Naomi Fry: Wait, you're doing it now? Alex Schwartz: Yeah, of course. Naomi Fry: Oh, Alex Schwartz: I'm going in. Naomi Fry: I'm a little scared. Alex Schwartz: Okay. Naomi Fry: Okay. Ah, okay. I guess I'll try popping mine. Alex Schwartz: Do it. Pop Naomi Fry: your Alex Schwartz: popper. Naomi Fry: Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Here we go. Here we go. Alex Schwartz: You can do it. Woo. So satisfying. Free. Vinson Cunningham: There we go. Naomi Fry: It's a yay. Vinson Cunningham: This is Critics At Large, a podcast from The New Yorker. I'm Vincent Cunningham. Naomi Fry: I'm Alex Schwartz. And I'm Nomi Fry. Each week on this show, we make sense of what's happening and the culture right now and how we got here. It's not every day that a podcast celebrates it's hundredth episode Alex Schwartz: for us. It's only one day. Naomi Fry: It's only one day Alex Schwartz: today. Naomi Fry: Only one day, and it's that day is today. Vinson Cunningham: Unreal. Naomi Fry: Our celebratory cake is, you know, wash. It's [a] Vinson Cunningham: got a dusting. Naomi Fry: It's got a dusting of, it's got a, got a dusting of confetti. It's Alex Schwartz: simply covered in confetti. Naomi Fry: Oh my goodness. Alex Schwartz: What a festive day. Vinson Cunningham: Confetti baby Alex Schwartz: and listeners. We couldn't do it without you. You are the best in the game. Naomi Fry: We spent kind of a long time thinking about how we wanted to celebrate and in the end we decided that, you know, what makes this show really work is our listeners and the fact that they keep, you keep tuning in. And so we wanted to share this celebration with you and one of our favorite ways. To do that has become our beloved, dare I say, I need a critic episodes, so. Here's what we're up to in this very special installment of I Need a Critic. You guys have been great. You've been sending us questions about various cultural dilemmas, and so today we're gonna hear what you guys sent in. We're gonna give you hopefully some satisfactory answers to those questions. But We're gonna be flipping the script a little bit. And stick around to the end of the episode to see what we mean by that. You guys, my friends, my fellow critics, Vincent and Alex, are you guys feeling all ready to advise our beautiful listeners? Oh, yeah. Vinson Cunningham: The, the state is kind of a productive emptiness, right? I just, I've cleared my head, Naomi Fry: right? Vinson Cunningham: I'm just ready to call on every. Every piece of artistic feeling knowledge that has ever entered my body. Naomi Fry: Okay. I Vinson Cunningham: love just in touch with it. Naomi Fry: Love, love. You're more than Alex Schwartz: ready. Naomi Fry: I love that he was born ready, Alex. Exactly. Vinson Cunningham: That's the thing. Naomi Fry: He was born, ready, and moreover, we were all born ready. So that's today on Critics at Large. I need a critic. ________________ Okay, you guys, we have a bunch of voicemails and we're gonna be taking turns as we always do, sharing these with the group. Uh, who Among Us wants to start? Vinson Cunningham: I'm happy to start. Naomi Fry: Okay, Vincent, go. Go right ahead. Let's jump in. Vinson Cunningham: Oh, right. Here's Andrea with a great, and we love kids on the show with a great kid related question. CLIP: Hi critics, this is Andrea from the Hudson Valley and my question today involves my daughter. She just turned 12 at the end of last year and was gifted a record player and some records to get her tween to Teen Musical education going. I remember 12 being the beginning of my music Loving Life. And so my question is, what would you recommend that we add to help start her collection? She's already got Taylor Swift covered and, uh, some joker gave her Huey Lewis and the News, so it's pretty wide open. Congratulations on episode a hundred. Looking forward to the next a hundred. Thanks. Naomi Fry: Oh, love this. Thank you for this, Andrea. I, myself have I've, I've spoken about her in the past. I have a daughter, she's a little bit older than yours. She's 14. She also has a record player. I guess my advice would be just from personal experience, would be to be hands off, kind of like. One thing we like to do in that she really enjoys and maybe your daughter will enjoy too, is just going to record stores. Um, it's become a family pastime for us to just go and, and just visit, you know, record stores or even junk stores, which often have records or old CDs and just kind of let our daughter seek out what looks. Exciting to her. Um, I, I recall my own experiences of kind of like something looking cool and picking it up and then even if that particular thing didn't end up being something I loved, um, it led me to something else. Um, and uh, I know that if I push too hard towards something, my daughter will probably be like. No, that's, no, thank you. That's no, thank you. And so I, I, like I said, I try to be a little hands off and just let her kind of explore on her own and see what she picks up, but provide her with the opportunity to do so by, you know, going to a store and just kind of like looking around. Vinson Cunningham: Yeah. Alex Schwartz: I'm not afraid to be bold here. Naomi Fry: Yes. Alex Schwartz: While that is very sage advice, I don't think there's anything wrong with just leaving a little stack of records and saying. Maybe, and that's Naomi Fry: nice too. Alex Schwartz: I think what I would do is like a little starter pack definitely a Billie Holiday album, maybe Body and Soul. I would do Blonde On Blonde by Bob Dylan for sure. Vinson Cunningham: Mm-hmm. Alex Schwartz: Probably Blue by Joni Mitchell. Vinson Cunningham: Mm-hmm. Alex Schwartz: Just wanna like, maybe those three voices begin. Yeah. Vinson Cunningham: I, I think that's great. I, I, I love that and sort of just having things around I think is big. Um, I would also say that this thing, the sort of buying of records is a, just a great way to get into a rhythm of a certain kind of conversation. My oldest daughter is also older than your daughter, Andrea, but um, when she was in high school, probably around 12 was when I started to ask her just like, what are you listening to these days? And it was like kind of the most adult conversation that we would have. Mm. I'd be like, Hey, what are you listening to? What are people you know? And so you can get into this like sort of one for one exchange that then might kind of formalize itself in the form of buying a record. We talked about this. We talked about that. I will say that, uh, my 12-year-old niece, Sophia, shout out to you. Sophia loves the Icelandic singer. I think you say it like Lovy. Naomi Fry: Oh, right. It's spelled like Vinson Cunningham: spelled lo lfi u loe EY. Um, she's got a really beautiful voice and I think like the kids are into her. Yeah. Um, and she has this like really silky way of sort of bringing Bossanova into her music. It's really. Interesting music. Um, that's something that jumps to mind. And I think also the whole thing about like, you know, oh, I buy records, is to say like, this is not just an outdated activity. There are new, there's new music that comes out on vinyl. And so if it can be one old, one new, yeah, one mine, one yours. That might be a way to sort of establish a lifelong correspondence through, through songs, which is like, has been a really fruitful part of many of my. Favorite relationships. Naomi Fry: I love that, Vinson Cunningham: Andrea. Good luck. Naomi Fry: Yeah. Alex Schwartz: Onward. Upward. Naomi Fry: Onward and upward. Alex, do you wanna go next? Alex Schwartz: Yep. Here we go. From Maxwell. Let's hear it. CLIP: Hi, it's Maxwell from Washington State. I often get to the end of a really good book where I'm in tears thinking this book is so incredible, and I automatically reach for my phone to text somebody about the experience, and I realize. No one cares because no one reads. It's kind of like when you go on a really wonderful vacation by yourself and you see a sunset and you're like, oh my God. I kind of wish I'd brought at least one friend to come see this with me so I could share it. I was wondering critics. What book do you give to people who don't read at all? To start the reading, I've been giving people, I'm glad my mom died because it's a complicated book written simply. Naomi Fry: Oh, that's a good one. CLIP: But I don't know if everyone wants to read something that said, what book do you use? Thank you so much. Vinson Cunningham: Great question and really thought provoking. I will say that. I mean, to your point, I think that memoir really does work well. Yes, because you can pitch it really. Easily in terms of a personality, a milieu, a time period this year, I feel like the, the thing that I've recommended most to readers and non-readers alike is, um, I regret almost everything. Alex Schwartz: Yeah. Vinson Cunningham: But Keith McNally, Alex Schwartz: oh, I just listened to the audio book of that. Vinson Cunningham: Yeah. Uh, the, the restaurateur, Keith McNally famous for, um, running Bazar, um, and other fine concerns. It's really, it's a, it's a tough and self indicting. But also really funny and erudite memoir, which I believe, uh, many people would get things from. And I just think that's the kind of book that I think of when I think of sort of like widening the pool of my recommendations. Alex Schwartz: Mm-hmm. I think that's a great recommendation. I just a little shout out for the audio version, read by the actor Richard E. Grant who pronounced restaurant Restaurant. Restaurant as if it would had never stopped being a French word. Great. Wonderful. Naomi Fry: Another suggestion to your friend and just in general is why don't you, if you feel intimidated, if you feel like not necessarily like turned on by reading immediately pick up a book that's a relatively easy lift in terms of like, it's like length and heft. For instance, I'm thinking about the novels of Gwendolyn Riley. Uh, this British writer whose novels, she's written seven novels by now. They're all quite short, they're all pretty sparse. I'm now reading her new novel set to come out, I think in a couple months. It's called Palm House and. I'm racing through it. Mm-hmm. Because it's like an easy lift on the level of like, it's 200 pages. It's like, it's, it's, uh, the font is pretty large. You know, the pages are quite sparse, but it's amazing. She's an amazing writer. Okay. Uh, and Vinson Cunningham: something like that. Naomi Fry: Something like that, which is like, okay, here you can do this, you know? Vinson Cunningham: I've been meaning to get into her book, so that's Naomi Fry: a good, it's great. Thank you. I I really, I was just reading it on the subway here and I was like, Ugh, this is awesome. Alex Schwartz: Mm. Yeah. Maxwell, I have one other thing to say to you, and this is gonna be a bit of a, you know, a cold bath as it were. I think you need some new friends. I'm not saying get rid of the old Yes. But listen, people are reading. Mm-hmm. They are. Mm-hmm. And people are actually very vocal and passionate about reading. Look at good reads. Look at what's going on there. Look at the, the hype, the arguments, the controversy. They're out there. Join a book group. Naomi Fry: Yeah. Alex Schwartz: Go to where the readers are. You deserve it, Maxwell. Naomi Fry: Okay. Alex Schwartz: I hear a rumbling. Naomi Fry: Do we have a very special guest? Am I hearing a very special surprise guest at the door? Who could it be? We literally don't know. Have no idea. I Alex Schwartz: know we sound like we're staging it, but we Naomi Fry: really don't know. No, we really don't know. I don't know Alex Schwartz: if we, Naomi Fry: Mr. David, Mr. David Renick. [b] Alex Schwartz: There's, there's cake, there's cake, Naomi Fry: there's cake. Come to David Remnick: see you. Alex Schwartz: There was con confetti. Naomi Fry: There's cake, there's even water, there's a coran, Alex Schwartz: there's even water. It's, it's an, it's incredible in David Remnick: my, uh, little gig. Alex Schwartz: Alright. Naomi Fry: Okay. David Remnick, we have Mr. David Remnick. I'm so happy to be here. House for the very first time. David Remnick: Mossel tough Naomi Fry: a David Remnick: hundred episodes. I came down to congratulate you. Thank you very much. Is Naomi Fry: thank you. David Remnick: This is, thank you. This is great. Mm-hmm.[c] This cake, this do our and, and our, and I feel that people listening should get a full description of this. Alex Schwartz: Well, it has a fondant picture of our logo on it. David Remnick: Is that what that's called? Alex Schwartz: Yeah. Vinson Cunningham: Should we, should we eat it now that David's here? Should we have it slightly? David Remnick: Yeah. Why? Why do you think I came? That's right. Naomi Fry: Well, we Alex Schwartz: saving, we knew Naomi Fry: not Vinson Cunningham: what for it's, Naomi Fry: we'll need to clear David Remnick: the Vincent by all means. The con, Naomi Fry: the confetti. David Remnick: Yeah. You don't want to eat confetti. Yeah. It's less delicious than one, I'd imagine. Okay. Naomi Fry: And I believe, David, you are here not just to help us celebrate. David Remnick: Oh, I've been prepped my friend, Naomi Fry: but you, maybe you have a question to share with us because I do, this is the, I need a critic episode, David Remnick: so I do need a critic[d].[e] So I have, I have two issues. Okay. Naomi Fry: Yeah. David Remnick: One is a poppier one, and as you know, my ultimate escapism Naomi Fry: mm-hmm. David Remnick: Is anything that has chirons in the bottom where you see, you'll see the Eiffel Tower, but that's not enough to tell you where you are. And then it'll say, Alex Schwartz: mm-hmm. David Remnick: Paris comma France. Alex Schwartz: Right. You like being treated like a fool. Okay. David Remnick: Nothing better. I heard that Netflix has a Ben Affleck, Matt Damon thing with, and they're wearing cop vests. I Vinson Cunningham: can't wait. David Remnick: I am so in. But I wanna know in my area, Alex Schwartz: yes, David Remnick: spies, espionage. Okay. That kind of thing. Gimme a suggestion. Alex Schwartz: I feel like you're so ahead of me, David. I don't even know what I'm gonna do here. Vinson Cunningham: Have you seen Mark Revelo as an ex priest now? Alcoholic? David Remnick: No. Vinson Cunningham: In task. David Remnick: Ooh. Oh no. People keep telling me. Task is great. Vinson Cunningham: Uh, mark, this is David Remnick: HBOI [f] Naomi Fry: believe it's HBO. David Remnick: Yeah. And he's HBO Naomi Fry: OI haven't seen it, but I heard it's really, it's Vinson Cunningham: really, it's HBO max. It is, David Remnick: yeah. Vinson Cunningham: Yeah, yeah. And uh, Ruffo has had a horrible family. Tragedy. You David Remnick: have to have Vinson Cunningham: that. And he's, and he is and and now he's leading a small field office of dubiously prepared. He agents, he filled with David Remnick: pain Vinson Cunningham: field. I mean the pain is visceral. He drinks vodka every day out of a plastic, a child's plastic cup. Yeah. Not his Naomi Fry: child. Vinson Cunningham: Plastic, his daughter walks out. Feels very Naomi Fry: sad. Vinson Cunningham: That's Naomi Fry: a little over deter. Vinson Cunningham: It's sad. But he still has a priestly. Otherworldly aura. Mm-hmm. And thinking that he is solving a, a group of like small time home invasions finds himself in the middle of a large drug related conspiracy. You will love it. David Ram. That sounds David Remnick: perfect. I am in, [g]okay. So, alright, so that was my one question. The other thing's much more serious. We are all of us, all four of us professional readers. [h] Alex Schwartz: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. David Remnick: And yet if I don't take my phone and put it in another room, it's trouble. So how do you. In this attention economy, in this, okay, in this, in this attention frittered world, how do you manage? Alex Schwartz: Well, I have a little thing called Opal. David Remnick: What is that? Alex Schwartz: It's an app charges a hefty fee, but a fee I'm happy to pay because you can block various apps on your phone using Opal. David Remnick: Does it take your child out of the apartment too? Alex Schwartz: That costs a lot more money. They got it. But it's a wood that it, were so simple. David Remnick: Yeah. So what, what do, what do you guys do? Naomi Fry: So the only thing that's worked for me so far is just. Deactivate my Instagram at certain points. I haven't done it in a while, but the last time I was off for like four months, so I just was not on Instagram at all. David Remnick: Like a cleanse. Naomi Fry: Like a cleanse, A full colonic. That made me, yes, and that helped me read a lot more and. Concentrate. I have heard good things about brick. Vinson Cunningham: I've got a bunch of friends who like, you Naomi Fry: know, yeah, you put it all morning, you can't touch it. People have it on the refrigerator. Say they're you, you kind of, well, it's a physical thing. It's a physical thing, and you be beep it, it disables your whatever apps you tell it to disable, and then you actually have to go and touch it. I guess I, I don't have it, but that's my understanding. So Alex Schwartz: this is the, let's get brick, let's try brick. Naomi Fry: Yes. Vinson Cunningham: I also wanna say for the record, David, it's Alex Schwartz: pain. I'm making it, it, Vinson Cunningham: it's all this. This is all great and I love the sort of Puritan Worth work ethic of this conversation, but can I just say for the record that I don't think David Remnick of all people needs to be more productive? Alex Schwartz: No. Well, Vinson Cunningham: maybe you need to be on your phone a little bit, David. David Remnick: Yeah. Here, here's Vinson Cunningham: the, you got a lot of jobs. David Remnick: I've learned how, and this is going to upset you. I've learned how to do some of my weekend reading with the Nick game on and the sound. Off. Oh, there's one person in this room. And not fault me for that. Naomi Fry: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Mr. Mr. Vincent cu This Vinson Cunningham: is when, this is when we text is when we're both, we're both doing this. Alex Schwartz: You deserve, you deserve to enjoy yourself. David Remnick: Do I? Alex Schwartz: Yes. David Remnick: Thank you. Vinson Cunningham: Get a couple Naomi Fry: swipes in. David. You've earned it. You've earned it. We David Remnick: love you, Alex Schwartz: man. Thank you. Love you. It's a delight. Thank you, David Remnick: MLE. Naomi Fry: Thank you. Congrats. Thank you so much. Alex Schwartz: Come back anytime, David. It was David Remnick: fun. Take care. Naomi Fry: You have more questions and wouldn't you know it? We have more answers. Critics at large from the New Yorker will be right back. :: MIDROLL:: Okay. Vincent, do you wanna share Vinson Cunningham: another? I got one. I got one. Naomi Fry: Okay. Vinson Cunningham: I got something from a, a listener named Annie. I think this is a constantly pressing human problem. Annie. CLIP: Hi critics. My question for you is, how should one choose a baby name? I hope this isn't too personal, but I wondered since you're all parents, what cultural considerations came into your decision making process? Um, I'm not pregnant, but I hope to be someday, and I'm so puzzled when I consider what I'd name a child since there's so much historical and cultural and trend baggage tied to names. Um, so I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thank you. Naomi Fry: I love this question. We had a list, but we were kind of like, we didn't have like a clear winner of a name before our daughter was born, and as we were in the hospital, we were still kind of debating it, but. You know, by the time we had to leave the hospital, which, because this is America was like, you know, 11 hours after I did birth, basically. I'm exaggerating, but it was like, boot, you're outta here. Yeah. I'm like crawling out. Yeah. Um, um, so which all of which is to say, this is a question Deb. Befuddled me as well. And I, and I, you know, I didn't really know, for me, one of the guiding principles, and this maybe has to do with the, my, my own feelings about my name, is that I wanted the name to be pronounced the same in every place. Mm-hmm. And language. Um, my name is Nomi, even though I, I pronounce it Nomi, even though it's written with name, because I'm from Israel originally and that's how the name is pronounced. But I understand that is very confusing. You know, it looks like it would be pronounced. Naomi or Naomi, I, for me, that that uniformity and my daughter's name is Nina. And so I like that. It was like, it was a Russian name. It was a Spanish name. It can be a Hebrew name. It's, you know. Mm-hmm. It's an angle of Saxon name, you know it, and it's the same in every it. That was really, for some reason, that universality was really kind of like, I wanted it to be easy for her. And another thing is. I think like the vibes of a name are maybe more important than, you know. Actually this is named after like a particular character I love or although that's lovely as well. I didn't have that. The vibes of Nina for me, and I'm not sure exactly why that is. Felt very like 1970s upper West Side and it seemed to me something that I kind of like. For whatever reason, kind of like built me culturally, even though I didn't grow up in the seventies on the upper West side. And so I, I like that sense of it. Alex Schwartz: Feeling and vibes are important. Um, I went with a traditional name. My son's name is Benjamin. I mean, basically we chose the most like Ashkenazi name we could possibly have. I liked the kind of classic biblical names that have meanings that are attached to characters that all have meanings in the hebrew language, I went for that. One thing I will say about names that I find so endlessly fascinating from a cultural perspective is there's always the, uh, probably a little category of distinctive names that seem so distinctive and the parents are like. This is a really standout name. And then it just turns out that's the name of the generation. Um, a dear friend of mine, her daughter is named Sylvie, and I ran into someone a few months later who proudly told me her daughter's name was Sylvie. And I said, I know a Sylvie and her face fell, you know? Mm-hmm. And now I know a bunch of Sylvie's, so. Uh, do what you do what you like. Listener. Do what you like. Do what? Do what Sounds good and feels good. Yeah. Do what works for you. Don't fall into family pressures and this and that. That's what I would say. I dunno. Vincent, what about you? Vinson Cunningham: Well, I've always been really attracted to the idea, which like comes up in the Old Testament all the time, which is like something's happening in the life of the parent and they name the child. Something that sort of is almost like a marker in time. Naomi Fry: Hmm. Vinson Cunningham: It's kind of a so cystic idea, but it really is about like the child's arrival. What it. How the parent interprets it. And we all know this because when we speak about our children, the joy that hap, you know, when you think about the child and this rush of associations come, and I say this only to say that you have to like how it sounds because I think the name has to inspire that same rush of affection and gratitude and importantly memory every time, uh, this, this happened with, with my firstborn. You know, I always wanted to have a kid with a sort of new Yorkie name. Mm-hmm. Madison Avenue in Harlem is one of my favorite. You know, the little correspondence between Madison and Fifth Avenue is one of my favorite places. Um, I just wanted to think about that. My younger daughter's name, Luz, LUZ, means light, and I named her at a time when I really wanted a light in my life. And I think about those things. You know, I think, think about myself as like a young city walker all the time. When I say Madison, I think about this like, great light every time I say loose. So it's like, it, it it, you want the name to be as much of a, I dunno, carrier of hope and joy as the child is. And so that's really about your own ear. Alex Schwartz: Yep. Alex. Okay. I'm queuing us up. Go ahead, Alex. Here we go. From Emily. CLIP: Hi, my name is Emily and I live in Vermont. Recently I watched the movie Die My Love, and I absolutely hated the movie. I was completely unmoved and felt like I was being sort of beaten over the head, um, with a hammer. I found it really heavy handed. I've been thinking a lot about the movie and I wanted to know if there's ever been a time when the world has. Embraced a movie and you have found yourself on the outside, um, thinking, man, I really don't enjoy that at all. And, um, what that made you feel about yourself and your sort of relationship to the rest of the culture? Uh, really, really love your show and appreciate your perspectives and thoughtfulness. Thanks. Alex Schwartz: Naomi is absolutely grinning. She's grinning and cackling. Naomi Fry: Okay. I'm not gonna be a huge bitch, but I will say, Emily, that I am with you. I'm with you, my friend, and yeah, I mean you are. You will never walk alone. As far as it concerns me and the movie. Die my love. Yes, absolutely. Unmoved. That's all I'll say. I don't know what my co-hosts, uh, felt about the movie or if they've seen it. Alex Schwartz: Didn't see it. Vinson Cunningham: I didn't see it. Naomi Fry: Okay. Well, we we're trusting Naomi on this one. Yeah. Alienated. Alex Schwartz: Alienated by the press tour, Naomi Fry: but I, I'll put that out there. But I do know the feeling. Of like thinking at least that you're not in step with the rest of, of the culture and, um, it's a lonely feeling. It's a weird feeling. When you know, you watch a movie or you read a book or whatever it is, and you feel like, how is this possible? How is this possible? It's a very weird feeling. It's, I remember it happened to me with Carol, with Todd Haynes's Carol, which everybody loved, and I had read The Price of Saul, the Patricia Highsmith book that. Uh, it was based on, and I love the price of salt, and then I saw the movie and I was like, okay, this is, I get why people are liking this, but it's like, it's not like the book, you know, it's, it's not nearly as good. And I remember feeling yeah, quite lonely about that. And I think I even like wrote about the movie and, um. You know, it feels alienating, but at the same time, there's like a sense, sometimes like a sense of pride that I feel I do, I, I am very unbelieving in myself often, but I do believe in my taste. Like I do know what I like and not like, just like on a visceral level. And just be proud of that. Be proud of your own, of your own taste. Just like it's you, it's it, it's what your taste is, what creates you partly. And so that's, it's fine. It's fine. You, you have my, my blessing especially because I agree with you about that movie. Vinson Cunningham: Yeah. I'm in the middle of this and it's still a nego negotiation with me because music definitely works on us over time. But, um, the band, the band Geese, Alex Schwartz: I knew you were about to say that even before you said it. I knew it was coming. Vinson Cunningham: Really, I, I mean, I usually like, you know, the people that like that album are people whose. Opinions I, I really admire often. Um, but th they're, they're, uh, 20, 25 album getting killed, um, which has some bangers on it. I like this song called Half Real. But there's this song on it that's on everybody's like, this is my favorite song of the year. All pays do cocaine. I don't know how to say mm-hmm. Things that are French and origin, but, um. I listen to it, I'm like, okay, you know, it, it just, it's got a sound that maybe isn't totally native to my ears. And, uh, I, this, this album, I've listened to it about five times. I really try to get into albums, but I'm just kind of like, there is a consensus around this album getting killed that I can't feel my way into yet. And it is isolating, but it's also to Nomi's point, a reminder of, um, usually when that happens, those are the moments when I can. Locate something new in my own taste. It's like, I don't like it because boom. Yeah. And often I will have learned a new facet of my own taste Yeah. Through, in this negative way. Naomi Fry: Okay. I am gonna go to a question that I'm, I'm curious about. I feel like I, Alex at least will have kind of like an interesting answer to this. Ooh, Alex Schwartz: let's hear Naomi Fry: it. Okay. This is from Elsa. I my, by reading, I try Alex Schwartz: chore. What a wonderful question. Uh, you know what I do have, I mean, I can just speak from personal experience. Mm-hmm. No, you're absolutely right. So, I love speaking French. I love speaking French. I love listening to French. I love, um, living in French. I don't love reading in French for the exact same reasons that Elsa says, you know, I feel that there's, I feel like I'm reading through basically like Vaseline fogged Speaker 10: Yeah. Alex Schwartz: Glasses and the deep. Pleasure. Even in difficult English texts of wrestling, of mentally wrestling, it's slower, it's more arduous. All of those things. Elsa, it's okay if you're lazy and if you need to persist. Persist. Vinson Cunningham: Yeah. I would also say that, uh, right now I'm embarking on some Portuguese language study and. The answer for me is poetry. Alex Schwartz: Mm-hmm. Oh, okay. Vinson Cunningham: Because this issue of like sort of diminishing, uh, abilities as you go along is kind of solved with poetry. You, you, like one lyric poem might take you a long time to like totally figure out, but every time you do that, you're learning because poetry is the art that takes every word and brings along with it all of its like. Former uses all of its associations and then it's over for a little while, and then you can, um, get to work on a new poem another day. Naomi Fry: And I will say too, just to, uh, wrap this up, is that some things can be a chore. Alex Schwartz: Yes. Naomi Fry: Like we don't need to, and it's Okay. Need to, and it's okay if something needs to be a little bit of homework, you know, and you say, okay, twice a week I'm gonna set aside an hour. And sit down and read in German and I'm not gonna like melt into the book as I would in English and I'm not gonna like necessarily understand all the double meanings and whatever, but I'm just gonna practice then just set that time aside. Not necessarily fun but useful. Um, Vincent, do you wanna give us another? Vinson Cunningham: Absolutely. Um, here, friends is Issa. Um, a question very close to my heart. Uh, I can't even, I mean, I couldn't, it's like really the heart of the matter for me. I'll just let it roll. He said go ahead. CLIP: Hello critics. I have been faced with a very pressing dilemma in my relationship and it has to do with road trips and the dilemma being who is on OX and what is on OX as we were going on road trips. So just to give you a sense. Of my partners and my music tastes. My day list yesterday was old school electrola Latino Sunday morning, whereas my partner's day day list was Van Life Modern Folks Sunday afternoon. So you can see how distinct our music tastes are. So I would love if. Y'all could help us out with recommending some music playlists, anything that a Taylor Swift loving man and a juanes slash bad bunny loving person could enjoy together. Or even some fictional podcasts or audio books that we could both enjoy. We have, we've listened to movies even on the on road trips, the one that we've shared being. It, the Devil Wears Prada, so we're up and down for anything. Just something that we can both, you know, sing our hearts out to and really enjoy as we're hidden the streets. All right. Thank you. Naomi Fry: Okay. Issa. Vinson Cunningham: Yeah. Naomi Fry: Uh, that's, you know, Vincent, since you said this is the heart of the matter for you. Vinson Cunningham: Oh God. It's so important. Naomi Fry: Do you wanna, do you wanna start? Vinson Cunningham: Yeah. Well, I, first of all, I'd love to make playlists and I think, um, that what this points out, this dilemma points out is that the, the art of making a playlist, listening to something in, in public with another person is always kind of. It's not just a passive enjoyment, it's not just a passive entertainment, but it's kind of a didactic thing. You're like, you're learning something. Uh, by way of the correspondence between song A and song B in making the playlist is an answer to the question, what does bad Bunny have to do with Taylor Swift? Where, what are the in-betweens? So it's literally like you guys need to make a joint playlist, which is easily done on most of the main streaming services or whatever. And you need to start with two songs or maybe even, I don't know, maybe six songs. The point being three for you, three for him. And then your homework until whenever the road trip is, is to find songs that, um, sort of belong in the conversational air between your songs and his. This is an amazing opportunity to learn each other. And then learn something together and you're gonna find some ama. The playlist that you make is going to be not just something to enjoy, but it's gonna be like a syllabus of your joint enjoyment. It, it's gonna make you and him better. Think about rhythm. Think about BPM, like what are, what are some songs that just have the same, the same beat structure? It's gonna be fun. I would just say enjoy. I Alex Schwartz: love that advice. I'm gonna take it in a bit of a different direction because Issa, as I understand your question, you guys, you're really open. Like it doesn't just have to be music. Like maybe you'll never find that musical sweet spot. I mean, if you're listening to The Devil Wears Prada, not even watching it, it suggests an interest in movies to me. Like movies bring us together. Okay. I've been listening to a podcast that I've been really. Enjoying, and it's called What Went Wrong. It's a podcast about movies and about the making of movies and about what went wrong and occasionally what went right in the making of many, many movies. Like I listen to one on Chinatown. I listen to one on Toy Story. The two hosts are great. They have a lot of knowledge. They're smart, they're funny. Why don't you guys check that podcast out and look for some movies that you've both seen? And it could even become like a kind of a playlist as you drive and maybe you watch the movie when that night, when you get where you're going. I feel like that could be a fun little project. Naomi Fry: That's a lovely suggestion. Alex, who do we have on tap? Alex Schwartz: Okay, we have a very timely question from ast. Speaker 10: Dear critics, my name is Astrid. I'm Danish, and I live in Copenhagen. And for this past year or so, I've been witnessing a kind of b[i][j]oycott of the United States of American products like Colgate Toothpaste, KX Cornflakes, Tesla cars, HBO, Netflix, so on and so on. And people are also very discouraged from traveling to the United States. And I am too. The reason, of course, is the very strong and threatening and hateful words and actions by the Trump administration against Europe in general, and Denmark and Greenland in particular. It's always been that way that Europe has always looked up to and been influenced by American literature, cinema, tv, and cultural trends, and Americans have always been charmed by European cultures and been influenced also by our art artists, sign food and our fashion. I, myself have always loved Americans and I've always just had a warm place in my heart for the United States, so obviously it's really, really sad to see that people over here are giving up on the us. I would really love to hear your thoughts on this. Critics, do you miss us as much as we miss you? And what can you suggest looking to art and culture that can inspire us to fall back in love? Naomi Fry: Oh, I think we miss you. Astrid. We, we miss Alex Schwartz: you Astrid. Naomi Fry: I think we miss you to the extent of like, wanting to move in with you. Alex Schwartz: Yeah. Astrid, we wanna, we wanna be where you are Naomi Fry: for us over here at, uh, critics at Large hq. You know, much love to Europe. Alex Schwartz: Um, sorry. Naomi Fry: Yes. And we're sorry, but, you know, anyway, so, but yes, that's a good, you know, obviously as, as you, as you imply, you know, suggest there, there's a long, long history of, um. Literature and movies and, you know, works of art about the relationship between Americans and Europeans and Americans going to Europe and Europeans going to America and, and, and so on. But I would say a favorite of mine, and I mean, and it's a series, it's three movies, the, the Richard Link later before Sunrise Trilogy in which Ethan Hawk plays. A young starting out as a young American in the first iteration, um, who meets a French girl, Julie Delpy, and they fall in love. I think it's a very charming, very loving depiction of the love and compassion between, uh, as well as some, you know, like conflict between the American protagonist and the French protagonist. Vinson Cunningham: Well, my initial reaction to this is, is is Henry James. That's like, Naomi Fry: oh yeah. Vinson Cunningham: You know, I, I'm, I was thinking about the ambassadors, which I is my most recent reread of James and just the sort of change in perception that overcomes an interested and open American upon Naomi Fry: Lambert Stru. Vinson Cunningham: Yeah, upon reaching Europe in the sort of, um. Not simply locational, but sort of, um, spiritual change that can come with a kind of, you know, diplomacy of the heart, let's call it. Maybe that's one. Alex Schwartz: You know, I just think Astrid so much. I hear you and I feel you deeply, and I almost think the thing you need is like something super American. Like you say, you wanna fall back in love with. American culture, and I'm just gonna come and say, I know that we've talked about it a lot, obviously, and that we have a relationship to it in the room. I think when, when the movie Marty Supreme comes to you, you should see it. You just gotta see a hustler who only cares for himself. Mm-hmm. Who's like, in many ways the worst aspect of the society, but in some small ways also kind of the best aspect of the society. An outsider, a Jewish kid in the post-war who has. Crazy delusions of grandeur, and believe me, if he thought that just capturing Greenland would win him a ping pong trophy, he would do it. I think you have to just. Brush up against that absolute frenetic, completely delusional American energy, and know that we really are with you. Naomi Fry: We've been doing all the hard work in a minute. Listeners. Yeah, it's your turn. I need a critic on critics at large. We'll be right back. :: MIDROLL:: Okay, so normally, you know we're the ones answering the questions, but this episode is a little bit special, so we're changing things up. We have our own questions to share, and we need your advice. Alex Schwartz: Yes, Naomi Fry: listeners, we're turning the tables. Alex Schwartz: Help us. Naomi Fry: Help us. We help you. Mm-hmm. We hope Now we need your help. If you think you've got an answer to the questions we're gonna be posing right now, please email it to us at the mail@newyorker.com. Subject line critics. Okay, you guys, what are your questions? Let's, let's, let's start. Vincent, do you wanna begin? Vinson Cunningham: Yeah, I do wanna begin, obviously, uh, a lot of the questions that we get often have to do with kids and stuff, so I wanna reciprocate that. My question is this. Let's say you have a young child, as I do, the child goes to sleep, I don't know, somewhere in between seven and nine, depending on how the night's going. You gotta get to bed at, let's say midnight now, one of my vices that I stay up away longer than that way longer, but I'm, I'm trying to change. You're Naomi Fry: a bit of a bad boy. Vinson Cunningham: Yeah, a little bit, you know, up at night. Yeah. Um, how do people, I would love to know, manage their engagement with art they wanna read. Maybe you want to get a movie in or an episode of a show. Under that ki you got three hours to yourself, let's say you and the other adult that you live with or or not. How do you fit it all in? Do you talk about it beforehand? Do you have a schedule? How do you manage getting in culture and art under the nocturnal timeline that is sort of imposed upon you by a child? Naomi Fry: That's a great question. Vinson Cunningham: Love it. It's, it's a big problem for me these days. Naomi Fry: It's a struggle for all parents, especially of young kids. Yeah. Yeah. Alex. Okay. What's your question? Alex Schwartz: As listeners may know, I have been engaging a bit more than usual in the world of sport. I was very surprised to find myself thoroughly enjoying learning about football for There you go. Our recent football episode, and what I wanna know is what great artwork. About sport, do you think I should engage with next? Could be a movie, could be a book, could be TV series, could be whatever. Where am I going? Take me there. Naomi Fry: Great question. I wouldn't mind knowing for myself. Alex Schwartz: We'll find out. We're gonna find out. I'll pass the, I'll pass the word along. Naomi Fry: Okay, so here's my question. Um, if you've been listening for a hundred episodes. Listeners, you probably know that I'm a bit of a nervous person. I'm a bit of an anxious person. Like I, I wanna relax. Mm-hmm. I wanna chill out. But I find that's difficult for me. Okay. And I often find, or I fear, I guess, that. My desire to relax is at odds with my desire to better myself, to expand my horizons, to become a smarter, more improved person. Okay, so what I'm asking from you listeners, can you suggest a book or a movie or you know what, even an album that. Would help me find comfort and relaxation, but that wouldn't also be necessarily totally mindless. Okay, this might be a tall order. Mm-hmm. Because, you know, I watch housewives, I watch reality. You know, I do some stuff to relax. Mm-hmm. And I also think about those things. But the, but the, but it's not like high culture. Right? So I want that sweet meeting point between relaxation and edification. Help me, help me. Thank you you guys once again. Vinson Cunningham: Oh my gosh. Naomi Fry: Thanks so much, listeners, for sending us your questions. It's an honor, it's a pleasure. It's a privilege. Always. We loved celebrating this hundredth episode mark with you. Congrats to all of us. Vinson Cunningham: We did it Naomi Fry: to us in the room and also to Brianne and Corby and Alex Barris, Steven Valentino, Vinson Cunningham: Mike Kuman, Naomi Fry: Mike Kuman, all the people helping Vinson Cunningham: us. James o. James. Naomi Fry: Yo o Jake Vinson Cunningham: Loomis Naomi Fry: course. Vinson Cunningham: Vince Fairchild. Naomi Fry: Yes. Vinson Cunningham: Ron Bondy. Yeah. Naomi Fry: The people holding Alex Schwartz: it down. Naomi Fry: The people holding it down. We couldn't do it without you. And of course to the listeners once again, thank you. Thank you, thank you. Keep coming back as they say. That's it. Alex Schwartz: We're we're, we're here if you are. Naomi Fry: This has been critics at large. Alex Barish is our consulting editor, Riann and Corby is our senior producer. Our executive producer is. Steven Valentino, Alexis Quadra composed our theme music and we had engineering help today for Vince Fairchild with Mixing by Mike Kuman. You can find every episode of critics at large at New yorker.com/critics. And remember, you can always send us an email or a voice memo asking for advice. We might not get back to you right away, but we do bank these things for future episodes and sometimes we build whole episodes around the ideas you guys send in. And on that note. We have heard the call. We heard it loud and clear for heated rivalry, and we will be answering it. Join us next time. We'll see you there.