Straight Up | Jan Herman

Awaiting an Uncrackable Code

Jan Herman — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 18:44:12 +0000

" data-large-file="https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Collage-©-by-Norman-O.-Mustill-420.jpg" />If poetry make nothing happen, as W.H. Auden once wrote, it sometimes uncannily anticipates what will.

The Bard Died 410 Years Ago Today. His Poems Live On

Jan Herman — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 17:09:00 +0000

Sometimes he rewrote them. See an example and decide which you prefer: the early or the later version.

THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL is coming soon . . . It Probes the Secret Prison History of American Music

Jan Herman — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 18:38:29 +0000

THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL is coming soon . . .
It Probes the Secret Prison History of American Music" rel="nofollow">Colin Asher, author of the critically acclaimed biography of Nelson Algren "Never a Lovely So Real," now focuses on five emblematic figures — Huddle Ledbetter, Elmo Hope, Johnny Cash, Ike White, and Tupac Shakur — as he explores the influence of incarceration on blues artists, jazz musicians, country singers, rock'n'rollers, and hip-hop creators.

Opposing Forces

Jan Herman — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:30:20 +0000

Their faces are so familiar there is no need to name them.

We Bloviate Therefore We Are

Jan Herman — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:22:51 +0000

You have to go behind the billboards to understand what's happening in America. So said the novelist Nelson Algren, who was as sharp a social critic as H.L. Mencken ever was. Seems to me that the British author A. Robert Lee would agree with Algren. But Lee has taken it upon himself to cite the billboards themselves as diagnostic proof.

Our Biggest Problem

Jan Herman — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 18:01:04 +0000

His mouth is too big, and his conscience . . . well . . . he doesn't have one.

How to Make Resistance a Daily Part of Our Lives

Jan Herman — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 16:52:45 +0000

'Don't let anybody convince you this is the way the world is and therefore must be. It must be the way it ought to be.' — Toni Morrison 'Waiting until everything looks feasible is too long to wait.' — Rebecca Solnit

Mad Dog at the FBI

Jan Herman — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 20:34:49 +0000

Fired FBI agents are suing the bureau and Kash Patel for dismissing them because they took part in an investigation of el presidente Trumpscheisse’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

The People Marched ‘No Kings’ Signs and Costumes Spoke for Them

Jan Herman — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 16:39:05 +0000

The People Marched
‘No Kings’ Signs and Costumes Spoke for Them" rel="nofollow">'No Kings' marchers in Manhattan, March 28, 2026

Baghdad Bob in Drag When Sycophancy Is a Feature Not a Bug

Jan Herman — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 16:04:41 +0000

Baghdad Bob in Drag
When Sycophancy Is a Feature Not a Bug" rel="nofollow">'President Trump has been right about everything." — White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. (This is old news by now, but the staff felt an obligation to memorialize it.)

Reboot Your Eyeballs

Jan Herman — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 15:22:12 +0000

It's food for the retina.

Unmasked It’s Banksy’s World . . . But Not Officially

Jan Herman — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 13:55:34 +0000

Unmasked
It’s Banksy’s World . . . But Not Officially" rel="nofollow">The museum in Lisbon, Portugal, showcases 100 reproductions of Banksy's artwork through video, installations, graffiti, canvases, projections, and murals.

Visual Culture Taking a Break

Jan Herman — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 15:28:26 +0000

Buster Keaton has an idea about that..

He Was a No-Show at the Academy Awards But …

Jan Herman — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 15:57:37 +0000

. . . somehow he turned up in this collage.

Bernie Sanders Has an AI Proposal

Jan Herman — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 17:21:55 +0000

Calls for a moratorium on new data centers.

" data-large-file="https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/BERNIE-SANDERS-750-721x1024.jpg" />He's been called a luddite. But he rejects that and says he is calling for a moratorium on building new AI data centers because he is concerned about an existential threat to humankind.

Days of Judgment Poems and Drawings That Speak for Themselves

Jan Herman — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 20:50:23 +0000

Days of Judgment
Poems and Drawings That Speak for Themselves" rel="nofollow">New from Moloko Print — 'Days of Judgment' by Mark Terrill with drawings by Gerard Bellaart.

It Looks Like Spring Has Come, But Don’t Be Fooled

Jan Herman — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 19:20:25 +0000

Two days of suddenly warm weather here in New York City brought a poem to mind, though it's really too early to think about it.

Looking Back at NYC with Nostalgia and Dismay

Jan Herman — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 17:59:40 +0000

In a newly recorded video, three noted writers look back at their experience of New York City with nostalgic affection — and, it must be said, with considerable dismay — from their vantage points in Switzerland and Germany.

Swiss Composer-Musician-Videographer Takes a Bow

Jan Herman — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 15:59:04 +0000

They're celebrating Steff Signer's 75th birthday at the Palace tonight in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Paul Zelevansky’s Absurdist Tale of ‘Monkey & Man’

Jan Herman — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 16:57:15 +0000

It began as a performance piece. That was a long time ago . . . 1985, to be precise, in Brooklyn. The author presented Individual stories as performances and installations. The texts also began appearing in little magazines.