AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- As Ted Lasso Returns For Season Four, Hannah Waddingham Is Dealing With An Unexpected Level Of Fame
Hannah Waddingham, of Ted Lasso fame: “An overnight success after 25 years is delicious. And I’m fine with it, because I’m very at peace with who I am. I’m more than happy to share that I’m 51 and proud of it.” – The Guardian (UK)
- At Avignon, French And Korean Languages Meet On Stage
“In 2023, English was represented by only a handful of productions, and last summer the majority of Arabic-related offerings were dance shows, rendering the question of language somewhat moot. But the focus on Korean at this year’s festival … has opened an inviting window.” – The New York Times
- The Hollywood Bowl Has A Gorgeous New Sound System
But it might be too good – so good that audience members can hardly believe they’re outside. – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- Nebraska’s Cultural Endowment Did Decades Of Great Work, But The State’s Finances May Kill It Off
“This unusual, public-private fund is made up of philanthropic donations matched dollar-for-dollar by the state” – and now the state has snatched back one third of the endowment to help balance the budget. – NPR
- Is this really a “post-literate” age?
This Week’s Highlights:
The recording industry proposed labels distinguishing “AI-generated” from “AI-assisted” music (Deadline). Set it beside major publishers suing Google over the books that trained Gemini (The Guardian) and a pattern emerges — culture’s markets are beginning to price provenance. When the what can be manufactured infinitely, value perhaps migrates to the who and the how. The industry’s labels point at the machine.
The week also suggested our literacy panic is aimed at the wrong generation. The Atlantic declared a post-literate age, but the numbers show older Americans’ daily reading has nearly halved since 2003 while young people’s is growing slightly (The New York Times) — and Gen Z has built its own robust book-recommendation infrastructure on TikTok (The New Yorker).
And censorship this week mostly didn’t need a censor. A Texas provost pulled an ICE-critical exhibition to manage any “barking” from the state capital (NPR); Moscow’s art scene, further down the same road, has retreated into apartments and kitchens (The New York Times). But a counterweight: pianist Jayson Gillham won his free-speech case against the Melbourne Symphony (The New York Times).
All this week’s stories below, organized by topic.
ISSUES
- Surrealists Were The Original Antifa
“While Surrealism is figured as a style in popular imagination — trippy, dreamy, and escapist, detached from reality in every way — (the exhibition) ‘In the Very Bowels of Change: Surrealism and Antifascism’ reminds just how much the movement was formed in response to the politics of its time.” – Art in America
- Oh, Great — Now They’ve Found Legionnaires’ Disease Bacteria At The Met Museum, Too
“The Metropolitan Museum of Art has tested positive for traces of the bacteria linked to a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, health officials announced Tuesday. The bacteria were previously detected at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, as authorities continue searching for the source of the outbreak.” – ARTnews
- Tasmania’s “Provocative” Museum Of Old And New Art To Open Branch In Bangkok
MONA, owned and run (in famously quirky style) by gambling mogul David Walsh in Australia’s island state, is slated to open its first satellite museum on the banks of the Chao Phraya River in the Thai capital in 2029. – Artnet
- Six Decades After It Was First Performed, Yoko Ono’s “Cut Piece” Is Still Frightening
Ono debuted the work at Carnegie Hall in 1964, sitting motionless onstage as people took turns cutting off her clothes with scissors. The Broad in Los Angeles is presenting Cut Piece twice this weekend across the street at REDCAT. The performer, known as MPA, is scared — but not of the scissors. – The Guardian
- Why Did Toledo Museum Of Art Cancel Its Exhibition Of Bongs?
The museum began work on “High Style: The Art of Cannabis Pipes” three years ago, thinking that increasing legalization and acceptance of marijuana made the timing good. Yet the show was cancelled this spring; museum management says it was for logistical reasons. The question: the logistics of what exactly? – The New York Times
MEDIA
- Nebraska’s Cultural Endowment Did Decades Of Great Work, But The State’s Finances May Kill It Off
“This unusual, public-private fund is made up of philanthropic donations matched dollar-for-dollar by the state” – and now the state has snatched back one third of the endowment to help balance the budget. – NPR
- Why Trump Is Fixated On Smithsonian History
People often joke about how Trumpism would like to return us to some version of the 1950s, when America supposedly was “great.” In this report, the administration has done just that. The report would prefer that nothing had ever happened since the ’50s to mar the White House’s polished, superficial, puerile version of America’s past. – The New York Times
- How Vanderbilt University Made Itself Competitive With The Ivy League
Twenty years ago, the school’s acceptance rate was 38%; now it’s under 5%, roughly equivalent to Yale’s, and its undergraduates are reportedly the happiest in the country. The change is the result of deliberate, planned effort by two successive presidents over 20 years. – New York Magazine (MSN)
- How Madrid Renters Are Using Art To Protest Landlords
When their homes came under threat, they instinctively reached for the tools they had to hand: their social and cultural capital. That’s how an apartment block in Madrid became a stage, broadcast on every news channel. – The Guardian
- Arts And Culture In Moscow Are Starting To Resemble The Late Soviet Years
Art shows in apartments or offices, open to friends only, featuring artists forbidden to exhibit publicly. Philosophy clubs in people’s kitchens and living rooms. Small theater companies careful to refer to sensitive topics (like the Ukraine war or Putin) obliquely or not at all. A pervasive climate of fear. – The New York Times
MUSIC
- Why TikTok Has Become A Force In Book Buying
One of the reasons TikTok’s book-review videos, known collectively as BookTok, have become so popular—and powerful in the publishing world—is that they offer a human-based, quasi-critical recommendation portal for fans and genre devotees to connect, commiserate, and promote their favorite work. – The New Yorker
- Who’s Reading Less? It’s Older Americans, Not Younger
In 2003, older Americans read on average just under an hour each day — 58.5 minutes. By last year, that had fallen nearly by half, to roughly 32.4 minutes each day, a drop that represents the lion’s share of overall reading declines. – The New York Times
- Hong Kong Government Gives Ominous Warning To Booksellers
“Hong Kong’s top security official said Thursday that booksellers should ensure the titles they sell do not harm national security, a day after five people linked to two bookstores were arrested. The police operation on Wednesday was the third round of arrests targeting independent bookstores within four months.” – AP
- The Difference Between A Book And The Idea Of A Book
There is the book a writer writes, which is to say the actual words on the page, and then there is what I call its hologram—the shimmering, ethereal version of the book that the author must pitch to their publisher, and which their publisher then pitches to the public. – LitHub
- The Future Of Writing In The Age Of AI
“It reminded me of what happened when the internet came of age and you saw a difference in the texture of novels: something about the research process that had become expansive and yet somehow just a little more hollow than the pre-internet novel.” – Yale Review
PEOPLE
- As Ted Lasso Returns For Season Four, Hannah Waddingham Is Dealing With An Unexpected Level Of Fame
Hannah Waddingham, of Ted Lasso fame: “An overnight success after 25 years is delicious. And I’m fine with it, because I’m very at peace with who I am. I’m more than happy to share that I’m 51 and proud of it.” – The Guardian (UK)
- At Avignon, French And Korean Languages Meet On Stage
“In 2023, English was represented by only a handful of productions, and last summer the majority of Arabic-related offerings were dance shows, rendering the question of language somewhat moot. But the focus on Korean at this year’s festival … has opened an inviting window.” – The New York Times
- The Hollywood Bowl Has A Gorgeous New Sound System
But it might be too good – so good that audience members can hardly believe they’re outside. – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- Nebraska’s Cultural Endowment Did Decades Of Great Work, But The State’s Finances May Kill It Off
“This unusual, public-private fund is made up of philanthropic donations matched dollar-for-dollar by the state” – and now the state has snatched back one third of the endowment to help balance the budget. – NPR
- Is this really a “post-literate” age?
This Week’s Highlights:
The recording industry proposed labels distinguishing “AI-generated” from “AI-assisted” music (Deadline). Set it beside major publishers suing Google over the books that trained Gemini (The Guardian) and a pattern emerges — culture’s markets are beginning to price provenance. When the what can be manufactured infinitely, value perhaps migrates to the who and the how. The industry’s labels point at the machine.
The week also suggested our literacy panic is aimed at the wrong generation. The Atlantic declared a post-literate age, but the numbers show older Americans’ daily reading has nearly halved since 2003 while young people’s is growing slightly (The New York Times) — and Gen Z has built its own robust book-recommendation infrastructure on TikTok (The New Yorker).
And censorship this week mostly didn’t need a censor. A Texas provost pulled an ICE-critical exhibition to manage any “barking” from the state capital (NPR); Moscow’s art scene, further down the same road, has retreated into apartments and kitchens (The New York Times). But a counterweight: pianist Jayson Gillham won his free-speech case against the Melbourne Symphony (The New York Times).
All this week’s stories below, organized by topic.
PEOPLE
- As Ted Lasso Returns For Season Four, Hannah Waddingham Is Dealing With An Unexpected Level Of Fame
Hannah Waddingham, of Ted Lasso fame: “An overnight success after 25 years is delicious. And I’m fine with it, because I’m very at peace with who I am. I’m more than happy to share that I’m 51 and proud of it.” – The Guardian (UK)
- At Avignon, French And Korean Languages Meet On Stage
“In 2023, English was represented by only a handful of productions, and last summer the majority of Arabic-related offerings were dance shows, rendering the question of language somewhat moot. But the focus on Korean at this year’s festival … has opened an inviting window.” – The New York Times
- The Hollywood Bowl Has A Gorgeous New Sound System
But it might be too good – so good that audience members can hardly believe they’re outside. – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- Nebraska’s Cultural Endowment Did Decades Of Great Work, But The State’s Finances May Kill It Off
“This unusual, public-private fund is made up of philanthropic donations matched dollar-for-dollar by the state” – and now the state has snatched back one third of the endowment to help balance the budget. – NPR
- Is this really a “post-literate” age?
This Week’s Highlights:
The recording industry proposed labels distinguishing “AI-generated” from “AI-assisted” music (Deadline). Set it beside major publishers suing Google over the books that trained Gemini (The Guardian) and a pattern emerges — culture’s markets are beginning to price provenance. When the what can be manufactured infinitely, value perhaps migrates to the who and the how. The industry’s labels point at the machine.
The week also suggested our literacy panic is aimed at the wrong generation. The Atlantic declared a post-literate age, but the numbers show older Americans’ daily reading has nearly halved since 2003 while young people’s is growing slightly (The New York Times) — and Gen Z has built its own robust book-recommendation infrastructure on TikTok (The New Yorker).
And censorship this week mostly didn’t need a censor. A Texas provost pulled an ICE-critical exhibition to manage any “barking” from the state capital (NPR); Moscow’s art scene, further down the same road, has retreated into apartments and kitchens (The New York Times). But a counterweight: pianist Jayson Gillham won his free-speech case against the Melbourne Symphony (The New York Times).
All this week’s stories below, organized by topic.
THEATRE
VISUAL
- AI-Created Music – What We Can Learn From Copyright History
AI can now generate songs, images, novels and artworks in seconds. Many of these works are already being streamed, licensed and sold. This raises an increasingly important question: should works produced without direct human authorship receive copyright protection? – The Conversation
- We Should Worry About How AI Might Change Us With Its Use
How, then, could an automated oracle help? It cannot tell you what to feel, because feeling is not something you can summon by obedience. But neither can it settle the matter by telling you what to do. Reasons matter, and to be a morally responsible agent you must reason for yourself. – Humanist Review
- What If Smartphones Are Not Responsible For What Ails Our Kids?
Which change that happened 15 years ago was the real source of so much misery for children? “You can’t run experiments on history,” Haidt said, so we’ll never be able to prove that smartphones and social media caused the steep decline in youth mental health. – The Atlantic
- Gen Z Has Big Nostalgia For Eras Before They Were Born
- Culture Shift: Why Young People Are Choosing Culture That Brings Them Together
We human beings remain stubbornly, beautifully starving for one another. More surprising — and heartening — we are looking upward and outward, and returning to one another after being tethered for so long to our screens. This all portends well for the entertainment business, no doubt. – The New York Times