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Prunella Scales, Star Of “Fawlty Towers,” Is Dead At 93

In addition to her role in what many consider the greatest British sitcom in history, Scales’s 60-odd-year career ranged through TV series from Coronation Street to Great Canal Journeys and films from Hobson’s Choice to Howard’s End — not to mention Dotty the Demanding Shopper from a set of Tesco commercials. - The Independent (UK)

“Hamilton’s” Schuyler Sisters Get Their Own Story

The musical, which depicts Eliza Schuyler, Hamilton, and Angelica Schuyler as emotionally entangled right from the get-go, catalyzed Amanda Vaill’s earlier feeling that there was a backstory to Hamilton’s relationship with his wife and sister-in-law that should be told. - Slate

Literary Fiction Is Always Going To Die. But Doesn’t

What I am about to say on this matter may seem perverse, but I think a look back at the instances where great works of literature almost disappeared upon publication or came close to not being published can offer a useful perspective, and even a modicum of hope, that the game is far from over. - The New York...

As Hollywood Ponders The Louvre Heist Story, A Dapper Dan Walks Out Of The Scene. AI? Nope.

It is because we are surrounded by these kinds of A.I. images and tools that users are now also trained to be skeptical of everything they see. - The New York Times

Princeton’s History Museum Gets A Spectacular New Home

The collection’s history stretches as far back as the 1750s, to when the school was called the College of New Jersey, but its earliest art holdings were destroyed in the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Princeton in 1777. - Artnet

AI Hasn’t Disrupted Hollywood Yet. But Hollywood Is Disrupted. And AI Will Change It A Lot

While the panic in the trenches is real, and the concerns over copyright infringement grab headlines—three major studios are suing the AI company Midjourney—AI has yet to yield the dreaded industry job losses. AI has yet to deliver on its promise to make filmmaking much cheaper and easier, too. - The Atlantic

Why Piano Competitions Are So Controversial

Those in favour argue that they are essential for discovering new talent and launching international careers. The main arguments against them are that they stifle musicality by focusing on technical perfection, and reward conformity rather than originality. - The Spectator

In Praise Of… The Louvre Heist?

Surely, to everyone outside the republic, a pair of cat burglars cleverly robbing a museum in broad daylight and escaping—Beep! Beep!—on mopeds is very nearly the Frenchest thing that could have happened. - The Atlantic

First Came AI. Now The “De-Skilling” Of Humans

Now that chatbots are going the way of Google—moving from the miraculous to the taken-for-granted—the anxiety has shifted, too, from apocalypse to atrophy. Teachers, especially, say they’re beginning to see the rot. The term for it is unlovely but not inapt: de-skilling. - The Atlantic (MSN)

The Hidden Gem Of A Concert Hall In The Library Of Congress

Perhaps the most famous commission became one of America's most iconic pieces of music. Aaron Copland's ballet Appalachian Spring, written for dancer and choreographer Martha Graham, received its world premiere at Coolidge Auditorium on Oct. 30, 1944. - NPR

Drummer Jack DeJohnette, 83

Able to bring dynamic, highly musical playing to open-minded free jazz, R&B-leaning instrumental grooves and everything in between, DeJohnette is perhaps best known as the drummer in Miles Davis’s fusion period, contributing to albums such as Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson and On the Corner. - The Guardian

How Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkins Became All The Rage In The Museum World

Or rather, not just the museum world: “It’s Kusama’s pumpkin patch; we’re just living in it.” - Washington Post (Yahoo)

The Novelist Anne Enright, On Trying To Clean Out Her Parents’ House

“Everything must be seen and experienced before it can be recycled, shredded or, as a last resort, binned. We must honour and mourn. We must absorb the past out of each object, so it can turn into empty rubbish. This alchemy is deeply exhausting.” - The Guardian (UK)

Art Crime Is In The News Again, This Time Thanks To An International Art Forgery Ring

"German police say they've broken up an international art forgery ring that tried to sell works purportedly by Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Frida Kahlo and others for tens of millions of dollars to unsuspecting collectors.” - NPR

For The First Time In Two Hundred Years, You Can See The Parthenon Without Scaffolding

Of course, “having been originally built in the fifth century BC, and come through most of that span much the worse for wear, it requires intensive and near-constant maintenance.” - OpenCulture

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