Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Putin’s War Is Killing Classical Music In Russia
Even after the Soviet Union crumbled, Russia was able to keep up its classical strengths—and attract artists from all around the world. But now...
A Better Summer For Movies. But The Outlook Is Bleak
Almost everyone agrees that the 117-year-old movie exhibition business cannot keep going like this. But hardly anybody agrees on precisely the best way forward....
How Balanchine Reckoned With The USSR
The U.S.S.R. filled him with dread, and his return brought to light one of the great themes of his life: he had set his...
The Marilyn Monroe Biopic And The Murkiness Of The Dreaded NC-17 Rating
Even if a director wanted to edit their movie to please ratings royalty, the MPAA’s murky machinations could make it hard for her to...
Manhattan DA’s Office Seizes 27 Pieces Of Art From Met Museum
The items, seized under the terms of three separate search warrants executed during the last six months, will be returned to their countries of...
Museums Association Will Require Salary Info In Job Listings
AAM’s announcement comes alongside heightened calls for salary transparency in the museum world and as salary transparency laws have taken effect across the country. In New York City,...
Before The Algorithms Took Over: YouTube’s “Coolhunters”
A journalist, a radio DJ, and actual YouTubers were brought in as editors to sift through content, finding gems that viewers might love. Officially,...
Our Long Battles Over Learning And Indoctrination
This question—why parents and taxpayers should support public schools that teach content that conflicts with their most cherished beliefs—has reverberated across the decades, sometimes...
How ArtForum Thinks About Criticism
Criticism in the broadest sense is a key tactic for maintaining a nonrigid, noncomplacent orientation toward the world. You’re always stepping back and looking...
Is History Really Just About Quantifying Numbers?
That there is more than one way to interpret numbers might seem obvious, but is worth repeating at a time when, once again, historians...
UK Arts Funding Is A Zero-Sum Game (And Getting Worse)
Arts funding, under the current government, is a zero-sum game. There’s no new money, beyond a tiny, 2% rise in the ACE budget. ...
Australian Artists Rethinking Tours Over Climate Concerns
During an 11-week national tour, each member of the company was responsible for approximately seven tonnes of carbon emitted. The average per-capita emission in...
Are Public Radio Listeners Cooling On Podcasts?
While podcast consumption is holding steady overall among public radio fans, Jacobs Media's just-released Public Radio Techsurvey 2022 shows some warning signs for public...
How A Musicology Debate About Heinrich Schenker Became A Battle Royale
For those blessedly anchored in the real world, here is a brief summary of a case that began as a passionate-yet-niche dispute between scholars...
How Libraries Became Front And Center In The Culture Wars
Traditional-values groups are demanding the removal or restriction of books with explicit sex education, and books that unflinchingly document LGBTQ realities and the Black...
AI-Powered Black Rappers? Created By White Designers? See The Problem?
This isn’t to say that white creators ought not create Black characters at all, but that there is something particularly gut-wrenching about the artificial...
Awesome! The Debasement Of Our Linguistic Filler-Inners
We go straight to “amazing”. Or “awesome”. In both cases, as usual, I think we’re on safe ground blaming the Americans. They too, surely,...
Humans Are Wired To Be Good At Math (Oh, You’re Not?)
Research shows that humans are born with an inherent sense of numbers, known as numerosity.5 The concept of numerosity is one of the only high-level cognitive functions...
Public Radio Expands To Urban Alternative Format
Aiming to bring younger and more ethnically diverse listeners to public radio, the urban alternative format has spread to cities from Denver to Milwaukee,...
German Museums Being Criminally-Investigated For Antiquities Trafficking
Several public museums and universities in Germany have become embroiled in criminal investigations into the widespread trafficking of Middle Eastern antiquities. - The Art...
Dubai’s Proposed City In The Sky (Literally)
Set to be 550-metres tall and 3,000 metres in circumference, the skyscraper would be composed of two interconnected main rings that will house residential,...
Music Of Hate
Historically, songs were employed by labor unions to create a sense of solidarity and move labor rights forward against overwhelming odds. If music can be a...
Man Using AI Wins First Prize In State Fair Art Competition. Other Artists Cry...
Jason Allen did not paint “Théâtre D'opéra Spatial,” AI software called Midjourney did. It used his prompts, but Allen did not wield a digital...
What Do We Owe The Future? Not Much
The universe is stranger than we can imagine, Albert Einstein is said to have said. Indeed, we should not even be sure there is...
Music Publishers Reach Agreement Over New Rates For Streaming Music
Sources also say that both sides were eager to avoid another protracted, distracting and brutally expensive legal battle, to put it mildly: The fight over...
