Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
David Geffen’s Cultural Philanthropy
At 79, Geffen has planted himself into the pantheon of leading American philanthropists. He has handed out $1.2 billion over the past 25 years...
Publishers Consider Higher Prices, Cheaper Paper
Some presses are exploring printing on cheaper and thinner paper, postponing reprints for older books and publishing fewer titles to reduce costs and avoid...
Why Are People Drawn To Those Tacky Tourist Tchotchkes?
Souvenirs are unique objects that at once reveal how we perceive others (the most popular souvenir bought in France is a beret) and how...
After A Professor’s Firing, Reconsidering The State Of Higher Ed
Was this evidence that college students have become entitled customers, or is the existence of a “weed-out class,” one that many students struggle to...
The Artworld Came To Kosovo. Now What?
For a country as young as Kosovo, which achieved independence in 2008, the arrival of Manifesta this summer was a coup, bringing hundreds of...
The Death Of Music Tours?
“So I had a tour that had me making no profit – and possibly a loss – and the only incentive was to stay...
The Moneyball-ization Of Culture, Of Everything
As I’ve written before, the quantitative revolution in culture is a living creature that consumes data and spits out homogeneity. - The Atlantic
Tate Modern Director Announces Departure
Over the course of the last two decades, Frances Morris served in various role at the London museum, as head of displays and as...
Police In Canada Take To Substack To Defend Against Critics
The newsletter marked a new step in an evolving PR strategy for an institution that, sources say, is grappling both with its brand and...
Elon Musk’s Twitter Could Be In For A World Of Hurt
If Musk carries through on his ideas even partly, Twitter users could see big and confusing shifts in the platform’s features and social dynamics....
To Fight Disinformation, We Have To Understand Why It Works
These creators understand that we are a species of storytellers, not rational actors. To speak to our irrationality, and tell these stories, they adopt...
Dancing Around Art
A dance residency is a relatively avant-garde move for an art museum. Now imagine using museum spaces as dance workshops and, literally, pop-up theaters,...
Lil Nas X’s “I Will Avenge U Mr Van Gogh” Meme Takes Off
On Tuesday evening, Lil Nas X posted an iconic diptych of himself “throwing” a photoshopped van Gogh “Sunflowers” painting at an Andy Warhol soup...
New York Theatre’s Supply Chain Problem
“Scene shops and lighting and sound shops got rid of a lot of their equipment during the shutdown. They sold it or did other...
Science Publishing Has A Big Photoshop Problem
By editing an image to produce a desired result, a scientist can manufacture proof for a favored hypothesis, or create a signal out of...
Disney Animation Stars Its First Plus-Size Heroine. Some Viewers Protest
Social media users have questioned Disney's intentions behind Reflect, saying the two-minute length didn't leave enough room for nuance, and the message of body positivity...
How Horror Became Hollywood’s Go-To Genre In 2022
Yes, horror has long enjoyed a loyal audience. But 2022 has proved an especially strong year commercially for chilling flicks, producing hits including Universal...
John Mauceri: The Political Power Of Music
Those who believe the trope, then, that classical music has little or no currency are mistaken. At least the leaders of Russia and Ukraine...
He Made 300,000 Paintings. Sold Most Of Them, Too
At 65, Steve Keene may still be New York’s most prolific painter, and certainly the one most beloved in ’90s indie-rock circles. A college...
Seen It Before: Shakespeare Plays That Apply To The UK’s Current Political Situation
Questions of moral authority, the right to rule and the nature of a good leader are recurring themes in Shakespeare’s oeuvre. Recent political events...
When Good Stories Win Over Ideas And Fact, There’s… Trouble
Peter Brooks warns that our “mindless valorization of storytelling” makes us more susceptible to those with more malevolent intentions — “inertly accepting the notion...
Speaking Of Dance (And Here’s Why You Should)
Isadora Duncan once famously claimed that if she could tell you what she meant, there would be no point in dancing it. That attitude—that...
“Canceling” Our little Piece Of The World Feels Existential (But It’s Not)
We all need to be able to take a step back and realize that just because we feel something disproportionately, it doesn't mean that...
Is Listening To Audiobooks Really “Reading”?
Some cite studies that have shown people who listen to books retain less than those who read them, which is bound up with how...
What It Was Like To Work For The New York Review of Books
The mailroom was out of control. Employees helped themselves to books, telephone calls to Hong Kong, extra sandwiches during press week. They had a...
