Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Can Language Unify Black Culture?
Everyone knows what it means to capitalize “Black.” But how does it feel? On your tongue, on the page? If we act like affect...
How To Keep A Community’s Soul While It’s Under Gentrification Pressure
In order to be successful, any urban regeneration has to tap into the local culture and heritage of a place. This means embracing what...
Nabokov Said Rereading Distinguished Who The Real Readers Are. He Was Wrong
The correct and virtuous way to read, according to those who knew about reading and writing, was to reread. Rereading was that which separated...
Just How Terrible Is The Art Market Right Now?
For market participants who entered the game after 2020, all this turbulence may come as a surprise. Auction prices for some young artists have...
Internet Archive Ruling On Fair Use Is A Disaster For Libraries, Writers And Readers
Even though this outcome was always a strong possibility, the final ruling is just incredibly damaging, especially in that it suggests that all libraries are bad...
Brexit Has Been A Disaster For UK Musicians Wanting To Tour In The EU....
Since Brexit, musicians touring the EU have faced barriers introduced in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). They can work up to 90...
How Mick Herron Went From Obscurity To The World’s Top Spy Fiction Writer
“I was only ever a hair’s breadth away from being exactly as much of a failure as the people I write about,” he said...
Today’s AJ Highlights
Here are your morning highlights to start the new week:
Little Free Library Fights Book BansLittle Free Library is launching a new map to distribute...
This Week’s AJ Highlights
Here's your weekend AJ newsletter. This week we're adding a new feature -- five don't-miss stories from the 125 or so we've collected. To...
Today’s AJ Highlights
Happy Saturday. So you thought debates about high and low culture were long settled? David Brooks believes American culture generally - high and low...
Is There Any Such Thing As An Objectively Beautiful Building?
The current state of our knowledge on aesthetics, and specifically what we consider beautiful, is a mosaic of empirical discoveries. For over 150 years,...
If Literary Theory Seems Too Abstract For You, Let’s Consider The Power Of A...
If faith in something as abstruse as literary theory seems absurd, consider a more familiar vehicle of human knowledge: the novel. As a form,...
The City Of Birmingham Is Bankrupt. But It Has A Half-Billion-Pounds Collection Of Artworks…
Birmingham City Council owns an artwork collection valued at almost half a billion pounds, a BBC investigation has discovered. But none will be sold...
La Scala Subtitles Go Multi-Lingual
The mini-screens used until July could only show two languages. The new system will offer five languages – Italian, English, French, German and Spanish...
Scottish Government Orders Reassessment Of Embattled Arts Funder
“We continue to see unprecedented levels of demand for the Open Fund for Individuals and will process the high volume of applications we have...
Why We Should Value Awkwardness
We often joke about awkwardness; it’s a staple of contemporary comedy. The exclamation ‘Awkward!’ functions as a light-hearted deflection, defusing social tension. The reality...
Yuval Harari — The Guru We Need?
Harari is to the tech CEO what David Foster Wallace once was to the Williamsburg hipster. This is a surprising role for someone who...
Why American Culture Has Become “Junkified”
Our dopamine-driven brains drive us to choose cheap distraction over entertainment and art. A 15-second video causes a dopamine release in the brain, which...
Seattle Theatres In Disarray And Downsizing
There’s been a lot of bad news: Seattle theater companies are launching emergency fundraisers, exploring mergers, furloughing or laying people off, and cutting back on — or...
Today’s AJ Highlights
Good morning. Here's your daily AJ newsletter. It didn't make our top five list, but I was particularly intrigued by the story of scientists...
How The Salt Lake City Tribune Went Nonprofit, Reinvented Its Culture And Made It...
We’ve seen news organizations open communication that gives journalists a better idea of what, exactly, needs to happen for their publication to survive and...
The Inherent Tension In Children’s Books
Should we pander to the little rotters’ desires (BURRRP!) or should we give them impossibly pious characters Doing Good? The answer, of course, lies...
Giller Prize Drops Bank From Its Name Over Controversies
The rebranding follows months of controversy surrounding Scotiabank’s investment in the Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems and comes amid an ongoing campaign calling on arts organizations like...
Scientists Studied Eye Movements To See How Our Brains Process Stories
"Traditionally, we've thought of eye movements as a simple response to what's happening in front of us. But recent research shows that's not the...
The State Of The New York Philharmonic Through Its Tax Return
The Philharmonic released its 2022 tax return Wednesday, covering its first season back at David Geffen Hall following a $550 million renovation. Ticket revenue rebounded to $29.76...