“Drafted in the decade before To Kill a Mockingbird, after Lee had first moved to New York City in 1949, the stories feature some of the characters and settings she would soon make famous and reveal some of the contradictions and conflicts she would spend her life trying to resolve.” - The Guardian
“Amid swirling reports of bidding interest by Paramount Global, the WBD board of directors says is it ‘has initiated a review of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value.’” (That’s finance-bro-euphemism for “We’re for sale for the right price.”) The board’s statement added that there is “unsolicited interest” from “multiple parties.” - The Hollywood Reporter
“The effort to offer up to $95 million in tax credits to Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery for a new film production facility in the Vegas suburbs didn’t win enough legislative support earlier this year. But more than a dozen labor unions are pushing to revive the proposal during an expected special session next month.” - AP
“Spanish police are investigating the disappearance of a Picasso painting, insured for €600,000 ($700,000), which vanished while traveling from Madrid to an exhibition in Granada … The gouache and pencil piece, Still Life with Guitar (1919), was meant to join more than 50 works in a new exhibition at the Caja Granada Foundation.” - Artnet
“Heyward, 33, signed a three-year contract guaranteeing that he will preside over Maryland’s largest cultural organization through Aug. 31, 2031. … Heyward will donate $120,000 —a portion of his annual conducting fee — over six years to ‘support programs that nurture emerging talent and educational initiatives.’” - The Baltimore Sun (MSN)
“The theft has become a kind of shorthand for what critics describe as Macron’s France: a state weakened by austerity, wavering authority, and institutional neglect. The high-profile crime has quickly been seized on as evidence of systemic failure.” - ARTnews
“Because of repeated postponements of the scheduled modernisation of security systems, cameras have mainly been installed only when rooms have been refurbished,” said the report from the government’s Court of Accounts. “Under the effect of increasing visitor numbers, the museum’s technical equipment became obsolescent much more rapidly.” - The Times (UK)
The basic income for the arts (BIA) initial pilot ran from 2022 to 2025 and helped 2,000 artists. The results of an independent study found that it had a noticeable positive impact on the lives of those who received it. - The Conversation
Alpha School’s website suggests a futuristic learning model: AI tools make it so that students only need to spend two hours a day on traditional subjects such as history and math. The Guardian
After India (down 45%), the arrivals figures from the US International Trade Administration (ITA), highlighted considerable declines from other major source countries, with China and South Korea seeing respective drops of 12% and 11%. The data does not include students arriving from Canada and Mexico. - Pie
The specific shuttering of the brand’s music platforms does call into question the position of the music video in today’s industry, and whether the form still provides a viable outlet for expression and promotion. - The Guardian
The cultural community is now reeling and searching for answers. Many institutions have shown resilience, and sprouts of resistance are emerging. But the community at large has been slow, or unwilling, to muster an effective counteroffensive. The next few months, many say, will be critical.- The New York Times
When app stores determine that a user is under 18, “the law prohibits them from downloading virtually all apps and software programs and from making any in-app purchases unless their parent consents and is given control over the minor’s account,” the CCIA said. - Ars Technica
“I am hoping that people will take away from the whole range of exhibitions that we’re doing that democracy was achieved as a result of a struggle and that it was hard fought and hard won.” And she added, “that it is something that needs to be safeguarded.” - The New York Times
Avoiding “wokeness,” as the conservative right defines it, may prove difficult. Ballet has long been shaped by refugees, people of color, and the queer community. - Washington City Paper
