The Arts Fuse

The weekly newsletter is here -- links to Coming Attractions, March Short Fuses, reviews of Richard Hell's "Godlike," the Elvis Presley doc "EPiC." and two splendid commentaries on how the arts can strengthen democracy. artsfuse.substack.com/p/the-arts-f...

Book Review: Francis Spufford’s "Nonesuch" - Magic, Mathematics, and the Blitz - The Arts Fuse This hybrid narrative laces romantic adventure with a bit of horror, the supernatural, and mathematical derring-do—all within an increasingly realistic depiction of the times and of the people who sur...

Clea Simon on Francis Spufford's novel "Nonesuch" @groveatlantic.bsky.social. This hybrid narrative laces romantic adventure with a bit of horror, the supernatural, and mathematical derring-do in Blitz-era London.

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Book Review: Richard Hell's "Godlike" - Punk Passion and the Gospel of Damnation - The Arts Fuse Richard Hell is the only New York artist of the past fifty years to give Lou Reed and Patti Smith a run for their money.

Michael Londra on Richard Hell's second novel, 20025's "Godlike" -- a @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social. Hell is the only New York artist of the past fifty years to give Lou Reed and Patti Smith a run for their money.

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Visual Art Commentary: Silence Is Complicity - Why Museums Must Use Their Voice to Defend Democracy - The Arts Fuse At a moment when arts and culture, public education, historical memory, and American democracy itself are under coordinated attack, silence is not a neutral posture. It is a decision with consequences...

A commentary from Julie Trébault. She argues that, at a moment when arts and culture, public education, historical memory, and American democracy itself are under coordinated attack, silence is not a neutral posture. It is a decision with consequences.

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Time to schedule your arts intake for the next two weeks. Our expert critics supply a guide to film, visual art, theater, author readings, television, and music. More offerings will be added as they come in.

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Tim Jackson writes that #ÓliverLaxe's "Sirāt" is a heart-stopping, surreal reflection of our contemporary moment. Screening at @thecoolidge.bsky.social

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March Short Fuses — Materia Critica - The Arts Fuse Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.

March Short Fuses is up and at 'em. Reviews from, among others, me, Ralph Locke, Steve Provizer, Steve Erickson, Mark Favermann.

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Concert Review: Rare Boston Revival - Steve Reich’s Minimalist Epic Thrives with 20 Musicians - The Arts Fuse Steve Reich's 1976 minimalist masterpiece, performed by Ensemble Signal, was a special event to see and hear live.

Paul Robicheau on a very special evening at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Steve Reich’s 1976 minimalist masterpiece "Music for 18 Musicians” performed by Ensemble SIGNAL.

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Film Review: “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert" – The King’s Still the Thing - The Arts Fuse Director Baz Luhrmann’s exhilarating documentary-concert film gives us Elvis in his prime.

Ed Symkus adores director #bazluhrmann’s exhilarating documentary-concert film, "EPiC: Elvis Pressley in Concert," gives us #elvispresley in his prime.

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Film Review: "Deepfaking Sam Altman" – the "Roger and Me" of the AI Age - The Arts Fuse "Deepfaking Sam Altman" is an entertaining, off-beat deep dive into the hands-on tech needed to generate deepfakes. It also sounds the alarm about the growing imitative power of AI.

The documentary "Deepfaking Sam Altman" is an entertaining, off-beat deep dive into the hands-on tech needed to generate deepfakes, writes Preston Gralla. It also sounds the alarm about the growing imitative power of AI.

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Doc Talk: Keeping Time at the Boston Baltic Film Festival - The Arts Fuse Admiring looks at a wealth of illuminating documentaries in this year's gathering.

@pkeough1.bsky.social offers admiring looks at a wealth of illuminating documentaries at this year's Boston Baltic Film Festival.

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Short Fuse Podcast #85: Oarabile Ditsele - Reimagining Theater for Gen Z - The Arts Fuse In this episode, Elizabeth Howard speaks with Oarabile Ditsele, a South African actor, filmmaker, writer, and multidisciplinary creative artist.

In this episode of The Short Fuse Podcast, host Elizabeth Howard speaks with Oarabile Ditsele, a South African actor, filmmaker, writer, and multidisciplinary creative artist.

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Film Review: Escapism and Entrapment Collide in "Kiss of the Spider Woman” - The Arts Fuse The ratio between fantasy and real life felt off in this uneven film version of Kander and Ebb's 1990 musical.

For @sarahminaosman.bsky.social, the ratio between fantasy and real life felt off in this uneven film version of Kander and Ebb’s 1990 musical, though #JenniferLopez and #Tonatiuh shine.

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Book Review: Losing the Flavor - Allegra Goodman and the New Jewish-American Family - The Arts Fuse What Allegra Goodman's stories serve up could be called a vision of Jewish American Life Lite.

Robert Israel reviews Allegra Goodman's "This Is Not About Us." What is served up in this collection of stories — it is not a novel, although it aspires to be -- could be called a vision of Jewish American Life Lite. @thedialpress.bsky.social

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Book Review: "Beckomberga" - A Haunting, Elusive Dive into Madness - The Arts Fuse Disrepair is the leitmotif. The atmosphere throughout is dark and gray, tinting a sadness that to the narrator seems to be inexpressible.

David Mehegan on #sarastridsberg's novel #beckomberga: Disrepair is the leitmotif. The atmosphere throughout is dark and gray, tinting a sadness that to the narrator seems to be inexpressible. @fsgbooks.bsky.social

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Film Review: "Queen Kelly" Restored - Erich Von Stroheim's Mad Genius Resurrected - The Arts Fuse Cinema lovers with a taste for the exotic and a tolerance for narrative loose ends should take advantage of the re-emergence, via 4k digital makeover, of "Queen Kelly".

Betsy Sherman writes that cinema lovers with a taste for the exotic and a tolerance for narrative loose ends should take advantage of the re-emergence, via 4k digital makeover, of the splendid silent film "Queen Kelly."

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Theater Commentary: Theater for Young Audiences - What Role Can It Play In Saving Our Democracy? - The Arts Fuse Meeting today’s challenge—harnessing the performing arts to prepare the next generation to sustain democracy—requires broader collaboration not only with schools and community partners but among TYA c...

A feature by Joan Lancourt on harnessing the performing arts to prepare the next generation to sustain democracy.

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Weekly Feature: Poetry at The Arts Fuse - The Arts Fuse This week's poem: Marina Lazzara's "passionflower"

This week’s poem: Marina Lazzara’s “passionflower”

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The weekly newsletter is out. My column answers critics who’ve pushed back against my view that the arts must sound the alarm and resist as we face a drift toward authoritarianism.

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Album Review: Django Festival Allstars Keep Gypsy Swing Vibrant on "Evolution" - The Arts Fuse "Evolution" is a major statement from master musicians building on a strong tradition and taking it forward into our own generation with passion and elegance.

@allenmichie.bsky.social enthuses that the Django Festival Allstars's album "Evolution" is a major statement from master musicians building on a strong tradition and taking it forward into our own generation with passion and elegance.

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Erica Abeel on Josh Safdie’s "Marty Supreme" and Emerald Fennell's "Wuthering Heights." Both films are intermittently entertaining and display a high level of craft. They’re also blithely mediocre: mainly flash and filigree, vacuous at their center.
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Book Review: "I Give You My Silence" is Vargas Llosa's Final, Gentle Vals - A Swan Song of Art's Quiet Power - The Arts Fuse Mario Vargas Llosa's final novel is a sweet, light story about art and idealism—and its ever-present opposite, cynicism.

David Mehegan writes that #MarioVargasLlosa’s final novel, "I Give You My Silence," is a sweet, light story about art and idealism—and its ever-present opposite, cynicism. @fsgbooks.bsky.social

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Doc Talk: The 2026 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Documentaries Look at a World of Pain - The Arts Fuse For a piercing reflection of the times, turn to the Oscars' Best Documentary categories, in particular the Best Documentary Shorts.

@pkeough1.bsky.social's latest "Doc Talk" column: for a piercing reflection of the times, turn to 2026 nominations for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film.

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Clea Simon writes on the eighth iteration of “Which Side? A Protest Music Teach-out," the monthly music and inspiration gatherings dedicated to protest music. It was a wild success.

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Opera Album Review: "Judita" - A Stirring Modern Croatian Opera of Faith, Siege, and Beheading - The Arts Fuse In its first commercial recording, Frano Parać’s "Judita" wrings compelling drama out of the biblical tale.

In its first commercial recording, writes Ralph Locke, Croatian composer Frano Parać’s opera "Judita "wrings compelling drama out of the biblical strory.
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Book Review: Steven Underwood on the New Black Digital Renaissance — and Who Profits From It - The Arts Fuse What you’ll think of this book will likely rest on what you make of the writer's definition of Black digital Art.

Preston Gralla writes that what you’ll think about Steven Underwood's "Forever for the Culture: Notes from the New Black Digital Arts Renaissance" @beaconpress.bsky.social will likely rest on what you make of the writer’s definition of Black digital Art.

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Peter Keough on director #HlynurPálmason's "The Love That Remains" -- this domestic tragicomedy critiques the patriarchy amid the staggering beauty of Iceland’s landscape. It is an ambitious, artful, but half-baked bagatelle. Screening at @brattletheatre.bsky.social

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Theater Review: "We Had a World" - Joshua Harmon’s Family Saga Revels in Wit and Wounds - The Arts Fuse Joshua Harmon's play offers numerous instances of familial turbulence, moments of rhapsodic relief and -- to avoid spoilers -- revelations of how guilt and hostility fuse to create irreparable fissure...

Robert Israel reviews #JoshuaHarmon's play "We Had a World" at @thehuntington.bsky.social. The dark comedy offers familial turbulence, moments of rhapsodic relief, and revelations of how guilt and hostility fuse to create irreparable fissures in the family dynamic.

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Clea Simon is smitten by "The Copywriter" @simonandschuster.bsky.social -- Daniel Poppick generates plenty of humor from the quotidian as he skewers contemporary life – and what passes as our search for meaning -- in this short novel.

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Weekly Feature: Poetry at The Arts Fuse - The Arts Fuse This week's poem: Nidia Hernández's "Darkness"

This week's poem: Nidia Hernández's "Darkness"

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