Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Bob Dylan Apologizes For Autopen-Signed Books
Dylan says was given “the assurance that this kind of thing is done ‘all the time’ in the art and literary worlds.” Now that...
The Vatican’s $2 Billion Bathtub
One of the most valuable items in Rome is a bathtub that has been estimated to be worth $2 billion. And you thought your...
Bob Iger Returns To A Troubled Disney Animation Business
The poor performance of “Strange World” highlights one of the issues facing Mr. Iger. He returns to a theatrical environment far harsher to animated...
Inside The Quietest Room In The World (Will It Drive You Crazy?)
The mystique of the too-quiet room, if construed by outsiders, has perhaps been bolstered by the company’s website, which advertises an experience called “The...
Remembering The Human Toll And Creativity Lost To AIDS
Since AIDS was identified in the early 1980s, the World Health Organization estimates that over 40 million people have died of HIV or AIDS-related...
We’re Witnessing The Death Of Bands Touring
“The main problem is that fees for artists have not gone up despite the growing costs of inflation, gas prices, increased flight prices, hotels,...
Why Small Indie Bookstores Are Surviving
Now, when so many of our needs are unified and algorithm-prompted by online retail, independent bookstores offer person-to-person customization. Something, it turns out, that...
Having Trouble Hearing TV Dialogue? It’s Probably Not You
As more video-production studios embrace advanced audio formats for at-home content, not every device can keep up. Plenty of viewers can’t keep up, either. -...
Why Does The Mythology Of The “Lost City of Atlantis” Still Fascinate?
The confrontation is intriguing and raises many issues of which the most basic is the simple question: why has the story of Atlantis –...
Bad At Arguing? Try This
It’s not impossible to make your argument stick. And there’s been some good scientific work on this. Here are two strategies that, based on the...
After 70 Years, London’s “Mousetrap Is Coming To Broadway
On Friday, keen-eyed theatergoers discovered a website for the Broadway iteration, which announced that the murder mystery, whose London production holds the Guinness World Record for the...
This Year’s Oxford “Word Of The Year” To Be Chosen By Public Vote
Voting is now open online, and over the next two weeks English speakers can cast their vote, choosing from three words selected by Oxford University...
UK Orchestra Works With Dementia Patients To Recover Memories
While some with dementia can often feel trapped in the past, some researchers believe the act of creating music - as well as listening...
Disneyland Has Become A Lesser Experience. Iger Should Fix It
In recent years, especially in the months since it reopened after an extended, pandemic-forced closure, the tone of a visit to the Disneyland Resort...
End Of An Era: World’s Longest-Running Annual Musical Theatre Production To End
The musical was staged every year from 1965 to 2019, earning it recognition from Guinness World Records. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a two-year pause,...
Today Marks The 75th Anniversary Of Hollywood’s Blacklist
On that day, the heads of the major studios, with a few notable exceptions, agreed after a contentious two-day conference at the Waldorf-Astoria in...
What “Tar” Demonstrates About The Mythology Of Great Artists
By creating a character who can’t be written off as another predictably problematic man, “Tár” draws our attention to how Lydia learned to become...
The Audiophile’s Agony: Just What Is “Perfect” Sound?
I do know that the word “accuracy” in the context of audio means reproducing the master recording faithfully, but this always seemed like an...
What, Exactly, Were Music Critics?
The rapport between artist and critic has historically ranged from affable to antagonistic to utterly bizarre. - The New Republic
Just What Are Literary Studies Trying To Accomplish?
One of the main determinants of the vulnerability of literary studies, and hence of the compensating over-ambitiousness of the justification offered for it, is...
Museums’ Big New Security Concern: Which Visitors Might Attack Art?
With the attacks showing no sign of abating, museum directors across Europe are settling into a nervous new equilibrium, fearful for the works in...
Iger’s Return Is A Chance For Disney To Pivot Strategies
The change in leadership gives Iger the opportunity to swerve away from Chapek’s fixation on Disney+. A similar redirection occurred this year at Warner...
Parent Gets School Library To Remove All Its Graphic Novels
All graphic novels in the school library’s collection were recalled after parent Tim Reiland took issue with the school letting his teenage daughter borrow Blankets,...
“Gangnam Style” Blew Up The Internet. Its Creator Had A Tough Time After That
The video, which now has some 4.6 billion views, was so culturally pervasive in 2012 that Barack Obama was asked about it on Election Day. NASA...
Mark Williams On Being The First Black Man To Lead A Major North American...
"I’m not saying we shouldn’t address it; we are where we are, and we have to talk about it. But it’s difficult being the...
