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.
Always a Girlboss, Never a Tradwife
A new Netflix documentary explores the cost of Martha Stewart’s chase for domestic perfection.
The Musical Blockbuster That Didn’t Play By the Rules
Wicked makes the case that audiences aren’t so tired of the genre after all.
Kendrick Lamar Makes His Point Clearer
On his new album, GNX, a rapper who’s obsessed with excellence tries to entertain the masses.
My Home Is a Horror of Unfinished Tasks
Why can’t I get anything done?
Thanksgiving Should Be in October
A modest proposal for fixing the back-to-back-holiday crunch
Taylor Swift Is a Perfect Example of How Publishing Is Changing
Swift is a symptom, not a cause, of the weakening bonds between celebrities and publishing houses.
The Sense That Most Defines a Culture
Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s Taiwan Travelogue shows how colonization shapes a country’s culinary landscape.
The Fairy Tale We’ve Been Retelling for 125 Years
Every generation has an Oz story, but one retelling best captures what makes L. Frank Baum’s world sing.
Gladiator II Is More Than Just a Spectacle
Ridley Scott’s ancient-Roman epic manages to find some beauty amid the savagery.
In Search of a Faith Beyond Religion
Scholastique Mukasonga’s Sister Deborah suggests that some people must look outside the traditional bounds of Christianity to find true spiritual freedom.