Spencer Kornhaber
Before joining The Atlantic as an editor in 2011, he was a staff writer at OC Weekly, an editor at Patch, and a freelancer for Spin and The A.V. Club. In 2019, he won the Excellence in Column Writing Award from NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists. At The Atlantic, he covers pop culture and music.
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The Atlantic; Cole Burston / Kevin Mazur / … Welcome to the Summer of Dancing and Darkness
Beyoncé and Drake are turning to house music to encourage listeners to let loose. But are we ready to submit?
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Getty; Alex Cochran TikTok Killed the Video Star
MTV turned music into spectacle. The app is doing the opposite.
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Erik Tanner for The Atlantic The Vindication of Jack White
An obsessive protector of rock’s past could hold the key to its future.
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Jeong Park / Searchlight The Bittersweet Silliness of Hulu’s Fire Island
The smart new rom-com understands that vacation is not liberation.
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Anton Coene Patriotic Songs for a Cruel Country
Wilco’s new album resets with a folkier sound—and a hunt for serenity.
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Lillie Eiger / Sony Music Something’s Up With Harry Styles’s Vibe
Don’t be fooled by the pastel tones and gentle sounds of Harry’s House.
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Oliver Munday / The Atlantic The Impossible Ambition of Kendrick Lamar’s New Album
Despite what the artist says on Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, he’s still trying to save you.
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Atsushi Nishijima / Apple TV+ / Charlie Le … Why the Puzzle-Box Sci-Fi of Severance Works
Where Lost and Westworld spun out, the Apple TV+ show’s contained world succeeds.
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Kevin Mazur / Getty Arcade Fire’s Cringeworthy Dystopia
The spark and originality present in the band’s best work are missing from its latest album.
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Jacob Mulka / Coachella Coachella Defeated My Cynicism About Music Festivals
Amid the sweat and superficiality of the first Coachella since 2019, the most maligned concert format felt vital again.
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David Bornfriend / A24; Charlie Le Maignan / … Everything Everywhere All at Once Is Multiverse Storytelling at Its Best
How the film turns a comic-book trope into an unpretentiously profound message
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VH1 Who’s Watching RuPaul’s Drag Race Now?
The show has evolved into a valuable institution—even if some viewers are sick of it.
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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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Paul Spella Have We Lost Patience for Prestige TV?
Better Call Saul is dazzling, and frustrating.
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Mario Anzuoni / Reuters; Charlie Le Maignan / … Pop Music’s Nostalgia Obsession
Why do older sounds seem to dominate music lately?
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Valerie Macon / AFP / Getty How Jon Batiste Broke Grammys Expectations
The jazz pianist was a traditionalist choice to win Album of the Year—but a traditionalist choice for an evolving institution.
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Getty for the Recording Academy The Reason for Zelensky’s Surprise Grammys Appearance
Why a pretaped message from the Ukrainian president aired during a night of escapist entertainment
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Niko Tavernise / 20th Century Fox / Charlie … West Side Story Needed an Update
The original is “a masterpiece … but it’s also a bit of a tough watch today.”
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Dan Franco An Artist Who Makes Me Excited About the Future of Music
Early this year, I found myself obsessed with a 21-year-old whose electronic-pop songs turn the past into something fresh.
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Warner Bros. / Charlie Le Maignan / The … Why Robert Pattinson’s Grim Batman Is Cause for Optimism
By bringing the character back to his noir-detective origins, The Batman shows that comic-book movies can contain multitudes.
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