We’ve Lost the Plot
Our constant need for entertainment has blurred the line between fiction and reality—on television, in American politics, and in our everyday lives.
Frontiers of Sports
There’s Good Reason for Sports to Be Separated by Sex
If the practice stopped, top-level women’s sport as we know it might cease to exist.
George Santos, the GOP’s Useful Liar
It’s easy to condemn the congressman’s fabrications. Maybe too easy.
Long Live the Octogenarian Sex Record
Smokey Robinson has every right to unleash an album called Gasms.
When Emo Grows Up
Paramore’s old sound has become trendy again—but the Nashville trio is chasing “new versions of ourselves.”
Magic Mike’s Last Dance Is as Sexy as It Is Romantic
The film is intimate and emotional without losing any of the franchise’s signature heat.
The Grammys Are Built on a Delusion
Even the highlights of last night’s ceremony couldn’t fully distract from its problems.
The SNL Sketch That Left the Cast Helpless
The show proved that the right live performances can find comedy even in a dry steak.
In Flight
Six Books That Will Change How You Look at Art
These titles expand our understanding of creative work—and affirm that it is fundamental to how we process the world.
The Case of the Unknowable Human
Dorothy Sayers’s most famous character is a detective who solves crimes with elegance—but he finds the deeper enigmas of human beings always out of reach.
The 15 Indie Films to Put on Your 2023 Watch List
Here are the most noteworthy movies to come out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
What Is It About Pamela Anderson?
The model and actor drove men wild. She’s still enduring the consequences.
The Band That Best Captures the Sound of the ’70s
Other groups made a bigger splash, but Blondie was a true genre chameleon.
Knock at the Cabin and the Terror of Raising Children
M. Night Shyamalan understands how to make a ludicrous horror concept work: Add in a healthy dose of tenderness.
A New Way to Read Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald never explicitly states Jay Gatsby’s race.
Did George Washington Burn New York?
Americans disparaged the British as arsonists. But the rebels fought with fire too.
The Miraculous Salman Rushdie
His enchanting new novel is a triumph.
Background
A short story
Elaine Hsieh Chou on the Ethics of ‘Trauma Porn’
“If you are retraumatizing the very audience a piece of media is supposedly for, can it really be for them?”
Never Underestimate Jennifer Coolidge
Even before her comeback, the actor excelled at humanizing characters who were written as mere laughingstocks.
SNL Is Excelling in One Particular Way
The sketch show’s pretaped segments are outshining its live comedy.