Ellin Stein looks at what’s fact and what’s fiction in director Richard Linklater’s film about Lorenz Hart on the opening night of Oklahoma!, Richard Rodgers’s first show with his other lyricist, Oscar Hammerstein II. - Slate (Yahoo!)
Birding is not the only hobby with an app problem. So many leisure pursuits now have their own gamified digital platforms: Untappd for beer enthusiasts. Strava for runners. Ravelry for knitters. Fishbrain for fishermen. Beli for foodies. Goodreads and Letterboxd for bookworms and movie buffs. The list goes on. - The Atlantic
The cinema, which is a charity, has a bustling roster of volunteers to help keep it running. They have eight paid staff and 60-70 volunteers whose ages range from 14 to 80. - The Guardian
“The Palestinian-Israeli collective behind the film rejected a deal from Mubi, the company behind hits such as The Substance, after controversy over ties to an investment firm linked to the Israeli military.” - The Guardian (UK)
“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
