Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
The Coachella Experience Has Declined. An Identity Crisis?
The livestreams haven't calmed the complaints about Coachella's lacklustre audiences — many who watch online have commented that the crowds aren't as hype as they believe they would be...
Trump Attacks Have Provoked Canadian Nationalism. But What Does That Look Like?
A more assertive Canadian nationalism than any we’ve seen this century has come roaring back, bringing with it not only a renewed patriotism but...
Climate Protesters Pardoned For Gluing Their Hands To Old Master Painting
The two protesters, members of the German environmental group Letzte Generation (Last Generation), entered the gallery and attached one hand each to the frame...
How Is It That Ireland Hasn’t Had A National Dance Company?
How is it that an island that has managed to produce one of the strongest theatrical traditions in the West could be without a...
How Theatre Should Help Save Democracy
Culture is the sphere in which people debate and determine who they are, what they value and the kinds of lives they wish to...
How Curiosity Fires Up Great Leadership
Curiosity fosters openness and collaboration while reducing decision-making errors. Yet only 24% of organizations actively encourage it, leaving a wealth of untapped potential on...
How Trump’s Threats To Canada Shifted Its Election To All About Culture
Almost all unanimously say Conservative threats to tear up cultural institutions just as Trump aggressively seeks to recalibrate America’s relationship with Canada, whether through...
Saltz: The New Frick — What’s Not To Love?
There is a sexy underground auditorium, a 60-seat café, and the entire second floor of the mansion is now filled with art. There’s almost...
300 Customers Form Human Chain To Move Beloved Book Store
After announcing she was moving her independent bookstore about a block away to a new location, her regular customers all had the same question:...
The US’s Biggest Export Is Education. Is Trump Wrecking It?
In dollar terms, last year, the United States sold more educational services to the rest of the world than it sold in natural gas and...
Lessons From The Taliban’s Extreme War On Music
Since their return in 2021, the Taliban have waged a war on music, claiming that it causes “moral corruption”. According to figures from...
Hungary’s Lucrative Production Incentives Put Hollywood Values On The Line
None of the studios, production companies or streamers approached by Deadline who have films and TV series filming in Hungary are commenting, with current...
Many Thought TV Would Kill Movies. It Didn’t. Lessons For The Coming Of AI?
Today, lessons from the introduction of TV demonstrate how the creative industries have navigated the introduction of new technology. And could offer some comfort...
Hungary’s New Repressive LGBTQ+ Laws Don’t Seem To Have Discouraged Hollywood Tax Incentives
Both Europe’s most right-wing nation and its second hottest destination for international shoots, Hungary has shocked the world with its recent ban on LGBTQ+...
The Shutting Down Of American Intellectual Leadership
There’s a cost to this beyond the tourist dollars and economic impacts others will analyse. It’s the great silencing of a cultural conversation once...
Claim: No One Wants To Watch Overweight Dancers. Really?
As an absolute entry level precondition for excellence in ballet, a dancer cannot be overweight. - The Times (UK)
Eric Schmidt: AI Will Rival The Smartest Artists In a Few Years
“This is happening faster than… our society, our democracy, our laws will address, and there’s lots of implications. That’s why it’s underhyped – people...
High Practitioner Of The Takedown Read
Andrea Chu has achieved a rare ascendancy in the literary world over the past several years, in equal parts for her clever, lethal takedowns...
Hollywood’s Click-Obsessed Descent Into Meaninglessness
Conservative dominance of Hollywood may prove to be a much rosier future than the one we’re actually going to get: a future where pop...
Coachella’s Tickets Are So Expensive People Buy Them On Installment Plans. Good Idea? Or...
Coachella’s payment plan is just this: For a $599 GA ticket (including fees), fans had the option to put $49.99 down when tickets went...
How Architecture Shapes Everything About Video Games
These virtual spaces do more than serve as mere backdrops for gameplay. The design of buildings, streets and entire cities guides player emotions, behaviours...
A History Of Spelling Reform (Please Make It Simpler!)
In the early 20th century, the industrialist Andrew Carnegie provided the seed money for the Simplified Spelling Board, which, unlike the Spelling Reform Association,...
Study: Number Of Theatre Productions In UK Has Declined By A Third In The...
In 2024, the 40 best-funded theatre companies that make their own productions - ranging from the National Theatre to the Colchester Mercury - opened...
Why “Close Reading” Can Miss The Plot
When you studied literature in school or university, I expect that you were taught, implicitly or explicitly, that this plot-focused way of reading was...
A Conservative Argument For Culture Funding Betrays The Problems With Such Arguments
Its curious incoherence is emblematic of a movement of cultural conservatives that’s lost the plot. - Artnet
