AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- 2026 BBC Proms Saw Record Digital Audience Figures
“The organisation has reported … 8.3 million streams across BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds. Proms content generated 65.8 million views across BBC social media platforms. … The Last Night of the Proms achieved 505,000 live plays, up 12% on 2025’s figure of 450,000, and in total 10.2 million users watched Proms broadcasts on television.” – Gramophone
- Harvey Weinstein Sentenced To 15 Years In New York Sexual Assault Case
“The landmark New York prosecution began nearly a decade ago with multiple accusers, but after retrials, mistrials, acquittals and appeals, it was whittled to a single victim: Miriam Haley, who … had worked briefly on the Weinstein-produced reality series Project Runway.” – AP
- White House Officials Search For Easier DC Landmarks To Put Trump’s Name On (But Not Ford’s Theatre)
What with the ongoing battle over the Kennedy Center, Trump administration staffers are reportedly trying to find other spots to which his name could be added without legal wrangling. An MS NOW report said that among the places aides considered was the site of Lincoln’s assassination, a suggestion Trump himself angrily denies. – AlterNet
- Kennedy Center Officials Extend Closure For Another Week, Citing Safety Issues
“Executive Director Matt Floca cited recent studies of roofing damage he says could harm pedestrians in a status report filed Wednesday evening. … Floca has said the current shutdown is separate from the board’s decision” to close indefinitely, which requires the court’s approval, “and was prompted by immediate safety concerns.” – The Washington Post (MSN)
- Financial Crisis At Nashville Symphony, “Restructuring” Is Being Planned
Money troubles aren’t new to the orchestra, but in the wake of the recent death of longtime benefactor Martha Ingram, “the organization does not have sufficient cash on hand to sustain operations at its current level. The Symphony’s executive committee is developing a restructuring plan designed to stabilize the organization.” – Nashville Scene
ISSUES
- Six Artists Who Shaped Modern American Design — And The Bitter WWII Experience Which United Them All
“The (Barnes Foundation) exhibit ‘Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America’ examines six renowned Japanese-American artists whose work defined modern American art and design in the mid-to-late 20th century — all of whom were severely impacted by mass incarceration” in wartime internment camps. – The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
- The “Extraordinary” Bolivian Painter Whose Work Was Discovered In The Trash
“Alejandro Mario Yllanes was a protégé of Diego Rivera, who championed the bravery with which Yllanes made searingly political works. Yllanes … left little trace of his life after 1950, leaving a cache of paintings, engravings and documents in an apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.” – The New York Times
- National Trust For Historic Preservation Announces $10M Fund To Push Back Against Trump
The fund “will provide resources for legal defense, public advocacy, and community action when historic places and the laws that protect them are under threat,” Brent Leggs, the trust’s president, said in an interview on Tuesday. – Washington Post
- Comedy Comes To The Museum Tour
During the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last month, she made her way to the National Galleries of Scotland for what was billed as a “cheeky romp” uncovering the “gossip, glamour and glorious absurdity hiding behind the art.” Gloriously absurd it was. – NPR
- Faced With Soaring Costs, Museums Are Rethinking Their Climate Control Standards
For decades, professionals codified a climate range of plus or minus 2°C and plus or minus 5% humidity into museum practices and loan agreements worldwide, applying these numbers to institutions in environments wildly different from London. In recent years, however, professionals have started to push back against these stringent standards. – The Art Newspaper
MEDIA
- White House Officials Search For Easier DC Landmarks To Put Trump’s Name On (But Not Ford’s Theatre)
What with the ongoing battle over the Kennedy Center, Trump administration staffers are reportedly trying to find other spots to which his name could be added without legal wrangling. An MS NOW report said that among the places aides considered was the site of Lincoln’s assassination, a suggestion Trump himself angrily denies. – AlterNet
- Kennedy Center Officials Extend Closure For Another Week, Citing Safety Issues
“Executive Director Matt Floca cited recent studies of roofing damage he says could harm pedestrians in a status report filed Wednesday evening. … Floca has said the current shutdown is separate from the board’s decision” to close indefinitely, which requires the court’s approval, “and was prompted by immediate safety concerns.” – The Washington Post (MSN)
- Higher Ed’s AI-Detection Struggle
Four years into the ChatGPT era, colleges may be further from solving AI cheating than they were when it launched. – The Atlantic
- Hungary’s New Government Temporarily Closes Orbán’s House Of Terror Museum
“The museum closure is part of new Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s attempts to rectify his predecessor, Viktor Orbán’s, control of state media and arts and culture entities. … (Culture minister Zoltán) Tarr said that the museum would reopen later this year ‘pending a review of the exhibition’s content.’” – ARTnews
- Inside The Capture Of The Kennedy Center
Internal emails and documents obtained by The New York Times demonstrate the political capture of the institution by the whims of Mr. Trump, who at the start of his second term installed a board that made him chairman. Audiences and donors fled, and its finances cratered. – The New York Times
MUSIC
- Nova Scotia Closed Libraries. The Backlash Has Been Intense
Persistent provincial underfunding forced the Annapolis Valley Regional Library system to announce plans earlier this year to permanently close five of its ten libraries. Many are tired of—even enraged by—what they perceive as the government’s assault on culture, treaty rights, and the environment. – The Walrus
- Jonathan Franzen’s TV Conversion
Franzen used to think TV was the “enemy” of the serious novelist. But after the HBO series failed, he watched Breaking Bad, Nurse Jackie and Silicon Valley and loved them. In the age of social media, AI and the endless scroll, TV has started to look like a “friend”, he says now. – The Guardian
- Arkansas Ends Effort To Restrict Prisoners’ Access To Hard-Copy Books
“The Department (of Corrections) first proposed banning incarcerated people from receiving physical books last year in order to tamp down on drugs making their way into prisons. … (The focus will be shifted) to ban ‘misbehaving’ third-parties selling publications laced with drugs to incarcerated people.” – Arkansas Advocate
- 2026 Booker Prize Finalists Include “The Disappearers,” “John Of John,” “The Things We Never Say”
“This year’s Booker prize shortlist features some very familiar names – previous winners Marlon James and Douglas Stuart …, along with Pulitzer winner Elizabeth Strout and prominent British speculative fiction writer M John Harrison. Novelist and poet Luke Kennard and debut novelist Rebecca Perry are also in contention for the £50,000 prize.” – The Guardian
- How The American Public Library Model Evolved
When you view the centuries-long history of American librarianship through a Pennsylvania lens, it’s more complex, nuanced and fascinating than many people realize. – The Conversation
PEOPLE
- 2026 BBC Proms Saw Record Digital Audience Figures
“The organisation has reported … 8.3 million streams across BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds. Proms content generated 65.8 million views across BBC social media platforms. … The Last Night of the Proms achieved 505,000 live plays, up 12% on 2025’s figure of 450,000, and in total 10.2 million users watched Proms broadcasts on television.” – Gramophone
- Harvey Weinstein Sentenced To 15 Years In New York Sexual Assault Case
“The landmark New York prosecution began nearly a decade ago with multiple accusers, but after retrials, mistrials, acquittals and appeals, it was whittled to a single victim: Miriam Haley, who … had worked briefly on the Weinstein-produced reality series Project Runway.” – AP
- White House Officials Search For Easier DC Landmarks To Put Trump’s Name On (But Not Ford’s Theatre)
What with the ongoing battle over the Kennedy Center, Trump administration staffers are reportedly trying to find other spots to which his name could be added without legal wrangling. An MS NOW report said that among the places aides considered was the site of Lincoln’s assassination, a suggestion Trump himself angrily denies. – AlterNet
- Kennedy Center Officials Extend Closure For Another Week, Citing Safety Issues
“Executive Director Matt Floca cited recent studies of roofing damage he says could harm pedestrians in a status report filed Wednesday evening. … Floca has said the current shutdown is separate from the board’s decision” to close indefinitely, which requires the court’s approval, “and was prompted by immediate safety concerns.” – The Washington Post (MSN)
- Financial Crisis At Nashville Symphony, “Restructuring” Is Being Planned
Money troubles aren’t new to the orchestra, but in the wake of the recent death of longtime benefactor Martha Ingram, “the organization does not have sufficient cash on hand to sustain operations at its current level. The Symphony’s executive committee is developing a restructuring plan designed to stabilize the organization.” – Nashville Scene
PEOPLE
- 2026 BBC Proms Saw Record Digital Audience Figures
“The organisation has reported … 8.3 million streams across BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds. Proms content generated 65.8 million views across BBC social media platforms. … The Last Night of the Proms achieved 505,000 live plays, up 12% on 2025’s figure of 450,000, and in total 10.2 million users watched Proms broadcasts on television.” – Gramophone
- Harvey Weinstein Sentenced To 15 Years In New York Sexual Assault Case
“The landmark New York prosecution began nearly a decade ago with multiple accusers, but after retrials, mistrials, acquittals and appeals, it was whittled to a single victim: Miriam Haley, who … had worked briefly on the Weinstein-produced reality series Project Runway.” – AP
- White House Officials Search For Easier DC Landmarks To Put Trump’s Name On (But Not Ford’s Theatre)
What with the ongoing battle over the Kennedy Center, Trump administration staffers are reportedly trying to find other spots to which his name could be added without legal wrangling. An MS NOW report said that among the places aides considered was the site of Lincoln’s assassination, a suggestion Trump himself angrily denies. – AlterNet
- Kennedy Center Officials Extend Closure For Another Week, Citing Safety Issues
“Executive Director Matt Floca cited recent studies of roofing damage he says could harm pedestrians in a status report filed Wednesday evening. … Floca has said the current shutdown is separate from the board’s decision” to close indefinitely, which requires the court’s approval, “and was prompted by immediate safety concerns.” – The Washington Post (MSN)
- Financial Crisis At Nashville Symphony, “Restructuring” Is Being Planned
Money troubles aren’t new to the orchestra, but in the wake of the recent death of longtime benefactor Martha Ingram, “the organization does not have sufficient cash on hand to sustain operations at its current level. The Symphony’s executive committee is developing a restructuring plan designed to stabilize the organization.” – Nashville Scene
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Are Debates Over Student AI Use Arguing Over The Wrong Things?
The battle for the role of AI in higher education this fall is being fought over when and where AI and other digital technologies should be used. This combat ignores the larger crisis: how can colleges verify that they are preparing students to become productive members of society in a digital age? – Post Alley
- Looking Back On What The Literary Theory Generation Wrought
A half-century after poststructuralism broke out of Parisian lecture halls and stumbled into unexpected acclaim and vitriol in the English-speaking world, we now have enough distance from the culture wars of the 1980s and ’90s to look back on theory with clearer vision. Or so it would seem. – Hedgehog Review
- The Real Qualities Of A Skeptic
‘Sceptic’ comes from the Greek skeptikos, meaning enquirer, and has a long and serious pedigree in philosophy. Yet, since the 1990s, the term has been hijacked by science-denial movements, giving us oxymorons like ‘climate sceptic’, ‘vaccine sceptic’, and ‘evolution sceptic’. – Aeon
- New UK Company Will Recreate Famous Concerts With Hyper-Realistic Digital Avatars In Any Space
The former chief executive of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s entertainment group has obtained a near-£15m investment for his UK music tech startup that hopes to recreate classic concerts by manifesting musicians as digital avatars. – The Guardian
- Turns Out The Lucas Museum Provides A Great Backdrop For Jedi-Themed Protests
At the event, about workers’ rights and the upcoming Olympics in L.A., “protesters from the Fair Games Coalition — wearing Jedi robes and Jar Jar Binks masks and carrying lightsabers — rallied together outside the new museum.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)