Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
How We Figure Out Whether The Work Was Worth It
These changing patterns show that one’s relationship with effort isn’t simple. For many people, there’s a sweet spot – a little effort might make...
The West, In Its Abundance, Has Gotten Intellectually Lazy
In place of pain, we have ennui, the quintessential modern condition. It follows directly from overabundance: an endless stream of video “content” or chocolate...
Thomas Pynchon’s First New Book In A Decade
Shadow Ticket, due out in October, will be the American novelist’s 10th book. Like his previous two, Inherent Vice (2009) and Bleeding Edge (2013),...
So Much Literature Is Built On The Premise Of Sexual Jealousy. But Today’s Students…
"Sexual jealousy is an emotion that was once thought to be so universal, such a commonplace experience of a person in love, that no...
Gatsby At 100 Still Resonates
Today the wealth gap is just as significant as it was in Gatsby’s time, but now everyone has a phone. No matter our background,...
Foreign Artists Are Reconsidering Touring In The US
It’s never been easy or cheap for global acts to tour here, but visa fees are up and wait times have risen substantially over...
Global Art Sales Down In 2024
Global sales of art and antiques have fallen for a second consecutive year, declining by 12% in 2024 to an estimated $57.5 billion, according...
The Key To Courage In Uncertain Times
Paul Tillich defines “the courage to be” as “the ethical act in which man affirms his own being in spite of those elements of...
Mexico City’s Maze Of Museums
Only one museum in Mexico, with comparable material, didn’t make me feel culturally exhausted or embarrassed by my ignorance in this way. - 3...
Painter Of Trump Portrait He Criticized Says Her Career Is Threatened
Sarah Boardman won a nationwide “call for artists” by the Colorado state government to paint its official portraits of Obama and Trump. At the...
The Case For Canada Growing To 100 Million People (It Currently Has 40M)
Proponents say that reaching the 100 million target would give Canada the centres of gravity it needs for such clusters to form; critics say...
How Streaming Services Might Get Caught In Trump Tariffs
Generally, streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ are just that: services, not goods, so they don’t face any kind of markup when they...
More Than 1,200 Humanities Grants Canceled By Trump’s NEH
The loss of potentially thousands of such grants has left recipients reeling and prompted some organizations to mobilize, as millions of dollars of previously...
Americans Say They Want To Read More Books. So Why Don’t They?
According to a new NPR/Ipsos poll, reading is something a majority of Americans enjoy, and want to get better at. But it's nowhere near...
The “Last Repair Shop” Instrument Repair Service For LA Schools, Gets A Big Boost
At the emotional core of “The Last Repair Shop” are the stories of the dedicated technicians and the students who benefit from the free...
Can The Kennedy Center Survive The Next Four Years?
So many artists have quietly pulled out of the 2025-26 season that the center has had to keep delaying its schedule announcements. - The...
Canadian Artists Are Canceling Gigs In The US
"Unfortunately I had to cancel all my upcoming events in the United States as I felt unsafe traveling, especially after watching students and university...
Why The College Admissions Essay Is A Very Bad Idea
The college essay is a deeply unfair way to select students for top colleges, one that is much more biased against the poor than...
What It’s Like being A Librarian In The Time Of Trump
“I see all that being as a measure of: ‘If we fly under the radar, we’ll be safe,’” they said. “But it’s sad because...
San Francisco Agency Funding In Disarray, Payments Missed
The latest target is San Francisco’s Dream Keeper Initiative, introduced in 2021 at the height of the “defund the police” movement... But now, a variety...
Are Our Storytelling Tropes Insufficient For The Complexity Of Today?
Unfortunately, the dominance of psychological narratives manifests in the misplaced hopes we cast onto individual leaders – whether in the political, technological, social or...
These Are the 381 Books Removed From Naval Academy Library Shelves
The list also includes “Memorializing the Holocaust,” Janet Jacobs’s examination of depictions of women in the Holocaust, and “How to Be Anti-Racist” by Ibram...
Amazon Backlash: Independent Bookstores Rise Up
Amazon boycotts are gaining more widespread attention as some people seek ways to protest the growing influence of billionaires in government and public life. - Wisconsin Public...
How Will Trump’s Tariffs Affect The Art Markets?
“Ordinarily, paintings and sculptures are exempt from customs duties,” says Nicholas M. O’Donnell, a partner in the Boston law firm Sullivan & Worcester, but...
Why Are Musicians Turning To OnlyFans? They Need The Money!
It quickly garnered a reputation as a hub for sexual content, given that it gave adult performers and sex workers the ability to create and upload...
