Based in Australia, the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies represents public institutions from around the world whose mandate is to support and advance arts and culture. … (This year's) report underscores culture’s role in implementing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Agenda." - Ludwig Van
"Pundits have been puzzling over the Mouse House’s annus horribilis for weeks, identifying several factors. A key one being that the COVID-19 pandemic got people into the habit of watching films at home. … Then there is 'superhero fatigue.'. … But there is another, more important explanation for Disney's woes this year." - BBC
One of the Met's stalwarts of the 1950s and '60s (especially as Cherubino and Octavian), she performed so many male mezzo parts that her young daughter once said, "My mommy is a boy." After retiring from the stage, she co-founded the company now known as Pittsburgh Festival Opera. - The New York Times
At noon last Friday. the anonymous street artist posted on social media that he'd installed a new piece — a stop sign with three drones painted on it — on a southeast London street. By 12:30, two men with bolt cutters arrived to take it down and make off with it. - CNN
Among the books being flung into the fiery pit this time around: Walter Isaacson’s “dull, insight-free doorstop” biography of Elon Musk; Paris Hilton’s “vapid and vaporous” memoir; Tom Hanks’ “bland busman’s holiday dressed up as literary fiction”; and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “hollow PR exercise.” - LitHub
There is "value of parody and satire in human communication. This is a very old format for making a social critique, often used quite strategically. A really famous case which predates the internet is Jonathan Swift’s (1729) pamphlet, “A Modest Proposal.” - Nautilus
At the center of the melée was William Henry Fry, a widely traveled composer and critic whose lectures on music drew sold-out crowds, and who had composed Santa Claus for the players and occasion. As for what made Fry so important that a holiday-themed piece could ignite a war of words? - WRTI
“It is difficult to tell the nature of this attack but it is a symptomatic of a significant challenge globally to protect critical infrastructure from cybersecurity attacks." - The Art Newspaper
Concert programmers and soloists who wish to stray from the beaten concerto path must often summon their powers of persuasion to get new and obscure repertoire before receptive audiences. How do they do it, and what lessons do their examples hold? - Strings
The image at the centre of the 1893 design—depicting a pioneer with a rifle, a farmer and a Native American on horseback with a spear—has been routinely accused of glorifying the state’s role in westward expansion and the policy of “Manifest Destiny.” - The Art Newspaper
"This was a new kind of Christmas carol. It didn't mention the birth of Jesus, angels or wise men." Bing Crosby sang it in the 1942 film Holiday Inn, and "by December it was on every radio, in every jukebox. … The key reason was the nation’s entry into World War II." - The Conversation
I think that we’ve always been an international industry, but the pandemic has really illuminated that fact in some ways, both in physical production, as well as in content distribution. And that’s a good thing. - Variety
The original lyrics written for the film Meet Me in St. Louis began "Have yourself a merry little Christmas / It may be your last / Next year we may all be living in the past." For the version we know now, we can thank first Judy Garland and then Frank Sinatra. - Mental Floss
For many Brits, panto is their first experience in the theater. For some, it’s their only experience. It’s woven into the fabric of the holidays, and love it or hate it, you’re probably going. In fact, you’ve probably bought enough tickets to bring multiple generations of your family. - Gordon Cox
In 1998, Michelle Tea, who started the first series of events called "Drag Queen Story Hour," published her first novel with Semiotext(e), publisher of William S. Burroughs and Andrea Dworkin. Now Hedi El Kholti, Semiotext(e)'s co-editor (and Colm Tóibín's partner), will host Tea's new imprint, Dopamine. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
