Thinking about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, for instance, “to come close to the feeling and texture of war as it is lived behind the lines – and behind front doors – it is necessary to turn to the work of Ukrainian artists, writers, playwrights and filmmakers." - The Guardian (UK)
“The institute’s decision to continue to fight the efforts by Manhattan prosecutors to retrieve its Schiele work makes it a lone holdout among the museums and collectors who received warrants from investigators telling them they possessed stolen property." - The New York Times
The cast and crew took a “granular, history-flecked tour of the place where, about 60 years earlier, S.E. Hinton’s coming-of-age story was written and set. Hinton, 75 and still a beloved local, was a star attraction." - The New York Times
The musicians’ union calls it “a major win” and “a watershed moment.” Next up: The “below the line” workers - that is to say, the Hollywood crew members in IATSE and the Teamsters - start to bargain. - MSN (Los Angeles Times)
As with (still-operational) local news sites Gothamist, LAist, and others, DCist was acquired by its nearby public radio station when the -ist sites' parent shut down. WAMU management says it is refocusing on audio content, and the DCist website is now unavailable to the public. - The Washington Post (MSN)
In Birmingham, which faces a long-brewing cash crisis, "grants to regularly-funded arts organisations will face 50% cuts this year and 100% next financial year." This includes, among others, the City of Birmingham Symphony, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Birmingham REP Theatre, IKON Gallery, and Birmingham International Dance Festival. - Birmingham Live
"(It's) a finely tuned and precisely orchestrated operation, requiring months of advance planning and permitting, a crew of nearly a dozen workers and an all-hands effort by the musicians themselves." Michael Andor Brodeur watches as DC's National Symphony prepares and sets off. - The Washington Post (MSN)
"At a certain point, the survival tool, which has kept you safe and kept you warm, which has kept you with your family, it’s allowed you to exist in the world — you gotta cut that fucking thing off," she said. "You gotta cut that thing off, because it’s killing you." - The Atlantic
"IDF raids on Palestinian publishing houses are nothing new. Seven Palestinian publishing houses were raided or destroyed over a six-month period in 2016-2017, and eleven more were targeted in a seven-month period in 2021." - LitHub
Molly Lewis: "People often don’t have a reference for whistle music apart from a jingle or a riff in a bad pop song. … I think it’s a beautiful instrument." - Washington Post
"I will always remember the words written on a piece of paper that Navalny held at one of his court hearings: 'I am not afraid and you should not be afraid.' Navalny was still smiling and laughing on the eve of his death." - The Atlantic
Then Hugo Awards rumors started; now leaked emails confirm that “one of the Hugo administrators had advised other members to vet the finalists and 'highlight anything of a sensitive political nature' in China. ... Such works, he added, might not be safe to put on the ballot." - The New York Times
In the current staging, Sweeney's barbershop is above the stage; when he slits a customer's throat, he pulls a lever that sends the victim down a slide into Mrs. Lovett's basement. Under the tag "A Bad Idea Worth Considering," Rebecca Alter points out that slide's underutilized revenue potential. Wheeeeee! - Vulture (MSN)
Kevin Roose: "My column about the experience was probably the most consequential thing I’ll ever write — both in terms of the attention it got … and how the trajectory of A.I. development changed. … It's been a year of growth and excitement in A.I. but a surprisingly tame one." - The New York Times
Now students are intimidated by anything over 10 pages and seem to walk away from readings of as little as 20 pages with no real understanding. Even smart and motivated students struggle to do more with written texts than extract decontextualized take-aways. - Slate
"Jukebox" opera was hardly unknown in centuries past; it was called pasticcio. And while Schubert was a master of vocal music, his operas are rarely revived. (Blame the bad librettos.) So conductor Raphaël Pichon has taken highlights from those operas and put them together with a new story. - The New York Times
"Imagine a small island where, for an entire week, you’re in the company of some of the world’s finest classical musicians. They play almost continuously from 9.30am until bedtime. You’re one of more than 13,500 audience members." Welcome to the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam. - The Guardian
"Scaffolding surrounding the spire came down this week, revealing the restored structure in a landmark moment for the cathedral, which was ravaged by a fire in April 2019. The soaring spire, crowned with a cross and golden rooster, peeks out of a dense grid of support beams." - The Washington Post (MSN)
"We need to stop treating museums, theaters and galleries like sacred spaces that exist in some rarefied realm of public life. And we need to start treating them — and funding them — like interstate highways, high-speed internet and other infrastructure projects, using money that’s earmarked to maintain the country’s infrastructure." - The New York Times
