Shows / Critics at Large | The New Yorker
Critics at Large | The New Yorker
Critics at Large is a weekly culture podcast from The New Yorker. Every Thursday, the staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss current obsessions, classic texts they’re revisiting with fresh eyes, and trends that are emerging across books, television, film, and more. The show runs the gamut of the arts and pop culture, with lively, surprising conversations about everything from Salman Rushdie to “The Real Housewives.” Through rigorous analysis and…
Episodes
Critics at Large | The New Yorker“Curb Your Enthusiasm” and the Art of the Finale
Since the turn of the millennium, HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” has slyly satirized the ins and outs of social interaction. The series—which follows a…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerWhy We Want What Tom Ripley Has
In her 1955 novel, “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” Patricia Highsmith introduced readers to the figure of Tom Ripley, an antihero who covets the good life, and…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerKate Middleton and the Internet’s Communal Fictions
News of Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis arrived after months of speculation regarding the royal’s whereabouts. Had the Princess of Wales, who had not been…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerIs Science Fiction the New Realism?
Science fiction has historically been considered a niche genre, one in which far-flung scenarios play out on distant planets. Today, though, such plots are at…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerThe New Coming-of-Age Story
For centuries, the bildungsroman, or novel of education, has offered a window into a formative period of life—and, by extension, into the historical moment in…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerWhy We Love an Office Drama
The office has long been a fixture in pop culture—but, in 2024, amid the rise of remote work and the resurgence of organized labor, the way we relate to our…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerThe Politics of the Oscar Race
The campaign for an Oscar is just that: a campaign. In the weeks and months leading up to the ninety-sixth Academy Awards, actors and directors have been hard…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerHow Usher, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift Build Their Own Legacies
At this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, Usher Raymond sang through decades of hits while twirling on roller skates, making a case for himself as one of the…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerThe Painful Pleasure of “Wretched Love”
As much as contemporary audiences relish a happily ever after, some of the greatest romances of all time are ones that have turned out badly. In this episode…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerWhy We Can’t Quit the Mean Girl
If some of us have managed to avoid mean girls in life, we’ve had no such luck in art. The “mean girl”—a picture of idealized femininity who usually heads up a…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerFrom In the Dark: The Runaway Princesses
The wives and daughters of Dubai’s ruler live in unbelievable luxury. So why do the women in Sheikh Mohammed’s family keep trying to run away? The New Yorker…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerWhat Is the Comic For?
Dave Chappelle’s new Netflix special, “The Dreamer,” has drawn criticism for its targeting of trans and disabled people–the latest in a string of…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerThe Case for Criticism
In this episode of Critics at Large, the staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz turn their attention to the art—and purpose—of…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerCan Slowness Save Us?
In recent years, in the realms of self-improvement literature, Instagram influencers, and wellness gurus, an idea has taken hold: that in a non-stop world, the…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerPortraits of the Artist
Hollywood’s obsession with stories about creative types has resulted in familiar tropes—namely that of the tortured artist, whose fanatical devotion to his…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerFrom The New Yorker Radio Hour: a Conversation with Dolly Parton
After six decades as an icon in country music, it’s hard to imagine Dolly Parton had anything to prove. But when she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerThe Year of the Doll
In the highest-grossing movie of 2023, Barbie, a literal doll, leaves the comforts of Barbieland and ventures into real-world Los Angeles, where she discovers…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerGeorge Santos and the Art of the Scam
In the weeks since George Santos was expelled from Congress, his story has been funnelled straight into the entertainment pipeline, from a memorable sketch on…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerHayao Miyazaki’s Magical Realms
Margaret Talbot, writing in The New Yorker in 2005, recounted that when animators at Pixar got stuck on a project they’d file into a screening room to watch a…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerThe Past, Present, and Future of the Period Drama
From Merchant Ivory’s classic adaptations of E. M. Forster novels to the BBC’s beloved rendition of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” the greatest period…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerSamantha Irby Knows How to Be Funny
Samantha Irby’s latest essay collection, “Quietly Hostile,” cemented her place as one of the great professionally funny people working today. Her books and her…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerIs “The Golden Bachelor” Too Good to Be True?
Reality television is all about artifice, and contestants on “The Bachelor” often seem more interested in becoming influencers than in finding a spouse—but…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerWhy We Dine Out (or Don’t)
In the years since the pandemic began, the experience of dining out has been utterly transformed. Coveted tables now disappear seconds after they’re released…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerBritney Spears Tells Her Horror Story
The celebrity memoir has long been a place for public figures to set the record straight on the story of their lives. By any measure, Britney Spears’s life, as…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerMartin Scorsese’s America
Throughout his career, Martin Scorsese has traced crime, greed, and corruption across American life. In his new film, he turns his gaze to the violence of…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerAre Straight Couples O.K.?
Throughout film history, heterosexual relationships have served as a battleground for questions of sex, power, and equality. From the 1949 screwball comedy…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerSpies, Sex, and John le Carré
In 1963, a British spy writing under the pen name John le Carré published a novel that shot to the top of best-seller lists worldwide. After the success of…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerTaylor Swift Is Everywhere All at Once
Taylor Swift has long been the subject of adoration, scrutiny, and debate—but it wasn’t until this summer, as the Eras Tour filled football stadiums and TikTok…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerThe Myth-Making of Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s presence in our lives is inescapable: his cars roam our streets, his satellites orbit our skies, and his purchase of X—formerly known as…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerWhat Is Cringecore, and Why Is It Everywhere?
In the inaugural episode of The New Yorker’s new culture podcast, the staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz make sense of an…
Critics at Large | The New YorkerIntroducing: Critics at Large
On Critics at Large, a new weekly culture podcast from The New Yorker, the staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss current…