"This is the future an emerging number of publishing startups are after — aiming to change the value of a book from a $10 Amazon purchase to a $100 investment opportunity, while creating a market of readers excited to see the books they love succeed." - Esquire
We need not consume drugs or get inebriated to be met on a daily basis with sights and behaviours to which the only reasonable reaction is an alternation between ‘wow!’ and ‘oh my god…!’ - 3 Quarks Daily
"Library workers across Oklahoma's Metropolitan Library System (MLS) were shocked this week after receiving instructions to avoid using the word 'abortion' and not to help patrons locate abortion-related information on either library computers or their own devices." - Vice
The project aimed to invite Nottingham’s citizens and tourists to experience and interact with the historical roots of the city through virtual archaeology, using their smartphones or tablets. - The Conversation
The company, founded by former Ballet West principal Derryl Yeager and his wife, Cheryl, was unusual in having as its annual cash cow not The Nutcracker but a Halloween production titled Thriller. Rather than undertaking a laborious search for a successor, the Yeagers are simply retiring. - KSL (Salt Lake City)
To fully understand a culture it’s necessary to get to know the specific patterns of life within it, and these can’t be captured by abstractions or generalisations. You might, for example, say that culture X is Christian but that doesn’t actually tell you very much about how life is lived in that culture. - 3 Quarks Daily
New research finds that 29% of UK teens use Instagram as their main news source; another 28% use TikTok and YouTube. Says one, "The only time I visit news sites is to look further into stories I've heard of or seen. Physical newspapers are not of interest." - The Observer (UK)
"Known as K11 Ecoast, the forthcoming complex" — to be built by Hong Kong real estate mogul and art collector Adrian Cheng — "is located in Prince Bay in Shenzhen's Nanshan district and covers more than 2.4 million square feet, the equivalent of 50 football fields." - Artnet
The 78-year-old folk legend, who has spent years recovering from a 2015 brain aneurysm, made a surprise appearance in what had been billed as "Brandi Carlile & Friends" to close this year's Newport Folk Festival, an event she last performed at in 1969. - Billboard
Following the lead of the British group Just Stop Oil, two young protesters from the organization Ultima Generazione (Final Generation) glued their hands to the glass covering protecting Botticelli's Primavera at the Uffizi in Florence as a third held a banner saying "Ultima Generazione No Gas No Carbone." - The Guardian
"Archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem say they have made numerous discoveries, including an ornate first-century villa with its own ritual bath, after a project began to increase access for disabled people to Jerusalem’s Western Wall." - AP
"Susan V. Booth, a former Goodman literary manager and currently artistic director of the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, will be the new artistic director of Chicago's most prestigious theater company. Booth, 59, will replace Robert Falls, who ... (is) stepping down after 35 years in the job." - MSN (Chicago Tribune)
Over a five-decade career in theater, film, and television, he played a wide variety of men who were tough in one way or another, from Mafia boss Paul Cicero in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas to Henry Kissinger in Oliver Stone's Nixon. - Variety
Many in France are concerned that broadcasters will now rely on a government grant from VAT receipts instead of a tax levied on households. They also fear that the amount could be cut in times of economic crisis or if a far-right candidate is elected as president. - Variety
What makes the Patterson the best new theater I’ve seen in years is the clear prioritization of the theater itself, which sits like a treasured heirloom in a custom case. The silence and the dark are part of that, creating a plush space that is paradoxically full of emptiness. - The New York Times
