The Abolition of Character
Why today’s storytellers are so bad at imagining the future.
Shadow Play
Redeeming Laughter
The saving grace of Jewish-American comedy.
The Spirits I Have Summoned, I Cannot Banish Now!
The future of A.I. in Hollywood—and beyond.
Propaganda in Paradise?
James Cameron’s new Avatar meets Xi Jinping’s new China.
The Tragedy of the Commons
TV’s Yellowstone and the conditions of freedom.
The Pure Radiance of the Past
The BBC series Wolf Hall is as beautifully cut, fitted, embroidered, and bejeweled as the heavy, intimidating garments of the Tudor nobility.
A Light from the North
Borgen, the celebrated Danish TV series about power, politics, and media, puts Hollywood in the shade.
A Whiff of Munich
The ghost of Neville Chamberlain.
A Glorious Leveling Up
Spielberg’s West Side Story is a masterpiece based on a masterpiece.
Dare We Joke About the Woke?
The satirical Netflix series The Chair is not sharp enough to draw blood.
Souls on Wheels
The film Nomadland expands the scope and meaning of the book that inspired it.
They’re Not Lovin’ It
Are America’s cultural exports worse than junk food?