"Ahead of the special, a voice calling itself 'Dudesy the comedian AI' tells viewers that what they are about to hear is not Carlin, but instead, an impression." Carlin's family is not impressed. - CBC
Cheating isn't a great look in sports - or sports media. "Since at least 2010, ESPN employees attached fake names to awards entries, the network said in a statement, and the scheme may have stretched back to 1997." - Los Angeles Times
Stop clapping so much! Stop drinking so much! Don't use your phone's flashlight to find your seats! And for pity's sake, stop eating potato chips during a movie or play! (And other possibly cranky advice from critics.) - The Guardian (UK)
The latest film & TV awards are the Critics Choice Awards, for which Barbie had 18 nominations. Oscars nominee voting ends Jan. 16, so these awards may have an outsize effect. At the time of posting, The Holdovers had already picked up two wins. - The Hollywood Reporter
A Marvel critic "called the two characters 'repetitive' because both are of Native American descent and have similar powers" - you know, just as a critic would worry when Marvel introduced two white male superheroes. - Los Angeles Times
At the Whaling Museum in New Bedford, Mass., "the first speaker took the lectern at noon after the strike of eight bells. 'Call me Ishmael,' the famous opening words, sent a ripple of applause through the room." - Slate
"The crowning glory of what had once been the royal metropolis of Macedonia, the palace was not just a model building but 'an architectural manifesto of the ideal state.'" That idea dovetails with Greece's center-right government investing in the country's "cultural economy." - The Guardian (UK)
What the Prototype festival brings to audiences: Anything from Biblical translations to "a kind of nostalgic reminder of the loud, messy, nudity-filled, often self-serious, generally baffling shows that were once fixtures of downtown New York." - The New York Times
The former FOX News host who hard-core supported this very book censorship legislation wrote on X/Twitter, "Things are getting crazy with book banning in #Florida." - Yahoo News (Salon)
The author of a book about King Charles and other members of the Royal Family being held hostage says, "the move showed the Queen had 'a fantastic sense of humour.'" - BBC
The company "will be vacating the entire bundle: administrative offices, costume shop, rehearsal space, parking lot and all." Where will it go? That's not yet clear. - Oregon ArtsWatch
"Tech companies scrape the work of artists and writers to their benefit without consent or compensation, turning anyone who has ever had the audacity to post anything to the internet — including a 6-year-old — into grist for their mill." - Los Angeles Times
It isn't pretty: "Publishing is competing with other forms of entertainment in an increasingly fragmented media landscape, and an author with existing name recognition is a tempting prospect." - The Guardian (UK)
The issues: "The company wanted to have it both ways: to exert the cultural influence of a major media company without shouldering any more responsibility (or economic burden) than is expected of a mere service provider, such as Gmail.-" The Atlantic
"The artworks by local and international artists, both contemporary and historical, span a time frame from the 1400s to today and are valued anywhere from $85 to more than $28,000. At least two etchings by Picasso and Rembrandt were among the damaged, perhaps destroyed, artworks." - Seattle Times
