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
Across the country, arts leaders say the Kennedy Center’s transformation—complete with a CEO firing, board overhaul and unprecedented political involvement in its programming—has become a cautionary tale for organizations large and small. - The Wall Street Journal
Sure, now everyone (and their annoying friend) has a podcast, but not in 2009, when Maron got his start with WTF. "The podcast made me feel as if ... I could also come back from career humiliation in a way that could be creatively satisfying.” - The New York Times
But as the president tries to push out the director of the National Portrait Gallery, Julian Raven wonders if his painting now has a chance. - Washington Post (MSN)
“Missing sound recordings include the satirical song ‘Carlo’ by Dafydd Iwan which was written for the investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales in 1969.” - BBC
“As the labor of making movies and shows splinters across far-flung cities and countries, Hollywood has become dislodged from its physical home.” - Vulture
Agosto Machado “has been a witness to decades of cultural moments in New York: the experimental theater of the early sixties, Warhol’s factory, the Stonewall riot, the AIDS epidemic, the gentrification of downtown Manhattan.” - Paris Review
This administration slashed the staff of 30 to about 10, an impossible number to track the government collection, which “has been placed in federal offices and private institutions in all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.” - The New York Times
