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Bright Lights by Susanna Hoffs: A collection of warm, intimate, impeccably chosen covers

Bright Lights, the new album by Susanna Hoffs, and her first in nine years, is an unexpected treat for me. Its release — on Hoffs’ own label, Baroque Folk — was only announced a few weeks ago. From what I can gather from interviews and from Hoffs’ social media, she experienced some frustration in getting … Continue reading Bright Lights by Susanna Hoffs: A collection of warm, intimate, impeccably chosen covers

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Marvel’s What If…?: Disposable by design, intermittently powerful, ultimately frustrating

Comic books are disposable entertainment by definition. They started out as stories for kids printed on cheap pulp, serialized in weekly, easy-to-digest installments. A century later, the paper stock might be nicer, the budgets for creative talent higher, and the storytelling far more sophisticated, but this disposability remains inherent to the medium. This is not … Continue reading Marvel’s What If…?: Disposable by design, intermittently powerful, ultimately frustrating

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Hats off to the legend that is Emma Watkins, as she leaves the Wiggles

Earlier this week, Emma Watkins unexpectedly announced she is leaving the Wiggles after nine years in the yellow skivvy (and 12 years in total as a performer with the group). The revelation, which came via Emma’s Instagram page, was quite a bombshell on the part of the hugely talented, multidisciplinary performer and TV personality, who … Continue reading Hats off to the legend that is Emma Watkins, as she leaves the Wiggles

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Octonauts: Above & Beyond is teaching young kids about the climate emergency

For the last decade and then some, The Octonauts has been one of the best shows on TV for young kids. There are a bunch of reasons for this: gorgeous animation, strong writing, endearing and memorable characters, and an educational mission that feels genuine and not smarmy. But the thing that always sticks out for … Continue reading Octonauts: Above & Beyond is teaching young kids about the climate emergency

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Gillian Welch’s Time (The Revelator) at 20: A timeless masterpiece of apocalyptic country

Gillian Welch’s third album, Time (The Revelator), was released 20 years ago this week. That’s jarring on a number of levels. First of all, it never really left my rotation. I still think of it as new music. There’s this weird compression of time in the internet era. In 2001, music from 1981 sounded a … Continue reading Gillian Welch’s Time (The Revelator) at 20: A timeless masterpiece of apocalyptic country

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Black Widow review: Finally, Natasha Romanoff gets to be a whole person

Black Widow is a lot of things. It’s long overdue. It’s a great deal of fun. It’s a bit of a mess. It’s admirably quirky and original, until it isn’t. It’s a significant entry in the genre of feminist superhero films. It’s too little too late. We waited a long time for this film. Not … Continue reading Black Widow review: Finally, Natasha Romanoff gets to be a whole person