Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
NYT’s Michael Paulson Talks About What He Found About The State Of Theatre In...
Theater has some particular vulnerabilities — it’s a niche art form, and a lot of nonprofits pride themselves on developing new work, which means...
What’s So Seductive About That Urge To Censor?
The reasons can vary, but from fig leaves on sculptures to TV versions of classic films, when a work of art has a wider...
The Wrong Questions About AI And Art
When it comes to AI-generated images, the question “but is it art?” has always escaped me – didn’t we sort that out at least...
Those Studies On What Makes You Happy? Not Really…
Almost 95 percent of the experiments testing the happiness benefits of mindfulness, exercise, and engagement with nature, in particular, lacked big enough sample sizes...
The Analog Dancer: Mark Morris As Teacher
His teaching is the least known aspect of his work — yet it may be the most important. While there have been seasons when...
Polish Radio Station Replaces Midday Host With AI Host
Basia, the country's first AI-generated radio host, has taken over an hour of middays every Saturday through Sept. 2 on the station, which published...
AI Says Its By Raphael. Art Historians? Not So Much
Researchers hope their experimental use of AI will put to rest a decades-long debate about the origins of the painting, known as the de Brécy...
How GoodReads Messes With Authors’ Psyches
The world-ending devastation of the first scathing review. The righteous indignation at the first three-star review. No one understands me. Are these people even literate? Am I even literate? It’s...
The GoodReads Review Revenge
A Goodreads blitzkrieg can derail an entire publication schedule, freak out commercial book clubs that planned to discuss the release, or even prompt nervous...
Musicians Have The Same Issues As Actors, Writers. So Why Aren’t They Also On...
All the fears and complaints that Hollywood actors and writers have are a reality for musicians and songwriters, too. Yet the rockers, pop singers...
At This Point In Our Culture, What Is History For?
Ironically, the education of more and more people in the United States has led to an expansion of potential audiences for quality, and progressive,...
Two Art Vandals Who Glued Themselves To A Raphael Painting Fined $1,600 Each
The Dresden prosecutor’s office announced on July 21 that the two activists, Jakob Beyer and Maike Grunst, would be fined €1,500 ($1,600) each for...
New Ways To Use Old Instruments
New music for old instruments is, of course, nothing new. Nor is the engagement by composers with varying degrees of historically informed performance. But...
Bay Area Musicians Fight Back Against The Gig Economy For A Living Wage
With each musician guaranteed $200 for an hour-long set, “we’ve presented about 400 concerts featuring 500 musicians, reaching about 18,000 listeners." - San Francisco...
What Was Remarkable About Conductor Carlos Kleiber
Like Kleiber, Klaus Tennstedt and Leonard Bernstein seemed to harness everything they knew in the heat of the moment. But Kleiber also had structural...
Spotify’s Stock Is Tanking This Week. Why?
Spotify said recent price increases are expected to have “minimal impact” on the company’s total revenue in the third quarter. - CNBC
The Mindfulness Industrial Complex Can’t Do For You What Art Does
Modern mental wellness tools, like mindfulness apps and cognitive behavioral therapy, vary in approach but share a self-help strategy centered on self-surveillance. But encouraging...
What AI Writing Reveals About Good Writing
As we explore new applications for large language models and consider how well they can optimize our communication, AI challenges us to reflect on...
Is Today’s Pop Music Getting Too Simplistic?
"I think the average listeners ears are becoming more attuned to ever-greater simplicity and every-greater economy in music." - Music Radar
Hollywood Needs To Reinvent Or It Will Die
How do you decide that the content you’re producing is actually generating value? That goes back to the question that we have about how...
America’s Theatre Crisis – Why Now?
So why has our theatre field contracted so precipitously in the past few months, with casualties recorded at every kind of theatre while at...
Seattle Art Museum Director Steps Down
Amanda Cruz oversaw some of the most turbulent years in SAM’s 90-year history. - Seattle Times
Experts Dismiss AI Analysis Determining Painting Is By Raphael
“I have never seen the piece in person but judging from the photograph it would appear to be a copy after Raphael. True connoisseurship relates...
Seattle Repertory Theatre Hires A New Artistic Director
Dámaso Rodríguez was artistic director at Portland’s Artists Repertory Theatre for nine years before stepping down in 2021. He co-founded Los Angeles troupe Furious...
French Horn Player Born With No Arms Makes His Proms Debut
He won the prestigious Leonard Bernstein Award in 2016, has recorded several acclaimed albums (including his 2013 debut Reveries and a 2019 performance of...
