Cloud Atlas Trailer, Taylor Swift Red, and the Top Culture Stories This Week

Culture

The presidential election may be only two weeks away, but don’t let that deter you from catching up on all the top-notch arts and entertainment stories featured on PolicyMic. Catch up here on the Culture stories, reviews, and interviews from the past week. 

Top Feature Stories in Culture:

“The Master”: A Celebration of True Hollywood Bromance (Sam Brounstein) – “What does it mean to be a man? Since the beginning of cinema, movie makers have churned out an infinitum of responses to this question, often with iconic and awesome results. Every character in the pantheon (or, shall we say, MAN-theon?) is synonymous with some idea, usually crystallized in a significant era: Conan the Barbarian’s titular character is the ancient alpha, a harkening to a time when men were men, and ate colossal shanks of meat for their sole sustenance.”

Will Harry Potter Fans Ever Love a J.K. Rowling Book That’s All Muggle and No Magic? (Rachel Wilson) – “Some of it, though, is, frankly, fucked up. Rowling has admitted that she never saw herself “as your children’s babysitter or their teacher. I was always, I think, completely honest. I’m a writer, and I will write what I want to write.” That definitely shows as the novel spirals towards its devastatingly real ending: no Deathly Hallows, no Expelliarmus, no “all was well.” There is graveyard sex, cutting, drug overdoses, and enough pettiness to drown a baby in (which, by the way, happens on page 462).”

Meet the Most Dangerous Voice on the Radio (Alex Kapelman) – “In 1963, Fass created “Radio Unnameable,” his radio show that reflected the rapidly shifting atmosphere of New York City in the 1960s. The show which was free form and unscripted, frequently featured spacey remixes of records, and allowed several night owls to call in to chat all at once about whatever topic struck Fass’s fancy at the moment. It wasn’t perfect (try envisioning a 10 person public conference call at 3 a.m. on a Tuesday night in 1967.)”

Is Art More Powerful Than Money? One Art Campaign Seeks to Take Big Money Out of Politics (Elena Sheppard) – “In one submission, the “I Voted” pin is graffitied to read “It Voted$.” In another, a traditional campaign-style poster projects slogans: “We are the 83%.” And “Super PACs are undemocratic." Notably  inspired by Fairey's work, many of the submissions visually incorporate the words that we associate with the issue. The highest voted submission on the site reads the words, "Democracy is sold to the highest bidder."

 

Reviews of the Week:

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People Around the Web are Talking About:

Taylor Swift's New Album RedThe country (or is it pop?) music phenomenon is out with a new album on Monday. Expect Twitter, Facebook, Google, and basically the entire world to be drowned in T-Swift admiration. If the released tracks from the new album are any indication, it looks like Ms. Taylor is heading down a road of pure pop. 

Why I Left Goldman Sachs: Remember that guy who caused a huge stir when he quit his Goldman Sachs job via a (very) public op-ed in The New York Times back in March? Well that guy (Greg Smith) is releasing his book Why I Left Goldman Sachs on Monday. 

Cloud Atlas Released: Highly anticipated film release hits theaters this Friday; the book follows six-intertwining story lines over the course of 500 years. It looks like an absolutely mind-boggling epic ... and it stars Halle Berry and Tom Hanks. 

Scandal on Broadway: The Broadway show Rebecca was cancelled in pre-production after the producers couldn’t could no longer afford the $12 million price tag. Things are getting soap opera-esque as it turns out this was all an elaborate plot to defraud the producers. Now, there’s a $100 million law suit underway.