Jeremy Ray Jewell on the latest case of state censorship in #hongkong. #China’s all-too-familiar totalitarian playbook to encourage self-censorship -- make every bookshelf a latent crime scene. artsfuse.org/331766/arts-...

Joan Frank writes that Michael Klein’s new essay collection, "Happiness Ruined Everything," weaves brushes with artistic giants into candid meditations on addiction, desire, and survival. artsfuse.org/331726/book-...

For Scott McLennan, a reconfigured band and evolving arrangements made #bobdylan's Boston set at the Leader Bank Pavilion vital, strange, and rooted in "Rough and Rowdy Ways" artsfuse.org/331698/conce...

Jon Garelick was a skeptical listener, but he found entrancing phrasing, groove, and quiet authority in #bobdylan's 85-minute Boston set. artsfuse.org/331710/arts-...

@neilgiordano.bsky.social at the @dcdoxfest.bsky.social. He spotlights a selection of this year's documentaries that confront the human cost of tourism, policing, and surveillance—alongside bold experiments in nonfiction form. artsfuse.org/331635/at-th...

Trevor Fairbrother has a pointed commentary on a sprawling 250th‑anniversary display at the @mfaboston.bsky.social that sidles up to hot‑dog branding and influencer playfulness. artsfuse.org/331677/visua...

Susan Saccoccia talks to Steven Maler as the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company celebrates its milestone 30th season by revisiting "A Midsummer Night’s Dream," reaffirming its mission to make Shakespeare a truly public art. artsfuse.org/331661/theat...

Cyrisse Jaffee on a trio of children's books: big questions, wild beasts, and one very independent pet. artsfuse.org/331622/child...

Preston Gralla talks to #milotodd about his novel "The Lilac People" and the challenge of reconstructing queer and trans lives under—and after—Nazism. artsfuse.org/331612/local...

@dankennedy.net on "The Trust Spiral: Why the Media Needs Objectivity": Walter Lippmann defined objectivity as the fair-minded pursuit of the truth, but all too often it has degenerated into false equivalence. Canadian journalist Tara Henley tries to have it both ways. artsfuse.org/331572/

The newsletter is out and about. Check it out ... artsfuse.substack.com/p/idiots-del...

This week’s poem: Harley Shiner’s “an attachment to pearls” artsfuse.org/331577/weekl...

@pkeough1.bsky.social writes that director Christopher Nolan’s ambitious and challenging epic, "The Odyssey" is an ode to the end of civilization. artsfuse.org/331546/film-...

Handsome yet unpredictable, writes Peg Aloi, the late actor #SamNeill built a quietly remarkable career playing heroes, villains, and everything in between. artsfuse.org/331557/arts-...

David Greenham on the Gloucester Stage production of Harold Pinter's "Betrayal": This crisp revival turns emotional recoil, backward chronology, and elegant restraint into a sharp study of infidelity. artsfuse.org/331509/theat...

Rob Duguay talks to the rising Nashville artist #DanielDonato about genre-blending, spiritual energy onstage, and a full-circle live album. Donato and his backing band, Cosmic Country, will perform at the #levitatemusicfestival.

For Jon Garelick, guitarist and composer Eric Hofbauer and EHX's two-disc album “Tongues” and “Hope/Language" turns a wide-ranging songbook into a cohesive, emotionally charged jazz narrative. artsfuse.org/331496/jazz-...

Rebecca Leamon admires "What Clever Friends" (University of Michigan Press) This collection of the letters between writers Jane Kenyon and Alice Mattison offer a moving portrait of literary life, daily labor, and mutual devotion. artsfuse.org/331260/book-...

In the latest Short Fuse Podcast, guest host Jessica Khan talks to DJ and broadcaster Kwame Daniels about his immersive live musical performance, “North Star," which was inspired by Frederick Douglass’s historic 1845 speech in Belfast, Northern Ireland. artsfuse.org/331479/short...

Nicole Estvanik Taylor talks to playwright Miranda Austen ADEkoje about the @companyone.org production of her drama "A New Era," which revisits an 1895 gathering of Black women activists, uncovering the tensions, ambitions, and humanity behind a historic coalition. artsfuse.org/331427/playw...

Ed Symkus on the 400 pages of unputdownable reading of "Blow by Blow: The #jeffbeck Story" by Brad Tolinski & Chris Gill (DaCapoPress): Jeff Beck is a bigger guitar hero than you realized. artsfuse.org/331444/book-...

Debra Cash on "Thrikra: Night of Remembering" at Jacob's Pillow. The Akram Khan Company’s searing imagery of female ritual and sacrifice is shadowed by what the work chooses not to confront. artsfuse.org/331408/dance...?

@sarahminaosman.bsky.social writes that strong performances and sharper realism redefine Netflix's #LittleHouseonthePrairie for a new generation. artsfuse.org/331390/telev...

David D'Arcy writes that at this year's #Tribeca, two dramas stood out among the narrative films—stark, street-level tales of addiction and a wintry queer love story turned murder mystery set on a Canadian ship. artsfuse.org/331362/tribe...

Jon Garelick writes that the Bevan Manson Trio surfed some cool waves on the Lilypad Inman artsfuse.org/331380/jazz-...

This week’s poem: Keith Newton’s “THE RIOTS” artsfuse.org/331355/weekl...

Trevor Fairbrother on "Hujar: Contact" (Mack Books): A trove of contact sheets reveals #PeterHujar’s working method, restless eye, and the breadth of an underseen archive. artsfuse.org/331334/book-...

The newsletter has arrived: My column is on how artists might respond to the new threat, according to Donald Trump, that communism poses to America. artsfuse.substack.com/p/the-red-sc...

Julie Trebault on Peggy Levitt's "Move Over, Mona Lisa" (@stanfordpress.bsky.social). This provocative book maps the “inequality pipeline” linking museums, publishing, and academia—and challenges the systems that shape what the world sees and reads. artsfuse.org/331323/book-...

Ann Leamon on Christian Wiman's poetry collection "The Dance." @fsgbooks.bsky.social: The collection assembles moments of doubt, humor, and revelation into a resonant poetic experience. artsfuse.org/331233/book-...

@sarahminaosman.bsky.social writes that the #legallyblonde prequel #elle spotlights a charming #LexiMinetree, but that the Prime Video series struggles to justify its place in the Blonde-verse. artsfuse.org/331146/telev...

Lauren Kaufmann on the illuminating exhibit "Where’s Boston? 50 Years Later" at the Boston Athenæum: #constantinemanos’s bicentennial-era photographs capture a city divided, resilient, and still recognizable half a century later. artsfuse.org/331163/visua...

Michael Londra writes that documentary "Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World" is moving study of solitude, partnership, and the stubborn power of wonder. artsfuse.org/331214/film-...

David D'Arcy writes that the #tribecafilmfestival is usually best represented by its outliers. This year, a few films earned that status: "How to Feed a Dictator," TikTok Never Dies," and "Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders" among them. artsfuse.org/331179/tribe...

Debra Cash reviews "Proxies" by Ilya Vidrin at @jacobspillow.bsky.social: this is a sensor-driven dance work tht probes embodiment, data, and the limits of technological intimacy. artsfuse.org/331268/dance...

Scott McLennan and Paul Robicheau take turns reviewing #Goose's nights at the Leader Bank Pavilion: The band's blitz on night one dovetailed improvisation with irresistibly catchy rock. On night two, the jam band proved its mettle at the transcendent heart of the concert. artsfuse.org/331098/

Jonathan Blumhofer on pianist Levi Hammer’s superb album "Gershwin in Vienna": A thoughtfully curated program uncovers surprising connections between #GeorgeGershwin and Vienna’s early 20th-century avant-garde. artsfuse.org/331139/class...

Paul Robicheau at #Wilco's #SolidSoundFestival: a @billybragg.bsky.social reunion, festival deep cuts, and a weekend of discovery turn #massmoca into a communal music feast. artsfuse.org/331012/music...

Christopher Caggiano writes that "Trips," currently running at The Joyce Theater, pairs classic #pilobolus works with new creations, reaffirming what has made the company one of dance's most distinctive ensembles. artsfuse.org/331040/dance...

With Carlos Simon’s "Four Black American Dances," writes Jonathan Blumhofer, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck offer a thoughtful and resonant recontextualization of Dvořák’s Ninth. Reference Recordings artsfuse.org/331055/class...

@pkeough1.bsky.social on "Romería": Spanish director Carla Simón’s dreamlike family drama merges mother and daughter, past and present, in a moving search for identity. Screening at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, July 3 through 9. artsfuse.org/331074/film-...

Alexis Greene on "I’ve Got the Shakes: Performing Richard Foreman" @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social). In this engrossing oral-history project, Shauna Kelly has pieced together a restless, collaborative portrait of a defining avant-garde visionary. artsfuse.org/331063/book-...

The week’s poem: Tracey McTague’s “it’s a scarlet tanager kind of day” artsfuse.org/331089/weekl...

This week's newsletter is out and about. My column is a call for critical discrimination: A book culture that cannot see the value of sustaining negative judgments—or even mixed appraisals—undercuts the very conditions that make praise matter. artsfuse.substack.com/p/book-revie...

Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews. Among the July contributors: @allenmichie.bsky.social, @pkeough1.bsky.social, Ralph Locke, Jonathan Blumhofer, and Mark Hänser. artsfuse.org/330859/july-...?

Michael Ullman on "Woody Shaw: The Complete Columbia Albums Collection" (Columbia Records): A rich six-disc set documents a fiercely original voice at the height of its powers. artsfuse.org/330994/jazz-...?

For @kuntsuragi.bsky.social, #JackassBestAndLast” is a ragged farewell that mixes new stunts with archival scraps as #johnnyknoxville and his merry band of masochists age out of self-destruction. artsfuse.org/330979/film-...

@sarahminaosman.bsky.social writes that #Netflix’s raunchy comedy "Little Brother" gives comedian #ericandre some room to flail, but there’s not enough weirdness to fully unleash his chaotic brilliance. artsfuse.org/330873/film-...

Jonathan Blumhofer writes that Andris Nelsons and the Vienna Philharmonic deliver a polished but curiously inert reading of a symphonic powerhouse, Mahler's Symphony No. 5. Deutsche Grammophon artsfuse.org/330963/class...?

Lucas Spiro on "The Veiled Prophet: Secret Societies, White Supremacy, and the Struggle for St. Louis (@haymarketbooks.org). A history of the power of money in St. Louis -- how a secret society turned class war into ritual and never let go. artsfuse.org/330925/book-...