The Perils of the Springsteen-Obama Echo Chamber
Can a serious and heartfelt dialogue between two famous friends heal our national wounds?
Frontiers of Sports
Where Did ‘Synchronized Swimming’ Go?
More than 30 years after its Olympic debut, the sport was rebranded as “artistic swimming”—a controversial move that athletes fear could backfire.
10 Books Texas Doesn’t Want You to Read
School districts are now capitulating to government pressure and going along with censorship in libraries.
The Kleptocrats Next Door
The United States has a dirty-money problem.
The Loss I Didn’t Have Words For
After two miscarriages I didn’t know how to grieve, poetry allowed me to ask: Who are you, who were you, who might you have been?
The 10 Best Films of 2021
Movies that affirm the vitality of the medium, no matter the size of the screen
Has Succession Done the Unthinkable?
An episode chock-full of emotional violence may have ended with real tragedy.
Red Rocket Is a Terrifyingly Honest Look at a Shameless Man
The film’s lead is reprehensible and self-aggrandizing––and mesmerizing to watch.
Adele’s 30 and the Year of the Breakup Album
“Mommy’s been having a lot of big feelings recently.”
The Rare Experimental Musician to Embrace the Spotlight
On her four new Kick albums, Arca makes music that provokes, invites, and, ultimately, inspires.
The Biblical Clash at the Core of The Power of the Dog
The film is a face-off between two visions of the American West—one of promise and the other of hostility.
Cancel Mel Gibson
Why is Hollywood still hiring this raging anti-Semite?
Like Watching Six Different Marriages Fall Apart
What Peter Jackson’s Get Back reveals about the Beatles breakup
The Scariest Movie of the Year Isn’t a Horror Movie
The Humans turns a difficult Thanksgiving dinner into something grotesque.
How Leisure Time Became Work
The rise of the attention economy has accelerated our habit of engaging with our hobbies in a data-driven way.
Stephen Sondheim’s Knotty Vision of Musical Theater
The late composer-lyricist took a calcified medium and made it engage with the human condition.
When Hell Is a Wealthy Man’s Birthday Party
In Succession, the Roys have a lot to celebrate—but very little to feel happy about.
Licorice Pizza Is a Tragicomic Tale of 1970s Hollywood
Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film is an antic comedy, but it’s also a bittersweet reminiscence about how difficult embracing adulthood can be.
The Loss at the Heart of Guy Fieri’s Entertainment Empire
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives is a mainstay of basic cable—and a rallying cry for a country that is losing touch with itself.
The Football Game That Transcends Tradition
The historic rivalry between Florida A&M University and Bethune-Cookman University goes beyond sports.
The Least Exciting Avenger
Hawkeye’s normalcy is what makes him interesting.
The Tempting, Poisonous Wealth of House of Gucci
The film delves into the insidious world of the Italian luxury label.