The New Larry Flynt?

“[Joe] Redner is the multimillionaire owner of the [strip club] Mons [Venus] and self-described ‘father of the nude lap dance.’ But after waging years of tireless (and colorful) campaigns on behalf of civil rights, he’s achieved the unlikeliest title of all: political folk hero.”

Strike Cripples Bollywood

“All work in India’s film and television hub of Bollywood has stopped after thousands of technicians and actors began a strike over pay and conditions. Unions representing film employees in Mumbai (Bombay) say many members have not been paid for months and are threatening to strike indefinitely.”

Magazine Dies, But Its Largesse Hangs On

“The Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award is one of the highlights of the fall literary season, not least for the attention (and the $7,500) it gives to the winner… But there’s a twist to this year’s prize ceremony, which is being held this evening at Toronto’s uber-hip Drake Hotel: Books in Canada (BiC) has ceased publication.”

Riedel To Mimi: What Were You Thinking?

Influential NY theater critic Michael Riedel is slamming the organizers of the new $200,000 “Mimi” award for handing their first-ever prize to already-successful playwright Tony Kushner. In addition to the argument that such prizes should go to up-and-coming playwrights who need the cash, Riedel snarks, “If an advisory board is going to give someone $200,000, that board probably shouldn’t be made up of the recipient’s friends.”

Legendary DC Bookseller To Close

Olsson’s Books and Records is a well-known name to lovers of words and music in Washington, D.C. – an independent chain with nine locations at its peak. “But the loss of music sales to big-box retailers and the Internet severely cut into its business, and the company had downsized over the past six years.” This week, Olsson’s shut the doors of its remaining stores for good.

The Kaiser Way

By nearly any measure, Kennedy Center chief Michael Kaiser has to be considered one of the great success stories of the American performing arts world, known for retiring deficits without slashing artistic budgets beyond recognition. But is his success translatable for other struggling arts groups? Kaiser is betting that it is, with a new 183-page “manual” for arts managers.