Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
A Creative Redevelopment That Intends To Skip The Usual Mistakes
Birkenhead is barely a mile from Liverpool, situated on the opposite bank of the River Mersey. It was once known as the “New York...
How An Obscenity Trial 50 Years Ago Inspired A Generation Of Protest Art
The six-week trial of Oz magazine at the Old Bailey was the longest obscenity trial in England’s history. It remains the most absurd. - The Guardian
Canada Weighs Policies To Make Big Tech Companies Pay For Journalism
News companies in Canada have been struggling financially and digital platforms have vacuumed up most of the ad revenue that used to go to...
The Play Doctors Of Poughkeepsie
Though its theater season each summer is a must-see in the industry, even that is more inward facing than outward, with only a few...
In Praise Of Celebrity Memoirs
The sooner you accept that star stories are full of embellishments and omissions, invented quotes and one-sided recollections dictated to patient ghostwriters, the sooner...
And Now… AI-Generated Sculptures That Look Eerily Real
The resulting totemic structures, biomorphic forms, and sleek stacked shapes against drab gray backgrounds have a strange, mass-produced patina, as vaguely similar as Ikea...
The Value Of Profanity
Even in a society which tells itself the half-truth that it treasures ‘free speech’, there are, indeed must be, words that are beyond the...
The (Colorful) History Of Color
If one really wants to see an example of how a colour can come to denote an entire system of values and beliefs, look...
Someone Created A Fake Cormac McCarthy Account And Twitter Verified It (Oops)
Twitter acknowledged the mistake on Tuesday morning. A spokesperson said: “The account referenced was verified by mistake and that has since been reversed. -...
Objections To An East London Mega-Entertainment Sphere
What we now face is a massive live entertainment venue, almost as tall as Big Ben, covered with nearly a million garish LEDs, programmed to display...
Beginning August 16th, You’ll Need Vaccination Proof To Attend NYC Shows
“If you want to participate in society fully, you’ve got to get vaccinated. It’s time,” tweeted NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio. - Hyperallergic
Meet Lincoln Center’s New Artistic Director
Shanta Thake, most recently an associate artistic director at the Public Theater, will assume the role of chief artistic officer at the center, the...
Does Social Media Make It More Difficult To Act Morally?
What if it’s degrading our capacity for moral attention — the capacity to notice the morally salient features of a given situation so that...
MTV Is 40 Years Old. It Changed American Culture
Given the commercial and cultural behemoth it would become, MTV’s launch was inauspicious. - The Conversation
How The Creative Class Broke America
David Brooks: "These days, your education level and political values are as important in defining your class status as your income is. Because of...
Is It Fashionable To Be Ignorant?
It is not at all difficult to find books on the broad scope of human knowledge written by authors who really know nothing other...
Want A Job In The Pittsburgh Symphony? Here’s How It Works…
At the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, there are currently 13 openings in the violin, viola, bass, flute and percussion sections, a high number of openings...
Is Classical Music’s Racial Reckoning A Death Sentence?
"The campaign against classical music is worth examining in some detail, for it reveals the logic that has been turned against nearly every aspect...
Silicon Valley Wants Us To Live In The Multiverse. How Bleak Is That?
“The metaverse is a vision that spans many companies—the whole industry,” as Zuckerberg put it. “You can think about it as the successor to...
The Singular Influence Of Kerry James Marshall
The return to figurative art in the past two decades has been embraced by a new wave of younger Black artists, and for many...
How To Get At The Culture Of Anti-Vaccine Mindset
Sociology suggests that pundits and policy makers have been looking at vaccine refusal all wrong: It’s not an individual problem, but a social one....
Creativity As An Act of Activism
“I think creativity by its nature is activism,” says composer-pianist Max Richter. “It’s about meaning, it’s about experiment, it’s about the unknown, it’s about...
The Plan To Make Paramount+ Streaming Successful
The road ahead won’t be easy for ViacomCBS. Its fledgling Paramount+ was a late entry into streaming, and is essentially a rebranded and expanded...
Thriller In The Dance Company
"At times, the plot’s inevitable murder, sexual intrigue and family secrets seem almost incidental to the auditions and rehearsals, the bickering dancers and complaining...
Theatre Internships Are Problematic. What To Do?
While it is laudable that these theatres no longer run programs that contribute to the industry’s holding pattern of inequity, complete cancellation is ultimately...