"Language, religion, historical memory: These, as much as territory, are the war's battlefields. Against its appalling human cost, its cultural toll may feel insignificant — but culture is in every way a front of this war, and the fate of more nations than one hangs on its defense." - The New York Times
"The conflict is spawning a new lexicon. Some of the words and phrases that have entered wider usage in Ukrainian society date back to the beginning of the war in 2014, others to ... Soviet-era military slang that has become popularised again, and others are entirely new coinages." - The Guardian
"Archaeologists (have) discovered 168 geoglyphs near the arid Nazca plain in southern Peru. The new findings, which encompass images of humans, birds, snakes, cats, and killer whales, date between 100 BCE and 300 CE, when the pre-Incan Nazca civilization lived in the region." - Hyperallergic
"The (Colorado) company is in a bitter dispute with the labor union representing its performers, The American Guild of Musical Artists, ... with accusations that include charges of withheld artist payments, refusals to bargain in good faith, body shaming, sexual harassment, and other threats." - Colorado Public Radio
"Do we want you to argue with this list? Of course we do. That's the nature of the beast. ... No doubt you'll say: How could that movie have been left off the list? Or this one? Or that one? Trust us: We often asked that very same question ourselves." - Variety
The return of shoppers to physical retailers was good news for bookstores. ABA reported a record number of members, while Barnes & Noble began opening new outlets in the year and expects to open 30 new stores in 2023. Total bookstore sales through October were up 7.5% over the comparable period in 2021. - Publishers Weekly
The new limitations of his body became an opportunity for renewal. There is a lesson here about what it means to care for the body, to inhabit the bodies we have not merely with acceptance and love, as we are often rightly advised to do. - The New York Times
Physicists at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) used a 3D nanolithography tool called the Nanofrazor to cut the smallest record ever. The tune they "recorded," in full stereo no less: the first 25 seconds of "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree." - Ars Technica
When it comes to artist-driven community work, private versus grant funding isn’t an either-or proposition. Using the art market “is not just about making sales,” said artist Edgar Arceneaux, “it’s in the associated power that comes from leveraging relationships inside it.” - Artnet
The creative people who died this year include many whose lives helped shape our own — through the art they made, and through the words they said. - The New York Times
ArtStation (which was acquired by Epic Games in 2021) is considered to be the leading online portfolio and community for artists working in video games, film, and comics. - The Verge
"Exorbitant venue rental costs, cultural ignorance, a dismissive response to concerns of racial inequalities and funding models that make artistic careers a bleak option for survival have become a common occurrence in America's finest city." Just ask Jeremy McQueen, founder of the Black Iris Project. - The San Diego Union-Tribune
The United States Copyright Office (USCO) has initiated a proceeding to reverse an earlier decision to grant a copyright to a comic book that was created using "A.I. art" and says copyrighted works must be created by humans to gain official copyright protection. - CBR
"The crusade against Gender Queer has largely driven its popularity and increased the size of (Maia) Kobabe's royalty checks. The memoir has sold more than 96,000 copies and has been translated into Spanish, French, Polish and other languages. It's on the racks in airports." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
Streaming may be the future, but in the present, it’s not paying the bills. The subtext of the Streaming Wars always has been that the heady days of free-for-all spending wouldn’t last forever. - The Ringer
