How much skill does it actually take to be a photographer? Is photography really and truly an art? These questions about photography – what it is, what it does – have been with us since the first photographic images were produced in the early 19th century. - The Easel
The news ends a deep and decades-long relationship between one of the world’s largest news organizations and one of the nation’s largest newspaper publishers. - The Wrap
Never is it discussed that a cordoned-off, highly policed, highly regulated urban fabric of the kind that exists in every metropolitan center in the Western world is created in the image of the people who dominate that world, at the expense of those who don’t. - The Nation
As a tween, Sunny Choi was a serious gymnast on an Olympic track but decided she should get a real education and job — eventually becoming a senior exec at Estée Lauder. But when breaking was admitted to the Olympics, she decided to compete full-time. She's now ranked no. 1. - The Cut (MSN)
In an 88-page lawsuit, the government argued that Apple had violated antitrust laws with practices that were intended to keep customers reliant on their iPhones and less likely to switch to a competing device. - The New York Times
The American Youth Symphony, which shut down on Friday, is — or rather was — one of the few large national organizations involved in the vital transition between studying and starting a career in music. - San Francisco Classical Voice
"Museums have tried and failed in the past to assemble the (surviving) eight panels, spread among five museums in Europe and the United States, of the original 30-piece polyptych." The paintings are currently being exhibited at the Poldi Pezzoli in Milan. - AP
"Choose-your-own” subscription packages, in which attendees can opt for a handful of performances instead of an entire series, and membership models, wherein attendees pay a flat rate for access to shows, have leapt in popularity and could make up some of the lost subscription revenue. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The Floyd County (Va.) Public Schools have suspended a One Division, One Book community reading of Katherine Applegate’s Wishtree following complaints that the middle-grade novel depicts a monoecious red oak, a tree with reproductive parts that can pollinate and flower simultaneously." - Publishers Weekly
Player Kings, adapted by director Robert Icke from both parts of Shakespeare's Henry IV, is currently in Manchester and will run in London's West End from April through June before touring four other English cities in July. This is McKellen's first time in the role. - The Guardian
Piano lessons for children were all the rage not too many years ago, but that trend seems to have withered, while lessons in traditional instruments like the Chinese zither, bamboo flute, and the pipa (a Chinese plucked string instrument) are gaining popularity. - Sixth Tone
"In the fourth quarter of 2023, the video service lagged Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. Yes, you read that right: The ancient big blue app grew faster than TikTok." How has this happened? Adulting, that's how. - Business Insider
Industry lobbyists, and the lawmakers on their side, insist that the subsidies create $6 or $7 of "economic activity" for each $1 of state expenditure or forgone revenue. Independent experts keep finding that state coffers get back between 15 and 35 cents for each of those dollars. - The New York Times
"The board now presents the San Francisco Symphony as a survivor forgoing experimental treatment and in need of a cautious caretaker. … What has changed over the years is that many boards have become increasingly corporate, increasingly powerful and increasingly clueless." - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
