Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Time To Ban Smartphones In Schools
Children do not use cellular technology; the technology uses our children—by monetizing their data and converting their attention into advertising revenue. - The Walrus
The Pitfalls Of Today’s Movie Criticism
The biggest flaw for film writers, I began to realize, was that often writers are told to draft superfluous articles about celebrities to satisfy...
Be Prepared: A Weird Summer For Movies
Last weekend’s failures may mark the beginning of an unusual summer packed with Pyrrhic victories and well-reviewed but overlooked projects. Still, a bad Memorial...
Alternatives to Higher Education Are Proliferating
"Programs that address this discontent exhibit a remarkably consistent set of characteristics. They are interdisciplinary, integrating methods and perspectives—from, say, engineering and the social...
Canada’s Film Industry Is Struggling To Survive
Because despite success at Cannes — and a few unforgettable notes at the Oscars — Canadian films and filmmakers still make up a small sliver of...
The False Gods Of AI
Computers might in fact approach what we call thinking, but they don’t dream, or want, or desire, and this matters more than AI’s proponents...
How Hollywood Got Trapped In A Doom Loop
Turns out Hollywood executives do believe in magic. Somehow they thought that forcing six months’ worth of strikes by writers and actors last year would come...
The Brilliant Art Of Being A Critic: Peter Schjeldahl
Peter’s prose was always ruthlessly concentrated. His wit had a bubbling, organic quality: The line punched, but you never heard the clanking windup machinery....
Ticketmaster Was Hacked, Exposing 560 Million Accounts
According to a screenshot of the post shared by Mr. Callow, the group posted that it had the identifying information of 560 million Ticketmaster...
Tokyo To Get Its Own High Line Park
The project is part of a global trend of repurposing old roads and railways into places for pedestrians and wildlife. While the skywalk won’t...
A New Generation Of Online Culture Curators
We are in a transitional phase of digital culture, and thus more in need than ever of friendly faces, personable human guides to help...
How Artists Go From Unknown To Famous
Hugo McCloud, 44, offers a recent case study of one path from obscurity to recognition. In just over a decade, he had gone from...
Study: Links Between Conservative Political Viewpoints And Creativity
A new study reveals that conservatism is associated with less creativity, across 28 countries. - Psychology Today
Massive Copyright Lawsuit Over 1000 Reggaeton Songs Moves Forward
A federal judge has denied the motion to dismiss a massive copyright lawsuit targeting over a 1,000 reggaeton songs from such globally recognized acts as Bad Bunny and J Balvin. -...
How Helen Vendler Pressed Meaning Into Poetry
Helen insisted that it was the poem’s shape—its form, the thing that made it look unlike any other type of utterance—that gave it meaning....
Writing A Memoir? Maybe Reconsider?
Before you start yours, consider this: What you think is riveting about your life might not seem so to others. As one publisher put it,...
Our Culture Needs More Contrarians
Music writers of 2024 have achieved a remarkable synchrony with consumers, such that, for the first time in living memory, the most popular musicians...
US Audience Demand For Foreign Language Shows Cools
In Q1 2024 the share of audience demand in the US for foreign language shows was 13.6%, which is smaller than the share of...
Monet Destroyed As Many As 500 Of His Paintings
Dissatisfied with his paintings, he took knives and his own boots to them rather than send them to hotly anticipated Paris exhibitions, including one...
A First: All Of This Year’s Stratford Festival Directors Are Women
That women directors are leading all three Shakespeare productions at the festival this season signifies an important shift for the company, which for decades...
Opera, Careers, And Jealousy
I am a jealous opera singer. When I’m in the audience of any opera production, at least once I’ll think to myself, “It could...
Report: When Listeners Move To Podcasts, It Becomes Their Primary Source
Edison Research’s Share of Ear data shows podcast listeners spent a third (32%) of their audio listening time with podcasts. That beats out AM/FM...
Hollywood’s Number Of “Blue Collar” Workers Declines
Combined, the “white collar” class of creatives, managers and specialists accounted for eight out of ten jobs in Hollywood in 2022, up from seven...
Report: AI Threats To The Art World
Both art institutions and artists face existential challenges in negotiating this AI universe and its emerging financial model. Art-world experts consulted by The Art...
Jonathan Haidt’s Alarming “Anxious Generation”
No media consumer is an easier mark than the guilt-ridden parent, whose perseverations about not paying enough attention can be amplified a millionfold by...
