In a break from the turmoil of recent weeks in the culture world, today perhaps some lighter fare. We are seeing a massive boom in romance fiction, a trend critics are likening to the “lipstick effect”—when the world crumbles, we buy happy endings (The Guardian ). We are also being told that the enormous popularity and resulting deluge of Christmas movies dominating our screens right now shouldn’t be judged as art at all, but accepted as “tinsel in a can,” decoration in an age of hard times (Irish Times ).
But while readers look for escape, the culture wars are getting personal. The term “Theatre Kid” has suddenly been weaponized as a right-wing political insult, turning a high school archetype into a partisan slur (The New York Times ). In Los Angeles, the pushback is visual: artists are projecting their faces onto buildings in a daring protest against ICE, asking “Am I Next?” (The Guardian ).
Meanwhile, the technology of delivery is shifting. 3D film is being eulogized as a failed “golden goose” (The Atlantic ), while audiobooks are replacing print for readers who need to consume literature while “making the bed” or “unloading the dishwasher” (The New York Times ). On the small screen, TikTok creators are panic-proofing their content, worried that new U.S. ownership will bring a wave of censorship (Variety ).
All of today’s stories, organized by topic, below.
