"Harry Styles was hit in the eye with a sweet in Vienna, Bebe Rexha received stitches after she was hit in the face with a mobile phone in New York, and Pink was left stunned when someone threw their mother’s ashes on stage in London." What is going on? - The Guardian (UK)
Laura Lippman: "The through line in almost every book that I write is that no one is more capable of bad acts than someone absolutely convinced of their own goodness. People who identify as 'good' scare the pants off me." - Irish Times
"'To be clear, any A.P. Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements,' the College Board said." Then Florida's homophobes accused the College Board of "playing games with Florida students." - The New York Times
The plea deal avoids jail time. Daniels, "who appeared on some of the world’s leading stages, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Royal Opera in London, is one of the most prominent classical stars to face criminal charges during the national #MeToo reckoning." - The New York Times
"It’s not hard to understand why nostalgia is everywhere. ... It feels as though the world is spiralling towards fascism in the midst of an accelerating environmental apocalypse, and a yearning for a lost past that seems safer and better than our present is an understandable reaction." - The Guardian (UK)
In a note to members after the so-called meeting, "WGA leaders dampened expectations of a resolution to the strike and expressed skepticism over the AMPTP’s intentions." - Los Angeles Times
"The play 5 Years, which took about two years to produce and features unique hologram technology, was set to be staged in Nottingham and Sheffield. Founder of the company Beck Gadsby estimated she had lost £30,000, saying it was 'absolutely devastating.'" - BBC
Can the actors' unions negotiate protections against things that have already happened? "It’s not a question of technology. ... It’s a question of who has the power in the relationship." - The New York Times
"The protests centered on vogue as resistance. The dance style, born out of the ballroom scene in Harlem in the 1980s as a source of joy and expression, became a response to a stabbing feared to be an attack on queerness and Blackness." - Los Angeles Times
Netrebko, fired by the opera house for her support of Vladimir Putin, "accuses the Met of discriminating against her because she is Russian; of issuing 'defamatory' statements about her in the press; and of breaching contracts." - The New York Times
Traffic was blocked and 1,700 desks set up by the Arc de Triomphe, for "a public dictée. Anyone who's studied French knows the importance of the ritual. A teacher reads out a passage, usually from French literature, and students have to write it out" - battling the complications of French. - NPR
In those quiet, terrifying times, lo these long three years ago, Chabon did what any nerd might do: He built a replica of the science fiction and fantasy section of his long-gone childhood bookstore. - LitHub
"Hollywood’s sudden hostility to hostility is even playing out in cinemas now. One of the few traits shared by both Barbie and Oppenheimer is the refusal to provide their tortured title characters with a serious antagonist." - The Guardian (UK)
