Alyssa Rosenberg

David Simon's new HBO show is less dark and gritty than his other efforts, 'The Wire' and 'Homicide'… More »

"Tightrope," a collaboration between the protean, astonishing Janelle Monae and OutKast's Big Boi, finally premiered today… More »

Bloggers list the texts that inspired they way they think. But reading can also be a call to do things, from flirting with the boy next door to staging a sit-in… More »

In the show's April Fools Day episode, a frog was murdered, campus security got competitive, and more… More »

A talented amateur in Jack's ceramics class brings out his competitive side, while the rest of the group gets really into sailing… More »

The new FX series, starring Timothy Olyphant and based on an Elmore Leonard character, paints a surprising portrait of the state… More »

From Superman to Dr. Strange, countless comic book characters have roamed the streets of New York. But why?… More »

The former American Idol makes a guest appearance on this week's episode, which is all about the ups and downs of family… More »

Problematic depictions of violence. Bad dancing. Stilted dialogue. Why the performer's latest doesn't live up.… More »

How does a half-Palestinian, half-American outcast get a girl? With a little help from Don Draper… More »

She's not as famous as the former Destiny's Child star, but her songs are more interesting—and she has more fun… More »

And why it's not their fault. Sportscasters have to teach Americans the rules of unfamiliar games—and make them care.… More »

I suppose what I want to do is really to ask a question: for those of you with children of your own, or nieces and nephews, or grandkids, or kids you care about a lot in general, how do you make decisions about when you're going to expose them to certain kinds of art?… More »

Did you guys know that there's an entire genre of Yiddish Swing? Perhaps you did, but it was news to me.… More »

Ta-Nehisi's post on rules about who folks are willing to drink with really struck me this last weekend, though not because I necessarily disagree with it. Instead, it got me thinking about the strange ways we figure out how we like to drink, what we like to drink, and who we like to do it with.… More »

Seriously, guys. On, the "We Are the World" remake / announcement of his new website:… More »

I think Scott Lemieux is absolutely correct to identify huffiness over artists who"sell out" as a factor that frequently produces bad criticism. But perhaps that's because I don't really understand why "selling out," or finding a way to steadily monetize your artistic output, is such a terrible thing.… More »

[Alyssa Rosenberg]Wow, is this not a post I anticipated writing today. I was just out at lunch with, among other people, an off-duty DC police officer. As we were getting out of the Metro station in Foggy Bottom, someone shouted "stop him!" and a young man came racing down the escalator, tripped, got up, and took off again: my friend took after him, and I followed him back downstairs to make sure no matter what happened, he would be all right. An on-duty officer…… More »

[Alyssa Rosenberg]Far too much awards-season speculation, at least for my taste, has focused on the dynamic between former married couple Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron, who are up against each other in the best picture and directing categories at the Academy Awards. They seem fairly relaxed about their competition and whatever their short-lived marriage means for it, so I don't particularly see why any of us should get verklempt about it. That said, I've…… More »

[Alyssa Rosenberg*]Most of the time, I tend to think I'm relatively hardcore about my sports. I got swung around by a pipefitter in Fenway Park after the Red Sox won their second World Series game in 2007. I almost got into a brawl at that insane Patriots-Ravens game a few months later, the one with the fourth down in the final moments of the game that had to be redone a couple of time. I like baseball and football, like any good, redblooded New England-raised…… More »