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Pop Literacy

Apr 29, 2019

Between the exhausting news cycle and the endless selection of complicated TV dramas to watch, we can all use a shot of lighter pop culture sometimes. This week, we discuss what we call our “pop culture pacifiers”—the short, sweet online videos, clips, and songs that lift our spirits in the middle of the hardest...


Apr 22, 2019

Even some of the most devoted of Marx Brothers fans don’t know about this project: a wild, fantastical movie script that Surrealist artist Salvador Dali wrote for the comedy icons, after forging a fast friendship with the most beloved of the Marxes, Harpo. The movie was called Giraffes on Horseback Salad, and not only...


Apr 16, 2019

After years of massive popularity around the world, Korean boy band BTS is breaking through to the top of mainstream American culture. They just dropped a new album (Map of the Soul: Persona), which includes the single “Boy with Luv,” featuring Halsey; and they played Saturday Night Live, a first for a Korean act....


Apr 8, 2019

Boy bands as we know them have been around since New Edition got together in 1978—and now, they’re bigger than ever, thanks to online fandom. New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys, O-Town, 98 Degrees, and Boyz II Men are among the groups who have recently been on tour or recorded new music. And the boy band legacy...