Tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Sundar Pichai attended Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images As U.S. companies continue to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, Big Tech players are scrubbing their annual company reports of commitments to workplace diversity. Recent filings from Meta (META), Amazon (AMZN) and … Read more
Cynthia Erivo. Getty Images for Critics Choice After a nearly month-long postponement, the Critics’ Choice Awards are finally here. The awards show, which honors the best in film and television, was originally slated for Sunday, Jan. 12, at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport in California. Amid the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, however, … Read more
Harold Cohen (1928-2016), Untitled (i23-03758); Estimate: $10,000-15,000. CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD 2025 I felt a vague sense of disquietude when I received word from Christie’s that it would be hosting the first-ever artificial intelligence-dedicated sale at a major house. Just a little moment of unease. Frankly, it’s hard to shush those quiet biases that make a … Read more
Bountiful research supports the idea that art can be medicine. Observer Studio Art has long been used as an aesthetic aid in hospitals and healthcare facilities, and art therapy has existed since the mid-20th Century. But the practice of prescribing art and cultural activities by providers in clinical settings has spread in recent years under … Read more
Oil and gas companies are backing carbon pricing—not just for emissions reduction, but to create a predictable business environment. Observer Labs In November 2021, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm asked the National Petroleum Council (NPC) to conduct a study on the at-scale deployment of low- and zero-carbon hydrogen energy in such economic sectors as power … Read more
The post-Covid high interest rate environment has changed how private equity firms pay their investors. Getty Images Dividend recapitalization, when a private company pays its investors a cash dividend with borrowed money, surged to a record high in 2024. According to PitchBook LCD data, private equity firms raised $30.2 billion in leveraged loans for dividend … Read more
Feria Material opened on Thursday, February 6, and runs through Sunday, February 10. Feria Material In the flourishing and increasingly international ecosystem of CDMX Art Week, which is anchored to some degree by ZONAMACO, other fairs have carved out space, providing alternative platforms for younger artists and galleries to present their work in Mexico’s capital. … Read more
(from left) Indiana Woodward, Unity Phelan, Emily Kikta, Ruby Lister, Olivia MacKinnon and Lauren Collett in Paquita. Photo: Erin Baiano New York City Ballet’s Winter 2025 Season at Lincoln Center is full of the usual suspects: edgy neoclassical ballets by Company founder George Balanchine, theatrical dances by Jerome Robbins, cool contemporary ballets including a new … Read more
The Big Picture: Eugenics is the scientifically inaccurate theory that humans can be improved through selective breeding of populations. Eugenicists believed in a prejudiced and incorrect understanding of Mendelian genetics that claimed abstract human qualities (e.g., intelligence and social behaviors) were inherited in a simple fashion. Similarly, they believed complex diseases and disorders were solely … Read more