A will that has been lost for more than 150 years and was at the centre of a bitter legal battle by William Shakespeare’s family over who owned the playwright’s final home has been unearthed in an unlabelled box at the National Archives. - The Guardian
This is not simply a disagreement over museum curation; it’s a dangerous and calculated attempt to whitewash our history, silence uncomfortable truths, and undermine the very institutions we trust to preserve and interpret our collective past. - The Contrarian
The 38-year-old native of Verona is currently chief conductor of the Tokyo Philharmonic and, as of the start of 2025, music director of Turin’s Teatro Regio. He will keep those jobs as he spends three months each season in Sydney and Melbourne starting in 2026. - Moto Perpetuo
Managing director Raphael Picciarelli: “We weren’t chasing hype for its own sake. We were trying to spark the feeling that draws people to Burning Man or the World Cup: the thrill of witnessing something unrepeatable. … We fell short on revenue, but we doubled our audience. Forty percent were first-timers.” - The New York Times
“The president's office announced that it has begun the process of ending the current contracts connected to the cathedral and will launch a further ‘forensic audit’ that may lead to the project being halted entirely. … Around $58 million ... has already been spent on the $400 million cathedral despite construction not starting.” - Dezeen
“An angry article on the White House website, headlined 'President Trump Is Right About the Smithsonian,’ lists a series of perceived offenses from museums in the capital, ranging from flying the Progress Pride flag alongside the Stars and Stripes to showing a stop-motion animation of Dr. Anthony Fauci.” - The Daily Beast
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), whose stated mission is the defense of free speech rights, made its bones as a leading voice against what it considered leftist political correctness on campus. Now FIRE is suing the Trump administration and pushing back on conservative overreach. - The New York Times
“The layoffs leave unclear the future of the performance genre, which is a subscription driver for the arts venue. … Notably, the dance package no longer includes the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, a reliable crowd-pleaser of past seasons.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
Shapiro has spent 25 years at the network, the last ten of them as a host of the flagship afternoon/evening newscast. In his announcement, he stressed that the funding troubles and political controversies around NPR have nothing to do with his departure, which is a personal career decision. - Variety
“Philosophy majors rank higher than all other majors on verbal and logical reasoning, according to our new study published in the Journal of the American Philosophical Association. They also tend to display more intellectual virtues such as curiosity and open-mindedness.” - The Conversation
"I'm begging you to just try and learn something that isn't from Facebook, Fox, or Newsmax," Valeen, a 38-year-old registered Democrat who works as a pet sitter in Denver, wrote to her dad via Instagram DM after they exchanged a series of posts about Gaza. - Wired
For 75 years, Wyeth’s five-panel, 60’x19’ Apotheosis of the Family hung at the Wilmington Savings Fund Society in Delaware — and was pried down in 2008 when the building was sold. Now his grandson, Jamie, has built a new home for the mural, and reassembling it was quite a task. - The New York Times
Even for a theatre critic, the orchestra is easy to overlook. It wasn’t until I sat in behind the scenes, with a copy of the music for “Annie” and “Scoundrels” in front of me, that I realized how much material is underscored with music. - Toronto Star
