Arizona Opera Finds Its New General Director Close To Home
“Arizona Opera took its search for a new leader international only to find the ideal candidate a few miles from its downtown Phoenix headquarters. The...
Who/What Should Win Tonys, Statistically Speaking
Every year, I run a statistical model based on precursor awards, which categories a show is nominated in, blended critic predictions, and betting markets to...
Doubts About Colleges?
The college wage premium is still high, which means that it’s still beneficial to get a degree. But for whom, exactly? - The Atlantic...
AI And The End Of The Notion Of Authorship
Technically speaking, an algorithm wrote the text, but a human had to prompt the algorithm. So who or what is the author? Is it...
Walt Whitman, The Original Self-Mythologizing Selfie King
“Unlike many of his contemporaries, the poet collected an ‘abundance of photographs’ of himself. And like many people today who snap and post thousands...
Trump Is Going To “Les Mis”. So?
Trump is a fan. At campaign rallies he would make his entrance to the anthemic "Do You Hear the People Sing?" blaring from loudspeakers. The U.S....
Opera’s Translation Debate
Like the qwerty keyboard, sitting through a three-or-more-hour performance in a language we don’t understand is a peculiar cultural phenomenon we accept only because...
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Be A Big Pain In Ballet Companies’ Feet
“Compounding recent major cuts to arts funding, the footwear the ballet world relies on could be just one more unanticipated casualty of the current...
An Existential Crisis For The Smithsonian
If the president succeeds in removing a key leader who is not accused of any professional or personal misconduct, he will effectively gain control...
Brookings: AI Has Rendered Most Writing Obsolete
These are very substantial benefits, and it is true they are lost when we write using a keyboard or keypad. But on balance, far...
Piano Sales Are Sinking
Sales have held steady at around 31,000 a year for the past decade, but in 2024, fewer than 18,000 were sold, according to an...
Why “Requiem For A Dream” Still Upsets People After 25 Years
“The film-makers set out to deliver a sensory bombardment that would mimic the experience of addiction. But they ended up doing much more, touching...
The Art Model Beyond Galleries?
The aim is to organize experimental exhibitions created alongside artists that will surprise collectors and the public alike, via organizing exhibitions in non-traditional venues,...
A Change Of Generational Leadership In The Music Industry?
If the past tells us anything, it’s that seismic technological shifts have often served as a precursor for a changing of the guard at...
EU’s Highest Court Finds Hungary’s LGBTIQ Content Ban Violates Charter Of Fundamental Rights
“The non-binding opinion from the court’s advocate general … represents a comprehensive demolition of the arguments made by the Hungarian government defending its so-called...
Producers Can Make A Fortune Presenting Movie Stars In Broadway Plays. The Stars Themselves?...
Really famous stars anchoring and co-producing a show — George Clooney, Hugh Jackman, Bette Midler — can negotiate a good percentage of profit for...
Archivists Are Going To Have A Hard Time Documenting The Digital Era
It’s two problems in one. The detritus — diary entries, to-do lists, correspondence — in which researchers often discover key details rarely gets put...
Oh, Great! AMC Theatres Is Going To Run Commercials Alongside Movie Trailers
“AMC Theatres has agreed to show pre-movie advertising before features begin as part of a new deal with National CineMedia, … the in-theater advertising company.”...
National Portrait Gallery Director Is Still At Work, Despite Trump’s Announcement Of Her Firing
“Kim Sajet’s refusal to abide by Trump’s decision (will test) the bounds of presidential authority over the Smithsonian. ... It is not a traditional...
Almeida Theatre, London’s Pint-Sized Powerhouse, Appoints Dominic Cooke Artistic Director
The 325-seat playhouse in Islington, which has a long history of spawning award winners and West End and Broadway hits, has chosen Cooke, formerly...
Behold London’s Serpentine Pavilion For Summer 2025, by Marina Tabassum
“Named A Capsule in Time, the Bangladeshi architect’s partially-sheltered pavilion, made from wood and polycarbonate, comprises four arched timber structures that take on the...
Kennedy Center audiences vote with their feet. What happens next?
Kennedy Center subscription sales are in free fall. How much danger does that put the Center in?
Montreal Dance Studio Drops Its Classes In Gaga Technique Because It Was Created In...
Last month, Studio 303 publicly joined the BDS boycott, including “all cultural and academic products that normalize the State of Israel." That includes Gaga,...
Are We Having Second Thoughts About Capitalism?
I’m not claiming that most people are saying “Let’s get rid of capitalism,” because it still delivers the bacon, to some extent. But I...
“Z Literature” — Fiction Designed To Convince Young Russians To Fight In Ukraine
These novels, aimed at young men who will soon be targets of recruitment drives, often feature hyper-nationalist, crudely-drawn “accidental travel” plots, wherein the hero...
