Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Edinburgh International Book Festival Warns Of Cutbacks
The new director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival has warned Scotland is at risk of losing arts events “every other week” without more...
The Largest-Ever Expansion Of DisneyLand
The Magic Kingdom expansion is one part of a $60 billion investment Disney has said it’s planning for its parks, cruises and experiences over the next...
A Young Woman’s Journal To The High Temple Of Violin Making
Violins like Ayoung An’s, made in the tradition of Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri, require about two months of work and sell for about 16,000...
Study: People (Regardless Of Culture) Are Drawn To Simple Rhythms
A comprehensive study spearheaded by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics provides evidence that people...
Why People Don’t Read More?
Millions of books, including self-published titles, are issued every year. But, according to an Economist/YouGov poll, 46 percent of Americans did not read a book...
The Coddling Of The Undergraduate?
To have such solicitous faculty on hand to advocate for students’ interests is, depending on how you look at it, either wonderfully supportive or...
Protest Against The “Biennialization” Of Venice
“We turn a blind eye to the consequences of this extreme ‘biennialization’ of the city. Functions for citizens disappear and consequently citizens disappear. And...
Genius Versus Hierarchies And Freedom
The contemporary fixation on extolling “freedom” as a cornerstone of artistic expression stems from a flattened understanding of history. Those for whom this is...
How Did British Cultural Institutions Become So Ideologically Driven?
Britain’s institutions are now beset by wokery, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Britain’s museums. - The Critic
Did Beethoven Have A Secret Code?
Something in his brain shifted; later, he would tell people that it was as if someone had turned over a deck of cards to...
One Of World’s Oldest Books Is Being Sold
A single scribe is said to have written the codex, which is made up of 52 leaves - or 104 pages - over a...
Pitchfork Had A Huge Audience But It Closed. What Does This Mean For Music...
This moment represents a new low for music journalism as a whole. But it’s in times like these that prefigurative visions come more clearly...
Canada’s Indigo Books Bought By Investment Fund
The Trilogy firms—which are controlled by Canadian billionaire Gerald Schwartz, an Indigo board member and the husband of Indigo founder and CEO Heather Reisman—already...
Toni Morrison’s Rejection Letters
During her 16 years at Random House, Morrison wrote hundreds of rejection letters. Usually typed on pink, yellow, or white carbonless copy paper, and...
We’re Obsessed With Stories About The End Of The World. But Then We Always...
Evidently, the time is ripe for a survey of the branch of cultural production concerned with the end of the world. And yet, tales...
Is This Drawing On A Villa’s Kitchen Wall A Michelangelo? After Five Centuries, It’s...
News that the drawing is going on the market is likely to expand what has until now been a rather low-key, academic debate over...
Charlotte Symphony Quietly Raises $41M For The Future
“This campaign is going to solve a major problem that the symphony has wrestled with for years, of not having a big enough endowment...
Marlon Brando Was A Revolutionary Actor. Where Are His Successors?
April 3 marks the 100th anniversary of Marlon Brando’s birth — the centenary of one of the most important figures of 20th-century popular culture....
We All Have Rights, Right? Well…
The idea that we have rights is an unquestioned certainty, but rights are also often a source of considerable conflict in the modern world....
As Baby Boomer Leaders Retire, A Shortage Of New Non-Profit Leaders
Just as more baby boomers are stepping down from the top spots, fewer people want to take their place, and those who are interested...
Music For Video Games Is A Booming Industry For Composers
The music created to accompany and enhance the quests, missions, adventures, and world-building that unfolds in games doesn’t stay in the digital realm. “It’s...
Hollywood Musicians Sign New Contract Including Streaming Fees
The agreement, which covers basic theatrical motion picture and basic television motion picture contracts, gives musicians streaming residuals for the first time, as well...
British Museum Being Investigated For Stolen Artifacts
The artifacts are sacred wood and stone altar tablets, or tabots, that were stolen by British soldiers during the Battle of Maqdala. The items...
Alex Ross: Why Conductors Are Collecting Orchestras
Both the Concertgebouw and the Chicago Symphony are orchestras at the very highest level, and they deserve a conductor’s full attention. The definition of...
Spotify To Raise Prices Again Because… Audiobooks
It’s reportedly because of audiobooks. Spotify added audiobooks to its service last year on a trial basis. The price increase is how the streaming service...