Culture

IFC Films

When the FBI Spied on MLK

The bureau’s surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr. reflects a paranoia about Black activism that’s foundational to American politics.
- Hannah Giorgis
- January 18, 2021
Courtesy of Daniel Loedel / The Atlantic

My Sister Was Disappeared 43 Years Ago

A casualty of Argentina’s so-called Dirty War, Isabel haunted my childhood like a ghost. Then I started searching for her.
- Daniel Loedel
- January 17, 2021
Getty / Shutterstock / The Atlantic

The ‘Pussy’ Presidency

Donald Trump ended his term in office the way he began it: by invoking a perverse vision of manliness.
- Megan Garber
- January 17, 2021
Disney+

The Deep Sadness of Marvel’s WandaVision

So far, the Disney+ show is telling a story not about an epic struggle to save humanity, but about one woman’s efforts to save herself from her grief.
- Shirley Li
- January 16, 2021
Everett Collection

The Early-Pandemic Heist Thriller That No One Asked For

Locked Down has the air of a homework assignment completed the morning it was due.
- David Sims
- January 16, 2021
David Strick / Redux

The Emotional Miseducation of Tiger Woods

A new HBO documentary zeroes in on the immense psychological toll it took for the legendary golfer to go from prodigy to phenom.
- Hannah Giorgis
- January 15, 2021
Bettmann / Getty

Go Ahead, Share Your Vaccine Selfie

Think of it as a public service: Photos can be powerful tools in overcoming skepticism toward inoculation.
- Brit Trogen
- January 14, 2021
ANA CUBA / The New York Times / ...

Steve McQueen’s Ethos of Generosity

“I’m a massive fan of cinema, but sometimes you have to go where the people are,” the Oscar-winning Small Axe director told The Atlantic.
- David Sims
- January 13, 2021
The Atlantic

D.C. Statehood Is More Urgent Than Ever

“The real fraud is that we call ourselves a democracy yet deny the people of our capital political representation.”
- Hannah Giorgis
- January 9, 2021
Pete Voelker

Lauren Oyler on the Drama of Swiping and Scrolling

“You could say conspiracy theories are like bad fiction, which attempts to tie everything up and explain it all.”
- Oliver Munday
- January 9, 2021
Arsh Raziuddin

Discovery

New fiction from Lauren Oyler
- Lauren Oyler
- January 9, 2021
Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

The Superhero Fantasies of Trump’s Mob

The insurrectionists have been sold a fiction, and their costumes warp the works that inspired them.
- Spencer Kornhaber
- January 8, 2021
SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty

When the Mob Reached the Chamber

Watching the insurrectionists, I felt outrage and horror and heartbreak. What some of them seemed to feel was boredom.
- Megan Garber
- January 7, 2021
The Atlantic

25 Movies to Look Forward to in 2021

Thanks to the pandemic, this list is more familiar and tentative than most annual film previews.
- David Sims
- January 6, 2021
Getty / The Atlantic

The Man Without a Country

Donald Trump was America’s first stateless president.
- Cullen Murphy
- January 5, 2021
Courtesy of Focus Features

Promising Young Woman Sets a Ravishing Trap

Emerald Fennell’s debut movie is a revenge thriller explicitly designed to subvert assumptions about femininity and serious works of art.
- Sophie Gilbert
- December 28, 2020
Soomin Jung

2020 Changed What TV Is For

Viewers didn’t care about “good” or “bad” television this year. Maybe the distinction never mattered.
- Megan Garber
- December 27, 2020
Charlie Le Maignan

The 50 Best Podcasts of 2020

The shows that kept listeners refreshing their apps this year
- Laura Jane Standley and Eric McQuade
- December 26, 2020
NBC

The Astonishing Duality of BTS

In 2020, the world’s biggest band proved that it excels equally at massive spectacle and small-scale intimacy.
- Lenika Cruz
- December 26, 2020
Disney / Pixar

Soul Is Another Cerebral Winner From Pixar

The new film from the director of Up and Inside Out has the aesthetics of a whimsical adventure, but its themes are very raw.
- David Sims
- December 25, 2020

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