In her view, we are often pushed around, one way or another, by the stuff we come into contact with on any given day. A piece of shiny plastic on the street pulls your eye toward it, turning your body in a different direction—which might make you trip over your own foot and then smash your head. - The New Yorker
“Digital dualism” is finally on life support, replaced by a dawning recognition that the distinction between offline and online has collapsed. Instead, we face pervasive surveillance enabled by the growth of cameras, sensors, connected devices, and data collection in our communities. - The Atlantic
During the past decade, the study of English and history at the collegiate level has fallen by a full third. Humanities enrollment in the United States has declined over all by seventeen per cent, Townsend found. What’s going on? - The New Yorker
Stuart Murphy says that the plans currently taking shape in talks with Arts Council England call for large-scale proscenium opera remaining at the Coliseum in London but the majority of the company's work, and its headquarters, being outside the capital, featuring smaller-scaled works in different venues. - The Stage
The US immigration service wants to raise visa costs from $460 (£385) to $1,615 (£1,352) alongside other changes that artists and their managers say would make it almost impossible for anyone but the biggest stars to perform in the US. - The Guardian
"We invest every year in thousands of ideas and dreams, and only a few make it to the top. So I call it the Silicon Valley of media. We are angel investors of our authors and their dreams, their stories. That’s how I call my editors and publishers: angels.” - Harper's
Proposition 28 creates a guaranteed annual funding stream for music and arts education by setting aside 1% from the state’s general fund. In 2023, that comes out to roughly $941 million. - EdSource
Jesse Green: "Their harm is political, epochal, even as the songs they sing, encouraging empathy that may not otherwise be earned, invite us to give them a pass. ... (The danger isn't) that we risk forgiving (them). It's that we risk enjoying too much what we can't forgive." - The New York Times
Make that 'library.' Faculty and students at Vermont State University were not having it when the financially strapped institution announced last week that everything would be digital. "Since the announcement, the union faculty and staff voted no confidence" in the leadership. - Inside Higher Ed
At a preview, a woman brushed the sculpture - and, said a collector, "Before I knew it, they were picking up the Jeff Koons pieces in a dustpan with a broom." - The New York Times
Instead of thinking of AI-generated art as a doomsday development — a cluster-bomb thrown by Big Tech into the heart of the art world — you can think of it as something with its own fascinating history, intoxicating present and unknown future. Something to be curious about. - Washington Post
"Starting in the 1980s, (Michael) Steinhardt amassed one of the world's great collections of antiquities. Renowned for their breadth and quality, his private holdings spanned centuries and rivaled those of many museums. ... (Prosecutors believe he) was the principal buyer in some of the world's most prolific antiquities-trafficking networks." - New York Magazine
After the incident last Saturday in which Marco Goecke, enraged over a harsh review, smeared the face of critic Wiebke Hüster with the feces of his pet dachshund, the Hannover State Opera, where he directed the ballet company, has terminated his contract. - BBC
It ain’t always pretty, but it is fascinating. As the policy tide turns to the end of single-family zoning and looser housing development regulations, Houston is a vision of the future. Other cities have a lot to learn from its successes and failures. - Fast Company
Learning to write is about more than learning to write. For one thing, it’s about learning to turn a loose assemblage of thoughts into a clear line of reasoning—a skill that is useful for everyone, not just those who enjoy writing or need to do a lot of it for work. - The Atlantic
He says he's "not a young conductor anymore" - and now, "he is working to establish himself as a seasoned interpreter of the repertory — a maestro fluent in the symphonies of Mahler and Beethoven as well as less common fare." - The New York Times
Wendy Halsted Beard, says the FBI, "allegedly went to great lengths to deceive her clients, ... making up a double lung transplant and other medical emergencies, and swapping one client’s signed photograph with a $405.26 purchase from the Ansel Adams Gallery’s gift shop." - The New York Times
"HarperCollins Publishers and the union representing around 250 striking employees reached a tentative agreement providing increases to entry level salaries. If union members ratify the contract, it will run through the end of 2025 and end a walkout that began nearly three months ago." - AP
"One of the last of the great popular songwriters of the 20th century, ... he created songs that became standards in their own right. They were classy, catchy, commercial and musically complex, and scores of them became hits during a career that lasted more than 50 years." - BBC
Just a decade ago, there were concerns about its future. Now its home, David Geffen Hall, has reopened after a $550 million renovation, and it has secured in Dudamel the rare maestro whose fame transcends classical music, even as he is sought by the world’s leading ensembles. - The New York Times
