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The Supreme Court Just Reopened The Question Of Who Has The Right To This Pissarro

A new California law changed a ruling that had seemed to be final last year, and now the painting, which is hanging at a museum in Madrid, is once again embroiled in lawsuits. - The New York Times

Now, They’re Coming For All Of The Libraries

These executive order-demanded cuts will affect public libraries, museums, the Voice of America, and so very much more. - Politico (MSN)

Send In The Clowns: This City Reduced Traffic-Related Deaths By Putting Mimes Amidst The Gridlock

In the 1990s, Bogotá mayor Antanas Mockus replaced hundreds of corrupt traffic cops with a few dozen mimes. Armed with nothing but signs that read correcto and incorrecto, the silent troupe theatrically mocked lawbreakers and applauded polite motorists. And it worked. - Atlas Obscura       

Is There Any Such Thing As A “Mainstream” Media Now?

What was once the mainstream media—the networks, the newspapers, certain magazines—years ago lost the command that it had of the nation’s attention and with it the ability to create a shared national understanding of what was going on in the world of reality. - The Point

Celine Dion Warns Fans About AI-Generated Music That Impersonates Her

“It has come to our attention that unsanctioned, AI-generated music purporting to contain Celine Dion’s musical performances, and name and likeness, is currently circulating online and across various Digital Service Providers,” read a Friday post on Dion’s social media. - Los Angeles Times

The Songs Of Canada Versus Trump

The pro-Canada songs currently spreading across social media, including some by Canadian celebrities, reveal a range of reactions to Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, while also contributing to the national mood. - The Conversation

Forget 1215 And “Bad King John” — Here’s The Real Magna Carta

The “Great Charter” signed by John of England and his barons lasted less than three months before they were back at war with each other; new versions were issued in 1216 and 1217 by John’s successor, nine-year-old Henry III. But it’s the revision of 1225 that settled matters. - History Today

Sofia Gubaidulina’s Place in The Musical World

Gubaidulina’s work is not the kind of thing you put on during morning yoga. She makes sounds of struggle and disorder; of awaiting some signal from beyond with hushed anxiety; of the strenuous attempt to bridge the gap between humans and the divine. Transcendence, if and when it arrives, is hard won. - The New York Times

Balanchine Wasn’t Just Important In Dance

Balanchine’s relevance to visual art is not just in direct collaborations and affiliations with artists in his lifetime. His formal gestures and patterns make him crucial to certain strains of contemporary performance art. - The Art Newspaper

Steven McRae On Coming Back From A Ballet Star’s Worst Nightmare

The Royal Ballet principal was performing at Covent Garden one evening in 2019 when — alone onstage in front of over 2,000 people — his Achilles tendon snapped and he fell to the floor, howling in pain and seeing “my career flash before my eyes.” - The Guardian

IATSE Stagehands Protest Show Cancelations At The Kennedy Center

 “Behind-the-scenes workers need to feed our families and have neither participated in any decisions relating to booked content, nor have we considered social issues as a matter of whether we service a production in the history of our relationship at the Kennedy Center.” - Deadline

JD Vance Booed At Kennedy Center Concert

On Thursday night, the Kennedy Center concert hall was awash in nearly a minute of howling, passionate booing. It started with one or two boos and caught on fast, roaring from the rows. I’ve never heard anything quite like it — let alone before a note was played. - Washington Post

OpenAI Urges Trump Whitehouse To Allow Its AI To Train On Copyrighted Work

In its proposal, OpenAI urged the federal government to enact a series of “freedom-focused” policy ideas, including an approach that would no longer compel American AI developers to “comply with overly burdensome state laws.” Copyright in particular is an issue that has plagued AI developers. - NBC News

How And Why Did Trauma Narratives Become Ubiquitous?

“You need only look at some of the biggest stories of the past decade to realise popular culture from the late 2010s had a love affair with trauma. … It was the use of trauma as a ballast for plot, not just as a technique to illustrate character, that was so striking." - The Guardian

The Persian National Epic Becomes An Extravaganza Of Shadow Puppetry

“The show” — Song of the North, adapted from the medieval Persian epic poem Shahnameh — “is mind-dizzyingly complex, involving 483 puppets, 208 animated backgrounds, 16 character masks and costumes and nine performers who follow more than 2,300 separate cues.” - The New York Times

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