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The New Yorker Fires Art Critic Jackson Arn

The magazine parted ways with Arn, who replaced the late Peter Schjeldahl in 2023, after receiving complaints about his inappropriate behavior at the publication’s 100th birthday last month. - The New York Times

Miami Beach’s O Cinema Responds To Mayor’s Threats

“Throughout the years, we've certainly had vocal audience members or community members who've questioned some programming choices. … But what we have never encountered is elected officials trying to dictate what we should and should not be showing.” - NPR

The Creative Fields Being Decimated, Fast, By Generative AI

Translators, photographers, illustrators: all are suffering, thoroughly. But some still say they use ChatGPT to help with work - and to help with personal tasks as well. - The Observer (UK)

Trump Wants More Say In Picking Kennedy Center Honorees

The Board, which has been purged and replaced by Trump loyalists, will take up a resolution that says, "The committee will recommend a slate of honorees to the Kennedy Center’s president for approval.” And we know who that is. - The New York Times

Mayor Of Miami Beach Threatens To Oust Cinema For Showing Oscar-Winning Film

“Steven Meiner, the mayor of Miami Beach, has issued a draft resolution calling for the termination of the city’s lease agreement with O Cinema, and withdrawing $40,000 in promised grant funding for the nonprofit that runs the independent cinema.” - The Guardian (UK)

In Kashmir, Listeners Prove The Lasting, Nearly Spiritual Power Of The Cassette Tape

“For decades, cassette players have carried the soul-stirring poetry of Sufi saints and the mystical melodies of Kashmiri instruments like the sarangi and santoor, and it’s long been a local ritual for families to gather around the warm hum of a tape player.”  - Seattle Times (AP)

Portland Volunteers Strive To Catalog, And Save, Treasure Trove Of Five Thousand Film Reels

“The archive has become a center of gravity for a group of Portlanders who adhere to the mantra Film is Dead. Long Live Film.” - Oregon ArtsWatch

The Getty Villa Could Have Burned To The Ground

Is it time to move? "Flames came within feet of the building, and 17 courageous staff members who remained onsite went through 40 handheld fire extinguishers stamping them out.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

People Really, Really Want To See Denzel Washington And Jake Gyllenhaal At The Public

“Othello sales are next-level, seeming to reflect the appeal of the combination of two well-known actors with a well-known title, and also a 'Taylor Swift effect,' meaning that consumers are getting used to paying top dollar for live entertainment.” - The New York Times

Now, They’re Coming For All Of The Libraries

These executive order-demanded cuts will affect public libraries, museums, the Voice of America, and so very much more. - Politico (MSN)

Composer Sofia Gubaidulina, 93

“(She) believed that it was Soviet repression which made her so powerful and distinctive a composer, though it was only after the fall of Communism that she became well known in the West, … becoming, in her 70s, one of the most sought-after composers in the world.” - The Telegraph (UK) (Yahoo!)

At The Rehab Center With Puzzlemaster Will Shortz

The New York Times crossword editor and Sunday-morning NPR stalwart suffered two strokes a year ago. He came home from the hospital last April and has been hard at work on recovery ever since. New York mag restaurant critic Matthew Schneier tagged along for a therapy session. - New York Magazine (MSN)

Meet The 21st-Century Voice Of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, And Porky Pig

Nope, no studio is using AI to re-create Blanc’s rendition of the wascally wabbit, dastardly duck, put-upon pig and their Looney Tunes confrères. Why use AI when we’ve got Eric Bauza, whose gifts ae nearly as amazing as Blanc’s were? - The New York Times

Considering The Trump Administration’s War On Drag: Philip Kennicott

“The essence of drag is its exaggeration of gender stereotypes in a theatrical style that gives the performer permission to say outrageous, often offensive things. ... That is also the definition of Trump’s style: … performing with hypermasculine bravado in a space where one can’t quite take him seriously.” - The Washington Post (MSN)

Athol Fugard, Playwright Who Chronicled And Dissected Apartheid, Dead At 92

In South Africa, “for decades he was considered subversive by the government; at times productions of his work, with their integrated casts, were considered illegal, and his co-workers in the theater were jailed.” - The New York Times

Is It Possible To Mount A History Play About Civil Rights In Florida Right Now?

“‘We’re sort of really trying to ride a fine line of when we talk about the play and how we talk about the play,’ said Karla Hartley, the producing artistic director. ... 'So we don’t sort of draw the ire of certain people in the state government.’” - The New York Times

With The Politicization Of The Kennedy Center, This Is What’s At Stake For United States Cultural Life

A prominent human rights lawyer warns that “when a political leader tries to ‘capture culture' it's something ... typical of an authoritarian. ‘Right by the playbook.’” - CBC

As A First-Amendment Lawsuit Continues, The NEA Drops One Of Its Anti-Trans Requirements

“The news is mixed, however. While artists may now apply for funding without attesting to the new ‘gender ideology’ requirement, the NEA has not agreed to remove its new eligibility criteria” - but the ACLU lawsuit continues. - American Theatre

In The Netherlands, Anselm Kiefer Wonders If Humans Will Ever Learn

The German artist said “stays abreast of current events, and said that recently he has felt a physical sense of threat by the rise of right-wing authoritarian leadership, both in Germany and in the United States.” - The New York Times

The Trump Kennedy Center, Soft Power, And The Decline of America’s Global Influence

A nation’s “soft power” is “the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments” — foreign aid, public perception, and especially cultural exports such as movies and music. American soft power has been enormous, and Lily Janiak considers how it's being frittered away. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
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