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HBO Max Just Pulled 200 Older Episodes Of Sesame Street

It's a move that confirmed every pessimistic prediction about making the show for a private entity. "Some of the most notable episodes HBO Max once streamed are no longer available, including an episode that aired in 1983 and featured Big Bird confronting death." - The New York Times

The U.S. Bananas Art Trial Is About To Begin

The judge who allowed the trial to go forward: "While using silver duct tape to affix a banana to a wall may not espouse the highest degree of creativity, its absurd and farcical nature meets the ‘minimal degree of creativity’ needed to qualify as original." - The Observer (UK)

If You Watch Just One Movie About Tech, Make It This Nearly 40-Year-Old Val Kilmer Piece

It''s "a movie about responsible innovation—as Chris says, about how you can’t have science without philosophy. ... Creators need to think about how their inventions will be used, and why someone wants them created in the first place." - Slate

Cinemas Are Struggling With Crushing Debt

What box-office rebound? - Los Angeles Times

What We Learned From The Three-Week DOJ Publishing Trial

Just in case you weren't riveted on Twitter, "the three-week trial offered an unusual glimpse into the world of publishing, offering observers a parade of high-profile publishing executives, agents and authors speaking frankly and on the record." - The New York Times

Cops Chase Artists Out Of A Park In Manhattan

The artists, who were painting, had their names displayed - and the park cops said that constituted "soliciting." - Hyperallergic

Drought Exposes Ancient Spanish StoneHenge

Experts believe the striking circle of dozens of megalithic stones has existed since 5000 BC. However, it was first discovered by German archaeologist Hugo Obermaier in 1926 before it became flooded in 1963 due to a rural development project under Francisco Franco's dictatorship. - ABCNews

Radical Rethink Needed For Australian Cultural Policy

The right of citizens to participate in, and contribute to, the cultural activities of the community is accepted in a number of the international agreements to which Australia is signatory. In an age of streaming platforms, public funding cuts and rising inequality, these cultural rights must be revisited and reasserted. - ArtsHub

What We’ve Learned From The Octopus About Kinds Of Intelligence

All these behaviors—as well as many more observed in the wild—suggest that octopuses learn, remember, know, think, consider, and act based on their intelligence. This changes everything we think we know about “higher order” animals, because cephalopods, unlike apes, are very, very different to us. - Nautilus

Was Longtime Star Canadian TV News Anchor Fired Because Her Hair Went Gray?

Lisa LaFlamme, who started hosting the flagship show in 2011, was one of many women who stopped dyeing her hair during the pandemic, and allowed her natural hair colour to show. LaFlamme called the decision “liberating” and told viewers she wished she had made the move sooner. - The Guardian

A First: Streaming Tops Cable TV For The First Time

It was only a matter of time before the milestone was reached, as streaming usage has continued to climb while traditional TV declines amid the steady drip-drip-drip of cord-cutting losses. - Variety

Should Disney Sell ESPN )And What Would It Say About American Sports-Watching?)

Fewer Americans are getting cable TV—and, by extension, ESPN—every year, but the network remains home to some of the most popular content on TV, particularly as many people no longer watch live programming that isn’t news or sports. - The Wall Street Journal

“A Special Magic Of Its Own”: Wallace Shawn On The Pleasures Of Reading Plays

"The written play has its own music, its own pristine existence — words, thoughts, and spirit ... abstracted from the bodies of actors (moving) through space. There are wonderful things that can happen in the mind of a reader that cannot happen to anyone watching actors in a play." - The Guardian

How HGTV Changed The Look Of American Houses

Flipping and landlording are both seductive economic propositions—so much so that shows about successful, self-made flippers and investment-property renovators have become their own genre on HGTV, which is consistently ranked the most popular non-news cable channel. - The Atlantic

Alexander Payne And Laura Dern Figured “Citizen Ruth” Would Eventually Be A Period Piece.  No Such Luck.

Payne's 1996 dark comedy starred Dern as a trainwreck who finds herself co-opted into America's abortion battles.  Says Dern now, "we thought we were making something that in three years might be passé. And now it's worse for my daughter's generation." - MSN (The Washington Post)

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