Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
A Brooklyn Theatre’s Idea About Reinventing Subscriptions
“It got me thinking about, essentially, what would a theatre company look like that could break with the traditional modes of arts funding? You...
Elon Musk, Famous Twitter Troll. Will Troll Takeover Take Down Twitter?
I don’t imagine that one will wake up and open Twitter and see it magically transformed into a total cesspool of hate, harassment, and...
The Warm Mental Bath Of Believing In Conspiracy Theories
Can people who live in fantasy worlds at such steep odds with reality be good friends and citizens themselves? At the very least, maintaining...
Have You Been Wondering What The Metaverse Is Supposed To Be?
To help you get a sense of how vague and complex a term “the metaverse” can be, here's an exercise: Mentally replace the phrase...
Just What Kind Of Impact Does Social Media Have On Real Events?
Gestures such as incorporating a Ukrainian flag into one’s username may be merely symbolic, but when users lobby politicians online, donate money, or even...
Let’s Talk About the Concept Of “Lived Experience”
It’s essentially a turf war. Only Latino authors can write novels about Latinos. Only Holocaust survivors can convey the truth of the Holocaust. Only...
An Astonishing 1,600 School District Book Bans In The Past Nine Months
"What is happening in this country in terms of banning books in schools is unparalleled in its frequency, intensity, and success," said Jonathan Friedman,...
Americans Are Abandoning Big Cities
In the past three years, the net number of moves out of Manhattan has increased tenfold. In every urban county within the metros of...
The UK Dance Company Working To Create Opportunities For Dancers Of Color
Bourne’s 2017 research found that across four major British ballet companies — the Birmingham Royal Ballet, the Northern Ballet, the Royal Ballet and the English National...
Comedy Dying? I Think Not, Says Jon Stewart
“Comedy survives every moment.” And good thing it does, Stewart said, because “comedy doesn’t change the world, but it’s a bellwether. We’re the banana...
The Demons Inside The Internet
There are ways in which the internet really does seem to work like a possessing demon. We tend to think that the internet is...
How 20th Century Literary Analysis Came To Be
In the prewar period, university professors were apt to make vague aesthetic judgments about a book’s “beauty” or “soul” before lobbing in a few...
Writing About Nature: Science Or Poetry?
Natural history can certainly accommodate a profusion of perspectives – indeed, it will always benefit from greater diversity in how we look and think....
That Obnoxious Nissan Youth Orchestra Ad? This New Brunswick Orchestra Films A Perfect Response
The musicians’ response, recorded April 4, 2022, at the Imperial Theatre in St. John, New Brunswick, proves that age isn’t a barrier to playing...
Real Inflation: Concert Ticket Prices
Ticket prices increased 11% in 2021 relative to 2019, and 14% in North America, according to Live Nation Entertainment Inc., the world’s largest concert promoter. And...
Man Threatened To Bomb Merriam-Webster For Changing Definitions Of Gender
He sent anonymous comments and messages to Merriam-Webster, which publishes a widely used online dictionary, condemning the company for changing the definitions of words...
Gen Z: Not So In To Traditional Work
Many have taken to declaring how they don’t have dream jobs since they “don’t dream of labor.” This buzzy phrase, popularized on social media in the...
A Russian-less Venice Biennale Is Different
While the cool contemporary art crowd strolled among the exhibits, Ukraine was being pummeled by missiles, and there was hardly a Russian in sight....
The Humanities’ Credibility Crisis
That problem takes two forms: first, the lack of public trust in humanities scholars’ processes of inquiry and expert conclusions. Simply put, the public...
Classical Music’s Dance Between Entrepreneur And Institution
The composer, who has accrued reputational capital on the open market, exchanges some of it for an ever-dwindling share of institutional security. The institution...
The First Philosopher Of AI
Virtually all modern computers are modelled on Alan Turing’s idea. However, he originally conceived these machines merely because he saw that a human engaged...
Who Gets Credit For Choreography?
The accepted definition of “choreographer” is the person who composes the physical steps—not necessarily completely on their own, but the majority of the movement...
Actors Union Warns That AI Is Replacing Live Performers
"From automated audiobooks to digital avatars, AI systems are now replacing skilled professional performers" the union says. It warns of "dystopian" consequences unless copyright...
The Machine Invented To Digitize 100-Year-Old Wax Cylinder Recordings
Sound restoration engineer Nicholas Bergh spent two decades designing the revolutionary new machine, known as the Endpoint Audio Labs cylinder playback machine. - Atlas Obscura
NY Singers Remember A Beloved NY Vocal Coach, Killed Last Month
She had a gift for unusual metaphors that made her teachings stick. In the bedroom of her 17th-floor apartment in the Chelsea neighborhood of...