Culture

My Ten (Or So) Favorite Cultural Critics

A list of some of the most perceptive cultural critics of the last two centuries. Continue Reading »

23 Jan 2020

The Power of Public Policy

On this episode, Oren Cass discusses his recent First Things essay and his book The Once and Future Worker. Continue Reading »

9 Jan 2020

Star Wars Goes Out With a Whimper

by Alexi Sargeant

Rise of Skywalker felt like a pinched and nervous attempt to offer more and more Star Wars without adding depth, nuance, or complexity to the franchise. Continue Reading »

2 Jan 2020

Keeping a straight face, I’m going to argue that American popular comedy has lost the virtue of hope, which was retained in the past by even the most severe satire. Hollywood has produced popular comedy in all its forms, including radio, TV, and stand-up. Discussing the most universal and lasting . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jan 2020

Atwood's False Testament

by Ramona Tausz

“Novels are not slogans,” Margaret Atwood said in 1986 of The Handmaid’s Tale (1985). “If I wanted to say just one thing I would hire a billboard.” In the thirty-three years since, she seems to have changed her mind. Handmaid contained few maxims, but its newly . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jan 2020

Bodily Curiosities

by Joseph Epstein

I am not altogether incurious, but one entity about which I have over the years felt little curiosity is my own body. Until recently, I could not have told you the function of my, or anyone else’s, pancreas, spleen, or gallbladder. I’d just as soon not have known that I have kidneys, and was . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jan 2020

How to Lose a Cold War
(and Why)

by Matthew Schmitz

North by Northwest’s style is so impeccable, its tone so effervescent, that many viewers fail to grasp the film’s seriousness. Ernest Lehman, the screenwriter, did not help when he described the film as an insubstantial caper in the vein of James Bond, “something that has wit, . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jan 2020

Why Rise of Skywalker Fails

by Jake Meador

The problem isn’t that most of the Disney-era Star Wars projects fail as films. The problem is that Disney almost certainly knows it and doesn’t care. Continue Reading »

31 Dec 2019