In a Q&A, U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns says that yes, it has — even the recent visit by only 14 musicians (following the cancellation of a planned full tour). - MSN (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
A.I. as photographer falls short because it can’t truly empathize with a subject. A camera, no matter how high-tech, can’t grasp the unspoken stories in a person’s eyes or the vulnerability they show in front of the lens. Empathy is a major element of what allows a photographer to build trust. - The Observer
"Parking the new-age woo-woo momentarily (the seven-day detoxes, the walking barefoot to cure depression, the vagina-steaming), there is a provocation here or at the very least a disconnect – it was 2008. … Paltrow's vision of luxury was so preposterous, it's surprising we didn’t immediately see it as a critique of consumption." - The Guardian
"The 96th Oscars will begin one hour early, with the official show starting at 7 p.m. Eastern for the first time, ABC said Thursday. The official pre-show will also begin earlier, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. The show has traditionally begun at 8 p.m." - AP
In August, the Bay Area's third-largest theater company announced that it needed to raise $3 million by November or it would have to cancel the rest of this season. As November came to an end, TheatreWorks had raised $4 million and can exit crisis mode. - MSN (San Francisco Chronicle)
After Izvestiya reported this story two weeks ago, both Gergiev himself and outgoing director Vladimir Urin backed away from it, though without an outright denial. But Urin announced his departure to colleagues last night, and the government announced that Gergiev has been appointed for a five-year term. - The Guardian
"Montana’s first-in-the-nation law banning the video-sharing app TikTok in the state was blocked Thursday, one month before it was set to take effect, by a federal judge who called the measure unconstitutional." - AP
"They are expressing shock that Colette Pierce Burnette would serve just 15 months in the role, especially since they said the Indianapolis newcomer was quickly building new and needed relationships. … And they worry whether a high-quality candidate will even want to become the institution's CEO and president permanently." - MSN (Indianapolis Star)
On Thursday (Nov. 30), during Act II of Wagner's Tannhäuser, as the characters were singing about a natural spring, activists on each side of the top balcony unfurling banners reading “No Opera on a Dead Planet” and chanting that the spring was fouled by climate change. - Hyperallergic
“It’s one thing to use to make a King Kong or a flying serpent (though this displaces many VFX/CGI artists), it is another thing to have an AI object play a human character instead of a real actor.” - Wired
Hunter College has agreed to reschedule a screening of a documentary critical of Israel, following an outcry from faculty members and students who claimed that the administration’s earlier decision to cancel it violated academic freedom. - The New York Times
A new book argues that the invention of states and corporations has something to teach us about A.I. But perhaps it’s the other way around. - The New Yorker
The artwork was originally displayed in a small church in the Italian town of Santa Maria la Arita before being given to a local family who safekept it in their private residence for several generations. - ARTnews
It set the stage for the rise of empowering culturally rich narratives in the decade that followed. Subsequent hits included the strongly female-centric Moana (2016), Encanto (2021), and Turning Red (2022), marking a new era in animated storytelling celebrating different kinds of voices and perspectives. - The Conversation
