Features, interviews, and commentary about popular culture related topics, including music, film, TV, books, games, and more.
This was another noteworthy year for the best rock music. Some artists followed a debut with a stunning second LP and mainstays showed a return to form or evolved.
James Clavell’s Shōgun is about profound transformation through understanding, but FX’s Shōgun is just a spectacle of surfaces with no meaningful drive.
The best global music albums represent ten especially powerful examples of musical communion from the past year that defy the frictional fictions of borders.
The future of the genre lies in places where it’s less insular and more artistically adventurous. The 20 best jazz albums are outstanding examples of that impulse.
Andy Weir, sci-fi author of The Martian, cites Asimov and Clarke as inspirations, but he’s more likely the cosmic literary incarnation of Jules Verne.
This year has been particularly exciting for experimental music, ranging from free-form guitar freak-outs to lush, ambient, always pushing boundaries.
A certain group of animated demon slayers supercharged interest in what has already been a banner year for the genre. These are the best k-pop songs of 2025.
Sci-fi philosophy, shocking history, and metafictional puzzles dominate these unsettling yet weirdly intriguing TV shows.
Long obsessed with classic idols, Rufus Wainwright talks about his fascination with Kurt Weill and his new album of Weill’s strikingly relevant music.
This year has delivered an embarrassment of riches, from traditional masterworks to forward-thinking madness. These are the best metal albums of 2025.
In our age of endless comparison, curated self-images and performativity, we willingly submit to the branding of our fickle identities.
The stitches, the shadows, the skin and the other psychosexual tension and animalistic identities of Batman Returns.
