Sophie Gilbert
How to Tell the Story of a Cult
Two docuseries about NXIVM present a question: Are the people who have escaped a controlling organization the most reliable sources on what happened to them?
-
![]()
Courtesy HBO The Best Show on TV Is Stuck
In its third season, HBO’s award-winning series Succession needs to remember the dramatic stakes that made it great.
-
![]()
Rosalind O’Connor / NBCU / Getty Kim Kardashian Didn’t Break Character on SNL
The influencer and former reality-TV star’s Saturday Night Live appearance played into her brand, and did nothing to challenge it.
-
![]()
Colin Hutton / Apple TV+ Ted Lasso Is No Superhero
He’s something rarer and more valuable.
-
![]()
Cara Howe / Apple TV+ The New Anti-comedy of Jon Stewart
The comedian returns to TV after six years—and this time, he’s not trying to be funny.
-
![]()
Amazon Studios LuLaRich Reveals a Hole in the American Economy
The controversial cult brand LuLaRoe sold a powerful idea: that mothers could succeed as entrepreneurs while spending meaningful time with their kids.
-
![]()
Karen Ballard / Apple TV+ The Morning Show Has Become a Camp Masterpiece
Just embrace the chaos.
-
![]()
Tina Thorpe / FX What’s the Most Crucial Part of the Clinton Affair?
Impeachment: American Crime Story tells a humanizing story, but misses a bigger point.
-
![]()
Illustration by Vanessa Saba; images by Leonardo Cendamo … The Writer Who Saw All of This Coming
The Matrix author Lauren Groff spends a lot of time thinking about humanity’s past, present, and future.
-
![]()
Netflix The Chair Is Netflix’s Best Drama in Years
The near-perfect show elegantly skewers the subject of free speech on campus.
-
![]()
Vince Valitutti / Hulu The Terrible Cost of Wellness
Hulu’s starry new series Nine Perfect Strangers reminds us how easily human ache can fall prey to the language of transformation.
-
![]()
Amazon Studios When Pursuing Love Is the Only Option
A new Amazon adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s beloved 1945 novel resists the conventions of costume drama to make a more pointed argument.
-
![]()
CNN / Focus Features The Missing Pieces of Anthony Bourdain
Roadrunner, a new documentary about the chef and television star, tries to uncover who he really was, but neglects vital parts of his story.
-
![]()
HBO; The Atlantic The Awful Secret of Wealth Privilege
Mike White’s caustic six-part HBO series, The White Lotus, tackles the stickiest American addiction of all.
-
![]()
Karolina Wojtasik / HBO Max How Gossip Girl Got Creepy
HBO Max’s reboot of the soapy teen drama is a reminder that overexposure isn’t just the realm of teens anymore.
-
![]()
CNN Films The Soft Radicalism of Erotic Fiction
Jackie Collins sold half a billion books, taught women to demand power, and told the truth about Hollywood, yet she’s never gotten her due.
-
![]()
Apple TV+ The Dark Side of Fitness Culture
The Apple TV+ series Physical is a reminder that making people hate their body is a thriving pillar of American commerce.
-
![]()
Marvel Studios Is Loki Darker Than It Seems?
A Brutalist aesthetic. Allusions to autocracy. The early episodes of Marvel’s new series may seem breezy, but its dystopian design hints at more sinister twists ahead.
-
![]()
Daniel Mihailescu; Siro Rodenas Cortes; Stefanie Keenan; Marvin … We Choose Our Cults Every Day
Cultish, a new book by the linguist Amanda Montell, reveals how insidery language informs the communities of modern life.
-
![]()
Michele K. Short / HBO The Real Twist of Mare of Easttown
In the HBO show’s finale, the impulses to care and to crime-solve collide. But the miniseries has thoughtfully explored how the two aren’t always mutually exclusive.
-
![]()
The Atlantic / Amazon Studios / Netflix Even TV Is Struggling to Connect
Two new shows, Amazon’s Solos and Netflix’s Master of None, feature characters desperate for human warmth.
