Emily St. James

movies

The Invite, Obsession, and the runaway success of movies for straight people to argue about

Who is responsible for your own unhappiness? The answer may disappoint you.

Episodes Book Club

Episodes Book Club: Infinite Jest, Week Six

We're talking irony, sincerity, and, of course, Randy Lenz.

it's a wonderful life

The memories of a deadly pandemic hidden in one of America's most beloved films

Art about pandemics and plagues rarely gets made after the fact. Yet here's the Spanish flu in It's a Wonderful Life.

Monday Digest

Dolly Parton never met a song she couldn't make her own

Also: A trip to the Minnesota State Fair, The End of Oak Street, and America's reigning Garfield princess

Episodes Book Club

Episodes Book Club: Infinite Jest, Week Five

Is careful observation the same thing as love? Lily and Emily investigate.

26 Episodes

It's The Leftovers' afterlife. We're just living in it.

Over a decade after its debut, HBO's cult series about an ambiguous apocalypse only grows more prescient.

Rundown

Episodes Monday Rundown August 17–23 2026

This week: Furious, further Camp Miasma thoughts, and, most importantly, TRAINS.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, or learning to love your own horniness

Jane Schoenbrun's new film is about a very common trans experience. And a very common human experience too.

Infinite Jest

Episodes Book Club: Infinite Jest, Week Four

It's Eschaton time!! (Oh, and also David Foster Wallace predicts Trump.)

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Episodes Monday Rundown August 10–16 2026

This week: Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Spider-Man, and the Winnie-the-Pooh hot takes you've been waiting for.

preview

August mailbag! (preview)

A little preview of this month's mailbag!

Mailbag

August mailbag!

This month: the works of John Crowley, our personal AI policies, and movies that could have used a sex scene.