on art criticism
interview by BILL POWERS
BILL POWERS — You made a sign for The Women’s March in January that read “Women Own Language.”
ROBERTA SMITH — I was reacting to all the great signs I sawon social media. All these women making signs, not just10 male comedy writers. It became such a pervasive, widespread thing. The march was like an enormous writer’s room.
BILL POWERS — Is part of the ethical code at The New York Times, that you are not to show any overt political slant? I mean, isn’t it sort of a given that writers like you and your husband, Jerry Saltz, lean left?
ROBERTA SMITH — Yes, but I think as a critic one of the things that creates trust with your readers is the idea that you don’t only write about things you believe in politically, that you have a sort of disinterest…