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“The Swan” tested the waters for Mar-a-Lago face
Along with a few other TV critics, I have the dubious distinction of attending the last party at the late Hollywood producer Robert Evans‘ Woodland estate before its storied pool house burned down in 2003. There, I rubbed elbows with…
How store brands stopped feeling like a second-best choice
When I was a kid, I was delighted by the brazenness of generic groceries. There was Dr. Thunder, a soda whose name made its ambitions extremely clear. There were chocolate sandwich cookies called Twist and Shout. Somewhere in the cereal…
Pro-Trump “love me” ads paid for by taxpayers
A new political ad airing this week features clips of President Donald Trump pledging to defeat “communism, socialism and Marxism in America,” and promising “America will never be a communist country.” It cuts to flashing text reading the “largest tax…
At least 900 Flock cameras have been unplugged in Texas since state funding was cut
Laredo, cut off from state funding for its Flock cameras, will ask voters for advice on whether to devote $1 million a year to keep 165 of the surveillance devices operating in city limits. The Laredo City Council voted 7-2…
The quiet cost of scheduling every conversation
Since moving to Italy from the U.S., I’ve noticed how much more spontaneous social interactions are here. It’s common for me to run into someone I know and have them invite me to coffee on the spot. Instead of receiving…
Why Gen Z sees itself in “Primetime”
In “Primetime” — Lance Oppenheim’s psychological crime thriller about the rapid ascent and swift fall of the “Dateline NBC” segment “To Catch a Predator,” and its host, Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) — television is a complex ecosystem where hyperawareness is…
AI hype promises miracles. That’s as risky as doomsday talk
A version of this essay first appeared in Crash Course, Salon’s free morning newsletter. Sign up for early access to articles like this, plus more of Salon’s bold journalism on how policies, movements and culture wars affect real people. Last Wednesday, the…
Colin Kaepernick knows what kneeling cost — and he’d do it again
The Merikins are the descendants of formerly enslaved African Americans who fought alongside the British during the War of 1812. At the war’s end, the British granted these fighters and their families land in Trinidad and Tobago as part of…
Brad Pitt’s comeback act has faltered
Brad Pitt and Paramount Pictures have quite a bit in common these days. Both Pitt and Paramount have leaned into machismo to appeal to a wider male demographic; both are trying to salvage their reputations after a string of tumultuous…
The new “Rubber Soul” box set lets us hear The Beatles becoming The Beatles
When it comes to The Beatles, “Rubber Soul” is the album. They may reach arguably loftier artistic heights with “Revolver,” “Sgt. Pepper,” “The White Album,” or “Abbey Road” — take your pick — but “Rubber Soul” embodies the group’s decisive…