Joe Biden left office with abysmal approval ratings — and faith that history would redeem him. “It will take time to feel the full impact of all we’ve done together,” he said in a farewell speech. “But the seeds are planted, and they’ll grow and they’ll bloom for decades to come.” In the meantime, there … Read more
Now, the tape, described by RR Auction in Boston as “Dylan’s earliest demo recording,” is being offered for sale along with other Dylan-related ephemera, including a sequined suit from his 1975 Rolling Thunder tour and a Martin D-41 acoustic guitar he gave to Bob Neuwirth, a musician who was instrumental in assembling the band for … Read more
WHY, INDEED, HAVE writers been so drawn to the color? According to surveys, blue is by far the world’s most popular hue, regardless of geography or gender — mostly owing to our favorable associations with it, or so researchers posit. Not surprisingly, people love cerulean skies and aquamarine seas, moody gemstones — sapphires, lapis lazuli, … Read more
In My Obsession, one creative person reveals their most prized collection. After the Spectrum, a D.I.Y. nightclub in Brooklyn, was evicted from its underground venue in 2016, one of its co-founders, the performance artist and nightlife impresario Gage Spex, sought out a new site. Later that year, Spex leased a banquet hall in Ridgewood, Queens, … Read more
Writing a list of queer historical romances feels half like writing a manifesto and half like writing a eulogy. Here are the love stories we created; here are our voices and hopes and desires, when we were still allowed to openly name them. Queer literary history has never been simple — even the parts of … Read more
Anderson likes to be makeup free; away from work, so does her character. Shelly loves being a showgirl — “feeling beautiful, that is powerful” — but when she puts on her costume, she’s cosplaying an old-fashioned ideal of femininity. Onstage, she plays a fantasy. When she’s offstage, Shelly is a person with a life, everyday … Read more
Going viral during awards season is not necessarily a good thing. Look no further than the unearthed social media posts of “Emilia Pérez” star Karla Sofía Gascón for the most extreme example of how an actor’s online behavior can sink a film’s chances. But in other cases social media can be a tool for a … Read more
In the movie “His Three Daughters,” Carrie Coon’s character, Katie, has rigid ideas about who her sisters are and what they’re capable of. When the women reunite to care for their dying father, those ideas become a barrier to true connection and care for each other. In this episode, Coon reads the Modern Love essay … Read more
The proliferation of documentaries on streaming services makes it difficult to choose what to watch. Each month, we select three nonfiction films — classics, overlooked recent docs and more — that will reward your time. ‘Nationtime’ (1972) Stream it on the Criterion Channel and Kino Film Collection. Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV, Fandango at … Read more
“Elon and his musketeers — they sent an email to all federal employees ordering them to list five things they did at work last week. Trump loved this idea — he said it was ‘genius,’ and he said anyone who didn’t respond to the email would be ‘fired or semi-fired.” Which, what if that was … Read more