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.
Seven Books That Will Change How You Watch the Olympics
These titles will allow you to view the competition with a new appreciation.
These Millennials Can’t Get Out of Their Head
In Halle Butler’s new novel, young people won’t stop pathologizing others—or themselves.
Inside U.S. Cricket’s Shocking Victory
How an American team of retreads, castoffs, and one software engineer took down a dominant world power
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Norman Mailer?
A new documentary offers a model for reassessing the lives of monstrous men.
Kamala Harris and the Threat of a Woman’s Laugh
Criticism of emotional expression has long been a weapon of choice for those wanting to cut down women in political power.
Want to See a Snake Eat Its Tail?
Deadpool & Wolverine is for hard-core fans of superhero films, not casuals—and certainly not the nonbelievers.
The Brat-ification of Kamala Harris
What’s with all the lime-green memes of the vice president?
Eight Books That Will Inspire You to Move Your Body
Athleticism, exercise, and sports all lend themselves to heightened narrative stakes, and writers know this well.
What Shannen Doherty Understood About Brenda Walsh
The late actor turned a soapy character into someone we could never forget: a real and unpredictable girl.
How I Faked My Way to Rock Stardom
In pretending to be John Fogerty, I became myself.