Everything Is Different Now
The U.S. Capitol did not fall the way the Twin Towers did, but the American idea it embodies was brutalized. We must remember 1/6 the way we remember 9/11.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Go Ahead, Share Your Vaccine Selfie
Think of it as a public service: Photos can be powerful tools in overcoming skepticism toward inoculation.
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.
Eric Jerome Dickey Made Black Women Feel Seen
The best-selling author, who died recently at the age of 59, created a world of fiction that understood and celebrated his most loyal readers.
What Those Animal Pelts Tell Us About the Future of the Far Right
The seditionist frontiersmen of the Capitol riot certainly meant to send a message through their clothing. But what was it?
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.”
Discovery
New fiction from Lauren Oyler
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.”
The Superhero Fantasies of Trump’s Mob
The insurrectionists have been sold a fiction, and their costumes warp the works that inspired them.
The Inaction of Capitol Police Was by Design
The spectacle of Wednesday’s tepid police response to riotous mobs shocked many. But the passivity is not some surprising anomaly—it is the status quo.
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.
25 Movies to Look Forward to in 2021
Thanks to the pandemic, this list is more familiar and tentative than most annual film previews.
The Man Without a Country
Donald Trump was America’s first stateless president.
How Will We Remember the Protests?
It’s too soon to know which images will become emblematic of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, but previous movements have shown the dangers of adhering to a singular narrative.
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.
2020 Changed What TV Is For
Viewers didn’t care about “good” or “bad” television this year. Maybe the distinction never mattered.
The 50 Best Podcasts of 2020
The shows that kept listeners refreshing their apps this year
The Astonishing Duality of BTS
In 2020, the world’s biggest band proved that it excels equally at massive spectacle and small-scale intimacy.