26 Episodes
How The Office made cringe comedy appeal to almost everybody
Could you make this show today? No. But not for the reasons you assume.
Emily St. James
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.
Rundown
Episodes Monday Rundown May 11–17 2026
This week: Obsession, Hokum, and The Sheep Detectives!
Mailbag
May mailbag!
This month: Star Wars Day, media for springtime, and why everyone's doing dream ballets these days.
Photopia
There is no magic button to press
So we're gonna have to do this ourselves
Rundown
Episodes Monday Rundown May 4–10 2026
This week: The Devil Wears Prada 2, For All Mankind, and a haunting religious vision.
Mailbag
Submit your May mailbag questions!
It's that time again!
review
The shot in Blue Heron that still makes me cry days later
The film about one family navigating an impossible situation does remarkable things with memory and storytelling.
26 Episodes
The Sopranos finale could have been made yesterday
Whatever happens to Tony Soprano in the series finale, we're still living in his world.
Rundown
Episodes Monday Rundown April 27–May 3 2026
This week: Charlie Kaufman, Martin Scorsese, Spike Jonze, and a gorgeously melancholic kids' show.
interview
Want a romcom that goes to some very real, complicated places? Try Girl Next Door.
Rachel Meredith, author of Emily's favorite romance novel of 2025, discusses wedding ridiculous premises to real psychological heft.
Rundown
Episodes Monday Rundown April 20–26 2026
This week: The Drama, Project Hail Mary, and some true classics of literature.
26 Episodes
How I Met Your Mother is one last message from a pre-Recession world
And other theories on why this once-beloved sitcom hasn't quite endured