On this episode of Critics at Large, recorded live at the twenty-seventh annual New Yorker Festival, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz bring their advice series to the stage for the first time. They advise on a range of topics, including films to introduce children to the magic of movies, art to rekindle a feminist spark, and whether trying to optimize one’s inner life can diminish the capacity for genuine taste. Read, watch, and listen with the critics: “Gangs of New York” (2002) “West Side Story” (1961) “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000) “Casablanca” (1942) “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) “Playtime” (1967) “Duck Soup” (1933) “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982) “Spirited Away” (2001) The music video for Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time” The music video for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” “War and Peace,” by Leo Tolstoy “Plays: The Seagull; Uncle Vanya; Three Sisters; The Cherry Orchard,” by Anton Chekov “The Dolphin Letters, 1970-1979,” by Elizabeth Hardwick and Robert Lowell “The Black Outside,” by Joy Priest “Pricks in the Tapestry,” by Jameson Fitzpatrick “The Morning of the Poem,” by James Schuyler “Mommie Dearest” (1981) Hole’s “Live Through This” “Women Talking,” by Miriam Toews “Women Talking” (2022) “How to Say Babylon: A Memoir,” by Safiya Sinclair “The Substance” (2024) “Big Swiss,” by Jen Beagin “Oreo,” by Fran Ross “Life Itself!,” by Elaine Dundy “Eureka Day,” by Jonathan Spector “Middlemarch,” by George Eliot “Pride and Prejudice,” by Jane Austen “Looking for Mr. Goodbar,” by Judith Rossner “The Vanishing Half,” by Brit Bennett “Show Me a Hero” (2015) “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001) “Heart of the Beast” (2026) New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.Critics at Large is a weekly discussion from The New Yorker that explores the latest trends in books, television, film, and more. Join us every Thursday as we make unexpected connections between classic texts and pop culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
