Department Index
Culturebox 2011:
Arts, entertainment, and more.
If you'd like to sort this department listing by headline, author or date, please use the Slate search.
- Confessions of a Literary Barbarian A defense of The Cambridge History of the American Novel.
Sept. 27, 2011 - The El Cheapo Guide to Culture An eight-step approach to entertaining yourself economically.
Sept. 21, 2011 - Nice Try Why the Poets & Writers MFA rankings are a sham.
Sept. 15, 2011 - My Amanda Knox Obsession Two innocent people are locked up because orgies are fun to talk about.
Sept. 14, 2011 - In Defense of Rap Rock The only thing from the '90s no one has nostalgia for.
Sept. 9, 2011 - The New Girls Fall TV is full of emasculated men. Does that mean it's also full of empowered women?
Sept. 8, 2011 - Six Years in the National Guard I enlisted. And then came 9/11.
Sept. 7, 2011 - Disaster Movies The four brilliant 9/11 films that get overlooked.
Sept. 6, 2011 - The 9/11 Report A graphic adaptation by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón.
Sept. 5, 2011 - How Hard Is It To Get a Cartoon Into The New Yorker? Hard.
Aug. 24, 2011 - Vivat Latinitas! My lively summer speaking a dead language.
Aug. 21, 2011 - A Perfectly Unique Moment Why is Nicholson Baker so obsessed with sex?
Aug. 19, 2011 - Don't Be So Gullible, McFly Have we really solved one of Back to the Future's most enduring mysteries?
Aug. 18, 2011 - Where Did Those Naked Ladies Come From? How the Chinese edition of my book about the periodic table got such a risqué cover.
Aug. 17, 2011 - A Solution From Hell The perils of humanitarian intervention.
Aug. 17, 2011 - Me and the S&P The guy who downgraded America's credit rating is an old friend of mine. Here's what he's like.
Aug. 11, 2011 - Overrated Authors, critics, and editors on "great books" that aren't all that great.
Aug. 11, 2011 - It's Good To Be Kings Who is more grossly materialistic, Kanye or Jay-Z?
Aug. 10, 2011 - Stop Calling Us "Smart Suckers"! Humanities grad students respond to William Pannapacker.
Aug. 4, 2011 - Martin Amis in Brooklyn A few local tips for the tennis player and famous author.
Aug. 1, 2011 - Red Skull Is Red, Smurfette Is Blue A beautiful color wheel showcasing the entire cartoon character spectrum.
July 29, 2011 - The Search for Animal Chin Without Stacy Peralta's path-breaking, kick-flipping skate movie, there would be no X Games.
July 27, 2011 - My Infamous Life The audiobook of Prodigy's memoir might be the best rap album of the year.
July 27, 2011 - Overeducated, Underemployed How to fix humanities grad school.
July 27, 2011 - Thomas the Imperialist Tank Engine The not-so-hidden subtexts of the popular children's show.
July 26, 2011 - Questions for Ryan Gosling His definition of manhood, why John Hughes movies make him crave violence, and why his doctor told him to make a comedy after filming Blue Valentine.
July 25, 2011 - A History of Air Conditioning From ancient mountains of snow to the window units of today.
July 22, 2011 - In Hollywood, Friends Always Have Benefits The persistent impossibility of cross-sex friendship in the movies.
July 22, 2011 - Looming Towers The real problem with putting a photo of the 9/11 attacks on an album cover.
July 21, 2011 - You Say It's Your Birthday Does the infamous "Happy Birthday to You" copyright hold up to scrutiny?
July 21, 2011 - I'll Grin, You Bear It A gallery of celebrities who refuse to get dental care.
July 21, 2011 - How Not To Write a Book Review What a hatchet job on John Keats teaches us.
July 21, 2011 - How To Get Ahead in Tabloid Journalism Murdoch's minions have nothing on the journalists of 1897.
July 19, 2011 - Horns, Harps, and Hubcaps The classical orchestra needs some new instruments.
July 19, 2011 - Questions for Lisa Kudrow The Friends star talks about her new therapy show, the surprisingly helpful influence of the Real Housewives, and the pleasures of genealogy.
July 18, 2011 - The Real Wizard Behind Harry Potter I just watched all eight films—one director saved the franchise.
July 13, 2011 - Wish You Were—Boom! Postcards from the age of atomic tourism.
July 13, 2011 - Consider the Weed In defense of botanical trespassers.
July 12, 2011 - A Grand Tour of Contemporary Music All the new noise explained.
July 11, 2011 - Groundhog Decade Hollywood is about to repeat the catastrophic mistakes of the music industry.
July 8, 2011 - The 10 Greatest Scenes in the History of Gore From Alien to Zombie.
July 8, 2011 - How To Fix Horror Part IV: Gore is good.
July 5, 2011 - When Orson Welles Was a Transformer Sorry, Michael Bay: The original, animated Transformers movie is still the best.
June 29, 2011 - Writing Young-Adult Fiction It's better than going to the prom.
June 22, 2011 - Walking Home From Walden A navel-gazing, suburban post-boomer awakens to the climate crisis.
June 21, 2011 - Fancypants How I cured myself of a craving for selvedge denim.
June 16, 2011 - Pretty Boys A few thoughts on Anthony Weiner's lack of chest hair.
June 10, 2011 - Backyard Auteurs How Kodak's super 8 film changed moviemaking forever.
June 9, 2011 - Why Did Weiner Do It? What we can learn about the congressman—and about human sexuality—from his ill-advised photographs.
June 9, 2011 - No Girls Allowed Thinking back to the days of men's-only clubs in the United Kingdom.
June 9, 2011 - You Look Bored Fascinating paintings of boredom.
June 8, 2011 - Thanks a Lot, Ken Burns Because of you, my Civil War lecture is always packed—with students raised on your sentimental, romantic, deeply misleading portrait of the conflict.
June 7, 2011 - Orgasm Guaranteed What I learned while freelancing at Cosmopolitan.
June 6, 2011 - Slate's Hollywood Career-O-Matic What Rotten Tomatoes data tell us about the best, worst, and most bizarre Hollywood trajectories.
June 6, 2011 - Why Are Indian Kids So Good at Spelling? Because they have their own minor-league spelling bee circuit.
June 3, 2011 - How Would You Do at the National Spelling Bee? Take our test and find out.
June 3, 2011 - The Other Lady Gagas What does the pop star have in common with an ancient Babylonian, a French-Irish noblewoman, and a fictional flapper? Her name.
June 2, 2011 - Facebook Music Why we all love Explosions in the Sky.
June 1, 2011 - The Crowd Is Wise—but Can It Draw? I offered the amateurs on Crowdspring.com $200 to design a logo for my newsletter. Here's what they came up with.
May 31, 2011 - In Praise of Unknown Actors Jessica Chastain's graceful turn in The Tree of Life and other amazing performances by newcomers and nobodies.
May 27, 2011 - A Few of Her Favorite Things Spanx, Pontiacs, glittery Uggs—a guide to the gifts Oprah gave her audiences.
May 24, 2011 - Let's Go See a Movie in the Park! I've got a better idea: Let's not.
May 24, 2011 - The King and I My quest to build the perfect production of King Lear.
May 23, 2011 - The Blockbuster Goes Retro X-Men, Super 8, and Captain America attempt to reboot the past.
May 23, 2011 - Bringing Saxy Back The sax solo returns to pop music.
May 23, 2011 - The Sounds Poems Make How the sax led Robert Pinsky to poetry—and now to jazz collaboration.
May 19, 2011 - Decorated Officer An interactive guide to all the stars, medals, and ribbons on the uniform of Gen. David Petraeus.
May 18, 2011 - The Influencing Machine A comic-book manifesto about the state of the American media.
May 18, 2011 - Sex, Lies, and Ticker Tape You think the French tolerate political infidelity? Look at the United States.
May 16, 2011 - A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away … I Was a Star Wars Fan I'm still recovering.
May 16, 2011 - Why Is Will Ferrell Funny? A video slide show.
May 12, 2011 - Steve Carell's Achievement He made The Office bleaker, funnier, and more sadly American.
April 27, 2011 - Hate Thy Neighbor The politics of Parks and Recreation.
April 25, 2011 - Dear Editors of the Oxford English Dictionary Time to get your shittle together.
April 18, 2011 - Infinite Attention David Foster Wallace and being bored out of your mind.
April 12, 2011 - Royal Sex Toys The secrets of Prince William's "college of love."
April 12, 2011 - I'm High on Life! Do artists do their best work before they get clean?
April 11, 2011 - The Storyteller's Storyteller No journalist working today spins a yarn quite like The New Yorker's David Grann.
April 8, 2011 - We're No. 1! But only when it comes to domestic appliances.
April 6, 2011 - The Greatest Musical Satirists of Their Generation The rude, hilarious, surprisingly sweet musical canon of Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
April 5, 2011 - Kate and Will's Magic Carriage Ride The ingredients of a successful royal wedding are more complex than "something borrowed and something blue."
April 5, 2011 - Save NPR! But please, put PBS out of its misery.
April 4, 2011 - Love in Bookstores Browsing customers often circle each other like timid sharks.
April 3, 2011 - How I Serenaded Your Mother The fine art of the musical episode.
March 31, 2011 - What Was the New York Times Magazine Like 100 Years Ago? For one thing, there was a lot more clown coverage.
March 30, 2011 - Stream the New Radiohead Album for Free Give The King of Limbs a listen.
March 28, 2011 - Play Nice The rise—and fall?—of the mean sitcom.
March 28, 2011 - Wall of Sound The iPod has changed the way we listen to music. And the way we respond to it.
March 28, 2011 - You Say You're Concerned About Japan Do you have the T-shirt to prove it?
March 21, 2011 - America's Ancient Cave Art Deep in the Cumberland Plateau, mysterious drawings, thousands of years old, offer a glimpse of lost Native American cultures and traditions.
March 20, 2011 - Still Separated at Birth? Do Spy magazine's celebrity lookalikes still look alike?
March 14, 2011 - As Seen on TV The arrest of Felicia "Snoop" Pearson and 13 other examples of celebrity life imitating art.
March 11, 2011 - Catherine Deneuve x 25 The ultimate in aloof beauty, coming soon to a theater near you.
March 10, 2011 - Remembrance of Things Assed How my childhood friend became an Internet laughingstock.
March 10, 2011 - Up in the Eyre Why are there so many movie adaptations of Jane Eyre, and which one is best?
March 10, 2011 - More Jeopardy! Trivia! Are contestants getting dumber? What's the most money you can possibly win? Do you need to know any silversmiths besides Paul Revere?
March 9, 2011 - Sheenglish Where Charlie Sheen's crazy words come from.
March 4, 2011 - Do You Have Tiger Blood? What it takes to keep cool under pressure.
March 3, 2011 - How Will It End, Charlie Sheen? A Robert Downey-type recovery? A Lindsay Lohan-esque netherworld? Mel Gibson-style infamy? Or worse?
March 2, 2011 - The Lost Art of Pickpocketing The venerable crime has all but disappeared in the United States. What happened, and should we miss it?
Feb. 23, 2011 - Long-Lost Wallets They turn up more often than you think.
Feb. 22, 2011 - Choose Your Own Adventure How The Cave of Time taught us to love interactive entertainment.
Feb. 18, 2011 - My Puny Human Brain Jeopardy! genius Ken Jennings on what it's like to play against a supercomputer.
Feb. 17, 2011 - Boy Toy Ken's Sad and Lonely Life in Barbie's Shadow
Feb. 16, 2011 - The Cameron Diaz Factor What's the best kind of movie to watch on TV?
Feb. 16, 2011 - On a Mission The new Broadway musical by the creators of South Park isn't anti-Mormon. Like all of their work, it's anti-stupidity.
Feb. 15, 2011 - Dog Fight Can the American Kennel Club survive PETA protesters and uninterested pet owners?
Feb. 14, 2011 - "Eyes Gazing Into the Distance As If in Memory of Ages Past" The accidental poetry of American Kennel Club breed standards.
Feb. 14, 2011 - The TV Guide Alan Sepinwall changed the nature of television criticism. But can you be both a rabid fan and a thoughtful reviewer?
Feb. 14, 2011 - I'll Take Jeopardy! Trivia for $200, Alex The most common categories and hardest clues in the game show's long history. Plus: Where to find the Daily Doubles.
Feb. 11, 2011 - This Fan-Maintained Episode Database Helps Contestants Prepare for Jeopardy! What is J-Archive?
Feb. 11, 2011 - "Page 112—It Reminded Me of You" Slate writers and editors share their favorite Valentine's Day love poems.
Feb. 11, 2011 - A Field of Feisty Unicorns My adventures in the world of online personal ads.
Feb. 10, 2011 - Eureka Lost How the Internet has destroyed the thrill of the hunt.
Feb. 9, 2011 - The War on Torture Robert Redford, Doug Liman, and other filmmakers and artists unite to remind Americans about prisoner abuse.
Jan. 31, 2011 - It's Not the Job Market The three real reasons why Americans are more anxious than ever before.
Jan. 31, 2011 - Highway to Heil How common is Nazi iconography among bikers?
Jan. 27, 2011 - The Last Action Hero How Jason Statham became the world's biggest B-movie star.
Jan. 27, 2011 - David Petraeus Wants This French Novel Back in Print! Why Jean Larteguy's The Centurions appeals to our generation's most influential military strategist.
Jan. 27, 2011 - Why Is Hawaii Five-0 So Popular? Several theories.
Jan. 26, 2011 - Two Thumbs, Two Dimensions Roger Ebert is done talking about 3-D movies. Thank goodness.
Jan. 25, 2011 - The Unholy Pleasure My life-long recovery from snobbery.
Jan. 24, 2011 - Self-Love, Actually Celebrity couples and the myth that "opposites attract."
Jan. 14, 2011 - Angry Nerds How Nietzsche gets misunderstood by Jared Loughner types.
Jan. 14, 2011 - Almost Infamous Why overnight stars like Ted Williams get into trouble.
Jan. 13, 2011 - I Like Dwight Let us now praise Dwight Garner, New York Times daily book critic.
Jan. 8, 2011 - Nerd Violence Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.
Jan. 3, 2011
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Two-fifths is now a "majority" according to Marco Rubio: http://t.co/URrJjc9Z
