Spain was especially hard hit by the 2008 financial crisis, with a housing market collapse, credit growth in real estate, a fast-shrinking GDP, unemployment reportedly hitting 27 percent, and political upheaval. In 11 years of annual growth—a 39.2-percent increase since 2014—the Spanish market has made its way back into profitability. - Publishing Perspectives
The pointe shoe manufacturer Virtisse, based near Philadelphia, saw its entire inventory — 25,000 pairs, worth over $3 million — literally go up in smoke. Now, as it tries to get back on its feet, it faces costs 50% higher than before because of the Trump administration’s tariff policy. - Marketplace
The Roving Scientist Bar thus became a flagship program of the Beaker Street Festival, this year returning to Hope & Anchor, Australia’s oldest continuously licensed pub. Over 150 Australian scientists will be stationed at a table over the course of three days (13-16 August), with experts on topics from Gg(fear of sharks) to dark matter. - ArtsHub
Institutions across Colorado were awarded about $4.3 million in IMLS grants, most of which require matching funds from the museum or library, for the current fiscal year. - Colorado Newsline
As the only outlet covering their communities, these papers still have an audience willing to pay for them, and many of them are profitable. What they don’t have is anyone to take over when the publisher gets sick, dies, or is simply desperate to retire. - Columbia Journalism Review
“A globe-trotting correspondent for The Atlantic, Vanity Fair and The New York Times Magazine, … (he) worked as a commercial pilot before becoming one of the most acclaimed magazine writers of his generation, traveling around the world to report on plane crashes, shipwrecks, nuclear proliferation and war.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
Said co-producer Marsha Posner Williams, “When that red light was on, there were no more professional people than those women, but when the red light was off, those two couldn’t warm up to each other if they were cremated together.” (Arthur regularly used the c-word to refer to White.) - The Hollywood Reporter
At the Vienna Festwochen, director Milo Rau and dramaturg Servane Dècle presented The Pelicot Trial, a seven-hour reading of excerpts from the courtroom proceedings, interviews, and commentary about the trial of Dominique Pelicot dor drugging his wife, Gisèle, and allowing dozens of men to rape her while he watched. - The New York Times
“In a project Casa Batlló has described as a ‘remarkable rediscovery,’ the back façade has been returned to its original state following a years-long €3.5 million ($4 million) initiative. ... This was the first comprehensive attention that has been paid to the building’s rear in more than a century.” - Artnet
“’What will it take to keep Curtis tuition-free?’ asked Curtis president Roberto Díaz in 2016, when the Institute was still in the early days of a major fundraising campaign. Now the small music conservatory has answered, raising nearly $200 million for endowment, musical instruments, programs, and another building.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
“The audience inside — who have paid up to a whopping £250 ($336) a ticket — are left with a livestream of the number. Those on the street below, some waiting for (Rachel) Zegler and some lucky enough to have been passing by, get a free performance from a Golden Globe-winning actress.” - The Hollywood Reporter
The hotel chain discovered Bodett through his spots on All Things Considered, and their relationship worked very well for almost 40 years. Then the Indian chain OYO bought Motel 6 — and its assets and debts, including the final year of Bodett’s $1.2 million annual contract, which OYO has refused to pay. - Tedium
A growing body of research correlates persistent use of AI with a drop in critical thinking; humans become reliant on AI and unwilling, perhaps unable, to verify its work. As chatbots creep into every digital crevice, they may continue to degrade the web gradually, even gently. Today’s jankiness may, by tomorrow, simply be normal. - The Atlantic
“From its perch 5,000 feet above sea level, the ancient al-Qahira Castle has watched over Yemen’s third-largest city, Taiz, for more than 800 years. ... But the future of its weathered walls is now uncertain — not because of threats from invaders or empires, but because of the sudden suspension of restoration funds.” - Smithsonian Magazine
