Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
School Field Trip To See “James and the Giant Peach” Canceled After Parents Complain
The cancellation came after a parent told school board members that she was worried about her 5-year-old daughter’s upcoming field trip to see the...
Fetishizing Neutrality: The Mythologies Of Objectivity
Is neutrality even attainable? “No journalistic process is objective,” Wesley Lowery, a former Washington Post reporter, observed in a widely discussed New York Times opinion piece from 2020. “And no...
Traffic Flow — A Story Of Chasing Online Audience
Most people who write for the internet have had the experience of publishing something that escapes the bounds of one’s usual audience and goes...
NYC’s New Museum Of Natural History Extension Is A Winner
New Yorkers live to grouse about new buildings. This one seems destined to be an instant heartthrob and colossal attraction. - The New York...
Ground Zero For The Art Of Conspiracy Theories: Denver Airport
Earlier this year, a claim gained traction on TikTok that a “new” art installation in Concourse A legitimized the flat earth conspiracy theory. Videos attempting...
Scott Timberg’s Boom Times
That a collection is as well versed in Rechy as it is in Dudamel tells you a lot about the writer, as well as...
Hollywood Writers Fear Being Replaced By AI
“We have a bunch of A.I.s that are creating a bunch of entertainment that people are kind of OK with.” In their attempts to...
Flagship HMV Music To Reopen Its Shuttered Flagship Store In London
It said the return to 363 Oxford Street was due to a "dramatic turnaround", with HMV returning to profit in 2022. The store will...
The Indigo Books Cyberattack Portends Many Bad Things
Indigo’s data breach is a nightmare for those affected, many of whom now live in fear their information will be made public at some...
Clubhouse, Embraced By The Art World, Lays Off Staff, Tries To “Reset”
Clubhouse, the live audio app that once drew big buzz and interest in a multi-billion-dollar takeover, is “resetting” and letting go of 50% of its staff...
Independent Film: An Alternative History Of Movie-Making
Instead of embodying the mainstream, twentieth-century independent filmmaking formed a crucial alternative to it—a virtual counter-history of cinema. A list of the best of...
New Trend: Fake Books As Decoration
While some people are going all in and covering entire walls in fake books, others are aghast at the thought that someone would think...
Do Funders Not Trust Us?
Enter trust-based philanthropy—a type of support defined by mutuality, transparency, and unrestricted funding. This is a model that has gained popularity across the philanthropic...
Three Ways To Think About Creativity And Artificial Intelligence
There are three responses we could have in response to my question, “What does it mean to be creative in the midst of ubiquitous...
Lebrecht — One Man’s Relationship With Beethoven’s Music
It is a sad fact in the 2020s that anyone writing a book praising the achievements of an artist on the order of Ludwig...
Lawsuit Against The Internet Archive Library Is A Weird Look
Publishers and libraries ought to be on the same side: libraries aim to advance learning by providing free and open access to information; publishing...
After NPR Quits, Public Radio Stations Ponder Leaving Twitter
More than 30 stations have announced so far that they will no longer use Twitter. Some station leaders say they made the decision to...
Why Our Brain’s Connections To Our Bodies Get Crossed
Nothing that we know of stops the right side of the brain from connecting with the right side of the body. That wiring scheme...
The Allure Of Conspiracy Theories In A Time Of Complexities
"In a world overshadowed by immensely complex crises that demand cooperation across the human species, we are finding it necessary, as if we were...
The Inevitable Backlash Against Anti-Colonialism
In the 2020s, our collective understanding of the unfinished, sublimated, institutionalized nature of the British colonial past has undoubtedly reached a tipping point. And...
Claim: Now Is A Golden Age For Criticism?
Quantitatively and qualitatively, critical production is flourishing, despite – and in some cases because of – the dire economic state in and around the...
Brussels Royal Museum Director Resigns After Allegations Of Abuse
In December, 31 of the museum’s 176 employees sent an open letter to Thomas Dermine, who, as Belgium’s Secretary of State, oversees federal museums. The letter detailed...
The Restorative Powers Of Reading
We all recognise how important self-care is and that books help you feel part of a bigger world. Which is why we choose to...
Touring A Show In A Time Of Climate Change: Theatre That Recreates Rather Than...
"It's a delicate experiment in what happens when we really try and tune in to local audiences rather than just deliver the same product...
How Children’s Museums Are Evolving
Once venues for younger children that provided rainy-day entertainment through exhibits and a scattering of hands-on activities, they’re expanding their scope by offering a...
