All Stories
Christa Pike’s botched execution was not an isolated incident
Lethal injection has proven to be a difficult execution method to get right. It is more frequently botched than any other method. Sometimes, the results are catastrophic, as they were in Wednesday’s failed execution of Christa Pike. The 50-year-old, who…
Netflix’s “East of Eden” asks if we’ve misread its monster
Before digesting Zoe Kazan’s seven-part reconsideration of “East of Eden,” I never would have suspected that we, as a society, had been conditioned to misread Cathy Ames, the angel-faced succubus at the broken heart of John Steinbeck’s novel. Cathy has…
We’re over restaurant slop – Salon.com
Recently, between medical appointments, I ended up at a grain-bowl-and-salad place in a suburban strip mall, the kind of sleek fast-casual restaurant that looks a little like an Apple Store decided to start serving brown rice and green goddess dressing.…
“Cassie Workman is Witchy AF” is a comic spell for a mad world
While introducing the inaugural subject of “Cassie Workman is Witchy AF,” the host pertly pulls a bait-and-switch. She opens her monologue by describing a hypothetical figure born to great privilege. A small sketch of Elon Musk lurks in the foreground,…
The Cornell case puts “Promising Young Woman” back in focus
It makes perfect sense that Emerald Fennell’s debut film, “Promising Young Woman,” is divisive. In fact, divisive isn’t quite the right word. Since its 2020 release, “Promising Young Woman” has become a lightning rod for heated conversation — quite a…
“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…