An Old New World
When Princess Leia enters Jabba the Hutt’s lair in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, she greets him with “Yá’át’ééh, yá’át’ééh,” a Navajo greeting, and her iconic double-bun hairstyle imitates…
A Meditation on Forests, Life, and Art: Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Fir Tree”
“The Fir Tree” was originally published in New Fairy Tales, Second Collection (1844) next to another winter tale, The Snow Queen. It was swiftly overshadowed by that other story and…
Why Are Men So bad at writing sex?
Male authors dominate the Bad Sex in Fiction awards, and it’s no coincidence
The history of Hello Kitty
Right alongside Mickey Mouse and Snoopy sits Hello Kitty, one of the most recognizable characters worldwide. Sanrio’s biggest star has won over fans of every age since her 1974 debut,…
Abduction As Romance
Abduction as Romance is a media trope where a man kidnaps or imprisons a woman and she eventually falls in love with him. Abduction as Romance is one of a…
Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 Misinterpreted
Bradbury says Fahrenheit 451, is, in fact, a story about how television destroys interest in reading literature.
Why rappers love Grey Poupon
Charting the rise of hip hop's favorite condiment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOgPk5T1xi0
The dirty secrets of Hollywood’s golden age
Karina Longworth’s podcast began as a calling card. It was an overnight success
Tourmaline on Transgender Storytelling, David France, and the Netflix Marsha P. Johnson Documentary
"Too often, people with resources who already have a platform become the ones to tell the stories of those at the margins."
Is there an art to dubbing movies and TV? Yes, and Germans have mastered it.
It turns out that there are plenty of reasons why dubbing became a thing in Germany while other European countries took the subtitling route. Inevitably perhaps, the story includes Nazis, Communists and…