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Everything Digital We’ve ‘Bought’ Is Actually Rented

And Sony’s email to Playstation UK customers was simply a reminder of that uncomfortable, horrifying fact. - Wired

Ordering Up, And Then Touching, The Objects At The V&A East Storehouse

“When you open these cardboard frames up and look at the edges of the paper and see they’re stained and old, you can really picture Beatrix Potter’s hand. … It’s such a privilege to be this close and be trusted.” - The New York Times

The Fanfiction Community Is At Internal War Over Generative AI

“Fandom communities are still mostly relying on vibes. Most fanfics aren’t judged by a tool like the AO3 skin, but by tells' that could include anything from specific sentence structures — like the notorious ‘it’s not X, it’s Y' — to overuse of flowery metaphors.” - The Verge (Archive Today)

American Playwrights Are Meeting The Times, But Are Audiences?

“These writers aren’t on a sociological mission. They’re not trafficking in grievance or appealing to a particular political base. They let their plays do the talking. And they’ve been trying to have a conversation that isn’t hijacked by the most doctrinaire voices in the room.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

Despite Challenges And Bans, It’s A Golden Age For Queer Literature

A bookstore owner writes, "Queer literature has become one of the growth engines of the publishing industry. L.G.B.T.Q. fiction has never been more visible, more varied or better promoted.” Happy Pride! - The New York Times

Margaret Atwood Says The Problem With AI Is A Classic One

“The thing about AI is that it’s garbage in, garbage out,” she said at a book festival. - Deadline

Arena Stage Boots Its Black, Woman Artistic Director On The Night One Of Her Championed New Musicals Opens

OK, Hana Sharif resigned under great pressure. She wrote: “The board and I arrived at a crossroads — one defined not by a lack of shared love for this institution, but by differing visions for how Arena Stage should meet the future.” - The New York Times

The New Republic’s 15 Most Important Artworks In U.S. History

The editors have chosen four movies, six books, two songs, a piece of classical music, a painting, and a monument “whose impact extended beyond culture to society as a whole.” - The New Republic

How Arts Philanthropist Christophe De Menil Ended Up Isolated During Her Final Years

The daughter of the founders of Houston’s Menil Collection, Christophe herself had a glittering social life filled with the arts and artists, and she funded career-establishing work by Robert Wilson, Twyla Tharp, Trisha Brown, and others. Her family life, on the other hand, was … well, fraught. - New York Magazine (MSN)

Google Invests $75 Million In A24 Studios To Develop AI Filmmaking Tools

“Google’s DeepMind AI unit and A24 are aiming to create new tools for movie production and distribution. … Though Alphabet unit Google is a major player in online entertainment through YouTube, the deal marks the first time it has taken a stake in a studio.” - The Wall Street Journal (MSN)

Lonnie Bunch Works To Keep Smithsonian Independent And Functional Amid Trumpist Turmoil

“Bunch has been cast by many of his admirers as something of a resistance figure — one of the only high-profile leaders standing up to Trump by single-handedly preventing the president from rewriting American history itself.” - The Atlantic

Want To Hear Some Newly Discovered Mozart?

Here you go: “The works were played publicly for the first time on Sunday at the National Library of France.” - The New York Times

In Los Angeles, LACMA Hosts A Huge Art Parade

Michael Govan was feeling pretty good about the 600,000 people who came to the block party and parade, too: "We’re not gonna close Wilshire every weekend, but it’s an example of what we can do. … It’s really exciting to see the building work.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

With The Roku Sale To Fox, Not To Mention The Paramount Deal, Right-Wing Interests Dominate Streaming

"The scale of this quiet coup is staggering. … In practical terms, Roku controls the television home screen.” - Salon

All Of The Music That’s Been Fed Into ‘Generative’ (Read: Theft-Based) AI

“Companies often claim to use only content that is freely available online, but the datasets reveal the quantity of downloadable music that developers can access even though it is not supposed to be free.” - The Atlantic

What We Learned About How To Celebrate A Divided America’s Birthday From The Bicentennial

Philadelphia, as the cradle of American independence, was supposed to be the center of attention 50 years ago. From the beginning, deliberations involved arguably the most important architect of the late 20th century, Louis I. Kahn. - Architecture and the City

Why The Art Workers Coalition Still Resonates Across The Art World

“Among their demands were a section of the museum dedicated to Black (and, in a later, amended statement, Puerto Rican) artists, an artist committee granted curatorial power, a ‘rental fee’ paid to artists for the exhibition of their work and free admission for all.” - The New York Times

Building A Jazz Trilogy Based On Black British History

Renell Shaw: “Our story is of growth, and it’s a love story, too. I mean, my grandmother came over here from Jamaica looking for work, and my grandfather came over to chase my grandmother!” - The Guardian (UK)

They Just Had To Take That Man’s Name Off The Kennedy Center From Behind A Curtain

After blowing the deadline and begging for more time - and being denied - workers took Donald J. Trump’s name off the Kennedy Center on Friday night. But “a spokeswoman for the center, said the institution was … evaluating ‘legal options.’” - The New York Times

Washington National Opera Sues Kennedy Center

“The Washington National Opera (WNO) filed a lawsuit Thursday, alleging that the Kennedy Center failed to return more than $17 million in donations made to the organization after its split from the venue earlier this year.” - The Hill