Arlene Goldbard

Each of us has a characteristic disappointment, something that strikes in a very deep and very old place. Mine is regression. Whether between two people or two nations, nothing sends me into despair more quickly than believing genuine progress has been made, then seeing things snap back into their original distorted shape.
Say my friend […]

Since mid-January, I have been trying to practice what Martin Luther King preached, to love my opponents. It’s rough going, and I’m not doing all that well. But as is said in \Pirke Avot\ (”Sayings of the Fathers,” a compilation of ancient wisdom that appears in many Hebrew prayerbooks), “It is not given to you […]

A few days ago, Americans for the Arts (the largest national nonprofit arts advocacy group) announced it was merging with the Arts & Business Council (a group promoting business support for the arts). Americans for the Arts is itself the product of a merger about a decade ago between the National Assembly of Local Arts […]

Two stories in this week’s papers about shocks to the cultural establishment have had me wondering whether to entitle this edition of my blog “Chickens Coming Home to Roost” or “I Told You So.” Do I get a merit badge for resisting temptation? (I obviously don’t deserve one, because the previous sentence proves I can’t […]

I have — as we say here on the left coast — trust issues. Not the mundane kind: I’m happy to give most people the benefit of the doubt, and more often than not, they prove trustworthy. I’m content to trust the roads to hold me and the sun to rise tomorrow morning. No, I’ve […]

One of the strongest obstacles to positive change is narcissism: our proclivity to give ourselves the benefit of the doubt, based on the feeling that nice people like ourselves couldn’t possibly be doing bad things.
In the public arena, this is especially easy to see if you follow the way our leaders use the […]

When you hear the term “cultural policy,” do you have a sudden and irresistible urge to leave the room? Please give me five minutes to tell you why you should care instead.
Unesco (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is an essential agency of international cooperation. Through it, nations agree to honor each […]

The “ownership society” paradigm the Bush administration invokes in its campaign to dismantle Social Security scares me in a very old and deep place, chilling my soul. When I feel the shiver, an image shimmers in my mind, fleeting as a reflection on water: an old woman, wrapped in rags, sitting at the mouth of […]