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  • Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), a woman with short red hair wearing a dark blazer, holds up a pistol. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) stands behind her; he wears a suit and also has a pistol raised.
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    Dreaming of Dana Scully

    Editor’s Note: “Dreaming of Dana Scully” was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist. In the early months of 2021, I began dreaming of Special Agent Dana Scully from The X-Files. Before writing this article, I […] More

  • Dream's head in front of a cloudy dark background in The Sandman
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    New Dreams, New Nightmares: The Sandman, Season 1

    I first read The Sandman comics when I was 15 years old. I lived in the middle of nowhere in Indiana, and like most great things in life, I discovered The Sandman through singer-songwriter Tori Amos. Tori referenced Neil and the Dream King himself in a song on her first album, and she has continued […] More

  • An abstract image for the 1997 Radiohead album OK Computer.
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    The Bliss of Disappointment: “Let Down” by Radiohead

    The first time I heard “Let Down,” I almost couldn’t believe it was a Radiohead song. The emotions it evoked seemed too optimistic; for a Radiohead song, it felt weirdly comforting. Although there is a sense of melancholy and subdued rage in the lyrics, to me, the music ultimately conveys a feeling of acceptance. Lyrically […] More

  • A woman with pale skin and black hair wearing all black walks through a cathedral; a large circle of stained glass is illuminated behind her (Eva Green in Penny Dreadful)
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    Penny Dreadful: Vanessa Ives & the Priest

    Beyond the great seasons and episodes of TV, sometimes a single scene sticks in the mind. In this article series, we’ll be looking at such scenes, how they are crafted to inform the show around them, and what makes them indelible. This week, Daniel Siuba looks at a scene from the end of the first […] More

  • A young woman with black hair tied back in a ponytail wears a beige tanktop and stands in front of a metallic globe sculpture on a sunny day (KAYA in the Harana x Half Free music video)
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    KAYA Collages Culture and Identity on “Harana” and “Half Free”

    KAYA is a Filipina rapper, poet, and musician based in Brooklyn, NY. This week, she released a music video combining two of her songs, “Harana” and “Half Free” (ft. Kuya). The first half of the video, “Harana,” depicts KAYA serenading and then dancing with Kuya. As KAYA explains in her liner notes (see below), the […] More

  • A bulbous-headed grey alien and a blonde woman in a pink dress walk past several manniquins wearing different outfits (Roger Smith and Francine Smith in American Dad!)
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    American Dad! The Many Personas of Roger Smith

    Roger Smith from American Dad! is one of my favorite cartoon characters. He is a grey, pear-shaped alien who was originally sent to Earth as a crash-test dummy for a spaceship manufacturer. Roger is campy, cultured, and hypercritical. He loves alcohol, drugs, and sex, and has an unquenchable thirst for revenge; slighting Roger in any […] More

  • A woman wearing a black blazer, black t-shirt, and silver bangles smiles and holds a microphone on stage (Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries)
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    An Ode to The Cranberries: Songs for the Fall

    The music of The Cranberries exemplifies the full potential of rock ‘n roll. It’s loud and confrontational; it’s mystical and ethereal; it’s joyful and celebratory. Even acoustic renditions of The Cranberries’ songs are simply rock laid bare; they’re stripped of their electrified elements but are no less powerful. Due to The Cranberries’ extensive catalogue, I […] More

  • A man with circular glasses, a light brown collared shirt, and a faded green cap stares away from the camera, his head turned to his right (the image is of the singer-songwriter Cuchulain)
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    Cuchulain’s FEAT is Timely and Timeless

    Cuchulain is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Eugene, Oregon who just released an album called FEAT. As the title suggests, each song is a collaboration featuring various musicians, singers, or bands. Stylistically, the songs are mostly a blend of folk and rock, but they also veer into bluesy, romantic, theatrical, and even jazzy territory. […] More

  • A woman with long read hair wearing a black dress and cape stands on a cliffside overlooking the ocean (Tori Amos on the Ocean to Ocean album cover)
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    On Ocean to Ocean, Tori Amos Is Queen of the Sea

    Writing about Ocean to Ocean is challenging, because until now, I’ve only written about Amos’s albums and songs that I’ve listened to (and loved) for years, sometimes decades. But thankfully, this album didn’t take very long to get into my head and into my heart. According to Amos, Ocean to Ocean is technically the second […] More

  • A woman wearing a suit, striped shirt, and shoulder-length brown hair stands in front of a microphone, dimly lit by a reddish light (The woman is singer-songwriter Vonnie Kyle)
    in

    Vonnie Kyle: A Tale of “Imperfect Parts”

    A friend recently introduced me to Vonnie Kyle, a Portland-based indie singer-songwriter who just released a new music video for her single, “Imperfect Parts.” As of late, I’ve been a pretty hard sell when it comes to new media. The surplus of available content has left me feeling fairly jaded, so I initially resisted sitting […] More

  • Florence Welch closes her eyes as she stands in a hallway and sings in the music video for "Hunger" by Florence + The Machine
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    A Voice of Yearning and Rapture: Florence + The Machine

    The music of Florence + The Machine is rapturous, romantic, ethereal, and epic. The songs tell stories of heartbreak, loss, ghostly visitations, howling beasts, devils, and of course, love. Creating this list of songs was difficult, mostly because I couldn’t make up my mind about how to choose them. But after some thought, I realized […] More

  • Imogen Heap sings and performs with her Mi.Mu gloves.
    in

    Imogen Heap’s “Last Night Of An Empire”

    Imogen Heap released “Last Night Of An Empire” in 2020, and I assume she initially imagined it would encapsulate the global chaos of that pivotal year. But from the perspective of the present, its story is starting to sound timeless, as if it will come to define an era, rather than a single year. The […] More

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