Episodes

  • Bad Bad Girl

    Bad Bad Girl
    Dec 9 2025

    Gish Jen

    Gish Jen's work has been included in The Best American Short Stories five times, including in The Best American Short Stories of the Century. A fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she has received NEA, Guggenheim, and Radcliffe fellowships, a Lannan Literary Award, and a five-year Mildred and Harold Strauss Living Award. Her short work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, and many anthologies; she has taught at Harvard University, NYU Shanghai, and other universities.

    Bad Bad Girl is her sixth novel; her other books include two collections of short stories and two works of non-fiction, including publication of her Massey Lectures in the History of American Civilization at Harvard University.


    The Short Fuse Podcast is hosted by Elizabeth Howard. She talks with contemporary artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change through their art, music, ideas, and performances. James Baldwin reminds us that "artists are here to disturb the peace." Her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communication World, The Strategist, and the New York Law Journal, among others. Her books include Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David Godine, 2015) and Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back (Easton Studio Press, 2016). She leads reading groups at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, New York. @elizh24 on Instagram


    Gerald Kent

    Gerald Kent is the producer and editor of the Short Fuse. Based in Cape Town, South Africa. Gerald is a talented musician and audio engineer who has been releasing his own music independently since 2021. Alongside his artistry, he’s built up experience working with multiple clients in the podcasting space, from editing through full-scale production.

    The Arts Fuse

    The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication’s over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. There is a robust readership for arts coverage that believes that culture matters.

    The goal of The Arts Fuse is to treat the arts seriously, to write about them in the same way that other publications cover politics, sports, and business — with professionalism, thoughtfulness, and considerable attitude. The magazine’s motto, from Jonathan Swift, sums up our editorial stance: “Use the point of your pen … not the feather.”

    The Arts Fuse has published over 10, 000 articles and receives 80,000+ visits a month. This year the magazine is celebrating its 18th birthday - a milestone for a small, independent magazine dedicated to covering the arts.

    Assist Arts Fuse in its mission: keep arts and culture hale and hearty through dialogue, and not just marketing.

    Serious criticism, by talking about the strengths, weaknesses, and contributions of the arts, plays an indispensable role in the cultural ecology. Smaller, newer organizations need a response. When they are ignored as they are by the mainstream media, they fail to gain an audience. And without an audience, they fold, further weakening the entire ecosystem.

    SUBSCRIBE to the weekly e-newsletter

    LIKE The Arts Fuse on Facebook, FOLLOW on Twitter

    HELP The Arts Fuse thrive by providing underwriting for the magazine. Even better — make a tax deductible donation.
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    36 mins
  • Broadway, Bars & Fortune

    Broadway, Bars & Fortune
    Nov 18 2025
    Fortune SocietyFounded in 1967, The Fortune Society’s vision is to foster a world where those who are incarcerated or formerly incarcerated will thrive as positive, contributing members of society. This is achieved through a holistic, one-stop model of service provision.The Fortune Society's continuum of care is informed and implemented by professionals with cultural backgrounds and life experiences similar to those of the participants. They serve thousands of individuals annually through New York locations: service centers in Long Island City, Queens and Morrisania, the Bronx, as well as several housing residences throughout the city. Their program models are recognized both nationally and internationally for their quality and innovation.Dr. Shuvendu Sen Recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from AmeriCorps and the Office of the President of the United States, Dr, Shuvendu Sen is an Award winning physician, community activist, Author, and Ffilm personality. He is the author of Amazon bestseller Why Buddha Never Had Alzheimer’s: a Holistic Treatment Approach through Meditation, Yoga and the Arts, which received the 2017 Nautilus Award. He recently directed and produced "Broadway Bars & Fortune," a 40-minute Documentary that unfolds the story of four incarcerated individuals and their triumphant return to life through arts and theater.Shortfuse Podcast The Short Fuse Podcasts, hosted by Elizabeth Howard, are conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others who have a lens on contemporary thought and stir us to seek change. With their art, their music, their performances, and their vision they lead us through the social and environmental transformations sweeping across the globe.“Artists are here to disturb the peace.” James Baldwin.The Short Fuse is distributed through the Arts Fuse, a journal of arts criticism and commentary.Elizabeth Howard, HostElizabeth Howard is the host of the Short Fuse Podcast, conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change. Her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communication World, The Strategist, and the New York Law Journal, among others. Her books include Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David Godine, 2015) and Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back (Easton Studio Press, 2016). @elizh24 on InstagramGerald Kent Gerald Kent is the producer and editor of The Short Fuse. Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Gerald is a talented musician and audio engineer who has been releasing his own music independently since 2021. Alongside his artistry, he’s built up experience working with multiple clients in the podcasting space, from editing to full-scale production. We’re thrilled to have Gerald on board and look forward to the journey ahead with him.The Arts Fuse The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication’s over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. There is a robust readership for arts coverage that believes that culture matters.The goal of The Arts Fuse is to treat the arts seriously, to write about them in the same way that other publications cover politics, sports, and business — with professionalism, thoughtfulness, and considerable attitude. The magazine’s motto, from Jonathan Swift, sums up our editorial stance: “Use the point of your pen … not the feather.” The Arts Fuse has published over 10, 000 articles and receives 80,000+ visits a month. This year the magazine is celebrating its 18th birthday - a milestone for a small, independent magazine dedicated to covering the arts.Assist Arts Fuse in its mission: keep arts and culture hale and hearty through dialogue, and not just marketing. Serious criticism, by talking about the strengths, weaknesses, and contributions of the arts, plays an indispensable role in the cultural ecology. Smaller, newer organizations need a response. When they are ignored as they are by the mainstream media, they fail to gain an audience. And without an audience, they fold, further weakening the entire ecosystem.SUBSCRIBE to the weekly e-newsletterLIKE The Arts Fuse on Facebook, FOLLOW on TwitterHELP The Arts Fuse thrive by providing underwriting for the magazine. Even better — make a tax deductible donation.
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    45 mins
  • Shakespeare in South Africa: Now and Then

    Shakespeare in South Africa: Now and Then
    Oct 14 2025

    Chris Thurman

    Chris Thurman is Director of the Tsikinya-Chaka Centre at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is co-editor, with Sandra Young, of Global Shakespeare and Social Injustice: Towards a Transformative Encounter (2023). He is also editor of South African Essays on ‘Universal’ Shakespeare (2014), Sport versus Art: A South African Contest (2010) and sixteen volumes of the journal Shakespeare in Southern Africa. His other books are the monograph Guy Butler: Reassessing a South African Literary Life (2010); Text Bites, an anthology for high schools (2009); and two collections of arts journalism. He is president of the Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa and founder of Shakespeare ZA. (christopher.thurman@wits.ac.za)

    Laura Bohannan

    Link for "Hamlet in the Bush".

    Gerald Kent

    Gerald Kent is the producer and editor of The Short Fuse. Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Gerald is a talented musician and audio engineer who has been releasing his own music independently since 2021. Alongside his artistry, he’s built up experience working with multiple clients in the podcasting space, from editing to full-scale production. We’re thrilled to have Gerald on board and look forward to the journey ahead with him.

    Elizabeth Howard, Host of the Short Fuse Podcast

    Elizabeth Howard is the host of the Short Fuse Podcast, conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change. Her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communication World, The Strategist, and the New York Law Journal, among others. Her books include Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David Godine, 2015) and Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back (Easton Studio Press, 2016). She leads reading groups at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, New York. @elizh24 on Instagram

    The Arts Fuse

    The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication’s over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. There is a robust readership for arts coverage that believes that culture matters.

    The goal of The Arts Fuse is to treat the arts seriously, to write about them in the same way that other publications cover politics, sports, and business — with professionalism, thoughtfulness, and considerable attitude. The magazine’s motto, from Jonathan Swift, sums up our editorial stance: “Use the point of your pen … not the feather.”

    The Arts Fuse has published over 10, 000 articles and receives 80,000+ visits a month. This year the magazine is celebrating its 18th birthday - a milestone for a small, independent magazine dedicated to covering the arts.

    Assist Arts Fuse in its mission: keep arts and culture hale and hearty through dialogue, and not just marketing.

    Serious criticism, by talking about the strengths, weaknesses, and contributions of the arts, plays an indispensable role in the cultural ecology. Smaller, newer organizations need a response. When they are ignored as they are by the mainstream media, they fail to gain an audience. And without an audience, they fold, further weakening the entire ecosystem.

    SUBSCRIBE to the weekly e-newsletter

    LIKE The Arts Fuse on Facebook, FOLLOW on Twitter

    HELP The Arts Fuse thrive by providing underwriting for the magazine. Even better — make a tax deductible donation.

    Show
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    43 mins
  • Mother Africa: Celebrating African Jazz at Lincoln Center

    Mother Africa: Celebrating African Jazz at Lincoln Center
    Sep 19 2025
    Seton HawkinsSeton Hawkins is the Director of Public Programs and Education Resources at Jazz at Lincoln Center. He leads the organization's Swing University teaching initiative. In addition, he has worked as a producer, manager, publicist, radio DJ, and advocate in jazz for more than a decade. He has written extensively for Hot House Jazz and for AllAboutJazz.com, with a particular emphasis on the jazz scene of South Africa. Outside of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Seton is a radio host for SiriusXM's Real Jazz Channel (hosting a weekly South African Jazz series); a professor at the Julliard School; and is the curator of the AfricArise South African Jazz record series for Ropeadope Records. He received his MBA from Babson College and his BA in Music from Columbia University. Marcus PrintupMarcus attended Georgia State University, then transferred to the University of North Florida on a music scholarship. It was during his studies at UNF that he competed and won the prestigious International Trumpet Guild Jazz Trumpet Competition.In 1991, Mr. Printup's life would change when he met his mentor and friend-to-be, the incomparable pianist Marcus Roberts. Mr. Roberts introduced him to world renowned trumpeter, Wynton Marsalis which in time led to the invitation to join the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra in 1993. Since then, Marcus has established and held third chair in the trumpet section and contributes regularly to the orchestra as an arranger and composer.Among many others, Mr. Printup has performed/recorded with Betty Carter (an inductee into Ms. Carter's first Jazz Ahead class in 1994), Dianne Reeves, Eric Reed, Cyrus Chestnut, Wycliffe Gordon, and Marcus Roberts. Mr. Printup has led multiple recordings on several major record jazz labels.Mother Africa, Jazz at Lincoln Center This episode explores the opening of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2025–26 season with Afro!, a new composition by Wynton Marsalis. Performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Marsalis directing, the work celebrates jazz’s deep ties to African music and features special guests vocalist Shenel Johns and percussionist Weedie Braimah.As part of our conversation with Seton Hawkins, we highlight three South African jazz standards that will be featured in the performance and in this episode:Kippie Moeketsi – Scullery Department: A hard-swinging, bebop-rooted tune that captures the energy of Johannesburg’s 1950s jazz scene. An alto saxophonist central to the 1950s Johannesburg jazz scene and often dubbed the “Charlie Parker of South Africa.”Winston Mankunku Ngozi – Yakhal’ Inkomo: Recorded in 1968, this tenor sax masterpiece became one of the most iconic South African jazz albums. Its title, meaning “the bellowing bull,” captures both deep personal expression and the wider struggle under apartheid.Feya Faku – Elegy for Bheki Mseleku: A leading trumpeter and composer of the modern era, Faku wrote this moving tribute to pianist Bheki Mseleku, one of South Africa’s most innovative and spiritual jazz voices.Together, these works connect South Africa’s jazz legacy with Marsalis’s new composition, underscoring how the story of jazz is inseparable from its African roots.Gerald KentWe’re excited to welcome Gerald Kent as the producer and editor of The Short Fuse. Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Gerald is a talented musician and audio engineer who has been releasing his own music independently since 2021. Alongside his artistry, he’s built up experience working with multiple clients in the podcasting space, from editing to full-scale production. We’re thrilled to have Gerald on board and look forward to the journey ahead with him.Elizabeth Howard, Producer and Host of the Short Fuse PodcastElizabeth Howard is the producer and host of the Short Fuse Podcast, conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change. Her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communication World, The Strategist, and the New York Law Journal, among others. Her books include Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David Godine, 2015) and Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back (Easton Studio Press, 2016). She leads reading groups at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, New York. @elizh24 on InstagramThe Arts Fuse The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication’s over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. There is a robust readership for arts coverage that believes that culture matters.The goal of...
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    35 mins
  • Open Book: Reading South Africa

    Open Book: Reading South Africa
    Aug 19 2025
    Open Book FestivalThe Open Book Festival is a trusted space in which difficult conversations are possible. The festival, at its core, recognizes the importance of books to explore the world. Writers and their work is at the center of the Festival, along with the audience. We believe that the meaningful conversation is impossible, without the representation of the audiences. Book LoungeThe Book Lounge is located at 71 Roeland Street in Cape Town. Karavan PressKaravan Press is an independent publisher based in Cape Town, South Africa, devoted to excellence and integrity. They are passionate about the books they publish.The Frightened by Lethokuhle Msimana Published by Karavan Press“In this lyrical, fragmented novella, Lethokuhle Msimang uses autobiographical and poetic interventions to lead the reader thorugh landscapes of loss and longing, traveling between France, China, Spain and South Africa, to explore the troubled terrain of leaving and findinghome. The Bitterness of Olives by Andrew Brown Published by Karavan PressAvi Dahan, a retired detective mourning his beloved wife in tel Aviv and Khalid Mansour, a Palestinain doctor confront the precarious reality of living in Gaza City – and are still reeling from the policital fallout that jeopardies their delicate friendship. Colleen Hicks. Modjagi BooksColleen Hicks is a writer and publisher.She founded the ground-breaking independent southern African press, Modiaji Books in 2007.Through her publishing company she occasionally offers workshops on how to get published in South Africa. She has edited four editions of African Small Publishers Catalogue. The BookeryThe Bookery was established in 2010 and since then has set up more than 98 school libraries in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng, South Africa. Professional libraries assist in keeping the organized supplied with reference, non-fiction and fiction books. The Bookery provides at least three books per learner, carefully selected, to meet their individual needs and interests. The Bookery also trains librarians. They have distributed more than 375,000 books throughout South Africa.African Literary Cities ProjectAfrican Literary Cities Project – University of Cape Town “As a form of urbanity, the literary city can be considered a narrative that (re)produces itself in both material and imaginative forms and can thus not be read solely with one single disciplinary lens. The African Literary Cities Project at the University of Cape Town proposes the notion of “literary urban ecologies” to make sense of the complex entanglements and (re)productions of cityness and literature. We are not concerned with creating an authoritative definition of the African Literary City. Rather, we are interested in mapping how literary cityness is locally produced in the contexts of dynamic African cities that are constantly “ making connections of all kinds through their literary.”Conversations with Mohale MashigoOtto FoundationThe Otto Foundation is the philanthropic trust of the Otto Family. The Trust was established by Chris Otto and his daughter, Zephne Ladbrook, in 2016. The Otto Family and the board of trustees has mandated the Otto Foundation to contribute to social justice and positive change in South Africa through projects that improve early literacy. Batis BooksBatis Books, based in Edinburgh and publish beginning in early 2026. Batis will publish a handful of titles focusing on literary excellence and new talent from South Africa and Scotland. On Publishing with Pan MacmillanPatient 12A by Lesedi Molefi – a candid and absorbing account of his time spent in a psychiatric clinic in 2016.Book mentionedBraids and Migranes by Andile Cele - The Fragile Mental Health of Strong Women By Michelle Myeko KekanaElizabeth Howard, Producer and Host of the Short Fuse Podcast Elizabeth Howard is the producer and host of the Short Fuse Podcast, conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change. Her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communication World, The Strategist, and the New York Law Journal, among others. Her books include Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David Godine, 2015) and Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back (Easton Studio Press, 2016). She leads reading groups at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, New York. @elizh24 on InstagramThe Arts Fuse The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication’s over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, ...
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    32 mins
  • Bearing Witness: theatre in South Africa

    Bearing Witness: theatre in South Africa
    Aug 13 2025

    Malcolm D. Purkey

    Born to Cockney Jewish immigrant parents who were entertainers, Malcolm Purkey is an actor, director, playwright, influential drama lecturer, and theatre administrator. He holds a BA and Honours from University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, an MA in Theatre Studies from the State University New York, is a Fulbright Scholar and he is a Graduate of the British Film School.

    His career and contribution to theatre is monumental. It started in the mad bohemian world of Adam Leslie. While still a student he designed and developed The Box and The Nunnery Theatres for Wits and then managed the influential Workshop 71. He surrounded himself with a group of artistic academic friends who met in a house in Junction Avenue, Parktown. They formed the Junction Avenue Theatre Company that created politically conscious plays that had an influence on theatre in South Africa.

    Malcolm took a post lecturing drama at Wits (University of Witwatersrand) becoming Head of Department and an associate Professor. He was asked to assist the Market Theatre through a diffiult period and turned it around. Malcolm has been a force in the theatre community and has had an enormous impact on hundreds of students.

    Elizabeth Howard, Producer and Host of the Short Fuse Podcast

    Elizabeth Howard is the producer and host of the Short Fuse Podcast, conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change. Her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communication World, The Strategist, and the New York Law Journal, among others. Her books include Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David Godine, 2015) and Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back (Easton Studio Press, 2016). She leads reading groups at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, New York. @elizh24 on Instagram

    The Arts Fuse

    The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication’s over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. There is a robust readership for arts coverage that believes that culture matters.

    The goal of The Arts Fuse is to treat the arts seriously, to write about them in the same way that other publications cover politics, sports, and business — with professionalism, thoughtfulness, and considerable attitude. The magazine’s motto, from Jonathan Swift, sums up our editorial stance: “Use the point of your pen … not the feather.”

    The Arts Fuse has published over 10, 000 articles and receives 80,000+ visits a month. This year the magazine is celebrating its 18th birthday - a milestone for a small, independent magazine dedicated to covering the arts.

    Assist Arts Fuse in its mission: keep arts and culture hale and hearty through dialogue, and not just marketing.

    Serious criticism, by talking about the strengths, weaknesses, and contributions of the arts, plays an indispensable role in the cultural ecology. Smaller, newer organizations need a response. When they are ignored as they are by the mainstream media, they fail to gain an audience. And without an audience, they fold, further weakening the entire ecosystem.

    SUBSCRIBE to the weekly e-newsletter

    LIKE The Arts Fuse on Facebook, FOLLOW on Twitter

    HELP The Arts Fuse thrive by providing underwriting for the magazine. Even better — make a tax deductible donation.
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    18 mins
  • Reading the City with Tyler Wetherall

    Reading the City with Tyler Wetherall
    Apr 7 2025
    SUBCRIBE TO READING THE CITYOrder Tyler Wetherall's novel AmphibianAbout Reading the City "Reading the City" is a weekly newsletter of bookish events in and around NYC, a weekly diary of upcoming New York literary life on a need-to-know basis. No long blurbs, no reviews, just book events of all stripes. "Reading the City" links to the author’s books, website, or social pages when possible. Tyler Wetherall, the founder and editor, is a believer in the power of the literary community to raise each other up, champion one another, and help make the site an inclusive and welcoming space for all writers and readers. Tyler Wetherall is a Brooklyn-based writer, editor, and teacher, and the author of No Way Home: A Memoir of Life on the Run (St. Martin’s Press) and Amphibian (forthcoming from Virago). She arrived in New York from London in 2014, knowing just three people. She carried with her a manuscript she had written alone in a Victorian outhouse at the end of her mother’s garden in Devon. Her entire experience of the writerly life thus far was solitary—and pretty cold. She found herself in a very special place called the Oracle Club (RIP) in Long Island City, and there she met real life authors for the first time. After staying up late and talking craft, drinking gin, and playing records, or reading poetry and howling into the night, she had found her community, and through that community the practical and intellectual resources she needed to become an author myself. Photo credit: Sammy DeighElizabeth Howard, Producer and Host of the Short Fuse Podcast Elizabeth Howard is the producer and host of the Short Fuse Podcast, conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change. Her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communication World, The Strategist, and the New York Law Journal, among others. Her books include Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David Godine, 2015) and Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back (Easton Studio Press, 2016). She leads reading groups at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, New York. @elizh24 on InstagramThe Arts Fuse The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication’s over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. There is a robust readership for arts coverage that believes that culture matters.The goal of The Arts Fuse is to treat the arts seriously, to write about them in the same way that other publications cover politics, sports, and business — with professionalism, thoughtfulness, and considerable attitude. The magazine’s motto, from Jonathan Swift, sums up our editorial stance: “Use the point of your pen … not the feather.” The Arts Fuse has published over 7,000 articles and receives 60,000+ visits a month. This year they are celebrating their 5th birthday, a milestone for a small, independent magazine dedicated to covering the arts.Why The Arts Fuse? Its birth was a reaction to the declining arts coverage in newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. When the number of news pages shrink in the mainstream media, attention is paid. But the continual whittling down of arts coverage has been passed over in silence. Editor-in-Chief Bill Marx started the magazine to preserve the craft of professional arts criticism online, while also looking at new and innovative ways to evolve the cultural conversation and bring together critics, readers, and artists.Serious criticism, by talking about the strengths, weaknesses, and contributions of the arts, plays an indispensable role in the cultural ecology. Smaller, newer organizations need a response. When they are ignored as they are by the mainstream media, they fail to gain an audience. And without an audience, they fold, further weakening the entire ecosystem.Assist The Arts Fuse in their mission: to keep arts and culture hale and hearty through dialogue rather than marketing.SUBSCRIBE to the weekly e-newsletterLIKE The Arts Fuse on Facebook, FOLLOW on TwitterHELP The Arts Fuse thrive by providing underwriting for the magazine. Even better — make a tax deductible donation.
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    34 mins
  • Reading and Talking Film: Sonya Chung, Film Forum

    Reading and Talking Film: Sonya Chung, Film Forum
    Feb 26 2025

    Sonya Chung is the author of the novels The Loved Ones (Relegation Books, 2016) and Long for This World (Scribner, 2010). She is a staff writer for the The Millions and founding editor of Bloom, and is a recipient of a Pushcart Prize nomination, the Charles Johnson Fiction Award, the Bronx Council on the Arts Writers’ Residency, a MacDowell Colony Fellowship, a Key West Literary Seminars residency, a Studios of Key West residency, and an Escape to Create residency. Sonya’s stories, reviews, & essays have appeared in The Threepenny Review, Tin House, The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, The Late American Novel: Writers on the Future of Books, Short: An International Anthology, and This is The Place: Women Writing About Home, among others. Sonya has taught fiction writing at Columbia University, NYU, and Gotham Writers’ Workshop. She is the Director of Film Forum.

    Film Forum

    Film Forum began in 1970 as an alternative screening space for independent films, with 50 folding chairs, one projector and a $19,000 annual budget. Karen Cooper became director in 1972 and under her leadership, Film Forum moved downtown to the Vandam Theater in 1975. In 1980, Cooper led the construction of a twin cinema on Watts Street. In 1990, Film Forum’s current Houston Street cinema was built at a cost of $3.2 million. In 2018, Film Forum raised $5 million to renovate and expand its Houston Street cinema, upgrading the seating, legroom, and sightlines in all theaters and adding a new, 4th screen. In 2023, Cooper stepped down as Director and was succeeded by Deputy Director Sonya Chung.

    We present two distinct, complementary film programs – NYC theatrical premieres of American independents and foreign art films, programmed by Cooper (Advisor to the Director as of 2023), Mike Maggiore, and Sonya Chung; and, since 1987, repertory selections including foreign and American classics, genre works, festivals and directors’ retrospectives, programmed by Bruce Goldstein. Our third and fourth screens are dedicated to extended runs of popular selections from both programs, as well as new films for longer engagements.

    Film Forum is open 365 days a year, with as many as 250,000 annual admissions, nearly 500 seats, approximately 60 employees (of which half are full time), 6,500+ members and a $7 million operating budget. Approximately 80% of our budget is spent directly on programs. As a non-profit, we raise approximately 50% of our operating income. Public funders include: The National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council for the Arts, and various NYC agencies including the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. Private donors include individuals, foundations, and corporate entities. Additionally, our members contribute more than $500,000 annually. This allows us to take risks on emerging filmmakers and challenging films. Film Forum has a $6 million endowment, begun in 2000 with a $1.25 million gift from the Ford Foundation.

    Film Forum is the only autonomous nonprofit cinema in New York City and one of the few in the U.S. The success of our distinctive position is evidenced by our over 50-year tenure, during which our programs and fiscal resources have grown steadily. Sadly, since the 1970s, dozens of NYC art-house theaters (and a great number throughout the U.S.) have closed their doors.

    As a cinema of ideas, Film Forum is committed to presenting an international array of films that treat diverse social, political, historical and cultural realities. Unlike commercial cinemas that primarily “book” high-grossing, Hollywood films, Film Forum’s programs are thoughtfully selected, with attention to unique cinematic qualities, historical importance individually or within a genre and – particularly for documentaries – relevance to today’s world.

    Elizabeth Howard

    Elizabeth Howard is the Host of the Short Fuse Podcast.

    Arts Fuse

    The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication’s over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. There is a robust readership for arts coverage that believes that culture matters.
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    37 mins