John Mayall, “The Godfather Of British Blues,” Dead At 90
"A multi-instrumentalist who sang and played guitar, keyboards and harmonica, Mr. Mayall was better known as a bandleader who had a superb eye for...
US Authorities Recover Picasso Drawing Involved In 1MDB Scandal
"The US Justice Department has reached an agreement with Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, the former general counsel of Malaysia’s sovereign investment development fund (1MDB),...
Tourist In Florence Filmed Grinding Herself On Nude Statue Of Bacchus
The sculpture, a replica of the 16th-century original (kept in the Bargello Museum) by Giambologna, is on a street corner near the Ponte Vecchio....
BBC To Eliminate Another 500 Jobs
"The BBC will lay off 500 more staff by March 2026 as its annual report paints a worrying financial picture including a near-doubling of...
The Internet Memes Defining Kamala Harris
It helps that the Harris memes booted up shortly after Biden’s disastrous debate. It makes it feel as if the internet manifested her candidacy....
Paris Art Galleries Abruptly Shut Down For Olympics Security
Many galleries in Paris’s Saint Germain des Près area, one of the city’s major art hubs, were unexpectedly forced to close on Thursday, due...
An Immersive Show That Takes Away Your Sight
Although virtually "taking away" one of their five senses, the show banks on spectators' reliance on their four other forms of perception: the venue...
Top Editor Quit Struggling LA Magazine
For months, the outlet has faced complaints from freelancers who say that the new owners, prominent L.A.-based trial lawyers Mark Geragos and Ben Meiselas,...
Why Do Tourists Act So Badly?
In the last few months, there have been protests against overtourism and "bad" tourist behaviour around the globe, and both issues seem to be coming under greater scrutiny....
Preserving The Songs of Japan’s Blind Itinerant Women Musicians
"Barely a decade has passed since (Rieko) Hirosawa started learning goze uta (blind women’s songs) – a genre of music spanning four centuries that...
Like Literature: Classical Music’s Revolutionary Turn To Narrative Realism
I want to suggest some parallels between this 18th-century musical lingua franca and a familiar device from another medium: modern realist prose, which emerged through...
South Coast Repertory Theatre Chooses New Managing Director
At Vineyard Theatre, her home for the last seven years, Suzanne Appel successfully managed the theater’s finances during the pandemic, keeping the entire full-time...
Is Travel Really Worth It?
Travel is one of those things one generally doesn’t attack in polite company, the world of letters excepted. Its wholesomeness is assumed. It broadens...
1,000-Year-Old Church In Istanbul Is Converted Into Mosque, But Byzantine Mosaics And Frescoes Are...
"When the 11th-century Chora Church was ordered to be reconverted into a mosque in 2020, many feared for the fate of its richly decorated...
“Barbie” Was Supposed To Change How Hollywood Worked. Why Didn’t It?
In the 12 months since the movie’s release, little has changed in Hollywood. Buffeted by dual labor strikes that went on for months and...
Actors Reading Aloud To Stroke Patients
"InterAct Stroke Support operates all over the UK, … tak(ing) professional actors into hospitals to read poetry and stories to stroke survivors." Longtime Guardian...
The World Is Changing Fast For Artists. Here Are Some Ideas To Keep Up
The very fun of being a creative is solving problems people don't even know to exist. Eventually, if you are creative and curious enough,...
What Yuja Wang Did During The COVID Lockdown
As little as possible, actually. "I promised myself to only practise when I wanted to, and then I didn’t want to for 15 months!...
Why Can AI Write Poetry But Struggle With Math?
Chatbots like Open AI’s ChatGPT can write poetry, summarize books and answer questions, often with human-level fluency. These systems can do math, based on what they...
This Year’s Venice Dance Biennale Gets Scientific
"This year’s theme is 'We Humans,' a title that might conjure fleshy bodies and emotional connection, but the opening weekend’s performances focused as much...
South Africa’s Film Industry, Full Of Promise, Struggles With Structural Issues
Says one key player, "If you compare South Africa to a lot of industries with similar GDPs, the difference here is the lack of...
Hugo Award Organizers Foil Fake-Vote Scheme
"The prestigious Hugo Awards for science fiction and fantasy writing revealed that almost 400 votes – about 10% of all votes cast (this year)...
This Year’s Interpol Anti-Art Trafficking Operation Recovered Over 6,400 Artworks And Artifacts
"Pandora VIII, an annual joint operation between customs and law enforcement authorities from 25 countries against international art trafficking, … involved several thousand checks...
Venice’s New Day-Tripper Tax Is Bringing In A Pile Of Money. That Means It’s...
The mayor said that the €5 entrance fee was expected to bring in about €700,000 on the trial dates so far, but the total...
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Adds A New Artistic Partner, Gábor Takács-Nagy
"Consider it the orchestral equivalent of someone who's ready to give up on romance suddenly finding the perfect partner. After claiming for several seasons...
