In “The Valley” finale, Count Bookula drains our patience
In the Season 3 finale of Bravo‘s “The Valley,” succinctly titled “The Valley of the Damned,” Danny Booko — who…
The painful cost of bringing “Children of Blood and Bone” to screen
My first reaction to the trailer for “Children of Blood and Bone,” Paramount’s lush adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s bestselling 2018…
“I Want Your Sex” is deliberately unsexy
Are you having sex? Do you want to be? These days, there are a million different possible answers to either…
Your magical burnout cure is in this Miyazaki film
Throughout July, The Swell is celebrating the lasting cultural inspiration of animator Hayao Miyazaki and the legendary films he created…
The art of the beach sandwich
It’s a $16 disappointment every time. These days, the airport sandwich tends to emerge from a fluorescent-lit vending machine with…
The cult of New England Chinese food
Walk into any American-style Chinese restaurant in New England, and you’ll find locals sipping from umbrella-topped Scorpion Bowls and flaming…
A no-spend week, starting in the kitchen
This is the time of year when the thrill of post-holiday spending gives way to the quiet guilt of all…
Is ChatGPT Health the new WebMD?
For a few days around Christmas, Holly Jespersen, a 50-year-old living in New York, did not feel great. It felt…
Enough with the “-maxxing” – Salon.com
If you’re chronically online like me, you’ve probably come across a slang-suffix that’s become part of the lexicon despite not…
Private prisons are cashing in on Trump’s ICE crackdown. They’re just getting started
Immediately after President Trump’s election victory in 2024, private prison stocks soared and company executives could hardly contain their glee.…