Culture

What the Sexual Violence of Game of Thrones Begot

Ten years after the hit series debuted, television’s reliance on rape culture still feels exploitative.

• Sophie Gilbert
• May 4, 2021

On Rape Narratives and the Surprising Value of Plot

Why literary novels about wrenching events are taking more and more cues from crime writing

• Lily Meyer
• May 2, 2021

Elon Musk’s SNL Hosting Gig Is a Trap

By the time you understand the billionaire’s motives, you’ve already been trolled.

• Shirley Li
• April 28, 2021

A Confusing, Experimental Oscars

This year’s Academy Awards tried to be like a movie. So we tried to review it like one.

• Shirley Li
• April 26, 2021

And the Best Oscars Acceptance Speech Goes to …

When Youn Yuh-jung collected her latest trophy for Minari, she showed everyone why she keeps winning.

• Hannah Giorgis
• April 26, 2021

Your Moviegoing Experience Is About to Change

Theaters barely survived the pandemic and can’t wait to welcome audiences back. Here’s what you can expect when you return.

• Shirley Li
• April 24, 2021

The Power of a Skeptical Captain America

All season long, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier asked not only what it meant for a Black man to inherit the storied shield—it asked whether the shield was worthy of him.

• Sophie Gilbert
• April 23, 2021

What HBO’s New Crime Show Gets Exactly Right

Mare of Easttown, starring Kate Winslet as a Delaware County detective, is brilliantly specific in its portrayal of a community. More of its peers should follow suit.

• Sophie Gilbert
• April 21, 2021

What Grief Tastes Like

Michelle Zauner’s Crying in H Mart shows the possibilities and limitations of the food memoir.

• Mayukh Sen
• April 21, 2021

The Dark Side of the Houseplant Boom

American culture is becoming more and more preoccupied with nature. What if all the celebrations of the wild world are actually manifestations of grief?

• Megan Garber
• April 20, 2021

The Interior Lives of Hoarders

Cultural portrayals of hoarding tend to invite pity rather than empathy, revulsion rather than self-reflection. A new entrant in the field masterfully refocuses the lens.

• Alyse Burnside
• April 19, 2021

Who Wants to Watch Black Pain?

More Black storytellers are turning to the horror genre to unpack the traumas of racism. But some viewers are growing tired of these stories.

• Hannah Giorgis
• April 17, 2021

When Love Is Optimized, Is It Still Love?

Television, of late, has been obsessing over technological advances that don’t yet exist—rather than the innovations that are already changing our romantic lives.

• Sophie Gilbert
• April 15, 2021

Taylor Swift Knew Everything When She Was Young

The singer’s rerecording of her second album makes a statement about her past—and delivers a blow to her rivals.

• Spencer Kornhaber
• April 13, 2021

The Fierce Vulnerability of DMX

The rapper, who has died at age 50, used his gruff voice to project strength—even as he spoke honestly about human weakness.

• Spencer Kornhaber
• April 9, 2021

When Meanness Was Celebrated

For decades, the media have chronicled a Hollywood mega-producer’s reputation as a bully—and even praised him for it.

• Shirley Li
• April 9, 2021

The Irish Wedding

A short story

• Elizabeth McCracken
• April 8, 2021

Elizabeth McCracken on the Mysteries of Married Life

“Weddings are public; marriages are supposed to be private, or so I always thought.”

• Ena Alvarado
• April 8, 2021

The Crime Drama That Will Enthrall and Repel You

In the ornately violent AMC series Gangs of London, even the pigeons are on cocaine.

• Sophie Gilbert
• April 7, 2021

The Paradox of Caring About ‘Bullshit’ Jobs

A new entry into the literature of work makes an uneasy case for small acts of reclamation.

• Apoorva Tadepalli
• April 2, 2021