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April Fool’s Day Ads Used To Be Fun, And Folks Loved Them. Not Anymore. What Happened?

“When we were less assaulted by news on a daily basis — and, crucially, when we had no access to social media — April Fool adverts did manage to make us laugh.” But our relationship with truth and misinformation wasn’t quite as fraught back then as it is in 2025. - Prospect (UK)

Is Museums’ Social Media Use Dying?

While most of the 100 museums in the list grew their social media followings over the past year, this is despite almost all of them experiencing a decline in followers on X. - The Art Newspaper

Detroit Opera’s “Cosi” As AI

“He’s actually a replica of what we see in the tech industry,” Yuval Sharon said. “There’s a messianic belief that we must transcend our own humanity and that AI is making up for all the terrible ways we behave. People really do believe that the future of humanity is robotic.” - APNews

America’s First Professional Dance Therapist

For three decades, starting in 1942, “Marian Chace helped shell-shocked soldiers, sexual abuse victims, and the mentally ill use movement to communicate their feelings. ... The former Denishawn dancer proved that dance isn’t just entertaining and beautiful; it could free the deepest parts of the soul and strengthen an entire person.” - Dance Teacher

Museums As Medical Therapy Prescriptions

Years after the pandemic sharpened issues around mental health, the practice has boomed, with doctors prescribing visits to museums from Montpellier to Massachusetts as a complement to more traditional treatments. - The Guardian

What We Could Learn About Accommodating Climate Change From Frank Lloyd Wright

“The man-made building heighten the beauty of the desert and the desert more beautiful because of the building,” Wright wrote in To Arizona. “A dream, but realization is coming.” - Bloomberg

Why Did Hollywood Stop Making Conspiracy Thrillers?

Works like Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) and Sydney Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor (1975) were rife with anxiety about the country’s future, unsure if change was possible. - The Nation

Do Studios’ First Amendment Rights Cover Hiring And Firing Actors?

The question is central to two wrongful dismissal lawsuits now before courts: those of Gina Carano, fired by Disney from The Mandalorian for social media posts which clashed with the public image Disney wishes to maintain, and Brent Sexton, dropped from Apple’s Manhunt for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. - The Hollywood Reporter

Republican Bill Targets Public Broadcasting Business Models

The “No NPR and PBS Act” would simply prohibit funding of either network. It mirrors a bill Ronny Jackson introduced in March 2023 that says federal funding could not be used to purchase programming or payment of dues for either one of the national networks. - InsideRadio

Yuval Noah Harari: Truth Is Expensive, Information Isn’t Truth

When information is in a complete free market, the vast majority of information becomes fiction, illusion, or lies. This is because there are three main difficulties with truth. - Wired

How Some Books Thrive Without Viral Marketing

Giving away books for free might seem counterproductive, but it’s one of the best ways to get readers invested. Once they finish one book, they’re more likely to purchase another. More importantly, it helps trigger Amazon’s algorithms, increasing a book’s visibility long after the free period ends. - Jane Friedman

Director of Smithsonian’s African-American Museum Is On Previously Undisclosed Leave

Kevin Young, who succeeded founding director Lonnie Bunch (now secretary of the entire Smithsonian) in 2021, has been on personal leave for an “undetermined period” since March 14 — two weeks before Trump’s notorious “improper ideology” executive order, which explicitly cited the African-American Museum. - The Washington Post (MSN)

How Leonard Bernstein Changed The Orchestral Canon

Initially, there was a lot of excitement in the press—the first American at the helm of one of the great orchestras! But the tone soon became hostile, even acrimonious. Audiences loved Bernstein, but his full-bodied manner on the podium—arms, head, hips, shoulders, eyebrows, groin in motion—caused embarrassment and even anger. - The Atlantic

When To Trust Your Gut

“Trust your gut”, “be yourself” or “less is more” are aphorisms that contain much truth, while also being prone to catastrophic misinterpretation. - The Guardian

City Of San Francisco Withdraws $500K Grant To African-American Shakespeare Co.

“The city (government) has pulled $500,000 of Dream Keeper Initiative funding previously awarded to African-American Shakespeare Company with ‘no explanation,’ according to its founder. Executive Director Sherri Young … started the theater company in 1994 to provide actors of color more opportunities to perform in the classics.” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

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