Articles by Ethan McCarthy

Art doesn’t reduce our questions and conflictedness; it multiplies them.

Dissect reminds us that we need critics who help us engage with art more deeply.

Kendrick’s latest album offers less resolution for his fans. And that’s okay.

Richard Adams is gone now, but as a storyteller he lives on. He’s handy that way.

If Christmas means anything, Low seems to be saying, it has to begin by being honest about the heartache all around us.

Keillor had no interest in presenting a scrubbed and gleaming version of the church and its people to the world; if anything, his stories tend in the opposite direction.

Swimmer Lilly King claims to be the good American Olympian in the face of the Russian doping scandal, but the truth of the matter is more complicated.

Confronted by the inexplicable, our reaction—strangely enough—is joy.

Defining yourself is as dangerous as living by other people’s definitions

Given the kind of corruption we’re accustomed to in our most powerful institutions, is reform even a possibility?

Whether or not you agree with Stephen Colbert’s politics, his influence is a reminder of the important function of satire in public discourse.

It’s harder — and more worthwhile — to look for and champion the good things in any institution or arena, enjoying them for what they are, and working to facilitate them.

The proliferation of pop religions suggests that our culture is less and less interested in the veracity of their belief systems.

Kerman’s efforts to survive in prison make for an absorbing (if not completely original) clash between upper-middle class mores and the seedy power-grabbing of the underworld.

“In the same way that religious icons represent larger realities, Lou Reed stood for his time and place in a way that few others have”

“As dear as the Washington Redskins’ 81-year history is to its fans, it’s nothing to the vast and varied history and culture of Native American peoples.”