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A weekly culture roundtable from The New Yorker’s critics.
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Critics at Large
Why Football Matters
It remains far and away the most popular sport in the U.S., even in the face of growing concerns about players’ safety. What do we get from the spectacle?
Critics at Large
Do We Need Saints?
Divinely inspired figures have become a cultural fixation, appearing in prestige films, pop albums, and fashion. What explains this modern hunger for holiness?
Critics at Large
The Year of the Broken Mirror
In the biggest films of 2025, artists grappled with the country’s divided politics and increasingly fractured relationship to the truth. Can these works of fiction bring us closer to reality?
Critics at Large
“Wake Up Dead Man” and the Whodunnit Renaissance
A wave of high-concept murder mysteries has revived the classic genre—and proved to be catnip for modern audiences. Why can’t we get enough?
Critics at Large
Does “Hamlet” Need a Backstory?
“Hamnet,” a new film directed by Chloé Zhao, is a fictionalized account of how Shakespeare’s famous tragedy came to be. Is it reductive or revelatory?
Critics at Large
In “Pluribus,” Utopia Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up to Be
Artists and thinkers have long fixated on the notion of an ideal society—but these experiments, in fiction and in life, inevitably fall short. Why are we still drawn in by the possibility of perfection?
Critics at Large
The Guilty Pleasure of the Heist
Elaborate robberies are a Hollywood staple, and the real-life theft at the Louvre has become a phenomenon. Why are we riveted by this particular type of crime?
Critics at Large
Critics at Large Live: Padma Lakshmi’s Expansive Taste
The host of “Top Chef” and “Taste the Nation” has sampled—and judged—dishes from around the country and the world. How did she develop her discerning palate?
Critics at Large
Why Horror Still Haunts Us
The genre has always reflected the societal anxieties of the era. What do contemporary entries have to say about our own time?
Critics at Large
Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
A.I. tools are getting better at producing convincing images, text, and videos. Does that mean they can make art?
Critics at Large
I Need a Critic: October, 2025, Edition
The hosts take their first celebrity caller—and recommend TV shows to get lost in, works to alleviate loneliness, and ways to find inspiration during a creative slump.
Critics at Large
One Paul Thomas Anderson Film After Another
With “One Battle After Another,” the beloved auteur is working outside his typical period-film framework. What is he trying to say about America today?
Critics at Large
What’s Cooking?
The internet has put tens of thousands of recipes at our fingertips—and the art of the dinner party is now the subject of books, blogs, and debate. How did the kitchen become a showcase for the self?
Critics at Large
“The Paper,” “The Lowdown,” and the Drama of Journalism
Reporters were the undisputed heroes of such classics as “All the President’s Men” and “Spotlight.” A new crop of shows—and a growing number of real-life skeptics and detractors—paint a different picture.
Critics at Large
Why We’re All In on Gambling
Betting is not a new pastime, but the rise of platforms such as Polymarket and DraftKings has made it more pervasive than ever. In an increasingly unstable world, what’s the appeal of risking it all?
Critics at Large
Our Fads, Ourselves
Labubus are the latest hard-to-find objects to capture the popular imagination. What can speculative manias of the past tell us about the enduring appeal of collectibles?
Critics at Large
How to Watch a Movie
The “politique des auteurs” proposed by filmmakers of the French New Wave changed the landscape of cinema. What might they teach us about the directors of today?
Critics at Large
Les Américains à Paris
Americans have had a long cultural love affair with the French capital. What is it about Paris that draws us in?
Critics at Large
How Zohran Mamdani Became the Main Character of New York City
The state assemblyman’s social-media storytelling has earned him an unexpected place in the popular imagination. How does his persona fit into the lineage of historical and fictional New York figures?
Critics at Large
Late Night’s Last Laugh
The cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” raised eyebrows, but the genre is not what it was in Johnny Carson’s heyday. What does it still have to offer us?