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Episodes
Writings on culture, identity, and a bunch of other things from Emily St. James.

Latest

Mar
28
Stephen Sondheim looks off-camera while directing music during a recording of his musical Company.

What piece of culture should get its own "biopic"?

4 min read
Mar
24
Amanda Seyfried in a Philadelphia police uniform stares with concern at a messy area covered in trash.

Episodes Monday Rundown March 17 - 23 2025

4 min read
Mar
21
Jared Leto has a lot of padding added to his face via makeup in House of Guc. He wears a bald cap and a blue and green suit.

March mailbag

8 min read
Mar
19
The All-American Hamburger Drive-In is a boxy little white building done up in red, white, and blue.

Hypothetical voters

What happens when the people you most want to vote for you are fictional characters?
6 min read
Mar
17
Chappell Roan in an orange hardhat and yellow reflective work vest, holding a power drill.

Episodes Monday Rundown March 10 - 16 2025

4 min read
Mar
16

Submit your March mailbag questions!

1 min read
Mar
14
In a scene from Yellowjackets, Ben, who is tied down, looks up at Natalie. He has a plate of berries on his stomach.

Who is criticism for?

6 min read
Mar
10
A group of seven people, all in winter wear, listens to a tour guide in red earmuffs in a wide shot in front of a brick build

Episodes Monday Rundown March 3 - 9 2025

5 min read
Mar
07
Ava Michele -- tall -- and Sabrina Carpenter -- short -- in a scene from the Netflix film Tall Girl 2.

Woe to the tall girl. (The tall girl is me.)

5 min read
Mar
05
A strange skeleton, its ribcage burst open, tendrils (or arms??) reaching down to it, sits trapped in a cave wall.

Empty horror: A recent string of films underlines the weariness of American life (repost)

The Empty Man and The Smiley Face Killers explore a world that is devoid of meaning and utterly hopeless.
8 min read