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The Search-Engine Musician Who Writes 100s Of Thousands Of Songs And Makes A Living

For the past 20 years, he has been releasing album after album of songs with the object of producing a result to match nearly anything anybody could think to search for. These include hundreds of songs name-checking celebrities from the very famous to the much less so. - The New York Times

Is The Mr.Beast-ification Hyper-Stimulation Era Of Social Media Ending?

“Every 1.3 to 1.5 seconds you have to have a new graphic or something moving, you have to a lot of effects. For every image and every transition, you have to add a sound effect. You need flashing graphics, and you have to have subtitles in every video.” - Washington Post

Center Theatre Group Lays Out A Tentative Path For Recovery, Including Reopening The Mark Taper Forum

"The post-pandemic picture is improving but from such a low that no one can feel confident about moving forward. Theater attendance hasn’t yet rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, production and administrative costs have skyrocketed with inflation, and donor fatigue has turned to exhaustion." - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

As Ailey II Turns 50, There’s Plenty To Be Proud Of

The two years of apprenticeship is so tough that former dancers who went on to sitcom work, Broadway, and even the unionized top-level Ailey troupe feel like everything else is a breeze. - The New York Times

Today Isn’t The Only Day To Avoid Getting Tricked Online

Hinst for fake-info spotting every day of the year: “Stop when you see something that's 'too good to be true, or too crazy to be believable, or too-anger inducing.’” - NPR

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Thinks We Should Be Listening To Older Women All Year Long

In pursuit of info, the first season of the actor’s podcast “featured guests like Carol Burnett (90), Isabel Allende (81) and Darlene Love (82). The second ... includes Julie Andrews (88), Patti Smith (77) and Ina Garten (76).” That’s many years of accumulated ideas, and, sometimes, wisdom. - The New York Times

The Glorious Possibilities Of Public Art

From Jeanne Claude and Christo’s wrappings to Banksy’s newest tree, “public art requires us to be present, to bring it to life with our imaginations, to think about how it was constructed, what its location looked like before, and how the art ties in with what already exists." - The Guardian (UK)

Stop Trying To ‘Keep Up’ With Books

On social media, erstwhile readers post out of "a combination of obligation, social performance, genuine curiosity, love of books, and a desire to be involved, plus a dollop of early-adopterism and cheerleading." - Reactor Magazine

Hollywood Seems To Be Selling A Conflict-Free Colorblind Past

But it’s weird. “The bones of the world are familiar. There is only one change: Every race exists, cheerfully and seemingly as equals, in the same place at the same time. History becomes an emoji, its flesh tone changing as needed.” - The New York Times

There’s A Treasure Trove Of New Marvin Gaye Music In Belgium

The catch is that he left it, and a lot more, with a friend, and never returned. So “the fate of hugely valuable collection of stage costumes, notebooks and never-before heard music is about to be decided." - BBC

Booksellers At Portland’s Fabled Powell’s Books Get Requests For Monster Romance

Or, as it’s more commonly called, ‘monster smut.’ One bookseller says, “We had one that actually sold out really fast where it was called Hot Tyrannosaurus Rex. It’s just like, dinosaur smut.” - Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Banksy Superfans Who Travel Hours To See His Newest Works

"The group now has 20,000 members worldwide and covers 'every single aspect of Banksy' from the 1990s to today, Mrs Holmes said. The group also shares information on what condition Banksy's works are in and where they can be found." - BBC

Hundreds Of Canadian Artists Are Worried, And Vocal, About Proposed Anti-Trans Legislation

Among 400 others, “the list of stars who signed the letter includes actor Elliot Page, Great Big Sea frontman Alan Doyle, actress Elisha Cuthbert, folk music legend Neil Young, recent Grammy winner Allison Russell and the two surviving members of classic children's entertainment act Sharon, Lois and Bram." - CBC

Actor Bill Nighy Is Somehow More Charming Than You Might Even Have Imagined

Here is the actor, answering readers’ questions in a way that one can practically hear. Just wait for the phone book reading section. - The Guardian (UK)

A Perfectly Written Rejection Letter For Gertrude Stein

Sure, this is a work that would later become The Making of Americans, but in 1912, it was an experimental poetry manuscript rejected out of hand, and with snark, by London publisher Alfred C. Fifield. - Open Culture

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