The Eeriness of the 2020 Disco Revival
As pop stars time-warped back to the ’70s and most nightclubs remained closed, dance music’s tensions felt oddly relevant.
Frontiers of Sports
When Your Hometown Team Gets a New Identity
Black fans of the Washington Football Team are adapting to a new future for their beloved franchise—and reckoning with its past disregard of Native Americans.
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.
What Drives Writers to Drink?
Seeking in the eloquent benders of Dylan Thomas and Herman Mankiewicz an answer to an ancient riddle
The 15 Best Books of 2020
The memoirs, novels, and poetry that stood out most
Wonder Woman 1984 Has a Surprisingly Deep Message
Patty Jenkins’s long-awaited sequel is a charming and poignant end to a tiring year of cinema.
The Unconscious Rebellion of August Wilson
Two new Netflix films, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Giving Voice, honor the late playwright’s rejection of white commercial restrictions.
The Real Legacy of the Suffrage Movement
The cause produced undaunted trailblazers, Black and white, who continued to pursue social reform.
An Ode to Naps
Go ahead, take one.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and the Liberating Power of Music
Netflix’s new adaptation of August Wilson’s play understands the singular magic of the blues.
What Tom Cruise’s COVID-19 Rant Really Means
The incident on location for Mission: Impossible 7 is indicative of how film sets have become pressure cookers during the pandemic.
Uncovering the Cultural Revolution’s Awful Truths
Rebel historians chronicle a past that the Chinese Communist Party grows ever more intent on erasing.
The Year of Ambitious TV Watching
In 2020, tackling 121 episodes of a single show was no longer as daunting as it once seemed.
What Two Late-Night Shows Learned From Covering Trump
Head writers weigh in on how comedy could change as the country transitions to a new administration.
He Won a Super Bowl. Now for the Real Challenge.
Former New England Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett believes there aren’t enough Black characters in children’s literature—and he wants to change that.
The 16 Best Albums of 2020
A selection of the most illuminating music to come out of a dark year, handpicked by our staffers
Taylor Swift Could Use an Editor
Evermore, the singer’s second surprise folkie album of the year, sees the cringes-to-chills ratio move in the wrong direction.
The Singular Achievement of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
No spy novel has captured England—or the human capacity for duplicity—like John le Carré’s hunt for the mole.
I’m Really Sorry, but Let’s Talk About That Chicken Movie
In a time of rampant lies, a KFC-Lifetime rom-com is about as refreshingly blunt as you can get.
Bats and Swallows
How Civilization Broke Our Brains
What can hunter-gatherer societies teach us about work, time, and happiness?
The 15 Best TV Shows of 2020
The year’s most distinct and worthwhile series