“A mega-selling British novelist of political thrillers, cunning spy craft and globe-trotting intrigue, (he) used his own background as a foreign correspondent to inspire such page-turners as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File and The Dogs of War.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
Hilda Trujillo Soto, who was adjunct director and then director of the Mexico City museums from 2002 and 2020, alleges that the trust overseeing the museums has been negligent and that there are works missing which have later turned up in private collections. - The Art Newspaper
While the U.S. District Court didn’t explicitly and directly reverse Trump’s removal of three CPB board members, it affirmed that Congress created CPB to be an independent, private nonprofit free of executive branch control. The Corporation’s CEO subsequently confirmed that board membership remains as it was. - Inside Radio
While the Board of Regents (which includes the U.S. Vice President and the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice) didn’t directly address Trump’s attempt to fire National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet, the Board’s statement clearly affirmed that hiring/firing power belongs to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch. - The Washington Post (MSN)
In December 2023, in an initial payment toward the Hulu purchase, Disney agreed to give Comcast/NBCUniversal $8.61 billion — one-third of the $27.5 billion guaranteed floor value for Hulu as of 2019. Following arbitration, Disney is paying a further $438.7 million — less than one-tenth of the valuation Comcast was seeking. - Variety
“Gianni Papi — one of the world’s leading experts on the artist — announced the discovery of what he believes to be the earliest known painting by the genius: Boy Peeling Fruit. … The initial doubts were evident. There are about 10 known copies. … However, Papi has no doubts.” - El País (Spain) (in English)
“This would disproportionately harm rural areas and smaller communities, where public media really is a lifeline,” said Tim Richardson of PEN America. - The Guardian
In Friday’s ruling, the judge wrote that as much as the “Court laments the Executive Branch’s efforts to cut off this lifeline for libraries and museums,” recent court decisions suggested that the case should be heard in a separate court dedicated to contractual claims. - AP News
Some fans are disappointed that we may never see the last two rerecordings, though Swift has hinted that she might be willing to release them, in some form, one day. - The New Yorker
There are about 7,000 languages spoken in the world today; they can be divided into about 140 families. Nevertheless, the languages most of us speak belong to just five. - Washington Post
Ever since Hirst burst on the art scene in the 1990s with his macabre readymades (or “objets trouvé”) of dead animals in vitrines, he has divided art critics and the public alike. - The Conversation
Algorithms, which sort the listening public into ever-more-individualized niches, can cut both ways: They can introduce you to new artists, but they can also “rob you of the variety of emotional experience.” A result, is “a hunger for a more authentic view, a more definite emotional experience than commercial country often provides.” - New York Times Magazine
Trump may not have the formal capacity to shape the leadership of any of the Smithsonian’s museums, but if others treat him as if he does, then, well, what’s the difference? - The New York Times
Lately, most of television seems stuck in the same mode. Virtually everything I’ve watched recently has been some variation of rich people pottering around in “aspirational” compounds. - The Atlantic
The first woman and African American to serve as the US librarian of Congress before Donald Trump fired her in May has not heard from the president’s administration beyond the 31-word email it sent her with word of her dismissal. - The Guardian
