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reality tv

Posted inNonfiction

Life on Screen: A Reality Television Reading List

by Elizabeth Blackwell September 20, 2022October 20, 2022

Reality TV: Guilty pleasure or public service?

Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes

A Close Look at the Thing We Call ‘Celebrity’

by Aaron Gilbreath September 24, 2019October 19, 2022

Why do we care about famous people?

Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Featured, Nonfiction, Story

I’m Not Queer to Make Friends

by Logan Scherer May 14, 2019October 19, 2022

By Trying on the Role of Reality TV Villain, Logan Scherer Confronts His Gay Shame

Posted inBooks, Essays & Criticism, Story

Captive Audience

by Longreads May 1, 2018October 19, 2022

When you live alongside anything for a long time — any person, any character, any narrative structure, any screen flicker — you become a part of it and it becomes a part of you.

Posted inEditor's Pick

A Clarifying Dose of Reality (TV)

by Sari Botton April 12, 2018October 19, 2022

In this personal essay, Valentina Valentini tries out for American Idol and it puts her permanently off fame-seeking.

Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Quotes

Reality TV, Why Do We Love You So?

by Aaron Gilbreath April 6, 2018October 19, 2022

Love and guilt about reality TV.

"Cops" screenshot
Posted inCrime, Nonfiction

How ‘Cops’ Became the Most Polarizing Reality TV Show in America

by Longreads January 22, 2018October 19, 2022

What one of TV’s longest-running reality shows says about race and our relationship with the police.

"Cops" screenshot
Posted inCrime, Nonfiction, Story

How ‘Cops’ Became the Most Polarizing Reality TV Show in America

by Longreads January 22, 2018October 19, 2022

What one of TV’s longest-running reality shows says about race and our relationship with the police.

Chip and Joanna Gaines
Posted inFeatured, Nonfiction, Quotes

We Watch HGTV for the Destruction, Not the Makeovers

by benhuberman September 28, 2017October 19, 2022

Drywall, meet sledgehammer.

Posted inEditor's Pick

Beware the Open-Plan Kitchen

by benhuberman September 22, 2017October 19, 2022

Almost a decade after the speculation-driven financial crisis of 2008, the success of HGTV’s aspirational real-estate programming proves that house-flipping culture is alive, well, and potentially dangerous.

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