Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
When Did Being “Clever” Become A Bad Thing?
Is there really something wrong with being clever? Even if it can get on our nerves sometimes, its associations remain overwhelmingly positive: Cleverness is...
Alexa Now Helps Kids Create Stories
To create a new story, your child would begin by speaking, “Alexa, make a story,” and then following several prompts. The AI then generates...
A Prescription For Our Age: Long Poems?
Long poems really had been popular, with wide and diverse readerships, at various times in literary history. Is this a kind of reading that...
Berlin’s Massive New Museum Of The 20th Century Under Attack As “Climate Killer”
There has been growing criticism of its main construction material, concrete – one of the highest contributors to carbon dioxide emissions – and of...
Artwork Rescued Before The Bombing Of Kyiv Goes On Show In Spain
Titled “In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900–1930s,” the show is branded as the most comprehensive survey of Ukraine’s avant-garde movement. -...
Plans For Makeover Of London’s National Gallery Assailed As “Clownish”
The architect of the controversial Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London has publicly hit back at plans to completely rebuild it, accusing the...
Public Libraries Are Setting Up Their Own Music Streaming Services
Introduction to local artists is common among local libraries using streaming services. “It turns out that people who think they know their city’s music...
Qatar Announces New Round Of Big New Museums
In the run-up to the tournament, the country’s authority for cultural institutions and heritage sites has announced a wave of future construction projects—and revealed...
Disney Superfans: Bob Chapek Didn’t Understand Disney’s Magic
We also pushed to have Mr. Chapek fired because he didn’t believe in Disney magic. Disney is so much more than just another big...
AMC Networks To Cut Staff By 20 Percent (Including CEO)
Today’s staff memo from AMC Networks chairman James Dolan, whose family is the company’s controlling shareholder, was particularly grim, noting that “the mechanisms for...
This Year’s Venice Biennale Sets Attendance Record
It must, however, be noted that the 2022 exhibition ran longer than usual, stretching over 197 days instead of 173 days in 2019. According...
2,500 Strip On Australian Beach For Spencer Tunick Piece On Skin Cancer
The installation is American photographer Spencer Tunick's latest project, aimed at encouraging Australians to get regular skin checks. Legislation was changed to allow public...
UK Museum Returns Trove Of Bronzes To Benin
The Horniman Museum in south-east London is returning 72 items, including so-called Benin Bronzes, to Nigerian ownership - making it the first in the...
After Our COVID Digital Binge, We Need Analog
“Most of the interesting things in the human experience need friction,” Honoré explained, and they benefit from a slower approach: cooking, creativity, thoughtful work,...
Why “Gaslighting” Is The Merriam-Webster Word Of The Year
“In this age of misinformation — of ‘fake news,’ conspiracy theories, Twitter trolls, and deepfakes — gaslighting has emerged as a word for our time,” the dictionary...
How Our Toys Got Corrupted
During the past two centuries, educators, psychologists, toy companies and parents like us have acted, implicitly or otherwise, as if the purpose of play...
New Technology That Replaces Most Musicians In The Theatre Pit
The innovative aspect of KeyComp, he said, is that a single musician can play one or two of the most important musical lines, and...
Remembering Theatre Critic Michael Feingold
Feingold’s greatness rested in the agility of his focus. He had the ability to take an aerial view of the work under consideration. But...
Carey Perloff Digs Into Stoppard
The more I’ve dug into Stoppard’s biography, the clearer it has become that, in spite of appearing to be a quintessential Englishman, he’s always...
You Knew It Would Happen: Popular AI Image Generator Starts Censoring
One user on Stable Diffusion’s sub-reddit said the removal of NSFW content was “censorship,” and “against the spirit philosophy of Open Source community.” Said the user:...
Newly-Promoted Star Paris Opera Ballet Dancer Quits Company As TV Career Flourishes
One of the best-known male dancers at the Paris Opera, who has won a big following outside ballet for working as a judge on...
Bob Dylan Apologizes For Autopen-Signed Books
Dylan says was given “the assurance that this kind of thing is done ‘all the time’ in the art and literary worlds.” Now that...
The Vatican’s $2 Billion Bathtub
One of the most valuable items in Rome is a bathtub that has been estimated to be worth $2 billion. And you thought your...
Bob Iger Returns To A Troubled Disney Animation Business
The poor performance of “Strange World” highlights one of the issues facing Mr. Iger. He returns to a theatrical environment far harsher to animated...
Inside The Quietest Room In The World (Will It Drive You Crazy?)
The mystique of the too-quiet room, if construed by outsiders, has perhaps been bolstered by the company’s website, which advertises an experience called “The...
