5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
• Roger Waters & Ukraine/Russia war: Concerts of Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters were canceled by venues in Krakow, Poland, following comments he made about the war in Ukraine. Waters criticized the supply of weapons by the West in an open letter to Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska. The artist, who was called out for only addressing one side of the conflict, responded by writing another open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin urging him to bring an end to the war through a ceasefire and peace talks.
• Chess world in turmoil: Two scandals have rocked this week. First, Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, who had abruptly resigned from a game against U.S. player Hans Niemann, accused him of cheating on Monday. Niemann denied it, although he admitted to having cheated in the past. Then on Tuesday, Israeli grandmaster and chess commentator Ilya Smirin was sacked by the International Chess Federation for making sexist comments during the Women’s Grand Prix in Kazakhstan. Smirin admitted he had privately suggested that chess is “maybe not for women” and praised a woman for “playing like a man.”
• “AI am your father”: James Earl Jones, 91, has officially retired as Darth Vader’s iconic breathy voice, which he last interpreted for a voice cameo back in 2019. His job will be taken over by Ukrainian startup Respeecher thanks to an AI program that will be able to recreate his voice for further Star Wars projects.
• Myanmar OnlyFans model sentenced to 6 years in jail: Former doctor and model Nang Mwe San has been sentenced to six years in jail by a military court in Myanmar for “harming culture and dignity” after she posted pictures on adult subscription site OnlyFans. As the first person in Myanmar to have been jailed for OnlyFans content, it has been noted that Nang Mwe San has taken part in protests against the military.
• K-pop sweeps into Saudi Arabia: The Middle East, like other parts of the world, has been hit by the the K-pop craze. Saudi Arabia will be holding the annual Korean culture convention KCON for the first time from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1. A dozen K-pop acts also took place in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, while Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Culture visited Seoul in June to discuss collaboration in the cultural field with a major K-pop producer.