Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Theatre People Who Passed Away In 2023
The ephemeral nature of the stage is part of its power. Prospero in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” compares actors to “spirits” who melt into “thin...
A Billion Birds A Year In America Die Crashing Into Buildings. Architects Are Working...
This year, at least 1,000 birds died in one day from colliding with a single glass-covered building. In New York, which lies along the Atlantic Flyway,...
Open To Change: A Critic Goes Back To A Show And Has An Entirely...
In 2014, I couldn’t tolerate a play that mixed hilarity and monstrousness so shamelessly. But time and history have altered that in me. -...
A Stat That Shows How The US Music Market Is Changing
This year, a record 98 Spanish-language songs made Billboard’s list, and six made it into the top 10. - CNN
Are Superhero Movies Done?
These franchises are spelling their own downfalls. This year has been a prime of example of what happens when a pop-culture movement takes hold...
7300-Year-Old Civilization Discovered On Island Off China’s Coast
They also discovered evidence that the inhabitants developed into a complex society between 5,000 and 6,500 years ago with residential homes, as well as...
Has AI Ended The Voiceover Career?
"For a lot of voice actors, AI has been the canary in the coal mine that we've been shouting about for years." -...
New York Times Sues OpenAI And Microsoft For Using Stories To Train AI
“Defendants’ unlawful use of The Times’s work to create artificial intelligence products that compete with it threatens The Times’s ability to provide that service.”...
Writing Is A Solitary Pursuit? Not Really
Writers not only don’t work alone: they can’t. The key proxy for a vibrant book culture is the little packs they form when things are going well....
Enormous Art Gallery Found Above Pueblo Cliffs
Approximately 2,600 feet above the ancient Pueblo cliff settlements, the archaeologists discovered a sprawling collection of “huge rock panels” stretching about 2.5 miles around...
Why Do Ancient Tablets Have Information About Modern Physics?
This newly discovered connection between ancient Mesopotamian writing and modern physics is more than an amusing academic fluke. - Salon
Tommy Smothers, 86
When “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” debuted on CBS in the fall of 1967 it was an immediate hit, to the surprise of many...
Mark Swed On “Maestro”
One of the reasons why “Maestro” comes across as pretty good, or maybe even a little better than that, is because it is not...
Dance Has Become Cool Now. It’s Everywhere
It’s not only that dance has been everywhere recently; it’s that dance is cool. Our lives are full of words — and words and...
Does AI Mean The End Of Photography?
They routinely go viral before being debunked. They even occasionally win prestigious photography prizes. All of which has reignited a two-century-old debate: What exactly qualifies as...
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...
