Stories

Elon Musk and a MAGA army, not to mention AI, not to mention (other) authoritarian governments, are sure coming for the little nonprofit that could. - The New York Times

"A Turkish court on Friday ordered a comedian jailed pending trial on charges of insulting religious values and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after his stand‑up routine included references to him as a ‘dictator.’” (This is what the some might call Erdogan “not beating the charges.”) - Seattle Times (AP)

“America’s obsession with celebrity has morphed into this really weird, parasocial thing, where people feel incentivized to be deputized defenders of that person and are there to attack anybody who says anything at least a little bit negative about them.” - Washington Post

“People are drinking. They’re happy. They’re paying for music.” - NPR

"Call it what you want: colonialism, toxic workplace culture, oppression, patriarchy, the result is the same: power in the hands of a few who extract all the benefit they can from the many while trying to convince us that we should be thankful for the honor of the extraction.” - Amy Wratchford

The actor, currently famous thanks to his project The Pitt, says he “missed out on roles in Saving Private Ryan and Good Night, and Good Luck because he couldn’t get out of filming” ER. - Variety

Did someone hit a big flashing “irony” button for our timeline? - The New York Times

You can thank the young ones: there’s “a gen Z-led wave fueling a fresh resurgence of indie movie houses.” - The Guardian (UK)

In 1976, “the centerpiece was the National Endowment for the Arts Bicentennial Orchestra Commissioning Project. That funded America’s six top orchestras to each commission a major work that all six would play.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

Javid from Afghanistan “said the festival in the idyllic Bannau Brycheiniog national park had been his first ever experience of a music concert. Under the Taliban, he said, ‘There is no music, and it’s banned to listen to any music.’” - The Guardian (UK)

“There is nothing emancipatory, nor original, about creating a luxury venue that privileges sensibility over scholarship, allure over accessibility, and fine dining over gallery square footage.” - E-Flux

“I still don’t think anyone actually likes Euphoria, but it’s big and expensive and full of movie stars, and at this moment in time Hollywood needs all three of those things to remain viable.” - Vulture

And Sony’s email to Playstation UK customers was simply a reminder of that uncomfortable, horrifying fact. - Wired

There Will Be Blood “both celebrates American cinema and inverts it.” - The New York Times

“Who are ‘our people,’ broadly defined? Can we even talk about a common American experience or identity, to which we can all attach a full-throated patriotism? We might look to the example of New York City’s Lincoln Center.” - American Theatre