Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
General Custer And The Changing Cultural Record
Artists and writers have interpreted and reinterpreted George Armstrong Custer, who died in a storied battle that just had a major anniversary. - The...
What I Learned About Myself Through Translating
“Translators like to say, we discover our authors,” writes translator and novelist Anton Hur. “But maybe we’re wrong. Maybe the books choose us.” -...
Why It’s So Difficult To Calculate Benefits And Costs Of Technology Innovation
When a tool reliably performs a cognitive operation, the internal capacity for that operation tends to weaken with disuse. People who know they can...
What American Classical Music Needs
Classical music in the United States is borrowed from Europe, and that borrowing was initially ambitious and impressive. An apex was attained around 1900. -...
Alex Ross Is Leaving The New Yorker
My latest column, about the Ojai Music Festival, is my last. Although the musical scene exhilarates me more than ever — contemporary composition is eternally vital — I...
Why Leisure Is A Tough Gig
Give people an hour with nothing scheduled, and many fill it with thoughts of to-dos: the unanswered email, the errand that’s been put off,...
Does Listening To Music While You Work Help You Focus?
Researchers generally agree that the relationship between music and learning is complex. The effects of music on studying and other cognitively demanding tasks appear...
Mounting Scientific Evidence That Reading On Screens Results In Lower Comprehension
Reading comprehension was significantly lower when the students read on screens. The researchers also found that the number of “transitions,” where students would go...
Australia’s Theatre Sector Raises Alarm
Australia’s theatre industry is in desperate need of tax reform to keep it alive, experts have warned the federal government, after two major touring...
AJ Chronicles: It’s Getting Expensive to Prove You’re a Human Artist
We're now focused on "doping tests" to determine if artists have cheated. Rather than pee in a bottle, however, we're depending on AI detector tools and documentary proof of human creation. Did the Foundation double down to ask what's the best writing? No. They cared more about how it was made. Perhaps that's important. Of course it is. But, in a way, it's now an impossible question. Moreover, it may ultimately be the wrong question.
University Musical Society seeks Vice President and Chief Development Officer.
The next VP and CDO will be a key institutional leader and strategic partner to the UMS President, responsible for leading a comprehensive fundraising program.
The Critics Hated It. You Didn’t.
Good Morning,
Critics savaged the Michael Jackson biopic. Audiences just made it the highest-grossing biopic ever (BBC). The gap between professional judgment and what people...
Critics Might Have Hated The Michael Jackson Movie, But It’s Now The Highest-Grossing Biopic...
The recently released Michael Jackson movie has overtaken Oppenheimer as the highest-grossing biopic of all time, after taking $977m (£739m) at the worldwide box...
The AI Design Aesthetic That’s Taking Over The Internet
As Claude Design catches on among Anthropic users, a generic-design aesthetic is emerging that’s as noticeable as text-based A.I. tics such as overenthusiastic em-dash...
Why You Need To Be A Better Reader
Navigating today’s digital information landscape requires strong critical evaluation skills. Reading plays a central role in this process by serving not only as a means...
When Being A Critic Was Glamorous
If you look at these people—literally look at photos or watch footage—you discover that they were either beautiful or charismatic, or both. They all...
Did Marcel Duchamp Wreck Modern Art?
Duchamp left behind a legacy that people either love or loathe. He is known as the father of conceptual art, but his so-called ideas...
Restorers Discover How A Rembrandt Painting Was Altered
Layers of overpaint have been removed from a 17th-century painting, confirming that it was painted by Rembrandt and revealing that a turban on one of the...
How Do We Learn To Read Books Again?
I don’t necessarily believe that reading books is going to automatically fix everything in your life or anything. I do think, however, it is...
Why Are GenZers Flocking To Movie Theatres To Watch Reality TV?
Where binge-watching reality TV used to happen in the secret and safety of your own home, the popularity of “Love Island USA,” and shows...
Higher Ed Has Lost Public Trust. What To Do?
The reports differ in their diagnoses of where higher education went wrong and, by extension, of what should be done now. But their mere...
How AI Is Reviving Dying Languages
Over the months, as the learning language model is trained on bits of the language — such as an old-age French nursery rhyme —...
A New Print-On-Demand Books Program For Libraries
Ingram Library Services and Penguin Random House have announced a print-on-demand program designed to supply libraries with popular backlist titles. - Publishers Weekly
Crystal Bridges Gets a New Chief Curator
Courtenay Finn is currently chief curator and director of programs at the Orange County Museum of Art, which merged with the University of California, Irvine last...
Mel Brooks At 100
“I wanted to keep the party going. I wanted to keep the happiness and joy and explosions of laughter going into a dour part...
