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Here Are The Finalists For The 2025 National Book Awards

Fiction by Rabih Alameddine, Megha Majumdar and Karen Russell and a memoir of family tragedy by Yiyun Li are among … five nominees in each of five competitive categories. ... Winners, each of whom receive $10,000, will be revealed during a Nov. 19 dinner gala in downtown Manhattan.” - AP

Francis Fukuyama: Why Populism Has Been On The Rise

After pondering these questions for nearly a decade, I have come to conclude that technology broadly and the internet in particular stand out as the most salient explanations for why global populism has arisen in this particular historical period, and why it has taken the particular form that it has. - Persuasion

Universities Respond To Trump Proposal Of A “Compact”

“This action targets funding for things like cancer research, Pell Grants for students from low-income backgrounds, and criteria for hiring faculty. This displays a complete disregard for the role that higher education plays in advancing dialogue and debate from various viewpoints, and jeopardizes the success of students, the economy, and our competitiveness as a nation." - InsideHigherEd

AI Seems To Be Homogenizing Our Thinking

Of course, a writer can in theory always refuse an A.I.-generated suggestion. But the tools seem to exert a hypnotic effect, causing the constant flow of suggestions to override the writer’s own voice. - The New Yorker

How The Museum of Moden Art Store Became A Big Brand On Its Own

The MoMA Store has become a brand in and of itself to the point where there are shoppers who know the acronym and logo but not necessarily the history behind them. And while retail has helped MoMA gain name recognition, the museum wants it to become a more effective ambassador for the flagship art institution. - Fast Company

Broadway Shows Have Started Choosing Baltimore To Launch National Tours

“There are various reasons why, including Baltimore’s proximity to New York, the city’s revered venues and history as a theater town. ... More recently, another factor has helped lure Broadway productions ready to hit the road: Maryland’s Theatrical Production Tax Credit, which can earn up to $2 million back to a production.” - The Baltimore Banner

One Of Georgia’s Biggest Opera Stars Is Leader Of Protests Against Government

Paata Burchuladze, a 70-year-old bass who had a major international career, has become a leader of mass opposition to the government of the pro-Putin Georgian Dream party. On October 4 he led a large rally in Tbilisi which led to an attempt by crowds to take over the presidential palace. - Civil Georgia

With No Warning, Cleveland State Univ. Hands Its Student-Run Radio Station Over To Local NPR Affiliate

WCSB, which opened in 1975, had offered an extremely wide range of programs (classical, reggae, jazz, talk, hip-hop, etc.) typical of student-run university stations. Last week CSU (which is keeping the broadcast license) abruptly turned over the frequency to Ideastream Public Media, which is airing its previously online-only Jazz Neo channel. - Inside Radio

Unknown Music By Henry Purcell Discovered

“A team of musicologists has unearthed the printed score of a previously unknown Purcell song, as well as the original manuscript for various keyboard compositions, partly in the composer’s own hand – the first Purcell autograph to be found for more than 30 years.” - The Guardian

Louisville’s Speed Art Museum Closes Education Department

The move, attributed by management to financial challenges, comes as the museum is set to open a $22 million public sculpture park this week. - Louisville Public Media

National Gallery Of Art In D.C. Closes Due To Government Shutdown

“It is the first major museum in D.C. to shutter because of the shutdown. The Smithsonian Institution, which runs an array of museums in D.C. and beyond, is using its own funds to remain open at least through Monday.” - ARTnews

Megahit Novelist Jilly Cooper, 88

“The novels were robust, and full of comic observation – she had a caricaturist’s eye for telling contrasts of detail, a handsome sleek horse next to a shaggy-shanked pony. … Upper and middling natives pursued land, sports, profitable businesses, and each other, with lust and gusto, as in the works of Henry Fielding.” - The Guardian

How “Tilly” Is Dividing Hollywood

There have, of course, been AI actors before. Carrie Fisher was famously resurrected for The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. James Cameron used background “actors” to populate Titanic in 1997, but until now no AI creation has achieved the media cut-through that Tilly has.  - The Conversation

The Biographer: Data Mining? Or Something Else?

“How can you write in a way that shows somebody working day after day on a piece of work?” asks Richard Holmes, with the triumphant twinkle of someone who has an answer to his own question. “How do you actually narrate that?” - The New Statesman

Maureen Dowd: In The Forest Of The Uncanny Valley

Human connections have been eroding for some time. We’re all dwelling in Uncanny Valley now, staring into our personal screens, not sure what’s real or fake, to the detriment of talking, dating, reading, living. - The New York Times

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