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PopMatters turns 27 this month! Please SUBSCRIBE so we have 27 more.

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Features Culture Featured: Top of Home Page Theatre

AI in Theatre Performs Best Offstage

By

Serkan Fırtına / 27 October 2026

Amid relentless digital speed, shrinking attention spans, and synthetic storytelling, the moment the house lights dim and the spotlight illuminates the living actor, the domain of AI comes to an abrupt halt.

FEATURES

Trombonist Ryan Keberle Discusses His Music by an MPB Pioneer

Trombonist Ryan Keberle Discusses His Music by an MPB Pioneer

By

Will Layman / 27 October 2026

Anne Carson: Genre, Eternity and the Nobel Prize in Literature

Anne Carson: Genre, Eternity and the Nobel Prize in Literature

By

John Alan Urquhart / 27 October 2026

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of October 2026

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of October 2026

By

Spyros Stasis / 26 October 2026

The Troubles Haunt in Ciaran Carson’s Posthumous ‘X+Y=K’

The Troubles Haunt in Ciaran Carson’s Posthumous ‘X+Y=K’

By

Reggie Chamberlain-King / 26 October 2026

The 15 Best Tom Waits Songs

The 15 Best Tom Waits Songs

By

Alexander Heigl / 26 October 2026

A Jigsaw Falling into Place: How Fan Theories Help Market Radiohead’s Music

A Jigsaw Falling into Place: How Fan Theories Help Market Radiohead’s Music

By

Lars Munzer / 22 October 2026

Roman Polanski’s ‘Chinatown’ Presses the Limits of Knowledge

Roman Polanski’s ‘Chinatown’ Presses the Limits of Knowledge

By

Mike Cormack / 22 October 2026

Pop Past

The best of our archive [subscriber exclusive]

What Would Don Draper Do? Reading Dante in a Secular Age

Featured: Top of Home Page

What Would Don Draper Do? Reading Dante in a Secular Age

By

John L. Murphy / 25 March 2015

Religion and Biological Limits in Post-Humanity: ‘Her’ and ‘Transcendence’

Featured: Top of Home Page

Religion and Biological Limits in Post-Humanity: ‘Her’ and ‘Transcendence’

By

Seth M. Walker / 18 June 2014

Cult Films Fans: Between the Omnivore and the Hermit

Featured: Top of Home Page

Cult Films Fans: Between the Omnivore and the Hermit

By

Andrew Grossman / 21 July 2013

Music Reviews

Music Music Reviews Reviews

Queens of the Stone Age Show Versatility on ‘Perfecth’

By

Patrick Gill / 27 October 2026

Music Music Reviews

Beabadoobee Reconnects with Rock on ‘Pylon’

By

Matthew Dwyer / 27 October 2026

Music Music Reviews PopMatters Picks Reviews

Song People Merge Post-Punk and Power Balladry on Haunting LP

By

Parker Desautell / 27 October 2026

Fontaines D.C. Explore How Modern Life Keeps You Distracted

Neil Young & the Chrome Hearts Take It Easy With ‘Second Song’

Empress Of Expresses Truth on ‘Dream House’ and Misses It

James Brandon Lewis Brilliantly Interprets Antonín Dvořák

Billy Strings Dials Up a Throwdown for a Two-Night Bonanza

Wishy Transcend the Sophomore Slump on ‘Nature’s Pill’

Sheryl Crow Has a Message For a Divided America on Newest LP

V.V. Lightbody Offers Up Another Lush Charmer

Clara Mann Delivers Exquisite Folk on ‘Wishbone’

Seffarine’s ‘Abaraz’ Is Roots Music at Its Richest

Ziemba’s ‘The Braid’ Is a Sophisti-Pop Masterpiece

Bacht’n de Vulle Moane’s Verdwazing der dwazen

Film

Music, Murder, and Boris Karloff fill Saucy pre-Code ‘Night World’

Music, Murder, and Boris Karloff fill Saucy pre-Code ‘Night World’

By

Michael Barrett / 27 October 2026

‘100 Days’ Rows Toward the Comfort of Solitude

‘100 Days’ Rows Toward the Comfort of Solitude

By

Guilherme Quireza / 26 October 2026

Roman Polanski’s ‘Chinatown’ Presses the Limits of Knowledge

Roman Polanski’s ‘Chinatown’ Presses the Limits of Knowledge

By

Mike Cormack / 22 October 2026

It’s a Wonderful Life’s Bell Is Still Ringing

It’s a Wonderful Life’s Bell Is Still Ringing

By

Jo Ann Zimmerman / 21 October 2026

Prejudice Is Masked as Protection in Cristian Mungiu’s ‘Fjord’

Prejudice Is Masked as Protection in Cristian Mungiu’s ‘Fjord’

By

Chris Barsanti / 21 October 2026

Inside H. R. Giger’s Alien: The Biomechanical Horror That Changed Film, Art and Design

Inside H. R. Giger’s Alien: The Biomechanical Horror That Changed Film, Art and Design

By

Lexx Che / 20 October 2026

The Unbearable Heaviness of Buildings: ‘The History of Concrete’

The Unbearable Heaviness of Buildings: ‘The History of Concrete’

By

Richard Stimac / 15 October 2026

Thin Screens of Violence: ‘American Doctor’ and the Authority of Images

Thin Screens of Violence: ‘American Doctor’ and the Authority of Images

By

Richard Stimac / 14 October 2026

Aaron Sorkin and the Politics of Being Right

Aaron Sorkin and the Politics of Being Right

By

R.A. Davis / 13 October 2026

Books

Books Feature Sub Head Features

Anne Carson: Genre, Eternity and the Nobel Prize in Literature

By

John Alan Urquhart / 27 October 2026

Books Culture Feature Sub Head Features

The Troubles Haunt in Ciaran Carson’s Posthumous ‘X+Y=K’

By

Reggie Chamberlain-King / 26 October 2026

Haruki Murakami Traces His Father’s History through the Wiles of a Cat

By

Maria Lockard / 26 October 2026

It’s a Wonderful Life’s Bell Is Still Ringing

Proust’s ‘In Search of Lost Time’ Is the Epic of Social Climbing

Calum Marsh Looks Behind the Scenes of Reality TV

Conversations with Drew Lerman About ‘Conversations with Don DeLillo’

Music Features

Music Feature Sub Head Featured: Top of Home Page Features Interviews Music Features

Trombonist Ryan Keberle Discusses His Music by an MPB Pioneer

By

Will Layman / 27 October 2026

Music Feature Sub Head Featured: Top of Home Page Features Lists Music Features PopMatters Picks

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of October 2026

By

Spyros Stasis / 26 October 2026

Music Feature Sub Head Features Lists Music Features

The 15 Best Tom Waits Songs

By

Alexander Heigl / 26 October 2026

A Jigsaw Falling into Place: How Fan Theories Help Market Radiohead’s Music

Billy Strings Dials Up a Throwdown for a Two-Night Bonanza

Gen X and the Changing Meaning of the Velvet Underground’s “Stephanie Says”

Dawn Moraga of Cor de Lux Faces the Future with a Beautiful Blind Smile

Television

Can Comedy Be an Antidote to Authoritarianism’s Poison?

Can Comedy Be an Antidote to Authoritarianism’s Poison?

By

Iain Ellis / 15 October 2026

Why Can’t I Stop Watching ‘Love Island’?

Why Can’t I Stop Watching ‘Love Island’?

By

Racheal Fest / 1 October 2026

Lists

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of October 2026

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of October 2026

By

Spyros Stasis / 26 October 2026

The 15 Best Tom Waits Songs

The 15 Best Tom Waits Songs

By

Alexander Heigl / 26 October 2026

ElectroMatters: Best Electronic Music of September 2026

ElectroMatters: Best Electronic Music of September 2026

By

J. Simpson / 6 October 2026

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of September 2026

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of September 2026

By

Spyros Stasis / 28 September 2026

Interviews

Music Feature Sub Head Featured: Top of Home Page Features Interviews Music Features

Trombonist Ryan Keberle Discusses His Music by an MPB Pioneer

By

Will Layman / 27 October 2026

Music Feature Sub Head Features Interviews Music Features

Dawn Moraga of Cor de Lux Faces the Future with a Beautiful Blind Smile

By

Brian Stout / 21 October 2026

Music Feature Sub Head Featured: Top of Home Page Features Interviews Music Features

Jazz Saxophonist David S. Ware Never Played It Twice

By

Tony Aramini / 15 October 2026

Gilbert O’Sullivan Is ‘On the Record’ and Being Irish

ME. Invite Us to Do the Hard Thing on ‘All Good Things’

Nine Albums In, Russian Circles Are “Opening the Marriage”

Conversations with Drew Lerman About ‘Conversations with Don DeLillo’

Publish with PM

PopMatters Seeks Book Critics and Essayists

PopMatters Seeks Book Critics and Essayists

By

Karen Zarker / 24 January 2024

Submit an Essay, Review, Interview, or List to PopMatters

Submit an Essay, Review, Interview, or List to PopMatters

By

PopMatters Staff / 26 July 2023

PopMatters Seeks Music Writers

PopMatters Seeks Music Writers

By

PopMatters Staff / 28 September 2022

PopMatters Seeks Film Critics and Essayists

PopMatters Seeks Film Critics and Essayists

By

Karen Zarker / 28 September 2022

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