First Pass

10 stories from 6 sources

The scale of cultural repatriation comes into focus

Day’s Recap

Supporting Articles

More than one million cultural objects have been returned to their countries of origin since 1950, according to the first broad database tracking these cases. The items, recovered from museums and private collectors, are estimated to be worth at least $2 billion.

1:00 AMFinancial Times

A musical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s shape-shifting short story is finally making its U.S. debut at the Public Theater. The production has spent nearly a decade moving from an ambitious idea to a full stage show.

5:00 AMNew York Times Arts

Choreographer Adrienne Westwood and composer Angélica Negrón bring their collaboration “[ ]” to Target Margin Theater for its premiere. The production aims to connect movement and sound, but both elements sometimes feel boxed in instead of fully opening up.

2:08 PMNew York Times Arts

Other Developments

A curated list of other prominent stories from this day.

These six Calvin and Hobbes strips spotlight Calvin’s gift for turning language into a playground. He bends words, verbs, and adjectives into elaborate little performances that are clever, chaotic, and unmistakably Calvin.

4:00 PMPolygon

Tom Gauld turns his comic eye toward the modern romantasy novel, the booming blend of romance and fantasy. The cartoon offers a compact, playful take on the genre's familiar charms and conventions.

12:00 PMThe Guardian Books

Horror writer Stephen Graham Jones explores why the genre feels so vibrant right now. For him, a great scare is not just about fear in the moment. The ending is what makes the story stick.

11:03 AMNPR Arts

Stephen Fry explores why Sherlock Holmes has remained such a powerful cultural figure nearly a century after Arthur Conan Doyle’s final story. He traces the detective’s long history of reinvention, while reflecting on how Holmes shaped his own life and creative work.

8:00 AMThe Guardian Books

Gary Larson’s The Far Side rarely relied on recurring characters, but the bespectacled Nerdy Kid kept turning up in its strange, sharply funny universe. A selection of nine comics highlights how much comic mileage Larson found in that familiar face.

7:00 AMPolygon

Each fall, thousands of snow geese stop in Vermont during their migration south, turning the landscape into a moving white spectacle. A new picture book follows a young boy and his Pop as they take in the annual wonder together.

7:00 AMNPR Arts

Make it yours

Build Your First Pass.

Pick your topics, set your cadence, and receive your personalized First Pass in your inbox. It’s that simple!