America’s Oldest University Museum Is Also One Of Its Fastest-Growing

About 36,000 additional three-dimension objects belonging to the art gallery are already on display at the West Campus at its recently opened Wurtele Study Center. This is all on top of a $135m renovation of the main building that opened in 2012, doubling the museum’s size through the imaginative reuse of two adjacent existing buildings. Few if any museums in America have undergone a more dramatic transformation, and for the better. – The Art Newspaper

Prominent Artists Protest Appointment At France’s National Arts Academy: Too Conservative?

The artists Mai-Thu Perret and Lili Reynaud-Dewar, along with the curator Chus Martinez, signed the petition statement published on the Mediapart news website in early November, saying that Jean De Loisy is “near retirement… and the symbol of a hegemony”, adding: “We ask that our voices are heard, denouncing the hold that conservative [views] still exert on the cultural policy of France today, despite a desire for renewal.” – The Art Newspaper

Accountant Whose Theft Destroyed Literary Agency Gets Only Two Years In Prison

“Darin Webb, the bookkeeper who stole more than $3.4 million over eight years from venerable New York literary agency Donadio & Olson, was sentenced to two years in prison on Monday, less than half the 51-63 month term the government had recommended.” The judge’s reason? That Webb didn’t steal the money for himself. — Publishers Weekly

Alice Walker Under Fire For Recommending In NY Times Book Seen As Anti-Semitic

For the Times Book Review‘s “By the Book” feature, Walker cited among the books on her nightstand David Icke’s And the Truth Shall Set You Free, which allegedly cites The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Leading the criticism of Walker was Tablet magazine’s Yair Rosenberg: “The book is an unhinged antisemitic conspiracy tract written by one of Britain’s most notorious antisemites.” — The Guardian

Early TV-Age Media Theorists Understood A Lot About Our Current Age

These observers captured the moment when civilization turned from typographic culture—itself a massive break from the largely oral culture that preceded it—to electronic media. They’re the metaphorical physicians who noted the first symptoms of a worsening malaise we’re seeing now. In other words, our internet-and-smartphone-driven age does not represent, as we might think, its own huge shift from the Enlightenment tradition, but rather the most recent stages of a shift that started with disembodied voices and faces streaming out of clunky boxes. – Wired

Canadian Radio Banned “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” Then Reversed The Decision; Is This Progress?

Outrage — the hallmark of 21st-century discourse — still exists, but the radio flip-flop on banning indicates the paradigm may be shifting toward a reasonable middle ground, with space for the sorts of varied responses one hopes for in a debate that is in theory black and white but, in practicality, is filled with shades of grey. – Toronto Star