AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Good Morning:
Today’s highlights: Existential questions for cultural institutions today. Museums face a stark choice between radical adaptation or irrelevance as traditional funding models collapse (Artnet), while higher education is accused of actively harming students by prioritizing AI proficiency over the creative thinking skills they actually need (The Atlantic). Even the sanctity of the liberal arts is under fire, with critics arguing they hold no monopoly on critical thought (The Guardian).
On the creative front, tributes are pouring in for playwright Tom Stoppard, celebrated for his intellectual agility (Los Angeles Times)—and his lucrative, secret side hustle doctoring scripts for movies like 102 Dalmatians (The New York Times).
Plus: The fight to save Britain’s first multiplex cinema (The Guardian) and how video games are feeding modern conspiracy theories (Slate).
All of our stories below:
- The Lakota Music Project vs. “Rootlessness” Today
- Have We Given Liberal Arts Institutions Too Much Credit?
While liberal arts institutions do have intrinsic value, that doesn’t mean they are entitled to be socially favoured or economically exceptional for ever. A particularly stubborn myth is that liberal arts education has a monopoly on cultivating critical thinking. – The Guardian
- Tom Stoppard, Man of Ideas
A man of consummate urbanity who lived like a country squire, he was a sportsman (cricket was his game) and a connoisseur of ideas, which he treated with a cricketer’s agility and vigor. – Los Angeles Times
- Why Perfectionism Is Killing Our Culture
This fetishization of perfection might not be surprising, but that doesn’t make it any less damaging. You cannot learn or grow while trying to appear as if you have everything figured out. You cannot talk to God by trying to avoid doing something wrong. Perfection is stagnation. – The New York Times
ISSUES
- Museums Struggle To Reinvent In A Shifting Landscape
As public funding evaporates, political scrutiny intensifies, and donor behavior shifts, museums are confronting a turning point: adapt or risk irrelevance. The museums best poised for the future are those willing to embrace collaboration, transparency, and experimentation. – Artnet
- Fighting To Save Britain’s First Multiplex Movie Theatre From A Housing Development
“As a shot of commercial and architectural adrenaline, it revived British cinema-going, welcoming more than a million visitors in its first year, and impelling the subsequent proliferation of multiplexes.” – The Guardian (UK)
- There’s A Lot Of History, And Art, Beyond Art Basel Miami Beach
Getting beyond the tent walls means understanding just how much the Cuban diaspora means to the city. – The New York Times
- Inside The Philly Traveling Museum Where Black Collectors Have The Spotlight
“It got to the point where I had more art than walls. … I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool for a bunch of collectors to get together and create a space to show our work. Tell our story?’” – Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
- Nashville Would Like To Bring Back A Pretty Cool Piece Of Red Grooms Visual Heritage, But The Money Isn’t There
“Grooms’s carousel illustrates the financial challenge of regional museums, which scrounge to raise funds and then have to decide whether to add a wing or spend the money on upkeep for their collections.” – The New York Times
MEDIA
- Clueless Colleges Are Preparing To Harm Their Students In The Name Of ‘Preparing’ Them For A World Of AI
“Based on the available evidence, the skills that future graduates will most need in the AI era—creative thinking, the capacity to learn new things, flexible modes of analysis—are precisely those that are likely to be eroded by inserting AI into the educational process.” – The Atlantic
- In The Miserable Economy For Creative People, What Happens When One Is Successful?
In Alison Bechdel’s newest book, “Communal systems of support and shared resources are positioned against the capitalist drive to isolate, hoard resources, and privatize.” – Los Angeles Review of Books
- How Did These Film Studios Get Approved In A British Greenbelt?
One person on the town council: “This is the direct result of ill-thought-out planning changes and poor decision making, which threaten to destroy our green spaces.” But hey, James Cameron supports it. – BBC
- Sally Rooney Says She May No Longer Be Able To Sell Her Books In The UK
Rooney says that “UK legislation may mean she cannot be paid royalties by her British publisher or the BBC because it could leave both at risk of being accused of funding terrorism.” The Irish writer has said that she intends her royalties to support the group Palestine Action. – BBC
- Johnny Cash Estate Sues Coca Cola Under New “Elvis Act” For Using His Artistic Personna Without Permission
The case has been filed under the Elvis Act of Tennessee, made effective last year, which protects a person’s voice from exploitation without consent. – The Guardian
MUSIC
- What Will This French City Do If Its Famous Comic Book Festival Fails?
Angoulême is where graphic novels and comic books are normally celebrated in a huge festival each year. But maybe not in 2026. “Criticized for financial opacity, harsh management style and the firing of an employee who had filed a rape complaint, the company 9e Art + has found itself cornered on all sides.” – Le Monde English (Archive Today)
- The Oxford Word Of The Year Is Probably Something You Experience Every Day
You know what clickbait is, right? Well, the word of the year is its anger-fueled cousin, rage bait, “manipulative tactics used to drive engagement online, with usage of it increasing threefold in the last 12 months.” – BBC
- In Turbulent Times, An ‘Uneasy Book’ Might Be The Perfect Thing
Tessa Hadley: “Storytelling was the most powerful magic I knew: it got expressed first in the games I played out with my friends. Written down though, words were puny for such a long time.” Then came Henry James. – The Guardian (UK)
- This Seattle Graphic Novel Store Focuses On The Art Of Comics
Larry Reid, the man who owns and runs Seattle’s Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, says that comics have “a more immediate impact on culture than fine art.” – Seattle Times
- Tennessee Libraries Shut Down For Republicans’ Book Purge
Public libraries in Tennessee have begun to shut down as they carry out an order from state officials to remove children’s books containing LGBTQ+ themes or characters. – Common Dreams
PEOPLE
- Good Morning:
Today’s highlights: Existential questions for cultural institutions today. Museums face a stark choice between radical adaptation or irrelevance as traditional funding models collapse (Artnet), while higher education is accused of actively harming students by prioritizing AI proficiency over the creative thinking skills they actually need (The Atlantic). Even the sanctity of the liberal arts is under fire, with critics arguing they hold no monopoly on critical thought (The Guardian).
On the creative front, tributes are pouring in for playwright Tom Stoppard, celebrated for his intellectual agility (Los Angeles Times)—and his lucrative, secret side hustle doctoring scripts for movies like 102 Dalmatians (The New York Times).
Plus: The fight to save Britain’s first multiplex cinema (The Guardian) and how video games are feeding modern conspiracy theories (Slate).
All of our stories below:
- The Lakota Music Project vs. “Rootlessness” Today
- Have We Given Liberal Arts Institutions Too Much Credit?
While liberal arts institutions do have intrinsic value, that doesn’t mean they are entitled to be socially favoured or economically exceptional for ever. A particularly stubborn myth is that liberal arts education has a monopoly on cultivating critical thinking. – The Guardian
- Tom Stoppard, Man of Ideas
A man of consummate urbanity who lived like a country squire, he was a sportsman (cricket was his game) and a connoisseur of ideas, which he treated with a cricketer’s agility and vigor. – Los Angeles Times
- Why Perfectionism Is Killing Our Culture
This fetishization of perfection might not be surprising, but that doesn’t make it any less damaging. You cannot learn or grow while trying to appear as if you have everything figured out. You cannot talk to God by trying to avoid doing something wrong. Perfection is stagnation. – The New York Times
PEOPLE
- Good Morning:
Today’s highlights: Existential questions for cultural institutions today. Museums face a stark choice between radical adaptation or irrelevance as traditional funding models collapse (Artnet), while higher education is accused of actively harming students by prioritizing AI proficiency over the creative thinking skills they actually need (The Atlantic). Even the sanctity of the liberal arts is under fire, with critics arguing they hold no monopoly on critical thought (The Guardian).
On the creative front, tributes are pouring in for playwright Tom Stoppard, celebrated for his intellectual agility (Los Angeles Times)—and his lucrative, secret side hustle doctoring scripts for movies like 102 Dalmatians (The New York Times).
Plus: The fight to save Britain’s first multiplex cinema (The Guardian) and how video games are feeding modern conspiracy theories (Slate).
All of our stories below:
- The Lakota Music Project vs. “Rootlessness” Today
- Have We Given Liberal Arts Institutions Too Much Credit?
While liberal arts institutions do have intrinsic value, that doesn’t mean they are entitled to be socially favoured or economically exceptional for ever. A particularly stubborn myth is that liberal arts education has a monopoly on cultivating critical thinking. – The Guardian
- Tom Stoppard, Man of Ideas
A man of consummate urbanity who lived like a country squire, he was a sportsman (cricket was his game) and a connoisseur of ideas, which he treated with a cricketer’s agility and vigor. – Los Angeles Times
- Why Perfectionism Is Killing Our Culture
This fetishization of perfection might not be surprising, but that doesn’t make it any less damaging. You cannot learn or grow while trying to appear as if you have everything figured out. You cannot talk to God by trying to avoid doing something wrong. Perfection is stagnation. – The New York Times
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Have We Given Liberal Arts Institutions Too Much Credit?
While liberal arts institutions do have intrinsic value, that doesn’t mean they are entitled to be socially favoured or economically exceptional for ever. A particularly stubborn myth is that liberal arts education has a monopoly on cultivating critical thinking. – The Guardian
- Why Perfectionism Is Killing Our Culture
This fetishization of perfection might not be surprising, but that doesn’t make it any less damaging. You cannot learn or grow while trying to appear as if you have everything figured out. You cannot talk to God by trying to avoid doing something wrong. Perfection is stagnation. – The New York Times
- Video Games Are Feeding A Deep Well Of Conspiracy Theories
“In the fiction of Assassin’s Creed, humanity is descended from ancient aliens; … world events [are] influenced by a shadow war between two secret societies; the media exists to manipulate the public. This makes for an exciting series of video games” — but it echoes real-life conspiracy theories. – Slate
- A Classical Pianist’s Plea To Let Art Be Messy, And Real
“Playing an instrument well is phenomenally difficult. It takes a lifetime of arduous work and can become all-consuming, making it easy to forget that technical mastery is a means to an expressive end, not the goal. … In and of itself, it is uninteresting.” – The New York Times
- With A Phone, A Friend, And Some LEGO, You’re All Set To Understand The Planet
Sure, people didn’t have phones (or LEGO) 2,000 years ago, but even they knew the Earth was round. – Wired
