Stories

National Gallery Of Art In D.C. Closes Due To Government Shutdown

“It is the first major museum in D.C. to shutter because of the shutdown. The Smithsonian Institution, which runs an array of museums in D.C. and beyond, is using its own funds to remain open at least through Monday.” - ARTnews

Megahit Novelist Jilly Cooper, 88

“The novels were robust, and full of comic observation – she had a caricaturist’s eye for telling contrasts of detail, a handsome sleek horse next to a shaggy-shanked pony. … Upper and middling natives pursued land, sports, profitable businesses, and each other, with lust and gusto, as in the works of Henry Fielding.” - The Guardian

How “Tilly” Is Dividing Hollywood

There have, of course, been AI actors before. Carrie Fisher was famously resurrected for The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. James Cameron used background “actors” to populate Titanic in 1997, but until now no AI creation has achieved the media cut-through that Tilly has.  - The Conversation

The Biographer: Data Mining? Or Something Else?

“How can you write in a way that shows somebody working day after day on a piece of work?” asks Richard Holmes, with the triumphant twinkle of someone who has an answer to his own question. “How do you actually narrate that?” - The New Statesman

Maureen Dowd: In The Forest Of The Uncanny Valley

Human connections have been eroding for some time. We’re all dwelling in Uncanny Valley now, staring into our personal screens, not sure what’s real or fake, to the detriment of talking, dating, reading, living. - The New York Times

Theatre As Narrative? Why?

“I have a real problem with the idea that theater is meant to achieve narrative fluidity, as if it could somehow resolve the world’s chaos,” he said. “It drives me crazy. A show, to me, has to be a mass of contradictory elements.” - The New York Times

AI Is Getting Very Good At Creating Fake Crowds. Why That’s A Problem

This observation could potentially have serious consequences in a society where images of big, engaged crowds at public events like rock concerts, protests and political rallies have major currency.  - NPR

Hollywood Actors Are Furious About AI-“Actor” Tilly

“They are going to use our work, use all this information, to perfect every possible inflection and expression. And they are just going to steal all of that?” - Los Angeles Times

Report: For The First Time, More Americans Get Their News From Social Media Than From TV

“The proportion accessing news via social media and video networks in the United States (54%) is sharply up,” the report’s authors write, “overtaking both TV news (50%) and news websites/apps (48%) for the first time.” - NiemanLab

College Radio Is Booming. Why?

Stations that once struggled to fill airtime are now turning people away, shortening shows, alternating time slots, and running training programs just to keep up with the demand from aspiring student DJs. - Emily White Noise

Protest As A Collaborative Art Form

Global protests are not just about chanting slogans and marching anymore. What was really eye-opening was seeing different groups coming together organically and using very creative languages and tools, like singing, dancing, body movement, and graffiti, as well as taking common everyday acts like cooking or doing yoga and bringing them into public space. - Hyperallergic

What Is Up With The Pirate Flag Iconography Of Gen-Z Protestors?

The ubiquity of the flag is down to anime, you see. Specifically, young people waving the flag from Nepal to Madagascar to the Philippines - and even to the U.S. - are referencing the show One Piece. - NPR

The Writers Guild Helped Bring Jimmy Kimmel Back

What’s next? The union’s new president says AI, of course, but also in regard to Kimmel, "I somehow doubt this is the last instance we’re going to see where censorship and free speech are going to be a topic.” - Los Angeles Times

Culture Critic Lawrence Burney Says Baltimore, With Great History And Art, Needs Much Better PR

Burney, who created a new zine to showcase the artists of his city: "Baltimore is a good microcosm, not even just for the social aspects of America, but the social aspects of the western world in general.” - The Guardian (UK)

The United States’ Shameful, Accelerating Half-Century Of Book Banning

“In the long, ignominious history of American book banning, portrayals of sex have been cited again and again as beyond the pale for schools and libraries, but in recent years the list of forbidden topics has grown.” - The Atlantic

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