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Beyond Bollywood: There’s A New Wave Of “Pan-Indian” Cinema With Hollywood-Style Ambitions (And Problems)

Bollywood produces films in Hindi, and there have always been “regional” cinema industries making movies in other Indian languages. Recently, following the huge international success of RRR (shot in Telugu), there has developed a Pan-Indian genre: big budgets, high-quality dubbing in multiple languages, no region-specific stories, nationwide and worldwide ambitions. - TheWrap (MSN)

How Did US Museum Design Get So Boring?

As trends go, one can only hope the style spreading through US museum design today will eventually fall out of fashion. All forms of creativity could use moments of self-reflection; perhaps it is time some museum architecture has its own. - The Art Newspaper

San Antonio Launches New City Arts Funding Program After Canceling Previous One

“Most nonprofits that lost promised funding after the city of San Antonio ended a grant program to protect federal dollars are getting money back this month through a new, similar initiative. Still, most awards are several thousand dollars less than before, and one organization — the Network for Young Artists — received nothing.” - San Antonio Express-News (MSN)

2025 — The Year AI Slop Crossed The Rubicon

At first, slop was a widely derided format, the kind of clicky nonsense churned out by content farms or trolls. But, in September, with the launch of OpenAI’s Sora app, a social network and feed for A.I.-generated videos, the company set about convincing users that slop was something we should all be making for fun. - The New Yorker

Designs For The Las Vegas Museum Of Art

The newly updated renderings follow news announced last year that the studio led by Pritzker-prize-winning architect Diébédo Francis Kéré is designing the building, which will be located in a former parking lot in the Symphony Park area of Downtown Las Vegas. SOM is the architect of record. - Dezeen

Who Went To Movies In 2025? You’d Be Surprised

Gen Z moviegoer attendance grew by 25 percent over the last 12 months — the highest increase of any age group. - IndieWire

PEN America Lists The Most Banned Books Of The 2020s (So Far)

Many of the titles censored in school districts around the US relate to race, sexual violence or LGBTQ+ issues, but that’s not the case with the top two: John Green’s Looking for Alaska and Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes. As usual, the list includes classics by Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, and Maya Angelou. - Publishers Weekly

Musicians Are Wary Of AI. So Why Are Big Music Companies Making AI Deals?

Those worries are being deepened by how the major labels, once fearful of the technology, are now embracing it – and heralding a future in which ordinary listeners have a hand in co-creating music with their favourite musicians. - The Guardian

NPR’s Top Music Stories Of 2025

 In an ever-changing and fast-paced attention economy, musicians hustled to put out records, connect with listeners and demand accountability from some of the industry's biggest power players. - NPR

YouTube Pulls Its Music Data Off Billboard Charts Because It Disagrees With How The Data Is Used

“Billboard uses an outdated formula that weights subscription-supported streams higher than ad-supported. This doesn’t reflect how fans engage with music today and ignores the massive engagement from fans who don’t have a subscription.” - TechCrunch

Bonn’s Beethovenhalle Reopens After Decade-Long Renovation

“The variety of spaces posed major challenges during the renovation. Adapting rooms designed during a different era to meet modern standards took years and cost millions. Ultimately, the total cost rose above €220 million ($258 million).” - Deutsche Welle

What It’s Like To Be Performing In The Kennedy Center These Days

Looking out across the hall’s empty seats, he often thinks of the pandemic—of that dismal year when the orchestra couldn’t perform, when he’d drag himself into his music room to practice and think, What am I doing this for? Without people to listen, what’s the purpose?  - Washingtonian

Reading, Literacy, And Brain Rot

If we consider literacy not as the ability to parse simple sentences but as the capacity to comprehend and enjoy complex texts, and ultimately as a sensibility that approaches the world itself as a text that requires interpretation, it’s obvious we live in an unprecedented decline of what neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf calls “deep literacy.” - Baffler

While Many Regional American Theatres Struggle, Some Are Thriving

For a struggling industry, these two theaters — and a handful of others — are models of success: They are producing a healthy menu of shows, drawing large audiences, running budget surpluses and raising money for capital projects. But they are definitely in the minority. - The New York Times

Utah Balletgoers Are Getting Scammed With Counterfeit “Nutcracker” Tickets

Ballet West in Salt Lake City reported Monday a “dramatic spike” in people “arriving at performances with fake or invalid tickets purchased from third-party sellers.” - The Salt Lake Tribune

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