“To settle a legal dispute, the nonprofit foundation that supported public television in Oklahoma for more than three decades is dissolving. The [Oklahoma Educational Television Authority] Foundation will transfer ‘all funds and assets held in trust for OETA’ to a new nonprofit organization, Friends of OETA.” – The Oklahoman
Blog
The Improbable Story Of The Guy Who Bought A $1K Painting Over The Internet And Sold It As A Leonardo Worth $500M
Today, of course, the contents of Lot 664 are worth far more than that: The picture has since sold once for $127.5 million and again, in a record-setting auction at Christie’s, for close to half a billion dollars. It has been held up as the “male Mona Lisa” and the “Holy Grail of old-master paintings” and derided by this magazine’s art critic, Jerry Saltz, as a “two-dimensional ersatz dashboard Jesus.” – New York Magazine
American Museum Of Natural History Backs Out Of Event For Brazilian President Bolsonaro
When word got around last week that a private group was renting the AMNH for an evening honoring Jair Bolsonaro, who has been making aggressive plans to open the Amazon rainforest for logging, mining, and farming, museum staffers, donors, and even board members objected. It seems they’ve been heard. – The New York Times
Inside The Culture Of Facebook As It Struggles With The Culture Of Everyone Else
This is the story of the tumultuous and chaotic past year “based on interviews with 65 current and former employees. It’s ultimately a story about the biggest shifts ever to take place inside the world’s biggest social network. But it’s also about a company trapped by its own pathologies and, perversely, by the inexorable logic of its own recipe for success.” – Wired
Why Is This Chicago Symphony Strike Different From All Other Chicago Symphony Strikes?
“The last strike, in 2012, was settled in two days, and the 1992 work action, in 15 days. Why is this one taking so long? Talks with Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association management, musicians, subscribers and donors reveal four factors making this strike unlike the others.” – Crain’s Chicago Business
Netflix Passes Membership Milestone, Continues March Toward World Domination
“Netflix will have passed the 150 million global subscriber mark when it reports its latest results this week … About 80% of new subscribers come from markets outside the US.” – The Guardian
How All Those Non-Cunningham Dancers Learned The 100 Solos For Merce’s 100th Birthday
Yes, it’s true: none of the dancers in the Night of 100 Solos for the Cunningham centennial were ever members of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Gia Kourlas reports on how the performers were chosen and how they’ve gone about learning Merce’s dance vocabulary. – The New York Times
On April 16, 100 Solos For Merce Cunningham’s 100th Birthday (And You Can Watch Them Anywhere)
“One night. Three cities. Seventy-five dancers. And three unique sets of 100 solos, all choreographed by Merce Cunningham.” And if you can’t be in London, New York, or Los Angeles to watch in person, here’s how to stream them live. – Dance Magazine
What Happened To Nôtre-Dame Could Happen To UK’s Houses Of Parliament At Any Moment
The Palace of Westminster is a crumbling fire trap, warn MPs and building maintenance professionals, and fire patrols on the premises round the clock are the only reason the place hasn’t burned up already. – The Guardian
Nôtre-Dame-De-Paris Fire: What We Do And Don’t Know About The Damage
As President Macron said, “The worst has been avoided” — meaning that, at least, the walls and the twin front towers didn’t collapse and there were no deaths. Here’s the current info. – The New York Times