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
“When you’re in a hurry, the Böcker Agilo carries your heavy treasures,” the ad boasted under a photo of the lift parked outside the Louvre. - The New York Times
There are subtle differences between the images of authoritarians and elected leaders, in body language and other details. Is the leader acting as a quality-control agent, asking questions, studying details? Or surveying his domain in miniature? Is he simply toying with the world? - Washington Post
By playing with metaphor, imagery and narrative, horror has always addressed hard truths about death, decay and the human condition that mainstream productions tend to shy away from as too disgusting, embarrassing or distressing. - The Guardian
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos told Wall Street analysts the company is excited “to leverage new technical capabilities as they come online” in advertising and product but also “content production.” Then he backtracked a bit: “We’re not chasing novelty for novelty’s sake. … It takes a great artist to make something great.” - The Hollywood Reporter
“Isola Della Musica will be situated on a newly-built square island between Hanoi's West Lake and Đam Tri Lake. … Renzo Piano Building Workshop and PTW Architects conceived a bulbous concrete building (clad in pearlescent ceramic tile) that will contain a 1,800-seat opera hall and a 1,000-seat convention hall.” - Dezeen
“Today, the Globe is thriving as San Diego’s oldest and largest theater organization, offering performances … for more than 250,000 people a year. … We spoke with its leaders, present and past, about the company’s legacy, and some of the goals in mind for the theater’s centennial in 2035.” - The San Diego Union-Tribune (MSN)
“The filmmaker announced he will auction off seven watches, ranging in value from $3,000 to $1 million, ... in an effort to rebuild his wealth after investing $120 million into the 2024 box-office flop Megalopolis.” - San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
“The plaintiff, Taína Lyons, an Afro-Latina dancer, … alleges that (Morris) told her that her hair was ‘too big’ and a ‘distraction.’ ... Ms. Lyons, who started at the company in 2022 and was terminated in 2024, claimed that she had faced discrimination based both on race and on disability.” - The New York Times
“The San Antonio Philharmonic has postponed its Classics III concerts, scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 7-8, marking the second time one of the orchestra’s fall events has been rescheduled for a later date. The Catrina Ball, a United Way fundraiser …, was also postponed from its Nov. 1-2 dates.” - San Antonio Current
“The Children’s Booker Prize, offering £50,000 (roughly $67,000) for the best fiction written for readers aged eight to 12, … will launch in 2026, with the first winner announced in early 2027. It will be decided by a mixed panel of adult and child judges, a first for a Booker award.” - The Guardian
In the case of $1.7 worth of gold nuggets stolen from the mineralogy gallery at Paris’s Natural History Museum on Sept. 16, a 24-year-old Chinese woman was arrested on September 30 while trying to dispose of almost a kilogram of melted-down gold in Barcelona. - AFP (Yahoo!)
