Some four-fifths of the city’s roofs are covered in the lightweight, malleable, low-maintenance metal. Many of them now need replacing — to prevent leaks in more intense rainstorms and because high summer temperatures turn the rooms below them into ovens. Parisian artisans are finding ways to address these problems. - Smithsonian Magazine
"When we listen to audiobooks produced in the West, they have a Wakandan accent," said Eghosa Imasuen, executive director of Narrative Landscape Press in Lagos, Nigeria. "Nobody talks like that on the continent." - Publishers Weekly
Bamako, a city of 3 million, is being squeezed by an Al-Qaeda-affiliated militia which has blocked fuel imports and made travel beyond the capital dangerous. Yet Bamakoans recently raised their spirits with a three-day festival celebrating puppetry, which has deep roots in Mali. - AP
“As a creative, I have really enjoyed creating her,” she says. “It’s been just like a writer creating characters. You fall in love with your characters when you’re writing them. It’s a wonderful process. It wasn’t like I just made her in a second, and that was it. You know, it took a long time.” - Variety
Nigeria's stunning new Museum of West African Art (Mowaa) has found itself in the crosshairs of local power politics on the week it was supposed to - but failed - to open its doors to the public for the first time. - BBC (MSN)
The BBC’s founding father, John Reith, set out what he saw as broadcasting’s true purpose. In the wake of a destructive global conflict, he believed it was radio that could draw out ‘everything that is best in every department of human knowledge, endeavour and achievement’. - History Today
“So we have to be a bit careful with that word, right? Because I do think words are important. And that word has been overused and applied to all sorts of things.” Q: “Which type of feminist are you?” “The kind that’s interested in equality under the law.” - AP
The Muppets’ long-overdue Broadway debut is over almost as soon as it began, the show now closing this Sunday. It was originally scheduled to run until Jan. 18, 2026; instead, at the time of its closing, Playbill reports, it will have played just 20 preview performances and four regular ones. - The Daily Beast
In addition to staff furloughs and suspended or canceled programs, the 2018-2019 shutdown resulted in a loss of some $5 billion, according to the American Alliance of Museums. - NPR
Researchers looked at data spanning a decade and involving more than 10,000 relatively healthy people, aged 70 and older, in Australia. People who listened to music most days slashed their risk of developing dementia by 39 percent compared with those who did not regularly listen to music, the study found. - Washington Post
For a decade, See Saw has reigned as the app for art world denizens, but the last year has seen the arrival of new apps and influencers — curator types, reviewers and spirit guides whose mission is to get you to discover art shows, exhibitions and events in New York, even internationally. - The New York Times
Not one of the 25 dramas and comedies that movie companies released in North American theaters over the past three months has become a hit, certainly not in the way that Hollywood has historically kept score. - The New York Times
There has already been a clear increase in the number of Japanese-style listening bars across the UK, but the visual arts trend is also harnessing sound system culture, which originated in Jamaica in the 1950s and was initially a cheap, democratic way for neighbourhoods to listen to the latest releases. - The Guardian
The results from the three-year pilot were clear: artists were able to make work and less dependent on other government assistance, and every €1 in cost returned €1.39 in value to the Irish economy. Even so, the government, though it made the program permanent, is keeping it small-scale. - Novara Media (UK)
