Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre once had a live orchestra for all of its “Nutcracker” performances, but in an ugly move that still rankles local musicians, the company locked out the orchestra in 2005 due to financial difficulties and debt. The company has used recorded music ever since. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Eventually, TV’s contraction will yield a new Netflix, a new HBO, looking to exploit a desire for bold programming. In the meantime, this year’s Emmys felt like a party on the deck of the Titanic. - The New York Times
It homogenizes, and it silos. It’s the commons, but with gatekeepers. There’s never been anything like it! But it’s really just an extension of Enlightenment rationalism. - Yale Review
This year’s efforts include responses to last year’s devastating earthquakes in Turkey and repairing damage in Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing war. - Artnet
One of the pseudonyms is believed to be E. H. Gould, including a story about her house in Concord, Massachusetts, and a ghost story along the lines of the Charles Dickens classic “A Christmas Carol.” - AP
Yes, the Central Intelligence Agency has a creative writing group for staffers; it's called Invisible Ink. Johannes Lichtman recounts his visit there, including his confusing, disorienting arrival at headquarters. - The Paris Review
Some reached the level where a career as either a professional musician or a doctor lay before them, before choosing the unquestionably sounder career path. But the existence of these orchestras is proof that the constraints of a medical life do not preclude creating music, and may well benefit it. - Van
Scholars don't really know all that much about the 15th-century German who invented the movable-type printing press, but here's a rundown of what is known of Johannes Gutenberg and of the machine that ultimately led to mass literacy and changed European history. - The New York Times
What is often the most engaged touch point with patrons is often also one of the most forgotten (and underinvested) areas in arts organizations. - Situation Interactive
Ron Davis Álvarez, a Caracas native, had settled in Gothenburg as director of El Sistema Sweden. When he saw crowds of teenagers from Syria and Afghanistan arriving in Stockholm with nothing and nobody, he decided he had to do something for them. And so the Dream Orchestra was born. - CNN
The international campaign argues that the independence and viability of the global screen industry will remain under threat unless mandatory quotas for local content are introduced in countries outside the US. - The Guardian
The Kunsthalle Bratislava, which has no permanent collection, was known for its politically progressive and inclusive focus, with particular support for the LGBTQ community. Slovakia's new culture minister, who's publicly hostile to LGBTQ issues, has decreed that the Kunsthalle will henceforth be managed by the Slovak National Gallery. - ARTnews
One problem is that consciousness means different things to different people. For example, some researchers focus on the subjective experience — what it is like to be you or me. Others study its function — cognitive processes and behaviours enabled by being conscious. - Nature
"'As referenced in a recent DCASE study,' the (board's) statement read in part, 'inflation and reduced grant funding, coupled with diminished ticket sales due to smaller audiences, have created a challenge for numerous arts organizations. TCB was not immune to these daunting challenges.'" - Chicago Tribune (MSN)
The Reliable Sauce podcast "sounds as if you are listening in to a conversation (the hosts) might have over a coffee, or on the tube back from work." The key to its success: it was conceived and is run by 20-something journalists, not executives in suits. - Nieman Lab
