“As the deadline nears for TikTok‘s Chinese parent to cut a deal to divest controlling ownership of the app or face a U.S. ban, new bidders are coming out of the woodwork. Among the interested investors in TikTok is Tim Stokely, founder of OnlyFans. … In addition, Amazon submitted a last-minute offer.” - Variety
“Originally scheduled for July 5-6, the (free) festival, which attracts more than 50,000 attendees annually to San Francisco’s historic Fillmore district, will not take place this summer due to ongoing financial challenges. Tim Omi, president of the association, said in a statement, ‘2025 is not financially viable.’” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
“Underneath this genteel surface are bitter divisions that erupted just as the institution struggled to recover from the worst event ever to happen on its campus, when Salman Rushdie was nearly killed onstage. … Chautauqua’s culture of agreeable disagreement failed. Some wonder if it can be reclaimed.” - The New York Times
Thousands of cultural groups are receiving a “Notice of Grant Termination” which reads, in part, “Your grant no longer effectuates the agency's needs and priorities and conditions of the Grant Agreement and is subject to termination. … Your grant's immediate termination is necessary to safeguard the interests of the federal government." - NPR
“U.S. District Judge William Smith acknowledged that plaintiffs ‘demonstrated a likelihood of success,’ … but because the NEA had rescinded the requirement about a week after the lawsuit was filed, Smith said an ‘injunction is not in the public interest at this time.’” - AP
Radio Liechtenstein, which began broadcasting in 1995, went off the air at 6:00 pm Thursday, following a referendum last October in which 55.4% of voters elected to revoke the law that funds the station. Plans for privatization never materialized, as no buyer appeared interested in such a tiny market. - AP
Fandom has long facilitated deep dives into media in which fans analyse, discuss and track their favourite storylines and character arcs. This has been particularly true of the science fiction and fantasy genres, due to their complex and expansive narrative universes. - The Conversation
“The gold leaf had washed off the 350-year-old statues, leaving a behind dull, ruddy scene. Algae had spread across the 13 statues, leaving marks down Apollo’s dashing face that appeared like a trail of green tears. Things were not much better internally.” - Artnet
The Getty maintains earthquake and fire insurance but, as expressed in the filing, there are concerns “such insurance could become unavailable at rates considered reasonable by the Getty Trust.” - ARTnews
I like genre fiction for the same reason I like black-and-white film, stylized dialogue, animation, the paintings of Marc Chagall or ballet: things feel more real if they’re obviously a little fake. - The Point
The three-time Oscar nominee will direct Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Paris Opera. (He played the title role in a 1999 film adaptation of the Pushkin novel on which the opera is based.) The production runs from Jan. 26 through Feb. 27, 2026 at the Palais Garnier; Semyon Bychkov will conduct. - AP
"The response of these dance leaders reinforces my belief that the Trump administration’s move to suffocate diversity in the arts is ultimately doomed to fail. The voice of Americans of all races, genders and ability levels is a bell that cannot be un-rung and the arts are endlessly inventive, subversive and evolving." - New City Stage
Automated bots seeking AI model training data for LLMs have been vacuuming up terabytes of data, growing the foundation's bandwidth used for downloading multimedia content by 50 percent since January 2024. - Ars Technica
Kevin Young’s leave came two weeks before Trump issued an executive order calling for the elimination of what he described as “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology” within the Smithsonian. - The Guardian
Out of 213 classically-based companies examined, only 30% of artistic directors are women and 70% are men. Women comprise 32.3% of artistic directors at second companies and 46.2% of assistant or associate artistic directors. Nearly half (49.2) of company executive directors are female. - Dance Data Project
