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 Unbearable Weight of Mission: Impossible
What started as the adventures of a brilliant spy morphed into the mythology of an exemplary human being.
A Striking Moment in American Activism
A new documentary revisits a pivotal week at Gallaudet University in 1988.
The World That ‘Wages for Housework’ Wanted
The 1970s campaign fought to get women paid for their work in the home—and envisioned a society built to better support motherhood.
Time for Scary Movies to Make Us Laugh Again
Final Destination has nailed down a formula that other horror films should learn from.
There Is No Dignity in Capitulation
A worrying pattern has taken hold in public television.
‘What If I Don’t Keep Feeling Strident?’
For years, Ezra Furman’s music embraced protest and defiance. Now she’s striking a different chord.
America’s Johnson & Johnson Problem
A new book reveals how Big Pharma’s brazen behavior fueled medical mistrust.
Dear James: Must the Haters Hate?
The world has way too many of them.
No One Is Better at Being Looked at Than Kim Kardashian
The diamonds she wore in court sent a message, and not a particularly subtle one.
What Is Alison Bechdel’s Secret?
The cartoonist has spent a lifetime worrying. In a new graphic novel, she finds something like solace.