Subscriber numbers are "providing an early sign that its shift to include ads in a cheaper version of its video streaming service is helping to combat tougher competition and attract cost-conscious customers grappling with inflation." - CBC (AP)
Maybe. But, says one intellectual property lawyer, "Copyright law is the right to stop people making copies, right? ... It’s not the right to stop people imitating your style." - Fast Company
American expatriates know the French don't like Emily in Paris. Nor do they: They "complain that they have spent years perfecting understated elegance and the rolling of their R’s, only to have a brash Chicagoan ... swoop in and ruin their image." - The New York Times
"This is just so monumentally dumb, though not entirely surprising in a state run by theocrats who’ve already banned the catch-all bogeyman of 'Critical Race Theory,' along with a woman’s right to abortion, while at the same time letting unstable 18-year-olds buy assault rifles." - LitHub
"Panahi, 62, who has won a number of awards at European film festivals, was arrested on 11 July last year and sent to jail to serve a six-year sentence" - which was overturned by Iran's supreme court in October. - The Guardian (AFP)
Since 1938, the Harvard Study of Adult Development has been investigating what makes people flourish. After starting with 724 participants the study incorporated the spouses of the original men and, more recently, more than 1,300 descendants of the initial group. - The Atlantic
When China shut down manufacturing and shipping ports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many artists felt it before American cities followed suit. Subsequent labor shortages, stranded shipping containers, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have further impacted commodity trade. - Hyperallergic
The National Gallery of Canada’s interim chief operating officer and human resources director is being paid annual fees potentially worth up to a third more than its next chief executive and director. - ARTnews
Noisenights are run via a crowdfunding model—events are announced, artists and venues secured, and when audience members buy tickets, they are helping to create a fully-funded event. Each of the 17 noisenights so far has sold out. - Van
There were 40 Afghan female students before the Taliban’s takeover back in mid-August 2021. Now there are 382 girls at Rumi Academy amid increasing Taliban restrictions on girls and women. They range in age from 13 to 25. - Toronto Star
"(With performers) wearing colourful inflated suits and roaming across streets, parks and city centres, La Grande Phrase (The Big Phrase) is a dance-work series by Montpellier-based Campagnie Didier Théron that explores ways to upend stereotypes of what a dancer should look like or do." - ArtsHub (Australia)
“We’re not start-ups. We have massive long-term responsibilities. And for that, we really need to have sustainable long-term funding, rather than the short-term injections.” - The Age
The idols themselves are typically made of plain stone or metal alloy, but part of Hindu worship is adorning the statues with clothing, flowers, jewels, and, sometimes, even weapons. Here's a profile of a former computer scientist in Chennai who gave up his career to follow his calling. - AP
Smart Questions are, typically, kind of dumb. And, just as typical, questions that might initially seem dumb or underinformed, or downright unintelligent, are the smartest way to learn stuff if you’re a journalist, an academic, or anybody else. - The Atlantic
Laura Miller: "At its best, (Spare) reads like one of those popular late-1990s novels about British singletons blundering their way out of solipsistic immaturity into self-awareness and true love: if not quite Bridget Jones's Diary, certainly High Fidelity or About a Boy." - Slate
