The actress was basically terrified of audiences. "Now and again she’d puke in the wastebasket, because she was so wired and scared and 'Oh my God, what’ll they think? I’ve got to do a good job.'" - The Guardian (UK)
There are scenes of designers turning the Xochimilco canals into the Ganges River and much more, as "American and European companies send TV and film shoots south of the border, taking advantage of lower costs and experienced Mexican crews." - NPR
The money-saving measure is "not as grim as it sounds," the comedian says. But performers are almost entirely priced out of the city - how will this end? - BBC
Belgium once claimed it had finished its work on looted art in 2001. But no, says one museum director. "I can say without hesitation, the Belgian state has been very late in taking action." Then there's Tate Britain. - The Observer (UK)
At the French film festival, women are required to wear heels on the red carpet, for one thing. Portman: "The expectations are different on you all the time. It affects how you behave, whether you are buying into or rejecting it. You’re defined by the social structures upon you." - Variety
But it's all about persistence, not fairy dust: "The serial-order effect applies to tasks that last minutes or days, but creativity also improves across years, decades, and even careers." - The Atlantic
Don't stress, artists: "What the majority actually had problems with — what the decision was mostly about — was the Warhol Foundation’s failure to pay Goldsmith a licensing fee in 2016." - The New York Times
Kate Levy says she loves "to tear into hypocritical institutions or political actors who rely on oppressive yet hokey, family-first, nice people, I’m-just-doing-my-job narratives. Calling out and satirizing corny, offensive propaganda is one of my greatest pleasures." - Hyperallergic
"I love Puccini’s auspicious score, its bustling crowd of little melodies that converge and mature into themes that seem to hold a whole life. I love its clutter of everyday sentimental stuff: Mimi’s lost key, Musetta’s pawned earrings, Colline’s surrendered coat, Marcello’s unfinished painting." - Washington Post
Sinking it. "The researchers estimated the weight of all of New York City’s buildings to be around 842 million tons," and there's some soil that cannot handle it. - The Verge
That's what Google's new chatbot can be, at least according to one author, who let it write some wedding-related emails. And it's really, really good at consumer complaints. - Wired
For one thing, "sports will lead the TV marketplace this year, especially if advertisers can’t get the audiences they want in a strike-hampered prime time." - Los Angeles Times
"Wanting to write ... made me unintelligible to my mother. I couldn’t explain how I would survive on a career in words, and she couldn’t fathom why I would squander the chance at prosperity my parents had contorted to give me." - The Atlantic
A former top lobbyist says that he thinks the future for cinemas is actually kind of bright. "I think the existential challenges — the pandemic, the streaming wars — are gone. I’m really the most optimistic I’ve been in 30 years about the future of the business." - The New York Times
Amis "was among the celebrated group of novelists including Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and Julian Barnes, whose works defined the British literary scene in the 1980s." - The Guardian (UK)
