Critics at Large | The New Yorker

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Critics at Large is a weekly culture podcast from The New Yorker. Every Thursday, the staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss current obsessions, classic texts they’re revisiting with fresh eyes, and trends that are emerging across books, television, film, and more. The show runs the gamut of the arts and pop culture, with lively, surprising conversations about everything from Salman Rushdie to “The Real Housewives.” Through rigorous analysis and behind-the-scenes insights into The New Yorker’s reporting, the magazine’s critics help listeners make sense of our moment—and how we got here.

  1. 2d ago

    Who Owns the Odyssey?

    In its nearly three-thousand-year history, the Odyssey has undergone as many twists and turns as its protagonist does on his journey home to Ithaca. Its origins as oral poetry suggest countless revisions before it was even put into text—and many more followed, as translators have wrestled with how best to express Homer’s ancient Greek verse in their own languages. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz consider the latest rendition, a film adaptation by the director Christopher Nolan. The movie’s two-hundred-and-fifty-million-dollar budget, A-list cast, and use of cutting-edge IMAX technology make it maximalist in every sense of the word. It’s elicited glowing reception from early viewers—and faced preëmptive criticism from the right. Drawing on the scholar Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation of the epic, Nolan has modernized the dialogue; his focus on the erosion of societal values also speaks directly to the anxieties of our era, in which so many norms and institutions feel newly precarious. “The Odyssey persists because the world does keep on evanescing behind us,” Cunningham says. “The question of how to move on is always fresh.” Read, watch, and listen with the critics: “The Odyssey” (2026) “Planet of the Apes” (1968) “Oppenheimer” (2023) “Troy” (2004) “Why the Odyssey Keeps Defeating Filmmakers,” by David Denby (The New Yorker) “L’Odissea” (1968) Emily Wilson’s translation of the Odyssey Robert Fagles’s translation of the Odyssey Daniel Mendelsohn’s translation of the Odyssey “The Dark Knight” (2008) Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” 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 which 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

  2. Jul 2

    An American Playlist

    This week, to commemorate two hundred and fifty years of the American experiment, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz present an American playlist. On this special episode, the hosts hear from listeners regarding the songs that best encapsulate their feelings about the U.S. today—and offer some tracks of their own. The resulting compilation reflects the country’s turbulent history, its uncertain present, and, crucially, listeners’ hopes for its future. “What we think of as nation-building—at least if you care about art, that’s not where the real action is,” Cunningham says. “The action is in our creative response to the circumstances that we’re given. And that’s what music is all about.”  Listen to a playlist of songs from this episode here. Featured tracks: “Kids in America,” by Kim Wilde“Miss America,” by David Byrne“All-American Bitch,” by Olivia Rodrigo“Django Jane,” by Janelle Monáe“Help Save the Youth of America,” by Billy Bragg“Almost Cut My Hair,” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young“Free Fallin’,” by Tom Petty“America,” by Simon & Garfunkel“Battle Hymn of the Republic,” covered by Joan Baez“Sleep Now in the Fire,” by Rage Against the Machine“Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore,” by John Prine“Compared to What,” by Roberta Flack“Ohio/Machine Gun,” by The Isley Brothers“Bob Dylan's 115th Dream,” by Bob Dylan“Wild Goose Chase,” covered by Nora Brown“That’s Life,” covered by James Brown“Billy The Kid Suite,” by Aaron Copland“A Change Is Gonna Come,” by Sam Cooke 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 which 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

    An American Playlist

  3. Jun 25

    From The Political Scene: The Politics of the Big Game

    Critics at Large will be back next week. In the meantime, you can hear Vinson Cunningham and Naomi Fry on a recent episode of The New Yorker’s Political Scene, hosted by Tyler Foggatt, where they consider several high-profile collisions of sports and politics. First, Cunningham talks to Foggatt about Donald Trump’s controversial appearance at a Knicks game during the team’s championship run. Then Fry and Foggatt discuss the U.F.C. fight that Trump hosted on the White House lawn—in celebration of America’s two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary, as well as his own eightieth birthday—and what it revealed about the President’s second term. Finally, the staff writer Louisa Thomas joins Foggatt to discuss how the Administration’s immigration policies, the war in Iran, and America’s precarious position on the international stage are impacting another major athletic event: the World Cup. Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    From The Political Scene: The Politics of the Big Game

  4. Jun 18

    Steven Spielberg’s Blockbusters

    When “Jaws” hit theatres in 1975, no one—neither the studio executives involved nor the film’s twenty-six-year-old director, Steven Spielberg—was betting on its success. But it dominated at the box office and promptly revolutionized the way movies were promoted, distributed, and merchandised. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz trace how Spielberg inaugurated a new phenomenon in Hollywood: the blockbuster. He would tap his own playbook again and again with such hits as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “E.T.,” and “Jurassic Park,” all of which drew impressive audiences and profits. The hosts talk through his filmography, culminating in his new release, “Disclosure Day,” which both replicates and iterates on themes and techniques found in his earlier work. Though other directors may share his capacity for spectacle and action-packed set pieces, much of his appeal lies in his profound earnestness. “What Spielberg is so good at is bringing the human to the fore in these extreme, sci-fi circumstances,” Schwartz says. “And that’s what makes a great blockbuster.” Read, watch, and listen with the critics: “Jaws” (1975)“Disclosure Day” (2026)“Minority Report” (2002)“Oscar Wars,” by Michael Schulman“What Went Wrong” ’s episode about “Jaws”“Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977)“Jurassic Park” (1993)“E.T.” (1982)“Alf” (1986-90)“Schindler’s List” (1993)“One Battle After Another” (2025)“American Journal,” by Robert Hayden“Heart of the Beast” (2026)“Sinners” (2025)“Nope” (2022)“Barbie” (2023)“Obsession” (2026)“Backrooms” (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 which 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

    Steven Spielberg’s Blockbusters

  5. Jun 11

    Why We Cling to the Animal Kingdom

    Since the days of Aesop, stories about animals have been used to explore distinctly human values, virtues, and vices. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz consider such childhood classics as E. B. White’s “Stuart Little” and C. S. Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia” series, as well as “The Sheep Detectives,” a recent entry in this canon that centers on a flock who learn poignant lessons about life and loss. Works of adult literature, too, have explored the animal-human bond. Our tendency to project onto animals translates to the real world in strange ways, with figures like Timmy the Whale and Punch the Monkey going viral on our social feeds even as our day-to-day lives are more detached from the natural world than ever before. But the distance between us can be instructive, too. “Reckoning with their similarity to us and also their total strangeness to us . . . that’s where works about animals really get me,” Schwartz says. “Not just as a direct transfer onto the human experience but also this other thing that really does enrich our lives: to be in contact with species that are not our own.” Read, watch, and listen with the critics: Homer’s Odyssey“Stone Fox,” by John Reynolds Gardiner“The Mare,” by Mary Gaitskill“The Sheep Detectives” (2026)“Stuart Little,” by E. B. White “Bambi” (1942)“The Lion King” (1994) C. S. Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia” Series“Tom and Jerry” (1940-67)Aesop’s Fables“Frederick,” by Leo Lionni“ ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ and the Whodunnit Renaissance” (The New Yorker)“Zootopia” (2016) “Why Earnestness Is Everywhere” (The New Yorker)“Babe” (1995)“Tiger King” (2020-21)“Monkey Business in ‘Chimp Crazy,’ ” by Vinson Cunningham (The New Yorker)I am Bunny on TikTok 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 which 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

    Why We Cling to the Animal Kingdom

  6. Jun 4

    I Need a Critic: June, 2026, Edition

    This week, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz kick off the summer months with a new installment of the Critics at Large advice series. Listeners’ questions run the gamut: a high-school economics teacher seeks films for his students which aren’t set in the world of finance; a caller from Iran looks for cultural works to help endure periods of extreme uncertainty; and two friends on the cusp of college graduation ask for recommendations to guide them in their next chapter. “Art is not a thing separate from our troubles or from our awareness of the insane contingencies of life,” Cunningham says. “It’s meant as a companion and a response to those. I think that’s shining through in some of these questions.” Read, watch, and listen with the critics: “Sorry to Bother You” (2018)“My Architect: A Son’s Journey” (2003)“Les dites cariatides” (1984)“Twenty Minutes in Manhattan,” by Michael SorkinThe photography of Eugène AtgetThe music of the Notorious B.I.G., Heavy D, Fat Joe, and Big Pun“Sentimental Education,” by Gustave FlaubertVáclav Havel’s “Audience”“The Best of Everything,” by Rona Jaffe“How to Murder Your Life,” by Cat Marnell“Becoming a Centenarian,” by Calvin Tomkins (The New Yorker)“This Old Man,” by Roger Angell (The New Yorker)“Tabula Rasa,” by John McPhee (The New Yorker)“Kramer vs. Kramer” (1979)“Divorcing,” by Susan TaubesElena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels“Ghost World,” by Daniel Clowes“Frances Ha” (2012)“Asparagus” (1979)Roger Payne’s “Songs of the Humpback Whale”“Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction,” by J. D. SalingerThe poetry of Sylvia Plath, particularly “Tulips”Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America”“I Will,” by the Beatles“St. Judy’s Comet,” by Paul Simon“Sail Away Ladies,” by Odetta 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 which 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

    I Need a Critic: June, 2026, Edition

  7. May 28

    Our Modern Glut of Choice

    For many of us, daily life is defined by a near-constant stream of decisions, from what to buy on Amazon to what to watch on Netflix. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz consider how we came to see endless selection as a fundamental right. The hosts discuss “The Age of Choice,” a book by the historian Sophia Rosenfeld, which traces how our fixation with the freedom to choose has evolved over the centuries. Today, an abundance of choice in one sphere often masks a lack of choice in others—and, with so much focus on individual rather than collective decision-making, the glut of options can contribute to a profound sense of alienation. “When all you do is choose, choose, choose, what you do is end up by yourself,” Cunningham says. “Putting yourself with people seems to be one of the salves.” This episode originally aired on March 13, 2025.  Read, watch, and listen with the critics: “Could Anyone Keep Track of This Year’s Microtrends?” by Danielle Cohen (The Cut)“The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life,” by Sophia Rosenfeld“The Federalist Papers,” by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay“What Does It Take to Quit Shopping? Mute, Delete and Unsubscribe,” by Jordyn Holman and Aimee Ortiz (The New York Times) 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 which 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

    Our Modern Glut of Choice

  8. May 21

    Where Do Men Go from Here?

    The phrase “toxic masculinity,” deployed ad nauseum over the past decade, now borders on cliché, but the fact that men are in some kind of crisis feels beyond dispute. Statistics on boys’ prospects are bleak, showing falling graduation rates, diminished employment opportunities, and dismal mental-health outcomes. Meanwhile, the manosphere has fanned the flames of these discontents. The question of what’s to be done is more pressing than ever. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz consider a new wave of texts that aims to diagnose men’s ills, and to offer a path forward. The men in these works fall, broadly, into two lanes: the damaged, sometimes violent types who are front and center in such series as Richard Gadd’s “Half Man,” and the softer, more emotionally attuned protagonists of shows like “Heated Rivalry” and “DTF St. Louis.” But this tidy schematic falls apart in real life—and, as looksmaxxers have taught us, obsessing over models of manhood may only compound the problem. “Usually, if I’m thinking about being a man, it is in a self-reproving or self-indicting way that is not helpful to the situation,” Cunningham says. “When you’re asking how to be a man, often the real answer is just how to be a person.” Read, watch, and listen with the critics: “Half Man” (2026)“Magnolia” (1999)“Fight Club” (1999)“Heated Rivalry” (2025—)“‘Heated Rivalry,’ ‘Pillion,’ and the New Drama of the Closet” (The New Yorker)“Adolescence” (2025)“DTF St. Louis” (2026)“The New Masculinity of ‘DTF St. Louis,’ ” by Alexandra Schwartz (The New Yorker)“Lord of the Flies” (2026)“Lord of the Flies,” by William Golding“Can Starting from Scratch Save ‘Vanderpump Rules’?” by Naomi Fry (The New Yorker)Clavicular’s appearance on “Impaulsive”“Why So Many Guys Are Obsessed with Testosterone,” by Azeen Ghorayshi (The New York Times)“Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere” (2026)“The Pitt” (2025—)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 which 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

    Where Do Men Go from Here?
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Critics at Large is a weekly culture podcast from The New Yorker. Every Thursday, the staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss current obsessions, classic texts they’re revisiting with fresh eyes, and trends that are emerging across books, television, film, and more. The show runs the gamut of the arts and pop culture, with lively, surprising conversations about everything from Salman Rushdie to “The Real Housewives.” Through rigorous analysis and behind-the-scenes insights into The New Yorker’s reporting, the magazine’s critics help listeners make sense of our moment—and how we got here.

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