Kamel Daoud, who lives in France, said that a court in Oran fined him five million Algerian dinars ($38,000) and sentenced him to three years' imprisonment because his novel Houris, which won the Prix Goncourt in 2024, makes public mention — a crime under current Algerian law — of the country’s 1992-2002 civil war. - AP
“He was widely considered one of the most distinguished American conductors of his generation” — most notably for his 25 years as music director of the San Francisco Symphony. “In addition to making more than 100 recordings of both rare and familiar classical repertory, he created valuable instructional series for television and radio.” - The Washington Post (Yahoo)
She gave her first recital at four and performed her first concerto at seven, going on to tour with the Boston Pops, play for five U.S. presidents, and record 10 LPs. She developed a new audience with Beethoven videos during the 2020 lockdowns and recorded her last disk at age 97. - BBC
This past January, Khaby Lame, a Senegalese-Italian who has 160 million followers for his Chaplin-esque silent TikTok shorts, signed a $975 billion deal with Hong Kong-based firm Rich Sparkle Holdings for use of his likeness in AI-generated videos. Three months later, Lame largely disavows Rich Sparkle, whose share price is plummeting. - TheWrap (MSN)
“A theme emerged at virtually every stop: The water damage was real, apparent in some places through discoloration and pooling. Some pieces of equipment, including several 800-ton chillers that help cool the building, are decades old and need replacement. And the building is so massive ... that repairs will require time to finish.” - AP
“The first phase — removing grout from the massive concrete sculpture and cataloging the pieces for future reassembly — will take at least a week, officials said. Starting in May, cranes will begin removing the (Vaillancourt Fountain’s) 10-ton cantilevered arms and hauling them away (from Embarcadero Plaza).” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
A 28-year-old visitor caused thousands of euros in damage when she climbed the fountain of Neptune in the Piazza della Signoria because her friends dared her to touch the sea-god’s genitals. - The Guardian
“(John) Dowland was well regarded; (he) was also well-connected, cosmopolitan and at times unusually well-remunerated for his work. Yet his musical expression was dominated by melancholy. With that imbalance comes the sense that Dowland had an acute understanding of his place in the musical market of the time.” - The New York Times
Life in chess has always been a struggle, never more so than today. During the two-year battle for the 2024 world chess championship, I saw tantrums, I saw tears, I heard one top grandmaster muse about leaving the game for a career in fashion. - The Walrus
In a startling and largely gratifying way, LACMA has done what the poet Audre Lorde, alluding to a different but not unrelated aspect of patriarchal dominance, deemed impossible: used the master’s tools to dismantle the master’s house. The change goes far beyond a remodel. It’s a reinvention, a recalibration, a revisionist fever dream. - Los Angeles Times
The Brazilian film industry has plenty of infrastructure for film production, but there was almost none for the early stages of development. So Olga Rabinovich founded, and singlehandedly funds, Projeto Paradiso to provide that support. During the Bolsonaro years, however, Rabinovich had to expand Projeto Paradiso’s remit. - Variety
“We need a NATO for universities,” said Lee Bollinger, president emeritus of Columbia University. “When one university is attacked, everyone commits to coming to their defense. We need less capacity of individual institutions to make decisions about where we should go in defending universities and more power in a system.” - InsideHigherEd
What’s really wrong with Trump’s arch isn’t something that is always wrong with victory arches but, rather, something that is always wrong with all the architecture of autocracy. - The New Yorker
The FCC has launched a new inquiry into the TV ratings system, including whether issues of gender identity are being included in children’s programming without flagging that content to parents. - Deadline
“I can’t wait for the judge to get hit with a $45 ‘Verdict Convenience Fee,’ a $30 ‘Gavel Processing Fee,’ and an $80 ‘Digital Print-at-Home Ruling Surcharge,” a Reddit user cracked. (After the verdict, Live Nation said in a statement, “The jury’s verdict is not the last word on this matter.") - The New Yorker
