Chatbots learned from human writing. Now the influence may run in the other direction. Some people have hypothesized that the proliferation of generative-AI tools such as ChatGPT will seep into human communication, that the terse language we use when prompting a chatbot may lead us to dispose of any niceties or writerly flourishes. - The Atlantic (MSN)
“The former UArts undergraduate dance program, that landed at Bennington College in Vermont, had planned to return to Philadelphia for the 2025-26 school year. But leaders now say the return has been delayed as the program awaits Pennsylvania Dept. of Education’s authorization to award degrees.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
He was the COO of Focus Features beginning in 2002 and became president and co-CEO in 2006. In 2014 he left Focus to found the independently-financed distribution and production company Bleecker Street, which has released roughly 70 films since. - IndieWire
After seizing some of Mann’s photos of her children from an exhibition in Fort Worth, five FWPD officers spent four days and $6,988.77 in Manhattan. Officials say the police visited the Met, MoMA, the Guggenheim, and the Whitney. None of those museums have displayed Mann’s work for several years. - Fort Worth Report
“In its complaint, ... the CPB and the three board members — Laura Ross, Thomas Rothman and Diane Kaplan — said the president does not have the authority to fire these board members because it’s not a government agency subject to the decisions of the executive branch.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
“The Mellon Foundation has announced $15 million in ‘emergency funding’ for state humanities councils across the country. The support comes after the Department of Government Efficiency abruptly cancelled some $65 million in (National Endowment for the Humanities) grants earlier this month.” - NPR
“U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth … granted the temporary restraining order for the U.S. Agency for Global Media to disburse ($12 million) for April 2025 for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty pending the outcome of a lawsuit seeking to keep the station on the air.” - AP
“The Trump administration has terminated members of the board that oversees the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum appointed by President Joe Biden — including Doug Emhoff, the husband of former vice president Kamala Harris.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
“Originally titled ‘I Await the Devil’s Coming’, The Story of Mary MacLane records four months in the life of its author. Nothing much happens in the outside world, … but her inner life is full of action, as she desires, dreams, and rants against the injustices of youth and sex.” - The Public Domain Review
As digital replicas of real people become more common, especially in image-based industries like fashion, urgent ethical questions are emerging. These include conversations about the future of work, compensation and identity in the cultural economy. - The Conversation
“The premise may seem absurd but that is precisely the point – absurdism is a way of dealing with themes that have proved ... divisive and even explosive to debate.” Deborah Levy’s play 50 Minutes “explores everything from anxiety and panic to the fearful silence around a subject matter deemed taboo.” - The Guardian
Iowa City is the place where contemporary English literature matters more than anywhere else on earth. The home of arguably the world’s most famous MFA program, Iowa City has authors’ plaques embedded in the sidewalk, over 100 literary readings per year, and roughly 1,000 writers in a community of 75,000. - Public Books
One risk is that they close down possibilities. They can shut down our thinking, coercing it to fit the shape of someone else’s comparison rather than our own. - Psyche
The gallery’s artists are so dominant in New York’s leading museums this season that some in the art world are calling it “Hauser spring.” - The New York Times
“This passing of the boundary between ‘doing steps’ and really dancing … is truly exhilarating. I’ve experienced it many times when dance took me away from the here and now, transported me into a different reality, soothed my thoughts and calmed my mind into one single inviting trail of thought.” - Dance Magazine