Columns Archives

Cuties is the product of perverse people who are perverse consumers who drive a capitalistic structure to give us what we want.

The deaths of young celebrities lead to collective shock and grief because of the unique roles performers hold in society.

It was the 1920s, and it felt like humanity could do anything—and it took the opportunity to do really stupid stuff, like pass off urinals as art, chase after nascent fascism, and—yes—sit around on flagpoles for days at a time.

Or perhaps it would be better stated that Smallville explores how Clark Kent’s heroism isn’t in how he uses his powers, but in how he has to learn to lay his powers aside—over and over again.

Joking aside, though, I’m sure you’re wondering—do violent videogames cause violence? The answer, according to science, is “Well, mayb…no. Prolly not.”

Chernobyl has acted as a reminder to me that social media hasn’t made people crazy, paranoid, or stupid—people have always been willing to spread misinformation, lies, and conspiracies when it suits an agenda like a political or religious ideology.

For Kate (age ten) and Maggie (age fourteen), the whole thing started as a harmless prank, but evolved into a movement of millions trying to talk to the dead.

Even though How to Train Your Dragon should be a very silly story, sometimes very silly stories manage to say the very best things.

So-called cephalomania first took off in France, where it suddenly became fashionable to host octopus- and squid-themed parties, and for a few years, squid-shaped hats were considered to be the height of fashion among French women.

Tomi Adeyemi’s success with Children of Blood and Bone is especially important for our cultural moment.

Walker described the lamp as “Freudian” and evocative of the primordial ooze, because apparently no one bothered to take him aside and say, “It’s just a lamp, Ed.”

These hearings, like everything McCarthy had done up to this point, were fueled mainly by McCarthy’s desire to further his own career.

I feel a searing of my own conscience as I read The Ickabog, especially in the context of events unfolding across America with the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests.

It was obviously a touch ironic that Sesame Street, as a show created for poor inner-city kids, was inspiring such rabid suburban consumerism, but at the time, it was actually exactly what Sesame Street needed.

We must also educate ourselves, immersing ourselves in the stories and experiences of the Black communities and individuals in America.

It’s not really a mystery why people yearn to believe bizarre and dramatic tales of evil: the actual truth about evil is that it’s mundane, pervasive, and unfixable, at least to us mortals.