Megan Garber
She is the recipient of a Mirror Award for her writing about the media, and she previously worked as a reporter for the Nieman Journalism Lab and as a critic for the Columbia Journalism Review. At The Atlantic, she writes about the intersection of politics and culture (which often, but not always, means that she writes about reality TV).
We’ve Lost the Plot
Our constant need for entertainment has blurred the line between fiction and reality—on television, in American politics, and in our everyday lives.
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20th Century Fox Film / Everett Why Rewatching Titanic Is Different Now
Twenty-five years ago, the movie turned tragedy into romance. Today, that alchemy takes on a darker absurdity.
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Paul Spella / The Atlantic; Drew Angerer / … George Santos, the GOP’s Useful Liar
It’s easy to condemn the congressman’s fabrications. Maybe too easy.
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Tyler Comrie / The Atlantic The Meme That Defined a Decade
Over the past 10 years, the “This Is Fine” dog has evolved from a joke into an indictment.
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Paul Spella / The Atlantic; Ted S. Warren … A Grim New Low for Internet Sleuthing
In the Idaho murders, the real crime has become a “true crime”—an ominous form of interactive entertainment.
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The Atlantic; Getty; HBO Max 13 Feel-Good TV Shows to Watch This Winter
The most comforting shows to watch during the coldest season
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Julia Schimautz The 15 Best TV Shows of 2022
The year’s most essential series
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Will Heath / NBC The SNL Sketch That Perfectly Mocks Our Upside-Down Reality
The show finally got satire right ... with the help of Hello Kitty.
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Allen Fraser / Universal Pictures The Truth in a Violent Santa
As if on cue, 2022 has reached into its bag and delivered a jolly old elf who slays.
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Courtesy of Paramount The Best Character on Yellowstone Is Also Its Worst Person
The mercurial Beth Dutton evinces the ruthless clarity of a woman in a man’s world.
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STAIR; Joanne Imperio / The Atlantic The Magical Thinking of Joan Didion’s Estate Sale
Mythology came long ago for the celebrated writer; now it’s coming for her belongings.
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Netflix Why Is No One Acting Their Age on Blockbuster?
The workers on Netflix’s new sitcom are caught, like so many Americans, between a precarious present and an unsteady future.
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Tyler Golden / Netflix; Nick Wall / Searchlight; … The Older Woman Comes of Age
In a new comedy, Emma Thompson plays a woman who finally sees her body, the actor says, “as her home.” Her victory, in a post-Roe world, takes on the dimensions of tragedy.
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Andrew Harnik / AP Make America Remember Again
Caroline Edwards’s testimony about the January 6 insurrection was a reminder that words can convey truths that even images cannot.
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Paramount / Sunset Boulevard / Corbis / Getty; … The Review: Top Gun
How does the classic work of propaganda hold up? And can its sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, deliver decades later?
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Steve Helber / AFP / Getty; Jim Watson … The Amber Heard–Johnny Depp Trial Is Not a Joke
Why are so many people treating it like one?
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Universal / Everett; The Atlantic The Review: Knocked Up
Sophie Gilbert, Megan Garber, and Hannah Giorgis discuss Hollywood and the way it depicts abortion (or doesn’t).
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Mel Haasch The Fight to Decouple Sex From Marriage
Sixty years ago, Helen Gurley Brown’s best-selling book promised women sexual freedom. Today, it reads like an omen.
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Paul Spella / The Atlantic; Moviestore Collection Ltd … Knocked Up and the American Impulse to Edit Out Abortion
How the comedy, now 15 years old, foresaw Roe’s looming tragedies
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Beth Dubber / Hulu; Charlie Le Maignan / … Why The Dropout Succeeds Where Other Scammer Shows Fall Short
It’s all too easy to forget the victims and glamorize the grifter.
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Adam Maida / The Atlantic The Great Fracturing of American Attention
Why resisting distraction is one of the foundational challenges of this moment
