The ACLU is pleased to announce that they succeeded in court against the new National Endowment for the Arts provision prohibiting funding for organizations or projects promoting “gender ideology”. The case is Rhode Island Latino Arts v. National Endowment for the Arts. Here is an excerpt from the ACLU report:
In an important victory for First Amendment rights, a federal judge in Rhode...
The CBC reports:
European politicians are condemning a Belgian classical music festival’s decision to cancel an upcoming performance led by an Israeli conductor due to concerns over where he stands on the war in Gaza.
Organizers of the Flanders Festival Ghent announced on Wednesday they were cancelling a performance by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra slated for Sept. 18. They cited concerns surrounding...
My just-published story Trucks and Tanks, runner-up in JerryJazzMusician.com‘s 69th short fiction contest and written three months ago, is all too timely in Chicago, DC, Boston today.
“Trucks and Tanks” – a short story by Howard Mandel
Trucks and tanks rolled down our leafy-treed, bungalow-lined street at dawn. I was already up, as usual, in my robe, t-shirt, sweaty...
Terri Lyne Carrington (drummer, Inst. of Jazz & Gender Justice), Orbert Davis (trumpeter, “Immigrant Stories“) and Marc Ribot (guitarist, Music Workers Alliance) talked with me on The Buzz, podcast of the Jazz Journalists Association about their engagement with social issues. Long transcript posted for those who read faster than they listen.
HOST : Hello and welcome to The Buzz, the podcast...
Leading an arts organization isn’t about luck—it’s about judgment. Hold when trust matters, fold when the model’s busted, and when the casino’s rigged? Start your own game in the parking lot.
In May 2024 I wrote about the town of Vail, Colorado cancelling the artist-in-residency agreement with Danielle SeeWalker, before it even began, over complaints not of her planned art for Vail, but over other art previously made that she had reposted on social media, regarding Gaza.
My post concluded with this:
First, the cancellation of her artist-in-residency was not about any art...
From magazine listings to the For You page, how we discover art has changed—but not as much as we think. Artists should see social media as a tool for accomplishing their goals, not the enemy.
O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us…
In the Washington Post, Charles Djou, who was a Biden administration official and briefly held an Hawaiian congressional seat, says the US should not, once again, remove itself from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), but should instead remain in and seek positive reforms. Well, who could be against that?
I believe...
“Freedom of speech” is never an absolute. Even in a country where people have a great amount of freedom of speech, such as the US, there will still be restrictions on the time, place, and manner of speech, laws regarding libel and defamation, and against fraud and blackmail, and against inciting violence. Freedom of speech will not give the...
Throughout the digital age, Big Tech has promised us products that will make us more efficient and save time, which, it is assumed, is always an obvious good. It’s a cliché that tools shape the things we make. And through most of our history, better tools have helped us create better things. But what if this isn’t always true?
Opera Philadelphia's $11 ticket prices produced what we expect: increased attendance and more diverse audience. But audience perceptions about price aren't fixed.
