Noah Berlatsky

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

Talking about race can get you into a lot of trouble . . . especially if you don't have a lot of class power or status.

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?

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

With the prospect of another Bush/Clinton presidential contest looming as ominously as Donald Trump's hairpiece, the word "dynasty" seems to be frothing off of many a pundit's keyboard. "Clinton, Bush struggle to shed dynasty labels," a Washington Post headline declared.

english lit academic. wish fulfiller. thwarted world-changer.

A new Facebook post calls into question cover depictions of hyper-sexualized men and women.

The loss of gospel history has meant forgetting how important black women have been to American performance styles.

The first graphic novel to win a Caldeott gives children the chance to be adults, and adults the chance to be kids.

Art without politics actually results in a sweeping Puritanism. For art to have power, it needs to engage with power, with politics.