Jacques Barzun, a distinguished 20th-century cultural historian and critic, spent 48 years teaching at Columbia University while writing extensively on ideas and the arts. In a 1980 interview, he discusses the decline of universities' focus on pure intellectual pursuit, the rise of credentialism, and modern art's role in challenging traditional aesthetic expectations.
The US has lost over 200,000 arts jobs in creative fields like publishing, film, TV, and graphic design over the past four years, marking the worst period outside major recessions. The article examines AI's role in this decline and questions the sustainability of the arts' business model.