“It feels like a wicked joke that Cartoon Network’s late-night programming block — already an aberration when it launched in cable’s heyday in 2001 — is somehow thriving, … even as the rest of cable slowly slides into oblivion. Even the folks behind Adult Swim don’t really understand it.” – TheWrap (Yahoo!)

The twin towers were a product of their time, the mid-1960s, and what has replaced them is still, sadly, in too many ways a product of that same time. We have learned a lot about building cities since the World Trade Center went up, and we did not put nearly enough of that knowledge to use. – The New York Times

Tom Service: “What does being the ‘best’ mean? And how and why have the Berliners acquired, and held on to, their globe-topping orchestral reputation for so many decades, through changes of conductor and personnel, political upheaval and technological transformation?” – The Guardian

Journalist Nicholas Carr called the online world “the shallows” for the way it erodes concentration. But the paradox is that its depthlessness arrives as immersion. – The Walrus

The decline of the English major offers a lesson in what young people want. Teenagers in the 2020s have a spiritual thirst that is unmet by a curriculum without order and greatness and charm. A field without a bible like the Norton doesn’t satisfy them. – Portico Quarterly

If you are a fictional character and you happen to be stealing art, odds are excellent that you’re in a heist movie. At this point, the genre is so famous, and mocked, that plumbing it for serious lessons about art and the art market may seem quixotic. – ARTnews

“The distribution of funds raised by the Scottish capital’s new visitor levy, which is expected to raise up to £50m annually, has been the subject of intense debate in recent weeks. … (Organisations now) face a ‘deeply frustrating’ delay until the uplift is confirmed.” – The Stage

The company launched in 2020 to offer shoppers a way of buying books online that supported independent bookstores and to divert sales away from Amazon and competing platforms. It operates both as a proprietary sales channel and offers affiliate sales for independent stores and influencers. – Publishers Weekly

Proposed federal rule changes would eliminate the requirement for public feedback and consultation with key parties like Tribal Nations and ultimately lead to the destruction of much of our cultural heritage. – Live Science

The announcement comes one day after Drexel and the Academy said they would close the Academy’s museum effective Sept. 30 and that Academy CEO Scott Cooper would be stepping down immediately. Sept. 27 will be the last day the museum will be open to the public. – Philadelphia Inquirer

This past May, Dance Place executive director André Mazelin abruptly fired artistic director Tariq O’Malley and eliminated his position. In July, at a town hall, former staffers, performers, and choreographers gave accounts of severe staffing, management, and interpersonal difficulties. (Mazelin himself resigned in August.) – Washington City Paper

The money was given by “an anonymous, long-time patron” of the organization who found themselves “inspired” by its transformation during Nissinen’s time there, according to the news release. – People

Wilson’s catalog showcased the full breadth of her native Mississippi’s musical heritage, drawing primarily from jazz but spanning every foundational American genre. – Los Angeles Times

“There’s a real relationship between the way he plays and the way he talks. There’s a sense of gathering the room, gathering a community, and you’re drawn into the emotional experience of his playing.” – The New York Times

When Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi — famous in their native Spain as “Los Javis” — took their film La Bola Negra to Cannes this year, they earned a 20-minute ovation, the Best Director prize, a bidding war over distribution rights, and Oscar buzz. They’ve also learned something serious about themselves. – The New York Times

Last week the principal of Louisville’s performing arts high school told the cast and crew that the school district had cancelled their production due to community concerns about subject matter. The students posted a video online; it quickly tallied a million views — including by members of the current Broadway team. – Playbill

“The company opened in 1992 at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, served thousands of patrons over the years and collaborated with a ‘who’s who’ of area performers. On April 19 of this year, the Board of Trustees decided to close the company with no fanfare and no public statement.” – ArtsATL

“Oxford University Press plans to offshore its financial operations department to EXL Services, which will provide the service from the (Indian) subcontinent. More than 30 Unite the Union members walked out on Tuesday over the plans, with the industrial action set to last until 11 September.” – BBC (Yahoo!)

Perhaps surprisingly, that is possible: in 1962, the untitled work’s 24 canvases were glued to a plastic shell. Then that was installed on the dome of the Palais Garnier’s ceiling over the original 1869-71 mural by Jules-Eugène Lenepveu — whose great-great-great-great-grandnephew is now campaigning to have his relative’s work uncovered. – Artnet

“The magazine’s January issue will be its last in print, according to Joan SerVaas, the president and publisher. In a letter to The Post’s 50,000 subscribers …, she attributed the decision to a combination of rising production costs, declining advertising revenue and shifting reader habits.’” – The New York Times

Governments spent a generation backing out of culture. Yesterday’s stories suggest they’re backing back in.

Scotland is in front. It will pilot a guaranteed minimum income for 2,000 artists modeled on Ireland’s, The Herald reports, and on the same day announced a sixth national performing company, this one for traditional music. California is using the tax code: a credit for newsrooms that hire journalists, per NiemanLab, and a fix to the film credit that studios said had been gutted, per Variety.

Then there’s the other door. The Kennedy Center will remove a major outdoor sculpture targeted after the Trump takeover, according to internal documents obtained by The New York Times. Hong Kong’s independent bookstores are being squeezed under the national security law, AP reports. Patronage and editing are the same power exercised in different moods.

Meanwhile, where the state stays out, the market decides. Philadelphia’s 200-year-old Academy of Natural Sciences will close its museum this month, 6ABC reports, and Ivan Hewett argues in The Telegraph that Britain’s working class is being priced out of making art at all — and that a class-conscious backlash is forming.

And in Japan, thousands of volunteers are hauling Hirosaki Castle’s tower back to its foundation by rope, centimeter by centimeter, per AFP. Some infrastructure you rebuild by hand.

All of our stories below.

A pioneering journalist who became the face of second-wave feminism, she first vaulted to public attention with an exposé for which she went undercover as a Playboy Bunny, then made history as co-founder and editor of Ms., arguably one of the most influential magazines of the 20th century. – The Guardian

You get semi-improvised Bharatanatyam — normally a highly codified form — by three dancers basing their moves on a game of Ms. Pac-Man which they’re playing live onstage. – BBC (MSN)