Commentary

Book Reconsideration: “A Confederacy of Dunces” — Still an American Comic Masterpiece?

June 29, 2020
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A reassessment on the 40th anniversary of A Confederacy of Dunces, a novel that many consider one of the funniest ever written by an American.

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Performing Arts Series: Stories of Surviving COVID-19 — New England Conservatory

June 26, 2020
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What lies beyond COVID-19 for the arts community?

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Dance Commentary: Sally Banes (1950-2020)

June 22, 2020
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Dance critic, scholar, performer, activist Sally Banes died on 14 June in Philadelphia.

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Visual Arts Commentary: Boston’s Historical Memorial to Black Lives Vandalized

June 15, 2020
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Boston’s most celebrated piece of public art was one of 16 monuments irresponsibly defaced during the recent protests.

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Arts Commentary: The Music Biz — When Difficult Becomes Dire

June 15, 2020
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The advantage of localism enjoyed by a club down the block disappears in cyberspace.

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Author Interview: Peniel E. Joseph on “The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.”

June 5, 2020
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“Malcolm X and MLK evolved over time and came to converge in surprising ways. Malcolm’s movement for radical black dignity became a global human rights touchstone in a manner that made King’s struggle for radical black citizenship both necessary and more expansive.”

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Arts Commentary: Consider the Self — I am George Floyd. I am Derek Chauvin.

June 3, 2020
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I am Derek Chauvin, and I am George Floyd. Who are you?

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Theater Commentary: The Boston Theater Critics Association — Finally Reached a Conclusion?

June 1, 2020
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The Boston Theater Critics Association should take action in support of #MeToo. But this will probably be the last year I request that Israel Horovitz’s Elliot Norton Prize be withdrawn.

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Television Commentary: Unreeling the Newsreels in “The Plot Against America”

May 28, 2020
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Was this alternate history lesson too much of a downer for viewers weighed down by the burdens of their own unexpected rendezvous with history?

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Book Interview: Zena Hitz on the Pleasures and Values of the Intellectual Life

May 28, 2020
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“We’re at the end, or toward the end, of an extended collapse of the institutions that made it possible for many of us to make a living through intellectual or creative activity. We’ll have to find another way.”

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