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.
Even Netflix Can’t Escape the Black Mirror Treatment
The sci-fi series takes aim at a very familiar target in its new season.
What Does the Literature of the Working Class Look Like?
A new entrant to the genre of workplace literature argues that even mundane labor shapes your identity.
How Organ Meat Got Into Smoothies
Americans hated offal. Now it’s a trendy food—in grocery stores and online.
Sitting With an Angry Teen, for Longer Than You Might Want
Adolescence plunges viewers into the mindset of a troubled boy—even if it makes them uncomfortable.
What Silicon Valley Knew About Tech-Bro Paternalism
The show anticipated what can happen when masculine entitlement and artificial intelligence meet.
The Perfect Pop Star for a Dumb Stunt
Katy Perry is exactly the kind of celebrity to go to space.
Dear James: I’m Dreading My Family Vacation
I want to enjoy the time with my relatives, but they trigger me.
Looks Like Mussolini, Quacks Like Mussolini
The National Garden of American Heroes represents a dangerous shift in values—from inquiry to reverence.
Do You Actually Know What Classical Music Is? Does Anyone?
The term is applied to radically different compositions across more than 1,000 years of history. We need a better definition.
What Porn Taught a Generation of Women
It colored our ambitions, our sense of self, our relationships, our bodies, our work, and our art.