Dutchman, written in 1964 (when Baraka was still LeRoi Jones), is set in a sweltering subway car years before air-conditioning. Recently, for the second time, Rashid Johnson staged the play in a setting hotter than an old C train in July: the sauna at Manhattan’s Russian and Turkish Baths. - The New York Times
For most, participation in the online attention economy feels like a tax, or maybe a trickle of revenue, rather than free fun or a ticket to fame. The few remaining professionals in the arts and letters have felt pressured to supplement their full-time jobs with social media self-promotion, subscription newsletters, podcasts, and short-form video. - BookForum
Some say canceling is an act of redress, a powerful display of solidarity. Others blame it on a mob. Still others have considered it an overblown moral panic or even a hoax. - Washington Post
The entertainment industry is in a downward spiral that began when the dual strikes by actors and writers ended in 2023. Work is evaporating, businesses are closing, longtime residents are leaving, and the heart of L.A.’s creative middle class is hanging on by a thread. - The Wall Street Journal
Walsh helped Scarlett create several scenes for the London premiere in 2016, then danced the title role in the 2017 revised version at San Francisco Ballet. Walsh was injured for the 2018 revival, so he helped stage it, and he has restaged it several times since Scarlett’s death in 2021. - L.A. Dance Chronicle
As the art world grows ever more corporate and culture continues its slide into an anti-intellectual dumpster fire, we will start to see a cultural rebellion — the return of a 1970s and ’80s “New York Drop Dead” barbarism, and with it a movement of making art for its own sake. - The New York Times
I’ve worked in multiple bookstores (and have moved too many books, too many times) so I understand that 100,000 books is, indeed, a lot of books. But how does that compare to your average corner bookstore, or your big old boxstore, or your little town library, or the largest library in the world? - LitHub
We’re now back almost to where we were in terms of the split between foreign and U.K., too — basically 50-50. We lost a lot of European visitors after Brexit. I don’t blame them, they were pissed off at us. Now they’re coming back. - The New York Times
Armando Iannucci described his conversations with U.S. buyers this way: “I got a lot of, ‘Yeah, you wouldn’t get the money for that at the moment, I’m afraid.’ So I said, ‘Why not?’ (They replied,) ‘Well, you know, if you want what comes with it …’” - Deadline
While the agency has generally avoided actively threatening broadcast licenses because of shows’ content, the FCC has certainly been willing to fuss at the networks in response to public complaint — going right back to Mae West playing Eve in the Garden of Eden in a 1937 radio skit. - The Hollywood Reporter
“If one had to seize on a defining quality, it was her ability to see the humanity in a variety of eccentrics and outsiders. That was true whether she was playing the absurdly pretentious Hyacinth Bucket (‘pronounced bouquet’) in TV’s Keeping Up Appearances or Mrs. Malaprop in Sheridan’s The Rivals. - The Guardian
In the position, which runs for the next two seasons, the beloved composer for Studio Ghibli animated features will get a major commercial recording, curate a contemporary music concert series, provide mentorship for composition students, and conduct the world premiere of his Piano Concerto in spring 2027. - Moto Perpetuo
Todd Arrington, a career historian who previously worked at the National Archives, said he was ordered to resign from the Eisenhower Presidential Library. He had declined to turn over one of Eisenhower’s own swords so Trump could present it to Charles III while on a state visit to the UK. - CBS News
After more than two years of negotiations, 90% of union members voted to approve a potential walkout. Most employees of the museum earn an hourly rate between $16.20 (Chicago’s minimum wage) and $20, and they’ve had no raise since 2022. - WBEZ (Chicago)
Halilaj — at age 39, the youngest-ever winner of the award — is donating the prize money to a foundation he and his sister formed to support artists in his native Kosovo. - KERA (Dallas)
