A Netflix Drama Reinforces Pernicious Misconceptions About Pain Treatment
Painkiller reflects an indiscriminate anti-opioid bias that has caused needless suffering.
Netflix
Rob Long: Welcome to the Age of Blunder in Public Health, Foreign Policy, and…Hollywood
The former Cheers producer explains why the studios are failing, the writers and actors are missing the big picture, and creators fear their audience.
New York Lawmakers Want To Use a 'Netflix Tax' To Pay for the Subway
From delivery fees to streaming taxes, New York can’t stomach having MTA users actually pay for the system themselves.
Filmmaker Tiller Russell Humanizes What Happened at Waco
A new Netflix documentary shows how the seeds of political polarization that roil our culture today were planted at Waco.
Review: The Clumsy Anti-Muskism of Glass Onion
Hating tech billionaires is The Current Thing.
What the Madoff Series Left Out
A Netflix documentary series blames the SEC for missing the Ponzi scheme and then calls for giving the SEC more power.
Netflix Teams Up With the Obamas To Produce Big Government Propaganda
The G Word, a new documentary, only occasionally covers serious issues. But it opts not to do honest reporting.
Review: The Sandman and the Joys of Being Human
The series deals with themes of fate, freedom, and choice.
Netflix's Athena Is a Masterpiece About Police Violence and Social Unrest
A technically astounding film that turns a French housing block into a political warzone.
Review: Barack Obama and Adam Conover Want To Shift the Blame for Government Failures
Netflix's The G Word tries and fails to restore faith in big government.
In Netflix's Dahmer, Incompetent Police Fail To Catch a Serial Killer
The show depicts the killer's gruesome crimes but lays some of the blame on the Milwaukee police who failed for so long to catch him.
Review: Prohibition Makes for Good TV but Bad Government Policy
Peaky Blinders reminds us that when the government bans or artificially limits a resource, control of that resource often gets decided through violence.
Review: After Cult Leader Was Convicted, His Compound Was Raided by Child Protective Services
The Netflix docu-thriller Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey shows the downfall of Warren Jeffs and the unjustified taking of 450 children inside his religious community.
Netflix Files Copyright Lawsuit Against Creators of Unofficial Bridgerton Musical
The company alleges the composers ignored multiple warnings to cease commercial production of the musical.
The G Word Begs Americans To Fall Back in Love with Uncle Sam
Adam Conover and President Barack Obama want to unruin the federal government. But they’re not really willing to truly consider that it’s too big and too wasteful.
Netflix Airs Ricky Gervais' Controversial Standup, Chooses Actual Entertaining Over Woke Pandering
"The platform's choice to release this special now, during a wave of unprecedented anti-trans legislation, is unconscionable," according to Vox.
'Woke Capitalism' Does Not Advance Social Justice
It incentivizes high-noise, low-cost signaling rather than actual cultural changes.
Buffalo Shooting Will Prompt Measures 'To Combat Domestic Terrorism,' Says Pelosi
Plus: Netflix defends artistic expression, perspectives on the baby formula shortage, and more...
Netflix Adds 'Artistic Expression' Policy, Says It Will Not 'Censor Specific Artists'
"If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you," the company tells employees.
Twitter, Facebook, Netflix, and the Myth of Permanent Platform Power
Today's big powerful companies could become tomorrow's also-rans, no government intervention required.
Ozark
A show about an American heartland scourged by black-market drugs, vice, politics, and bureaucratic power
All Americans Should Watch Old Enough!, a Netflix Show About Free-Range Japanese 3-Year-Olds
In Japan, even very young children are seen as capable.
The Awful Uncharted Raises the Question: Are Video Game Movies Art?
Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg star in another timid, lifeless video game adaptation.
Inflation Hits Highest Level Since 1982
Plus: Evidence that redistricting reforms are working to prevent extreme gerrymandering, what Squid Game has to say about communism, and more...
Squid Game Says More About Communism Than Capitalism
The breakout Netflix series contains critiques of a decidedly "anti-capitalist" political and economic system that's haunted the Korean Peninsula.
Netflix Says Algorithm Is Protected by First Amendment in 13 Reasons Why Suicide Lawsuit
Is a required content warning or algorithm change a violation of the First Amendment?
Netflix CEO Apologizes for Having Principles
When employees tried their hand at a shakedown, CEO Ted Sarandos buckled a bit under the pressure.
Netflix Staff Apparently Unaware That Dave Chappelle's Comedy Special Would Include Jokes
No one is safe from Chappelle's jokes—but also, everyone is safe from Chappelle's jokes.
The Innocence Files
Netflix's limited series documents how bad forensics, faulty witness testimony, and misconduct by police and prosecutors let us down.
Bo Burnham: Inside
The Netflix comedy special deals with the loneliness brought on by the pandemic.
Rose Island
The new film never wavers in its appreciation for these seasteading heroes as they piss off all the right people in pursuit of their slice of utopia.
History of Swear Words
The most interesting aspect of the series is how it unintentionally reveals our conflicted relationship with profanity.
The Queen's Gambit
The protagonist's speedy evolution into an anti–Cold Warrior is the better subplot.
British Culture Minister Threatens a 'Health Warning' on Netflix's The Crown
The show takes plenty of creative license, but viewers are smart enough to distinguish drama from documentary.
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Is a Superb Film About Power, Art, Commerce, and Race
Chadwick Boseman shines in his final role.
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Aaron Sorkin takes on the famous trial of activists who organized an anti-war protest during the 1968 Democratic convention.
Immigration Nation Brilliantly Captures the Brutal Logic Behind America's Immigration Enforcement Regime
The new Netflix docuseries is a damning indictment of ICE.
I Ran for Governor of Oklahoma Against Tiger King's Joe Exotic
Lessons learned from the zookeeper Netflix made famous
Ford v Ferrari Is Thrilling, Excellent, and Not a Superhero Movie
Martin Scorsese says superhero movies are crowding out cinema. But plenty of great non-comic-book films still exist.
Nobody Knows What Television Is Anymore
TV's cultural dominance is unchecked by anything except your own time, and increasingly tailored to your unique interests and obsessions.
Netflix's Love, Death and Robots Is a Sci-Fi Demo Reel For the Untapped Potential of Animation
An anthology series about sad salesmen, space marines, super-intelligent yogurt, and the national debt
Netflix's Triple Frontier Is a Good Heist Film, and a Not Quite Great Anti-War Movie
Strong performances and sharp direction elevate this drug-war action thriller.
This Year's Oscar Nominees Are Out. The Big Winner? People Who Like Watching Movies At Home
The Best Picture nod for Netflix's Roma marks a major victory for the streaming service.