My architecture column today. "Built in 1973, St. Mark AME Zion Church is one of the finest works of pioneering Black architect Wendell Campbell’s distinguished 50-year career."

National Trust grant provides preservation hope for modernist East Chicago church

The $150,000 award will help St. Mark A.M.E. Zion Church's congregation create a plan to preserve the unique 53-year-old structure designed by the late Black Chicago architect Wendell Campbell.

chicago.suntimes.com

“Glöm inte att le” — Don’t forget to smile — says some graffiti on a wall of Kungsholms församlingshus, by architect Erik Lallerstedt and completed in 1902.

“When confronted by police, he allegedly admitted to creating a fake account and sending the messages to himself so he could step away from the show instead of dealing with what he described as difficulties with the cast and crew.”

VT musical director of planned 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' created fake threats, police say

The director of a planned production of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" admitted to sending himself threatening texts that eventually got the play canceled out of safety concerns.

mynbc5.com

"More needs to be made of this," a senior CBS News staffer tells me about the 60 Minutes story that Sharyn Alfonsi was working on about Epstein and banks that appears to have been scuttled after her firing. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Today, August 4, 2026, is the setting of Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” about a fully automated house continuing on after the family who lived there and the world around it died in a nuclear blast.

“Climate change will manifest as a series of disasters viewed through phones with footage that gets closer and closer to where you live until you’re the one filming”

Canada's National Observer@nationalobserver.com · yesterday

One of the clearest descriptions of climate dynamics for laypeople that you’ll ever hear: “It will inevitably get worse. It will get worse and worse and worse.”

Banks permitted millions in suspicious transactions tied to Epstein—and former 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi had the story months ago. But the report would never air. trib.al/ZShZlIS

Cook County SA Eileen O'Neill Burke's office is moving forward with prosecuting a violence-prevention volunteer who was arrested by CPD after he tried to turn in a gun at a police station. The man spent 7 months in Cook County Jail for his effort; trial begins next week.

Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan calls gun case against Chicago anti-violence volunteer a 'travesty'

Duncan runs Chicago CRED, which works to prevent shootings. He says volunteer Nakia Smith, arrested in a Far South Side police station in 2023, has been "fighting for the good." Smith, a convicted fel...

chicago.suntimes.com

A data platform used by numerous organisations in the arts and culture sector has been hit by a cyber attack, placing some of the information stored in it at risk.

Breaking: Scores of cultural organisations affected by possible data breach after cyber attack - Arts Professional

A data platform used by numerous organisations in the arts and culture sector has been hit by a cyber attack, placing some of the information stored in it at

artsprofessional.co.uk

“While there has been some encouraging progress, I am still humbled by how little we understand about what it will take to realize more giving, even among people committed to giving away a large share of their wealth.“ Follow the link to download Jeffrey L. Bradach’s new essay, “Slow Philanthropy.”

The author of the Democrats’ 2024 autopsy says a key chapter was left out of what was made public. The chair of the DNC says he never saw it. The chapter addressed “the sway of an operative class that had become ‘generationally wealthy off politics’ while steering Democratic strategy.” Gift link:

Author of Democrats’ 2024 Autopsy Says Party Left Out Key Chapter (Gift Article)

A dispute over the chapter between the author and the Democratic National Committee has added to the party’s turmoil as it tries to look forward, not backward.

nytimes.com

more than 8 percent of all American newspaper journalists work in Manhattan, up from 2 percent in 2005 www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

In 2008 and 2009, when I first started writing about dance, choreographer Paul Sanasardo, who just died, had just returned to Chicago. I attended the June 2009 premiere of his “Sleepless Nights in the City,” to music by Adams, Messiaen, Varese, and Webern. He was then 80 years old. What a career.

Paul Sanasardo, Creator of Intense (and Even Brutal) Dances, Dies at 97

His dreamlike, expressionistic style influenced the vividly theatrical works of the German choreographer Pina Bausch, an early collaborator.

nytimes.com

“The AI-assisted projections included scenes from previous performances of Wagner’s ‘Ring’ cycle” and “images including former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the towers of the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and a special postage stamp marking German reunification in 1990.”

AI-assisted staging draws boos at the Richard Wagner festival in Germany

An experiment with artificial intelligence at the annual Richard Wagner festival in the German town of Bayreuth has drawn boos from the audience after producing a staging that appeared to leave some s...

apnews.com

“I watched this whole thing unfold with a strong sense of déjà vu.”

The Far-Right Playbook in Action

It works, every single time

anneapplebaum.substack.com

Spokane police documents show a DHS task force officer tracing protesters’ cars, identities, and whereabouts without alleging any wrongdoing.

Records reveal how Homeland Security agents surveilled ICE protesters

Spokane police documents show a DHS task force officer tracing protesters’ cars, identities, and whereabouts without alleging any wrongdoing.

motherjones.com

Journalists: We are offering special grants for in-depth reporting on democracy in the U.S. We're looking for projects that examine issues including: - Voting rights - Civil and free-speech rights - Election transparency - Government accountability Apply by August 31! https://bit.ly/4bpmMvV

Some of what gets detailed in the Paul Weiss investigation just published by the New York Times — bit.ly/4wHJubi — was outlined in a column by David Lat for Bloomberg Law nearly six months ago

Paul Weiss’ Progressive Culture Fell Victim to the Vampire Rule

Opinion: The vampire rule, which says a vampire can’t enter your house unless you let him in, may explain how Paul Weiss’ transformation from a progressive litigation powerhouse to a mega deals firm l...

bit.ly

Tack och lov for my first Stockholm Pride landing on an absolutely perfect summer day. My crew and I participated for about half the route — anyone can just hop into and out of the parade, whenever — and on Kungsholmen especially, many residents were hanging out of their windows. Flawless vibes 🌈

Nina Ozlu Tunceli, executive director of Arts Action Fund and chief counsel of government and public affairs at Americans for the Arts, announced today she will step down after 33 years.

“RiseGuide is a real company. But June Barton is not a real PR rep, or even a real person.”

We Are Alarmed by This PR Firm Using a Small Army of Fake AI-Powered Publicists to Barrage Journalists With Pitches for Its Clients

A PR firm called Movchan Agency operated a roster of fake PR representatives, some with AI faces, to pitch journalists on stories. Why?

futurism.com

This year, for the first time ever, an all-female group won the Barbershop Harmony Society’s International Quartet Contest

GQ - Mothers & Daughters (Maddie Zahm cover) • 2026 BHS International Quartet Champions

YouTube video by Barbershop Harmony Society

youtu.be

“Trump has rejected disaster aid for Democratic-run states at the highest rate in the 47-year history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” Right now people in blue states are basically paying federal taxes as if they’re colonized territories of red states. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

NEW: The website once owned by Cambridge Analytica (!) is now an AI content farm. Rebranded as "CA Privacy Watch," the site is littered with plagiarism and weird errors. It's also utilized at least one fake writer whose face seems to have been stolen from a random guy. futurism.com/artificial-i...

Cambridge Analytica's Website Is Now an AI Slop Farm

Cambridge Analytica has returned, in a very 2026 way: CambridgeAnalytica.org is now an AI-powered content farm.

futurism.com

“UEFA and its 55 member associations stand as one. We unanimously and unequivocally reject FIFA’s proposal to transfer ownership interests in the World Cup and other FIFA competitions to private investors.”

Statement on behalf of UEFA and its 55 national associations

UEFA and its national associations will not participate in FIFA competitions.

uefa.com

“When some donors have been put on the phone with Trump after giving millions, they expected to receive thank yous, but instead were asked for more money, people familiar with the calls said.”

Exclusive | ‘The Boss Wants This Money’: Inside Trump’s Unprecedented Fundraising Operation

Meredith O’Rourke, nicknamed ‘princess of darkness,’ carries out the president’s desire to wring hundreds of millions from companies for his projects.

wsj.com

Thursday, July 30. Just a horrible day in ICE flights. At least 79 flights on 29 planes. At least 21 removal flights, of which at least 4 were likely third-country removals. ICE flights hit every continent except Australia and Antarctica in one day.

“‘The more you look, you will find her standing in the midst of nearly every avant-garde that hit New York and California over five decades at least,’ said Glenn Phillips, chief curator at the Getty Research Institute” about Simone Forti, who just died at 91. RIP

Simone Forti, Artist of Movement and Chance, Dies at 91

The Italian-born choreographer and performance artist mixed boundless curiosity with a formal rigor across a broad creative spectrum that spanned New York, Los Angeles, and Rome.

hyperallergic.com

“About 49,000 migrants have crossed into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco in the last 24 hours via land and sea, officials estimate.”

About 49,000 migrants enter Spanish enclave of Ceuta, officials say

This comes after thousands of migrants were reported to have illegally crossed into the territory on Thursday and Friday.

bbc.com

German court rules AI music firm Suno broke copyright rules reut.rs/3TLbhJ2

German court rules AI music firm Suno broke copyright rules

A ​German ‌court ruled on ​Friday ​that AI ⁠music ​firm Suno ​has violated copyright ​rules ​and has to ‌provide ⁠information on illicit ​revenues.

reut.rs