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.
The Fans Aren’t Always Right
The new Ghostbusters movie is fine—totally, completely fine. Why is the franchise treated so seriously?
A Saturday Night Live Monologue That Felt More Like Prayer
Ramy Youssef brought a politics of care to his first time hosting the show.
That’s Enough of the MonsterVerse
Godzilla x Kong fails to deliver any action-movie spectacle.
Beyoncé Stands Her Ground
The singer’s confrontational spin on Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” is the key to understanding Act II: Cowboy Carter, her new album.
The Everyday Indignity of Dining Out
On Curb Your Enthusiasm, anything can happen when Larry David walks into a restaurant.
Photographing Black Self-Creation in the American South
How Rahim Fortune depicts the beauty of a place and its people
Family Ties
LaToya Ruby Frazier’s intimate, intergenerational portraits
The Impossible Fight to Live the Life You Want
In Lisa Ko’s ambitious, messy novel, characters go to extreme lengths in search of a purposeful existence.
Lunch at the Polo Club
A short story
The Real Issue With Netflix’s 3 Body Problem
In adapting a sweeping and cerebral trilogy for TV, the new show forgets one of the original story’s biggest themes.