THE ARTS FUSE

Critical Condition: The Book Review Blues

ArtsFuse — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 02:13:09 +0000

ArtsFuse editor Bill Marx speaks with Gail Pool, the author of Faint Praise: The Plight of Book Reviewing in America, about the slow decline of literary criticism in the United States.

book reviewing, book reviews, Books, faint praise: the plight of book reviewing in America, fiction, Gail Pool, literature, non fiction, podcast

In Search of a Saudi Tolstoy

ArtsFuse — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 01:47:11 +0000

Bill Marx speaks with author Jonathan Levi, who recently looked for signs of literary life in a repressive Middle East country. (more…)

Addo Khal, dissident writing, Jonathan Levi, literature, Middle East, podcast

Don Juan — Philosopher of Love

ArtsFuse — Tue, 22 May 2007 19:46:13 +0000

A conversation with Douglas Carlton Abrams, author of the erotically-charged novel “The Lost Diary of Don Juan: An Account of the True Arts of Passion and the Perilous Adventure of Love.” (more…)

Don Juan, Douglas Carlton Abrams, eros, fiction, lust, podcast, sex, sexuality, Spanish Golden Age

Suzan-Lori Parks — A Play a Day Keeps the TV Away

ArtsFuse — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 02:47:00 +0000

Bill Marx speaks with award-winning American playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. Also, dancing away at the video arcade.
(more…)

365 days/365 plays, american theater, literature, podcast, stage, Suzan Lori Parks, Theater

Stuck on The Coast of Utopia

ArtsFuse — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 01:37:46 +0000

Not every critic is inspired by British playwright Tom Stoppard's epic, Tony award-winning trilogy about the trials and tribulations of the 19th century Russian radical Alexander Herzen.. (more…)

Alexander Herzen, English, intelligencia, podcast, revolution, Russia, Stoppard, The Coast of Utopia

Protest Art

ArtsFuse — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 02:31:11 +0000

Bill Marx talks with the Fogg Art Museum’s Susan Dackerman about DISSENT!, an exhibit that surveys printmaking and the history of political protest. (more…)

Abu Ghraib, art, Dissent, Goya, Harvard Art Museums, Pablo Picasso, podcast, political art, printmaking, radical

Jonathan Raban Kicks off Critical Condition

ArtsFuse — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 02:22:51 +0000

In the first installment of “Condition Critical,” Bill Marx speaks with the author best known for his wryly written non-fiction books. (more…)

jonathan raban, podcast

Boston Culture Series Wrap-Up

ArtsFuse — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 00:22:28 +0000

This final ArtsCast features the conclusion of our series examining Boston at the cultural crossroads. Bill Marx speaks with Maureen Dezell who has written for the arts in various publications including the Boston Globe and the Phoenix and you have heard on the podcast interview various cultural movers and shakers about Boston lagging in cultural tourism relative to other cities. Bill Marx starts his interview with Dezell by asking her to summarize these discussions.

>> Click here to listen

arts, Boston, Culture, marketing arts, philadelphia

Casagrande on Cultural Tourism and Virginia Power Pop

ArtsFuse — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 00:28:38 +0000

In the past several podcasts, ArtCast has explored the competitive nature of cultural tourism in America today, focusing on how Boston has much to learn from Philadelphia, which is investing in new ways to bring more visitors into the city.

Continuing with that theme we hear from one of Beantown’s cultural mover and shakers, the man who was first alarmed by the City of Brothery Love’s enviable success. Lou Casagrande heads up the Boston Children’s Museum and holds a seat at the Boston Foundation. Reporter Maureen Dezell finds out why, in Cassagrande words, “Philadelphia is eating our [Boston’s] lunch.”

In the second half of the podcast, listen to the music and perspectives of The Brindley Brothers. The power pop duo of Luke and Daniel Brindley have invited comparisons to Wilco and Marshall Crenshaw. They have become a popular fixture in the northern Virginia rock scene, drawing crowds at both their music club and their live performances. The borthers recently released their second album, “Filled with Fire,” and arts contributer Laura Kwerel sat-in during an in-studio performance.

Stay tuned…

Boston Childrens Museum, Boston Cultural Tourism, The Brindley Brothers

From Cultural Wars to Cultural Kitsch

ArtsFuse — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 00:32:41 +0000

In the first half of this installment of ArtsCast, we focus on the cultural wars as experienced through the eyes of Gary Cole, who was on the fast track to become the number three man at the National Endowment for the Arts until his nomination was torpedoed.

According to the former Republican activist, GOP powerbrokers balked after discovering his involvement with theatrical productions that unsettled cultural conservatives. Cole has chronicled his experiences and ruminates on the combustible intersection of politics and culture in his book “Artless: The Odyssey of a Republican Cultural Creative.”

And in the second half of the podcast, we shift from cultural wars to cultural kitsch. The Olympian soap opera that was the l;affaire Kerrigan-Harding gets a musical soundtrack, and Only A Game’s Bill Littlefield was there for the dress rehearsal.

And in the event you’ve been at the beach or forking down hot-dogs during your holiday barbeque, here is a selection of recent programs we suggest you listen to posthaste:

Back to Boston: Julie Burns, Boston’s Tourism Czar, The Writer’s Room of Boston
A Tale of Two Cities and Tingle Too: Philadelphia’s Tourism Czar, Comedians Jimmy Tingle and Dean Obeidallah are “Laughing Liberally”
I’d Rather Be in Philadelphia: John M. Tobin, Boston City Councilor on Hub Arts and Culture, English writer Alan Bennett

Stay tuned…

culture wars