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A Novel’s Draft Leaks, And A Small Town Freaks Out

After the leaks, "certain incidents began occurring that resembled the fictional action. ... A fight broke out during the mixed doubles tennis tournament. ... There were rumours of marital affairs. A complaint was made that the tennis players were too 'cosy' with yacht club members." - The Guardian (UK)

Twitter Is Now A Full-On Zombie

But, just like the shambling husks in movies, it's ambling on until someone can fire the right shot. "Twitter was a go-to source for news, politics, sports, and entertainment—along with misinformation and hate speech. ... Each new day, it’s still there." - Wired

The US Says It Has Good Deals With AI Companies, But Artists Say That’s BS

Let's be clear: "How hard will these AI companies work at ‘voluntarily’ building these difficult systems? What we need is real regulation with well-defined, transparent goals that are backed up with plans for testing, enforcement, and if necessary, penalties." - Hyperallergic

There’s A New Streaming Service In This Galaxy

It's free, and its name is ... NASA Plus. It "will bring the on-demand non-sci-fi space content you crave to TVs and mobile devices everywhere. And best of all, NASA says it will be 'ad-free, no cost, and family-friendly.'" - The Verge

What Should Authors Do After They Say Goodbye To Twitter?

Charlie Jane Anders, formerly an active Twitter user, has some thoughts. "I wish we had a more robust book-o-sphere generally. The lifeblood of book culture is word-of-mouth and celebration of other people's stuff, and that doesn't have to happen in a sewer like Twitter." - Happy Dancing

Edward Sexton, Tailor To The Beatles, 80

"Mr. Sexton learned his craft under the exacting standards of Savile Row traditions and never lost his attention to detail. ... His mark on fashion took shape in the 1960s as London became a center of a style revolution." - Washington Post

Please Stop Filming Concerts

Why? Well ... "Your videos are terribly lit. The room you are in is very, very dark. ... That’s before we even get into the audio quality. Even concerts recorded by professionals with high-quality equipment often don’t sound all that great." - The Verge

Italy’s Steamy Melodrama Has Fans Diving Off Piers To Swim To The Set

One of the producers of Mare Fuori says, "We have realized that these stories of young lovers, people like a lot. ... In the end, we are a romantic country." - The New York Times

A British Town Has Two Iconic Towers ,But Can’t Decide Which Is Which

"The towers have been a source of local pride for almost 100 years, but now a debate has ignited over which structure is which after the local historical society announced plans to immortalise them in a cruet set." - The Guardian (UK)

A Museum In Minnesota Gets Permission To Break Up Its Collection

In Bemidji, Minnesota, "A First Nations tribe in Canada sent the historical society a letter enquiring about a ceremonial water drum. The museum no longer had the artifact, but it forced the staff to re-examine what was in their archives." - Sahan Journal

Going To The Cinema Is A ‘Deeply Human Experience’ That Streaming Can Never Provide

"The beauty of going to the movies was never just about the films on the screens — it was about the way we all gathered to watch them." - The New York Times

A Brief Cultural History Of Crying While Reading

In the nineteenth century, "The tears were a form of praise. The femaleness of response, though, became a negative." Until the trauma plot, and the meme "Do you even cry, bro?" - LitHub

Has Nero’s Theatre Been Found In Rome?

At a 15th century palace that will become a Four Seasons Hotel, "to the archaeologists’ surprise — and immense delight — the dig brought to light traces of a first-century theater that the team believes was built by Nero." - The New York Times

The Paradox Of Vanishing Land Art

As Beverly Buchanan's Marsh Ruins sink into the marsh, questions arise. "What should be done when a work is major partly because the artist invited its decay? Perhaps the Marsh Ruins challenge us to rethink the possibilities of conservation itself." - The New York Times

You Can Read Esperanto Literature In Translation

It does feel a bit ironic, but it's good to have, for instance, Ukranian writer Vasily Eroshenko's "set of Esperanto fairy tales — stories about mice and flowers and paper lanterns — that are quaint on the surface but also scathing critiques of Western civilization’s deficiencies" in English. - Washington Post

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