“The National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) has announced a new round of grants — $75.1m to 84 projects, many of them celebrating the US’s semiquincentennial. These are the first grants since the administration of president Donald Trump fired all but four members of the National Council on the Humanities ... in October.” - The Art Newspaper
“In 1978, Ms. Packer founded Shakespeare & Company with Kristin Linklater, a voice teacher; Dennis Krausnick, an actor, director and writer who later became Ms. Packer’s husband; and a group of other theater artists. An actress by training, Ms. Packer was the company’s artistic director until 2009.” - The New York Times
“I won’t stop writing, because I’ve been a journalist all my life, before I became a novelist. So I shall do journalism, reviews and things like that. But in terms of books, this” — Departure(s) — “is my last.” - The Telegraph (UK) (Yahoo!)
The conductor, who was music director of the Israel Philharmonic for 39 years, retiring in 2020, said his decision to withdraw from concerts there was to protest Prime Minister Netanyahu’s policies toward the Palestinians. - Moto Perpetuo
“In a complaint issued on Friday, a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board accused Snøhetta of illegally dismissing eight employees because they supported the union and ‘engaged in concerted activities’ — that is, collective action — ‘and to discourage employees from engaging in these activities.’” - The New York Times
“Netflix’s all-cash offer of $27.75 per share replaces its previous offer of $23.25 in cash and $4.50 in Netflix common stock per share. The sweetened offer comes as rival bidder Paramount continues pushing its own all-cash offer for all of Warner Discovery. The value of Netflix’s offer remains $72 billion.” - The Wall Street Journal (MSN)
The oldest dance company in the US had been scheduled to perform at the DC venue as part of its centennial tour. The brief statement announcing the cancellation mentioned no reason. - The Daily Beast
The notion that unstated corporate aesthetic preferences should determine what the public encounters as art — indeed, what counts as art at the nation’s art center — is absurd. It’s why we don’t (yet) have touring musicals about a young couple discovering the bold, zesty flavor of Cool Ranch Doritos. - Washington Post
This picture of time is not natural. Its roots stretch only to the 18th century, yet this notion has now entrenched itself so deeply in Western thought that it’s difficult to imagine time as anything else. And this new representation of time has affected all kinds of things, from our understanding of history to time travel. - Aeon
Toward the end of his life, the versatile Bennett Cerf — believing that growth was essential — acquired rival publishing house Knopf. A few years later, he arranged for Random House to become a subsidiary of the RCA Corporation, then an electronics and communications leviathan. This move, Cerf soon recognized, was a mistake. - Washington Post
What if the next wave of artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t designed to feed that addiction — but to fundamentally change it? What if the future of AI demands young people’s attention, curiosity, and creativity in ways we haven’t experienced before? - Big Think
If you wanted to create a tool that would enable the destruction of institutions that prop up democratic life, you could not do better than artificial intelligence. Authoritarian leaders and technology oligarchs are deploying AI systems to hollow out public institutions with an astonishing alacrity. - Gary Marcus
The Legacy Museum, which opened almost eight years ago, is perhaps the closest thing America has to a national slavery museum. Crucially, however, it is completely privately funded, receiving no state or federal financial support. - The Atlantic
Beginning in 1933, propagandistic art exhibitions were mounted throughout Germany. These “Schandausstellung” (modern art shame exhibitions) included the titles, “Art in the Service of Decay,” “Art Which Has Not Come from Our Soul,” “Horror Chambers of Art” and “Reflections of Degeneration in Art.” Artists themselves also faced pressure. - LMU
"I eventually stopped looking at the video, or tried to, as did my guest, but was then faced with the initial problem, that is, listening to a complete ballet, with its many discursions and tangents, in concert, without dancers." - Classical Life
