Culture

The Biden era has already produced a bonanza of terrible art
Now that it’s over, you could reasonably assess whether the Donald Trump presidency was as great for punk, comedy, or art as some naive early optimists were hoping. (Unless you were taken by lip-syncing parody videos or exceedingly buff paintings of…
By Shawn Cooke

Movies & TV

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are proving the monarchy is irrelevant
By Kara Weisenstein
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle seem like they’re doing really well in sunny southern California. They’ve kept a rather low profile since stepping away from their royal duties in January 2020, other than announcing they’re developing content for…
Conservatives are having a full meltdown over the new genderless Potato Head
By Kara Weisenstein
Keeping pace with modern times, Hasbro made a shocking announcement on Thursday: Mr. Potato Head is no longer a mister. The company is rebranding its iconic toy tuber as genderless Potato Head, while apparently retaining Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head as…
If liking Post Malone's Hootie and the Blowfish cover is wrong, I don't want to be right
By Shawn Cooke
Post Malone will forever be the most Mad Libs-y artist working in music. Post Malone raises more than $2 million for COVID relief with a Nirvana covers livestream? Oh sure. Post Malone joins the rest of the Bud Light Cinematic Universe for its…
Chloe x Halle's "Ungodly Hour" is 4 minutes of aquatic, spandexed bliss
By Kara Weisenstein
The pandemic forced musicians of all stripes to get very creative in the last year, but none have navigated lockdown quite like sister R&B duo Chloe x Halle. In normal times, awards shows and talk shows would’ve invited them to perform in-studio to…
As a Romani witch, I can't stand 'WandaVision'
By Jessica Reidy
In a recent episode of WandaVision, “All-New Halloween Spooktacular!” the titular superhero Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch (played by Elizabeth Olsen) appears in her retro costume — red headband, leotard, tights, and cape — announcing that…
Some monster shot Lady Gaga's dog walker and stole her French bulldogs
By Shawn Cooke
On Thursday morning, TMZ reported that an unknown sicko attacked and shot Lady Gaga’s dog walker in Hollywood last night, before kidnapping two of her French bulldogs. The doggies in question, Koji and Gustav, were also walked with a third, which…
'Jeopardy!' executive producer Mike Richards just might be The One
By Shawn Cooke
Before Alex Trebek was even in the ground, betting markets began to speculate on his successor. You had your obvious, long-rumored choices — Ken Jennings, who just took hosting duties for six weeks, and George Stephanopoulos — along with the more…
The Golden Globes have zero Black voters — which explains a lot
By Kara Weisenstein
Just about anyone with taste who watched films and television last year was outraged when the Golden Globes snubbed a whole bunch of brilliant projects centered on Black stories from its 2021 nominations. Many folks’ favorite show of 2020, I May…
David Letterman has always been a creep toward women
By Kara Weisenstein
The internet has lately been realizing what Cher told David Letterman to his face way back in 1986: the longtime Late Show host could be an asshole to his guests — especially the ones who are women. The release of Framing Britney Spears recently…
We've reached the age of scamfluencers
By Kara Weisenstein
Scammers aren’t new or anything. Think of old-timey salesmen hawking snake oil, or that guy from the musical who sells a whole town imaginary band instruments. But scams are more visible in the digital age, when the internet makes it both easier for…
Meek Mill really didn't need to riff on dying like Kobe Bryant
By Shawn Cooke
Just days after posting that “‘attention’ is the most addictive drug known to mankind,” Meek Mill sure managed to secure some for himself. It’s been three years since his last proper album, Championships, and he’s been teasing a new project of some…
Cardi B gets interviewed by Mariah Carey, realizes she's a "real ass bitch" too
By Shawn Cooke
Celebrity-on-celebrity interviews tend to be soft, uninteresting fare — which makes Cardi B and Mariah Carey's phone call for Interview Magazine even more of a triumph for avoiding that fate. The pair sat down to ramp up interest ahead of Cardi’s…
What do we do with the new movies starring accused Bad Men?
By Kara Weisenstein
"Cancel culture" has posed a unique conundrum for Hollywood: what to do when a forthcoming film or TV show features someone accused of heinous transgressions? If you’re like director Ridley Scott, you’ll drop millions to replace the accused star and…
TikTokers are trying to prove that snow is a government conspiracy
By Shawn Cooke
TikTok is no monolith. Within one app, you can listen to enchanting sea shanties, learn how to regain your sense of smell after having COVID-19, and, apparently, watch a bunch of people try to convince you that the snow in Texas is fake. As Texas…
James Franco quietly settled the sexual misconduct lawsuit filed by his former students
By Kara Weisenstein
We haven’t heard much about James Franco in the three years since he was accused of sexual misconduct by former students who attended his now-defunct acting school. At the time (and before the particulars of his alleged transgressions were made…
Golden Globe voters were reportedly gifted a lavish trip to the 'Emily in Paris' set
By Shawn Cooke
There’s always something to make you go "huh" when the Golden Globes nominations drop, and this year offered its fair share of options — like Sia’s egregious Music landing top nods in the Musical/Comedy categories, or Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy…
Daft Punk is calling it quits after a 28-year run
By Shawn Cooke
After 28 years of shaking bodies in the desert and clubs around the world, Daft Punk have called it quits, their publicist confirmed to Variety. On Monday, Feb. 22, the Parisian duo posted an eight-minute video to YouTube titled “Epilogue,”…
I can't stop watching Popular Mechanics' impossibly soothing YouTube channel
By Shawn Cooke
There are two types of people in the world: those who are hypnotized or even moved by the ceramic bowl paint titty, and everyone else. You might watch a thousand TikToks and never replicate the sensation of seeing the bouncy contraption that paints…
Why does Hollywood still think women have to pick between love and themselves?
By Teresa Xie
In an early, defining scene of To All the Boys: Always and Forever, the newest and purportedly final installment of the popular rom-com trilogy, Lara Jean (played adoringly by Lana Condor) gets some unhappy news: After months of waiting in…
It's official: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are getting divorced
By Kara Weisenstein
Everybody figured Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were headed towards splitsville a month ago, when news broke that Kardashian had retained the services of celebrity divorce attorney Laura Wasser. Now their breakup is official: the 40-year-old reality…