Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
A Look At The International Booker Prize Shortlist
Of the six books now in contention for the prestigious translated fiction award, five were written by women, with three translated by women too....
Science: Our Brains As Predictors Of The World Around Them
“There is no ‘I’ in AI.” Computers can beat a grandmaster in chess, but they don’t know that chess is a game. Jeff Hawkins...
We Need To Resist The Need To Describe Real Life As Our Technology
On the face of it, the gamification of reality looks like fun. But when everything becomes a game, it turns out, that game ends...
Libraries Around The World Are Helping To Save Ukrainian Culture
Today, teams of archivists and librarians are working to save Ukrainian library and museum collections. Their efforts echo the work of the Monuments Men who, during the Second...
Art Forgers Who Fooled Experts Talk About How They Did It
“The more successful we were in selling the pictures, the higher we set the bar and the more extra stories we came up with,...
Fake Music Is Taking Over Streaming Algorithms
Can you really reach a larger audience by getting on a background jazz playlist than taking home the most coveted Grammy? I hate to...
Will Broadway’s Next Big Hit Be Found On TikTok?
TikTok is a new frontier for investors and producers to find new works—and for creators to create and promote them—but it remains to be...
A Panel Discussion Gives Away A Toxic Architecture Culture
What began as a SCI-Arc panel on the professional aspects of working in architecture mushroomed into a full-blown controversy that has led to the suspension of...
High School Cancels Musical After It Opens Because Of “Mature” Themes
The musical, a high school adaptation of the Broadway show “Be More Chill,” was scheduled to run Thursday through Sunday, according to signs posted...
Russian Artists, Ukrainian Artists, Cancel Culture
While the world debates whether to cancel or to welcome artists and writers who suddenly feel like leaving Russia amidst its economic collapse, it...
Plagiarism Lawsuits Are Multiplying In The Age Of Streaming
In an age of YouTube and Spotify, how do we know if one artist heard another artist’s song, especially if they are relatively unknown,...
Inside A London Toe Shoe Factory
Freed of London, based in Hackney, has been making pointe shoes for almost a century. But while being one of the only producers of...
Converting Odessa’s Catacombs Into Bomb Shelters
The Ukrainian port city of Odesa sits atop a labyrinth of catacombs—technically, limestone quarries—which constitute perhaps the world’s largest network of urban tunnels, extending...
What’s Up With Pop Music’s Addiction To Nostalgia?
What explains our love of throwback sounds right now? Are we comfort-listening through hard times? Or is the industry just finally able to see...
How Book Customers Browse For Books
To create a space that is intentional in its gathering of materials meant to provide intellectual and literary stimulation, a space wholly devoted to...
Finland Says Seized Russian Art Should Be Returned
The paintings and sculptures, valued at 42 million euros ($46 million), had been on loan from Russian museums to institutions in Italy and Japan....
International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) Picks A New Leader
George E. Lewis, a professor of music at Columbia University known for his groundbreaking work in electronics, will take the helm as artistic director later this...
An AI Breakthrough In Creating Images
"One way you can think about this neural network is transcendent beauty as a service,” says Ilya Sutskever, cofounder and chief scientist at OpenAI....
The Heart Of Video Game Culture
“Film has Cannes. Video games have G.D.C.,” Marie Foulston, a London-based curator and producer of video-game and digital-art exhibitions, told me. “It has become...
What, Exactly, Is The Point Of The Venice Biennale?
Looking at the superyachts in the Grand Canal, that the Biennale is a prism of wealth inequality that we’re effectively sanctioning. We go anyway,...
The New New Thing: Video Game Book Clubs
Unlike many "real" book clubs and video game podcasts, they're less interested in new releases—focusing instead on detailed analysis of popular retro titles. -...
Why We Find The Internet So Exhausting
It's not just that you’re the product. You’re also the laborer, the factory, and the logistician. You’re also the resource. And your boss is...
The Art Of Buying Books You Haven’t Read To Decorate Your Room
It turns out the bookshelf bulk-buy is standard practice among the rich and famous – and increasingly so, since books have become established as...
Could Will Smith Lose His Oscar?
Hollywood-watchers say the academy is walking a tightrope: how can it take a stand now after failing to act against other members' misconduct for decades?...
Ed Sheeran Wins Song Plagiarism Fight
In a video on social media, he said there was now a culture "where a claim is made with the idea that a settlement...