Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Mindfulness Is Overrated. Escapism, On The Other Hand…
Meditating and other forms of mindfulness offer a metaphysical escapism that lets you pretend for a while that you are no more than an...
Eight Ways Taylor Swift Has Changed The Music Business
She’s an advocate, a style icon, a marketing wiz, a prolific songwriter, a pusher of visual boundaries and a record-breaking road warrior. And she...
Write For Free? An Existential Question
At a moment of upheaval in the arts, the suggestion that writing’s value may simply be intrinsic—a creative act worth less than the website...
An Encouraging Weekend At The Movie Box Office
“Barbie” ended up with $162 million in its first weekend of release, above Sunday’s already record-breaking estimate of $155 million. "Oppenheimer,” too, beat expectations with $82.4...
A Crisis In The Avant Garde (Or, Where Are The Provocateurs?)
What’s to blame for the lack of a coherent movement? If the avant-garde is dead, what killed it — and what’s been lost along...
Why (Despite Repeated Attempts) Books Can’t Be Disrupted By Technology
One reason books haven’t been particularly disruptable might be that many of the people looking to “fix” things couldn’t actually articulate what was broken—whether...
Odesa Cathedral Hit By Russian Missiles
This was the second time that the vast, sand-yellow Transfiguration Cathedral, which sits in the heart of Odesa’s Unesco-listed historic centre, had been attacked:...
End Of An Era: Yoko Ono Moves Out Of The Dakota And NYC
After a half century Ms. Ono has moved out of New York City to the sprawling Catskills farm she bought with Mr. Lennon in 1978....
“Sustainability” Festival Canceled After Being Unmasked As Conspiracy Theories Event
The Think Local Festival, which promised attendees the chance to “discover the roots and taste of tradition,” was due to be held on Wednesday...
Master Of The Universe: An Epic NYer Profile Of Larry Gagosian
Traditionally, the model for dealers has been to bet on raw talents, and support these artists until work by some of them sells well...
Why Presidents In The Movies Always Look Young
On screen we want our romantic leads flawless, our sitcom families lower middle-class but quirky, and our presidents capable of single-handedly killing terrorists and...
Scientists Develop Whitest Paint Ever (It Can Cool Surfaces)
“We weren’t really trying to develop the world’s whitest paint. We wanted to help with climate change, and now it’s more of a crisis,...
How Writers For TV Became Just Another Cog In The Machine
Over time “you get this tiered work force of prestige workers and lesser workers” — fewer officers, more grunts. The writers’ experience shows how...
Dallas Arts Leaders Say They Need Significant Help From City, Not Just Token Support
Arts leaders say the city is treating the needs of cultural institutions like paper cuts, when the issues they’re facing are more like bleeding,...
Study: Turns Out There Are Effective Strategies To Counter Bullshit
Turns out, the interventions do help. Reminders to think about accuracy, tips on digital literacy, and effective crowd-sourced accuracy ratings improve the information hygiene...
Reinventing Hubbard Street Dance For The Next Generation
Audience numbers had dropped off well before the pandemic, leaving some in the administration to question if they could continue to support a home...
Hollywood CEOs Have Fallen For Tech’s “Magical Thinking”
It’s not, ultimately, technology that’s at the root of the problem. It’s that the studio executives both new and old have embraced the powerful...
A Vanishingly Small Number Of International Plays Are Produced In The US. Why?
Theatre scenes in scores of countries around the world are every bit as sophisticated as ours in the U.S. (and in many cases far...
Do Hollywood Studios Realize They Are Ultimately On The Same Side As The Unions?
"My experience working in Hollywood has led me to believe that if studios are smart, they will understand that their interests are aligned with...
Children’s TV Has Evolved Into Something Entirely Different
The YouTube era of children’s programming represents a marked shift in what and how young kids watch video. For decades, children’s television was appointment viewing...
London’s Royal Opera House Orchestra Votes To Authorize Strike
The members are asking for their salaries to return to pre-COVID level. According to reports, the Royal Opera House orchestra was asked to make...
Small Indie UK Presses Are Leading The Publishing Industry Right Now
The argument runs something like this: because commercial pressures at large houses encourage cautious commissioning, nimbler indies – operating with tighter margins – step...
BroadwayCon: The State of Diversity In Theatre
This year's conference explores diversity in its various forms... - The New York Times
Study: Why People Gaslight Others
Through a qualitative analysis of survey responses from 65 gaslighting victims (ages 18 to 69), Klein and his co-authors at the University of Toronto...
The Tide Turns – Criticism Pivots Away From Moralizing…
The rise of “postcritique” signals a similar pivot in some English departments, while in the broader culture the aftermath of the Trump years has...
