Stories

“Fame, like football, takes a toll. The effects can be particularly destabilizing when the star in question is still just a kid. And all too often, the people who should be looking out for these valuable, vulnerable quantities are, instead, cashing in.” - The New York Times

“Instead of seeing posts about Francis Ford Coppola’s latest film, they’re shown a warning, titled, ‘Child sexual abuse is illegal.’” - The Verge

He got The Grapes of Wrath; Sonora Babb’s novel contract was cancelled; and Steinbeck dedicated his book to her male supervisor. What would Tom Joad say? - The New York Times

The director: “Fear is its own form of censorship, it’s not deliberate, but it works out that way and the only people benefiting from that decision are the far right.” - Variety

"Armed with glue guns, zip ties, Popsicle sticks and safety pins, the Paladins of Cosplay come ready to fix.” - The New York Times

The remodeled symphony hall in San Diego has stepped up, as has its entire neighborhood. But how does it sound? - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

"Sometimes we study a text so closely that we see past the violence right in front of us. … There is no objective analysis.” - Slate

But the U.S. comprehensively remade horror - particularly historical horror, starting, but far from ending, with the Salem witch trials: “The bad conscience of the colonizers that comes back to haunt their descendants is racialized.” - Slate

Directors used to have power - maybe too much power, of course, but their visions were important. Then came superhero everything. - The Guardian (UK)

A historic neighborhood in the center of the city of Jodhpur is famous for the old homes and buildings clad in blue plaster. In recent years, though, the blue has been fading as the price of indigo has soared, making it too expensive for many to touch up their homes. - BBC

Figuring out what’s possible is a fraught proposition when it comes to AI in Hollywood. - Wired

Mayor Olivia Chow's plan would increase the budget of the city's arts funding agency by $2 million annually over the next five years, double the budgets of local arts service organizations, index all cultural grants to inflation, and increase investment in creative industries, festivals and special events. - CBC

 The indie bookstore is a dialectical synthesis of the crusty old bookstore and the rationalized superstore. - The Baffler

Our language is also infused with our sensory memories and experiences, and this allows it to be a source of pleasure and even transcendence, in addition to being a tool for exchanging information. - Nautilus

 A 2022 report from the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) found that the median income of full-time authors had fallen by more than 60% since 2006, to £7,000 a year. - The Guardian