We recommend these incisive essays on Abbott Elementary, The White Lotus, and The Dropout in Scalawag’s series on pop culture and justice.
pop culture
Posted inEditor's Pick
Youn Yuh-jung Comes to America
“On the set of Minari, she was an old Korean lady.” E. Alex Jung interviews Oscar nominee Youn Yuh-jung.
Posted inEditor's Pick
What Mr. Miyagi Taught Me About Anti-Asian Racism in America
In The Karate Kid franchise, writes Beth Nguyen, “Mr. Miyagi is the perpetual foreigner who exists to serve the whiteness that surrounds him.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Dear IU, Our Bodies Are Fine
“I knew my body wasn’t ‘right’; it didn’t look like the bodies of the K-pop idols and Korean actresses I grew up admiring.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Essays & Criticism, Featured, Highlight, Quote Posts, Quotes
Pop Culture Portrays OCD as a Blessing. It’s Not.
“The Wall Street Journal recently used the headline ‘We All Need OCD Now’ for an article on COVID-19 … Finally, my debilitating mental illness has a timely hook!”
Posted inArts & Culture, Featured, Highlight, Quote Posts, Quotes
What If This Is It: Will Huey Lewis Sing Again?
‘The music went away slowly and then all at once. So what if it never comes back? “I haven’t allowed myself to go there yet,” Huey says, worry in his voice.’
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Featured, Nonfiction, Story
What I Did for (Strange) Love
As a teen, Laura Bond went all out to meet Depeche Mode — and to hang onto her best friend.
Posted inStory
Still Waters
The muted response to Todd Haynes’s “Dark Waters” is depressingly similar to our culture’s muted response to climate change
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Story
The World’s Tallest Dwarf
Late capitalism gets an antihero show.
Posted inBooks, Culture, Story
Lindy West is Preaching to the Choir
Sara Fredman talks to author Lindy West on women and likability, the evolution of pop culture, and navigating conversations in a complex, messy world.