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 Comedian Dismantling the Alpha-Male Persona
Tim Robinson has figured out how to make abrasive men sympathetic.
The Limits of the Year’s Most Heartbreaking Film
Hamnet imagines the inspiration for Hamlet as a tragic, punishing love story.
Stranger Things Comes to an Exhausting End
The Netflix show is back for a final season, but its brand is forever.
The Racist, AI-Generated Future of Entertainment
The bigotry of a new animated series demonstrates the alarming possibilities of artificial intelligence.
The Great Mystery of Drumming
It’s about the flow of Time, not just keeping the beat.
The Misunderstanding of Perfidia
In One Battle After Another, the character leans into—and away from—stereotype, to brash effect.
Make Culture Weird Again
Even failures and half steps will be more interesting than the boring stuff.
What Sam Shepard Couldn’t Outrun
The actor, playwright, and self-made cowboy was also a poet of masculine angst.
This Beautiful Confusion
A poem
The Wicked Bubble Has Burst
The musical started on a high note but ends on a drastically lower one.