Just Keep Writhing Jessica Hopper
Music critic Jessica Hopper is revivified by high stakes for the second coming of The First Collection.
Megan Volpert
Megan Volpert is author or editor of over a dozen books on pop culture, including a Georgia Author of the Year winner and two Lambda Literary Award finalists. Her newest work is Why Alanis Morissette Matters (University of Texas Press, 2025) and she has edited anthologies of philosophical essays on the music of Tom Petty and the television series RuPaul’s Drag Race. In addition to her integrative medicine practice, Volpert's other gigs include teaching at Kennesaw State University and Reinhardt University, and a fellowship at the American Institute for Philosophical and Cultural Thought.
Scholar and Activist Tanya Pearson Gives Marianne Faithfull Her Feminine Aggression
The world badly needs more feminine aggression and Tanya Pearson is doing the work with her excellent new book, Why Marianne Faithfull Matters.
Brunch, Ladies? On Arielle Zibrak’s ‘Guilty Pleasures’
Arielle Zibrak’s ‘Guilty Pleasures’ is such a fun and fast conversation that reading it feels like having brunch with a hilarious dear friend.
Annemarie Mol’s Eating in Theory Reads Like a Buffet
Mol’s steady drip of accessible anecdotes in ‘Eating in Theory’ offers a slow-motion explosion of the connection between food and philosophy.
Filmmaker and Critic Virginie Despentes Is Still, Unfortunately, Quite Necessary
Virginie Despentes’ feminist arguments in her recently rebooted collection of essays, King Kong Theory, remain fresh and frustratingly relevant.
Saturday Night Live’s Laraine Newman Lived in Interesting Times
How much coke would a Conehead snort if a Conehead did snort coke? A lot says Laraine Newman in her memoir about her early days at Saturday Night Live.
The Latest Anthology on RuPaul’s Drag Race Is Gag-Worthy
The Cultural Impact of RuPaul’s Drag Race turns a fierce lewk without overriding any of the iconic moments served by its predecessors.
‘Odd Woman Out’ Is a Comedy Sketch-Like Memoir About What’s-Her-Name
We can never have too many Jewish Atheists from Brooklyn publishing essays about life as they see it. Actress Melanie Chartoff's 'Odd Woman Out' has me wanting more.
Pretend It’s a City Proves Once Again, You Can’t Argue with Fran Lebowitz
Fran Lebowitz’s ubiquitous little smirk is still going as strong as ever because she never feels bad about herself.
Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers Bio ‘Somewhere You Feel Free’ Feels Constrained
This recent Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers biography sticks to the objective facts so closely, and the telling is so firmly chronological, that the author tends to miss the forest for the trees.
‘We’re Not Here to Entertain’ Is Not Here to Break the Cycle of Punk’s Failures
Even as it irritates me, Kevin Mattson's We're Not Here to Entertain is worth reading because it has so much direct relevance to American punks operating today.
‘The Art of Drag’ Captivates and Unites
Like a properly tightened corset, the total effect of The Art of Drag lends a stunning shape to the art forms in question.