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Major Buyouts And Layoffs At Penguin Random House

"Some of publishing’s most celebrated and enduring editors are leaving Penguin Random House after accepting buyout packages. Meanwhile, an undetermined number of company-wide layoffs has begun, … amid a broader reorganization at (the publisher). - AP

Highway Tunnel Past Stonehenge Gets UK Government Approval

"The transport secretary has granted a development consent order for a scheme to widen roads and dig a two-mile tunnel near the ancient site. The project, which was initially costed at £1.7bn, is designed to speed up journey times on the A303, a major link to south-west England." - The Guardian

The Transformative Louis Langrée

At 62, Langrée has never been one of the world’s most famous or sought-after conductors. His career has been a steady climb of prestige and quality, quietly remarkable but undersung even as he has transformed ensembles. - The New York Times

Major Met Museum Patron’s Home Raided

Investigators from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office have carted away 71 looted artifacts from Shelby White’s home in the past two years, though they have not suggested that she or her husband knowingly bought stolen antiquities. In fact, investigators would later thank White, 84, for her cooperation. - The New York Times

Studios Proposed: Scan You Once, Use AI Version Of You Forever, Free

“They proposed that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get one day’s pay, and their companies should own that scan, their image, their likeness and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity on any project they want, with no consent and no compensation. - The Verge

How Barcelona Became A Design Capital

In the spring of 1992, Barcelona was in the throws of Olympian joy and design fever. After 36 years of dictatorship, Barcelona’s nomination as host city for the Summer Olympics was a golden opportunity to reset and present a revamped, modern metropolis after decades of cultural, social and political neglect. - The Daily Beast

A Movie About Theatre Camp That Helps Explain Theatre

Earnest and ridiculous in equal measure, Theater Camp makes clear that places like AdirondACTS are microcosms of magical weirdness. The film isn’t just a starry-eyed ode to the wonders of theater; it’s a look at how following one’s passions requires immense support. - The Atlantic

Why The Death Of Newspaper Dance Reviews Has Big Impacts On The Field Of Dance

Critical dialogue in dance today takes many forms, none in short supply. But reviews of live dance performances, in print or online, in publications with at least a few thousand readers, do not exist in most media markets. - Dance Magazine

Thousands Of Writers Sign Letter Urging AI Companies Not To Use Their Work W/O Payment

According to a forthcoming report from The Authors Guild, the median income for a full-time writer last year was $23,000. And writers' incomes declined by 42% between 2009 and 2019. The advent of text-based generative AI applications like GPT-4 and Bard is giving writers across the country even more cause for worry. - NPR

Pittsburgh Opera Company Takes Stock, Decides To Reinvent

Pittsburgh Festival Opera, is a “summer festival company” that typically puts on a few small-scale productions during the summer months and provides a training program for aspiring opera singers. Last year, attendance at Festival Opera was “sad and just horrible." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Studios Are Doing It To Themselves

As Bob Iger seems to blame Disney+ for blockbusters' lack of, uh, busting in recent months, "Who knew that convincing audiences they no longer need to go to the cinema would torpedo a blockbuster movie model that’s been in place since the mid-1970s?" - The Guardian (UK)

Librarians Can Do Anything, Even Get Barack Obama On TikTok

This week, Kankakee Public Library's TikTok features the former president "drinking out of a library-branded mug and leafing through a paperback. It’s the first in a series of TikToks that Obama has filmed with libraries across the country" in a pushback against book banning laws. - Washington Post

Orange Is The New Black Actor Kimiko Glenn Talks About All The Second Jobs The Actors Had

The actors weren't - and aren't - getting paid a ton. Glenn: Some of the other actors "were fucking famous as shit, like internationally famous, couldn’t go outside, but had to keep their second jobs because they couldn’t afford to not. We couldn’t afford cabs to set." - Vulture

Trying To Teach A Post-2001 Generation About The Trauma Of The Towers

"Their generation has come-of-age in a pandemic that killed millions of people and laid bare incredible systemic inequities. ... Many of my students don’t know how they will ever afford to pay off their student loans, much less buy a house." 9/11? So what? - LitHub

When A Reporter Falls In Love With A Musical

A French musical based on a Hugo novel, but still. "A song debating the merits of the printing press at the top of Act II after a cliffhanger Act I ending? (I guess they had to leave at least one trademark Hugo tangent in there!)" - The New York Times

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