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NBCUniversal CEO Ousted For Inappropriate Relationship

The news "sent shockwaves through the Burbank-based company, is unfolding days ahead of Comcast reporting its first quarter results on Thursday, including a conference call with Wall Street analysts. It’s also shaking out weeks before the TV industry’s annual upfront ad sales season." - Variety

The New Canon Of Julius Eastman

"We’re firmly enjoying some new period of appreciation for the pioneering but once-overlooked work of this Black queer composer and multi-instrumentalist; archival recordings and new interpretations are widely available, and the art world more broadly has taken an enthusiastic interest in him." - The New York Times

Putin’s War On Ukrainian Cultural Memory

It's always the libraries. "Three national and state libraries, including the National Scientific Medical Library of Ukraine, as well as some 25 university libraries, have been severely damaged or destroyed, the most shocking statistics relate to public libraries."- The Atlantic

Remember All Those Chromebooks School Kids Got Early In The Pandemic Lockdown?

Turns out they're low quality and not reparable, and, three years later, that's not turning out to be so great for the schools or their students. - The Verge

The Small British City Getting A Bunch Of Dali’s Surreal Sculptures

In Shrewsbury, a town of 40,000 a few miles east of the Welsh border, "the organisers of an ambitious arts trail in the Shropshire town are celebrating an unexpected coup. Three pieces made by Dalí are to play a starring role in this year’s trail." - The Observer (UK)

Imagine Being A 16-Year-Old Bookstore Owner Who Gets To Interview Judy Blume

Just, like, wow. That is extremely cool. And: "'It’s people like you who give us hope, because you’re the next generation and you’re who’s going to be most affected it,' Blume told the teenager." - Variety

A Blockbuster Show, Ripped In Half By War

The National Gallery in London and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow both have a new show up - "After Impressionism." Back in the halcyon days before Russia invaded Ukraine, this was supposed to be one bigger, traveling show. No longer.  - The New York Times

Tracking Down Retired Celebrities Is A Gross New Trend For Paparazzi

"The rush to track down people who used to be famous does seem to have picked up some speed lately. And, as far as I can tell, it seems to be rooted in a mixture of confusion and entitlement." - The Guardian (UK)

A City That’s Been Longing For A Bookstore Finally Gets Its Own

"Most of Buho's books are secondhand or donated, costing around $10 to keep them accessible. Literacy rates in the region are some of the lowest in the country, and Hernandez sees his store is something that can only help." - NPR

Poised For Change At The Dance Theater Of Harlem

The legacy: "I remember being at barre on the first day, in Studio 3 with the beautiful red brick, and not having ever experienced seeing a multitude of beautiful Black and brown skin, I was like, 'Oh, this is different.'" - The New York Times

Music Festivals Can Be Crowded, Hot, And Sometimes Seemingly Out Of Control

And yet, whether they're classical or pop or rock or whatever Coachella is, we fall for them. "As festivalgoers we untether, if only for a moment. Hypnotized by the performer, drifting through a music- (and, for many, drug-) induced haze." - NPR

The Woman Revolutionizing An Iranian Storytelling Tradition In Los Angeles

"For centuries, skilled Iranian storytellers known as Naqqals have transfixed audiences in traditional coffeehouses" - but it was always an art by men, and for men only. Gordafarid "is the first known female Naqqal to have learned the craft the traditional way." - Los Angeles Times

Author Celeste Ng On Book Hangovers And Getting Through The Last Few Years

"I had a crisis of faith in the early days of the pandemic. I thought: books don’t do anything, maybe I should go and become a nurse? And then I realised that I was turning to poetry." - The Guardian (UK)

Lynn Nottage And Her Daughter Are Creating Theatre, And Opera, Together

Ruby Aiyo Gerber to her mom: "For so long, I rebelled against wanting to be a writer, fearing that admiring any part of you was to be forever in your shadow. I had a lot of fear when starting the collaboration." - The New York Times

The Bloody Past And Blurry Future Of The So-Called Digital Revolution In News

"The time has come for us to stop using the term 'digital revolution' in such a catchphrase-cute way, with the inevitable emphasis on 'digital' and little thought for the meaning, and historical realities, of 'revolution.'" - Los Angeles Times

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