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 Conversation That Moviegoers Don’t Need to Be Having
Sinners has made a splash at the box office, but analysts want to focus on the money it isn’t making.
‘All We Wanted to Do Was Play Video Games’
Streamers such as Zack “Asmongold” Hoyt have more influence than ever. What are they really saying?
Ryan Coogler Didn’t Want to Hide Anymore
The director of Sinners knew that it was time to break out of his comfort zone.
Two Murder Mysteries’ Surprising Window Into Human Genius
Why novelists love to imagine great historical figures as detectives
What to Read to Wrap Your Head Around the Climate Crisis
These visceral reported accounts will help readers better understand the new ecological status quo.
Dear James: Never Too Old for a Barbaric Yawp
A tip of the hat to our well-seasoned correspondents
The Last of Us Didn’t Soften the Blow
The show went too far in the wrong direction with its most shocking moment.
1994
A poem
The Triumph of a Film That Flips on Us Halfway In
Sinners slowly drops its period-drama trappings to become something much scarier.
PBS Pulled a Film for Political Reasons, Then Changed Its Mind
A window into how the network is handling the new Trump era