“The article, ‘A Silent Moratorium,’ explores the harassment and professional challenges that Israeli and Jewish authors have experienced since the (Gaza War). … The chief executives knew the article could be controversial, ... but the idea for it had come out of conversations with writers starting last year, and it felt ‘critical’ to pursue.” - The New York Times
“The Metropolitan Museum of Art has tested positive for traces of the bacteria linked to a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, health officials announced Tuesday. The bacteria were previously detected at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, as authorities continue searching for the source of the outbreak.” - ARTnews
MONA, owned and run (in famously quirky style) by gambling mogul David Walsh in Australia’s island state, is slated to open its first satellite museum on the banks of the Chao Phraya River in the Thai capital in 2029. - Artnet
Art shows in apartments or offices, open to friends only, featuring artists forbidden to exhibit publicly. Philosophy clubs in people's kitchens and living rooms. Small theater companies careful to refer to sensitive topics (like the Ukraine war or Putin) obliquely or not at all. A pervasive climate of fear. - The New York Times
“Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison and his tech billionaire dad Larry Ellison have been sued by a Paramount shareholder who alleged they cut an ‘illegal’ deal with President Donald Trump to secure U.S. governmental approval for the takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.” - Variety
“Today’s BBC Annual Report showed that license fee payers slid by 539,000 last year to around 23.3 million. This is the biggest decline since 2020-21 and likely one of the biggest of all time. … News of the decline in license-fee payers comes with the BBC seeking some sort of revamped financial model.” - Deadline
“The original panels” — removed on Wednesday following a court decision — “were put in place in 2010 and told the story of how nine slaves lived in the home along with George and Martha Washington in the 1790s, when Philadelphia was briefly the nation’s capital.” - AP
“A revelatory new biography of the overlooked French Surrealist painter Jacqueline Lamba brings to light her long-rumored affair with Frida Kahlo — all thanks to a cache of newly-discovered love letters. Kahlo specialist Salomon Grimberg has long hoped to revive Lamba’s reputation, which he believes has been unfairly overshadowed by that of her husband, the Surrealist icon André Breton.” - Artnet
Millions of dollars in bets on “Love Island USA” signal prediction platform Kalshi’s push into pop culture, where reality TV fandoms are fueling a rapid surge in entertainment trading volume. - Los Angeles Times
Ono debuted the work at Carnegie Hall in 1964, sitting motionless onstage as people took turns cutting off her clothes with scissors. The Broad in Los Angeles is presenting Cut Piece twice this weekend across the street at REDCAT. The performer, known as MPA, is scared — but not of the scissors. - The Guardian
Over and over again, Americans choose to sever bonds that connect us with each other: We move away from our hometowns, we leave our churches, we quit our unions, we quit our parties, we stay in instead of going out, we donate instead of volunteering, we let friendships fade away. - Matt Pearce
AI summaries differ in speed, scale, and uncertain accuracy, but not in their basic educational function. They compress and translate. They can provide a map before we enter unfamiliar territory. - AI In
“It’s a collection that includes stories which inspired the acclaimed movies ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and ‘Stand By Me’. Libraries in (four) school districts removed the book. Under a 2022 Utah law, that means it can be removed from schools statewide, since at least three districts banned it.” - Utah Public Radio
Pour out a Scotch and soda — make that a malted milk — for this spry codger of a novel that’s stayed on the dance floor long past when might be expected, leaping over book bans from the right and dodging cancellation from the left. - The New York Times
