What is culture without the guidance of critics?
From The Colin McEnroe Show by Connecticut Public Radio
June 2, 2026 · 50 min
About this episode
The episode critically examines the role of art critics and the current status of criticism in society.
This hour, we take a critical look at the role of art critics in our world. What is the status of criticism, and is it under threat? GUESTS: Naveen Kumar: Theatre critic and journalist. He is associate director of the National Critics Institute, the leading arts-writing workshop for professional journalists. He has twice served on the jury for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama Kathryn VanArendonk: Critic at Vulture and New York Magazine Matt Singer: Editor and Critic at ScreenCrush and a member of the New York Film Critics Circle. He is the author of numerous books, including Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever Aleksandra Mir: Artist, whose work has been included in 370 exhibits worldwide. She is co-editor of the book Bad Reviews: An Artists' Book by 150 Artists The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Amazon Music , TuneIn , Listen Notes , or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter , an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show . Join the conversation on …
People in this episode
Host: Colin McEnroe
Guests: Naveen Kumar, Kathryn VanArendonk, Matt Singer, Aleksandra Mir
Topics covered
- art criticism
- role of critics
- cultural commentary
- theatre
- film
- art
Keywords
- art critics
- criticism
- Pulitzer Prize
- theatre
- film criticism
- cultural commentary
- art
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Connecticut Public Radio
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