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.
Frederick Wiseman Always Made His Point
The late filmmaker captured our essential American institutions—and the people trying to navigate them.
The Alysa Liu Effect
She proves that an Olympic gold-medalist figure skater can be strong, warm to her competitors, and salty all at the same time.
The Most American Form of Theater
A new play upends the contemporary notion that public debate needs to be a blood sport.
Pressure Is Not Just in Your Head
As Olympic athletes know well, stress has actual physical properties.
Why the Wuthering Heights Movie Is Infantilizing
Everyone is 12 now, all the time.
An Extraordinary Account of a Dangerous Marriage
Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir is an astonishingly honest look at her life with a man who did the unthinkable.
The Ghosts of Toni Morrison
In a new study, Namwali Serpell describes how the novelist located the missing stories of Black America.
A Different Kind of Leading Man
Robert Duvall could carry a film thunderously, yet also stand out in the subtlest of roles.
A No-Name Director to Everyone but His 38 Million Fans
The debut film from one of YouTube’s most popular creators is a box-office hit, thanks to his subscribers.