A culture critic reflects on the limits of language -- and the magic of silence
Pulitzer Prize-winning New Yorker writer Hilton Als says we "don't actually have much silence left" in our world. His latest exhibition challenges the way we see art, identity and storytelling.
Contrarian Lionel Shriver deftly satirizes anti-intellectualism in 'Mania'
Shriver's new novel is one of her best. It takes place in an alternative America, where the last acceptable bias — discrimination against people considered not so smart — is being stamped out.
What's a 'Soundie'? A new collection revisits this little known 1940s phenomenon
Soundies were 3-minute musical films which you could watch at a bar or club on a large jukebox with a screen. Film historian Susan Delson has curated a selection in Soundies: The Ultimate Collection.
A 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' appreciation, as the series comes to an end
After 25 years and 12 seasons, Curb wraps April 7. We mark the occasion with archival interviews with Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, Robert B. Weide, Timothy Olyphant, Ted Danson and others.
Abortion opponents push for 'fetal personhood' laws, giving rights to embryos
The Guardian's reproductive health reporter Carter Sherman says efforts are underway in a number of states to assign fetuses "some kind of rights that we would generally ascribe to a human person."
Beyoncé bucks the country industry establishment with sprawling 'Cowboy Carter'
While Beyoncé's new album suggests the country-music industry's problematic history of excluding Black artists, the collection as a whole is as much a celebration as it is a critique.
'The Wide Wide Sea' revisits Capt. James Cook's fateful final voyage
"A lot of things started going wrong from the very beginning," historian Hampton Sides says of Cook's last voyage, which ended in the British explorer's violent death on the island of Hawaii in 1779.