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.
Dear James: What If Life’s Problems Are Alcohol’s Fault?
I, for one, have felt the benefits of cutting back.
Bird Strike
A short story
Goodbye to Baseball’s Most Anachronistic Rule
I miss it already.
America Now Has a Minister of Culture
Trump seeks to emulate JFK’s Camelot. But bending American culture to his will might not be as easy as he thinks.
Six Older Books That Deserve to Be Popular Today
In recent years, these titles have found themselves justifiably rescued from oblivion.
Santa Filomena
A poem published in The Atlantic in 1857
How to Lose an Oscar in 10 Days
The star of the year’s most nominated film torpedoed her chance to win the trophy—in audacious fashion.
A Movie That Has Fun With the Inevitability of Death
The Monkey pairs its macabre sense of humor with an unsettling takeaway.
Why Is Everyone Talking About Getting ‘Oneshotted’?
A slang term for the extremely online also serves as a weird mirror of the internet experience.
A Divorce Memoir With No Lessons
Haley Mlotek’s new book provides neither catharsis nor remedies for heartache, but rather a tender exploration of human intimacy.