Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
John Adams On Music As Monuments
"Something struck me forcibly as I was trying to fulfill the New York Philharmonic’s 9/11 commission: America had no contemporary musical work that could...
Remembering John Byrne, Scottish Polymath And Creative Force
His desire to create extraordinary pieces of work burned fiercely to the end. A cultural polymath, Byrne traversed a number of genres throughout his...
Myths About AI And Creativity
Contrary to some beliefs, introducing AI as a technology can support and enhance creativity in educational settings. For example, generative AI tools can be used to promote...
Got Content? (The Meaninglessness Of Our Word For “Stuff”)
Google “What is Content?” and you will encounter an infinitude of web pages explaining the concept of content marketing; the indispensability of superior content...
Feeling Persistently Meh? Turns Out It’s A Real Condition
There may not appear to be a reason behind it. “You’re just sort of ‘meh,’” Dr. Shanbhag said. “And you get used to being...
Researcher Says Conan Doyle Resented The Success Of Sherlock Holmes
"He would have hated the fact that today, 93 years after his death, his historical novels lie unread, while his ‘cheap’ – but beloved...
What It Was Like At This Year’s Kennedy Center Honors
Everything that’s usually on the menu was present. Hair-raising musical performances. Touching tributes from past honorees. Biographical videos. Amusing bits. Herbie Hancock. - Washington...
A New Model For Financing Prestige Movies?
The foundations and donors who wrote the checks to produce it — including the Ford Foundation, nonprofits funded by Melinda French Gates, Laurene Powell...
A Study Of American School Internet Censorship Data Suggests Some Worrying Issues
Our analysis of more than 117 million censorship records confirms what students and civil rights advocates have long warned: Web filters are preventing kids...
The Band Kiss Has Stopped Performing. The Virtual Band Kiss Will Go On Performing
The technology, originally developed for the Abba Voyage show, will allow them to stay on the road in retirement. Gene Simmons said the band...
Spotify Says It Will Shed 17 Percent Of Its Workers
The figure represents around 1,500 of the Sweden-based streamer’s 9,000 staff, as is the result of economic growth slowing “dramatically,” according to Spotify CEO Daniel...
What We Learn From Critics About Thinking About Art
Out of what soil spring these beings who absorb art and photosynthesize it into pronouncements, or, worse, into principles. - The New Yorker
Documentary Makers And Their Subjects — It Gets Complicated When The Film Is Successful
When the story becomes a marketable product, the production conditions, processes and relationships behind the storytelling are further obscured. It devalues the passage of...
Judge Strikes Down Montana’s TikTok Ban
“The current record leaves little doubt that Montana’s Legislature and attorney general were more interested in targeting China’s ostensible role in TikTok than with...
A Remarkable Change In American Theatre Leadership
Until recently, the artistic director has been thought of as the singular person whose vision drives the programming and culture of a theatre. That...
Study: Links Between Your Music Taste And Your Moral Compass
Specifically, musical elements like pitch and timbre emerged as crucial predictors for values of Care and Fairness, while sentiments and emotions expressed in lyrics...
Why Destroying Cultural Icons Leaves A Deep Wound
Artefacts that have been around for a thousand years or more have been destroyed in Russia’s illegal war. However, facing up to the issues,...
The Medieval Twitter Account With 700,000 Followers
Olivia Swarthout is the researcher behind the popular art history-inspired social media account Weird Medieval Guys, which has attracted nearly 700,000 followers on X,...
Playwright And Artist John Byrne, 83
His much-loved BBC series Tutti Frutti, about an ageing rock’n’roll band attempting a tour of Scotland, starred Robbie Coltrane and Emma Thompson and won...
Mark Bradford Wins The New $500,000 Getty Prize
Starting this year, the award comes with $500,000 for the winner to donate to a non-profit of their choice. (Bradford has yet to announce...
That Was Fast – Jezebel Website Is Sold And Will Reopen
Paste Magazine, a digital pop culture publication based in Atlanta, announced Wednesday that it was buying Jezebel.com from G/O Media, which closed it and laid off its...
Playing Politics? Of Course – It’s The Parthenon Marbles!
For a large part of international public opinion the return seems only fair. For some, it is a matter of aesthetics: repatriating historic monuments...
A Foundation Decides To Accelerate Its Impact And Spend Down Its Resources
“We thought, 'What’s the point in us existing in perpetuity and just trickling out funds while saying no to more communities when we knew...
How To Tell Whether Research is Trustworthy
Lately, however, the social-science world has become mired in controversy. Researchers themselves have started to note that many famous experiments have been debunked—such as, indeed,...
Are We “Addicted” To Social Media? A New Study Puts The Notion To The...
A small but thoughtful new study in PLOS One calls into question whether addiction is the right term for heavy social media use, and suggests digital detox, at least...