Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
When Buckminster Fuller Met Steve Jobs
Fuller had devoted his career to predicting the impact of technology, but he saw nothing special in Apple: “I remember him saying that he...
Dana Gioia: Poetry Is Essential To Religion
At the risk of offending most believers, it is necessary to state a simple but unacknowledged truth: It is impossible to understand the full...
Are Our Emotions Shaped By The Words We Use?
Instead of seeing emotions as bequeathed by biology, we might see them as learned: “instilled in us by our parents and other cultural agents,”...
“Content” Is A Funny Word. But It Degrades Ideas And Truth
But what exactly is content? Who produces it? Why and how did it come to be viewed as “essential”? And how will content continue...
Would Theatre Be Better If There Was Less Theatre?
One way to take action is to make a conscious decision to collaborate more and do less, but do it more thoughtfully and with...
It’s Not So Easy To Get Your Head Around What The Internet Is
If we can tear ourselves away from the hype and hysteria that passes for online culture, and stretch out our historico-philosophical telescopes, there really...
What’s At Stake In The Simon & Schuster/Penguin Random House Merger Trial
A win for the government would not appear to bode well for Simon & Schuster. Penguin Random House is already a giant and will...
British Museum Suggests “Partnership” With Greece On Parthenon Marbles
“What we are calling for is an active ‘Parthenon partnership’ with our friends and colleagues in Greece. I firmly believe there is space for a...
How Speaking Other Languages Works In Your Brain
It turns out that when a multilingual person wants to speak, the languages they know can be active at the same time, even if only...
John Leguiziamo’s Plan For More Latinx Presence In Hollywood
Over the years, he said, studio executives have rejected his pitches for stories, telling Leguizamo — who is of Colombian descent — that Latino...
Why MBS’s Franken-City Will Never Be Built In The Saudi Desert
Bin Salman finds himself confronting a classic strongman’s dilemma: He has gotten the team he deserves, a staff that’s too well-paid to give it...
Shortlist For The First-Ever Ursula K. Le Guin Fiction Prize
The prize honors a book-length work of imaginative fiction with $25,000. The nine shortlisted books will be considered by a panel of five jurors....
How Laura Jackson Is Blazing A New Path At The Reno Philharmonic
"I’ve learned over time to always come back and attach to the mission and to the power of music. That has allowed me to...
MTT — So Much For That Retirement
Mostly with his old orchestras in San Francisco and Miami, but elsewhere as well, Michael Tilson Thomas is vigorously raising the baton, receiving the...
Chicago’s Victory Gardens In Turmoil As Artistic Director Out
Three resident theater companies that present work at Victory Gardens have pledged not to work there until the artists’ complaints are addressed. - The New...
The People Who Probe For Meaning In Abandoned Theme Parks
As it turns out, there's an entire community of people captivated with defunct, abandoned or retired theme parks and attractions around the world. - NPR
Why Music Evokes Memories
The connection is one of the reasons why music — especially old music — is so meaningful to people. It's also why music became such...
Adapting To The Medium: Acting In Video Games
Games are kind of ragtag, and there’s not really a standard. For actors, there’s never been a guide what to expect, from auditions to...
The Art Of Pretending To Have Read Books
Now, as a life-long pseud, I learned years ago how to float in an implied familiarity with an author or their work, without telling...
The Death Of London’s Great Orchestra Festival
The death sentence was delivered by the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, in a statement terminating BBC Four, which televises most of the Proms,...
In A World Where Nothing Is Forgotten, The Past Looks Different
Human experience is now recorded on something that looks a bit like an informal version of the blockchain – the distributed public ledger whose...
When Stories Of Sad White Men Were Groundbreaking
Could it be that the stories of the average middle-class white man — the ones we grew up on — were once a novelty?...
Triumphant Debut For New Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra At London Proms
It was an impressive start for an ensemble that didn’t exist a fortnight ago, rapidly assembled from professional Ukrainian musicians in Ukraine and across Europe. - The...
Beginning Of A New Era For Music? Chart-Eligible NFT Song Released In UK
Unlike with many NFTs, buyers will not require a crypto wallet. After the purchase is made on Serenade’s website, a digital wallet is created...
Why Does Beyonce Have So Many Songwriting Credits On Her New Album?
Beyoncé’s collaboration with other artists has a lot more to do with intellectual property law and the fairly modern practice of sampling (reusing part of an...