"Might these events deter future winners of prizes with controversial sponsors" — the Baillie Gifford prize in the UK, the Scotiabank Giller Prize in Canada, and so on — "from accepting prizes or prize money, and could that threaten those prizes’ funding?" - The Guardian
"The deal … promises to maintain the current compensation and performance levels for the 32 paid choristers during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. … The breakthrough, which includes retroactive application of the agreement from Aug. 1, was made possible by the generous donation from an anonymous patron." - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
"A £191 million funding package to support critical repairs and upgrades at (the arts complex) were approved on Thursday … (by) the City of London Corporation." The grant is about 80% of what's needed for the project; fundraising for the rest begins next year, with construction to start in 2027. - The Standard (London)
Attorneys for Rachael Gunn, who gained global notoriety with her last-place performance at the Paris Olympics, put the kibosh on Raygun: The Musical, arguing that the show would damage her reputation and that she owns the IP of her moves. Does she have a leg to stand on? Here's an explainer. - Crikey (Australia)
The diary that Yitskhok Rudashevski kept from June 1941 to April 1943, written entirely in Yiddish, contains references not only to folklore from the Vilna Ghetto, but also to the Jewish community’s cultural resistance to the Nazi occupation. - Smithsonian
The "Ladies' Lounge" at the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania reopens through January 13 after an appeals court voided a ruling that the installation was discriminatory. Artist Kirsha Kaechele says the Ladies' Lounge "could appear anywhere at any time, especially in centres of male power." - AAP (MSN)
“Booksellers save lives. Period,” Patterson said in a statement released Tuesday through his publisher, Little, Brown and Company. “I’m happy to be able to acknowledge them and all their hard work this holiday season.” - AP News
Just what was Kreskin’s talent? “I am not a psychic, an occultist or fortune teller. I am not a mind reader, medium or hypnotist. I am a scientist, a researcher in the field of suggestion and ‘extrasensory’ perceptions. I perform what I discover.” - The Hollywood Reporter
"Gurira set up Almasi (Collaborative Arts) with film and theatre producer Patience Tawengwa to give Zimbabwean creatives access to the sort of training and skills that she has benefited from since being in the US." - The Guardian
The theater symbolizes the many eccentrics and geniuses that abound in this country. It’s an enabler of dreamers and risk-takers. It’s a place where winners and losers are decided by neighbors, peers and curious tourists — not a panel of elites or know-it-alls. The Apollo Theater is an American temple of memories and untapped possibilities. - Washington Post
Art is a con. That’s why it’s great. I’ve always said art should lower gross domestic product; it shouldn’t be there to bolster efficiency, or do a certain thing. It’s a shamanistic thing that is essentially founded on a belief that you can buy into, or not. - The New York Times
The cultural ideas (what was originally meant by ‘memes’) that are most suited to global dominance crowd out cultural ideas that developed locally and have deep meaning to the communities that created them. - Psyche
The nonprofit Third Coast Music has won the city's request for proposals to develop the site. Its plan is for an $80 million facility to record and produce music, primarily for film and television. The 32,000-square-foot complex will include a soundstage even larger than that of Skywalker Sound in California. - WBEZ (Chicago)
What might appear to be a superficial spat over sweaters and hairstyles could actually be a legal fight that gets at the heart of social media influence. As much as platforms like TikTok and Instagram may seem like free-for-alls, lifestyle influencers exist in an ecosystem that prizes homogeneity. - The New York Times
Several scholarly publishers have forged agreements with technology companies looking to use content to train the large language models (LLMs) that underlie their AI tools. A new tracker aims to catalogue what deals are being made — and by whom. - Nature
