Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
This Year’s Tony Nominations Rewarded Risk
The most memorable offerings didn’t care a whit about product-testing strategies. What marketing genius, for instance, could have predicted that “Maybe Happy Ending,” a jazz-infused rom-com...
How AI Is Transforming Book Publishing
Due to the advent of online self-publishing platforms, what once required a team of professionals—editors, graphic designers, and formatting specialists—can now be done with just...
Controversy Over Removing Books From City Library Roils Alabama Town
“There are two books they are leaving (in the teen section). There are some people not happy about that decision. They feel there is...
Child Accidently Damages $50M Rothko
The work in question -- Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8 (1960) by Mark Rothko -- sustained several visible scratches in its unvarnished lower...
Wikipedia Says It Won’t Replace Human Volunteer Editors With AI
Instead, the Wikimedia Foundation says it will use AI to build new features that “remove technical barriers,” allowing editors, moderators, and patrollers tools that...
What Does Working Class Literature Look Like?
Over the past two decades, the U.S. has seen a wave of books preoccupied with our working lives, many of them focused on white-collar...
How “Gatsby” Became A Literary Institution
By some estimates, the total worldwide sales of the novel are now upward of thirty million copies. How did “Gatsby” grow so great, and...
UMG Posts Strong First Quarter Music Earnings
UMG’s research suggests that approximately 20% of current music streaming subscribers would be willing to pay up to double the current standard price for enhanced offerings. - Music...
Duolingo Doubles Its Number Of Language Courses Using AI
Duolingo says that building one new course historically has taken “years,” but the company was able to build this new suite of courses more...
Record $32 Million Klimt Portrait Sale Falls Through
After a restitution settlement that would have addressed glaring gaps in the work’s provenance failed to go ahead, the painting’s anonymous buyer pulled out...
Why Academic Freedom Is Essential To A Great Country
What exactly is academic freedom? It is the freedom to express and debate ideas without fear of censorship or reprisal. It is the freedom...
The Takacs Quartet At 50
The Takacs thing. “They have always been one of the world’s pre-eminent string quartets, and they have a unique approach to the repertoire,” said...
This Year’s Tony Nominations: The Year Of Hollywood Stars?
Forty-two productions are eligible for Tony Award nominations this year – the announcements come Thursday morning – making many of the categories very, very competitive. - Deadline
The Inherent Contradictions Of Mark Twain
Even when he was at the height of his literary powers, the title “businessman” might have suited Twain better than “author.” Not that avidity...
As AI Makes Some Things Very Easy, Will We Continue To Do Them?
We’re so used to trying things for ourselves that it seems bizarre to imagine us ever stopping. And yet, more and more, it’s becoming...
Nude Models In Florence Complain Of Difficult Working Conditions
Nude models at the fine arts academy, which was founded in 1784, complained to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera about their “exhausting” work. They want more breaks...
Gustavo Dudamel On The Purpose Of Orchestras
"Music is about relationships—how we come to understand one another, how we communicate and connect with those who are different from us, and how we build mutual...
The Dark Sides Underpinning Today’s Entrepreneurial Zeitgeist
Gig work, as it turns out, didn’t begin with Uber but with Avon direct-sales reps. The wacky metaphysics of today’s tech billionaires have their...
Why Schrödinger’s Cat Has Become A Pop Cult Sensation
How did an obscure argument about a mathematically complex and rather baffling theory of physics become embedded in public consciousness as an extraordinary exploration...
Comcast Is Bleeding Broadband Customers. Here’s Why
After reporting a net loss of 183,000 residential broadband customers in Q1 2025, Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said the company isn't "winning in the marketplace" during...
Mellon Foundation Steps Up To Support Humanities Funding Stripped By Trump Admin
The new funding, which will support humanities councils in all 50 states and six jurisdictions, comes a month after the National Endowment for the...
AI Learned About Writing From Us. Will We Now Learn About Writing From AI?
Chatbots learned from human writing. Now the influence may run in the other direction. Some people have hypothesized that the proliferation of generative-AI tools such as...
As AI Fashion Models Cause A Sensation, It’s Time To Ponder Digital Twins
As digital replicas of real people become more common, especially in image-based industries like fashion, urgent ethical questions are emerging. These include conversations about the future...
The Iowa Town Where Every Other Person Seems To Be A Writer
Iowa City is the place where contemporary English literature matters more than anywhere else on earth. The home of arguably the world’s most famous...
Metaphors Are Brilliant At Helping Us Understand Ideas. They Can Also Narrow Our Thinking
One risk is that they close down possibilities. They can shut down our thinking, coercing it to fit the shape of someone else’s comparison...
