Stories

How Have The Great Pyramids Survived Millennia Of Earthquakes? By Design, Of Course

“The Great Pyramid behaves as a single, cohesive unit that naturally vibrates at a fundamental frequency of approximately 2.3 Hz. The frequency difference prevents the destructive phenomenon of resonance, the primary culprit behind the collapse of modern buildings, when a structure’s frequency matches the earthquakes vibrations.” - Artnet

Spotify Has Become A Huge Player In Audiobooks

Spotify announced that the total number of hours of audiobooks listened to on the service are up 60% year-over-year, with one million people having paid for Audiobooks+, an add-on launched last year that allows listeners to unlock additional hours of audiobooks on top of those already included with its premium service. - Publishers Weekly

Opera Is Being Reinvented In The Australian Outback

Song has always been a part of storytelling in our country. And perhaps, in remote towns, opera finally sheds the elitism that has followed it for decades. Out there, it becomes what it was always meant to be: a connection between people and place. - ArtsHub

Margot Wellington, Campaigner Who Helped Save Grand Central Station From Wrecking Ball, Has Died At 91

“During her seven-year tenure (as executive director of the Municipal Art Society), she led pioneering campaigns to form historic landmark districts, renovate blighted blocks and rescue threatened edifices like Radio City Music Hall. … Saving Grand Central was her crowning achievement.” - The New York Times

Hollywood Largely Skipped Cannes This Year. Did Anyone Miss Them?

Whether you were a sales agent eyeing a leisurely buyer’s market or a freelance journalist picking up fewer interview commissions than usual, this felt like a low-key Cannes. - Variety

The Economics Of Late Night TV Are Moving To Streaming

Roughly 20% of lost late night dollars ends up going to YouTube, data insights company Guideline found last year, with 6% going to Amazon and another 6% going to Instagram and Facebook. - The Wrap (Yahoo)

The Special Kind Of Knowledge That Can’t Be Taught

It’s not the kind of knowledge that you gain from reading a textbook or listening to a lecture, nor is it the kind of knowledge that subjects report when they try to describe their experiences to others. It can’t be expressed in natural language – at least, not fully. - Psyche

Royal Shakespeare Company Gets An Extra £2 Million For Touring England

Arts Council England, the national funding body, gave the RSC £2 million for two large-scale Shakespeare tours in 2028 and 2030 to regional theatres in Blackpool, Norwich, Newcastle, Bradford-Leeds, Nottingham, Canterbury, Truro (Cornwall), and York. - British Theatre Guide

NYC Culture As Basic City Infrastructure

Right now, culture represents just 0.21% of the city’s budget, below its long-term average. Recent investments have been meaningful, including $75 million in last year’s budget. But $30 million of that funding remains for one-time support. That is not how essential infrastructure should be funded. - Hyperallergic

AI Is Homogenizing Our Writing And Our Thinking

Yes, we are standing to sound like LLMs in our writings. This may not be as bad if this was just restricted to how people write. This is now also impacting how people think! - 3 Quarks Daily

NPR Lays Off Journalists

NPR has laid off 10 journalists, including some veteran reporters, in an attempt to save money and reorganize the newsroom. It also is buying out at least 18 news staffers who voluntarily accepted offers to depart, according to three people with direct knowledge. - NPR

The Great Louvre Jewel Robbery Is Already A Book With A Movie Deal

The theft only happened last October; none of the indicted suspects have yet been tried. Yet a book by three investigative journalists, Main basse sur le Louvre (Heist at the Louvre), has just hit the shelves, and a feature based on it will be directed by Romain Gavras, son of Oscar-winner Costa-Gavras. - Artnet

NPR CEO Katherine Maher Thinks Maybe We Should Just Accept Federal Defunding Of Public Radio

“I don't think (we'll) see the Corporation for Public Broadcasting come back, and … I wouldn't necessarily advise that ... we advocate for (that), in part because I worry about it being a litmus test for every future Congress to tussle over whether it should or shouldn't be funded.” (podcast transcription) - Medill Local Media Initiative

Omaha To Get Its Own Dedicated Public Radio Station

“Nebraska Public Media (will) launch a new Omaha-focused station on June 15, expanding its statewide service with a dedicated FM signal designed specifically for listeners in Nebraska’s largest city. Nebraska Public Media Omaha will … feature a mix of NPR programming, local journalism and music programming tailored to Omaha audiences.” - Inside Radio

Florida Legislature Approves $20 Million In Arts Funding (Will DeSantis Veto It Again?)

“The Legislature wants the first $12.45 million ... to go to arts groups recommended by Secretary of State Cord Byrd. The remaining money would be held in reserve and a second list of leftover projects from the ranked list by the Florida Council on Arts and Culture would get the rest.” - Florida Politics

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