On the frontiers of AI
Prelude, from The Onion:
Prague's Franz Kafka International Named World's Most Alienating Airport
Now then. A few days ago, my son googled “Franz Kafka Airport” and...
Read The Resignation Letter From NEA Literary Staffers
“We are processing a lot of complex emotions in this moment, as we imagine you are too in light of recent agency developments, but...
What We Learn From Close Reading
We all pretended that we knew what close reading meant. We not only talked about it but we did it. We knew it when...
Why We Should Learn To Be More Skeptical… Of Our Own Ideas
Even our educational institutions often teach critical thinking as a weapon to dismantle others’ arguments rather than a tool for examining our own. The...
These Are The Nine Artists Elle Magazine Says Are Shaping Culture This Year
These nine visionaries have released Grammy-winning albums; performed in nearly every major concert hall and to packed audiences from the stage; won record-setting Tony...
As The Big Streamers Retrench, Nigeria’s Filmmakers Pivot To YouTube
The country’s film industry is the world’s second largest by output, but the big streaming services who had been commissioning films have cut way...
Corporation For Public Broadcasting Denies Access To DOGE
CPB leaders denied that request, citing federal law that establishes the independent nonprofit outside of the control of the federal government. The request comes...
Library Of Congress Staffers Refuse Entry To Trump Officials
Trump appointed Todd Blanche, his former defense lawyer, as librarian of Congress after abruptly firing Carla Hayden. Library staff resisted, insisting Congress must be...
Clooney Play Says It Has Recouped Its $9.5M Investment In Only Seven Weeks
The acclaimed new play broke history many times over and recently announced that it holds the all-time record for the highest grossing play in...
The Ascent And Descent Of Gérard Depardieu: A Timeline
“For over half a century, (he) stood as a towering figure in French cinema, a titan known for his commanding physical presence, instinct, sensitivity, and...
How Trump’s Attacks On Funding Culture Are Changing The Landscape
For decades, there has been a nationwide artistic and cultural infrastructure receiving bipartisan support, including through the first administration of Donald Trump. Now that is...
How The Ancient Greeks Filled The Parthenon With Light
It was long thought the giant reflective pool in front of the statue of Athena acted as a mirror, sending light shimmering across its...
The Existential Battle Behind The Copyright Office Firing
The timing was extraordinary: the office had released a report just two days earlier (on Friday, May 9), concluding that many current AI training practices likely...
The Full Arc Of A Tragedy In 4½ Minutes: Audra McDonald And Ben Brantley...
“All of this — right down to that climatic, rushing release called catharsis — is provided, near the end of a delectably tuneful show,...
Putz Paints Penis On Ancient Peruvian Ruin
“The man was filmed while spraying the graffiti on one of the original walls of Chan Chan, a pre-Columbian city 500km (300 miles) north...
New York State Boosts Tax Incentives To Attract More Business From Hollywood
“New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has approved a state budget that increases the cap on the state’s film and TV subsidy to $800 million,...
Second City In Chicago Boosts Pay And Avoids Actors’ Strike
“The performers’ major concern was a wage increase. David Kolen, a senior business representative at Actors Equity Association, said the performers have taken a...
Budget Cuts In Los Angeles Threaten Frank Lloyd Wright Landmark
“Hollyhock House, Frank Lloyd Wright’s eclectic Los Angeles masterpiece, is under threat of closure and losing its UNESCO World Heritage Site status amid drastic budget cuts...
La Scala’s Next Music Director Will Be Myung-Whun Chung
The 72-year-old South Korean-born, US-trained conductor has appeared at the Milan opera house more often than any other guest conductor, going back to 1989....
Gérard Depardieu Found Guilty of Sexual Assault
“The actor, 76, has been convicted of having groped a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant during the filming of Les Volets Verts...
Universities Are Debating AI. But There’s Not Much Consensus
There are many in the humanities, and even more outside the humanities, who would argue that what is important to assess are thoughts, ideas,...
Cannes Film Fest Director On Trump Movie Tariffs: We’re Always Reinventing
“There’s something we noticed the year and months after Covid: There were fewer American films in the world; therefore local production –national production–became more...
The New Literature: Substack?
Their outputs are a mélange of the passion and experimentalism of the amateurs with the polish and ambition of the pros, and they often...
Has The US Government Given Up On Education?
“Right now, there are no education goals for the country,” said Arne Duncan, who served as President Barack Obama’s first secretary of education after...
Literary Criticism In The Changing University
In some ways we’re moving backwards from the model of the lay reader versus professional literary critic. Today there are far fewer lay readers...
