Bread and Circuses

Columns

Everybody in Hoodies

Niela Orr

December 22, 2021

On Kanye, the Gap, and the last gasp of American monoculture.

White-Hot Furies

Niela Orr

November 05, 2020

On the “unhinged white woman” genre, from the 1990s to today.

Crashing the Body Party

Niela Orr

October 15, 2019

Raised in the 1990s, I have a soft spot for the exercise tape aesthetic: upbeat motivational speech, house music, and B-movie production values all mashed together.

The Sky in Upside-Down Land

Niela Orr

August 21, 2019

In The Last Black Man in San Francisco and Bandana, black men hold fast to territory they’ve been told they should abandon.

So You’ve Been Punched in the Nuts

Niela Orr

August 01, 2018

Sacha Baron Cohen’s Who is America? and the legacy of the macho prank show.

We Shall Be Terrible

Niela Orr

March 07, 2018

In its second season, Donald Glover's Atlanta strikes back at the system in small, subversive ways.

The Same F’ing Song

Niela Orr

February 22, 2018

Protests of R. Kelly have returned. What comes next? A singer muted, or a continuation of the same f'ing song?

Mariah Carey Has a Cold

Niela Orr

January 02, 2018

Year after year, and perhaps forever, Mariah Carey is the national symbol for our New Year's resolutions.

She’s Gotta Have What?

Niela Orr

December 18, 2017

Two new shows, "SMILF" and "She's Gotta Have It," examine the insatiable drives of women to powerful effect.

White Knight Syndrome

Niela Orr

December 05, 2017

FBI agents Dale Cooper and James Comey are throwbacks to an idyllic past. They should stay there.

Is Anyone Relating?

Niela Orr

November 06, 2017

Lady Dynamite’s Maria Bamford confronts our financial anxieties, which are exacerbated by the famous and wealthy.

The Conversion of Gucci Mane

Niela Orr

October 23, 2017

Gucci Mane's conversion has many asking if he's a government clone. But it may be RZA we should worry about.