Biographer Sue Prideaux has found materials indicating that the artist did not have syphilis at all, his lover was well over the age of consent at the time and was free to stay with or leave him as she wished, and he actively campaigned against injustice and corruption in the colonial government of French Polynesia. - The Guardian
“(The) eminent concert pianist, who has boycotted strongman rule in Russia and his native Hungary, said on Wednesday that he would no longer perform in the United States because of concerns about President Trump’s ‘unbelievable bullying’ on the world stage.” - The New York Times
“I told them I would pay for my flight home and asked when I could leave. No answer. Then they moved me to another cell – this time with no mat or blanket. I sat on the freezing cement floor for hours. I realized they were processing me into real jail.” - The Guardian
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
“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
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)
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
“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)
“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)
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)
“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
“(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!)
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)
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
“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)
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
“‘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
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
