AvatarThe AtlanticAvatarAvatarThe Real Hero of 'Ted Lasso'verified_publisherThe Atlantic - By Megan GarberNate Shelley’s descent into villainy has been jarring and a little bit heartbreaking. It’s also an apt rejoinder to the show’s fantasies. Ted Lasso, like an athlete meeting the moment, peaked at the right time. The show premiered during the waning months of Donald Trump’s presidency; against that …
AvatarThe AtlanticAvatarAvatarThe Pornography Paradoxverified_publisherThe Atlantic - By Laura KipnisReformers fear that ever more outré sites are warping users’ desires. But transgression has always been part of the appeal. Content, some say, wants to be free; so, reportedly, do we. At any rate, such conclusions jibe with at least 9 billion visits a month to porn websites and “tubes,” where …
AvatarThe AtlanticAvatarAvatar‘Notice All That Disappears’verified_publisherThe Atlantic - By Walt HunterJorie Graham is a poet facing down the end of the world. Imagine you are looking at a flowering tree branch in a vase on a table. You think of trying to write about it. As you look, you’re aware of your own breath, the warmth of your clothes. You smell the fragrance of the flowers. You struggle to …
AvatarThe AtlanticAvatarAvatarIt’s Okay to Like Good Art by Bad Peopleverified_publisherThe Atlantic - By Judith ShulevitzArt transcends the artist. In 1895, the popular satirist and dandy Oscar Wilde was tried and sentenced to a prison term, with hard labor, for “gross indecency,” meaning sexual acts with men. The ordeal effectively ended his career, shortened his life, and made his name synonymous with depravity for …
AvatarThe AtlanticAvatarAvatarThe Film That Understands What a Creative Life Really Looks Likeverified_publisherThe Atlantic - By David SimsShowing Up is an ode to the difficulties, and rewards, of making art. Kelly Reichardt’s newest film, Showing Up, is in some ways a remembrance of art schools past. It’s set in Oregon, like most of her projects, specifically in and around a college where the taciturn yet flinty Lizzy (played by …
AvatarThe AtlanticAvatarAvatarAn Institution That’s Been Broken for 200 Yearsverified_publisherThe Atlantic - By Kristen MartinTwo new books argue that America urgently needs to reimagine its child-welfare system. When I was a teenager in the early 2000s, my parents both died. Like many American children, I had been steeped in stories about orphans for years, but the books I had read and movies I had watched (Jane Eyre, …
AvatarThe AtlanticAvatarAvatarA Biting Satire About the Idealistic Leftverified_publisherThe Atlantic - By Lily MeyerEleanor Catton’s new novel, Birnam Wood, pokes at the pieties of those who want to change the world. Ask me how much time and money I have devoted, in my adult life, to conscious efforts to be a good person, and I would struggle to quantify it. Of course, I would also struggle to tell you what …
AvatarThe AtlanticAvatarAvatar'Succession' Finally Did Itverified_publisherThe Atlantic - By Sophie GilbertNotes on a jaw-dropping development This article contains spoilers through the third episode of Succession Season 4. He is … not risen? I think? For three-plus seasons, Logan Roy has ducked and weaved his way past near fatalities—a hemorrhagic stroke, multiple corporate coup attempts, a congressional …
AvatarThe AtlanticAvatarAvatarThe ’90s Character Queen Returns to 'Saturday Night Live'verified_publisherThe Atlantic - By Amanda WicksThank goodness for Molly Shannon. When Molly Shannon auditioned for Saturday Night Live in the mid-’90s, she received some appallingly bad advice. A scout warned her against doing the character Mary Katherine Gallagher—a geeky teenager who stuck her hands in her armpits and smelled them when she got …
AvatarThe AtlanticAvatarAvatarA Comedy About the Misery of Having It Allverified_publisherThe Atlantic - By Shirley LiIn Netflix’s Beef, Ali Wong is the antiheroine TV deserves. The first time I saw Amy, Ali Wong’s character in Beef, I found myself sitting up a little straighter and leaning a little closer toward my TV. I knew Wong had a starring role, but Amy caught me off guard. Wearing a cream-colored bucket hat, …
AvatarThe AtlanticAvatarAvatarNot Just the Janitor of Abbott Elementaryverified_publisherThe Atlantic - By Nina Li CoomesWhere would the school—or the show—be without Mr. Johnson? Of all the characters on Abbott Elementary, there’s one who never fails to make me laugh. I’m talking about Mr. Johnson, the janitor whose dry humor and droll facial expressions make him one of the funniest personas on ABC’s hit comedy. …
AvatarThe AtlanticAvatarAvatar'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' Gives the People What They Wantverified_publisherThe Atlantic - By David SimsYour best bet is to not ask too many questions and just go with the magic-mushroom flow. Hollywood’s previous attempt at a Super Mario Bros. film tried to translate the cartoon goofiness of Nintendo’s video game into something more cinematic. The result was strange and ambitious: A British character …