Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
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...
Pulitzer Winners Join Lawsuit Against OpenAI Over Copyright
The writers, including Pulitzer Prize winners Taylor Branch, Stacy Schiff and Kai Bird told the court on Tuesday that the companies infringed their copyrights by using...
AI Is Coming For Culture
A.I. fans argue that if artists ignore ethical questions and embrace A.I., we could produce more. “A.I. could help you write 100 books in...
What Fandom Has Become (Courtesy The Internet)
Modern fandom online is a vast and varied place, and some of its practices are shaped by the platforms where fan communities gather. On...
Not My Culture: The Internet Has Truly Gotten Worse
"There was a time in my life when it was trivial to sign up to a new social network and pick up its patterns...
Why Wagner Isn’t Canceled (Despite Everything)
"What should Wagner look like in the age of the Wagner Group? How can the hammer of the Norse god Thor appear on stage,...
The Internet Is Unraveling In Front Of Us
The very idea of popularity is up for debate: Is that trend really viral? Did everyone see that post, or is it just my little...
Evidence Smartphones Are Making Students Dumber
Researchers such as Jonathan Haidt and Jean Twenge have shown that various measures of student well-being began a sharp decline around 2012 throughout the...
Arts Journalism Is Fading In New Zealand. How To Save It?
There is a significant audience for arts and culture: 96% of adults in Aotearoa New Zealand participated in arts and cultural events in the past three...
We All Believed In Santa. But At What Age Should You Stop Believing?
Children start to distinguish fantasy from reality around preschool, but a belief in Santa Claus or Father Christmas usually lasts longer, to around seven...
