Golden Age antiheroes and the nasty women who humanized them.
television
Posted inArts & Culture, Commentary, Culture, Current Events
On Blackface, Bert Williams, and Excellence
A complicated racial anxiety rests at the heart of American entertainment.
Posted inArts & Culture, Highlight, Nonfiction, Quotes
Queer Eye Is an Upbeat Documentary of a Failing Social Order
How a hard-not-to-love show glosses over the powers that produced its makeover subjects.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Author Carmen Maria Machado on the Next Phase of #MeToo
Carmen Maria Machado discusses the nuances of “benevolent sexism,” who gets to define the #MeToo movement, and how it should progress.
Posted inNonfiction
When ‘The Real World’ Gave Up on Reality
The true story of the exact moment in the mid-Nineties when reality television morphed from its best self to its worst.
Posted inEditor's Pick
How Reese Witherspoon is Flipping the Script on Hollywood
A profile of actor, director, producer, and literary taste-maker Reese Witherspoon, with a focus on her influential media company, Hello Sunshine, through which she’s creating roles and jobs for women, and changing the way movies and shows are made.
Posted inArts & Culture, Quotes
Why Were We All So Upset About Jason Bateman?
Never underestimate the insidious, destructive power of gaslighting, especially public gaslighting.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story
A Clarifying Dose of Reality (TV)
A try-out for American Idol put Valentina Valentini permanently off fame-seeking.
Posted inEditor's Pick, Essays & Criticism, Nonfiction
A Clarifying Dose of Reality (TV)
A try-out for American Idol put Valentina Valentini permanently off fame-seeking.
Posted inArts & Culture
Longreads Best of 2017: Arts & Culture Writing
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in arts and culture writing.