The Take

Nepo babies are everywhere in entertainment these days – from Maude Apatow to Dakota Johnson to Nicolas Cage, one of your favorite actors is probably related to the Hollywood elite. So what do these stars really say about inequality in entertainment, and in America more broadly? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hannah on Girls was widely deemed one of the most annoying TV characters of the 2010s, but was she just misunderstood? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So many stories center around the mystery of a beautiful dead girl who is often flattened into a symbol and treated as a mystery to be solved. Here’s our take on the dead girl story, and the loss she really represents in our culture: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beyonce may have quietly removed a portion of her song Energy that interpolated Kelis’ Milkshake… but did she do anything wrong in the first place? Here’s our take on the drama, where the line is drawn, and why maybe even if you don’t legally deserve a credit, maybe you still deserve respect. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Freaks and Geeks taps into 80s nostalgia (from a late 90s perspective) – but in a genuine, complex way. The show got youth culture right - and it still resonates now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Barbiecore is the fashion trend of the moment, but the fun act of reclaiming this hot pink femininity can still be so fraught with controversy, debate and criticism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do women often fall for the rich guy – even when there are a lot of red flags he’s a total fraud? It’s not fair to blame these victims or sim ply assume they’re shallow and materialistic when there’s a much bigger cultural problem at play here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Manifesting is everywhere these days, especially in the cultural collective of gen z. But today’s mainstream resurgence of manifesting also hints at a larger feeling of powerlessness in the face of bigger, systemic problems out of our control. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you ever think about the meaning behind Cher Horowitz’s most memorable looks in Clueless? Are all those perfectly curated clothes an expression of power – or are they actually hiding a teenage girl who feels powerless? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The daddy's girl onscreen is an idealized – but stunted– version of femininity, who is seen through the rose-colored glasses of a father who never wants her to grow up. Here’s our take on the daddy’s girl, and what happens if she doesn’t outgrow seeing her dad as the greatest guy in the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rebel Wilson’s attempted outing at the hands of an Australian newspaper was a shocking and revealing window into our current moment. Here’s our take on why it might prove we’re finally moving on from the shocking history of tabloids targeting LGBT people for profitable scoops. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In season 2 of Euphoria, Cassie goes through some major changes, and so does her style. So what’s the secret emotional meaning underneath each of Cassie’s looks? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gen Z is just getting started with adult life. So what does it say if the youngest adults are feeling burnt out already – and will the kids be alright? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So often we’re led to believe that, after a certain age, people are just stuck with their lot in life, however bad the job or relationship is. But the celebrity-starting-over trend is here to give us hope! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fight Club has long been a cult classic, and today Tyler’s complaints about the spiritual costs of turning ourselves into consumers instead of people feel more prophetic than ever – so do any of his solutions make any sense, too? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stories about women being deceptive or manipulative have been embedded in our culture for millennia, dating all the way back to Adam and Eve. Here’s our take on how narratives around the Depp-Heard trial draw on the tropes of the perfect victim and the devious manipulative woman, and how both of these fictional ideas fuel dangerous societal misogyny. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...

The “It” girl represents something indefinable — a quality, charisma, or spark that makes her stand out and captures something of her time. So what truly makes a generation’s It Girl? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three years after the end of Game of Thrones, we’re heading back to Westeros. But what can we expect from HBO’s upcoming House of the Dragon? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Cougar used to be a punchline, but has the joke of an older woman preying on younger men stopped being funny? And was it ever? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For all its confusion and ambiguity and humanoid rabbits, what major takeaways did Donnie Darko leave us with? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is America truly becoming Gilead? How much of The Handmaid’s Tale’s terrifying fiction has already come to pass? Maybe more than you’d think. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is it about Euphoria’s portrait of Rue and her addiction that feels so honest? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As quickly as they arrived, it seems like millennials might be over. So where is the Elder Millennial today – and will they be okay? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stranger Things’ epic fourth season hits close to home: unlike in the previous two seasons, the threat feels personal. So what did season 4 really mean? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aging is an unavoidable part of life - or at least it used to be. But this doesn’t seem to be true for today’s celebrities. Here's our take on the mixed messages that today’s never-aging celebrities send us about how (and whether) it's okay to get older. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices