NWDatum

All Stories

As Hollywood courts influencers, movie critics are getting squeezed out

Modern-day movie publicity has changed significantly over the last several years. The standard routes of press interviews on shows like “Access Hollywood” and “Entertainment Tonight” are still around, but they’re far from the main way people hear about a new…

September 9, 2026 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

The complicated yearly renegotiation of being a queer NFL fan

The NFL’s regular season is back this week, and these days the game barely leaves. When I was a kid, it was a Sunday religion with a Monday night encore. Now there is Thursday too, and Saturdays late in the…

September 9, 2026 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

“King of the Hill” is the real America, if we allow it to be

Once Hulu confirmed the “King of the Hill” revival was officially moving forward, it didn’t take long for the Internet to wonder how Hank Hill would have voted in the previous three elections. Speculations have varied from hard yeses to…

September 9, 2026 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

Space Force’s new uniforms scream fascist supervillain

Donald Trump was a busy man when the film “Starship Troopers” debuted to largely confused audiences in 1997. Then 51, the future president was rebuilding his brand after a widely-reported bankruptcy and a separation from his second wife Marla Maples.…

September 9, 2026 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

The rock critic who changed the way I listen to music

“A great new sound reaches us, always, as a miraculous gift.”  The rock critic Dave Marsh, now of blessed memory, wrote that about Albert Ayler in 1998, and out of the thousands of memorable words Marsh wrote about music, that…

September 8, 2026 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

Mariska Hargitay and the quiet death of the award-show roast

The news that Mariska Hargitay will host this year’s Primetime Emmys didn’t inspire many posts in the usual social spaces, and there’s a good reason why. Despite last year’s ceremony boasting a four-year viewership high, the general audience doesn’t seem…

September 8, 2026 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

“GTA VI” leaks draw more scrutiny than Epstein files

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. On Aug. 31,…

September 8, 2026 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

“Chronovisor” makes literacy the key to another world

When people talk about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, no one ever seems to discuss what it would’ve been like from Christ’s point of view. Perhaps that’s because, if we stop clinging to the hope that it was all for…

September 7, 2026 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

“Idiocracy” is still a worthless artifact 20 years later

Mike Judge has always had a soft spot for dimwits. Beavis and Butt-head might leave chaos and destruction in their muttering, giggling wake, but they rarely suffer lasting harm themselves. In another writer’s hands, the soft-handed seat-fillers of his slacker…

September 6, 2026 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

At the US Open, tennis itself fights for the attention

The U.S. Open has become one of New York’s hottest places to see and be seen. But the tennis players and tennis fans would occasionally like people to watch the tennis. Players at this year’s tournament have complained about an…

September 6, 2026 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0