"The actor had accused the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun of phone hacking, unlawful information-gathering, landline tapping, bugging his phone and burgling his flat and office. His case was due to go to trial at London’s high court in January 2025." - The Guardian
The philosopher Gregory Currie has examined the implications of how fiction encourages us to imagine a character’s experience. If a character in a film or novel is grieving, for instance, you might find yourself taking on what you imagine to be their thoughts, desires and emotional pain, as if they were your own. - Psyche
Said church is the chapel of King's College, Cambridge, where a year-long (and rather delicate) project to place 438 panels on the roof was just completed. A desecration of historic architecture? Says the college's provost, "People don’t come to King’s College Chapel to see the roof." - Smithsonian Magazine
To regular people, raising the price of something precisely when we need it the most is the definition of predatory behavior. To an economist, it is the height of rationality: a signal to the market to produce more of the good or service, and a way to ensure that whoever needs it the most can pay to get it....
The Republic of Benin — one of the two long-and-narrow countries wedged between Ghana and Nigeria — plans to spend €250 million to put culture alongside agriculture as the pillars of its economy. Four museums are under construction in various cities, as is a larger arts complex in Cotonou. - The Art Newspaper
Although streaming remains the dominant music format, physical media has been a growing niche where the industry can cater to so-called superfans, who express their dedication to artists by shelling out big bucks for collectible versions of new releases, sometimes in multiple quantities. - The New York Times
"Armed with snobbish hipster fury and signage that read 'God Hates Renoir,' 'ReNOir,' and 'We’re Not Iconoclasts, Renoir Just Sucks At Painting,' the group briefly received considerable media attention — though none from the institutions it was heckling." - Artnet
It can be hard to pinpoint what is changed. But there does seem to be a difference, and depending on the viewer, it can feel slightly uncanny. - The New York Times
Last month a production in Seoul starring Bolshoi prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova was called off following protests. This week, another show featuring 12 Bolshoi principals was cancelled a day before opening. One banner held by protesters read "Purchasing tickets for Russian performances = Purchasing missiles that will kill civilians." - AFP (Yahoo!)
"Profit will of course find a way; there will always be shit to watch. But without radical intervention, whether by the government or the workers, the industry will become unrecognizable. And the writing trade — the kind where one actually earns a living — will be obliterated." - Harper's
Bekah Brunstetter's The Game "is about a fictionalized version of Fortnite Battle Royale, ... where each round ends with only one survivor. It comes seven years after The Oregon Trail, inspired by the game that condemned countless 1990s middle-schoolers to awful deaths (on) the grueling 19th-century passage west." - The New York Times
The current superintendent of La Fenice in Venice, Fortunato Ortombina, will take over in Milan this September. For the first year, he will work alongside outgoing La Scala superintendent Dominique Meyer, who departs in August 2025. Music director Riccardo Chailly will remain until 2026. - AFP (Yahoo!)
"Several authors have turned down awards and awards nominations from PEN America, citing unhappiness with the literary and free expression organization’s stance on the war in Gaza." - AP
"The new report, Banned in the USA: Narrating the Crisis, reports 4,349 book bans recorded across 23 states and 52 public school districts from July to December 2023. ... More book bans were recorded during the first half of the current school year than in the entire 2022-2023 year." - Publishers Weekly
The company saw reduced support from the Arts Council of Wales and lost all funding from Arts Council England, which helped pay for tours to several English cities. Planned runs next year in Bristol (England) and Llandudno (Wales) have been called off, as has one production in Cardiff. - BBC
