AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- John Waters, Now 80, On What He’s Most Proud Of
“That I’ve been able to have this career, doing what I want, for sixty years. Hollywood’s been fair to me. I was always understood, I always had an audience. … I have more jobs than I’ve ever had in my life, so I’m not looking for a new one.” – The Hollywood Reporter
- Kennedy Center Board Votes To Put Trump’s Name Back On The Kennedy Center
According to the resolution approved by the Trump-allied board, the inscription underneath the institution’s name would read: “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” – The New York Times
- What The Trump Administration’s Exhibition Of “Patriotic” Art Says About Patriotism And Art
“Now, in service of an ideology that brooks no deviation from blind nationalism, Passport to Patriotism advances a shallow vision of U.S. identity with all the nuance of a propaganda reel and all the sophistication of the art project your first-grader brought home on Flag Day.” – Slate (MSN)
- Live Events Have Become Essential Income For Publishers
Events and related digital revenue are projected to account for half of Time’s total revenue in 2026, up from 28% in 2023, the company confirmed to TheWrap. Time expects to hold 47 events this year, up from 11 in 2022. – The Wrap (MSN)
- The Costs That Are Hitting Australian Performing Arts Companies The Hardest
For a closer look at which costs are worrying Australian performing arts companies the most right now, ArtsHub spoke to a range of company executives about their greatest concerns, and how they think the sector can curb these negative trends over the long term. – ArtsHub
ISSUES
- What The Trump Administration’s Exhibition Of “Patriotic” Art Says About Patriotism And Art
“Now, in service of an ideology that brooks no deviation from blind nationalism, Passport to Patriotism advances a shallow vision of U.S. identity with all the nuance of a propaganda reel and all the sophistication of the art project your first-grader brought home on Flag Day.” – Slate (MSN)
- Counting Up The Cultural Heritage Damage Russia Has Done In Ukraine
The affected sites include 196 arts education institutions, 141 museums and galleries, and historic sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Cultural institutions across 24% of Ukrainian territories and nearly half of the country’s community cultural centers have been damaged during Russia’s prolonged and deadly campaign. – Hyperallergic
- Who Stole 200 Gold Mozart Statues In Salzburg?
More than 200 gold-colored Mozart figures have vanished from a public art installation in Salzburg, forcing organizers to end part of the exhibition early. – Deutsche Welle
- Kennicott: How DC’s Freedom Plaza Became A Battleground
The statuary ensemble, which also includes a new 23-foot rendering of a female figure dubbed “The Spirit of Liberty,” is one of the most cogent and confrontational expressions of the Trump administration’s views on race, urban design and public space. – Washington Post
- Layoffs At San Diego Museum Of Art
“The San Diego Museum of Art laid off nearly a dozen employees Wednesday in what it described as an effort to stay sustainable as it contends with rising operating costs and an uncertain funding future.” – The San Diego Union-Tribune (MSN)
MEDIA
- Kennedy Center Board Votes To Put Trump’s Name Back On The Kennedy Center
According to the resolution approved by the Trump-allied board, the inscription underneath the institution’s name would read: “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” – The New York Times
- Live Events Have Become Essential Income For Publishers
Events and related digital revenue are projected to account for half of Time’s total revenue in 2026, up from 28% in 2023, the company confirmed to TheWrap. Time expects to hold 47 events this year, up from 11 in 2022. – The Wrap (MSN)
- The Costs That Are Hitting Australian Performing Arts Companies The Hardest
For a closer look at which costs are worrying Australian performing arts companies the most right now, ArtsHub spoke to a range of company executives about their greatest concerns, and how they think the sector can curb these negative trends over the long term. – ArtsHub
- Move Over, Tilly Norwood: AI Companies Are Creating A New Crop Of Characters, Hoping They’ll Become Stars
One company, Inception Point AI, has “a cohort of more than 100 personas, each with its own market-friendly niche, that could be deployed to host podcasts, star in YouTube videos, converse with followers and — in the company’s loftiest vision — one day navigate the physical world in a robotic body.” – The New York Times
- The New Performing Arts Center In Morocco’s Capital Is One Of Zaha Hadid’s Last Projects
The Royal Theatre of Rabat, which includes an 1,800-seat main auditorium, a 520-seat performance space, and a 7,000-seat outdoor amphitheater, was largely completed in 2021 but only opened this year. It’s planned as an international platform for Moroccan, Arabic and African music, dance and theater — and Western pop. – The New York Times
MUSIC
- When A Mother Jones Writer Asked Claude The AI Bot To Write A Novel
David Corn gave the Anthropic software a pleasantly meta seven-sentence plot summary as a prompt. Several minutes later, Claude produced a 6,000-word manuscript. Corn replied that that wasn’t novel-length, and Claude served up a narrative eight times the length. Corn: “I ’ll cut to the chase: The novel isn’t so bad.” – Mother Jones
- Publishing Industry Sold $32.5 Billion Worth Of Books In 2025
Looking at trends in the trade category, which includes religion books, sale rose 2.7% overall to $21.7 billion. The increase was led by religious presses, whose sales rose 9.3%, to $2.2 billion. Adult fiction sales had the second biggest sales increase, with revenue up 3.9%, to $7.1 billion. – Publishers Weekly
- Canada’s Top Literary Award Broke With Its Sponsor. Now A Foundation Has Come To Its Rescue.
Early last year the Giller Prize broke ties with its longtime sponsor Scotiabank — leaving it without the means to support the C$100,000 award and other programs. Now the foundation which stepped up with C$! million in bridge funding has made a C$4 million donation to keep the Giller going longer-term. – The Canadian Press (MSN)
- Judging Books By Their Covers
We can thank the Preraphaelite coterie for this tendency. ” – LitHub
- Companies Using AI To Create Writing Are Missing The Entire Point Of Books
“It speaks about the creative process as though it were something getting in the way of our creativity, slowing us down, rather than being the path that leads us to it. Then again, it’s no surprise that a capitalist venture focuses on the product and speed to market.” – Irish Times
PEOPLE
- John Waters, Now 80, On What He’s Most Proud Of
“That I’ve been able to have this career, doing what I want, for sixty years. Hollywood’s been fair to me. I was always understood, I always had an audience. … I have more jobs than I’ve ever had in my life, so I’m not looking for a new one.” – The Hollywood Reporter
- Kennedy Center Board Votes To Put Trump’s Name Back On The Kennedy Center
According to the resolution approved by the Trump-allied board, the inscription underneath the institution’s name would read: “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” – The New York Times
- What The Trump Administration’s Exhibition Of “Patriotic” Art Says About Patriotism And Art
“Now, in service of an ideology that brooks no deviation from blind nationalism, Passport to Patriotism advances a shallow vision of U.S. identity with all the nuance of a propaganda reel and all the sophistication of the art project your first-grader brought home on Flag Day.” – Slate (MSN)
- Live Events Have Become Essential Income For Publishers
Events and related digital revenue are projected to account for half of Time’s total revenue in 2026, up from 28% in 2023, the company confirmed to TheWrap. Time expects to hold 47 events this year, up from 11 in 2022. – The Wrap (MSN)
- The Costs That Are Hitting Australian Performing Arts Companies The Hardest
For a closer look at which costs are worrying Australian performing arts companies the most right now, ArtsHub spoke to a range of company executives about their greatest concerns, and how they think the sector can curb these negative trends over the long term. – ArtsHub
PEOPLE
- John Waters, Now 80, On What He’s Most Proud Of
“That I’ve been able to have this career, doing what I want, for sixty years. Hollywood’s been fair to me. I was always understood, I always had an audience. … I have more jobs than I’ve ever had in my life, so I’m not looking for a new one.” – The Hollywood Reporter
- Kennedy Center Board Votes To Put Trump’s Name Back On The Kennedy Center
According to the resolution approved by the Trump-allied board, the inscription underneath the institution’s name would read: “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” – The New York Times
- What The Trump Administration’s Exhibition Of “Patriotic” Art Says About Patriotism And Art
“Now, in service of an ideology that brooks no deviation from blind nationalism, Passport to Patriotism advances a shallow vision of U.S. identity with all the nuance of a propaganda reel and all the sophistication of the art project your first-grader brought home on Flag Day.” – Slate (MSN)
- Live Events Have Become Essential Income For Publishers
Events and related digital revenue are projected to account for half of Time’s total revenue in 2026, up from 28% in 2023, the company confirmed to TheWrap. Time expects to hold 47 events this year, up from 11 in 2022. – The Wrap (MSN)
- The Costs That Are Hitting Australian Performing Arts Companies The Hardest
For a closer look at which costs are worrying Australian performing arts companies the most right now, ArtsHub spoke to a range of company executives about their greatest concerns, and how they think the sector can curb these negative trends over the long term. – ArtsHub
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Are We Close To Locating Where Consciousness Lives In The Brain?
Most discussions of AI and consciousness ask whether machines can experience anything. But maybe the real mystery is: If consciousness is not fundamentally related to higher cognition, then what kind of phenomenon is it? – Noema
- Do We Lose Our Minds In Big Crowds?
In popular culture and pop psychology, crowds are often associated with strong emotions, excessive emotional expression and the uncritical spread of emotions. Commentators often link that crowd emotion in turn with uncontrolled behaviour and, in some cases, mindless violence. – Psyche
- Unlocking The Mysteries Of Hegel
In both its depth and breadth, Hegel’s philosophy is perhaps rivalled only by that of Aristotle. – Psyche
- When Is Stereotyping Useful?
Generalising comes so naturally that few of us are at any risk of undergeneralising, so we give it little thought. The focus on overgeneralising is understandable given its potential costs, such as the child assuming that a dangerous dog is just like the friendly dogs they’ve encountered to date. – Aeon
- The Complications Of Proving You’re Human
Now the problem is how to let in the good bots (like the avatar you send to the Gap to buy you a new pair of pants) and keep out the bad bots (like the thief trying to scrape the data of every Gap customer). The rest of us have to be our own bot detectors. – The New Yorker