Pop Culture

On his new album, The Off-Season, Cole confirms an infamous, eight year-old rumor about himself and the rap legend. By Frazier Tharpe May 14, 2021 LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 24: J. Cole performs onstage at the 2018 BET Awards at Microsoft Theater on June 24, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty

Chris Rock’s new Saw movie Spiral has to live up to eight films worth of creative Rube Goldberg death contraptions. By Kevin Hall May 14, 2021 Chris Rock in Spiral: From the Book of Saw, 2021.Everett Collection / Courtesy of Lions Gate The twisted Saw movie universe has pushed audiences to the brink with gore

Lessons in tae kwon do, style, and activism. By Alexander Chee May 14, 2021 Courtesy of Alex Chee Born in 1939 during what would be the last years of the Japanese colonial occupation of Korea, my father, Choung Tai Chee, also called Charles or Chuck or Charlie, came to the United States in 1960. He

The ten best films that feature rad bromances and wholesome camaraderie. By William Goodman May 13, 2021 Getty images; Photo Illustration by C.J. Robinson Like any good internet meme, the history and usage of “dudes rock” already has a life of its own. The phrase originated in 2018 as a semi-ironic, self-aware way of embracing

Organizers who fought the AIDS crisis explain how the tactics of civil disobedience can change minds that don’t want to be changed. By Sarah Schulman May 13, 2021 Police remove ACT UP demonstrators during a sit-in at the New York State Capitol in Albany, March 28, 1990.Bettmann / Getty Images Excerpted from LET THE RECORD

No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you: Twitter’s got a new “hand-cut” typeface.  By Sophie Kemp May 12, 2021  Illustration by C.J. Robinson Recently, Twitter began to roll out a new custom typeface. If you haven’t noticed it yet, you’re probably not glued to the app 24/7, trying to craft a joke about the latest Bean

Between filming Netflix’s Halston and season four of The Sinner, the prolific actor retreats to his remote cattle ranch to finish his one-act play, explore what he calls “the great silence,” and fend off animal intruders. By Maxim Loskutoff Photography by Ami Vitale May 12, 2021 The guest cabin on Bill Pullman’s Montana ranch has

It doesn’t matter whether Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are really rekindling their relationship or not: Their storied affair offers solace to a generation in need of celebrity nostalgia. By Alana Hope Levinson May 11, 2021 Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, 2003. James Devaney / Getty Images You can tell a lot about a person based

David Chase and two of his closest collaborators, Terence Winter and Tim Van Patten, discuss the making of a masterpiece and explain why the show’s glorious ambiguity keeps it relevant today. By Ben Allen May 10, 2021 The SopranosSeason 3Imperioli, Michael as Christopher MoltisantiSirico, Tony as Paulie Walnuts© Copyright 2000-2005 Home Box Office Inc. All

The AMC series from The Raid director Gareth Evans delivered a breathtaking hour of action and suspense last night. By Joshua Hunt May 10, 2021 Mark Lewis Jones in Gangs of London, 2021.Courtesy of AMC/SKY Midway through the first season of Gangs of London, co-creator Gareth Evans sets aside numerous plot concerns—the mysterious murder of

The actor-director reflects on his ’80s heyday and formative years in a new memoir. By Ilana Kaplan May 10, 2021 Courtesy of Andrew McCarthy Andrew McCarthy has lived many lives: He’s been an actor, a television director, a travel writer—and perhaps, most famously, a member of the Brat Pack, a media-concocted nickname for the group

I had never wanted a peacock for the same reason I’d never wanted a koala or a narwhal: The idea had never occurred to me. But when adopting three of those fantastical birds suddenly became an option, well, of course I wanted peacocks. Only later could I appreciate what Carl, Ethel, and Mr. Pickle had

The electronic musician discusses the synths and soundtracks that inspired the score of his new Netflix anime series. By Colin Groundwater May 6, 2021 Illustration by Simon Abranowicz Giant robots, magical warlords, mutant priests, and one legendary African samurai: these are the parts that make up Yasuke, the new anime series on Netflix produced and

Films that mine the paranoia, tension (and sometimes, joy) from the screens and apps that consume our lives now. By Roxana Hadadi May 6, 2021 Photo Illustration by C.J. Robinson Hollywood’s depictions of the ways in which we live on social media have tended to rely on the downsides: misinformation, bullying, doom-scrolling, and self-hate. In

Mare of Easttown is the latest in the genre of sadsacks solving crimes. See how Mare stacks up against the competition. By Gabriella Paiella May 6, 2021 They’ve got serious baggage and a complete inability to play by the rules.Photos courtesy of HBO (2); USA Network, Photo Illustration by C.J. Robinson The new HBO crime

Chase Strangio, who has won a series of landmark court cases in his role as ACLU deputy director for transgender justice, explains why states across the country are suddenly targeting the freedom of trans youth with a wave of new laws. By Saeed Jones May 5, 2021 Chase Strangio at the Sundance Film Festival in

Even if it isn’t the end, the album deserves a reputation as one of the band’s most elusive — and transfixing. By Clayton Purdom May 4, 2021 Thom Yorke of Radiohead performs in Chicago during a summer tour for “A Moon Shaped Pool,” July 6, 2018.Kamil Krzaczynski / Getty Images I convinced myself recently that

As the author of a new book about a doomed Antarctic expedition explains, something about the southernmost continent really drives people mad. By Julian Sancton May 3, 2021 The Belgica’s Norwegian boatswain, Adam Tollefsen, who never recovered his reason.Courtesy of the De Gerlache Family Collection The harrowing story of the Belgica, stuck fast in Antarctic

The charming and hilarious Ed Helms-Michael Schur series is setting a standard for Native-American representation on TV. By Keith Phipps May 3, 2021 Jana Schmieding and Ed Helms in Rutherford Falls, 2020. Getty Images / Courtesy of Colleen Hayes for Peacock There’s no getting through the New England town of Rutherford Falls without dealing with its

Before he succumbed to a drug overdose at the age of 21, the Chicago rapper’s emotionally vulnerable style took him from SoundCloud to massive stardom almost overnight. This is the story of Juice WRLD’s preternatural talent, his rise to the top of the charts, and the struggles with substance abuse and mental health that ultimately