Pop/Culture

We're All Trying to Escape a Dystopian Thriller Now

Luigi Mangione, the time I pitched 'Squid Game', and why Hollywood and the media will do anything to protect the super-rich

Dec 14 •

Q&A: The Black List Founder Franklin Leonard on the Future of Hollywood

An epic, nothing-off-limits conversation about everything that's wrong with the film/TV industry - including the current backlash against diversity…

Dec 10 •

What This Statue Teaches Us About Art, Colonialism, and Ourselves

Michael Parekōwhai's 'The English Channel' takes the metaphorical role of the viewer literally - providing a singular master class for all storytellers

Dec 7 •

'Wicked' Is the Film We All Need Right Now

Let’s talk about how the big screen improves the musical’s political messaging (and why it's the perfect film to go see after the U.S. election)

Nov 30 •

Q&A: Journalist-Turned-Screenwriter Michael Bronner Is a Big Fan of the Truth

'The Mauritanian' and 'Rogue Agent' scribe on the differences between journalistic truth and dramatic truth - and the critical role of both in changing…

Nov 12 •

Having It All and Then Some

Guest contributor, 'Call Your Daughter Home' author Deborah Spera, on how her three children prepared her to write her first novel

Nov 2 •

Cinema Isn't Dying (Or: Let's All Go to the Movies!)

It's become a common refrain, to complain about how the moviegoing experience is on life support, but maybe the problem is...you

Oct 26 •

'Armageddon': The Most American Film Ever Made From the Most American Director Ever?

Let's consider what this disaster flick has to say about U.S. culture and the rise of Trump's MAGA movement

Oct 19 •

A Eulogy for Everything We Never Were (and Never Will Be Again)

The story of how writing a screenplay about 'The Diary of Anne Frank' convinced me it was time to leave America for good

Oct 12 •

When the Baseball Film Helped Make America (Kind of) Great

Between 1984 and 1994, the baseball genre became one of the biggest draws at the U.S. box office before suddenly going all but extinct. What happened?

Oct 5 •

When Martin Scorsese Went to War with the NY Times Over Cultural Diversity

The legendary filmmaker's rebuttal of a spectacularly ignorant editorial published by the paper should be memorized by all art lovers

Sep 30 •

On the Virtue of Lying (Or: Go to Hell, Superman)

The truth was something I aspired to in my life and writing…until I discovered it can sometimes cause far more damage than a lie

Aug 17 •

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