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Many Museums Want To Remove The Sackler Name From Their Campuses. State Attorneys General Want To Let Them.

"Following court filing in New York, the attorneys general from 23 states issued a statement calling for amendments to the plan, which they say does not offer sufficient concessions — including one that would protect non-profits that opt to remove the Sackler name from their spaces, regardless of gift agreements." - Artnet

Russia Is Investigating Its Own Eurovision Song Contest Entry For ‘Illegal Statements’

Following criminal complaints by a veterans' group and the Russian Union of Orthodox Women that the pop tune's words "aim to seriously insult and humiliate the human dignity of Russian women" and " hatred towards men, which undermines the foundations of a traditional family," authorities are investigating singer Manizha Sangin for her anthem "Russian Woman," which salutes the strength...

Bollywood’s Biggest Legend Leads Fight To Preserve India’s Oldest Films

Amitabh Bachchan, who's been a superstar in India for 50 years, has campaigned for years for the preservation of film from Indian cinema's early history, which goes back to 1931 for talkies and 1913 for silent movies. Some 80% of Bollywood's output from 1931 to 1950 is lost or unavailable to the public, and out of more than 1,100...

NBC Cancels “World Of Dance”

The show had been a strong performer for NBC over its first three seasons, but the fourth season ebbed and flowed in the numbers. The format, which is owned by Universal Television Alternative Studio, also has been remade in a number of territories globally including Thailand, Philippines and Poland.  - Deadline

2020 Movie Box Office Down Big Time (But Home Streaming Offsets Much)

The U.S./Canada box office market was down 80% in 2020, to $2.2 billion, while tickets sold were down 81% to 0.24 billion. Still, that was offset by home and mobile entertainment, which increased to $30 billion, up 21% from a year earlier. The number of online video subscriptions increased 32% to 308.6 million. - Deadline

How A Japanese AI Used In Bakeries Ended Up Fighting Cancer

In early 2017, a doctor at the Louis Pasteur Center for Medical Research, in Kyoto, saw a television segment about the BakeryScan. He realized that cancer cells, under a microscope, looked kind of like bread. He contacted BRAIN, and the company agreed to begin developing a version of BakeryScan for pathologists. - The New Yorker

The Beeple JPG — Just A $69 Million Marketing Stunt?

“It’s absurdity at every level of implementation. They sold a JPEG. This was a $69 million marketing stunt.” - Artnet

Major New Inuit Museum Opens In Winnipeg

"When Inuit enter the building, we want them to feel like this is a space for them, that the artwork to be curated for them and that they are the intended audience of the work, and up until now that hasn't necessarily been the case." - CBC

James Levine’s Complicated Legacy

Justin Davidson: "Levine made innumerable comebacks, and though he ended his career in bitterness and disgrace, he also avoided the punishment he deserved. The Met investigated allegations of sexual harassment and fired him … and then paid him millions to settle a lawsuit. His health would likely have prevented him from conducting much longer anyway." - New York Magazine

India’s New Internet Regulations Will Change How Indians See The Internet

Among other things, the IT Rules 2021 require social media platforms to deploy AI-based technology to identify sexually explicit content, trace the originator of encrypted messages, introduce a “voluntary verification system” for its users, and hire local teams to respond to both Indian users’ and government's complaints about content. Regulations for platforms with more than 5 million users will...

Has COVID Changed Standup Comedy For Good?

If so, it's got nothing to do with illness or quarantine as subject matter; it's that the lockdown pushed everyone — audiences, colleagues, and (crucially) gatekeepers such as casting agents and bookers — online, where barriers to entry are low and the democratizing effect has been sizable. - The Guardian

French Arts Workers Are Protesting So They Can Reopen. Americans’ Attitudes Are Different

The pandemic has been a disaster for the theater, of course, potentially more damaging to performing arts industries than to any other. And yet, in the long run, if there is a long run, how we repair our stages could also lead to long-needed changes that would elevate the people who work on, under and behind them. - The...

Dog Dance Competitions (Yes, They’re A Thing)

The sport is called canine musical freestyle. "At a typical competition, you might see dogs weaving through their handlers' legs, rolling over, spinning on their hind legs or leaping triumphantly into the arms of their humans, tails wagging all the way through. Some routines are more skit-like and tell a story, while others are more abstract." - Dance Magazine

Quebec Says Performances Can Resume — But There Are Strings

“My initial reaction was, ‘That’s great. Then I saw the fine print. Basically it’s the same rules and regulations as last summer — a maximum capacity of 250 people with social distancing, and I believe everyone needs to be seated." - Montreal Gazette

TV’s First Sitcom Family Wasn’t Much Like The Cleavers

Far from the WASP families in suburban homes seen in Father Knows Best and Leave It To Beaver (and The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family and on and on), The Goldbergs — created by its star, Gertrude Berg, who also wrote every episode — featured a thoroughly Jewish immigrant couple and their American-born children in a Bronx tenement....

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