Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Alex Ross’s List Of Best Classical Recordings Of 2023
"I can’t remember a year in which so many pleasure-inducing, addiction-triggering albums crowded my desk." - The New Yorker
How Pissarro Became A Genius
An artist of impeccable character, he connected the group’s feuding factions, became an instructor and mentor to the impossible Cézanne, welcomed Georges Seurat and took...
Why Do Christmas Movies Assume That Being Single Sucks?
Christmas and holiday movies usually tend to centre around a key belief: that people need a romantic partner to live “happily ever after.” - The...
Why Oh Why — How We Orient Ourselves In The World
Among all the questions that enable us to orient ourselves in the world and in our common lives – who? what? how many? where?...
The Rocketing Career Of Nigeria’s “Viral Dancer”
Dubbed Nigeria's viral ballet dancer, 13-year-old Anthony Madu's life has changed beyond recognition over the last three years after his dance moves and internet...
Kids Prefer YouTube To Netflix. Streaming Services Are Worried
Netflix’s share of U.S. streaming viewership by 2- to 11-year-olds fell to 21% in September from 25% two years earlier, according to Nielsen. Meanwhile, YouTube’s share jumped...
Data: People Are Posting Less On Social Media
Billions of people access social media monthly, but users are posting less and favoring a more passive experience, surveys of users and research from...
Exit Interview: Peter Marks On Leaving The Washington Post
Daily criticism, which is the heart of what we do, was a print invention. It was a form really made for print—almost uniquely for...
A Conversation With The Vienna Philharmonic’s First Woman Concertmaster
She noted that the increasing sense of equality has also heightened competition. “Even more than in the past, one’s achievement is what counts,” she...
The Most Scathing Book Reviews Of 2023
Among the books being flung into the fiery pit this time around: Walter Isaacson’s “dull, insight-free doorstop” biography of Elon Musk; Paris Hilton’s “vapid...
Fear Not The Deepfakes. They Arise From A Long Tradition
There is "value of parody and satire in human communication. This is a very old format for making a social critique, often used quite...
The “Santa Claus Symphony” That Riled Classical Music Fans
At the center of the melée was William Henry Fry, a widely traveled composer and critic whose lectures on music drew sold-out crowds, and who...
Lessons From The Ransomware Attack On The British Library
“It is difficult to tell the nature of this attack but it is a symptomatic of a significant challenge globally to protect critical...
The Fight For New Music
Concert programmers and soloists who wish to stray from the beaten concerto path must often summon their powers of persuasion to get new and...
Minnesota Picks 24-Year-Old Artist’s Design For New State Flag
The image at the centre of the 1893 design—depicting a pioneer with a rifle, a farmer and a Native American on horseback with a...
Movies Are Becoming More And More A Global Business (A Trend Accelerated By The...
I think that we’ve always been an international industry, but the pandemic has really illuminated that fact in some ways, both in physical production,...
Why Christmas Panto Is Big Business
For many Brits, panto is their first experience in the theater. For some, it’s their only experience. It’s woven into the fabric of the...
Josh Kosman: 2023 Classical Music Highlights Dominated By New Music
“New” is the key factor here. In compiling my best-of list for the year gone by — a list that has now swollen year-over-year from...
Donald Runnicles Appointed Chief Conductor Of Dresden Philharmonic
The orchestra said that Runnicles will take up the post in the 2025-26 season and will lead the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra as Chief Conductor Designate from...
The New Yorker’s Choice Of Best Theatre Of 2023
Over all, dark, meditative productions prevailed, often with their sets literally sunk in shadow. The shows that drew us took place in primordial woods,...
How The Ability To Write Changed Us
One of the big debates which lasted up to the Renaissance was about who invented writing. With both archaeology and chronology all but unknown,...
The Warhol Authentication Problem
Today, discerning which Warhol pictures are genuine is the business of authenticators, whose trained eyes and in-depth knowledge are supposed to be bulwarks against...
Powell’s Books Employees Get A New Union Contract
The ratification follows 10 months of negotiations and multiple rejected contracts, including one proposed by Powell's management in August and another in November. - Publishers Weekly
The British Museum’s Terrible No Good Very Bad Year
The thefts took place over 30 years, and many of the 2,000 missing items were among millions in the museum’s collection that had not...
What Theatre Ticket Prices Look Like Across The UK
The average top-end ticket outside of London comes in at £49.19, compared with £141.37 for West End shows, while the average cheapest ticket in...