At issue: "We still take our emotional responses to AI too seriously. In particular, I worry that we interpret our emotional responses to be valuable data that will help us determine whether AI is conscious or safe." - Wired
Maple was "a bacteriologist who took up filmmaking in the 1970s, became the first Black woman to join the camera operators union in New York and went on to direct trailblazing independent films about drug addiction, love, sisterhood and friendship." - Washington Post
Plans were underway to give them back, and a Ghanaian architect was designing a great new building. Then "Nigeria’s outgoing president announced he had transferred ownership of the looted items to a direct descendant of the ruler they had been stolen from." Uh, wait. - The New York Times
"One of the biggest challenges with incorporating Spanish and English text is planning for the display of double the amount of text which would otherwise be included. In addition to affecting the layout, this additional text can increase the show’s production time and the budget." - Glasstire
This time, "Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism won a lawsuit against Edizioni Condé Nast, which published a magazine cover with a model posing as the sculpture three years ago." - Hyperallergic
"Even with Broadway budgets for musicals regularly topping $20 million, suddenly adding 19 people (the theatre minimum according to the collective bargaining agreement in place) to the payroll would be a significant additional expense at the last minute." - The Stage (UK)
If the members ratify a deal, it will avert a directors strike. "The agreement between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) includes gains in wages and benefits, streaming residuals, AI protections and more." - The Hollywood Reporter
The harsh crackdown on comedy is bad enough, but now it's getting bad for musicians as well. "The problem is that those making the decisions here are keen to be seen to be imposing the Party's will more enthusiastically than rival bureaucrats." - BBC
Jon Mirsalis says, "If you see a title on the screen, there are probably 30 different ways you can read the title. With the music it becomes a different experience, a different art form. The marriage of music and film can be very powerful." - Washington Post
Aggressive one-star reviews, most from people or bots who have definitely not seen the movie, pepper IMdB and Rotten Tomatoes to such a degree that they've had to change their algorithms. And review bombing, with its roots in bad-faith gaming, is only likely to get worse. - CBC
That's what Brandon Taylor says writing is for him - "the most fun I'm capable of having." But the title of his third book in four years came to him when he was annoyed by his MFA peers at Iowa. - The Guardian (UK)
Alicia Mack: "The idea is that you graduate students who have an extraordinary range ... but are also entrepreneurial and think of themselves as a brand, so if the job isn’t there, they create the opportunity." - The New York Times
It was invented by NYT publisher Adolph Ochs in the late 1890s, and now it's certainly under assault. "But giving up on such an important guiding principle after experiencing the cheapened version of it is like renouncing all forms of air travel after flying easyJet." - The Atlantic
And they're all women. Director Maggie Contreras: "When you asked me as a kid what I wanted to be when I grew up, John Williams was my answer. I would wave the wooden spoon wanting to be him. I didn’t have a Marin Alsop to name." - The New York Times
Sure, David Byrne is trying to make do with no orchestra in his show, but check out Sweeney Todd, Camelot, and Some Like It Hot. Philippa Soo, who plays Guinevere, says "she feels supported by the big orchestra, not just musically, but dramatically." - NPR
