AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Paramount Demands $1.9 Billion Bond From States Suing To Prevent Its Takeover Of Warner Bros.
“In Monday’s court filing, Paramount requested the plaintiff states … as well as the Writers Guild of America, post a bond that would cover some of its costs, including ‘ticking fees’ Paramount promised to pay Warner shareholders should the deal stretch beyond its anticipated September close.” – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- ABC Sues Trump’s FCC Over Threats To Network’s Broadcast Licenses
“Further escalating its battle with the Trump administration, ABC on Tuesday took the rare step of suing the Federal Communications Commission on First Amendment grounds, saying the agency’s demand for early review of its broadcast licenses posed an ‘existential threat’ to the network.” – AP
- Phyllida Law, Prolific Actress (And Emma Thompson’s Mum), Has Died At 94
She broke into television and theatre in the 1950s, working at (among others) both the London and Bristol Old Vics as well as in the West End. Her film career took off in the 1980s, and she appeared a number of times with each of her daughters, Emma and Sophie Thompson. – The Guardian
- Hollywood Shrinks. Microdramas Boom. The Onion Wins.
Good Morning,
Today’s most interesting stories aren’t about what culture is making. They’re about the containers it’s making it in. Investigative newsrooms are turning spying scandals and vote-rigging exposés into video games (Nieman Lab) — three billion gamers is a bigger room than any homepage. Hollywood is contracting everywhere except microdramas, the vertical 90-second serials headed for $1.5 billion in US revenue this year (Reuters). And The Onion’s takeover of InfoWars, which could have stayed a one-note gag, now out-draws Alex Jones himself (TheWrap).
Regional theaters can finally produce Les Misérables now that the last tour has closed, and they are not waiting around (The New York Times). The Bolshoi is on the losing side of the same mechanism: a fraud investigation over Grigorovich’s choreographic legacy puts 11 productions, Nutcracker and Swan Lake among them, in doubt (Gramilano). Dance/USA’s incoming director skips the euphemisms entirely: the existing structure “is not sustainable” (Dance Magazine).
Meanwhile the Rijksmuseum has put 840,000 works online, free to download and edit (Open Culture), and Getty curators are grading art emojis across operating systems (The New York Times). Ah, the frontiers of connoisseurship…
All of today’s stories below.
- 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
ISSUES
- 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
- The Rijksmuseum Has Digitized 840,000 Artworks And Put Them Online
The museum promised to “bring the museum to you,” and it has delivered not only with its extensive digital collection, free for downloading, sharing and editing with a free Rijksmuseum account, but also with informative series on its website. – Open Culture
- What Are The Best Art Emojis? Getty Curators Have Thoughts…
Curators at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles have taken those variations as an invitation to judgment. In a series of recent social media posts, the museum is rating the appearances of art-adjacent emojis across different platforms and operating systems, leavening scholarly expertise with a liberal sprinkling of cheek. – The New York Times
- Sydney’s Biggest Cultural Project Since The Opera House Sets Its Official Opening Date
Powerhouse Paramatta, a 915 million AUD (US$650 million) museum of applied design and technology, will be Western Sydney’s first major cultural institution. It will open to the public this November 7. – Time Out Sydney
- As Some Paintings Are Found, Art Thieves Hit A Sicilian Museum
In the morning, good news about an art theft from March. Then came the evening. “Thieves got past the alarm system at Messina’s Museo Interdisciplinare Regionale (MuMe), and broke open a security case. They soon left with four wooden panels.” – NPR
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
- 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
- All Novels Are Boring Until They’re Not
I call this point in a novel its volta. The term comes from poetry, where it denotes a shift that sonnets exhibit between their opening octave and concluding sestet or between their first 12 lines and final couplet. – Public Books
- AI Has Plunged Publishing Into Chaos
The spectacular implosions of big book deals over suspected AI use—and fears about who might be next—are forcing a reckoning over the nature of authorship, the relationship between writers and publishers and the industry’s long-term survival. – The Wall Street Journal
PEOPLE
- Paramount Demands $1.9 Billion Bond From States Suing To Prevent Its Takeover Of Warner Bros.
“In Monday’s court filing, Paramount requested the plaintiff states … as well as the Writers Guild of America, post a bond that would cover some of its costs, including ‘ticking fees’ Paramount promised to pay Warner shareholders should the deal stretch beyond its anticipated September close.” – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- ABC Sues Trump’s FCC Over Threats To Network’s Broadcast Licenses
“Further escalating its battle with the Trump administration, ABC on Tuesday took the rare step of suing the Federal Communications Commission on First Amendment grounds, saying the agency’s demand for early review of its broadcast licenses posed an ‘existential threat’ to the network.” – AP
- Phyllida Law, Prolific Actress (And Emma Thompson’s Mum), Has Died At 94
She broke into television and theatre in the 1950s, working at (among others) both the London and Bristol Old Vics as well as in the West End. Her film career took off in the 1980s, and she appeared a number of times with each of her daughters, Emma and Sophie Thompson. – The Guardian
- Hollywood Shrinks. Microdramas Boom. The Onion Wins.
Good Morning,
Today’s most interesting stories aren’t about what culture is making. They’re about the containers it’s making it in. Investigative newsrooms are turning spying scandals and vote-rigging exposés into video games (Nieman Lab) — three billion gamers is a bigger room than any homepage. Hollywood is contracting everywhere except microdramas, the vertical 90-second serials headed for $1.5 billion in US revenue this year (Reuters). And The Onion’s takeover of InfoWars, which could have stayed a one-note gag, now out-draws Alex Jones himself (TheWrap).
Regional theaters can finally produce Les Misérables now that the last tour has closed, and they are not waiting around (The New York Times). The Bolshoi is on the losing side of the same mechanism: a fraud investigation over Grigorovich’s choreographic legacy puts 11 productions, Nutcracker and Swan Lake among them, in doubt (Gramilano). Dance/USA’s incoming director skips the euphemisms entirely: the existing structure “is not sustainable” (Dance Magazine).
Meanwhile the Rijksmuseum has put 840,000 works online, free to download and edit (Open Culture), and Getty curators are grading art emojis across operating systems (The New York Times). Ah, the frontiers of connoisseurship…
All of today’s stories below.
- 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
PEOPLE
- Paramount Demands $1.9 Billion Bond From States Suing To Prevent Its Takeover Of Warner Bros.
“In Monday’s court filing, Paramount requested the plaintiff states … as well as the Writers Guild of America, post a bond that would cover some of its costs, including ‘ticking fees’ Paramount promised to pay Warner shareholders should the deal stretch beyond its anticipated September close.” – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- ABC Sues Trump’s FCC Over Threats To Network’s Broadcast Licenses
“Further escalating its battle with the Trump administration, ABC on Tuesday took the rare step of suing the Federal Communications Commission on First Amendment grounds, saying the agency’s demand for early review of its broadcast licenses posed an ‘existential threat’ to the network.” – AP
- Phyllida Law, Prolific Actress (And Emma Thompson’s Mum), Has Died At 94
She broke into television and theatre in the 1950s, working at (among others) both the London and Bristol Old Vics as well as in the West End. Her film career took off in the 1980s, and she appeared a number of times with each of her daughters, Emma and Sophie Thompson. – The Guardian
- Hollywood Shrinks. Microdramas Boom. The Onion Wins.
Good Morning,
Today’s most interesting stories aren’t about what culture is making. They’re about the containers it’s making it in. Investigative newsrooms are turning spying scandals and vote-rigging exposés into video games (Nieman Lab) — three billion gamers is a bigger room than any homepage. Hollywood is contracting everywhere except microdramas, the vertical 90-second serials headed for $1.5 billion in US revenue this year (Reuters). And The Onion’s takeover of InfoWars, which could have stayed a one-note gag, now out-draws Alex Jones himself (TheWrap).
Regional theaters can finally produce Les Misérables now that the last tour has closed, and they are not waiting around (The New York Times). The Bolshoi is on the losing side of the same mechanism: a fraud investigation over Grigorovich’s choreographic legacy puts 11 productions, Nutcracker and Swan Lake among them, in doubt (Gramilano). Dance/USA’s incoming director skips the euphemisms entirely: the existing structure “is not sustainable” (Dance Magazine).
Meanwhile the Rijksmuseum has put 840,000 works online, free to download and edit (Open Culture), and Getty curators are grading art emojis across operating systems (The New York Times). Ah, the frontiers of connoisseurship…
All of today’s stories below.
- 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
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