Culture
The Atlantic’s Week in Culture
A roundup of our recent writing on arts and entertainment
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Track of the Day: ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ by John Mellencamp
A reader writes: I love watching the Kennedy Center Honors for artists I like. In…
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Track of the Day: ‘Wonderwall’ by Ryan Adams
This reader, Victoria Duda, sends a dreamy acoustic version of the Oasis classic: Not sure…
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FX Star Trek and Two Sides of Hip-Hop: The Week in Pop-Culture Writing
Highlights from seven days of reading about entertainment
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Scholastic / Amazon Dear America: Reading Through History
In the aftermath of 9/11, the young-adult historical fiction series showed me how people move forward after earth-shattering moments.
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Track of the Day: ‘Nice, Nice, Very Nice’ by Ambrosia
Earlier this week, my colleague David featured the premiere of “Chicago” by David Nagler—a track from an…
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Amazon The Quiet Tragicomedy of One Mississippi
Tig Notaro’s new Amazon series plumbs the depths of her real-life struggles, and mines subtle, empathetic humor from them.
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Vianney Le Caer / AP Lady Gaga’s Seriously Stomping ‘Perfect Illusion’
Her headrush of a comeback single makes a bid to revive rock—but not irony.
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Nick Ut / AP The Iconic Photograph That Didn't Make it Past Facebook's Censors
Nick Ut’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph that turned the tide of American public opinion against the Vietnam War was removed because of nudity. Facebook later relented.
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John Sommers II / Reuters A Peek at Babe Ruth’s Private Scrapbooks
Twenty-five volumes from the National Baseball Hall of Fame's collection have been digitized for the first time.
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Warner Bros. The Silliness of Sully
Despite an excellent performance by Tom Hanks, Clint Eastwood’s hagiographic biopic loses its way.
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Track of the Day: Bach Cello Suite No. 1 by Mstislav Rostropovich
Reader Barbara, who recommended a full playlist of classical music earlier this week, shares a lyrical description for…
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FX The Corner of Hollywood and Motherhood
FX’s new comedy Better Things, created by and starring Louie’s Pamela Adlon, is an acerbic look at the life of a working actress raising three children.
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Interscope M.I.A. Claims Victory, In Her Way
Her unusually lackadaisical and supposedly final album A.I.M. makes some peace with an unjust world.
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Phil Noble / Reuters Ryan Lochte's Suspension From the U.S. National Team
As punishment for apparently fabricating a robbery story at the Rio Olympics, the swimmer forfeits $100,000 and cannot compete for 10 months.
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Warner Bros. Always the Sidekick
East Asian actors are still stuck in supporting roles in big-budget action movies, even as Hollywood tries to court the Chinese box office.
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Track of the Day: ‘Chicago’ by David Nagler
Poetry, like music, lends itself to epiphanies—those moments where a piece of art that might have previously seemed inert suddenly…
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Netflix What to Watch This Fall
The onslaught of scripted television shows continues with the usual reboots, revivals, and adaptations—but also some original stories.
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RCA Records Sia’s Wonderful and Sad Music Video for Orlando
"The Greatest” doesn’t feel like charity, it feels like art.
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CW Why Modern Human Interactions Are So Hard to Film
Text messaging is boring to watch.
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FX Atlanta’s Magic Is in the Details
Donald Glover’s new FX show captures the surrealism and the daily grind of a city in the midst of cultural renaissance.
