Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
The Unlikely Success Of A Strange Little Book Store In Alabama
“Our books don’t cost more,” Reiss likes to say, “but they are worth more.” - The New Yorker
Are We Living In A Culture Of Epstein?
A different dark vision of society has emerged. Suddenly, we seem to be living in the age of Epstein. We tell ourselves that by...
Of Priorities, Interests, And Funding The Humanities
There’s soft coercion, where they are providing an incentive structure where they will not fund projects unless they have a social-justice angle. - Chronicle of...
Trump Administration Sued For Altering History In National Parks
The suit accuses the Trump administration of “a sustained campaign to erase history and undermine science,” so that the parks no longer do what...
The Acute Differences Between Practice And Performance
The problem is rarely a lack of musical ability. Practice alone doesn’t prepare us for the psychological demands of performance. Practice and performance are...
Illinois Governor’s Proposed Arts Budget Is Flat. Funding Is Less Than It Was 20...
Arts Alliance Illinois, the statewide arts advocacy organization, is calling on the General Assembly to increase the arts budget by 20%, which it says...
Is Australia’s Funding For The Arts Being Dismantled?
‘Unfortunately the funding precarity is having very real impacts on employment of artists and arts workers. The stress and uncertainty are impacting the health...
Ai WeiWei: The Threat Of Censorship In An AI-Dominated World
As we enter the AI era, human collective thought patterns, ideological structures, and the very essence of individual existence and dignity are undeniably under...
Are We Moving Back To An Oral-Based Culture From One That Was Text-Based?
The age of orality was an age of social storytelling and flexible cultural memory. The age of literacy made possible a set of abstract...
Executive Director – UMaine Collins Center for the Arts
The Executive Director manages all aspects of the Collins Center for the Arts (CCA) including programming, development, and engagement with the campus and community.
When “Better Than” meets “Good Enough”
The question isn't whether AI will change our definition of creative excellence. The question is how we will engage with that change: with curiously and critical insight, with our existing values intact but our existing definitions loosely held? Or defending the current map as if it were the entire territory.
Good Morning
The Pritzker Prize — architecture’s Nobel — has delayed its annual laureate announcement after renewed scrutiny of Tom Pritzker’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein (The...
Report: Three Quarters Of Chicago’s Live Music Venues Are Not Profitable
“The State of Live,” newly released by the Chicago Independent Venue League, finds that nearly three out of four independent live entertainment venues in...
Has The UK’s Era Of Free Museum Entry Come To An End?
As funding pressures deepen across the sector, and running costs increase, a policy once treated as untouchable is now under renewed scrutiny. - The...
Vandals Attack Outdoor Skating Rink At The Kennedy Center
An unidentified person poured a substance, likely some combination of motor oil and antifreeze, on a temporary ice rink built outside the John F....
Has Hyper-specialization Harmed The Humanities?
Hyperspecialization has dominated the academy over the past decades. More and more, professors and outside observers note that academics silo research into increasingly minute...
The Vegas Sphere Generates $1.2 Billion In Income In 2025
The company reported adjusted operating profit of $261.8 million for FY 2025, which was up 138% YoY. - Music Business Worldwide
A Video Game That Lets Players “Repatriate” Art From Western Museums
A new South African video game lets players take back African artefacts held in western museums in a series of heists, amid a growing...
Does Counting The Books You Read Kill The Pleasure?
As reading is increasingly tracked and performed online, there is a growing sense that a solitary pleasure is being reshaped by the logic of...
FCC Pushes TV Programmers To Produce Patriotic Content
Suggestions of pro-America content the department made include running public service announcements, short segments, or full specials specifically promoting civic education, inspiring local stories,...
What Happens When Writing Becomes Easy?
The advent of the chatbot raised an unsettling question: What if writing didn’t have to be hard? What if that noble ordeal was no...
How The Washington Post Missed The Plot On What Readers Want
I don’t believe in this inevitability. As a reader of many distinctive publications, I want to be led by them. What makes them special is where...
Is Streaming The Key For Cable’s Survival?
The gains validate a bold bet by Charter Chief Executive Chris Winfrey: that cable could survive, if no longer thrive, by embracing the apps that had begun...
AJ Chronicles: Metropolitan Opera as Poster Child
My weekly pondering on arts and cultural stories for the week of February 22nd.
The World Shunned The Taliban. So Why Do They Seem To Be Thriving?
In January, the Taliban announced a new criminal code that, among other provisions, allows domestic violence and the corporal punishment of children and appears...
