With a season packed to the brim with late openers vying for awards attention, the 2024 Tony nominations were full of unexpected twists and turns. Here are the 10 biggest snubs and surprises. - Variety
Back in the day, a TV was a TV, a commercial was a commercial, and a computer was a computer. They have now been mixed into an unholy brew by the internet and by opportunistic corporations, which have developed “automatic content recognition” systems. - The Atlantic
"Inspired by the existing Albatross Books, (Allen) Lane’s nascent company wanted an animal for (a) mascot. Many years (later), designer Edward Young explained that after a couple hours of fruitless brainstorming, 'we were in despair. Then suddenly the secretary’s voice piped up from behind the partition. ‘What about penguins?''" - JSTOR Daily
At the new gateway to the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology the 180,000-square-foot Student Hall for Exploration and Development offers views into two nearly transparent cubes. In one, actors rehearse a theater performance; students are practicing their moves in a dance studio in the other. - Bloomberg
Architect Seun Oduwole: "This museum pops with colour and sound." Curator Will Rea: "It is very different to a European museum, you walk in a soundscape and it’s noisy, it’s performative, you have to move your body the whole time." (It also has a public swimming pool.) - The Guardian
According to Talker Research (formerly OnePoll US), an online survey conducted in April with 2,000 Americans concluded that respondents opted for 92 minutes as their preferred running time. - The Guardian
"We had the framework of the Nativity story, so we didn’t have to worry a great deal about devising a new narrative structure. … Over a period of several months, we met several times with piles and piles of books and sketched out what I call a flowchart." - The Paris Review
After 34 renowned seasons and acclaim around the world, the SLSQ will disband as an ensemble this year, but its members will remain active at Stanford University, where the Quartet has been in residence since 1998. - San Francisco Classical Voice
The document, carbonized by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE and deciphered using advanced imaging techniques, recounts the last evening of the philosopher's life and reveals his burial place as well as the point when he was sold into slavery. - The Guardian
It’s quite fair to worry, as Congress does, that TikTok’s mass collection of personal data can pose a threat to our data. Yet Meta, X, Google, Amazon, and nearly every other popular platform also suck up our personal data. - The Atlantic
"Many are wondering what the revenue landscape for arts and culture will look like after (governmental relief funds run out). Is there a revenue engine emerging that might fill this gap? To answer this question and others we analyzed data from FY 2019 to 2023 collected from 233 organizations." - SMU DataArts
The £40,000 Rose International Dance Prize, administered by Sadler's Wells in London, will be awarded biennially starting in February 2025. As with the Turner, all of the finalists (four have been named for this cycle) will be on view (for two weeks at Sadler's Wells) before the winner is announced. - BBC
Brazilian dancer and choreographer Daniela Cardim, who performed with the Dutch National Ballet before retiring from the stage in 2010, will take the helm at the Phoenix-based company on July 1. She succeeds Ib Andersen, who served as artistic director for 24 years. - Phoenix Business Journal
"The musical Hell’s Kitchen, fueled by Alicia Keys songs, and the play Stereophonic, about a ‘70s rock band at the edge of stardom, each earned a leading 13 Tony Award nominations Tuesday, a list that also saw a record number of women nominated for best director." - AP
"A trial will start in October 'for sexual assaults likely to have been committed in September 2021' against 'two victims, on the set of the film The Green Shutters,' the statement said. It did not name the alleged victims." - AP
