Around the world, a new wave of child protection laws are forcing a profound shift that could normalize rigorous age checks broadly across the web. Some of the measures are designed to specifically block minors from accessing adult material, while others are meant to stop children from using social media platforms or accessing harmful content. - Wired
The episode did not hold back on crass jokes aimed at Trump, showing him with a “teeny tiny” penis both in animation and as a deepfake and portraying him as Satan’s lover in a style reminiscent of the gay Saddam Hussein character from the 1999 movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. - Wired
“With astonishing green eyes and a mop of frizzy auburn hair, … a voice that could soar easily from a throaty C below middle C to high-pitched trills on top A, … (she was) the only performer to receive Grammy nominations in the female jazz, popular and classical categories.” - The Telegraph (UK) (Yahoo!)
“American Public Media Group (MPR’s parent organization) plans to cut 5% to 8% of its 500 staff members over the coming weeks, citing a $6 million budget shortfall driven by state and federal funding cuts.” - The Minnesota Star Tribune
When Johanna Burton came to MOCA in 2021, the museum was still recovering from the contentious firing of curator Helen Molesworth and resignation of director Philippe Vergne. Burton was to be co-director with Klaus Biesenbach, who instead left for Berlin. Now she herself is headed to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia. - ARTnews
His biggest hit, “Feels So Good,” has become so familiar that many people know it without realizing it has a title. He developed a distinctive persona — flugelhorn, long hair, beard, banded fedora — which he cheerfully parodied while playing himself in the animated sitcom King of the Hill. - The Washington Post (MSN)
Paolo Santalucia, 35 and a native Torontonian, is a director, playwright, and actor known for both stage and television work. A co-founder of Toronto’s Howland Theatre Company and a graduate of the Soulpepper Academy (the company’s training program for young professionals), he’s currently associate artistic director of Crow’s Theatre in Toronto. - Ludwig Van
“The stamp of approval from the Federal Communications Commission comes after months of turmoil revolving around Trump’s legal battle with 60 Minutes. … With the specter of the Trump administration potentially blocking the hard-fought deal with Skydance, Paramount earlier this month agreed to pay a $16 million settlement with the president.” - AP
While the gap has narrowed from that of previous years, the north of England still receives only £28 per capita in arts and culture funding, while London receives £57 per capita. - Manchester Evening News
Adapting an alphabet-based machine to produce the thousands of different brush-stroke characters used in Chinese was a seemingly impossible challenge. But, in the 1930s one Chinese linguist-inventor in Manhattan succeeded. But only one of his typewriters was ever made, and that one was feared lost. - The New York Times
Reviews are rooted in the most fundamental unit of the art business—the personal encounter with individual works (or exhibits of many works)—and in the economic implications of that encounter. The specificity of the review is both aesthetic and social. - The New Yorker
Rachida Dati, 59, who has publicly outlined her ambition to become mayor of Paris in 2026, was charged in 2019 on suspicions she lobbied for the car-making group, Renault-Nissan, while an MEP, which is the only directly elected body of the European Union. Dati has denied the allegations. - ARTnews
People in chilly church towers pulling on ropes attached to sets of thousand-pound bells — that's usually considered (by those who even know the practice exists) a pastime for geeky Brits. But there are some 50 towers in the U.S. and Canada where devoted change ringers keep the "mathy-musical sport" alive. - Early Music America
The bill—titled the Art Market Integrity Act—would amend the Bank Secrecy Act to require art dealers and auction houses to comply with anti-money-laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing regulations. - ARTnews
The museum’s collection of Buddhist painting and sculptures includes some of the greatest work in all of its holdings, writes Christopher Knight. It hasn’t been on view for the people of Los Angeles County for going on a decade, and right now it’s only there for a year. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
