We Still Don’t Know Anna Nicole Smith
A new Netflix documentary offers glimpses of the tabloid star but fails to reckon with the forces that ruined her.
Chain-Gang All-Stars Is Gladiator Meets the American Prison System
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s new novel is set in a world where extreme brutality has become corporate entertainment.
The 1880s Political Novel That Could Have Been Written Today
The Princess Casamassima, published more than 100 years ago, carries a warning for America today.
The Roys Stumble Into the Real World
In the penultimate episode of Succession, the warring siblings find themselves exposed to the chaos they stoked.
Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon Is a Triumph
The highly anticipated adaptation of David Grann’s book is extraordinary filmmaking—and a big win for Apple TV+.
Suga of BTS’s World Tour Is Pop Subversion at Its Finest
In the U.S., the first member of the group to stage solo concerts delivered a thrilling declaration of artistic individuality.
The Provocative Optimism of Master Gardener
The film, which takes on neo-Nazism and white supremacy, is Paul Schrader’s most challenging work yet. It’s also his most hopeful.
My Novel Is a Love Letter My Mother Can’t Read
The language barrier between us has never felt more acute.
When a Hapless Villain Somehow Takes Down a Presidency
HBO’s new limited series White House Plumbers explores the banal oafishness behind the Watergate scandal.
Fast & Furious and Pretty Stale
The franchise’s formula—merciless villain and world-threatening chaos, plus cars—just isn’t landing like it used to.
TV Isn’t About to Get Worse. It Already Is.
The problems that Hollywood’s writers are protesting can be seen on our screens.
The Billionaires Who Are Threatening Democracy
In his new book, the historian Quinn Slobodian writes about the ideologues who believe that society should prioritize capital, not people.
The Defining Emotion of Modern Life
Emma Straub’s This Time Tomorrow captures grief in all its forms.
Writing in the Ruins
The German writer Jenny Erpenbeck cuts through dogma, fractures time, and preserves rubble.
Jury Duty Is Terrific TV. It Shouldn’t Get Another Season.
The magic of the show is that it doesn’t yet have a formula.
What I Learned From My Guest Role on Succession
Behind the scenes of the show’s big Election Night episode
It’s Just a Fascist President, Kendall; How Bad Could It Be?
When the fate of the country depends on a rich boy’s childhood trauma, we’re all doomed.
A Better Way of Buying—And Wanting—Things
A new book argues that we should honor our material desires rather than feeling ashamed of them.
An Ode to Writing Odes
When the universe gives you a gift, send a thank-you note.
Who Was Cleopatra’s Daughter?
The perils of searching for feminist heroes in antiquity