Noah Berlatsky

So, if there are so many ways to sing this song, and if it's meant different things at different points, why complain about Beyoncé's version?

Female masturbation is sexy in part because it flirts with lesbianism. For male masturbation, it's a different story.

Genre boundaries are conscious of race—and, in the case of rock, conscious of gender too.

The cover for A-Force is a combination of tired trope and deodorant ad. Female empowerment can do so much better.

Banks' "Ice Princess" video shows that it's not only white people who can pick up someone else's culture.

For once, central character Andrew's flaws are tied up in the fact that he is—wait for it—fundamentally decent.

In the U.S., anti-Semitism is universally condemned. This means that, effectively, anti-Semitism doesn't exist.

The history of pop music, and of black pop music in particular, has always been gay history.

The founder of the brilliant fyeahblackrockmusic Tumblr talks racial politics, Kelis, and . . . the Doobie Brothers?

Scientists are hotly debating whether we should send messages into space. Perhaps they should consult Octavia Butler for some wisdom...