“'I prefer a thousand crying Arab mothers to one Jewish mother because these are my people,’ Kalimian wrote in Hebrew in response to a commenter in the once-public Facebook post, referring to Arabs as ‘the sons of death,’ an expression for people who deserve to die.” - Hyperallergic
“Amanda Jones is a Louisiana middle-school librarian who sleeps with a shotgun under her bed and carries a pistol when she travels the back roads” thanks to right-wing attacks on books - and now her. - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
The Pompidou is closing for five years, starting in 2025 because, well, “If we don’t take immediate measures, the building will collapse: There are pieces of metal falling off of it every day.” But Brussels, Seoul, Málaga, and other places are stepping up. - The New York Times
Is something going right for a beloved media product? This doesn’t sound like 2024 - and yet. The Onion, which many people had long given up for dead, has been bought, revived, stripped of terrible ad content, given a new platform - and a print subscription. - The Verge
The DNC balloon designer was fighting for his life at the hospital, but “a team of 55 balloon artists from 18 states — and five from Canada — gathered in Chicago last week on their own dime, blowing up and tying thousands of balloons in DeLorenzo’s honor.” - Washington Post (MSN)
Chaos just as Skydance was heading to the finish line: "Seagram liquor company heir Edgar Bronfman Jr. this week persuaded Paramount’s independent board members to consider his rival bid for the Redstone family’s investment firm, National Amusements Inc., and a minority stake in Paramount.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
One performer who was new to the 2024 Fringe: “Everyone is telling me you can’t understand the Fringe until you go to the Fringe. … I’m hoping to make the right decisions and I’m very excited, but I also feel like throwing up every day, which I guess is part of the process.” - The New York Times
Chappell Roan is the latest to call out her so-called fans. She recently posted, “It's weird how people think that you know a person just 'cause you see them online or you listen to the art they make. ... I'm allowed to say no to creepy behaviour.” - CBC
The sculpture of Priscilla Chan, wife to Mark Zuckerberg, is so obviously self-referential and AI-influenced that it’s hard to discuss critically. But “is this what most sculpture, or indeed most art, will look like in the future? Given the endless possibilities of AI, is this where we’re all headed?” - Washington Post
Jones was “a poet and author who with her husband, LeRoi Jones, ... made her household a hub for Beat writers and other artists — but who was often described as a footnote in the rise of her famous spouse as ‘the white wife’ he disavowed.” - The New York Times
Well, Second City doesn’t really do a ton of political comedy, per se. However, if someone shouted out Tim Walz: “We know he likes white-guy tacos. … Truly - yes. Present him as very cool uncle. So, yeah, I'd probably go straight to Minnesota.” - NPR
“Adam thought that solo shows should answer the question: What is our place in the world? I looked after the jokes, and he looked after that.” Then the show went to Broadway - and Adam Brace suddenly died. - The New York Times
Surely $36,000 will make Disney more careful. The fine came “in connection with the death of Juan ‘Spike' Osorio, a lighting technician who fell through a faulty catwalk on the Studio City set of a Marvel TV series.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)
In an email sent to several DC-area art exhibition spaces on Monday, August 19, column author and critic Mark Jenkins announced the series would shut down after the last iteration runs in this Sunday’s print edition. - Hyperallergic
While the international plays are overtly political, encompassing disability rights, antiracism and ecology, the homegrown works explored the more personal terrain of addiction, recovery and self-care. - The New York Times
