Arts & Culture
Trump as the Master of Revels
Late-night host Stephen Colbert is the latest piece to be played in the never-ending board game that has dominated American life over the past six months. Maybe “Sorry!”? Although in our vindictive climate perhaps it would be better called “Not Sorry!” Either way, calling it “chess” would give certain entities too much credit, so pardon…
Read MoreBilly Joel’s Weaponized Nostalgia and Spiritual Truth
I’m not sure what I thought pop culture would be like when my generation got into middle age. I certainly didn’t expect it would be dominated by ideas and figures from my 1980s childhood released into the wild again and again like some monstrous zombie army, hungry for our eyeballs and the reanimated feels of…
Read MoreFilms That Show the Reality of Trans People
This year’s Tribeca Film Festival featured two documentaries about the experience of being transgender in the United States right now. Their subjects are radically different: State of Firsts follows Delaware’s transgender congresswoman Sarah McBride as she runs for Congress. Meanwhile Just Kids tells the story of three trans children and their families as they grapple…
Read MoreBlack Dandyism and the Power of Fashion
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Spring 2025 exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” examines fashion through the lens of Black dandyism. Drawing from Monica L. Miller’s book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, the exhibition — guest curated by Miller — formed the basis for this year’s dazzling Met Gala,…
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