For fifty years, Beverly Cleary captured kids’ experiences with a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed spirit that was as rare in literature as it was real in childhood. The beloved children’s author died on March 25 in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, less than three weeks shy of her 105th birthday. Cleary was born on April 12, 1916, and grew up on a farm in Yamhill, Oregon. The town was so small that it didn’t have a library until Cleary’s mother—a schoolteacher named Mable—started one. Her mother also gave her advice...

Has there ever been a more commonly visited scene in cinema than that of a funeral? The standing-over-the-casket, femme-fatale-in-a-black-netted-veil, umbrellas-shielding-the-protagonist-from-convenient-rain, religious-figure-droning-on-in-a-somber-tone image is overdone, to say the least, but writer-director Emma Seligman completely inverts this quotidien display in favor of a helter-skelter shiva in her debut film, Shiva Baby. In fact, almost this entire movie takes place at the shiva reception, inside a cramped home filled to the brim with rambunctious guests. At only 25 years old, Seligman makes a cinematic splash with Shiva Baby, a...

Is it too late for us to apologize to Katherine Heigl? Would she even forgive us? Moreover, should she? Like many people, my wife and I recently discovered Firefly Lane, a Netflix series based off the novel by Kristin Hannah. The series follows two women (played by Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke) as they navigate the traumas and dramas of their lives. It’s funny, nostalgic, a little dark, and overall a positive reflection of female friendship. We loved it. “Has Katherine Heigl always been this good of actress?”...

In the years before her death this week at 80, actor Jessica Walter captured the essence of the 2000s with her embodiments of cold, distant, self-centered matriarchs on Archer and Arrested Development. But Walter’s career did not begin with Y2K. She's actually been making her mark on the entertainment industry since her first credited role in 1962 on the soap opera Love of Life. Walter's dramatic style and grace meshed perfectly with the over-the-top storylines of daytime drama. She possessed an ability to draw audiences in to...

CasanovaOnTheMic’s newest single, “NO MAKEUP," is a reminder for all women that you are fine just the way you are. Produced by Fliptunesmusic, the single reads as a love letter to the natural beauty that resides within all of us. “I wanted to let women know they are more than booty and that they should know their worth,” Casanova states about the inspiration behind the track.  Originally from the Island of Guam, CasanovaOnTheMic is an artist that transcends all genres from Hip-Hop to Dancehall. Performing at...

Eniola Korty, or as you may know her online as Korty Eo, leaves no room for error when it comes to creating. Based in Lagos, Nigeria, Korty has an impressive resume, as she credits being a graphic designer, model, artist, filmmaker, and now YouTuber. Her honest and frank storytelling, combined with her engaging and beautiful B-roll shots of her hometown, make for an engaging and captivating channel. I had the pleasure of getting to know Korty a little bit better via Zoom to understand just...

When I tell Michael Aloni, star of the hit Israeli dramedy series, Shtisel, that I’ve heard the show described as “The Sopranos, but with soup,” he agrees, but with one caveat. “With kneidlach—with matzah balls. Like The Sopranos with matzah balls,” he says, laughing. Indeed, the show, about a Jewish family who belong to the ultra-Orthodox Haredi sect, is as wonderfully scripted, shot, and acted as the groundbreaking HBO series. “What’s so special about Shtisel is that it’s about this very particular family living in...

On Sunday, April 11th, 2021- PROPHETS OVER PROFITS [P.O.P], the Brooklyn based art collective is back for its annual fundraiser, this year as a virtual online event to raise money and awareness for 50 different artists and art collectives. Every year musicians, DJs, producers, bartenders, and allies volunteer their time and talents making Prophets Over Profits possible. This year, with Covid hitting these communities hard, P.O.P has partnered with fiscal sponsors, Brooklyn Arts Council , Ilegal Mezcal  and Founders Brewing Co to fundraise for those 50+...

The music video for Lana Del Rey’s “White Dress” is a collage of sun-bleached visuals: wind turbines, a barking golden retriever, a desert road at dusk, and a barbecue joint with roller-skating waitstaff that appears to be planted in an airstream park.  This kind of Americana imagery has been a constant throughline in Lana Del Rey’s discography, and it’s as present as ever on her long-awaited sixth album Chemtrails Over the Country Club, which was released on March 19. The album features folk-y sounds freshened up...

With the release of When Women Invented Television, author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong adds another important book to her growing library of pop cultural criticism. Here, she shares the compelling stories of four trendsetters from the earliest days of the small screen, using each woman’s career to explore the ways she affected the television we watch today. Armstrong centers her diligent research on Gertrude Berg, one of the first sitcom stars and writers whose hit comedy about a Jewish matriarch was a blueprint for Roseanne; Irna...