Dave Cicirelli: Does Selfie Culture Destroy Real Individualism?
The "interactive artist" inspired by Jack Kirby and Barry Goldwater challenges social media and intellectual conformity.
Popular Culture
Why Schools Suck in the Movies and in Real Life
Why are educational institutions in real life more like the one in Carrie than the one in Harry Potter?
Stop Spazzing Out About 'Spaz'
Social media, streaming, and a new era of digital self-censorship
New Movie Lists Honor Jeanne Dielman and 2001, Snub TikTok
Friday A/V Club: Sight and Sound revises the film canon again.
Friendsgiving Is Cultural Flourishing, Not Cultural Decay
Found families may ultimately lead to new ones.
BTS's Military Conscription Is a Reminder That Mandatory 'Service' Is Servitude
The South Korean government brings the country's greatest cultural export to heel.
Beyoncé, Under Fire for Using an 'Ableist Slur,' Chooses Self-Censorship
"Spazzing on that ass" does nothing whatsoever to harm people with cerebral palsy.
Nathan Rabin: Why Gen X Is Super Media-Literate
The Joy of Trash author talks about how D.A.R.E., bad TV, Weird Al Yankovic, and 9/11 created a generation of ironic idealists.
Nathan Rabin: Confessions of a Trash-Culture Connoisseur
Nathan Rabin celebrates The Joy of Trash—and Gen X irony and cynicism—one terrible movie, book, and TV show at a time.
The Awful Uncharted Raises the Question: Are Video Game Movies Art?
Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg star in another timid, lifeless video game adaptation.
Hope Must Conquer Fear in Politics
Princess Leia shows us why hope is crucial for a liberty-oriented way of life.
Chloe Valdary: How Kendrick Lamar and The Lion King Can Help Close the Racial Divide
Forget Robin DiAngelo and White Fragility. Theory of Enchantment uses popular culture to make workplaces more inclusive and welcoming.
Diversity Seminars Don't Have To Be Maoist Struggle Sessions
Chloe Valdary's Theory of Enchantment program uses Kendrick Lamar, Cheryl Strayed, and The Lion King to ease workplace racial tensions.
Who in the World Wanted Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins?
A dumb movie with a dumb name based on a dumb idea.
CNN Memorializes America's Trashiest Romance Writer
Jackie Collins was a pop culture force to be reckoned with in the 1980s.
Art Tavana: What Guns N' Roses Tells Us About the American Dream
How Axl Rose reflected a country desperate but unwilling to move on from a worn-out postwar consensus on national identity, gender roles, and global hegemony.
Even Voldemort Masks Up in New Public Service Announcement
WarnerMedia, the Ad Council, and the CDC are infantilizing us and insulting our intelligence.
Neutron Gun Reloaded
Gerry Reith's raw, paranoid, apocalyptic fables were shot through with distrust for just about every institution around.
Wasteland 3
It's a telling sign when a video game opens with a warning that the events it depicts might be a little too close to life.
Alex Winter: Frank Zappa's Ultra-Individualist Legacy
The rock legend fought for free speech and self-expression in ways that appealed to dissidents in America and communist countries alike.
Zombies Eat Academic Brains in Misbegotten PBS Documentary Exhumed
Meanwhile on CBS, B Positive offers laughs about...kidney transplants.
A Summer Without Summer Movies
On missing the accessible fruits of giant corporate filmmaking
Kindergarten Cop Is Canceled, Likened to Birth of a Nation
Portland's Northwest Film Center pulls film from summer drive-in schedule after critics say it promotes "school-to-prison pipeline."
Little Richard, the King and Queen of Rock 'n' Roll
Little Richard helped make the United States a little more black, a little more queer, and a little more free.
Robert Hunter, R.I.P.
The Grateful Dead lyricist filled a generation with a sense of amused, loving, liberatory patriotism.
San Diego Comic-Con and the Tensions of Market-Induced Growth
In Comic-Cons, as in great nations, there's room for plenty more to live the dream.
The Horror of War and the Thrill of Horror
A new book explores the First World War's role in creating the horror genre.
The Backlash Over The Little Mermaid Casting a Black Ariel Is Fake News
Few people who tweeted #NotMyAriel were actually upset about Halle Bailey portraying the mermaid princess.
Mad Magazine Is Dead
The comic magazine's ability to rib culture, politics, and business shaped the boomer mentality, and we should be grateful.
Reflections on "Game of Thrones"
An impressive achievement that could have been even better. The series had its flaws, but did effectively convey the importance of institutional constraints on political power.
Why Parents Shouldn't Flip Out Over Too Much Screen Time: Podcast
Jordan Shapiro's The New Childhood boldly embraces technological innovation and the interconnected world it's creating.
Why Stan Lee's Flaws Were Part of His Virtues
Less creator than editor, pathetic company man, purveyor of childish nonsense? No amount of next-level quasi-sophisticated Stan Lee critique can avoid the proper conclusion: He was the Man.
Comics Giant Stan Lee Dead at 95
Marvel's former chief left behind a massive cultural legacy preaching tolerance and personal responsibility.
Cultural Appropriation Tastes Damn Good: How Immigrants, Commerce, and Fusion Keep Food Delicious
Writer Gustavo Arellano talks about food slurs, the late Jonathan Gold, and why Donald Trump's taco salad is a step in the right direction.
Will New Mom Cardi B Raise an Insurrectionist Army Against Government Tyranny?
Probably not, but the new mom does support the "insurrectionist" theory of Second Amendment rights as a bulwark against tyranny.
Kanye West Supported Trump and Enraged Many. He's Still Holding on to His Pop Audience.
Kanye's Ye proves America still cares about him. But does it mean Trumpism is a pop sensation?