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What Filmmaker Laura Poitras Thought When Seymour Hersh Suddenly Quit Her Documentary About Him

The investigative reporter took years to agree to the film. Poitras has won awards for her documentaries about Edward Snowden and Nan Goldin.”Her main thought, when Hersh briefly bailed on the project, was a sense of relief that he had considerately done so on-camera.” - The Guardian (UK)

How Stephen Sondheim’s Biggest Flop Is Suddenly A Pretty Great Feature Film

To be fair, it’s a film - a “pro shot” - of the Broadway revival of Merrily We Roll Along. And “what ended up saving it was a superfan: actor and director Maria Friedman, who turned a role in a 1992 production of the play into a series of restagings.” - CBC

Four Art Basels, And What’s To Show For It?

Hmmm: There’s “a supersaturation of the cultural calendar, and there’s only so much good art to go around.” - The New York Times

Ted Sarandos Of Netflix Went To Meet With Donald Trump Before Offering The Big Money For Warner Bros

“While sources did not know what the two men discussed, it does seem to point to an outcome that led to Netflix feeling they had a clear enough runway to make a serious play for the historic studio.” (The president made comments on Sunday that may indicate a different outcome, however.) - The Hollywood Reporter

A Deep Dive Into The National Archives, Where Few Curators Have Survived The Purges

“The archives ... said that no curators of ‘The American Story’ were available to speak, citing staff departures that have left the institution with only two curators, neither of whom had a substantial role in the exhibition.” - The New York Times

Jane Austen Still Has Us In A Chokehold

“Austen's characters are archetypes. That's what makes them so relatable today. We all know someone who's awkward and ingratiating, like Mr. Collins, clever and independent, like Lizzie, or reticent and reserved, like Mr. Darcy.” - NPR

A Spicy Gay Hockey Book Has Become A Global Phenomenon TV Show

Rachel Reid, author of many same-sex sports romances, on Heated Rivalry’s scorching HBO debut: "It's like I opened a door and there was on the other side a million people screaming. … It’s been really cool, but also it doesn't feel real at all.” - Washington Post (Yahoo)

How New York’s Culture Shaped Its New Mayor

“Long before he became an unlikely political force, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani was just another 20-something trying to squeeze a laugh out of his Saturday improv class in Manhattan.” - The New York Times

Why We Must Keep Reading Novels

"My Brilliant Friend made me angry because other media doesn’t make me feel this way — fully like a human.” - Matt Pearce

Behold The “Performative Reader”

Performative reading has firmly implanted itself into the popular imagination, becoming a meme for a generation of people who, by all accounts, aren’t reading a whole lot of books. - The New Yorker

It’s Just Science: Some Christmas Music Really Tanks Productivity

Those who love torturing customers and co-workers alike might have to listen to the science. The fact is, Ariana Grande and Andy Williams are out. "On the other hand, Brenda Lee’s 'Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’ emerged as the most productivity-friendly holiday track.” - Fast Company

Gehry Was The Rare Architect Who Also Changed Music

“The ‘Goldberg Variations’ was Gehry’s favorite work. He loved its otherworldliness and its worldliness. He loved its invitation to dance and to dream. He loved its astonishing sense of design, complex yet flowing with the ocean’s grace, its depth and its inviting surface.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)

The Kennedy Center Under The 47th President: Emptier, Showier, Way More Political

“What is the Kennedy Center now? For one thing, it’s getting a Trumpian revamp. He ordered new marble and the repainting of the exterior columns in austere white. Portraits of the first and second couples now hang in the center’s Hall of Nations.” - Washington Post (MSN)

Guy Cogeval, Art Historian And Curator Who Turned The Musee D’Orsay Into A Well-Traveled Blockbuster Site, Has Died At 70

“In a country with a reverential approach to its artistic heritage, the flamboyant Mr. Cogeval — ‘deceptively reserved and genuinely eccentric,’ according to Le Figaro newspaper — was a subversive figure. He was unconcerned, even pleased, by the criticism.” - The New York Times

According To A Linguist Who Works At A Language App, Here Are 2025’s Most Mispronounced Words

We all know that a lot of folks get the new mayor of New York’s name wrong - sometimes deliberately. And then there’s a museum in Paris that had a famous theft this year. But Denzel Washington? Really? - NPR

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