In an increasingly authoritarian age, we are suspicious of new leaders; when posterity squints back at us it will have to fumble in the dark to identify 21st-century composers who might, by some future criteria, qualify for greatness. - The Critic
The $1 billion, 5 million square-foot complex. for which planning first began in 1992, includes 12 main galleries holding over 50,000 items, a conference center, a children’s museum, and a large conservation center. Among much else, the GEM will bring the entire contents of King Tutankhamun’s tomb together for the first time. - The Guardian
Fifty-four percent of museum employees have considered quitting their jobs in the last five years, and more than one-quarter of full-time workers earn salaries that fall below a living wage, according to a new survey. - The New York Times
By now we’ve moved beyond a post-literature culture into what some are calling a post-literate age, taking us back several thousand years to communication by images and symbols. - The Atlantic
If we consider literacy not as the ability to parse simple sentences but as the capacity to comprehend and enjoy complex texts, and ultimately as a sensibility that approaches the world itself as a text that requires interpretation, it’s obvious we live in an unprecedented decline of what neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf calls “deep literacy.” - The Baffler
John McWhorter: "Mispronouncing someone’s name certainly can be a form of ridicule or dismissal. … But malice is not the only possible explanation for these flubs. As a matter of pure linguistics, it would be surprising if people didn’t have trouble with the name Mamdani.” - The New York Times
“Physicians will get prescriptions that they will give to patients. ... And we will give each patient that calls us two tickets for free,” said the orchestra’s CEO. Though Montreal’s concert-prescription program is still new, many doctors elsewhere in Canada have already expressed interest, as have orchestras in Toronto and Quebec City. - CBC
Last November, thieves used axes to break into the Musée Cognacq-Jay and steal seven antique snuffboxes, all highly bejeweled and all on loan from major institutions: the Louvre, the V&A, and Britain’s Royal Collection. Five of the snuffboxes have been recovered following what appears to have been a ransom payment. - Artnet
Boomers, X-ers, and most Millennials will just see it as a pair of numbers. Gen Z-ers may recognize it as what their younger relatives have started yelling constantly. Yet the key thing about “6-7”, especially for lexicographers, is that it's unclear what exactly the word (if that’s the right term) even means. - CBS News
Yes, one copy of the 18-karat commode was purloined from an exhibition in England last year. That was the one first displayed at the Guggenheim in 2016. This one, the only other copy, was bought by a collector in 2017 — and now, with the price of gold soaring, it’s again for sale. - AP
With APT having lost well over $2 million in support from the now-defunded Corporation for Public Broadcasting, some board members see PBS dues as a major expense to be cut (something which would also appeal to conservative officeholders controlling purse strings). Yet PBS programming is 90% of APT’s schedule. - Alabama Reflector
“Nearly nine months after Trump became chair of the center and more than a month into its main season, ticket sales for the Kennedy Center’s three largest performance venues are the worst they’ve been in years. … Tens of thousands of seats have been left empty.” - The Washington Post (Yahoo!)
“The team performs for hundreds of thousands of fans each year, appearing frequently at sporting events, community centers, festivals and conferences across the Northeast. … The Pacemakers boast 47 members and have won fans around the globe with viral performances that have racked up millions of views online.” - New York Post
The swish new $9.5 billion terminal currently in the works at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Port Authority of New York has just announced a fleet of commissions that will decorate the new hub. - Artnet
At an “unlikely creative hub” in New York’s financial district, there’s an old electric typewriter which has been attached to a chatbot trained on Baldwin’s writings. You insert a sheet of paper, type a question — asking for personal “guidance,” not about Baldwin himself — and he/it will answer. - The New York Times
