Articles
Wishful Thinking The idea that Shostakovich was a ’secret dissident’ remains powerful — but the actual evidence suggests otherwise The Nation, May 3, 2004
A brief sidebar to “Wishful Thinking”: Why Testimony is a Fraud
Preservation Squall The Milken Archive of American Jewish Music is trying to preserve American Jewish music, but its first CDs raise doubts as to whether it can properly be called archival. Nextbook.org, January 2004
Surely We Can Be Civil About This Newspapers around the world differ over who gets courtesy titles. National Post, 5 December 2002
Past Imperfect Is there more to Canadian history than the Canadian Historical Review? National Post, 17 October 2002
West Meets East (Again): A Defense of the New Orientalism Who’s afraid of a little cultural appropriation? Andante, 20 September 2002
How Dare You Strike That Chord! A call for common sense in music’s culture wars. Andante, 27 July 2002
J.F.K. Conspiracy a K.G.B. Hoax? New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison might have been deceived by KGB disinformation. National Post, 4 August 2001
The Sound of Political Dissonance How Joseph McCarthy and the Cold War changed American music. National Post, 21 July 2001
Settling Scores A profile of Richard Taruskin, musicologist and provocateur. Lingua Franca, July/August 2001
Time’s Weather Vane Climate change has contributed to the fall of civilizations throughout history. Is it our turn now? National Post, 4 April 2001
Bouncing off the Walls Leo Beranek helped invent the Internet. Has he now discovered the Rosetta Stone of concert hall acoustics? Lingua Franca, April 2001
‘Economic Botany’ Outlives the Empire A spectacular collection of native Canadian artifacts comes to light. National Post, 4 January 2001
We’re Off to See the Revisionists, About the Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum’s century-old children’s tale is actually a political parable. National Post, 30 September 2000
Gore Finds Medium is the Message Marshall McLuhan’s enduring influence on Canadian and American politics. National Post, 12 August 2000
Calgary Neo-Cons Hunt Controversy The “Calgary School” of neo-conservative academics ruffles academic feathers. National Post, 22 July 2000
The Shostakovich Variations Bitter controversy surrounds Testimony, the alleged memoirs of Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Lingua Franca, May/June 2000
Life’s Work Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon died at Auschwitz. Her work lives on. National Post, 1 April 2000
Natural Born Historian A profile of filmmaker Oliver Stone and his reputation among academic historians. Lingua Franca, April 2000
The Fine Art of Conserving … Teddy Bears? Conservators of modern art face unique problems. The National Post, 5 February 2000
All the Presidents’ Tapes Six consecutive U.S. Presidents secretly wired the Oval Office for sound. We’re about to find out what’s on those tapes. Lingua Franca, February 2000
Healing Art Picasso or Monet? The difference can be a matter of life and death. The National Post, 8 January 2000
In the Eye of the Beholder Are self-portraits just a massive ego-trip? The National Post, 2 October 1999
Sound of History Being Made The National Post, 4 September 1999