Spencer Kornhaber
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Macall B. Polay / HBO The Complicated Cliché of ‘Bran the Broken’
Game of Thrones, which always commented on the social effects of disability, ended by selling its final twist as inspirational.
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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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Markus&Koala Carly Rae Jepsen Is Getting Weirder—And It’s Brilliant
The singer gets campier and more creative on her fourth album.
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Graham MacIndoe The National Further Complicates Its Sadness
I Am Easy to Find sees the rock band involving new voices and a softer approach to evoke indescribable feelings.
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HBO Why Did Dany Destroy King’s Landing? Some Theories From History
A scholar of classical warfare sees real-world parallels to the Dragon Queen’s rain of fire in the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones.
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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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AP / KGC-182 / STAR MAX / IPx The Anti-party Anthem Contending for Song of the Summer
Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran’s “I Don’t Care” joins a growing body of sing-alongs about social anxiety.
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HBO The Deeper Dilemma for Daenerys in Game of Thrones
The heroes on the show talk about saving common lives. The show itself has been cavalier with such lives.
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HBO Daenerys Targaryen Makes Her Move on Game of Thrones
Three Atlantic staffers discuss “The Last of the Starks,” which explored the fallout from last week’s epic battle and previewed a big showdown.
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Michael Schmelling Vampire Weekend’s Father of the Bride Is an Ambivalent Epic About World Peace
On the art rockers’ most sprawling album, global serenity is a personal worry.
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HBO What Melisandre’s Magic Reveals About Game of Thrones
The show has always had a unique take on the supernatural, with the Red Woman as its unpredictable avatar.
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HBO The Long Night Finally Arrives on Game of Thrones
The much-awaited, epic Battle of Winterfell aired, and three Atlantic staffers discuss what its dramatic conclusion might mean for the show’s last episodes.
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Taylor Swift Productions Taylor Swift’s ‘ME!’ Is Everything Wrong With Pop
The star’s first single since Reputation has almost none of the elements that once made her interesting, but it does have a dolphin screech for a chorus.
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HBO How Game of Thrones’ New Song ‘Jenny of Oldstones’ Was Made
The composer Ramin Djawadi approached the solemn tune from “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” as Elton John would a set of lyrics.
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Helen Sloan / HBO Game of Thrones: The One Where Everyone Contemplates Imminent Death
Three Atlantic staffers discuss “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” the second episode of Season 8.
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Netflix / Parkwood Entertainment Homecoming Is One of Beyoncé’s Masterpieces
Who else is making spectacle this awesome, this intricate, and this meaningful?
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Helen Sloan / HBO Why Has Game of Thrones Sidelined Tyrion?
Once thought of as the cleverest man in Westeros, the Lannister carried a record of misjudgments and an air of malaise in the Season 8 premiere.
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HBO Game of Thrones Makes Time for Love Before War
Three Atlantic staffers discuss “Winterfell,” the first episode of Season 8.
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Disney Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Might Spark an Old Fight
The trailer for the final film in Disney’s trilogy raises the notion that J. J. Abrams undid the twists of The Last Jedi. But that might be a bluff.
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Gunpowder and Sky A Movie That Radically Rewrites the Myths of A Star Is Born
The wild and challenging Her Smell stars Elisabeth Moss as a self-destructive rocker in a familiar mold—and features an ending in a less familiar one.
