Jazmine’s TaleAfter another long hiatus, the venerated R&B singer returns with her riskiest album yet.
ByHunter Harris
encounter
The House That Rebuilt ThemShacked up in the suburbs of Kansas City, Katie Crutchfield and Kevin Morby are making some of their best work.
ByJustin Curto
profile
Torrey Peters Goes ThereThe author’s debut novel, Detransition, Baby, wades into two of the most vulnerable questions for trans women.
ByLila Shapiro
books
The Implosion of American DirtHow one of publishing’s most hyped books became its biggest horror story — and still ended up a best seller.
ByLila Shapiro
movie review
The Empty Spectacle of Wonder Woman 1984The disappointing sequel highlights not only the dire state of the live-action superhero genre, but the dire state of Hollywood filmmaking as a whole.
Taylor Swift Is Done Self-MythologizingAs folklore did, the stories in evermore ask us to consider what motivates women when they act desperately against their interests.
Big Mouth’s Missy Finds Her VoiceAmid an industrywide reckoning, the show recast the voice of its Black lead just as the writers were giving her a racial-identity crisis.
Bringing the Beauty OutFor the photographers of the Kamoinge Workshop, the moment was always now.
ByShirley Ngozi Nwangwa
books
Shuggie Bain Makes It OutFirst-time novelist Douglas Stuart’s unsparing account of a life not unlike his own might be the best-reviewed book you’ve not yet read in 2020.
ByMatthew Schneier
celebrity
The Quarantined Stardom of Ana de ArmasIn the absence of everything that makes a star, Ana de Armas has still managed to become one — just not quite how she’d pictured it.
Nerding Out With David FincherThe director talks about the decades-long journey behind Mank, his dense, bitter look at Hollywood history, political power, and the creative act.
The Boys in the Band Play OnThe pioneering gay drama, long dismissed as a relic of self-hatred, is now a Netflix film that remains brilliantly uncomfortable.
ByMark Harris
movies
Why Wait for Death?In her new film, Kirsten Johnson documents the loss of her father to dementia — while “killing” him over and over again.
ByHelen Shaw
tv review
Fargo Disappears Into Its Own NavelEvery season of Noah Hawley’s crime anthology series is a veritable monologuefest, but season four seems especially top-heavy.