Good Morning,
Aeon argues Silicon Valley has a science-fiction problem — an industry building the future from novels it read as blueprints when they were written as warnings. The writers, meanwhile, want their words back: US publishers and authors sued Google over the copying that trained its AI (Publishers Weekly). The Walrus profiles the Canadians who’d like to stop the machines altogether.
The Trump administration is keeping Smithsonian board seats vacant, reshaping the institution without ever making an argument (The New York Times). The EU (as promised) canceled a Venice Biennale grant over Russia’s participation (ARTnews). And if you need a field guide to any of this, Adi Magazine makes the very interesting case for rereading Mark Twain right now.
Finally: terrified to dance at weddings? There’s now a VR app for practicing where nobody can see you (NPR).
All of today’s stories below.
