Emily St. James is a writer and critic whose work has appeared in Vox, The A.V. Club, and the New York Times. She is the co-creator of the podcast Arden and a writer on the TV series Yellowjackets.
I've got company, so we're going to keep this week's mailbag short and/or sweet. Phillip writes: After watching the latest season of "Orange is the New Black," I'm struck again with how they employ the character-centric flashback device. This
As I said back in January, this should be the most exciting Emmy drama race in years. Longtime nominee Downton Abbey is over. Game of Thrones (which has won the last two years) is ineligible. And, even better, there are fully seven shows I would consider shoo-ins for a first-time
Hey, everyone. Sorry for the unexpected absences this summer. I've had a busier schedule than I was expecting, and summer hasn't even technically begun. So let's dive into your questions! James asks, referencing my most recent newsletter: Your comments made me wonder about something
In my early 20s, my best friend got married, to a girl from New Jersey. Only a few of us South Dakotans were able to make the trek out to Jersey for the wedding, but I was one of them. My friend group in high school was pretty tight, and
Hey, folks! I haven't done one of these in a couple of weeks for a variety of reasons, so the questions have been piling up. I'll try to get through at least a few of them tonight, even though I'm starting very late. K
Toward the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, a movie I mostly hated, I realized that I often had no clue why characters were doing things. I could venture guesses. I could tell what the movie wanted me to think. But I could never quite
It's been nearly six months since Taylor Swift stepped into a fallow corn field near Gallatin, Tennessee, and faded from existence, and her friends and family remain heartbroken, with few answers and more questions by the day. "I saw her in a dream," said a close
Dylan McDermott, the Fox executives assured all of us attending the network's upfront presentation, would be playing the breakout character of the 2017-18 TV season. He was going to pull an Andre Braugher, showing off previously unknown comedic gifts in an otherwise conventional sitcom. LA to Vegas was
When I was growing up, the death of an animal wasn't so much a moment for mourning as something that happened. We had pets, sure, but the realities of farm life (especially farm life near a somewhat busy highway) meant that pets came and went more quickly than
I'm writing this to you from The Bean at 12th and Broadway in Manhattan, one of my favorite coffee shops out there (not just because it's across the street from The Strand, one of the best bookstores in the world). I'm in town for
We only got two questions this week, but maybe I can convince one of my cats to ask me something before the evening is over! Billy writes: I always wanted to hear more about the comic-buying experiences you referred to in your Superman piece. Did you try out much from
Ever since I started doing my semi-regularly updated "18 best shows on TV" list at Vox (which I am in the process of updating as we speak!), I've been beset by a large number of questions, most of which have to do with "THAT'