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: When It’s Time to Say Goodbye
A reader keeps having to leave unsupportive support groups. And James Parker bids farewell to his column.
The Man Who Rescued Faulkner
How the critic Malcolm Cowley made American literature into its own great tradition
The Lonely New Vices of American Life
Booze is down and weed is up, and that’s doing something to us as a country.
The High-Stakes SNL Sketch About … Domestic Chores
The show pitched the next big true-crime hit: what happens when men are left to fend for themselves.
Coyote
A poem
The Best Postseason in Baseball History?
This year’s playoffs and World Series showed that the game can still deliver the unexpected.
An Intimate Portrait of Humanity at Its Worst
Bugonia is surprisingly subdued for a movie about alien conspiracy theories.
All Our Brilliant Friends
The explosion of novels about intense female friendships, in the Elena Ferrante mold, is changing the genre—and making it more fun.
Patti Smith’s Family Secrets
Nearing 80, the punk poet reflects on the twists in her story that have surprised even her.
The Movies That Capture Women’s Deepest Fears
To understand how American horror connects with a cultural moment, look to the 1970s.