Evan Hansen Is A Lying, Immoral Creep – How Is It That Audiences Love Him So?

Jason Zinoman: “It’s particularly amazing that this gifted dissembler has received such goodwill at a time when there is such anxiety about fake news and Internet disinformation. … That Evan Hansen is not just a kind of hero but one whose story will stay with a generation of young theatergoers forever is testament to the power of skillfully crafted art to reframe, manipulate, and even obscure moral concerns.”

Top Posts From AJBlogs 06.06.17

Riverside Art Museum
In conversations with staff members of the Riverside Art Museum, I learned that their initial work in fostering relationships with Riverside’s Latino communities had resulted in donations to purchase art. But the “hot off the press” revelation came … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-06-06

Lost and Found
Long ago, I heard a lovely definition of creativity: “Finding what has been lost and making it new.”  I’ve never been able to track down the source of that definition, but it’s stuck with me.   … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2017-06-06

Diller Thriller: MoMA’s Mega-Makover, An Irreverent Photo Essay
Having been briefed by another journalist about the current status of the project, we finally got to learn about this work-in-progress from the principals themselves: … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-06-06

Pianist Vijay Iyer and the Ojai Music Festival
This year sees an unlikely but, I suspect, fortuitous paring: Pianist Vijay Iyer — one of the most inventive figures in jazz today — is curating the Ojai Music Festival, a friendly, mellow outdoor … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-06-06

 

The Problem With Experts (And Why We Need Them)

“Democracy cannot function when every citizen is an expert. Yes, it is unbridled ego for experts to believe they can run a democracy while ignoring its voters; it is also, however, ignorant narcissism for laypeople to believe that they can maintain a large and advanced nation without listening to the voices of those more educated and experienced than themselves.”

Will A Hard Brexit Damage UK Museums?

The outgoing director of the Tate, Nicholas Serota, the director of the British Museum, Hartwig Fischer, and the new director of the V&A, Tristram Hunt, a former Labour Party shadow minister, are all concerned that these institutions will find it harder to retain and recruit expert staff from across Europe, potentially damaging their world-class status.