Pop Culture Deep Dive

A Knee-Jerk Reaction to Taylor Swift’s Midnights

The superstar’s tenth album descended on an extremely suspecting public when the clock struck 12 last night. Here's how it hit us.

10/21/2022 By Conner Reed

Pop Culture Deep Dive

What Is Going On with Our Relationship to Don’t Worry Darling?

As a movie, the Olivia Wilde–helmed thriller is drawing unflattering comparisons to Black Mirror. As tabloid fodder, it might mark a cultural inflection point.

09/12/2022 By Conner Reed

Pop Culture Deep Dive

A List of Things Less Gay Than Beyoncé’s Renaissance

The superstar’s seventh album is a glittering tribute to queer dance music through the ages, making it a hell of a lot gayer than, say, a bachelorette party at Darcelle's (all love).

08/01/2022 By Conner Reed

Pop Culture Deep Dive

Mid-Year Pop Culture Report

From Big Thief to Marcel the Shell to a kinetic new take on Chekhov, these are the 2022 cultural nuggets that have spoken to us most directly.

07/08/2022 By Conner Reed

Pop Culture Deep Dive

Electra Heart 10 Years Later

Revisiting one of Tumblr-pop's most indefatigable outputs on its tin anniversary.

04/29/2022 By Conner Reed

Pop Culture Deep Dive

What We Talk About When We Talk About Hanya

The author of A Little Life has just published her third novel. It’s not very good, but that’s hardly the end of it.

01/20/2022 By Conner Reed

Pop Culture Deep Dive

2021 Was the Year of Millennial Ambivalence

Lorde’s Solar Power and Sally Rooney's Beautiful World, Where Are You are polarizing explorations of a major 2021 theme: processing devastation by turning away from absolutes.

12/31/2021 By Conner Reed

Pop Culture Deep Dive

Every Movie Should Be Like Spencer

Pablo Larraín’s transcendent, ridiculous Princess Di melodrama harnesses the specific power of cinema like few films attempt.

11/12/2021 By Conner Reed

Pop Culture Deep Dive

HBO Max’s The Other Two Is a Perfect TV Comedy

The long-gestating second season of the showbiz joke machine more than justifies the wait.

09/03/2021 By Conner Reed