Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Understanding The Evolutions Of Traditions
Although small modifications do not undo a tradition, small changes can aggregate into significant deviations. For example, if someone is tall, then if they were...
The New Online Choreographers
Among this blossoming crop of teachers and influencers, and the legions of creators making their moves into memes on TikTok, Angela Trimbur, 40, stands out. Underpinned by an...
Could Our Conscious Minds Exist In Virtual Worlds?
Once one has been presented with the hypothesis that we could exist as the conscious beings we are in a purely fabricated world of...
Trump’s New Social Network Soars To Top Of Apple Store (But New Users Encounter...
While it seemingly has attracted broad interest, many users who attempted to sign up for Truth Social accounts on Monday (Feb. 21) have reported...
The Problem Of Writing Fiction Of Now During The Pandemic
“It seemed too soon to be writing about the pandemic, which we were living through, but it also seemed hard to be writing about...
Does The Demise Of The Capitol Steps Comedy Troupe Say Something About How America...
Political humor had changed. It was less lighthearted, more snarky and sarcastic. Washington had changed, no longer a place where Democrats and Republicans would...
More And More Museum Workers Are Unionizing
Many of the workers who have recently joined unions have come from the curatorial, administrative and education staffs — white-collar office workers who often...
On The Frontlines Of The Battle For Our Attention
The reality is we simply don’t have the long-term studies that tell us whether our collective attention span has actually shrunk. What we do...
Theatre was Inventive During COVID. That Inventiveness Might Make Theatre Better Going Forward
In order to survive at all during this period, theatre did need to adapt, and notable examples of genius materialised, reimagining the genre entirely....
University Censors Project About Censorship
The irony is almost too neat: a college student plans a program of songs from musicals that have faced censorship – and with less...
The Scourge Of Book Blurbs
It is perhaps true that blurbs are rarely the deciding factor. Most likely a potential reader has heard word of mouth recommendations, read reviews,...
The Mechanizing Of The Humanities Is Not Going Well
The academic insistence on using bibliographic citation techniques developed for the printing press feels increasingly eccentric now that reading materials and essays exist in...
Why Hollywood Won’t Quit Guns
In the most heavily armed country, the presence of guns isn’t considered out of the ordinary, especially in states with open-carry laws. That familiarity extends...
How Libraries Shape Our Literature
Books reach Americans in multiple ways these days, not only as e-books. They might arrive as audio books, in serialized form through online services,...
Ultimate Brag In Social Media: “I Can’t Stop Thinking About…”
If one person shouts that she can’t stop thinking about something, the natural response is not to join in her particular obsession but to...
Reimagining NPR To Serve Everyone
In his new book, Chávez uses media industry data and 50 interviews with public media workers to argue that NPR’s growth has come at...
Claim: NFTs Are Nothing But A Scam
I think people accurately recognize that just by watching people get involved in crypto. You watch an artist who starts selling NFTs, and over...
Report: NYC Arts Organizations Serving People Of Color Are Struggling
It’s not as if more money isn’t a goal for these organizations; more often than not, they say, it’s a question of resources and...
The Cultural Framework For Artificial Intelligence: Can Indigenous Frameworks Help?
Such cultural programming is often invisible, unquestioned, limiting and even dangerous when applied carelessly beyond its community of origin. That’s why ethical frameworks for...
Corruption On A Grand Scale (And Explaining Inequities)
Like a Tammany Hall-type of administrative corruption but on a national or even international scale, key actors representing political regimes and multinational corporations conspire...
San Francisco Ballet Pulls Itself Apart Over Diversity
A public Instagram account detailed dancers’ and staff members’ accounts of inequities. Amid the fallout, Executive Director Kelly Tweeddale, hired in 2019, stepped down...
A Music Conspiracy Theory: Tuning “A” To 432
I’d never encountered the 432 Hz phenomenon. Its lore has all the hallmarks of your archetypal conspiracy theories. No one version dominates, but most...
How California’s Gig-Economy Law Changed LA Theatre (Perhaps Forever?)
According to a dozen LA-area artistic directors interviewed, the annual budget of small arts organisations has spiked by an average 40%, disproportionately punishing companies...
Research: Stress Might Have Gotten A Bum Rap
A growing body of research suggests that it is our beliefs about our feelings, as much as the feelings themselves, that determine their effects...
Record Store Day Was Supposed To Help Small Stores. It’s Backfiring
This year, RSD offers 411 new releases, a fact that should leave those in the physical music business seething. Thanks to Brexit and the...
