"(He was) best known for his Booker Prize-nominated comic campus novels Small World and Nice Work. … His other celebrated works included Changing Places and The British Museum is Falling Down, about a poor student who is distracted while attempting to write a thesis." - BBC
"The attendants working in the Academy of Music, Kimmel Center (Marian Anderson Hall, Perelman Theater, and other venues in the complex), and the Miller Theater voted down a Dec. 30 contract offer." The previous contract expired last July. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
Sara Mearns, who dances with startling presence and in-the-moment authority, has been open about her struggles with mental health, but her public posts about her hearing — and how long it has been an issue — were a surprise. - The New York Times
Expanding AI beyond its digital boundary demands reworking how machines think, fusing the digital intelligence of AI with the mechanical prowess of robotics. This is what I call “physical intelligence”, a new form of intelligent machine that can understand dynamic environments, cope with unpredictability, and make decisions in real time. - Wired
On the face of it, “The Golden Key” is a digital toy you can interact with to generate wild yarns. But on a deeper level it offers “an encounter with a future in which machines are telling us stories” — in this case, faux folk tales. - The New York Times
The things I wrote down so urgently were not fixed thoughts projected from my brain onto the page. What I considered thought was a kind of seeking, a mission. But it was very difficult. This was not writing as rhetoric or catharsis. This was writing as transformation. - The New Yorker
Over the years, Gottfried Leibniz’s reputation continued to grow as more unpublished work came to light, some of which would make him the godfather of the digital age. But he will never quite live down Voltaire’s ridicule. - The New Yorker
According to studies by the Pew Research Center spanning 2011 to 2021, Americans read an average of 14 books per year — likely pulled up by the number of rare super-readers taking down dozens of books — but a median of just five books per year. - Vox
In the past, Globe voters have been eager to put new television shows on the awards map. But not this time. And Globes voters veered toward movies that few Americans have seen. - The New York Times
In his peak decade, from 1967 to 1976, Malzberg wrote at least 68 novels and seven story collections along with scores of still uncollected stories published in many magazines and anthologies. - The Nation
Though Mr. Wolf is finally entering streaming, the debut of “On Call” is really a moment that underscores how the streaming world — and the television universe — have gravitated back to Mr. Wolf. - The New York Times
The ongoing vinyl revival, which was perhaps truly minted in 2017, when Sony Music announced it would begin producing vinyl records for the first time since 1989, has been fantastic for music fans and musicians alike. But it comes at a cost. - Spin
“Foreman’s plays tended to be ‘peerless mini-extravaganzas’ offering ‘dizzying theatrical joys,’ Ben Brantley wrote in one 2004 Times review.” Then there was the genius grant, the films, and, of course, the operas. - The New York Times
“The original organ mechanisms from the 1920s were made of hair sheep leather imported from England. They have been replaced with new hair sheep leather.” - San Diego Union-Tribune (MSN)
Just … wow: “The neo-payola promotional schemes; the minuscule royalties paid to artists, not to mention the royalty-free 'ghost artists'; the designation of huge swaths of artists as royalty-ineligible ‘hobbyists'; the investments in podcasts, military technology and aural wallpaper repackaged for wellness culture.” - Washington Post (MSN)
