AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- A New World Record For Most Tickets Sold For A Standup Comedy Tour
“Nate Bargatze’s ‘Big Dumb Eyes’ tour, which began on April 6, 2025, crossed the 2 million mark after just 16 months and 10 days — and across only 128 venues.” As of last Saturday, the total was sold approximately 2,016,254 tickets. – Variety
- Brazen: Thieves Steal Four Renaissance Paintings From Italian Museum
Taking advantage of an annual religious celebration that brings tens of thousands to Messina’s streets, thieves made off with three of five panels that constitute the Polyptych of San Gregorio as well as a small double-sided devotional painting. – The New York Times
- The Difficulty Of Turning Viral Video Into Full Movies
Consider the growing slate of satires about influencers, the numerous coming-of-age films that have tapped into teenage angst amid the rise of social media, and the fact that entire movies have been made that take place exclusively on computer screens. – The Atlantic
- “Thoreauvian Resistance” — Why “Walden” Is A Big Hit In Today’s China
“Thoreau warned us that most men lead lives of quiet desperation. In China today, that desperation has been given a name: Neijuan — involution. … If Thoreau were alive today, he might say that China has industrialized quiet desperation. The pushback has a name too: tang ping — lying flat.” – Literary Hub
- Movie Theatre Group Reverses Position On Paramount/Warner Deal
“Today, our industry has the wind at its back. Studio partners are creating and distributing extraordinary films. Audiences across generations are responding with enthusiasm. But none of that can be taken for granted. Global exhibition believes in a bold future for this industry, but reaching our full potential requires working together.“ – The Hollywood Reporter
ISSUES
- Brazen: Thieves Steal Four Renaissance Paintings From Italian Museum
Taking advantage of an annual religious celebration that brings tens of thousands to Messina’s streets, thieves made off with three of five panels that constitute the Polyptych of San Gregorio as well as a small double-sided devotional painting. – The New York Times
- Preservation Group Appeals To Supreme Court To Stop White House Construction
The preservationist group trying to stop President Trump’s White House ballroom urged the Supreme Court to deny the administration’s emergency request to allow construction, calling it “astonishing” on Tuesday. – The Hill
- Sudden Power Outages And Overcrowding Plague Several Chinese Museums This Summer
“China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration has ordered public museums across the country to strengthen emergency management protocols to protect visitors and artefacts, following a string of power outages and overcrowding incidents during the summer holiday season. The directive follows several infrastructural breakdowns at major cultural institutions.” – The Art Newspaper
- Prosecutors For Crimea Investigate Archaeology Researchers Connected To Hermitage For War Crimes
“The prosecutor’s office of the republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol is investigating two unnamed researchers, one of them associated with the Hermitage, for war crimes. The prosecutors say they participated in illegal archaeological expeditions in the territory, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014.” – ARTnews
- Marina Abramović Is Making Art With, Of All Things, Balloons
“Snowy/Windy/Spring on Planet Z, the latest installation by the performance artist Marina Abramović, opened earlier this month at New York’s new Balloon Museum, which bills itself as ‘the first permanent home for inflatable art’.” – The Guardian
MEDIA
- France’s Planned Ban On Social Media For Under-15s Ruled Unconstitutional
“The Constitutional Council … said the restrictions in the bill disproportionately infringe on minors’ right to freedom of expression and communication. Europe’s would-be first social media ban … had been a flagship policy of Macron’s second and final term.” – Politico
- Close The Kennedy Center? It Might Be The Best Option
Given how thoroughly Trump’s leadership has destroyed the center’s viability as a presenting organization, that is probably the best of a slew of bad options. – Washington Post
- Confirmed: Amazon Is Scanning And Then Ripping Up Rare Books
Wow, OK, way to be just obviously evil. “The printed book is destroyed in the process. The logo of the Amazon team that works at this warehouse, called VGT3, is a dinosaur, brandishing its teeth and with a book in its hands.” – 404 Media
- The Current Guy Uses AI To Claim Ballroom Approval From A Long-Dead Leader
The 47th president shared “a series of seemingly AI-generated images … and a short video in which Trump and Washington stroll through the still-unbuilt ballroom. ‘Thank you, George, for some of your brilliant ideas on this great Military Complex/Ballroom!’ Trump captioned the 10-second video.” – Salon
- The Dream Of A ‘Red State Hollywood’ Usually Founders On A Couple Of Things
“No one wants more uncertainty, and certainly no one wants this chaos. And let’s face it, no one really wants to move from Beverly Hills to Nashville.” – The New York Times
MUSIC
- “Thoreauvian Resistance” — Why “Walden” Is A Big Hit In Today’s China
“Thoreau warned us that most men lead lives of quiet desperation. In China today, that desperation has been given a name: Neijuan — involution. … If Thoreau were alive today, he might say that China has industrialized quiet desperation. The pushback has a name too: tang ping — lying flat.” – Literary Hub
- Publisher Suspends Book After Plagiarism Charges
Penguin Random House has suspended promotion and public sales of a forthcoming book by journalist Ross Barkan following allegations of extensive plagiarism in political columns he wrote as a freelancer for New York Magazine. – Washington Post
- Why Reading Fiction Is Good For Your Brain
The amount of fiction people read seems to be a better predictor of language ability than nonfiction, research finds. And, perhaps even more importantly, research has found that fiction is linked to better social cognition and an increased understanding of the world as a complex place. – Washington Post
- Why Writing Detectors For AI Won’t Work
Either human speech and AI speech progressively assimilate, causing a collapse in any meaningful distinction, or language becomes a contested social signal. This second scenario would essentially be a game of whack-a-mole across the English language. – Washington Post
- A “Great Books” Professor Lets His Students Watch Him Struggle With “The Brothers Karamazov”
Matt Dinan, of St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada, had somehow never read the Dostoevsky classic before last semester. He found himself completely consumed by the novel — and then found his students equally taken with it. The reasons they gave for being so excited were telling. – The New York Times
PEOPLE
- A New World Record For Most Tickets Sold For A Standup Comedy Tour
“Nate Bargatze’s ‘Big Dumb Eyes’ tour, which began on April 6, 2025, crossed the 2 million mark after just 16 months and 10 days — and across only 128 venues.” As of last Saturday, the total was sold approximately 2,016,254 tickets. – Variety
- Brazen: Thieves Steal Four Renaissance Paintings From Italian Museum
Taking advantage of an annual religious celebration that brings tens of thousands to Messina’s streets, thieves made off with three of five panels that constitute the Polyptych of San Gregorio as well as a small double-sided devotional painting. – The New York Times
- The Difficulty Of Turning Viral Video Into Full Movies
Consider the growing slate of satires about influencers, the numerous coming-of-age films that have tapped into teenage angst amid the rise of social media, and the fact that entire movies have been made that take place exclusively on computer screens. – The Atlantic
- “Thoreauvian Resistance” — Why “Walden” Is A Big Hit In Today’s China
“Thoreau warned us that most men lead lives of quiet desperation. In China today, that desperation has been given a name: Neijuan — involution. … If Thoreau were alive today, he might say that China has industrialized quiet desperation. The pushback has a name too: tang ping — lying flat.” – Literary Hub
- Movie Theatre Group Reverses Position On Paramount/Warner Deal
“Today, our industry has the wind at its back. Studio partners are creating and distributing extraordinary films. Audiences across generations are responding with enthusiasm. But none of that can be taken for granted. Global exhibition believes in a bold future for this industry, but reaching our full potential requires working together.“ – The Hollywood Reporter
PEOPLE
- A New World Record For Most Tickets Sold For A Standup Comedy Tour
“Nate Bargatze’s ‘Big Dumb Eyes’ tour, which began on April 6, 2025, crossed the 2 million mark after just 16 months and 10 days — and across only 128 venues.” As of last Saturday, the total was sold approximately 2,016,254 tickets. – Variety
- Brazen: Thieves Steal Four Renaissance Paintings From Italian Museum
Taking advantage of an annual religious celebration that brings tens of thousands to Messina’s streets, thieves made off with three of five panels that constitute the Polyptych of San Gregorio as well as a small double-sided devotional painting. – The New York Times
- The Difficulty Of Turning Viral Video Into Full Movies
Consider the growing slate of satires about influencers, the numerous coming-of-age films that have tapped into teenage angst amid the rise of social media, and the fact that entire movies have been made that take place exclusively on computer screens. – The Atlantic
- “Thoreauvian Resistance” — Why “Walden” Is A Big Hit In Today’s China
“Thoreau warned us that most men lead lives of quiet desperation. In China today, that desperation has been given a name: Neijuan — involution. … If Thoreau were alive today, he might say that China has industrialized quiet desperation. The pushback has a name too: tang ping — lying flat.” – Literary Hub
- Movie Theatre Group Reverses Position On Paramount/Warner Deal
“Today, our industry has the wind at its back. Studio partners are creating and distributing extraordinary films. Audiences across generations are responding with enthusiasm. But none of that can be taken for granted. Global exhibition believes in a bold future for this industry, but reaching our full potential requires working together.“ – The Hollywood Reporter
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Research: Why We’re Bothered More When We Think People Are Wrong (And It’s Not Just A Different Opinion)
Our new research finds that people are more disturbed by others’ beliefs when they feel those beliefs are not merely different from their own but are based on incorrect information. – The Conversation
- The End Of Nostalgia?
What if businesses become too good at selling nostalgia? Research I carried out with colleagues suggests that digital technology is changing nostalgia itself. Ironically, by making the past permanently available, companies may be weakening the very notion they are trying to sell. – The Conversation
- Warning: Screen Time Is Having An Impact On Kids’ Cognitive Abilities
“Our children are less cognitively capable than we were at their age. For nearly two centuries, the west experienced steady generational progress. Each new cohort of children grew up, on average, healthier, happier, and better educated than the last. Until now.” – The Guardian
- How AI Will Damage Children’s Brain Development
During the most foundational period of brain development, social interaction of the sort that AI can now emulate isn’t entertainment for the developing brain. It’s nutrition. Once you see it that way, the right parallel snaps into focus. A more apt comparison than social media is food—more precisely, processed food. – The Atlantic
- Our Ability To Search The Internet Is Dying
Search can no longer pretend to be a neutral gateway to a stable body of knowledge. While the web has always been organized around intermediaries that shape what survives online and who sees it, the internet’s archival function is today breaking down under relentless pressure from stakeholders with very different—and often conflicting—priorities. – The Walrus