AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- A Science Fiction Novel Wins the Booker Prize
Good Morning,
M John Harrison, 81, has won the Booker Prize for The End of Everything, a postapocalyptic novel set on the Kent coast. He is the prize’s oldest winner and the first from the science-fiction world, after decades of arguing that good SciFi is literary fiction (The Guardian).
A Desert Storm memorial opened last month just north of the Lincoln Memorial, and a Global War on Terrorism memorial is planned next to it. Philip Kennicott, the Post’s architecture critic, says a landscape meant to symbolize reconciliation after the Civil War is filling up with war (The Washington Post).
Near Moab, Utah, someone carved “Meru” and “Craig W” into rock art about 1,500 years old. Scrubbing the names off could destroy the images underneath (Outside).
Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles’s flagship nonprofit theater, booked a nonunion tour of Music Man, and the paper’s critic called it “community-theater-level.” Artistic director Snehal Desai says union tours had mostly gone to the commercial Pantages (Los Angeles Times).
Skydance, new owner of Warner Bros., has promised investors $6 billion in cuts. CEO David Ellison also told them that “in a world of AI slop,” handcrafted storytelling will command a premium (Los Angeles Times).
All of today’s stories below.
- Project To Make Downtown Chicago A “Cultural Stadium” Takes A Step Forward
“Former Michigan state representative Donna Lasinski was announced Wednesday as the initiative’s inaugural president. … The project has been discussed in abstract for years but is now moving from idea to reality with the appointment of Lasinski, who has served as the Cultural Stadium’s senior adviser since April.” – WBEZ (Chicago)
- How Did Equality Come To Mean Different Things?
Today, it’s evident that the word ‘equality’ means very different things to different people. What once seemed capable of providing common ground is now just another source of controversy. What explains this shift? – Aeon
- The National Mall In DC Is Getting Too Full, And The Reason Why Is Not A Happy One
“The sylvan landscape around the Lincoln Memorial is a mess, and it will only get worse. … A landscape that was meant to symbolize peace and reconciliation after the Civil War is becoming cluttered mainly with memorials devoted to war” — too many to fit in this one place. – The Washington Post (MSN)
- The Ethics Of Entertainment Values
“Is the value of my experience at Disney World undermined by the fact that it is, at the end of the day, a production of the Walt Disney Company? Can I trust a profit-hungry corporation to teach my children universal values? – Psyche
ISSUES
- The National Mall In DC Is Getting Too Full, And The Reason Why Is Not A Happy One
“The sylvan landscape around the Lincoln Memorial is a mess, and it will only get worse. … A landscape that was meant to symbolize peace and reconciliation after the Civil War is becoming cluttered mainly with memorials devoted to war” — too many to fit in this one place. – The Washington Post (MSN)
- The Louvre’s New Director On The Museum’s Many Challenges
The new challenges in recent weeks come at a time when Mr. Leribault has had to deal with everything in his brief tenure from the threat of staff strikes and a perennial shortage of visitor bathrooms to a whopping funding drive to finance the museum’s planned refurbishment and reorganization. – The Wall Street Journal
- Ancient Petroglyphs In Utah Vandalized, Damage May Be Permanent
“The Bureau of Land Management announced on November 6 that it was investigating vandalism at two ancient rock-art sites near Moab, Utah, where someone carved names into petroglyphs, leaving damage that may be impossible to remove.” – Outside
- Former CFO Sues Philadelphia Museum Of Art, Claiming Her Severance Was Withheld
“Valarie McDuffie has accused museum director and CEO Daniel H. Weiss and board chair Ellen Caplan of withholding nearly $150,000 in severance out of ‘spite and retaliation.’ But the museum has countered with allegations of its own, claiming that McDuffie breached her severance agreement.” – ARTnews
- Many Of DC’s Memorials Are In Darkness As Park Service Maintenance Lapses
The lapse in upkeep and repairs at some of the most prominent memorials in Washington and at the more than 400 national park properties across the country comes as the Trump administration has reduced the agency’s staff by roughly 25 percent and withheld millions of dollars in funding. – Washington Post
MEDIA
- Project To Make Downtown Chicago A “Cultural Stadium” Takes A Step Forward
“Former Michigan state representative Donna Lasinski was announced Wednesday as the initiative’s inaugural president. … The project has been discussed in abstract for years but is now moving from idea to reality with the appointment of Lasinski, who has served as the Cultural Stadium’s senior adviser since April.” – WBEZ (Chicago)
- “Art Is The Great Democrat”
“Art is the great democrat,” wrote Kennedy, “calling forth creative genius from every sector of society, disregarding race or religion or wealth or color.” He saw art as a means of transcending difference, as both a product of democracy and a contributor to its flourishing. – San Francisco Classical Voice
- Aquaterra: The Vast Lands Of Civilization We’ve Not Yet Explored
To understand where—and what—Aquaterra is, you have to think about how sea levels fall and rise during an ice age. As the planet cools, ocean water becomes locked up in continental ice sheets, and sea levels fall by hundreds of feet. – The Atlantic
- Are U.S. Arenas Refusing To Let Macklemore Play?
The rap artist wrote that after Ed Sheeran removed him from the Sheeran tour, his team reached out to arenas with available dates. “But once they found out these were my benefit shows for Palestine, … those dates were suddenly off the table.” – The New York Times
- The ‘Blue Wave’ On Tuesday Swept A Fair Number Of Artists To Power
“Next year’s massive reconfiguration of power … brings with it a number of elected officials with creative backgrounds, some of whom even incorporated music, dance and art into their campaigns and promises to constituents.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
MUSIC
- Canadian Government Announces New Investment In Books
The new budget released by the government of Canada last week permanently increased the Canada Book Fund by CDN $5 million annually. This increase, the first since 2001, will bring the Canada Book Fund’s total annual budget to approximately CDN $43.4 million starting in 2027–28. – Publishers Weekly
- For The First Time, The Booker Prize Goes To A Bona Fide Sci-Fi Novel
“Eighty-one-year-old M John Harrison has won the Booker Prize for The End of Everything, a postapocalyptic novel set on a near-future Kent coast, becoming the oldest winner in the award’s history.” Booker Prize Foundation CEO Gaby Wood called it “the first Booker winner to have emerged from the bona fide SF world.” – The Guardian
- Can Authors Ever Use Enough Tools To ‘Prove’ They Didn’t Use AI?
Especially since a lot of LLMs are trained on those authors’ words already? Well, that’s the hope – that’s there’s a way to prove a negative. – Wired
- What’s Up With Your Ethics, New York Times?
In short: “The New York Times has terminated their contract with author Olivia Waite, their romance columnist, after she reposted Mark Jacob’s repost of Marisa Kabas’ criticism of the Times’ coverage of new rape allegations about Trump.” – Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
- A Ransomware Attack Takes Down The Queens Public Library
“Unfortunately, it’s part of the world that we live in right now. So the Queens Public Library is a victim of the type of world that we’re living in, where people are launching cyber attacks against various types of entities, large corporations, and now Queens Public Library.” – LitHub
PEOPLE
- A Science Fiction Novel Wins the Booker Prize
Good Morning,
M John Harrison, 81, has won the Booker Prize for The End of Everything, a postapocalyptic novel set on the Kent coast. He is the prize’s oldest winner and the first from the science-fiction world, after decades of arguing that good SciFi is literary fiction (The Guardian).
A Desert Storm memorial opened last month just north of the Lincoln Memorial, and a Global War on Terrorism memorial is planned next to it. Philip Kennicott, the Post’s architecture critic, says a landscape meant to symbolize reconciliation after the Civil War is filling up with war (The Washington Post).
Near Moab, Utah, someone carved “Meru” and “Craig W” into rock art about 1,500 years old. Scrubbing the names off could destroy the images underneath (Outside).
Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles’s flagship nonprofit theater, booked a nonunion tour of Music Man, and the paper’s critic called it “community-theater-level.” Artistic director Snehal Desai says union tours had mostly gone to the commercial Pantages (Los Angeles Times).
Skydance, new owner of Warner Bros., has promised investors $6 billion in cuts. CEO David Ellison also told them that “in a world of AI slop,” handcrafted storytelling will command a premium (Los Angeles Times).
All of today’s stories below.
- Project To Make Downtown Chicago A “Cultural Stadium” Takes A Step Forward
“Former Michigan state representative Donna Lasinski was announced Wednesday as the initiative’s inaugural president. … The project has been discussed in abstract for years but is now moving from idea to reality with the appointment of Lasinski, who has served as the Cultural Stadium’s senior adviser since April.” – WBEZ (Chicago)
- How Did Equality Come To Mean Different Things?
Today, it’s evident that the word ‘equality’ means very different things to different people. What once seemed capable of providing common ground is now just another source of controversy. What explains this shift? – Aeon
- The National Mall In DC Is Getting Too Full, And The Reason Why Is Not A Happy One
“The sylvan landscape around the Lincoln Memorial is a mess, and it will only get worse. … A landscape that was meant to symbolize peace and reconciliation after the Civil War is becoming cluttered mainly with memorials devoted to war” — too many to fit in this one place. – The Washington Post (MSN)
- The Ethics Of Entertainment Values
“Is the value of my experience at Disney World undermined by the fact that it is, at the end of the day, a production of the Walt Disney Company? Can I trust a profit-hungry corporation to teach my children universal values? – Psyche
PEOPLE
- A Science Fiction Novel Wins the Booker Prize
Good Morning,
M John Harrison, 81, has won the Booker Prize for The End of Everything, a postapocalyptic novel set on the Kent coast. He is the prize’s oldest winner and the first from the science-fiction world, after decades of arguing that good SciFi is literary fiction (The Guardian).
A Desert Storm memorial opened last month just north of the Lincoln Memorial, and a Global War on Terrorism memorial is planned next to it. Philip Kennicott, the Post’s architecture critic, says a landscape meant to symbolize reconciliation after the Civil War is filling up with war (The Washington Post).
Near Moab, Utah, someone carved “Meru” and “Craig W” into rock art about 1,500 years old. Scrubbing the names off could destroy the images underneath (Outside).
Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles’s flagship nonprofit theater, booked a nonunion tour of Music Man, and the paper’s critic called it “community-theater-level.” Artistic director Snehal Desai says union tours had mostly gone to the commercial Pantages (Los Angeles Times).
Skydance, new owner of Warner Bros., has promised investors $6 billion in cuts. CEO David Ellison also told them that “in a world of AI slop,” handcrafted storytelling will command a premium (Los Angeles Times).
All of today’s stories below.
- Project To Make Downtown Chicago A “Cultural Stadium” Takes A Step Forward
“Former Michigan state representative Donna Lasinski was announced Wednesday as the initiative’s inaugural president. … The project has been discussed in abstract for years but is now moving from idea to reality with the appointment of Lasinski, who has served as the Cultural Stadium’s senior adviser since April.” – WBEZ (Chicago)
- How Did Equality Come To Mean Different Things?
Today, it’s evident that the word ‘equality’ means very different things to different people. What once seemed capable of providing common ground is now just another source of controversy. What explains this shift? – Aeon
- The National Mall In DC Is Getting Too Full, And The Reason Why Is Not A Happy One
“The sylvan landscape around the Lincoln Memorial is a mess, and it will only get worse. … A landscape that was meant to symbolize peace and reconciliation after the Civil War is becoming cluttered mainly with memorials devoted to war” — too many to fit in this one place. – The Washington Post (MSN)
- The Ethics Of Entertainment Values
“Is the value of my experience at Disney World undermined by the fact that it is, at the end of the day, a production of the Walt Disney Company? Can I trust a profit-hungry corporation to teach my children universal values? – Psyche
THEATRE
VISUAL
- How Did Equality Come To Mean Different Things?
Today, it’s evident that the word ‘equality’ means very different things to different people. What once seemed capable of providing common ground is now just another source of controversy. What explains this shift? – Aeon
- The Ethics Of Entertainment Values
“Is the value of my experience at Disney World undermined by the fact that it is, at the end of the day, a production of the Walt Disney Company? Can I trust a profit-hungry corporation to teach my children universal values? – Psyche
- The Trap Of Optimization
We usually assume that more of it must be better. But we can become so focused on improving one thing that we lose sight of the others. You can try to arrange your calendar so that every minute is accounted for, but you’ll soon start running over and end up behind. – The Guardian
- When AI Transfers Into The Physical World
“With a world model, you give it a visual state of the world, an image, and it will then predict the next visual state of the world.” These 3D generations can be used as digital training grounds. “They’re simulations, but they look and feel real.” – Wired
- When Writers Lose Confidence In Free Speech
If democracy is the political system that allows the fullest human flourishing, the novel is the literary form that most fully cultivates our understanding of human possibility and tragedy and endurance. – The Atlantic