Lenika Cruz
She is the author of On BTS: Pop Music, Fandom, Sincerity.
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Courtesy BIG HIT Music Suga of BTS’s World Tour Is Pop Subversion at Its Finest
In the U.S., the first member of the group to stage solo concerts delivered a thrilling declaration of artistic individuality.
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Big Hit Music / HYBE RM of BTS Is Embracing the Silence
On his debut solo album, Indigo, the South Korean rapper finds meaning within the noise of global stardom.
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DreamWorks Pictures; The Atlantic The Guilt-Free Pleasure of Airplane Movies
Amid the endless tiny indignities of air travel, only one true retreat remains.
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Courtesy Chris Perez Howard His Mother’s Life Was a Mystery He Needed to Solve
A landmark novel from the island of Guam is both a brutal story of war and a beautiful act of resurrection.
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Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty BTS Gets It
Why the world’s biggest band visited the White House to speak out against anti-Asian racism
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Pixar / Disney / Charlie Le Maignan / … The Post-villain Era of Animation
Today’s Disney movies aren’t like the ones you grew up with. That isn’t a bad thing.
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Janus; The Atlantic A Film That Finally Captures Murakami’s Writing
Drive My Car is a rare adaptation of the Japanese novelist’s work that brings his unique atmosphere to screen better than anything before.
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Kailey Schwerman / Showtime; Charlie Le Maignan / … Yellowjackets Is So Much More Than a ‘Female Lord of the Flies’
The real horror is the friends we made along the way.
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Courtesy of BIGHIT MUSIC The Spectacular Vindication of BTS
With four sold-out concerts in Los Angeles, the pop superstars proved their timelessness to critics, fans, and themselves.
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DreamWorks; Charlie Le Maignan; The Atlantic You Won’t Regret Rewatching The Ring
Almost 20 years ago, the modern horror classic offered an eerily prescient warning about viral media.
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Cruz family / The Atlantic I Didn’t Know My Mom Was Dying. Then She Was Gone.
Would things have been better if I had known the truth?
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NBC The Astonishing Duality of BTS
In 2020, the world’s biggest band proved that it excels equally at massive spectacle and small-scale intimacy.
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Charlie Maignan The 16 Best Albums of 2020
A selection of the most illuminating music to come out of a dark year, handpicked by our staffers
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Big Hit Entertainment BTS’s ‘Life Goes On’ Did the Impossible
The Grammy-nominated pop septet’s newest single became the first Korean song to top the Billboard Hot 100—with virtually no radio play.
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Big Hit Entertainment BTS’s ‘Dynamite’ Could Upend the Music Industry
The English-language single’s massive success is a career milestone for the South Korean pop group—and a reflection of America’s entertainment market.
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Ira Powell / Shutterstock How One Atlantic Editor Is Spending Her Holidays This Year
It won’t be in the French Alps.
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Ethan Miller / Getty / Thanh Do / … I Wasn’t a Fan of BTS. And Then I Was.
The Korean pop superstars’ devoted following and chart-topping success have won them comparisons to the Beatles. Why was I surprised to get swept up in their magic?
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HBO Did Viewers Win or Lose in Game of Thrones?
Three Atlantic writers discuss the HBO epic’s divisive series finale, which tries to break the wheel one last time.
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HBO Game of Thrones Delivers Its Most Cataclysmic Episode
Three Atlantic staffers discuss “The Bells,” the bloody and fiery penultimate entry of the series.
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Netflix Netflix’s Tuca & Bertie Is a Surreal Celebration of Friendship
Lisa Hanawalt, the cartoonist known for her work on BoJack Horseman, discusses making a new animated comedy about the bond between two young bird-women.
