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- Taika Waititi Says He Never Reads Reviews, But Reacts Badly To The Bad Reviews Of His Most Recent Movie
“Let’s spare a thought for those sad lost souls who couldn’t achieve their dreams of becoming artists, and thus became critics. The same people who also hated Jojo Rabbit. Irrelevant. Out of touch. Obsolete. In the bin.” – Variety
- As AI Infiltrates Scholarly Writing, The Value Of A Journal Article Is Collapsing
“Unfortunately, the scholars submitting papers aren’t the only ones using AI. So are many of their peer reviewers. One recent peer review that my journal received—from a senior scholar—read like an unedited cut-and-paste job from an LLM.” – The Atlantic
- Dems Cite Internal Pressure To Cover Decline Under Trump In Lawsuit Over Kennedy Center
“‘Defendants are shuttering the Kennedy Center to hide the ongoing mismanagement of this once vibrant institution and to placate its current chairman,’ they wrote in the filing.” – The New York Times
- How Is It That All Books Have Suddenly Become ‘Gothic’?
It’s not just Spooky Season. “The Gothic label, once applied primarily to horror and dark romance, has been used to describe space operas, literary works and fantastical hybrids of all kinds.” – The New York Times
- Why We Like To Be Scared
“Because of horror’s position as a sandbox for misfortune, consumers tend to reward horror films that reflect their generation’s anxieties.” – Time
- Behind The Scenes With Alisa Weilerstein’s Cello
“It is a tragic situation, after all, for a piece of wood to have to plead with us for decency, love, and justice. It was the cello’s purest act of superheroism, to play Bach’s solo suites to a civilization sunk into depravity.” – Paris Review
- The Queen Of Fairy Smut, With A New Book And Loads Of Merch, Rises Again
“Maas hysteria gripped the Bell House in the hours before the book dropped. Fans traded conspiracy theories about future plot twists, got temporary tattoos and face paint, drank themed cocktails, posed for photos behind a giant cauldron and bought branded candles, bag charms and other memorabilia.” – The New York Times
- This Is How Users Are Dealing With AO3 Going Down
It’s … intense. “Fans are compiling Google Docs of links to downloaded stories, touting them as ‘survival guides’ for the ‘AO3 apocalypse’ and organizing them by fictional character pairings, or ships.” – Wired
- The Internet’s Most Wide-Open Site For Fan Fiction Goes Down After A Security Breach
Archive of Our Own, or AO3 as it’s known to many of its millions of users, may be down for up to a month. “A surge in traffic to archived versions of the site [is] now ‘putting a heavy load on the Wayback Machine.’” – The New York Times
- MoMA, Pompidou and M+ Now Share Collection
This Week’s Highlights:
MoMA, the Centre Pompidou and Hong Kong’s M+ will treat their holdings as one collection curated across three continents, starting with M+ works on long-term loan in MoMA’s galleries in late 2027 (ARTnews). The Bayeux Tapestry, on view in England for the first time since the 11th century, drew first-hour ticket spending at the British Museum 48 times a normal Wednesday’s, 55 percent of it from buyers under 35 (The Guardian). CD sales are up 16 percent (The Guardian).
The Phoenix Symphony plays its last concert Sunday and lays off 66 musicians, citing rising costs and donations that fell short (AZFamily). Minnesota Opera moved its Halloween world premiere of The Many Deaths of Laila Starr to late 2027 after its orchestra authorized a strike and the union refused a no-strike deal; Opera president Ryan Taylor said he couldn’t risk opening night (MPR News).
Elvis Presley’s rights holders are suing Anthropic over 274 songs, seeking up to $41.1 million and the destruction of copies in its training data (Fox 11). Sanxingdui: Future Past, China’s first wide-release AI-generated feature, grossed $198,000 from 10,000-plus opening-day screenings, about 12 percent of its $1.5 million budget (The Hollywood Reporter).
Philadelphia voters decide Tuesday whether to write the city’s arts office into the charter, so no mayor can close it by executive order, as Mayor John Street did (Broad Street Review).
All this week’s stories below, organized by topic.
- Emanuel Maxwell shares strategies that drive EDI work
Emanuel Maxwell, Chief People Officer of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, shares his philosophy and strategies that drive their EDI work.
- What It’s Like To Be A Professional Scare Actor During Halloween Season
Lyndon Laveaux is one of around 400 scare actors working at the Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor in Long Beach. He plays the Captain, the undead master of ceremonies. “I just love it,” he says. “It’s like an adult summer camp and I appreciate the fans, I appreciate this community.” – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- Horror Books And Bookstores Are Proliferating
Horror book sales are up 39 percent this year over last, according to Circana BookScan. The market is growing: 5.1 million books were sold in 2025, up from 3.2 million in 2021. – The New York Times
- Despite Taliban’s Prohibition, Masters Hope To Keep Traditional Afghan Music Alive
“For many, music is in their blood. It has flowed through their families for generations, and the thought of never playing again is unbearable. Every so often, some pull out their instruments and play in secret. A knock at the door could mean danger. Still, they play.” – AP
- American Pavillion At The Venice Biennale Is $1M Short. Art Transport Now A Problem
Despite months of controversy, the United States managed to get Alma Allen‘s enormous sculptures to Venice for this year’s Biennale. Getting them home, however, is proving more difficult. – ARTnews
- House Republicans Demand Details Of Smithsonian Museum Curation
“The Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency is concerned that the Smithsonian Institution (Smithsonian) does not properly review proposed exhibits in its museums,” says a letter to outgoing Smithsonian secretary Lonnie Bunch III, penned by subcommittee chairman Tim Burchett of Tennessee along with Georgia’s Brian Jack. – ARTnews
- The Shockingly Fantastic Imagery Of The Met’s New “Lincoln” Opera
At a moment when film or TV versions of novels often end up, at best, as decent airplane watches, opera, as the excellent Lincoln in the Bardo illustrates, has the potential to create something bolder and more bizarre. – The Atlantic
- The Kennedy Center’s Perplexing Choice Of Architect For $257M Renovations
The firm — which employs just 50 people, including eight architects, according to an industry database — generally does work that is a fraction of the scale and expense of the job. One if its most ambitious projects, according to its online portfolio, was a high school renovation completed in 2016 that cost about $40 million. – Washington Post
- Meet The People Who Choose The Poems In New York Subway Cars
Anyone who has taken the subway has likely come across Poetry in Motion, which pairs poems with artwork. … Tina Vaz, the head of the MTA’s Arts & Design team, and Matt Brogan, the executive director of the Poetry Society of America, are the big decision makers behind the Poetry in Motion program. – Literary Hub
- Inside The Books Of The Mega-Galleries
Even for the biggest blue-chip galleries, selling art is a tough business. – Artnet
- $6.5M Donation To Phoenix Symphony In Jeopardy
A new $6.5 million donation to the financially troubled Phoenix Symphony is in legal jeopardy after the orchestra announced last week it would suspend its season. – Arizona Republic
- Northern Arkansas Has Become A Cultural Destination. The Culture Is Changing
Bentonville’s population has nearly doubled. The town is bursting with new activity: award-winning restaurants, shopping, boutique hotels, condominiums, offices and arguably the most sophisticated bike trail network in the country. But prices are bursting too: A single-family home now hovers around $490,000. The average rent has nearly tripled, to $2,000 a month from about $800. – The New York Times
- Orlando Ballet Artistic Directors Jorden And Lisa Morris Announce Retirement
Jorden Morris, a choreographer and former principal dancer at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, joined Orlando Ballet as in 2020 Artist-in-Residence and was named Artistic Director at the end of 2021. Lisa Thorn Morris, currently associate artistic director, joined the company in 2015 and served in several leadership roles. – WESH (Orlando)
- Music Giant UMG Posts Big Revenue Growth
According to UMG, its Q3 growth was primarily driven by “subscription revenue growth, including pricing benefits from Streaming 2.0 agreements”, “strong physical sales”, “higher ad-supported streaming revenue”, and “increased Music Publishing digital revenue”. – Music Business Worldwide
- Sales Of CDs And CD Players Are Soaring
CDs appear to be having a resurgence. John Lewis said searches for CD players are up 96% since July, while another report on trends in music and film this year found that CD sales are up 16%. – The Guardian
- Major Culture Shift: Private Equity Is Buying Up Small Businesses
Deal by deal, ownership is being extracted from the thousands of communities where businesses were built to the handful of cities where capital is already concentrated. – The New York Times
- Another Posthumous Concert Hall Design By Frank Gehry
“Expected to open in January 2027 …, the Youth Orchestra Abu Dhabi will contain a 600-seat concert hall and 18 rehearsal rooms. The orchestra building, designed by Gehry before he died in December last year, will have a more pared-back appearance compared to the fluid, organic forms for which the architect is famed.” – Dezeen
- China’s First AI-Generated Feature Film Is Not A Smash Hit
“The film, the sci-fi thriller Sanxingdui: Future Past, was released last week and only grossed an estimated $198,000. … With 10,000-plus opening-day screenings, Future Past marks the first longform AI film to get a true wide release with reported box office numbers in a major territory.” – The Hollywood Reporter
- “Adapting And Settling”: SMU DataArts 2026 Report On State Of US Nonprofit Arts Sector
“While the sector may be moving past pandemic-era volatility, reduced earned revenue and persistent inflation over the last several years leave fewer resources available to the cultural organizations that bring music, theatre, art, and shared experiences to our communities. Even so, many organizations are maintaining a financial surplus.” – SMU DataArts
- “One Shared Collection”: MoMA, Pompidou Centre And Hong Kong’s M+ Announce Unprecedented Partnership
“At the heart of the alliance is an agreement that the institutions will treat their holdings as a shared collection. … This alliance differs from past models such as traveling exhibitions, co-organized shows, and collaborations on specific projects … in that it is a long-term commitment to building programs together from the ground up.” – ARTnews
- Chair Of Oberlin’s Studio Art Department And His Wife Murdered, Allegedly By His Son
Pipo Nguyen-Duy, 64, and his wife, Tran Thi Phong, 54, were found shot to death in their home near the Ohio college. Daniel Jones aka Asia Nguyen-Duy, Pipo’s son, is being held on $3 million bail. – ABC News
- Hirshhorn Museum’s Sculpture Garden Reopens After Four-Year Revamp
“The 1.3-acre space was designed by artist and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto to better integrate with the National Mall, and it includes new works and spaces for education and programming. … It’s the biggest update to the museum since it opened in 1974, almost doubling the number of sculptures on display.” – Axios
- Elke Sommer, Exotic Blonde Beauty Of 1960s And ‘70s Hollywood, Has Died At 85
“With expressive almond eyes and golden locks, often styled in a beehive, Sommer worked with some of the biggest stars of the time, including Paul Newman in The Prize, Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther film A Shot in the Dark, and James Garner and Dick Van Dyke in The Art of Love.” – AP
- Patrick Stewart, 86
The death, from Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, was announced on social media. – The New York Times
- Horror Movies Exploit A Weakness In Human Visual Perception To Deliver Some Powerful Scares
A cognitive psychologist explains the phenomenon of inattentional blindness and how filmmakers take advantage of it. – The Conversation