Harvard administrators have released a statement saying that grade inflation has crossed a catastrophic threshold. Many Harvard undergrads treated the statement as a catastrophe in itself. (Yes, tears were shed.) Yet, writes Ian Bogost, there are pressures on both students and instructors which just about guarantee grade inflation. - The Atlantic (MSN)
“A divided San Francisco Arts Commission on Monday approved a plan to at least temporarily remove the Vaillancourt Fountain from Embarcadero Plaza, a final sign-off that means the massive artwork could be dismantled as soon as early next year.” - San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
“How to End a Story: Collected Diaries by Helen Garner charts the Australian writer's life from her early career in bohemian Melbourne to raising her daughter in the 1970s and her disintegrating marriage in the 1990s.” The jury’s vote was unanimous, with one judge calling it “a remarkable, addictive book.” - BBC (Yahoo!)
“Laurent Mauvignier Tuesday won France's top literary award, the Goncourt, for his family saga spanning the 20th century and recounting the story of his grandmother accused of collaborating during World War II. Just one round of voting sufficed for the jury to select La Maison Vide.” - AFP (Yahoo!)
During renovations on the 13th-century Torre dei Conti, the structure started to collapse, trapping two workers. During the 11-hour rescue operations, passersby watched as more of the tower crumbled. Both of the trapped men were rescued alive, though one died of his injuries shortly afterward. - AP
“Critics say the new logo and its angular griffin look severe — more like a soccer team, a clothing brand, or a beer label than an art museum.” What’s more, some board members say they weren't shown the final design for approval and only learned about the rollout from the press. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
Editor Roger Angell called the three stories “interesting and wholly original” but said “they seem to work in very different ways on different readers.” At least he allowed that “I’m not at all sure that we aren’t making a mistake.” That must have stung Sexton, always unsure of herself when writing prose. - Literary Hub
“The perception that opera is only for posh people, with which I fundamentally disagree, has taken a grip on a lot of decision-makers,” Thangam Debbonaire says. “But even if we do win them over, we have to accept that constraints on public finances aren’t going away any time soon.” - The Times (UK)
AISOMA is a Google AI-powered choreography tool that acts as a creative catalyst by generating new, original dance rooted in my choreographic language. - Google
Suda, who has been leading a change campaign at the museum since she arrived in 2022, reportedly has both supporters and detractors on the board. - Philadelphia Magazine
The Romantic ideal of a singular creative genius remaking the rules of his era doesn’t really match William Shakespeare, who was (for a theater guy) fairly conventional. Christopher Marlowe is a better fit, and he transformed more than he gets credit for, but mythmaking distorts his image as well. - The Atlantic (Yahoo!)
The rules require Netflix, Prime Video and the other global streamers with more than one million Australian subscribers to spend 10% of their total Australian expenditure – or 7.5% of their revenues – on local originals. - Deadline
The central insight that these disparate thinkers took from Kant is that the world isn’t simply a thing, or a collection of things, given to us to perceive. Rather, our minds help create the reality we experience. - The New Yorker
