Cannonball with Wesley Morris

The New York Times

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 and Spotify. 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.

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    The Complicated Oscars Night Feelings Over ‘One Battle After Another’

    This is one of those “who knows what’s going to happen” years at the Oscars. And maybe the biggest question of the night is which movie will dominate: “Sinners,” with its record 16 nominations, or “One Battle After Another,” which is right behind with 13. One is a vampire movie set in the Jim Crow South, featuring not one but two Michael B. Jordans. The other imagines a leftist revolutionary outfit led by Black women — Teyana Taylor! — facing off against a racist, sexist, authoritarian government. No matter what, we’re talking about a pretty exciting night — including for many Black people. But you know how it is with race and the Oscars. It is never that simple. Because there are some people who are not rooting for Paul Thomas Anderson’s version of Black feminist-driven revolution. And a lot of those people are Black feminists themselves. Including Wesley’s dear friend, the scholar Daphne A. Brooks. After leaving the theater, she sent him a text calling it “a Black feminist 911 emergency.” So before the biggest awards of the industry are handed out, Wesley invites Daphne on the show to ask her, “What’s the 911 situation here?” Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    44 min

  2. 5 MAR

    Tyra Banks Is (Kinda) Sorry

    Back in 2003, a new reality TV show hosted and co-created by Tyra Banks convinced an entire generation that they too might have what it takes to become America’s next top model. Now, a new Netflix docu-series wants us to know just how badly the contestants were treated — by the show and sometimes by Banks herself. To Wesley’s surprise, Tyra Banks agreed to be interviewed for the series, “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” and to revisit some of the show’s most cringe and painful moments. Was it a genuine attempt at accountability? And are we satisfied by what we're hearing? Wesley invites Michaela angela Davis, a writer, editor and stylist, to talk about it. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    40 min

  3. 26 FEB

    Don't Make a Saint Out of Toni Morrison

    Seven years after Toni Morrison’s death, we’re experiencing what the critic Parul Sehgal describes as a “wave of Morrisonia.” Eleven of her novels are being reissued by her publisher. There’s a new book of criticism about her novels. You can feel the effort to shore up her legacy. It’s an understandable impulse. This is the woman who wrote “Beloved,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that, as Parul writes, “invented a language for unassimilable pain, for the horrors of the Middle Passage, of bondage and its systematized torture and sexual brutality.” The book can feel like a kind of miracle. And Morrison, therefore, like a kind of saint. But sanctification — both Parul and Wesley fear — has its own risks. It puts Morrison up in the sky, where we can’t quite reach her. Too far away to touch. So in this episode of Cannonball, that’s what Parul, Wesley and their editor, Sasha Weiss, set out to do. Touch Morrison’s work — as she wanted us to. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    56 min

  4. 19 FEB

    There’s Nothing Sexy About ‘Wuthering Heights’

    Valentine’s Day weekend is over, and we’re left with a new film adaptation of Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights.” Audiences are hot, bothered and swooning. Can you blame them? The trailer had promised — and the film delivers — a stunning Margot Robbie, a seductive Jacob Elordi and a lot of sticky substances (like, a lot.) Wesley Morris knows sex and shock to be the director Emerald Fennell’s specialty, and this flick is no different. But where’s the actual substance? To confront his suspicion head on, Wesley takes a movie buddy, the culture editor Sasha Weiss, to see the film that’s got everybody and their lovers in knots. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    43 min

  5. 12 FEB

    Bad Bunny and the Art of Protest

    “We’re living in protest-y times! Where are all the protest songs?” That was a question that Wesley Morris was asking in the time leading up to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show. He thinks the scarcity of direct protest art in this moment contributed to the intense speculation and anticipation about what Bad Bunny would do on that stage. Would it be a protest? And if so, what kind of protest? Well, now the show’s over. So what did it turn out to be? To discuss, Wesley Morris sits back down with his friend Sasha Weiss, culture editor at The New York Times Magazine. They also think about the role of protest music more broadly. When does a song need to hit us over the head? And when is subtlety useful — or called for? Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    38 min

  6. 5 FEB

    ‘The Pitt’ Is Giving a Dose of Humanity

    “The Pitt” is back for a second season, and it’s appointment viewing for Wesley Morris. Every Thursday at 9 p.m., the show serves up an emergency room’s worth of maladies and realities — sparing us none of the naked truths about being a human in a vulnerable body. Sasha Weiss, the culture editor at The New York Times Magazine, joins Wesley to talk about how the show is making an old-school television genre feel not just contemporary, but vital. Plus, a conversation with the writer and novelist Taffy Brodesser-Akner about when loving a work of art becomes an obsession. And Wesley has an unexpected reaction to the Grammys. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    47 min

  7. 29 JAN

    Dear Haters of 'Marty Supreme'...

    “Marty Supreme” is a box office and critical hit. The film just received nominations in many of the most coveted Oscar categories — best picture, director and actor. And Wesley is glad about all of it. He loved the movie and its shameless protagonist, Marty Mauser. But it turns out that a lot of people going to see this movie don’t share his feelings. In fact, a lot of them hate it. And much of that seems to have to do with a hatred of Marty himself. Wesley’s friend and a culture editor at The New York Times Magazine, Sasha Weiss, thinks people may be missing the point. Which, to her, has a lot to do with the Jewishness of the film. She joins Wesley to talk it out. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    42 min

  8. 8 JAN

    My Evening With Michelle Obama

    Cannonball is taking a short break and will be back very soon. In the meantime, listen to this special conversation: Last November, Wesley spent an evening with Michelle Obama to celebrate the release of “The Look,” her new book about fashion and the power of style. It’s a heavy text – weighing in at about 4.12 pounds (Wesley checked). That makes it great for coffee tables. But it also reflects the weight of what it meant to Michelle Obama, as First Lady, to be looked at. Every outfit carried meaning and significance, and she knew it.  Together, Wesley and Michelle reflect on her approach to fashion from day one in the White House, her time in the East Wing, and some of her most memorable looks. Thoughts? Email us at cannonball@nytimes.comWatch our show on YouTube: youtube.com/@CannonballPodcastFor transcripts and more, visit: nytimes.com/cannonball Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    1h 24m
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About

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 and Spotify. 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.

Information

  • Channel
    The New York Times
  • Creator
    The New York Times
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    41
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2018-2019 THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY; The New York Times encourages the use of RSS feeds for personal use in a news reader or as part of a non-commercial blog, subject to your agreement to our Terms of Service.
  • Show Website
    Cannonball with Wesley Morris
  • Provider
    The New York Times Company

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