Culture

Oprah’s Celebrity Pyramid Scheme

The daytime talk goddess' therapeutic theology ultimately leads into a blind alley.

Chris Lehmann

Detroit Scrap City

A few entrepreneurs pick through the ruins for profit.

Matthew Wolfe

K-Pop’s Soft Power

The story of South Korea's musical exports.

Neil Manticore-Griffin

Scofflaws, Elected or Otherwise

America has entered a surreal post-accountability age.

Chris Lehmann

Murdering the Messenger

Anna Politkovskaya's death raises an important question.

Steve Weinberg

Another Grunt’s-Eye View

Like Restrepo, the battle documentary Armadillo hyperfocuses on homegrown Everyboys. Not a good idea.

Michael Atkinson

Interns of the World, Unite!

We have nothing to lose but our résumés.

Ross Perlin

All Changes Great and Small

It's impossible to chart change when it happens so fast.

Jane Miller

The Other Labor Struggle

In defense of midwifery.

Eleanor J. Bader

Chile’s One-Man Truth Commission

Patricio Guzmán's latest film extends his 35-year yowl of rage.

Michael Atkinson

Twilight of the Social Critics

David Brooks' latest book, The Social Animal, does not bode well for post-crisis America.

Chris Lehmann

The House of Reptile Lovers

Snakes, lizards and crocodiles should be worshipped—not fashion accessories.

Dawn Starin

Zora Neale Hurston’s Lost Decade

The Harlem Renaissance writer's obscure and impoverished final years are being rehabilitated.

Eve Ottenberg

Meet Joe, the World’s Most Original Filmmaker

2011 has hardly begun, but Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is probably the year's best film.

Michael Atkinson

Digging the Underground Press

The Sixties' scrappy alternative newspapers were the oxygen that kept the era's movements going.

Richard Greenwald

Say Yes to Peer Pressure

Join the Club offers the 'social cure'

Steve Weinberg

Growing Old Reconsidered

Reflections on the 'crazy' age.

Jane Miller

Real Shallow Housewives

Orange County's pathological consumers deconstructed.

Moe Tkacik