Culture

The Whimsical, Intellectual Chemistry of Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton

Three Thousand Years of Longing gives the genie-in-a-bottle formula a fresh update and a deeply romantic spin.

Seven Books Where the Setting Exposes the Characters

Unchanging environments are a useful narrative tool to show readers just how much a protagonist has grown.

The Guilt-Free Pleasure of Airplane Movies

Amid the endless tiny indignities of air travel, only one true retreat remains.

The Atlantic Presents: Shorter Stories

Fiction is often described as a mirror through which we see the world. What happens when a shard of glass must tell the entire story?

The Glaring Flaw at the Heart of House of the Dragon

In the lavish Game of Thrones prequel, no one is immune to the toxic dynamics of the Targaryen family.

Eight Books That Will Lead You Down a Rabbit Hole

Making any kind of art can be an obsessive pursuit, but literature is uniquely suited to depicting monomania.

Don’t Judge I’m Glad My Mom Died by Its Title

The actor Jennette McCurdy’s memoir is a confessional feat that asks what, if anything, adult children owe an abusive parent.

What We Gain From a Good-Enough Life

A new book challenges us to abandon greatness in favor of more attainable goals.

Gen Z Has Found Its Guitar Hero

Steve Lacy’s genre-blending hit, “Bad Habit,” taps into a wistful, online-inflected vibe.

Desus & Mero Brought the Block to Late-Night TV

The show’s cancellation is a loss not only for the duo’s avid fans but for television as a whole.

What Makes Industry the Most Thrilling Show on TV

Prestige television is getting very intense.

The Unlovable, Irresistible John Donne

The Elizabethan poet was a mystic in bed and a mystic in the pulpit.

What W. E. B. Du Bois’s Forgotten Romance Novel Taught Me About Writing

Dark Princess showed how the genre can open our minds to fantastic possibilities.

How Should Feminists Have Sex Now?

A new memoir on the unfinished sexual revolution explores the difficulty of enacting one’s political beliefs in intimate spaces.

That’s It. You’re Dead to Me.

Suddenly everyone is “toxic.”

The One Social-Media Feature That People Still Love

Instagram’s Close Friends toes the privacy line by offering users a safe, semipublic space of their own creation.

An Ode to Being in a Band

I can’t believe how good we sound.

‘The Greatest Talker of His Time’

Felix Frankfurter was an eloquent liberal champion of judicial restraint. Is it time for a reappraisal?

Bullet Train Isn’t a Good Movie. But It’s a Great Study of Brad Pitt.

The mediocre movie happens to be a fascinating vehicle for the star’s latest rebrand.

‘History Is Human’: Remembering David McCullough

With the death this week of David McCullough, we lost an author who understood how to find the stories that made history feel relevant and real.