MOST RECENT AJBLOGS

Tammy Kernodle talks about developing the Harlem Renaissance Festival

- Aaron Dworkin

Dvorak’s Prophecy — A “Systematic Curatorial Effort”

- Joe Horowitz

Gripping musical melodrama

- Terry Teachout

Replay: Somerset Maugham in 1965

- Terry Teachout

Snapshot: Richard Strauss conducts Till Eulenspiegel

- Terry Teachout


 

DANCE

Royal Winnipeg Ballet Settles Longstanding Lawsuit Over Pervy Photographer

- CBC

Toledo Ballet Fires Artistic Director And Resident Choreographer

- WTOL (Toledo, OH)

Tamara Rojo Is Changing The Setting Of A Classic Petipa Ballet But Keeping The Old Steps

- The Guardian

Club To Harness Dancers’ Body Heat To Power Building

- The New York Times

Egyptians Love Belly Dancing, But They Give The Dancers No Respect

- The Guardian

A Dance World Reckoning Of Liam Scarlett’s Death

- Alastair MaCaulay

IDEAS

The Non-Disney Version Of Winnie-the-Pooh Is In The Public Domain

- Washington Post

Understanding The Role Of Emotions

- Psychology Today

For A Long Time The Purpose Of Art Was To Shock Against Norms. But Why?

- 3AM Magazine

Anger As Motivating Force

- Aeon

We’re Drowning In Data. And We’re Not Much Good At Accessing It. Maybe AI Can Help

- VentureBeat

The Link Between Emotions And Making Good Decisions

- The Atlantic

Jan. 6 As Zombie Apocalypse?

- The Conversation

Lessons In Creativity From The Demise Of The Once-Ubiquitous Blackberry

- Washington Post

How Hobbies Took Over America (For Good And Bad)

- The Atlantic

Yes We’re Productive. But Burned Out Too. A Revolution Is Under Way

- The New Yorker

We’re Awash In Stories. We’re Addicted To Stories. To What Effect?

- Boston Globe

An Economist Wonders: Why In The Arts Are “The Greatest” All Oldies?

- EconLib

No, Your Attention Span Didn’t Just Shrink. It Was Stolen

- The Guardian

Stop Blaming Tribalism For What Ails Us

- The Atlantic



 

ISSUES

Los Angeles Arts Groups Are Trying To Figure Out How To Go On Through Omicron

- Los Angeles Times

Irish Government To Begin Experiment With “Basic Income” For Artists

- BBC

The Artist’s Intention? Actually, It Doesn’t Matter

- Washington Post

New Foundation Plans A Jack Kerouac Museum And Performance Center

- MSN (The Boston Globe)

Lots Of Great Art Entered The Public Domain This Week. Don’t Celebrate – Marvel At The Absurdity

- Los Angeles Times

Malcolm Gladwell’s Nifty Idea For Avoiding The “Sackler Problem” Of Toxic Philanthropy

- Oh, MG

Scotland Announces New £65 Million COVID Relief Package For Arts And Culture

- The Scotsman

Sydney Festival’s About To Begin, And More Than 20 Artists Have Backed Out

- The Guardian

New York’s Three Big January Avant-Garde Festivals Are All Cancelled

- The New York Times

American-Style Culture Wars Come To France

- Catalyst Journal

Why Obama-Era Pop Culture Seems So Dated Now

- Vox



 

MEDIA

IMAX: Time To Rethink What Movies Are

- Fast Company

“Don’t Look Up” Smashes Netflix Viewing Records

- Variety

Audie Cornish Makes A Public Statement About Her Resignation From NPR

- MSN (Los Angeles Times)

Public Radio Stations Join In A New Rural News Network

- Current

NPR Is Boosting Its Podcasts. That’s Where The Listener Growth Is

- Axios

Is The Departure Of Minority Hosts From NPR A Crisis Or Just Ordinary Turnover?

- The Washington Post

What The Movies From Decades Ago Predicted 2022 Would Look Like

- NPR

Judge Dismisses Nirvana Baby Album Cover Lawsuit

- BBC

Tarnished Golden Globes: Diminished Into Irrelevance?

- Los Angeles Times

“All Things Considered” Host Audie Cornish Is Leaving NPR

- The Hill



 

MUSIC

The “Change” Binary Of Music

- NewMusicBox

A Rusty Old Water Tank In The Australian Outback Becomes A Chapel Of Music And Light

- T — The New York Times Style Magazine

NLRB Orders Orchestra To Pay Musicians $276K For Missed Concerts

- MassLive

Grammy Awards Postponed Indefinitely

- Variety

Checking In With Baritone Mariusz Kwiecień At His New Opera House

- Limelight (Australia)

Vinyl Record Sales Are Booming – But The Pressing Plants Can’t Keep Up

- Los Angeles Times

Why Universal Music Group Supports A Far Right Senator

- The Daily Beast

Conductor James Gaffigan Gets A Second European Opera House

- Broadway World

Boston-Area Church Pays “Royalties” For Performing African-American Spirituals

- WGBH

Classical Music Can Help Society Recover From The Pandemic, Says Director Of London’s Wigmore Hall

- The Guardian

Latest Blockbuster Music Catalog Sale: David Bowie For $250 Million

- The New York Times

Opera House Appoints Italy’s First Woman Music Director

- The Guardian

How To Define Composer Caroline Shaw?

- The Daily Beast

Lessons In Creativity From Metallica

- The Atlantic

An Abusive Violin Teacher Drove Me To Give Up. As An Adult I Learned To Love Playing Again

- The Guardian

Growth Industry: UK Vinyl Album Sales Increase For 14th Year

- The Guardian



 

PEOPLE

Music Critic Richard Freed, 93

- Washington Post

Actor Sidney Poitier, 94

- CNN

Filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich Dead At 82

- MSN (The Washington Post)

Why This Revered Writer Was Almost Denied His Nobel Prize

- The Guardian

Yves Saint-Laurent Tried To Live His Life According To Proust

- The Times Literary Supplement

Dennis Owens, DC’s Irreverent Classical Radio Host, Dead At 87

- MSN (The Washington Post)

Stephen Lawrence, Composer Of Sesame Street Music, 82

- NPR

Sandra Jaffe, Co-Founder Of Preservation Hall In New Orleans, Dead At 83

- AP

Hilton Als: What Joan Didion Knew About America

- The New Yorker

Much-Hyped “Harry Potter” Network Reunion Excluded JK Rowling

- The Daily Beast



 

THEATRE

Why Lynn Nottage Looks On The Bright Side

- WNYC (New York City)

Two New York Times Theater Critics Butt Heads (Their Term) Over The Fall Season

- The New York Times

Broadway Box Office Rebounds but Still Struggling

- Deadline

Actors’ Equity Has A New Union Organizer, And She’s Got Plans

- Observer (New York City)

Why Are Some Comedians In China Performing In English?

- BBC

Under The Radar Festival Is Canceled

- Deadline



 

VISUAL

Want To Be A Successful Artist? Find A Rival

- Ted Gioia

A Rusty Old Water Tank In The Australian Outback Becomes A Chapel Of Music And Light

- T — The New York Times Style Magazine

Why Some Of The Earliest Depictions Of The Buddha Show Him Wearing Greek Tunics

- Psyche

Virginia Museum Of Contemporary Art’s Building Is In Such Bad Shape, They’re Considering Leaving It

- The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk)

Painting, Thought To Be By Caravaggio, Will Get A Chance At Restoration

- The Observer

As Metal Prices Increase, Thieves Are Stealing Statues, Melting Them Down

- Los Angeles Times

How To Design A Better Hospital? Start With Light

- Wired

Removal Of Looted Items Leads Smithsonian To Rethink Its Entire Approach To Collecting

- MSN (The Washington Post)

Digital Art Theft Is Now A Thing: Hacker Steals NFTs

- Artnet

Italy Returns Piece Of The Parthenon Marbles To Greece

- Seattle Times (AP)

Now AI Is Learning To Analyze Individual Artists’ Brushstrokes And Attribute Paintings

- The Art Newspaper

The South African Parliament Fire Was Disastrous, But At Least All Its Art Is Safe

- Bloomberg

Art World Trends That Will Build In 2022

- Artnet

Venice’s Calatrava Footbridge Is A Visual Surprise in An Ancient City. But Pedestrians Have Been Falling…

- The New York Times

Designers Are Actually Making Solar Panels Attractive To Look At

- Fast Company

There Will Be No McDonald’s At Rome’s Baths Of Caracalla (Phew!)

- Smithsonian Magazine

When Harry Reid Helped Michael Heiser Realize His Magnum Opus

- ARTnews

Phantom Restorer Strikes Again – “Repairs” Historic Church

- The New York Times



 

WORDS

Bookcore Is A New (Old) Look For A Weary New Year

- LitHub

Martin Luther’s German Bible Is Now 500 Years Old

- Deutsche Welle

The End Of Great Travel Writing?

- The Critic

Why Linguists Accept New Expressions And Usage That Grammarians Tend To Hate

- The New York Times

No, Norman Mailer Hasn’t Been Canceled By His Publisher, Says His Son

- The Guardian

FBI Arrests Suspect In Fraud Case That Mystified The Publishing World

- Vulture

Manuscript? With Words Created On Computers And Produced On Other Computers, What Is It?

- PublicBooks

Meet The Founder Of America’s Largest Black-Owned Food Magazine

- Nieman Lab

Random House Drops Norman Mailer Anthology, Skyhorse Picks It Up

- AP

Sinclair Lewis, The Writer Who Nailed Middle America

- The New York Times

Lost Bronte Sisters Trove Was Going To Be Sold. Fans Saved It

- Washington Post

The Canadian English Dictionary Hasn’t Been Updated In Almost Two Decades – No New Words?

- CBC

Ben McFall, Strand Bookstore’s Heart And Soul, 73

- The New York Times

Remember Rebuses?

- Mental Floss