Maureen Dowd: In The Forest Of The Uncanny Valley
Human connections have been eroding for some time. We’re all dwelling in Uncanny Valley now, staring into our personal screens, not sure what’s real...
Theatre As Narrative? Why?
“I have a real problem with the idea that theater is meant to achieve narrative fluidity, as if it could somehow resolve the world’s...
AI Is Getting Very Good At Creating Fake Crowds. Why That’s A Problem
This observation could potentially have serious consequences in a society where images of big, engaged crowds at public events like rock concerts, protests and...
Hollywood Actors Are Furious About AI-“Actor” Tilly
“They are going to use our work, use all this information, to perfect every possible inflection and expression. And they are just going to...
Report: For The First Time, More Americans Get Their News From Social Media Than...
“The proportion accessing news via social media and video networks in the United States (54%) is sharply up,” the report’s authors write, “overtaking both...
College Radio Is Booming. Why?
Stations that once struggled to fill airtime are now turning people away, shortening shows, alternating time slots, and running training programs just to keep...
Protest As A Collaborative Art Form
Global protests are not just about chanting slogans and marching anymore. What was really eye-opening was seeing different groups coming together organically and using...
What Is Up With The Pirate Flag Iconography Of Gen-Z Protestors?
The ubiquity of the flag is down to anime, you see. Specifically, young people waving the flag from Nepal to Madagascar to the Philippines...
The Writers Guild Helped Bring Jimmy Kimmel Back
What’s next? The union’s new president says AI, of course, but also in regard to Kimmel, "I somehow doubt this is the last instance...
Culture Critic Lawrence Burney Says Baltimore, With Great History And Art, Needs Much Better...
Burney, who created a new zine to showcase the artists of his city: "Baltimore is a good microcosm, not even just for the social...
The United States’ Shameful, Accelerating Half-Century Of Book Banning
“In the long, ignominious history of American book banning, portrayals of sex have been cited again and again as beyond the pale for schools...
Where Is Starchitect David Adjaye?
He was accused of sexual misconduct in 2023, but no charges have been filed. Three of his buildings are about to open, and he’s...
Doing Almost Anything – Even Chores – Is Better With Friends
“The activities we more often do with others seem to be associated with the most benefits, such as eating or drinking. … But the...
Why Annie Lennox Likes To Read Books Back To Front
“I think it might possibly have something to do with being left-handed,” the musician says. - The New York Times
SNL At 51 Is Reading The Room Of Our Pop Culture Swirl
“The women of HUNTR/X, the fictional pop trio that leads the sleeper hit, provided the kicker to a sketch that poked fun at what...
Can We Make Tech Better Again?
First, we must describe it accurately. What happens to cool new tech over time is, writer Cory Doctorow says, “enshittification.” - The New York...
Here’s What Portland’s Arts Organizations Have To Say About Making Culture In So-Called Hell
Portland is very clearly not “hell,” and just as clearly not a war zone. But also: "Although the number of events and the amount...
Cinephiles Should Bow Down To The Priesthood For Kicking Young Martin Scorsese Out
“The idea of priesthood, to devote yourself to others, really, that’s what it’s about. I realized I don’t belong there. … And I tried...
Over The Years, This Audio Editing Software Became Absolutely Terrible
Is a wholesale remaking of Audacity going to help sound engineers and musicians? Probably, but can they get beyond the awful new logo? -...
The Thriller Writer Who Took On Corporate AI- And Won
Andrea Bartz “was furious that the writing she had labored over for years got vacuumed up and fed into an algorithm, without her permission.”...
Remember When The United States Senate Went After Prince And Madonna?
Sure, McCarthyism mostly ended (until, well, now) in the late 1950s, but in the 1980s, Madonna and Prince scared some adults so much that...
The Mexican Painter Turning Machismo Upside Down
"By adjusting the focus just a little, adding suggestions of both humor and tension, and pumping up the characters’ sensuality, Segovia turns these recognizable...
Artists Don’t Feel Better About Spotify Just Because Founder Daniel Ek Sort Of Stepped...
One artist who removed his music: “Spotify is going to have to make Herculean efforts to roll back tons of damaging choices they’ve introduced...
How Romance Became The Publishing Industry’s ‘Recession-Proof’ Category
Romancelandia is big, and “the rest of the industry wants to emulate this success, but as many editors know, chasing a trend can be...
What Happens When You Start Dancing In Your 60s
“By now I’ve spent upward of 5,000 hours in ballet classes, and roughly 1,600 hours more in other, non-ballet dance classes. … I dance...
