AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- A Fight Over What Everybody Knows
Good Morning,
Authoritarians don’t much care what you think privately. What they fear is common knowledge — everyone knowing that everyone else knows, the moment private grievance becomes public fact. Persuasion makes the game-theory case, and it reads like a job description for culture: art is a vehicle for creating shared reference.
Which reframes today’s institutional frictions. The Kennedy Center board has delayed putting Trump’s name back on the building (ARTnews), while The Atlantic explains why the trustee structure makes the deeper problem unfixable from inside. Governance built for consensus has no defense against capture.
The substrate underneath is moving too. The Walrus reports on what twenty years of social media has done to memory itself, and the LA Times totes up what the $17 billion Meta settlement revealed about the damage.
Then two stories that belong side by side: The Atlantic ran an AI Paul Gigot rebutting the real Paul Gigot on AI, and his decision to run an AI-assisted opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. And the New York Times visited Arion Press, still setting the Declaration of Independence in metal type. Infinite cheap copies at one end, hand-forged artistry at the other — both arguing about what a text is worth.
And New York has finally scrapped the law requiring a license to dance (Yahoo News). Cue the music.
All our stories below.
- New York’s Arts Ed Programs Are A Powerhouse For The City
Across the city, community-based arts education organizations employ thousands of music educators, teaching artists, arts therapists, accompanists and administrators — together, one of the city’s largest employers of working artists. New York’s real competitive advantage is the ability to attract and retain creative talent. But artists need reliable employment, benefits, professional networks and room to grow. – Crain’s New York
- The Ridiculous Claims For Trump’s Ballroom
The design is rapidly descending into parody—even as Sauer told the court it has been built so solidly that it cannot be demolished, should the court (correctly) so rule. Just like the “unsinkable” Titanic. The ridiculous grand stair from nowhere to nowhere has reappeared on the prominent elevation facing President’s Park. – Architecture and the City
- YouTube’s Growing TV Presence
Love it or hate it, with its viewing figures fast overtaking traditional broadcasters’, YouTube is now undeniably a part of the U.K.’s broadcasting ecosystem. – Variety
- NY Governor Cancels Law Requiring Licenses To Dance
“Dancing? Banned? In New York?! Not anymore,” Hochul said. “Thanks to my administration, you can now cut loose, footloose and kick off your Sunday shoes.” – New York Daily News (Yahoo)
ISSUES
- The Ridiculous Claims For Trump’s Ballroom
The design is rapidly descending into parody—even as Sauer told the court it has been built so solidly that it cannot be demolished, should the court (correctly) so rule. Just like the “unsinkable” Titanic. The ridiculous grand stair from nowhere to nowhere has reappeared on the prominent elevation facing President’s Park. – Architecture and the City
- Leader Of Sydney’s Biggest Culture Project This Century, Resigns Ten Weeks Before Opening
Since her 2018 appointment, Havilah has been overseeing the $915 million build of Powerhouse Parramatta—the city’s most significant cultural infrastructure project since the Sydney Opera House, which opened in 1973 for an estimated cost of AU$102 million. – ARTnews
- Critics Blast Met Museum For Honoring Disgraced Fashion Designer
John Galliano, who transformed Dior into a global powerhouse before his disgrace, is scheduled to be the subject of a nine-month exhibition sponsored by the Met’s Costume Institute. – The New York Times
- “Aesthetically Terrifying”? What US State Department’s Removal Of A Painting Is Really About
“It was very woke,” Dan Scavino explained. “It was by the gentleman who did Obama’s portrait. And it was aesthetically terrifying.” Strong words for a group portrait of four fully dressed, largely expressionless sitters in front of a background adorned with flowers. – The New York Times
- A Fight Over Frida Kahlo And Access
The fight about these priceless works — where they should remain and who can have access to them — is really a battle over cultural patrimony and national sovereignty, and it’s one the Mexican government seems to have forfeited. – The New York Times
MEDIA
- New York’s Arts Ed Programs Are A Powerhouse For The City
Across the city, community-based arts education organizations employ thousands of music educators, teaching artists, arts therapists, accompanists and administrators — together, one of the city’s largest employers of working artists. New York’s real competitive advantage is the ability to attract and retain creative talent. But artists need reliable employment, benefits, professional networks and room to grow. – Crain’s New York
- The Problem That Can’t (Currently) Be Fixed At The Kennedy Center
Each new development and court filing in opposition makes the same structural problem clearer: A judge can restrain the board’s actions time and time again, but “if the problem is a governance problem, there is not much that a court can do.” – The Atlantic
- Kennedy Center Board Says It Will Delay Putting Trump’s Name Back On The Building
The announcement followed an emergency court hearing prompted by a Justice Department filing this week warning that the Kennedy Center could be demolished and potentially replaced with an outdoor amphitheater if the board is not allowed to close the building for two years for repairs. – ARTnews
- What Happened To Philadelphia’s Arts Funding?
“Philadelphia experienced the greatest contraction of all of the cities that we were looking at. It has gone from 7 percent of local government coverage of expenses in 2019 down to 1 percent in 2024.” – Philadelphia Citizen
- Lessons From The Edinburgh Fringe: How To Manage Controversy
At a time when mainstream media coverage of festivals such as Edinburgh has shrunk significantly, her debut inevitably pulled headlines towards the infamy of one performer and risked becoming the token fringe story – the celebrity whom everybody outside the festival bubble recognises. – The Stage
MUSIC
- AI Paul Gigot Responds To WSJ Opinion Page Editor Paul Gigot
“I have been thinking about this for close to 20 minutes, and I have concluded that human writing is finished.” – The Atlantic
- Making Books The Old Fashioned Way
Arion bills itself as the only printer in the country that makes books entirely by hand under one roof, from casting metal type to printing pages to binding them together into exquisite volumes prized by collectors. – The New York Times
- A Turning Point In The Battles Over AI Writing
“Many contributors, especially prominent politicians or CEOs, employ speechwriters or hire a Beltway writing shop,” he wrote. “How different is that from using AI to streamline an essay?” – The Atlantic
- After All This, Emily Wilson Is Retranslating The Odyssey From Scratch
“She says her translation methods have become more sophisticated and that enough time has passed for her to see some flaws in her work. … The new edition will be longer, she says, and will better reflect the differing social worlds of Homer’s poem.” – AP
- Where’s The Evidence That Colleges Are Committed To Teaching Writing?
AI has both clarified what we should be doing when we teach writing and made it much harder to teach writing than in the days prior to the technology’s existence. – InsideHigherEd
PEOPLE
- A Fight Over What Everybody Knows
Good Morning,
Authoritarians don’t much care what you think privately. What they fear is common knowledge — everyone knowing that everyone else knows, the moment private grievance becomes public fact. Persuasion makes the game-theory case, and it reads like a job description for culture: art is a vehicle for creating shared reference.
Which reframes today’s institutional frictions. The Kennedy Center board has delayed putting Trump’s name back on the building (ARTnews), while The Atlantic explains why the trustee structure makes the deeper problem unfixable from inside. Governance built for consensus has no defense against capture.
The substrate underneath is moving too. The Walrus reports on what twenty years of social media has done to memory itself, and the LA Times totes up what the $17 billion Meta settlement revealed about the damage.
Then two stories that belong side by side: The Atlantic ran an AI Paul Gigot rebutting the real Paul Gigot on AI, and his decision to run an AI-assisted opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. And the New York Times visited Arion Press, still setting the Declaration of Independence in metal type. Infinite cheap copies at one end, hand-forged artistry at the other — both arguing about what a text is worth.
And New York has finally scrapped the law requiring a license to dance (Yahoo News). Cue the music.
All our stories below.
- New York’s Arts Ed Programs Are A Powerhouse For The City
Across the city, community-based arts education organizations employ thousands of music educators, teaching artists, arts therapists, accompanists and administrators — together, one of the city’s largest employers of working artists. New York’s real competitive advantage is the ability to attract and retain creative talent. But artists need reliable employment, benefits, professional networks and room to grow. – Crain’s New York
- The Ridiculous Claims For Trump’s Ballroom
The design is rapidly descending into parody—even as Sauer told the court it has been built so solidly that it cannot be demolished, should the court (correctly) so rule. Just like the “unsinkable” Titanic. The ridiculous grand stair from nowhere to nowhere has reappeared on the prominent elevation facing President’s Park. – Architecture and the City
- YouTube’s Growing TV Presence
Love it or hate it, with its viewing figures fast overtaking traditional broadcasters’, YouTube is now undeniably a part of the U.K.’s broadcasting ecosystem. – Variety
- NY Governor Cancels Law Requiring Licenses To Dance
“Dancing? Banned? In New York?! Not anymore,” Hochul said. “Thanks to my administration, you can now cut loose, footloose and kick off your Sunday shoes.” – New York Daily News (Yahoo)
PEOPLE
- A Fight Over What Everybody Knows
Good Morning,
Authoritarians don’t much care what you think privately. What they fear is common knowledge — everyone knowing that everyone else knows, the moment private grievance becomes public fact. Persuasion makes the game-theory case, and it reads like a job description for culture: art is a vehicle for creating shared reference.
Which reframes today’s institutional frictions. The Kennedy Center board has delayed putting Trump’s name back on the building (ARTnews), while The Atlantic explains why the trustee structure makes the deeper problem unfixable from inside. Governance built for consensus has no defense against capture.
The substrate underneath is moving too. The Walrus reports on what twenty years of social media has done to memory itself, and the LA Times totes up what the $17 billion Meta settlement revealed about the damage.
Then two stories that belong side by side: The Atlantic ran an AI Paul Gigot rebutting the real Paul Gigot on AI, and his decision to run an AI-assisted opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. And the New York Times visited Arion Press, still setting the Declaration of Independence in metal type. Infinite cheap copies at one end, hand-forged artistry at the other — both arguing about what a text is worth.
And New York has finally scrapped the law requiring a license to dance (Yahoo News). Cue the music.
All our stories below.
- New York’s Arts Ed Programs Are A Powerhouse For The City
Across the city, community-based arts education organizations employ thousands of music educators, teaching artists, arts therapists, accompanists and administrators — together, one of the city’s largest employers of working artists. New York’s real competitive advantage is the ability to attract and retain creative talent. But artists need reliable employment, benefits, professional networks and room to grow. – Crain’s New York
- The Ridiculous Claims For Trump’s Ballroom
The design is rapidly descending into parody—even as Sauer told the court it has been built so solidly that it cannot be demolished, should the court (correctly) so rule. Just like the “unsinkable” Titanic. The ridiculous grand stair from nowhere to nowhere has reappeared on the prominent elevation facing President’s Park. – Architecture and the City
- YouTube’s Growing TV Presence
Love it or hate it, with its viewing figures fast overtaking traditional broadcasters’, YouTube is now undeniably a part of the U.K.’s broadcasting ecosystem. – Variety
- NY Governor Cancels Law Requiring Licenses To Dance
“Dancing? Banned? In New York?! Not anymore,” Hochul said. “Thanks to my administration, you can now cut loose, footloose and kick off your Sunday shoes.” – New York Daily News (Yahoo)
THEATRE
VISUAL
- How Social Media Changed The Ways We Remember
There were ups and downs in the stories I saw people telling, but the trajectory I observed most frequently was an upward one. Growth, expansion, improvement, overcoming. Vacations as burnishments to the image. Illnesses as stress tests, ways of ultimately proving fitness. – The Walrus
- Why Dictators Fear “Common Knowledge”
The difference between private knowledge, even when widely shared, and common knowledge is not a mere logical nicety. It can unify knowers in coordinated action and sometimes explode a social status quo. – Persuasion
- The Very Definition Of Kitsch
In one moment, you see children playing on the grass, and you are genuinely moved. In the second moment, you see the children playing, and you think how nice it would be to be moved. The latter is the substance of kitsch. – 3 Quarks Daily
- Group Chats: Our Own Little Neighborhoods
In one chat that I share with literary friends, we sometimes joke that after we’re all dead, if historians try to unearth our correspondence, they will find only this sprawling, years-long museum of absurdities. – The New Yorker
- Study: To Get Employees to Use a Benefit, Make Signing Up a Little Harder
In some cases, you need to make it (ever-so-slightly) harder for people to sign up for the program to help them feel like it’s worth the effort, suggests research forthcoming in Management Science. – Harvard Business Review