling traditions,” from Finding Nemo to Game of Thrones. – The Guardian (UK)
- The Schomburg Center Turns A Century Old
“Growing up in Puerto Rico in the late 19th century, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg was told by his teacher that Black people had no significant history or accomplishments.” Just how wrong was that teacher? Very. – The Guardian (UK)
- What Society Is Losing As It Becomes Postliterate
“The literate era will prove to be a brief interlude between the oral and digital ages. Reading shaped the modern mind. Its disappearance will reshape it. Cognitive scientists are starting to understand what these changes might look like.” – The Atlantic
- Does Worldwide Modernization Lead To Reduction In Cultural Differences? Not Necessarily
“When researchers have actually tried to document the size of cultural differences over time, the picture is far more complicated – and more interesting.” – Psyche