Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
What We Lose When Philanthropy Becomes Bureaucratic And Safe
Over the past several decades, philanthropy has become much more bureaucratic: if you want a grant from one of these well-endowed foundations, you have...
The Idea Of Freedom Has A Long And Fraught History
"Freedom is neither a fixed idea nor a story of progress toward a predetermined goal. The history of American freedom is a tale of...
What Social Science Says About The Value Of Diversity
Whatever the fate of modern DEI programs in corporate America, diversity of experience, thought, and ideology is a meritorious goal for a company to pursue....
The Most Enduring Tune In History?
Why did this humble tune, first conjured by medieval farmers, capture so many people’s imaginations and even feature in The Addams Family? - BBC
Hope For AI: Consciousness Across Generations
Might the relationship between humanity and artificial intelligence follow a similar logic—a hope of consciousness helping consciousness across generations? Perhaps the best thing that...
Steep Drop In International Students At US Colleges This Fall
Arizona State University reported a fall semester decline for the first time since 2020. Declines have been announced at universities in Texas, Missouri and Illinois. The state of Massachusetts is expecting about 10,000...
Museums Are Under Fire. Remaining Silent Is Not An Option
Museums serving audiences of color are becoming targets of immigration agents. Amid these changes, the voices of some directors and curators seem to have...
Trump Brings The Culture Wars To Museums And Parks
Those supporting Trump’s actions say they will restore national pride, but critics in the arts and parks, as well as a number of Democrats,...
He Bought Sotheby’s. Trouble Followed
For those caught up in the experiment, it has been torrid in the extreme. Since 2019, hundreds of employees have left Sotheby’s—up to a...
The Poet With An Inadvertently Brilliant Legacy Strategy
Unlike his contemporary and admirer T.S. Eliot, he didn’t see history as ending “with a whimper” but rather with a long, subsiding, pleasurable sigh...
Guess What? You Don’t Really Own That Movie You Just Bought
The problem is that you aren’t downloading the movie, to own and watch forever; you’re just getting access to it on Amazon’s servers –...
Netflix’s Algorithms Have Changed What We’re Watching
Algorithm movies usually exhibit easy-to-follow story beats that leave no viewer behind; under this regime, exposition is no longer a screenwriting faux pas. -...
What If The Moral Arc Of The Universe Bends Toward… Chaos And Confusion?
Reality, as we now understand, does not tend towards existential flourishing and eternal becoming. Instead, systems collapse, things break down, and time tends irreversibly...
What Does It Really Mean The “Reasonable” People Can Disagree?
To say that “reasonable people can disagree” can encourage suspension of judgment in response to important matters of personal and social concern. - 3...
The Last Days Of Arts Criticism?
Arts criticism has been vanishingly difficult to break into for ages, no one’s idea of a growth industry. But publications have managed to make...
Rethinking Where Broadcasting Is Now
Broadcasting no longer conveys a geographic monopoly on the distribution of content. It’s becoming clear that a business model based largely on the broadcast...
So What Really Does The Edinburgh Fringe Do For Theatre?
If it works for the few but not more widely – in particular, if it doesn’t work for global-majority artists or those breaking with...
How Are We Defining Art Movements In The 21st Century?
Gone for the most part are the -isms that defined artistic movements in the 20th century: Cubism, Surrealism, Fauvism, Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism. Manifestos too are increasingly...
Claim: Elimination Of Government Funding To Rural Public Broadcasting Will Push Stations Left
Instead of toppling our radio towers, the funding cut is just likely to make them lean further left. Was that the White House’s and...
Anthropic Settles Class Action Copyright Suit Brought By Authors
Anthropic has reached a preliminary settlement in a class action lawsuit brought by a group of prominent authors, marking a major turn in of the most significant ongoing AI...
AI Music Generator Suno Lays Out Its Defense
"No Suno output contains anything like a ‘sample’ from a recording in the training set, so no Suno output can infringe the rights in...
Giles Havergal, 87, Longtime Artistic Director Of Glasgow Citizens Theatre
Havergal, with his co-directors, the designer Philip Prowse and the playwright and translator Robert David MacDonald, ran the beautiful jewel of a Victorian theatre on...
YouTube’s Sneaky AI Processing
“They’re training us, the audience, to get used to the AI look and eventually view it as normal.” - The Atlantic
Rethinking The US Art Market
In the space of just a few weeks, four prominent U.S. galleries announced they would cease operations in their current forms. - Artsy
Egypt Changes The Visitor Experience Around The Pyramids
In April, the government announced the pilot launch of the pyramids area development project, leading to changes at the world’s most famous archaeological site. -...
