It was amazing at first. But “Mu says he doesn’t have any immediate plans to make another Sora imitation, partially because the video quality has gotten so good that it’s now almost impossible to create parodies.” - Wired
“My concern is not artificial intelligence, but natural stupidity. I think that's what drives most of the world's worst features. But I did want it to have the arrogance of Victor be similar in some ways to the tech bros. He's ... creating something without considering the consequences.” - NPR
Good question, one that 1948’s biopic about Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart - Words and Music, starring Mickey Rooney as a heterosexual Hart - got very wrong. But: “That the ’40s biopics are so bad on the facts as well as the spirit doesn’t render them entirely worthless.” - The New York Times
“A history of an “unruly appendage”, a look at the sadly neglected post-war Montreal erotic art scene and a scientific tome tackling whether fish can recognise themselves in a mirror are among the six shortlistees in The Bookseller’s Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year 2025.” - The Bookseller (UK)
Joanna Koerten was regularly visited by nobles and even royalty; a contemporary poet compared her skill with paper to Michelangelo’s with paint; one of her pieces sold for over twice what Rembrandt got for The Night Watch. Her work is now on view at D.C.'s National Museum of Women in the Arts. - Artnet
Eight in ten listeners say the host is one of the main reasons they listen to their favorite show, and more than half would stop listening if the host left. - InsideRadio
Located about 70 miles north of Phoenix, Arcosanti is the only “arcology” — Paolo Soleri’s portmanteau for compact, self-sufficient communities that fuse architecture and ecology — to materialize in the real world. - Bloomberg
Pitchfork has historically been a one-sided affair. While it ran the occasional reader poll, there was no way for readers to directly voice their opinion on the site. - The Verge
“Circus Centre Melbourne, originally designed as a home for Circus Oz, has reopened as a home for the broader contemporary circus and physical theatre sectors — a space where circus artists can meet, create, train and perform.” - ArtsHub (Australia)
“Today’s $8 billion payout is a testament to the fact that the twin engine of ads and subscriptions is firing on all cylinders,” said YouTube’s Global Head of Music, Lyor Cohen, in a statement. - TechCrunch
The White House was never meant to be a palace, nor the Oval Office a throne room. The East Wing was the living artery of the White House, the First Lady’s offices, the Social Office, the machinery of ceremonial democracy where symbolism gets translated into human scale. - Rick Wilson
It seems wrongheaded to feel wistful for a time when students had far less information at their fingertips. And who can blame them for letting AI do much of the work that they are likely to let AI do anyway when they enter the real world? - The Atlantic
Sotheby’s said the items to be sold are estimated to draw bids in excess of $50 million. Any extra proceeds not needed to retire the debt and any unsold artworks will be returned to Okada Fine Arts, which is controlled by Okada. - The New York Times
“Overcoming the contradiction between dream and reality, (Breton and his fellow Surrealists) believed, would complement the class struggle between the global proletariat and its bourgeois oppressors. Surrealism was much more than a merely artistic project — it was also a means toward a larger political end.” - The Conversation
