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- Nicolas Cage Didn’t Sign Amazon’s AI Waiver
Good Morning,
Nicolas Cage told a New York ComicCon panel that he refused to sign Amazon’s AI waiver for Spider-Noir, a series Amazon cancelled after one season and 11 Emmy nominations (Variety). Meanwhile more than two dozen staffers at HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Hachette tell Wired that executives are having ChatGPT and Claude write publicity copy and emails to literary agents, and that HarperCollins drafted dozens of employees as “AI Champions” (Wired). One industry source tells the Guardian that AI-made ads can cost up to 60 percent less, which worries Luke Scott, who runs Ridley Scott Associates, about a “lost generation” of directors who would have learned on ad shoots (The Guardian).
SiriusXM replaced its Raw Comedy channel, which played tracks from more than 800 comedians a month at $15 a spin, with a channel owned by Sebastian Maniscalco that played 275 last month, three-quarters of the plays going to its top 50 (CBC). Deniz Göktaş, the Turkish stand-up convicted of insulting Erdoğan after 88 days in custody, used his courtroom defense to argue that if leaders can be this fragile about jokes, comedy has power (The New York Times).
And from the physical, practical world of dance, Ballet Des Moines, Iowa’s only professional resident dance company, spends about $45,000 a year on 300 pairs of pointe shoes and is raising $10,000 by October 31 (KCCI).
All of the stories we collected this weekend, below. See you tomorrow.
- Please, No More Articles On The End Of Reading
Just stop. We know, already. Got anything new to say? – Slate
- Why We Need A Four (Or More) Hour Documentary About Elon Musk
“This small group of people has tried to basically run a con on all of us. ‘We’re doing this out of the goodness of our own hearts. We’re making the world better.’ No, you’re padding your bottom lines and all you care about is you.” – The New York Times
- How To Become The Queen Of Romantasy
Simply generate “the raw fiber of old myths woven into new stories, processed through the internet, refined into audiobooks, … which drive fans back to bookstores, where they can buy a keepsake hardcover” and, if they’re lucky, “drink themed cocktails in ACOTAR-inspired ball gowns at midnight.” – The Atlantic
- It’s ‘Stop Giving Literary Prizes To Stories With AI Flags’ Time, Again
“That this narrator has all the personality of a chatbot is probably not coincidental.” Ouch. – The Atlantic
- This Comedian Claims He Didn’t Mean To Slash The Income Of 800 People
And yet: “Hundreds of working-class comedians have lost a key source of income and exposure, while wealthy celebrity comics take up their airspace” on SiriusXM. – CBC
- Piero Lovers Never Get Stuck In Florence
Not that “stuck in Florence” is so awful, but for full Italian Renaissance Master love, you have to travel. – The New York Times
- Terri & Richard: Late-In-Life Sweethearts<a href="https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/2026/10/terri-richard-late-in-life-sweethearts.html" title="Terri & Richard: Late-In-Life Sweethearts” rel=”nofollow”> She was
- The Helpful Science Behind Spooky Season
“Seeking out fear is our way of preparing our bodies for the sometimes scary real world. And this vaccine is actually fun for most people.” – NPR
- How Will Directors Learn To Direct Films If Ads Are All AI-Generated?
“The panicked race to introduce AI technology across the advertising industry, to cut client costs and avoid being pushed aside by big tech, has raised fears of a lost generation.” – The Guardian (UK)
- Book Publishers Are Using More AI Behind The Scenes, And Workers Are Furious
“Publishers are now using LLMs like Claude and ChatGPT to email literary agents, write publicity and back-cover copy, design cover art, and generate marketing materials, often at the direction of their executives.” – Wired
- The Comic Who Is Under Threat In Turkiye For A Joke Mounts A Passionate Defense Of Art In Court
Deniz Goktas was still convicted, but he says, “In a strange way, there’s something encouraging about it. If leaders can be this fragile about jokes, it’s a sign of the power of comedy.” – The New York Times
- If Straight Men Really Are In A Reading Crisis, Can Romance Solve It?
“While romance is basically keeping the whole publishing industry afloat at this point, the genre has historically been pitched to women and queer readers. Accordingly, some straight men feel shame about their interest.” – LitHub
- The New Cold Tip For Used Books: Freeze Them
But, alert: “there’s more to freezing a book than just tossing it next to the ice cream.” – The New York Times
- Amazon Fumbled The Bag With Spider Noir – And With Nic Cage
Cage: “I am not an AI-friendly actor, so it’s like, connect those dots! I’m not a member of their club. I didn’t sign the waiver to let him use AI on Spider Noir. I’m probably not going to be working with that studio again.” – Variety
- For Oscars Consideration, Did The Odyssey Peak Too Early?
“As tempting as it may be to imagine the Best Picture result as set in stone, history tells us that there will always be a few surprises along the way.” – Vulture
- What Made The IPod So Perfect
For one thing, it never connected to the internet. And: “It was a one-function device that superbly executed its function. It made people unconditionally happy.” – Wired
- Ballet Des Moines Starts A Pointe Shoe Fundraiser To Offset The Tens Of Thousands Of Dollars In Costs
“If a dancer needs more pointe shoes, we can’t tell them no. I mean, it’s their job to be on stage looking beautiful and having a shoe that supports them.” – KCCI
- The English National Ballet Has To Email Out ‘Whoops, Our Supply Chain Was Compromised’ To Its Fans
The ENB added, “While no passwords or payment details were exposed, we recommend remaining cautious of any unexpected emails and always verifying the sender before clicking on links.” – BBC
- Ousted Kennedy Center Chair Buys Sculpture Rejected By Trump’s People
“Billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein has purchased the abstract sculpture called Blue that was removed from the [Kennedy Center] grounds last week. … It will eventually be displayed in the Sculpture Garden of the National Gallery of Art.” – The New York Times
- Vince Paul talks about building strong connections with community through strategic facilities
Vince Paul, President & Artistic Director of Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, talks about building facilities and strong connections with community.
- Michelangelo’s Handwriting Has Been Made Into A New Typeface
The font, called Michelangelus, is the result of a collaboration between Microsoft and the Fabbrica di San Pietro, the Vatican entity responsible for the preservation and upkeep of St. Peter’s Basilica. – Il Messagero (Italy) (in English)
- The Minimalist Anne Carson
Translation is Carson’s primary art form. One way to describe it is as the art of sustained metaphor: a word in one language is similar, but not identical, to a word in another language. – The New Yorker
- Inside The Book Review Problem
The little magazines can start to fill the review void. Each can, at the minimum, review five new novels in an issue. These reviews needn’t be overly long, or challenge the critic to consume every word the writer has ever written. – Political Currents
- Marina Abramović At (Almost) 80
“Has any artist offered so much of her unfiltered self to the public? … If you’ve followed her career, you likely know uncomfortably intimate details of her life.” – T — The New York Times Style Magazine
- Recording Music In Analog
“So this machine that we have here is the only machine currently in service for two-inch, 24-track — it’s a Studer 827 from, I believe, the late ‘90s,” Healey said as he guided the media across magnetic heads. – WBUR
- The Trolls That Took Over A Town And Charmed Everyone
“I’ve been here 37 years and I’ve never had a busier summer,” said Tina Merrihew, 59, who owns a half-laundromat, half-doughnut shop. “Amazing what trolls can do. They’re instigators.” – The New York Times
- Frank Gehry’s Final Concert Hall Is Taking Shape In Los Angeles
Just two blocks from Gehry’s most famous performance venue, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Kohl Hall at the Colburn School will be a 1,000-seat auditorium with an in-the-round layout, a full-size stage and an orchestra pit so that it can host both concerts and operas. – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- Frankfurt Book Fair: State Of The Publishing Industry
Declining turnover, a rise in reading in the original language, second-hand book sales and the shift to audio and digital subscription models were all “putting pressure on the profitability of the sector.” – The Bookseller
- Indy’s Newfields Museum Director Steps Down
Belinda Tate began at Newfields in 2023, days before the surprise exit of former CEO and president Colette Pierce Burnette and after a years-long spotlight had been on Newfields in part due to controversial language in a 2021 posting of the director job, which led to the resignation of then-CEO and president Charles Venable. – Indianapolis Star
- Adelaide Is A Festival Capital. But Its Middle Class Arts Scene Needs A Reboot
Adelaide holds down the fort as Australia’s festival capital, with Adelaide Fringe and Adelaide Festival among the nation’s top tier for arts and culture. But when Petra Kalive arrived in the city at the beginning of 2025, she found a theatre sector that had been severely diminished by years of funding cuts. – ArtsHub
- Montpellier’s Main Concert Hall Closed Following Storm Damage
The Corum, a conference center-cum-arts complex with three performance spaces, suffered major water damage from heavy rains last week and has been shuttered out of safety concerns. There’s not yet any target date for reopening, and events are being moved to other venues in the city. – Pizzicato
- Trends In Public Radio: Donations Up, Migration To Digital
The survey of more than 17,000 respondents from 49 U.S. public stations during June and July 2026 shows that since 2013, public radio listening has moved from 83% broadcast vs. 16% digital to this year’s 54% broadcast vs. 43% digital, with Jacobs forecasting “those two lines are going to cross [eventually].” – InsideRadio
- Is AI A Brain Or A Database?
Human intuitions and mental models about how technology works govern how people use it. The idea of AI as software – deterministic, fact-retrieving – causes people to misinterpret the outputs they provide. – The Conversation
- Skydance Says It Will Make $6B In Cuts At Combined Paramount/Warner
“It’s important also to say this is not about cost reduction. This is about reengineering how we work. This is about reinventing the business model. So it’s not just synergies and reducing costs; it’s also improving how we perform. – Deadline