The Rise of CliffsNotes Cinema
Oversimplified literary remakes miss the point of the works they are adapting.
Culture
Why Justin Bieber Played YouTube Onstage for Thousands of People
The pop star transformed the normal act of browsing your laptop into something interesting—and unsettling.
The New Age of Performance Anxiety
With the rise of screen culture, all the world has stage fright.
Where Did ‘Let Them’ Come From?
Years before Mel Robbins published her best-selling self-help book, a struggling writer posted a poem with a similar message.
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Six Books to Read During a Stressful Family Holiday
Reading about other people’s kin, fictional or not, may help you feel better about yours.
Everyone Should Be Reading Palestinian Poetry
Poetry at its best can stun readers into silence, but also give the silenced a voice.
Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai Is a Bloody Masterpiece
The animated series, a historical drama with a modern sensibility, stuns from the first frame.
Zack Snyder, the Director People Love to Hate
How did one of Hollywood’s most successful and influential filmmakers also become one of its most divisive?
A Feel-Bad Movie in the Best Way Possible
The Iron Claw, a new biopic about the tragic Von Erich brothers, is rich with feeling and never despairing.
Our Forests Need More Fire, Not Less
The American history of wildfire suppression has contributed to today’s most destructive blazes.
The Subversive Worldview of Slow Horses
Jackson Lamb’s island of misfit spies is the best place on television.
The Perfect Antidote to an Age of Angsty Literature
The spiky, unsentimental writings of Diana Athill refuse to romanticize emotional discontent.
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The 15 Best TV Shows of 2023
The year’s most essential series
A Memorial at the Barn
After an Atlantic story about the lynching of Emmett Till, the barn where he was murdered will be converted into a memorial.