Film & TV
Psychopathy: Don’t believe what you see in TV crime shows
Are psychopaths cold-blooded murderers? Not usually.
Is watching pornography bad for men — but good for women?
A large study links pornography use to decreased sexual performance for men and increased sexual performance for women.
Machine learning predicts who will win “The Bachelor”
The researchers consumed a lot of wine while watching 15 seasons of the show.
Why do some people love cringe comedy while others can’t stand it?
It may depend on whether you're an "easily empathetically embarrassed" person.
“Is It Cake?” feeds viewers visual catharsis for uncertain times
Moments of social anxiety around truth tend to be accompanied by similar “fool the eye” pop culture phenomena.
What is aphasia? About the condition forcing Bruce Willis to retire
Bruce Willis has announced he is stepping away from acting.
Tolkien on the importance of fantasy and science fiction
According to Tolkien, fantasy requires a deep imagination known as "sub-creation." And the genre reflects a fundamental truth of being human.
Moon Knight: Am I tired of the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet?
Time for a status check before watching "Moon Knight."
North Korea wanted better propaganda movies, so it abducted foreign directors
While there is more to North Korean cinema than meets the eye, the country’s film industry ultimately amounts to little more than a mouthpiece for the ruling Kim dynasty.
Is violence always wrong? A hands-on ethics lesson from Will Smith slapping Chris Rock
The attitude we take to Will Smith's slap will mirror our attitudes to violence, masculinity, and protecting others more generally.
Oscars: the most controversial acceptance speeches in the history of the Academy Awards
Far from being inappropriate, many of the most controversial acceptance speeches highlighted important issues in the film industry.
The cruel and brutal philosophy behind Pokémon
Pokémon has people wandering the world to enslave wild and magical creatures so they can fight in painful blood sports. What's fun about that?
Why apocalyptic fantasies appeal to us psychologically
Just don't expect the apocalypse to look like it does in the movies.
A history of the American family, as told through television’s biggest sitcoms
Hit shows are like societal mirrors, capable of reflecting the cultural zeitgeist whose likeness they try to record.
Is watching believing?
In spreading politics, videos may not be much more persuasive than their text-based counterparts.
James Bond: Witty one-liners go back to ancient times
What value does wit hold in genres defined by brute strength?
How John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing” changed the way we look at art
Released in 1972, "Ways of Seeing" has proven to be as worthy of study as the artistic traditions it investigates.
How a Hollywood-style television show about Trotsky rearranged the Russian Revolution
Although equal parts Hollywood blockbuster and Putinist propaganda, "Trotsky" still manages to capture the good, the bad, and the ugly of Russia’s revolutionary past.
Why Squid Game is actually a critique of meritocracy
Winner takes all, losers die, and participants have no choice but to play.
Is “Dune” worth the hype?
Tighten your ‘thopter seatbelts and get those worm-hooks ready: we're going to unpack the hype surrounding Dune, both the book and the movie.
How Frank Herbert’s “Dune” revolutionized science fiction
Before Herbert came along and wrote Dune, few if any sci-fi stories were set in fully realized universes.
The messianic movements that inspired “Dune”
Frank Herbert's "Dune" refers to a religious desert people who are desperate for a savior to overthrow an evil empire. Sound familiar?
Why 1972’s “The Other” is a forgotten classic of American horror films
One of the scariest films of the 1970s didn't set out to be a horror film at all.
The search for the scariest horror movie in cinematic history
The more horror we consume, the harder it becomes to find a good scare. These genuinely unsettling movies should get you in the mood for Halloween.
Science fiction doesn’t predict the future. It inspires it.
William Shatner is going to space because Jeff Bezos loves Star Trek.
More “disease” than “Dracula”: how the vampire myth was born
Societal breakdown, whether real or imagined, can lead to dramatic responses — like blood-sucking vampires.
The philosophy and magic of Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli movies celebrate the natural world using a very Japanese mixture of Shinto, Buddhist, and Daoist themes.
Walt Disney’s radical vision for a new kind of city
In 1966, Disney announced his intention to build Epcot, an acronym for “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.”
Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation”: Predicting the future with mathematical sociology
The "Foundation" series, recently adapted into a show by Apple TV, was inspired by a fascinating, real-life academic discipline.
How Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” highlights the value of science fiction
Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series helped inspire the field of social physics, which uses math to understand crowd behavior.