The damage is familiar to college faculty across disciplines: writing as a form of Frankfurtian bullshit for which it’s more important to be superficially convincing than rigorous or factually correct; the study of literature as exercise in literary device-hunting, a trick-mirror image of literary formalism from 75 years ago. - The New Republic
Much of the coastline Thoreau walked on is now under water. The land he saw was a sandy “wasteland” without trees,which had been cut down for use in building houses and boats, and making fires. - Boston Globe
The U.S.'s fervor for banning books (based, studies say, on 11 people's complaints) is being met with busloads of the censored cultural capital. - The Guardian (UK)
"(WNYC's Sean) Carlson spoke to Casey York of the Off-Broadway League, Anna Glass of Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Jake Rosenthal of Elsewhere in Bushwick. Their conversation covered everything from how fewer office workers affect the city's culture to why big stars aren’t necessarily the future of show business." - Gothamist
"The arts and culture sector has long been able to hire administrative staff at below market rates on account of their employees’ passion for the art form. Well, the pandemic has changed that, and the sector is experiencing some severe growing pains." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The fellowship is “intended to encourage people of outstanding talent to pursue their own creative, intellectual and professional inclinations,” and comes with a $800,000 stipend, according to the foundation’s website. - The New York Times
In the era of the Internet, a framework that analyzed the benefits to consumers primarily through the metric of cost was no longer realistic, because, among other reasons, companies could use huge amounts of data to fine-tune what they charged particular shoppers for particular items. - The New Yorker
“I’m guessing most of the men who say they think about it all of the time are probably white, cis men. And it’s no coincidence, because the Roman Empire is one of the most patriarchal and hierarchical societies that has ever existed. It is the epitome, the pinnacle of white cis gender masculinity.” - The Conversation
"Claire Rice, executive director of Arts Alliance Illinois, ... is asking (Mayor) Johnson to tap the city’s corporate fund for nearly 35% of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events’ $81 million annual budget, an unprecedented move for a department traditionally funded primarily by other sources." - Crain's Chicago Business
I’m not foolish or backward enough to think that AI is a passing fad. It’s a tool that we’ll see incorporated and integrated, like the synthesizers Miles invoked. But — But! — we have the power to prevent a future where the bots run the show. - The Gig
In addition to demonstrating how attackers might remove watermarks, the study shows how it’s possible to add watermarks to human-generated images, triggering false positives. - Wired
