Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Yearning For The Meaning Of Consciousness
"What I find moving in these discussions is the intense yearning for a world that is more alive than secular scientists might think it...
The Collective Community Wound When Famous Buildings Burn
The fire will have obvious economic consequences for the city, particularly through the loss of businesses caught in and close to the fire. But...
Exodus Of Top Staff At The Art Gallery Of Ontario
Art Gallery of Ontario deputy director and chief curator Julian Cox will leave his post this April after eight years in the role, marking the latest departure...
Roblox Is Hugely Popular — But What Is It Teaching Our Kids?
Roblox burgeoned during the COVID-19 pandemic; many of my students told me that their most cherished remote-learning memories were actually ditching Zoom classes to play Roblox...
Is There Still Room For “Beautiful” Mathematics In An AI World?
GH Hardy believed there should be a strong aesthetic judgment in mathematics, drawing parallels with poetry, and argued that beauty is the first test of good...
Why The German Government Feels Threatened By Independent Bookshops
Independent bookshops are dangerous because they interrupt us. They do not optimise our curiosity. They derail it. Is that the reason why Germany’s culture...
Longtime Kennedy Center Patrons Contemplate A Shutdown
For many loyal patrons, the question has become how to fill the void left by the cancellations and the impending two-year closing. - The...
The Argument Against Optimizing
What you lose in optimizing morality is the same thing you lose in maximizing your airline-mile spend. In other words, nothing quantifiable—but precisely the...
Amazon Pulls Sponsorship Of Paris Bookfair After Accusations Of Promoting AI Books
The SLF has been sharply critical of Amazon, arguing that it destabilises the book trade. In a statement reported by the Bookseller, it accused the...
How Gen Z Is Hacking The High Cost Of Music Festivals
Enter Breakaway: a growing dance-music festival brand built on the premise of making concerts and festivals accessible and affordable again. - Fortune
How Does The Troubled Philadelphia Museum Of Art Get Its Swing Back? Here Are...
The museum today is focused on the fact that fewer visitors are coming now than before the pandemic, and the concern is legitimate. But...
Directors Are Mattering More In Hollywood
An emerging trend skews more classic Hollywood—directors, particularly those who might be considered auteurs for their well-defined aesthetic and storytelling style, have begun to...
How Hollywood Has Adjusted Its Messaging During The Second Trump Administration
The creators of some of the more politically compelling movies and TV shows of the past year have explored how being alive feels during...
An Opera Singer Who’s Made A Name As A Car Salesman
He started making videos of himself performing robust opera arias while standing outside on a car lot, wearing his name tag. He composed lyrics...
Quentin Tarantino Has Written A Theatre Farce For The West End
The stranger-than-fiction truth is that Tarantino has written an original, old-fashioned British farce, in the door-slamming, trouser-dropping, mistaken identity vein of Brian Rix or...
Thinking Of AI Art — You Have To Think Of It As Its Own...
I don’t understand how anyone can say they’re anti something that’s potentially creative. If it’s not working for you today it could work for you...
UK Museums Hold Hundreds Of Thousands Of Human Remains
An investigation by the Guardian found that UK museums hold more than 263,000 items of human remains from around the world, including whole skeletons,...
LiveNation Settles Antitrust Case
The centerpiece of the agreement is expected to be structural changes to Live Nation’s ticketing business. Under the settlement, Ticketmaster will be required to...
AJ Chronicles: “Future Vision” and what the Boston Symphony signaled this week
The Boston Symphony's board didn't fire Andris Nelsons as its music director. Not exactly. They declined to renew his contract because he and the BSO weren't "aligned on future vision" — the board's own words, offered without apology. Not artistic differences. Not budget. Not performance. Future vision. That phrase is
Andris Nelsons Out As Music Director Of The Boston Symphony
“The decision to not renew his contract was made by the BSO’s board of trustees because, beyond our shared desire to ensure our orchestra...
Ukrainian musical mosaics in New York City
March 19–21: Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival returns to DiMenna Center for Classical Music to celebrate the rich diversity of Ukraine's peoples, places, and musical practices
Congresswoman Files Suit To Stop Trump From Closing The Kennedy Center
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) on Friday filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to block President Trump from closing the Kennedy Center after he announced last month that it would shut down...
Washington’s National Symphony Top Official Resigns
“It’s no secret that this has been a really hard year,” she said. “So I started looking for a new opportunity several months ago.”...
Fandom Communities Seem Very Broken Right Now
“I see that a lot in different fandoms, where people won’t click the link, they’ll just see what they see on social, they’ll see...
Appraising Zubin Mehta At The End Of His Career
The most efficient maestro of his generation — blessed with a brain surgeon’s hands and a barn owl’s ears — he never commanded a...
