Spotlight

The Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll at Midyear: Warming Up a Riff — How It Happened, and Why It Matters

July 23, 2026
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Few things more clearly attest to the endurance of the human spirit and the drive for creativity than the uninterrupted and unstoppable torrent of brilliant new jazz albums we’ve already seen this year.

Arts Commentary: When Books Become Evidence — Hong Kong’s Raids and the New Global War on Dissent

July 19, 2026
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Every bookshelf becomes a latent crime scene: China’s all-too-familiar totalitarian playbook to encourage self-censorship.

Arts Remembrance: Actor Sam Neill — Charm, Gravity, and a Hint of Mischief

July 15, 2026
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Handsome yet not easily typecast, Sam Neill built a quietly remarkable career playing heroes, villains, lovers, weirdos, and everything in between.

Arts Commentary: The Kennedy Center and the Boston Symphony Orchestra — A Tale of Two Crises

June 18, 2026
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A court-ordered reset in Washington and a self-inflicted rupture in Boston expose deeper failures of leadership, transparency, and trust.

Spring 2026 Appeal — Keep the Fuse Lit!

June 15, 2026
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Your support helps us pay our writers, expand our coverage, and keep independent arts criticism and cultural commentary available without a paywall.

Arts Commentary: What Might the Kennedy Center Best Become?

June 14, 2026
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A reconsideration of the Kennedy Center’s unrealized national mission—and what its future could yet hold.

Book Review: “Defending the Music” – A Bracing Voice from a Bolder Critical Age

May 23, 2026
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This substantial collection of the writings of classical music critic Michael Steinberg evokes a time when critics educated, provoked, and helped build cultural life.

Arts Commentary: The Boston Symphony’s New Humanities Blueprint Makes Sense

May 4, 2026
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Why festival programming—and humanities partnerships—can help the BSO.

Music Commentary: Big Ears 2026 — Another View

April 10, 2026
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A diary of shows attended – good, bad, and indifferent — at this year’s Big Ears Festival, as well as comments on some of the non-musical joys and hassles.

Music Commentary: Brian Wilson’s Legacy Thrives — 2026 Reissues Reviewed

March 30, 2026
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Though Brian Wilson has left us, his enormous musical legacy lives on through a growing series of posthumous CD and vinyl reissues and books.

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