Qatar spent a reported $220 billion preparing for the tournament, conjuring new buildings, new neighborhoods and even an entirely new city. To be here now is to exist in a bubble of high unreality. - The New York Times
He was a lifelong alcoholic, so the common assumption has been that he died of alcohol poisoning or related organ failure — but medical observations of his last few days don't resemble typical alcoholic deaths. There are two other theories, one from the time and the other from much later. - MSN
"A survey of professionals across the performing and visual arts found overall incomes for women were 25% less than their male counterparts, ... almost double the size of the pay gap in the overall workforce, research commissioned by the Australia Council has found." - The Guardian
It’s a story about how to structure a company like Disney. Then you add in the complexity of the shift to streaming, the future of TV and movies generally, and the gigantic reputation of a character like Bob Iger, who many people think could plausibly run for president. There’s just a lot going on here. - The Verge
Joshua Barone writes about becoming one of the throngs of supernumeraries in the Triumphal March of the Met's very grand production of Verdi's very grand opera Aïda. - The New York Times
The selections: a word that describes 2022 entirely too well; an all-too-common behavioral M.O. these days; a now-overused term derived from a Hollywood movie; a color used to designate independent legislators; and a common American word that confused the rest of the world when it was the answer to Wordle. - BuzzFeed
A thinly veiled swipe at playwright William Inge (and at himself), the play seems to have been deliberately omitted by Albee from his collected works, but it has just resurfaced at a theater in L.A. - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
"Dozhd — also known as TV Rain — had been fined earlier this month for airing a map labeling Crimea as Russian territory, and calling Russian forces 'our army.'" The head of Latvia's broadcast regulator attributed the revocation to "threats to national security and public order. ... Everyone should respect Latvian law." - Politico
The attack was discovered Tuesday morning and is ongoing; rehearsals and performances are going on more or less as scheduled. The perpetrators have not yet been identified (though there seems to be a widespread presumption, justified or not, that they are Russian). - The New York Times
The long-popular show, which combines rhythmic movement and comedy with percussion, much of it using everyday objects, opened in Manhattan's East Village in 1994. It will close, "due to declining ticket sales," on Jan. 8, 2023, though touring productions in North America and overseas will continue. - The Hollywood Reporter
At 66 the oldest person ever to win Britain's top art award, Ryan was honored for her memorial to the Windrush generation of Caribbean migrants to the UK — a group Ryan is herself part of (her family brought her to England from Montserrat when she was 3). - The Guardian
Rather than informing a population of philosophically fulfilled, elevated beings, the ubiquity of all this bite-sized meaning has had an adverse effect, fuelling our familiar, modern malaise of dissatisfaction, disconnection and burnout. - Psyche
Demanding apologies and cancellation might seem an over-the-top reaction to the staging of this apparently benign ballet staple. However, the representation of many of the “exotic” settings and stories in traditional ballets is an ongoing problem. - Dance Australia
Multiple artists have accused Stable Diffusion of using their art without permission. Many in the digital art space have also expressed qualms over AI models producing images en masse for so cheap, especially if those images imitate styles that actual artists have spent years refining. - NBCNews
The wager on “KPOP” hasn’t paid off, ticket sales data show. “KPOP” was one of Broadway’s lowest-selling shows in recent weeks, according to the Broadway League, the industry’s trade group. - The Wall Street Journal
