Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Bookstore Lost 400,000 Books In A Fire. Then The Community Stepped Up
Thousands of books, filling two shipping containers, have been donated - and more are coming in all the time. - The Leader
Why It’s So Difficult To Design Communities Resilient To Climate Change
The recent passage of a $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill is a big step toward tackling some of those problems, but as East River...
NBC’s Live “Annie” Was “Pleasant”
You probably tuned in to NBC’s “Annie Live!” for one reason: to see if it would be a train wreck. - Washington Post
It’s Not You: Why It’s Getting More Difficult To Understand Movie Dialogue
"It's really a gumbo, an accumulation of problems that have been exacerbated over the last 10 years … that's kind of this time span...
Sondheim And The Art Of Mentoring
As a mentor, as a letter writer, as an audience member who showed up far beyond Broadway to witness new work, he quietly, faithfully...
If Democracy Is Institutions, What Institutions Are Democracy?
Political institutions differ considerably from one purportedly democratic society to the next. Voting procedures, representation schemes, conceptions of free speech, and judicial arrangements are...
Has America Lost Its Imagination?
Americans used to go to movie theaters to watch new characters in new stories. Now they go to movie theaters to re-submerge themselves in...
The Art World Power 100 List
NFTs (and with them cryptocurrency and all that comes with it) have upended the art market, bringing contemporary art and millennial meme culture crashing...
The Universal Story (But Why?)
From one point of view, it’s obvious that, despite exceptions, most stories portray “goody-baddy” dynamics—from nursery rhymes to juicy gossip, from ancient folktales to...
Why Orchestra Percussion Sections Aren’t Diverse
At minimum, percussion students need a room to practice in — usually in a large single family home and not an apartment — over...
One Of Canada’s Top Contemporary Groups Calls It Quits
“We have been here for 35 years. We have made 300 creations, several international tours, 11 Canadian tours, and 70 concerts across the country....
Why The World’s Best Chess Players Are Too Good To Win
Accurate is the word of the match so far. Inevitably, the string of draws is the main narrative out of Dubai; no one has won...
The Rise Of The Media “Comfort Creator”
“With the terror of a global pandemic sending anxiety sky high and rendering TV one of the few safe entertainment outlets, the desire for...
It’s Been Ten Years Since Robert Battle Took Over Leading Alvin Ailey Company
“The knee-jerk thing is to overcorrect,” he continued. “But sometimes you need to double down in your mission. Sometimes you have to think about...
Author Alice Sebold Apologizes To Man Cleared Of Her 1981 Rape Featured In Her...
“My goal in 1982 was justice – not to perpetuate injustice,” she said. “And certainly not to forever, and irreparably, alter a young man’s...
Man Buys Lucian Freud Painting. Freud Gets Mad And Disowns It. That’s A Problem…
Or it was. Now the buyer has had the painting authenticated by three experts who confirm the authorship... - The Guardian
Ten Best Performances Of 2021 (Yeah, We Know, ’21 Isn’t Done, But…)
The list is utterly subjective and non-comprehensive—no matter how much you watch, there’s somehow much more you’ve missed—but it includes ten people (or groups...
What Ails Us: Our Search For Cures
Adam Phillips tells us again and again, the quest for self-improvement is itself the problem. What we suffer from “are our self-cures”, otherwise known...
The Korean Who May Be The Most-Listened-To Living Composer In The World Right Now
Korea accounts for 20 percent of worldwide classical music sales, with a much younger audience base than in the West. The K-pop juggernaut needs...
Tony Kushner, Architect Of A New Great Historical Mistake
Among my favorite Kushner quotes: “Dare to participate in the great historical mistake of your time.” The particular mistake he has in mind is...
Can You Really Copyright A Recipe?
U.S. copyright law seeks to protect “original works of authorship” by barring unauthorized copying of all kinds of creative material: sheet music, poetry, architectural works,...
The $150 Million Arts Initiative That Connected Arts And Communities
ArtPlace leaders announced their venture would prove the arts was an economic engine. Investing in arts and culture, “can be the economic equivalent of...
San Francisco Opera Is About To Turn 100 Years Old
When it comes to established and continuously active opera companies in North America, there is the Metropolitan, founded in 1883 ... and then San Francisco Opera....
Inside The NFT Hype Bubble
After “community,” the second-most used word at NFT.NYC is probably “rich.” As in, “Do you want to be rich?” The speakers ask the audience...
How The Salt Lake City Tribune Escaped A Hedgefund, Went Non-Profit, And Stabilized
It’s been quite the turnaround. Utah’s largest newspaper escaped the clutches of the hedge fund Alden Global Capital in 2016 only to see its...
