Noah Berlatsky

"The look on Miley's face during Nicki Minaj's savage, expletive-laden rant says it all," Salon tweeted the day after the VMAs. Less than 140 characters, but still enough to link a black woman to a longstanding racial slur.

As a parent, you tend to assume that you have some say in forming your child's mental landscape. Then Santa comes along.

The founder of the brilliant fyeahblackrockmusic Tumblr talks racial politics, Kelis, and . . . the Doobie Brothers?

Under the guise of philanthropy, 8 Minutes essentially blackmails some of the most marginalized and powerless people in society.

With the prospect of another Bush/Clinton presidential contest looming as ominously as Donald Trump's hairpiece, the word "dynasty" seems to be frothing off of many a pundit's keyboard. "Clinton, Bush struggle to shed dynasty labels," a Washington Post headline declared.

The acclaimed solo album of former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard raises questions about the very nature of "cred." Is pop antitethical to artistry?

David Ress' Aphexswift is genius precisely because it's so unlikely.

Katniss is the voice of conscience and morality in the film, and in The Hunger Games series as a whole. In the just released last film in the series, she tries repeatedly to avoid unnecessary deaths. She insists that refugees from an attacked base be given an escape route, for example, and exposes herself in an effort to help them.

A new Facebook post calls into question cover depictions of hyper-sexualized men and women.

Talking about race can get you into a lot of trouble . . . especially if you don't have a lot of class power or status.