Category: Culture
Stampede: Vol 1. Finds Orville Peck in Major Label Limbo
If there’s one thing that the modern music economy has made obsolete, it’s the concept of “selling out.” Back in alternative rock’s 90s heyday, the biggest sin an artist could commit was signing to a major label, adopting a more ...
Baby Reindeer is a True Crime Series Written by the Victim
Two of the best performing articles I’ve ever written for The Postrider are my reviews of seasons one and two of The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, Investigation Discovery’s shoddy, shameful documentary series about an Indiana couple who may or ...
My Favorite Tweet Reactions to Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria”
On Tuesday at 8:24 AM, Kendrick Lamar released “Euphoria,” his latest diss track against Drake. Like many events in this day and age, social media became the accelerant for the diss and spread the impact of the song to all ...
Civil War Feels Exploitative. That’s the Point.
In March 1993, South African photojournalist Kevin Carter captured the chilling image of a young Sudanese boy (misidentified as a girl at the time) collapsed in hunger as a hooded vulture watched patiently. A few days later, it was sold ...
How Folk and Country Became the Hottest Sounds in Indie Rock
One of the reasons I like seeing bands play live, outside of the fact that it gives me a reason to leave the house, is that it also gives me a way to develop a deeper connection with the music ...
Love Lies Bleeding is Thrilling, Grisly, and Subversive
We all have that one actor and actress who just… doesn’t work for us. For my mom, it’s Julianne Moore. For my dad, it’s Adam Sandler. For me, it’s Kristen Stewart. My distaste for Stewart wasn’t fully apparent to me ...
The Postrider’s 96th Academy Awards Preview
Are dynasties good for pro sports? It’s a question that was asked a lot by sports media in the mid-2010s, not only because the Golden State Warriors met the Cleveland Cavaliers in four straight NBA Finals, but because the Warriors ...
Jess Williamson Brings Her Mix of Indie and Country to the Bowery Ballroom
Over the past three years or so, I’ve found myself listening to a lot more country and country-influenced music, both voluntarily and involuntarily. The involuntarily piece should be familiar to anyone who’s currently living in the United States: country’s chart ...
My Musings on Super Bowl LVIII
The Postrider’s 2024 Grammys Preview
The first time I ever wrote about the Grammys was when I was in high school, when I had a dinky little Blogger site that has apparently been wiped from the Internet. The year was 2011, and it would turn ...
My Musings on the AFC and NFC Championship Games
My Thoughts on the Divisional Round Playoffs
The Curse Is the Best Social Satire and Relationship Drama in Years
Why was satire made during the Trump administration so bad? It’s a question I’ve found myself asking as we move further and further away from the late 2010s and the historiography of the era begins to take shape. My early ...
My Musings on 2024’s Wild Card Weekend
My Musings on Week 18 of the 2023 NFL Season
The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks is Senationalism Disguised as Justice
Last summer, I wrote a review of The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, an Investigation Discovery (ID) documentary series about Natalia Grace Mans (formerly Natalia Grace Barnett, we’ll get into the name change later), a Ukrainian orphan with dwarfism who ...
My Musings on Week 17 of the 2023 NFL Season
The Postrider’s Top 15 Albums of 2023, Part 2
As I mentioned in my intro blurb for my songs of the year list, my listening habits weren’t exactly expansive this year. I tended to lean on a lot of the same albums and genres throughout the past 12 months, ...
The Postrider’s Top 15 Albums of 2023, Part 1
As I mentioned in my intro blurb for my songs of the year list, my listening habits weren’t exactly expansive this year. I tended to lean on a lot of the same albums and genres throughout the past 12 months, ...
The Postrider’s Top 20 Songs of the Year, Part 2
For whatever reason, this 2023 list was the most difficult I’ve ever put together. And yet, it was also the easiest list for me to write. That might be because it’s also not a very adventurous list – it mainly ...
The Postrider’s Top 20 Songs of 2023, Part 1
I’ve been compiling lists of my favorite songs of the year since at least 2013. For whatever reason, this 2023 list was the most difficult I’ve ever put together. Part of that is that my relationship to music has changed ...
Godzilla Minus One is So Much More than a Kaiju Movie
One of my earliest memories is being home sick from school, watching Mothra vs. Godzilla on VHS. I don’t know why my mom chose that particular movie to rent for me that day (RIP West Coast Video), but it kicked ...