Pantheon’s House of High-Tech Mirrors
The post-human speculative sci-fi series Pantheon asks, can humanity recognize itself in its digital reflection?
television feature
Star Wars: Rebels’ Strategist in the Shadows
Star Wars: Rebels‘ blue-skinned Thrawn is a fictional echo of what America needs in these times: cultural intelligence, emotional control, and long-term thinking.
‘Star Trek: Enterprise’ Boldly Explores the Concept of Mentoring
Star Trek: Enterprise offers a rare dramatization of a process that is often condensed in fictional universes: the messy, contested, exhilarating journey from tutelage to independence.
Sitcoms: Episode 1 – The Blueprint for Laughter
The sitcom is a creation of spare parts salvaged from dying vaudeville and thriving radio welded together by performers who understood the power of physical shtick and the intimacy of invisible theatre.
Louie Anderson Was Crying Out Loud Funny
For Crying Out Loud: How Louie Anderson’s televised therapy sessions created the saddest, funniest cartoon of the 1990s.
‘Corner Gas’ vs. ‘Trailer Park Boys’: Politeness as Mask, Profanity as Mirror
Sitcoms Corner Gas and Trailer Park Boys form a double helix of Canadian self-image: the mask and the mirror.
Sitcoms Written by Women Are a Funny Thing
The working lives of these women TV writers in the 1950s were very different from the sitcom wives they scripted.
John Mulaney’s Comedy by Design
As streaming platforms flood the landscape with stand-up specials, John Mulaney’s specials demonstrate that comedy at its best only appears to be spontaneous.
The Safety Trap: Society’s Destructive Fear of Risk-Taking
In episodes from SpongeBob SquarePants and South Park, risk-taking is rejected, leading to psychosis and isolation, or it becomes an an ideology, leading to destruction and absurdity. A degree of risk-taking, however, is essential for a healthy society.
Dark Winds’ Tale of Memory and Monsters at Monument Valley
Fusing mystery with mysticism, Navajo Nation psychological thriller Dark Winds conjures memory and monsters at Monument Valley.
Dark Comedy ‘Patriot’ Illuminates Neoliberalism’s Dark Reality
The dark comedy Patriot illuminates how neoliberalism makes choices for us disguisedly, using entrepreneurial agency as a fig leaf to obscure manipulation.
What If Donald Trump’s Cabinet Picks Really Were Looney Tunes?
Many of Donald Trump’s 2025 cabinet picks came from Fox News. Would the nation be better served if he binged Looney Tunes instead?