Proponents say that reaching the 100 million target would give Canada the centres of gravity it needs for such clusters to form; critics say the plan is nothing more than a corporate push for more profits, backed by multinationals like McKinsey & Company and BlackRock. - The Walrus
“Eight years after its premiere, the series adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel is coming to a much lower-key close, indicative of all that's happened in that intervening time, and the toll that becoming an iconic symbol, far beyond a mere TV show, can creatively exact on any work of art.” - TheWrap (MSN)
Generally, streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ are just that: services, not goods, so they don’t face any kind of markup when they cross borders. But at a time when the stock market is in “chaos,” the economic uncertainty caused by Trump’s tariffs is sure to have impacts on those services. - Wired
The loss of potentially thousands of such grants has left recipients reeling and prompted some organizations to mobilize, as millions of dollars of previously approved funding were stripped from state humanities councils, museums, historic sites, archives, libraries, educators and media outlets. - Washington Post
According to a new NPR/Ipsos poll, reading is something a majority of Americans enjoy, and want to get better at. But it's nowhere near a top priority. - NPR
A team of artists and neuroscientists took white blood cells donated by the composer (who cooperated with the project), reprogrammed them to be stem cells, grew cerebral organoids (clusters of neurons that mimic the human brain) and used customized technology to render the organoids’ neural signals into music. - The Guardian
At the emotional core of “The Last Repair Shop” are the stories of the dedicated technicians and the students who benefit from the free instruments. The message: Music education has the power to transform lives. - Los Angeles Times
"Unfortunately I had to cancel all my upcoming events in the United States as I felt unsafe traveling, especially after watching students and university professors abducted on the street just in front of other people." - CBC
“The historic fantasy of the Great White Way as a glamorous montage of gleaming marquees, sparky backstage romances, and elegant audiences reveling in black tie was a Hollywood concoction, arguably false from the start.” - New York Magazine (MSN)
“Yorgos Lanthimos had filed a request to film scenes for sci-fi comedy Bugonia at the fifth-century BC site in April. But in a statement on Thursday, the culture ministry said permission had been refused because ‘the proposed scenes are incompatible with the symbolism … and the values the Acropolis represents’.” - The Guardian
“Call them what you like — mud trays, clay troughs, unbaked earthen dishes — but the four 3x1½-inch dull-colored things hardly get the pulses racing. … A new study … (suggests they were) objects used in the funerary rites of Osiris, the ancient Egyptian god of the afterlife.” - Artnet
“The (NPS) on Monday appeared to restore its original webpage on the history of the Underground Railroad after it was met with backlash for deleting a prominently featured photo of abolitionist and women’s suffragist Harriet Tubman, as well as segments of text describing the horrors of slavery.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
“The American Library Association (ALA) and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), whose members include museum and library workers nationwide, have sued over what the ALA called, in a release, ‘the Trump administration’s gutting of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).’” - Publishers Weekly
“72% of demands to censor books were initiated by pressure groups, government entities and elected officials, board members and administrators, reported the American Library Association (ALA). Just 16% of ban attempts were made by parents, while 5% were brought forward by individual library users.” - The Guardian
