Stories

And, concludes a huge new PEN America study, it’s clear that “the current deluge of book bans we’ve been seeing these past few years is based around white supremacist ideology.” Intertwined with that is an effort to disappear any mention of LGBTQIA+ folks - and also people with disabilities. - Book Riot

But here’s who should have won this year, according to the stunt performers of Hollywood. - Washington Post

Even though it’s unlikely (as of this writing) that Estou Ainda Aqui, or I’m Still Here, will win best pic or Fernanda Torres Best Actress, Torres imitators line the streets at Carnival, “drink beer, clutch plastic Oscars and deliver the impromptu acceptance speeches.” - The New York Times

Musicians say they and their venues are being priced out of Vancouver, and Victoria as well. - CBC

The first wave is a so-far monthslong strike at Atlantic Theater. “After stagehands at the Atlantic began organizing, the union tried reaching out to the company’s leadership—which then hired Littler Mendelson, a law firm known for representing Amazon and Starbucks in their anti-union efforts.” - American Theatre

"The majority of this art is still based on human manipulations of or interventions into natural processes — some of the ‘aid’ here feels, to put it into political terms, far less reciprocal than nonconsensual.” - Hyperallergic

Ahead of the Oscars, the West Bank-set documentary No Other Land was tipped to win - but it still has no U.S. distributor. It's "a bleak comment on the state of a documentary market that has seen buyer interest and dollars shrink.” - The Guardian (UK)

For instance, “Florence Pugh’s Princess Irulan is the best read of the crew—she’s using her position in the Empire to get a ton of advance galleys, even the ones that seem impossible to get a hold of.” - LitHub

“The corporation apologized and removed Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, about the lives of three children caught in the Israel-Gaza war, from its streaming service BBC iPlayer” after news broke that one of the 13-year-old subjects is the son of a Hamas official. - The Hollywood Reporter

Including red carpet coverage, and, eventually, awards as well. If you would prefer something slightly different, here are the Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Reporter (winners only), and host ABC’s updates as well. - The New York Times

With hammers and screws, of course. Composer Daniel Blumberg, tipped to win tonight, “found himself in the novel position of actually having to write music about architecture.” - The Independent (UK) (MSN)

Its director thinks Black Box Diaries is having a hard time “because it shines a light on a topic normally kept in the shadows: how the legal system and society, more broadly, look unfavorably on women who come forward to say they were sexually assaulted.” - The New York Times

Andrea Barrett: Some writers will change facts. “But that makes me queasy. I think my own sketchy, early education made me realize that for some of us, what we read in a historical novel might be all we’ll ever know about a particular period.” - Los Angeles Review of Books

At long last! Hulu is the spot (no shocker, since Disney owns both ABC and Hulu). - Wired

In stressful times, “the shoulds creep up. ... I should be reading more! I should be reading better books! I am making terrible choices with my limited time on earth!” - Reactor Magazine