Conversations about the culture that moves us – the good, the bad and whatever’s in between. Every week, critic Wesley Morris talks with writers and artists about the moment we’re in. Surprisingly personal and never obvious, new episodes drop Thursdays. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
Latest episodes
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56 min
The Best TV of This Century?
The New York Times asked more than 500 TV insiders and experts to select their 10 favorite shows that premiered in the 21st century. That survey of the 100 best TV shows published…
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1 min
Cannonball Will Be Back Tomorrow!
This week’s episode will be about the New York Times list of the 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century (full list here). See you tomorrow! Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts o…
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45 min
Who Keeps On Choosin’ Texas?
Singer-songwriter Ella Langley’s country tune “Choosin’ Texas” entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart last November, and it hasn’t left. It’s just tied the record for the most noncons…
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50 min
How 9/11 Changed Comedy
It has been 25 years since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and Wesley has been reflecting on what has changed since then — particularly when it comes to comedy.The first film he saw…
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46 min
Take Me Back to the Summer of ’86
This year’s summer movie season proved that the “Toy Story” franchise still has some juice, that “The Odyssey” can spark endless debates, and that “The Invite” might be the sleeper…
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51 min
Caught Up in the Rapture of Anita Baker
Anita Baker’s second album, “Rapture,” was released in 1986 and became a breakout hit for the R & B singer from Detroit, winning two Grammys and selling eight million copies worldw…
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47 min
The Bicentennial Was Better!
What did we get for our country’s 250th birthday, a.k.a. the semi-quincentennial? An Ultimate Fighting Championship cage match on the White House lawn? A sparsely attended Great Am…
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50 min
Madonna Returns as Queen of the Club
When Madonna’s new album, “Confessions II,” dropped in early July, it went straight to the top of the Billboard 200 (her 10th No. 1 album). Many of the 16 tracks plumb her own hist…
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51 min
Nolan’s Been Making ‘The Odyssey’ All Along
If you haven’t seen Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” yet, good luck. The hit of the summer is selling out showtimes around the country. Wesley Morris initially thought he didn’t n…
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46 min
The World Cup Is This Summer’s Blockbuster
After five weeks of action, the World Cup is finally coming to an end, a tournament that will be remembered as much for its feats of athleticism — the precision passes and laserlik…
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41 min
Olivia Rodrigo Makes Heartbreak Pop
Olivia Rodrigo’s third record, “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love,” is a 13-song concept album that imagines the arc of a young relationship from desperate yearning, to dom…
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31 min
In Potato Salad We Trust
Forget the hot dogs and apple pie. Wesley has one thing on his mind this Fourth of July — potato salad! The moment has stirred up some really strong feelings for this classic summe…
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38 min
The Grit and Glamour of New York Movies
A few weeks ago, “Cannonball” hosted its first live show at the 2026 Tribeca Festival. Wesley Morris thought to himself, “What could we talk about in front of a bunch of New Yorker…
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53 min
Spielberg Phones Home in ‘Disclosure Day’
It’s no secret that Steven Spielberg is fascinated with the cosmos. His latest aliens-are-among-us action thriller, “Disclosure Day,” follows a TV weatherperson (Emily Blunt) and a…
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52 min
What’s Love Got to Do with ‘Obsession’?
“Obsession” is about a guy who makes a wish for a girl to love him “more than anyone in the entire world.” What follows is a classic horror movie trope: the girlfriend from hell. O…
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51 min
Is Broadway Going Easy On Us?
Each spring, in the months leading up to the Tony Awards, Wesley Morris tries to see as many Broadway shows as he can. And this season’s spree (including “Ragtime,” “Cats: The Jell…
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53 min
Over 20,000 Restaurants in New York City. Only One List
A list, according to The Times’s co-chief restaurant critic Ligaya Mishan, can be a way “to make sense of chaos” and to also “destabilize the current order.” Her list of “the 100 B…
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55 min
Is 'Colbert' the Wrong Late Show to Cancel?
The “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” ends this week. When CBS announced the show’s cancellation last summer, the network said in a statement that it was “purely a financial decisio…
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14 min
The Devil Wears Prada, Workers Get Nada
Wesley Morris liked “The Devil Wears Prada 2” more than he thought he would. He didn’t need this sequel, but it captures the spirit of the original well enough. Miranda and Andy, p…
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1 h 01
In Defense of the NYT's 'Greatest Songwriters' List
The public outrage was inevitable. The New York Times Magazine published a list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters. Two hundred and fifty music insiders submitted ballo…