Category: Culture
The Postrider’s Top 30 Songs of 2021
According to my 2021 Spotify Wrapped, I listened to primarily “yearning” music. I feel like that’s reflected in my list of the top songs of the year as well. It features a lot of interiority, but the conclusion of that ...
Spencer Substitutes Shock for Substance
When Oprah Winfrey’s interview of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle aired back in March, I joked with a friend that it represented the lowest point in Anglo-American relations since the War of 1812. Between Harry and Meghan’s withdrawal from the ...
The Terrific Writing of “You” Season 3
Season 2 of You finishes on a cliffhanger and was left on when Love, the character that Joe was obsessing over but was ultimately going to kill, decides not to do so because she reveals in a last second confession ...
Pony Express: Eternals
Michael and Louis discuss Eternals, the polarizing new Marvel film from Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao.
12 Albums Missing From Pitchfork’s 25th Anniversary Readers’ Poll
Earlier this year, Pitchfork asked its readers to vote on the 200 best albums of the past 25 years as a way to celebrate the website’s 25th anniversary. It was a deceptively loaded requisite: the “Most Trusted Voice in Music” ...
Pony Express: Dune and Squid Game
Michael, Lars, and Louis discuss two of the most talk about two of the fall’s biggest hits: Dune and Squid Game.
Japanese Breakfast Bring Joy Back at Brooklyn Steel
Given the current state of the world, it may feel odd to say that someone has had a “good” 2021, but if anyone has, surely it’s Michelle Zauner. The singer/songwriter/guitarist/mastermind behind Japanese Breakfast scored her first “win” in April with ...
Revisiting Law & Order: Season One
*CHUNG CHUNG* Imagine it’s the fall of 1990 and you’re hearing this sound coming out of your television for the first time. What are you thinking? Does it wash over you as some sort of innovative television program or does ...
Pony Express: The Many Saints of Newark and the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Michael and Louis talk about The Many Saints of Newark before Lars joins them to talk about another top 10 music list.
The Emmys and Network Television are on Life Support
On the Monday after the Emmys, I decided to catch up on everything I missed (by everything missed I mean the entire award ceremony). When I scroll through my timeline I see a number of encouraging moments: Jason Sudekis winning ...
Pony Express: Shang-Chi and Hacks
Michael, Lars, and Louis discuss Shang-Chi, the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and HBO’s Hacks.
Watching Mates: Season Finale – Joe Biden: Free Guy / Minari
In the Watching Mates season finale, Lars and Michael unpack the nascent Biden administration through the films Free Guy and Minari.
What I’ve Been Listening To: Sturgill Simpson, Wednesday, Low
In this week’s addition of what I’ve been listening to, we’ve got the possible swan song of a country music legend, a record that manages to be pretty and gnarly all at the same time, and an old college favorite. ...
Watching Mates: Donald Trump – Hell or High Water / BlacKkKlansman
The brief and tumultuous Trump administration proves to have one of the most direct impacts on American cinema, as Lars and Michael explore through the films Hell or High Water and BlacKkKlansman.
A Memoriam of Love to Michael K. Williams
A couple of weeks ago I was watching my weekly binge of The Sopranos before I went to bed and while watching episode 13 of Season 3, I noticed an actor that I never knew was in the Sopranos, Michael ...
What I’ve Been Listening To: Turnstile, Rosali, and *sigh* Kanye West
What I’ve Been Listening to This Week returns as just What I’ve Been Listening To, giving me more flexibility to decide when I want to write it (it’ll probably be every two weeks). This week, I write about one of ...
Watching Mates: Barack Obama – Gran Torino / Sicario
America’s first Black president comes to office offering a vision for a united country and promising change, but is bogged down in the policies and crises of the prior administration, as Lars and Michael explore through the films Gran Torino ...
IDK and Vince Staples Are Still Paying for Their Pasts
A number of music releases came out in July, but by far the most interesting was IDK’s Usee4yourself and Vince Staples’ ‘Vince Staples’. Both artists, after years of putting out solid releases and being consistent, just seem like their stars ...
Pony Express: Godzilla vs. Kong
In the first episode of The Postrider‘s new general interest podcast, Michael, Lars, and Louis discuss Godzilla vs. Kong, one of the biggest post-lockdown blockbusters and the latest installments of Universal’s MonsterVerse.
The Visitors Might Be Listening – V: The Final Battle – Part 3
The end is here! The third and final part of V: The Final Battle! How does it all shake out? The Resistance vs. The Visitors! Mike & Juliet vs. Diana! Who will end up victorious? Will Earth survive? Afterwards, our ...
What I Listened to (the) Last (Few) Weeks: Billie Eilish, Lorde, The Killers
The column returns after a few weeks on vacation, and once again it’s only New Stuff, namely albums by Billie Eilish, Lorde, The Killers, and more! Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish The Billie Eilish who conquered the world two ...
Watching Mates: George W. Bush – Team America: World Police / The Dark Knight
The world changes dramatically over the course of George W. Bush’s presidency. One place it changes most visibly is Hollywood, as Lars and Michael unpack through 2004’s Team America: World Police in his first term and 2008’s The Dark Knight ...