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From The New Yorker Radio Hour: Emily Nussbaum on the Beginnings of Reality TV
Reality television has generally got a bad rap, but Emily Nussbaum—who received a Pulitzer Prize, in 2016, for her work as The New Yorker’s TV critic—sees that the genre has its own history and craft…
Published on 1 year, 5 months ago
Summer Obsessions
There’s arguably no better time for falling down a cultural rabbit hole than the languid, transitory summer months. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Sc…
Published on 1 year, 5 months ago
The Therapy Episode
In recent years, as our culture has embraced therapy more widely, depictions of the practice have proliferated on screen. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexan…
Published on 1 year, 6 months ago
Is Travel Broken?
It’s a confusing time to travel. Tourism is projected to hit record-breaking levels this year, and its toll on the culture and ecosystems of popular vacation spots is increasingly hard to ignore. Soc…
Published on 1 year, 6 months ago
The Many Faces of the Hit Man
“Hit Man,” a new film directed by Richard Linklater, is not, in fact, about a hit man. The movie follows Gary Johnson (Glen Powell), a mild-mannered philosophy professor who assists law enforcement i…
Published on 1 year, 6 months ago
The Rising Tide of Slowness
In recent years, in the realms of self-improvement literature, Instagram influencers, and wellness gurus, an idea has taken hold: that in a non-stop world, the act of slowing down offers a path to be…
Published on 1 year, 6 months ago
The New Midlife Crisis
From John Cheever’s 1964 short story “The Swimmer” to Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling 2006 memoir, “Eat, Pray, Love,” our culture has long grappled with what it means to enter middle age. On this ep…
Published on 1 year, 7 months ago
Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and the Benefits of Beef
The rap superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar have been on a collision course for a decade, trading periodic diss tracks to assert their superiority—but earlier this month the long-simmering beef erupt…
Published on 1 year, 7 months ago
Our Collective Obsession with True Crime
Over the past several years, true crime’s hold on the culture has tightened into a vice grip, with new titles flooding podcast charts and streaming platforms on a daily basis. This week on Critics at…
Published on 1 year, 7 months ago
Why the Sports Movie Always Wins
From “Raging Bull” to “A League of Their Own,” films about athletes have commanded the attention of even the most sports-skeptical viewers. The pleasure of watching the protagonist undergo a test of …
Published on 1 year, 7 months ago