“While the museums offered severance, the layoffs were announced without warning on a (Friday) afternoon Zoom call, according to former employees. Museum representatives (said) that the staff cuts stemmed from reduced funding and were approved by the museum’s executive committee of the board.” - ARTnews
“PBS News Weekend signed off Sunday, ‘at least for the foreseeable future,’ anchor John Yang said. ... Starting Saturday, PBS will air the weekly show Horizons on science and technology issues. The new show Compass Points will focus on foreign affairs Sunday.” - AP
In response to the festival board’s earlier intervention to disinvite Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah, more than 180 writers and speakers cancelled their appearances at the February-March event and half the board resigned. Now the remaining board members have quit and the festival has been called off. - The Guardian
Last week the museum was partially closed due to the ongoing walkouts over inadequate pay, staffing and building maintenance, but public access to the biggest attractions, such as Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, was maintained. Work stoppages on Monday shuttered the entire building. - ARTnews
Supporters argue that performing at the center now risks aligning the Ballet with an institution they say has been politicized under Trump’s leadership. - San Francisco Chronicle
We ask for help from artificial customer service representatives. Some of us accept friend requests from bots and are, thereafter, influenced by the content they post. This is a momentous change to the nature of the public square. - 3 Quarks Daily
“Disengagement” from institutions that uphold freedom of expression and artistic freedom “weakens the global protective frameworks on which artists and cultural workers depend.” - Artnet
If Canada wants its cultural policy to survive the age of slop, it will have to insist that what claims to be human—and Canadian—be verified as such. Sovereignty, in this context, is not just about protecting domestic production from foreign influence. - The Walrus
As Gen Z ditch books at record levels, students are arriving to classrooms unable to complete assigned reading on par with previous expectations. It’s leaving colleges no choice but to lower their expectations. - Fortune (MSN)
We have gone from clapping to drumming, and from using drum machines in recording studios to generating “new” sounds with AI. Yet now that I have completed these experiments, I realise that one thing remains the same. - The Conversation
The theme parks and cruise ships Vaughn’s team designs cost billions of dollars, dwarfing the budgets of movies that cost several hundred million dollars at most. When they succeed, they bring in revenue for decades and imprint Disney characters into children’s memories. - The Wall Street Journal
Ticketmaster is urging a federal judge in Los Angeles to throw out the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's case accusing it of working with resellers to gouge fans, saying the law it is accused of violating applies only to resellers, not ticketing platforms. - Reuters
Thomas Doyle already had 11 convictions to his name for various swindles. His latest alleged fraud involves a London gallery owner and Bruce Springsteen’s manager. - The Wall Street Journal
Here’s the thinking: A lack of cost savings could dissuade employers from using AI-generated performers instead of real actors like Emma Stone or Viola Davis. “In my opinion, if synthetics cost the same as a human, they’re going to choose a human every time." - The Hollywood Reporter
