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Chris Pizzello / AP Sean Spicer and the Self-Contradicting Politics of the Emmys
The cameo by the former press secretary put a confusing spin on the many anti-Trump jokes of the night.
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Owen Sweeney / AP The False Prophets of Protest Music
Members of Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy, and Cypress Hill team up for political rock that seems immediately obsolete.
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Kevin Mazur / Hand in Hand / Getty The Apolitical Politics of the Celebrity Hurricane Telethon
Amid raising $44 million, Stevie Wonder and Beyoncé blew past the question of whether it’d be divisive to talk about climate change.
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Cara Howe / Comedy Central Darkness on the Edge of Broad City
The manic-pixie yas kweens squirm under Trump in Season 4.
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Colin Young-Wolff / AP Princess Nokia's Brash, Oddball Rap
The young artist’s 1992 Deluxe is a super-fun, smart celebration of how identity is tied to culture.
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Evan Agostini / AP The National's Super-Political Love Songs
The singer and lyricist Matt Berninger talks about his band’s adventurous, election-influenced new album.
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Frank Ockenfels / FX Turning the Trump Era Into a Horror Story
The FX anthology series AHS: Cult channels liberal anxieties for a gory, queasy romp.
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RCA Records / Warp Records / Universal Music ... 29 New Albums to Listen to This Fall
From Miley Cyrus to Kamasi Washington, the most anticipated records of the season
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Jack Plunkett / AP LCD Soundsystem's Oddly Inspiring Flip-Flop
Six years after the band broke up, the slow-burning American Dream testifies to the power of choosing to start again.
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HBO Bran Stark and the Problem of Omniscience
The Game of Thrones character joins a long line of fictional oracles: inscrutable, all-knowing, and troublesome to the narrative.
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Matt Sayles / AP The MTV VMAs Tackle Charlottesville and Suicide
The surprising highlights of the ceremony broke out of pop music’s echo chamber.
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Grant Pollard / AP What to Expect From the 2017 MTV VMAs
Pop-gossip fireworks from Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar’s victory lap, and some not-so-subtle politics
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Eduardo Munoz / Reuters Who Killed Taylor Swift?
The jarring new single "Look What You Made Me Do” unveils a dark, not-altogether-convincing persona.
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Shawn Brackbill / Atlantic Records The Classic-Rock Ecstasy of The War on Drugs
The band’s fourth album, A Deeper Understanding, offers a powerful and steady high.
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Helen Sloan / courtesy of HBO Is Game of Thrones on Thin Ice?
Three Atlantic staffers discuss “Beyond the Wall,” the sixth episode of the seventh season.
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Tom Hines / RCA Records Grizzly Bear Capture the Beauty of Connection
The rock band’s fifth album, Painted Ruins, balances mysterious complexity with pure loveliness.
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AP / KGC-138 / STAR MAX / IPx Justin Bieber Has Another Question for the Pop World
His shimmery new single “Friends” comes off as a gift to long-suffering fans—and an attempt to further his hot streak.
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AP / Noah Berger Getting Hate Speech Off Music-Streaming Services
Spotify has pulled a number of bands from its platform in yet another example of tech companies grappling with white supremacy.
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Olivia Bee / Shorefire Media The Very Human Return of Kesha
After a public legal and personal struggle, the pop star is back with “Rainbow,” an album that blends fantasy fun and bummer reality.
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XL Records The Urgent Message of M.I.A.'s Kala at 10
In sound and in message, the rapper’s brilliant second album attacked the concept of borders between peoples.
