Institutions foster cooperation by rewarding good behaviour and punishing rule-breakers. Yet they themselves depend on cooperative members to function. We haven’t solved the cooperation problem – we’ve simply moved it back one step. So why do institutions work at all? - Aeon
What happens in a performer’s brain while playing? Traditional brain-imaging tools like functional m.r.i. (f m.r.i.) require subjects to lie motionless in a scanner. Newer wearable technologies, including EEG (electroencephalography) caps fitted with electrodes, make it possible to study musicians in more natural settings. - The New York Times
A.I. companies are increasingly exerting outsize influence over higher education and using these settings as training grounds to further their goal of creating artificial general intelligence (A.I. systems that can substitute for humans). - The New York Times
“This clandestine smear machine seemingly connects some of the most talked-about scandals of recent years. … (Figures are) targeted by mysteriously operated websites that are filled with character-assassinating claims and impossible to take down. In recent months, the origins of these sites have been connected and allegedly unmasked in court.” - The Hollywood Reporter
“You know, when I said I was going to do Salome a couple of people told me that this was the perfect opera for me because it’s the closest to those ‘90s plays. And then in some ways I was a bit disappointed, because then I was wondering whether I was typecasting myself!” - Bachtrack
“A Dutch novelist, travel writer and journalist, (he) was lauded for his insights into European history and culture and often tipped as a possible winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.” - AP
According to several staffers (speaking anonymously), senior vice president of development Lisa Dale — best friend of Kari Lake and a former TV host — has skipped meetings with potential high-level donors and sometimes gives fundraising figures to Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell which are higher than the money which actually comes in. - Politico
“In the face of an £8.2 million deficit in the coming year, … initially there will be a ‘voluntary exit scheme’ available to all staff. … With regard to the exhibition programme, (there could be) fewer free exhibitions, not as many ticketed shows, less international borrowing of artworks, and more expensive tickets.” - The Art Newspaper
“The Paris prosecutor's office on Thursday said that nine people were being detained as part of an investigation into a suspected decade-long, 10 million euro ($11.8 million) ticket fraud scheme at the Louvre.” - AP
“Staff at the BBC were told about plans to cut about a tenth of its costs over the next three years in a conference call held by director-general Tim Davie on Thursday afternoon. Operating costs for the BBC were more than £2 billion last year.” - The Irish Times
Storrie, who plays hockey star Ilya Rozanov in the hit miniseries, comes from West Texas and studied Russian only briefly in high school, yet his Russian accent in English and his fluent delivery of Russian-language dialogue are very impressive. Storrie’s language coach, Kate Yablunovsky, explains how she helped him do it. - Scientific American
From the jarring morning alarm to the podcast we listen to on the way to work; from the constant murmur of the office to the background music in the café; from the endless information on our smartphones to the television that’s on just to have “something” playing. - 3 Quarks Daily
Some have lost an arm, others their legs, yet others their eyesight or voice. They’ve spent a year rehearsing a parody of Virgil’s Aeneid. One company member describes the work as both “rehabilitation and socialization.” - Deutsche Welle
I’m a neuroscientist with four children, and I wondered whether children might be losing more than just the pleasure of listening to books read aloud. In particular, I wondered whether it affected their empathy and creativity. - The Conversation
Gaza showed how power brokers from the White House on down seem eager for pretexts to punish dissent in ways that create a chilling effect, and that the hottest rhetoric from activists can be exactly that pretext. - The Atlantic
