The Strength of the ‘Soft Daddy’
A modern generation of animated sitcoms shows a rarity in the genre: well-adjusted fathers.
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.
Christine McVie’s Most Miraculous Song
“You Make Loving Fun” showed that the late Fleetwood Mac member was a titan in her own right.
Gift-Giving Is About the Buyer, Not the Receiver
Many of us want to feel like we’re benevolent, yet we pay substantial attention to how the process of giving will make us feel about ourselves.
Stubborn, Determined, and Dying
In the Netflix film The Wonder, a “fasting girl” becomes a holy spectacle of self-annihilation.
Ode to the French Baguette
Intangible in cultural heritage, tangible in my mouth
Unfortunately, the Sexy Teen-Cannibal Romance Is a Letdown
In Bones and All, the gore is paired with a love story that’s surprisingly tame.
The Kingdom Is the Strangest Medical Drama You’ll Ever See
Lars von Trier’s hospital horror-comedy, back for a third season, is a scathing satire of institutional failure.
Seven Books That Will Make You Smarter
These titles do more than answer questions: They explain how the world moves and what moves it.
The Generation
A short story
Hernan Diaz on Erasing Subjectivity
“Although the scope of ‘The Generation’ may seem, literally, cosmic, it is in fact intimate and highly personal.”
A #MeToo Movie Devoid of Sensationalism
What She Said understands about investigative journalism
Glass Onion Understands the Absurdity of Extreme Wealth
The sequel to Knives Out is one big, beautiful brainteaser.
The Multiple Stories of NXIVM
The new season of the HBO docuseries The Vow shows how dangerous the human desire for narrative can be.
What You Learn From Eating Alone
A personal pizza may seem sad, but it doesn’t have to be.
The Streaming Death Spiral Must End
Former Disney CEO Bob Iger is back at a time when the company desperately needs a new direction.
How J. Edgar Hoover Went From Hero to Villain
Before his abuses of power were exposed, he was celebrated as a scourge of Nazis, Communists, and subversives.
The Theater World Has Never Understood Lorraine Hansberry
The subversive intent of the playwright’s art and activism has long been underestimated.
Why Maus Was Banned
What makes the book controversial is exactly what makes it valuable.
A New Theory of American Power
The United States can—and must—wield its power for good.
Ode to Not Watching the World Cup
This is an event of such astoundingly obvious wrongness that doing the right thing is easy.
Whose Midlife Crisis Is It, Anyway?
In the new FX/Hulu show Fleishman Is in Trouble, the story of a divorce isn’t as straightforward as it seems.