Naomi Fry: This is Critics at Large, a podcast from The New Yorker. I'm Nomi Fry. 
Vinson Cunningham: I'm Vincent Cunningham. 
Alex Schwartz: And I'm Alex Schwartz. Each week on this show, we make sense of what's happening in the culture right now and how we got here. Hello. 
Vinson Cunningham: Hey. 
Naomi Fry: Hey. 
Alex Schwartz: Happy summer. 
Naomi Fry: Summer. It's summer. It's summer 
Alex Schwartz: How have you been celebrating?
Naomi Fry: Uh, I got ice cream for the first time. Delish. At a shop. 
Alex Schwartz: Delish. 
Vinson Cunningham: Ice cream shop. 
Naomi Fry: Ice cream shop. Yeah. Double P-E. 
Vinson Cunningham: Yeah. I've been going to the park. Great big lawn right near, near my house. Going to the park, listening to the new Bruce Hornsby album. 
Naomi Fry: Wow. 
Vinson Cunningham: Ooh. So good. 
Naomi Fry: Oh my God, Vinson, that is so out of left field and I love it.
Vinson Cunningham: Hornsby is killing in this album. I'm having a ball. 
Naomi Fry: Yeah. 
Alex Schwartz: Sounds like we already got a recommendation. 
Naomi Fry: Wait. Oh my God. Guys, there's a new Drake or three new Drakes. Been listening to that too. That is, that is the sound of summer. 
Vinson Cunningham: Janus STFU, great song. 
Naomi Fry: Sorry. Oh, yeah, yeah. Who is Emiliana? 
Alex Schwartz: The culture is hopping- 
Vinson Cunningham: It is
and so are we. It is. Alex? 
Alex Schwartz: I've been to Coney Island. Really? Ooh. And I've been to the Wonder Wheel and all the kiddy rides. 
Vinson Cunningham: Oh, yeah? 
Alex Schwartz: Yeah. 
Naomi Fry: Wait, 
Alex Schwartz: can you say more about the Wonder Wheel? The Wonder Wheel is the big Ferris wheel at Coney Island. A very enjoyable experience. I went with my three-year-old son, and then we, we did all the rides.
Oh, amazing. We rode the Sea Serpent. A little scary, but we got through it. 
Vinson Cunningham: Does he like jo- to be jostled, 
Alex Schwartz: in this way? I'm surprised to discover he kinda does. 
Vinson Cunningham: Amazing. 
Alex Schwartz: Yeah. 
Vinson Cunningham: Amazing. 
Alex Schwartz: So that's what's been going on with us outside the studio, and now that we're in the studio, what better occasion to celebrate this happy season than an I Need a Critic episode.
Yay. Woo. Hooray. This is one of our favorite things we do on our show. 
Vinson Cunningham: Amen. 
Naomi Fry: We love it. 
Alex Schwartz: We love it. For newer listeners, first of all, hello if you're a newer listener, this series is our Critics at Large take on the advice column. It's as simple as that. You send in your questions, usually having to do with cultural matters, although we will arrogantly advise you on anything- This is true
and we do our very best to answer them. And every time we do this, we come away with one thought and one thought only: We love our listeners. It's the best. We love doing this. 
Vinson Cunningham: That's the best. We love your voices. 
Alex Schwartz: Yeah, and we love hearing from you. We love thinking outside the box for us, and these episodes are real treats for us because of that.
Naomi Fry: It, it helps me carry on. 
Alex Schwartz: It really do- It really 
Naomi Fry: does ... 
Alex Schwartz: it really does. It restores our faith in humanity. 
Naomi Fry: Yes. 
Alex Schwartz: Also, on our last I Need a Critic, we tried something new. We asked you, the listeners, for advice with our own cultural dilemmas, and it worked beautifully. You helped us, just like we try to help you.
That worked so well that we're bringing it back. So stick around to hear what we've got for you this time. 
Naomi Fry: Because we need serious, serious help. 
Alex Schwartz: It's mutual aid. 
Naomi Fry: It's mutual aid. That's 
Alex Schwartz: what it is. 
Naomi Fry: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. 
Vinson Cunningham: Help us out. Help us out. Come on. 
Alex Schwartz: All right. Vinson, Nomi. Yes. Are you feeling ready to advise?
Oh my 
Vinson Cunningham: God. 
Naomi Fry: I was born ready, Alex. 
Alex Schwartz: Oh. Yep. So happy to hear it, because that's today on Critics at Large, I Need a Critic, June 2026 edition.
________________


So we each have a batch of voicemails from listeners, and we're going to take turns sharing them with the group. Who wants to start? 
Naomi Fry: I can start. 
Alex Schwartz: All right, Nomi. Let's go. I mean, why 
Naomi Fry: not? 
Alex Schwartz: Let's 
Naomi Fry: go. Eager, eager beaver over here. 
Alex Schwartz: Fry it up. 
Naomi Fry: Uh, okay. We're gonna start with a voicemail from a listener named Nick.
Uh, play the tape, please. 
Nick: Hi, my name is Nick. I teach high school economics in New York City. Um, and I got a question for the critics. Um, I have a gap between, uh, the end of my course and the actual end, uh, of the school year this year. Um, so I was hoping, uh, to treat my students to a movie, uh, to reward them for all their hard work this year.
Uh, so I was wondering if you guys could suggest, uh, a movie, uh, that deals with or is about, uh, economic issues, economic concepts, maybe even about the study of economics. Um, but ideally one that is not about banking, uh, or finance. I spend a lot of time in the year trying to disabuse my students, uh, of the idea that economics is just the study of money.
Um, so I don't want to end the year, uh, with a piece of content that just reinforces that misunderstanding. So, uh, thanks for your help. Really appreciate it. A big fan of the show. Really liked getting to see you guys at the 92nd Street Y to discuss one of my favorite novels. Um, and thanks. Bye. 
Naomi Fry: Nick, that's a great question.
Vinson Cunningham: And thanks for coming out to see us, man. That was cool. 
Naomi Fry: I know. That was great. We're so, we're so happy. Next time, come say hi. 
Vinson Cunningham: You're a friend of the pod, Nick. 
Alex Schwartz: Okay, who has an answer? 
Naomi Fry: Who has an answer? I was thinking about this. I, you know, I obviously, as you guys probably know, I'm always interested in movies that have to do with finance, that have to do with banking, you know, whether it's, like, The Wolf of Wall Street or w- literally Wall Street or Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps-
by the Meister, Oliver Stone. Uh, but of course, as you suggest, like, economics, it's a, it's about structure, right? It's, it's, it's- Mm-hmm ... not necessarily just about, like, the place where literal money changes hands. Um, so I was thinking about this and I, I thought about a couple things. Um, there is the movie, uh, Sorry To Bother You, uh, that Boots Riley directed in 2018.
He now has this new movie that I'm sure you know about, I Love Boosters, in theaters. I have to admit, I did not love I Love Boosters, but I really liked Sorry To Bother You. It's kind of a dystopian satire of contemporary corporate life.
It's about a Black telemarketer who rises in the ranks of a corporation, it's called RegalView, because he uses a, a white... He is Black and uses a white voice, so he kind of, like, becomes a, a great employee of this corporation, and then he kind of has to navigate between selling his soul for kind of financial success- Uh, and joining a union push with his kind of, like, artsier friends, his girlfriend, and his, you know, and his, and his, uh, best friend.
I, I think it's a movie that provides a way, and might provide a way for your students to think about labor- 
Alex Schwartz: Mm ... 
Naomi Fry: and the kind of divide between I wanna have a good life, I wanna make a living, you know, I wanna kind of succeed- Yeah ... in kind of the economic structure of the moment, and what the price of that might be.
So I think that could be kind of a fun kind of spin on that for your- Mm ... students, possibly. 
Vinson Cunningham: That's so smart. 
Alex Schwartz: Great recommendation. No notes. Alex, do you 
Vinson Cunningham: have one? 
Alex Schwartz: Nope. That's it. I- I'm gonna, I'm co-signing Nomi's. I 
Vinson Cunningham: think Nomi did it. 
Alex Schwartz: Okay. Wow. We've done it. Great, 
Alex Schwartz: Consensus. Okay. Vinson, on to you. What do you got?
Vinson Cunningham: Let's do it. I got somebody. I've got- Elise 
Elise: Hi, critics. My name is Elise, and I'm calling from New York City. After having a quarter-life crisis at the age of 26, I decided I needed to do something completely different with my life, and will soon be beginning a master's program in architecture, a field in which I have absolutely no experience. I am curious if you have any favorite books or movies about architecture and the built environment. A personal favorite of mine, for example, is Sebald's Austerlitz. Thanks. 
Naomi Fry: Congrats, Elise, on your, on your change of, of career path- Very cool ... path. You know, it's, it's always great to do that. Take the... I, I, for instance, have decided recently that I should do more crafts.
Alex Schwartz: Hmm. 
Naomi Fry: I know it's not exactly the same thing. 
Vinson Cunningham: And what is architecture but 
Alex Schwartz: craft? Mm. This is a, this is a revelation to me. I learn something new every day. Um, del- delighted, delighted to know that about you, Nomi. And Elise, I think that there are few paths, I agree with George Costanza. And if you, at 26, don't know who that is, please look it up.
That there is no nobler profession than that of architecture. So here's what I got for you. Okay. The first is called My Architect. 
Naomi Fry: That was mine, too. 
Alex Schwartz: Oh. It's by Nathaniel Kahn. 
Naomi Fry: I love that movie. 
Alex Schwartz: It's about his father, the architect Louis Kahn. Louis Kahn was one of the most significant American architects of the 20th century.
He died in, I think, 1974 in Penn Station. He had a heart attack in the men's room at Penn Station, died. It took three days for his body to be reclaimed. So already this kind of fascinating story of major public presence. And Nathaniel Kahn was Louis Kahn's son, but part of his secret family. Mm-hmm. And it turned out that Louis Kahn had three families, the one he lived with, and then two others.
And so Nathaniel Kahn, in this documentary, which was from 2006, tries, goes through archives and goes to, um, compatriots of his father's, some very significant fellow architects, and tries to understand who his father was an- as an artist and also as a man, and it is fascinating. It's a great movie that works really well as an exposure to buildings and the built environment, as you say, and also to understanding the mysterious human element behind these major and imposing facades.
Naomi Fry: Yeah. I think it also, just to, I, I cosign everything you, you, you said about My Architect, Alex. Uh, the other thing I would say is that it kind of, like, investigates this, like, great man myth or notion, I guess, about kind of like important architects, right? Which as, as we know is something that kind of informs our idea of what makes for significant architecture.
The, the usually the man be- behind the buildings. 
Alex Schwartz: Yeah. So the other film recommendation I have for you is a very short film. It's less than 20 minutes long, and it's called Les Dites Caryatides by Agnès Varda, which means the so-called caryatids. Caryatids are carved figures of naked ladies- Mm-hmm ... on buildings.
And what Agnès Varda, who's one of my absolute favorite filmmakers did, was go around the streets of Paris and point her camera up to see where she could find caryatids on all kinds of Parisian buildings. If you know Paris, if you don't, it doesn't matter. It gives you a completely different, totally idiosyncratic, one of a kind view of this city It's a beautiful short jewel of a film. Love it. Take 20 minutes out of your day to go watch it. 
Vinson Cunningham: That sounds awesome. So I feel like I would love that. 
Naomi Fry: Yeah, me too. I don't know it. 
Vinson Cunningham: I only have a, a couple of short things to add to this. Please. I, I love those and I'm gonna hunt them down. One is a book by, for my money, the greatest, uh, American architecture critic Michael Sorkin, and he wrote a great book. It's called 20 Minutes in Manhattan, and it is this incredibly kind of slow and assured, but in, in the end, very exciting, like sort of thrilling illustration. He's like writing through his walk, he was also an architect, um, from his apartment in Chelsea to his studio.
That's it. It's like a 20-minute walk. And from the moment he leaves his door, he's talking about the design of the, the staircases in his building and, and what era they belong to, and talking about the New York City streetscape. It's this highly informed, almost auto fiction of moving through Manhattan that I just, I adore this book.
The other is a body of work of photography, which is the photography of Eugène Atget. 
Daphna: Mm. Mm. 
Vinson Cunningham: The, the late 19th century, um, French sort of failed actor turned almost gig photographer. He would do studies for, for architects and for draftsman and other kinds of artists. Um, but what resulted was just this incredibly complex, um, view of the streets, the parks, the, the public art, the statuary of Paris, um, in this incredibly, you know, theatrical way.
If you wanna read something about this work a- as you look at it, um, the former MoMA photography curator, uh, John Szarkowski, has a great, great, great essay about Atget. It's one of my favorite essays about photography. Um, so Atget, Michael Sorkin. 
Alex Schwartz: Love it. 
Naomi Fry: Love it. 
Alex Schwartz: Love it all. We're rolling. Okay, here's what I got for you guys.
So this one, we only got text. If you'll forgive me, I will read it. 
“I am Charlie. Charlie is a woman, so just imagine that I'm Charlie. Here we go. Charlie writes, "So my question is, where can I find big XL plus guys who are portrayed as genuinely, shamelessly hot male characters?" Charlie adds, "I'm a 34-year-old lady living in Sydney, Australia, and am exclusively attracted to super chubby, handsome guys.
For context, I'm 5'1", skinny, and get hit on a lot. When I realized this at the ripe age of 21, it was really confusing to me at first because nowhere on screen or in books or anywhere did I see big, i.e. fat, a loaded word, I know, but accurate, guys portrayed sincerely as a viable sexual interest. I would personally love to see a film, just one film, where a leading man is handsome and fat, and his innate attractiveness is portrayed as a given without any hesitation or shame or humor or overt comment attached to it.
That would be so cool and hot."
Charlie, I'm throwing this to my co-hosts because I'm sorry to say that I think you have a real cultural conundrum, and the culture that I know is not forthcoming with an answer for you. 
Naomi Fry: Yeah. This is a really, I mean, this is a great question, Charlie, and it's also a rough one because I totally agree with you with the thrust of the question that, yeah, I mean, just having, like, a regular guy who's a leading man who is of extra large size and it's portrayed without comment- Yeah
is, I think, kind of a pretty r- way too rare thing. 
Vinson Cunningham: You know where they make sexy fat guys? 
Naomi Fry: Mm. 
Vinson Cunningham: Hip-hop. 
Vinson Cunningham: but My favorite rapper, The Notorious B.I.G., AKA Biggie Smalls- Well, yeah, that's 
Naomi Fry: absolutely
Vinson Cunningham: if you let him tell it, is Helen of Troy. He's the face that lo- launched a thousand- Oh my God ... he's always, he, he, and he says it, you know- You 
Naomi Fry: know, from Faith Evans to Lil' Kim ... 
Vinson Cunningham: he's sexy. He's, and, and in his lyrics it's just like, "Girls pee pee when they see me." 
Naomi Fry: Yeah. 
Vinson Cunningham: That, that's what, according to him, I'm the hottest, I'm the coolest, I do- 
Naomi Fry: I 
Vinson Cunningham: put the rose 
Naomi Fry: in- I also do-
NY onto CKNY. 
Vinson Cunningham: The 
Naomi Fry: Miami, D.C., per- 
Vinson Cunningham: Prefer Versace ... Versace. He's talking about his clothes, he's talking about his money, he's talking about bottles in the club, the whole... You can't listen to his music, none of it makes sense if he's not also, he's, like, not fat, but also the hottest person on the planet. 
Naomi Fry: Yeah.
Vinson Cunningham: Um, Heavy D is an early archetype of- Mm-hmm ... he was, he, he's got, like, you know, the songs are a little bit more popcorn-y, they're a little bit more primary color songs, but it only works if he's the coolest. So- 
Naomi Fry: Fat Joe, literally in the name. 
Vinson Cunningham: Fat Joe, it's in the name. Before him- Big Pun ... Big Pun, who was- ... an incredible, incred- Seriously, in rap that, that's where- It's true.
I just, and I guess- That's where it happens ... 
Naomi Fry: my, my, my- 
Vinson Cunningham: I'm, I'm screwing with the question ... we 
Alex Schwartz: got there and that's, we got there. But yeah. And that's what counts. 
Vinson Cunningham: Put on some- Charlie ... Biggie- There you go ... and get yourself ready to find the love of your life, Charlie. 
Alex Schwartz: Love it. Vinson, what's your next question for us?
Vinson Cunningham: Here we go. Let's find out. Here we have a really great question from Sema, and it's email only so I'm gonna read it. 
"Hello critics, I'm a devoted listener from Iran." Wow. "And I've listened to almost every episode despite our terrible internet situation here. Right now life in Iran feels like living in constant anticipation of a full-scale catastrophe. It's hard to concentrate, hard to plan for the future, hard to fully commit to anything at all when everything feels uncertain and fragile all the time. So my question for I Need a Critic is which books or films or other cultural works have helped people endure periods of instability, fear, or historical uncertainty? What helps us continue living fully inside difficult realities, not by offering escapism or false hope, but by making uncertainty emotionally survivable?" 
Thank you, Seema. 
Alex Schwartz: Seema, what an amazing question. 
Vinson Cunningham: What a question. 
Alex Schwartz: Um, we get- 
Naomi Fry: Yeah. Seema, thank you for listening. 
Alex Schwartz: Yeah, Seema- We 
Naomi Fry: send, we send you love and strength.
Alex Schwartz: Um, I got an answer, and I'm sure I've brought it up on this show before, but as my co-hosts may know, one of my favorite books ever is Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert, which deals with a young man, Frédéric Moreau, who goes to Paris from the provinces in the late 1840s and falls in love with a married woman, has all kinds of adventures in art and living and romance, only to stumble right into the revolution of 1848.
I love this novel because when I read it, I read it for the first time I think right before the pandemic, um, and it felt, living in the age of Trump here, it felt so recognizable, the sense of youth and uncertainty and life going on anyway while being totally affected by bigger things. Yeah. But still, these concerns of the heart, uh, are, are happening because we're humans living human lives.
Mm-hmm. So I love that book, and I will tell you, it definitely made me feel less alone to read about someone else in a totally different time and place going through major upheaval. 
Vinson Cunningham: Yeah. 
Alex Schwartz: Vincent, sounds like you got something. 
Vinson Cunningham: I do. One of my favorite playwrights is the, um, Czech writer, dissident, but also statesman eventually, Vaclav Havel.
And his play Audience is about a man named Vanek who is, like Havel, a playwright, and he's forced, because of the brutalities of the regime, to basically start his life over, um, at a brewery. And in the fullness of time, he realizes that much of the brewery's political machinations are set up how they're set up because he is being spied upon by the regime.
Uh, it's funny and very intense, and it is precisely about this, the way that we work specifically, but also make humor and, in all these kind of canny ways, survive even under the worst sort of political circumstances. 
Alex Schwartz: Definitely. 
Vinson Cunningham: Seema, thank you. Our thoughts stay with you. Yeah. And, uh- Until next time ... that you make time to listen to us is a great honor.
Alex Schwartz: I know. We are honored So we've been through some questions. We have more to come. Thoughts at this point? I love taking a moment to process. 
Naomi Fry: Themes that are emerging? Just the fact that people trust us with their kind of like- Mm-hmm ... quandaries- 
Vinson Cunningham: Yeah ... 
Naomi Fry: is always, you know, quite, quite moving to me, I have to say.
Totally. 
Vinson Cunningham: For me, not only they, do they bring their quandaries to us, but like part of the, uh, I think implicit logic of some of these questions is that, is this understanding, which I totally share as part of my like, I don't know, belief about art, is that art belongs in the mix with precisely our quandaries.
Like that- 
Nick: Yes ... 
Vinson Cunningham: art is not a thing separate from our troubles or from our awareness of the insane contingencies of life, but it, it is, it is meant as a, as a companion and a response to those. Um, I, I think that is shining through in some of these questions. 
Alex Schwartz: In a minute, we're talking what to read while serving in the military, the best songs to sing your baby to sleep, and lots more.
Critics at Large from The New Yorker will be right back
:: MIDROLL:: 
Okay, we're back. Let's get to more of these questions. Who's next? 
Naomi Fry: It's me. 
Alex Schwartz: It's you. 
Naomi Fry: And it is Fiona and Sophia Uh, two friends who want to ask us a question. 
Alex Schwartz: Yay. 
Naomi Fry: Let's listen. 
Alex Schwartz: We love friends. 
Fiona and Sophia: Hi, critics. This is Fiona. This is Sophia. We are at a really crazy time in our lives right now because we're graduating from college in a week.
And we are looking to read, watch, or just consume any sort of media that can give us confidence and inspire us in the next chapter of our lives. 
You guys have been here before, so, and ended up in a really amazing place, so we're just excited to hear what you have to say. We love you. Bye. 
Naomi Fry: Oh, my God, that is absolutely the most heartwarming thing.
Alex Schwartz: It is we who love you, Fiona and Sophia. 
Naomi Fry: Exactly. 
Alex Schwartz: Love it. Um, Nomi, do you have an answer for this? Yeah. I bet you do. 
Naomi Fry: Yeah. I mean, I was thinking about this. I have a couple of thoughts.
I don't know if you guys have read, um, The Best of Everything, the, the Rana Jaffe novel from 1958. It's about five young women in New York all working in publishing, and they're all ... This is very much pre-Me Too. And yet they are, uh, spoiler alert, navigating issues that might sound familiar to, you know, even contemporary ladies like yourselves.
It's a total, like, page-turner, and, uh, it just gives a sense of kind of like a mid-century Manhattan and, and what it was like then to be like exactly where you are, like post-college, uh, young women trying to kind of like navigate life. Another thing I was thinking about is if it might be interesting for you to read a kind of like anti-manual or kind of like books like you can read it in order to know what not to do.
Basically. One book is the memoir How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell- Oh, man, yeah ... which is about the period of her life post-college, um, working much like the women in, uh, The Best of Everything, working in publishing in New York, in magazine publishing, specifically at Condé Nast, the very company that we work for, but at a different time, and, uh, how she kind of rose in the ranks in, in fashion publications while also battling a, a drug addiction.
Um- Just a great book for a young college graduate to read in order to know what not to do. 
Naomi Fry: Love it. 
Vinson Cunningham: What I would say to you guys, um, and thank you so much for the question, it's great, is that actually life has many of these moments, these kind of new births from one area of life into another.
These moments where you can kind of see the, your past life as its own unity, and you have this very harrowing realization that you have to, like, step into something else. Happens over and over. The passage into middle, mid- midlife is one of those things. I feel like this right now. I feel like I am in a, like a new adolescence in my life and one thing that's been helpful to me is to read about other stages of life that are different from my own that have that same character of, like, the leap of faith.
And so I love to read people about the shock of becoming old. 
Vinson Cunningham: Um, our magazine, The New Yorker, has, you know, because so many people spend a long time working at this magazine, it's, it's be- it's become kind of a, a specialty of ours, like the sort of, um, the old man essay. Um, our recently departed colleague, uh, Calvin Tompkins, wrote a, wrote a, like a journal of basically his final years, which was very moving to me.
Also, our colleague Roger Angell did a similar, um, essay. It's called This Old Man. John McPhee has written, his... Just look up his mo- last, his most recent pieces in The New Yorker and you'll find, um, someone puzzling through what it has meant to do what they've done and what, what to do now. So I would look for, for works that correspond to different moments of life that just seem like passages.
You know what's great for this? Kramer vs. Kramer. 
Naomi Fry: Oh, man. 
Vinson Cunningham: Oh, man. Div- divorce is the great metaphor of life change- 
Naomi Fry: Oof ... 
Vinson Cunningham: in American ci- especially, like, mid-century American cinema. It's everybody trying to, like, place adolescence, old age, middle age, all these moments. Divorce becomes the, the novel Divorcing Susan Tobes, great for this.
It's like how do adults not change on purpose? That's easy to do. But deal with change that forces itself on you. There are so many such moments in life, um, that the, the sort of settled nature of a life that you look at from afar is, trust me, anything but that 
Alex Schwartz: Vincent, please give us our next question 
Vinson Cunningham: I sure will Here is a question.
Fr- this is such a good one because I still deal with it, so thank you. This is Andrew. 
Andrew: Hi critics. My name's Andrew, and I live out in Portland, Oregon. Um, I'm relatively new to reading and consuming criticism in general. It really came out of a love for your podcast. Uh, but I've noticed that sometimes when I read criticism before consuming the primary text or piece, usually it's movies actually, my opinion of those pieces can be really influenced or biased to just kind of agree with the critiquer.
Um, so I'm wondering if you have any strategies for listening to criticism before consuming the reference media, um, or are there some instances you avoid criticism completely before watching or reading something? Thanks so much. 
Alex Schwartz: Totally. Flip that script, Andrew. Flip that script. If you know what the thing is gonna be about, read no more, watch the movie, and carry on.
Naomi Fry: So you're saying, "Boo, criticism." 
Alex Schwartz: No, Mi, 
Naomi Fry: please. No. No, I'm just- 
Alex Schwartz: Never would I say such a thing. 
Naomi Fry: No, I know. 
Alex Schwartz: I'm not saying, "Boo, criticism." What I'm saying is, yeah, you're total- of course. Like, someone else's reaction is going to, and this is the beautiful thing about criticism, it will give you a different point of view.
It will give you a point of view. I also find it very hard to shake other people's reactions to things. Mm-hmm. For sure. Mm-hmm. And, and that's great, but it doesn't mean that I want that necessarily. You know, in the same way that I, I will not read a forward before I read the book. You wanna find out for yourself. What do you think, guys? 
Naomi Fry: I agree. 
Vinson Cunningham: Um, I just, here's the thing, and what, part of what you said is so relatable to me, like the I wanna read about something that I'm not gonna see.
Um, I would challenge you to do that a lot. Like, if, if you're new to criticism and you're, you're kinda into reading it, choose something, you know, a ballet in a city that you can't go to. Yeah. Or, um- 
Naomi Fry: Or an art show 
Vinson Cunningham: in like- Or an art show- Yes ... Sausal or something. That's somewhere else. 
Naomi Fry: Yeah. 
Vinson Cunningham: Critic. Yeah And, um, it really, first of all, it brings home the function of criticism, or one of the many functions of criticism, which is to on some level put on the show for you.
Um, to invite you by sort of some transitive property into an experience that you can't, at least at the moment, have. When Alex and I were co-theater critics of The New Yorker, I thought about this all the time. Mm. The fact that these plays are going up in New York, and 90% of the people who read this piece or encounter it in a magazine are not going to have seen the show, and therefore I'm doing something else for them, uh, that involves the details of this show, but also kind of transcends them, and I find that to be intensely pleasurable.
And- Even if it's something like a movie, which you're definitely gonna see, if it's before, the critic has an amazing amount of power over you, and sometimes it's okay to just surrender that and then read a bunch of other pieces about the same work of art so that you can re-scramble yourself and then go see it. But play around with it. Play around with it. I always have this problem and worry about it still. 
Alex Schwartz: Okay. Here we go. Okay. Here is Evan. 
Evan: Hi, critics. This is Evan living in Brooklyn, and I have a question regarding an experience that I've had over the past two years and I know a lot of other people around me have also experienced, but don't find a lot of media, books, television shows otherwise related to friend breakups.
And I know that these can be just as painful, if not more painful, than romantic breakups. And I'm wondering if you have any references for understanding this problem that can kinda happen at any phase of life. Uh, love your work. Thanks. 
Naomi Fry: Evan, yes. A painful experience of having a friendship break up.
Obviously I'm gonna bring up, this is, this is an obvious recommendation. I believe we've, we've raised it before, uh, in the past, uh, the Elena Ferrante Neapolitan novels about- Mm-hmm ... uh, Lila and Lena. Over four novels, they, they, they come together, they break apart. They, you know, betray each other, they, they trust each other.
So many things happen. Um, another, another book and a movie that was based on this book that came to mind, um, about another season of life in which a friendship breakup happens is, uh, Ghost World, the, the graphic novel by Daniel Clowes, and the movie, the Terry Zwigoff movie that was based on, on this, on this novel.
Enid and, and Rebecca are two friends who finish high school, and, uh, they are kind of, like, uncertain, uh, what to do with their lives and, uh, until they, by the end of, of the book, they kind of like, you know, come apart. Their kind of very close friendship comes apart. And, uh, I think that's, that's another wonderful text to peruse in relation to this evergreen issue.
Alex Schwartz: Um, Frances Ha. Have you seen Frances Ha- Mm ... I wonder? From 2012, Noah Baumbach's movie. Um, starring of course Greta Gerwig as Frances Halladay, Frances Ha, who is just a kind of a mess, but with a good spirit about her, in New York.
And her best friend, who she really thinks she's gonna spend life beside forever, only to discover that people in their mid-20s very often have other plans And fall in love and move into other kinds of lives than the one that you were leading with your previously closest person in the world. Um, Frances Ha is great for this.
Vincent, you got anything? 
Vinson Cunningham: Uh, you guys did it. 
Alex Schwartz: We did it. 
Vinson Cunningham: You did 
Naomi Fry: it. We did it. Okay, I'm up again. Uh, and I have a question from Shane 
Shane: I'm looking for something to play for people who are on drugs. Uh, so I'm looking for something that is visually stimulating, but you don't have to pay super close attention to, that you can sort of like zone in and out on, and then also something that is going to not have any sort of like crazy violent imagery or anything that's gonna have like, you know, jump scares or, or gross things that pop up on the screen unexpectedly.
Um, but also ideally something that is like entertaining to watch. I'm looking for kind of the sweet spot between something that is like visually abstract and not that intense, but also like beautiful, but also not just like, you know, a screensaver. Uh, what should I play for people on drugs? 
Alex Schwartz: Wow. I wish you would say what kind of drugs.
I know. It's like what kind of drugs. I think it makes a difference because- Yeah ... I actually have a crazy immediate instinct. Um, but that it could drive someone to a point of no return depending on what the drugs are. Pink Floyd's The Wall. Yeah, exactly. Ever heard of it? Um, okay. Why not try the 1979 experimental American short film Asparagus, directed by Suzy Pitt.
It's an animated film. 
Naomi Fry: I literally have never heard of this. 
Alex Schwartz: Oh, Nomi. 
Naomi Fry: Asparagus? 
Alex Schwartz: Nomi, here, I'm just gonna start by reading you the first two sentences of the Wikipedia synopsis. And I quote, "A serpent is seen slithering down a woman's leg.
A woman then defecates two stalks of asparagus into a toilet." Okay, and we're off. It's asparagus. There are masks, there are handbags. Things change shape. You might be freaked out, you might love it. So asparagus. 
Naomi Fry: Vincent, do you have any thoughts? 
Vinson Cunningham: Couple. Um, here's the real answer. I don't know if you like sports, man, but here's the real answer. Put on basketball, put it on mute, and put on some music. 
Alex Schwartz: Mm, great answer. 
Vinson Cunningham: It's, it, it will m- just make you alive to the beauty of the human body and all of its great exploits.
That is my favorite thing to do. Also, the album Songs of the Humpback Whale, which is exactly what it, it sounds like. It's great. Okay, I want to play us a question from Ethan. Ethan, here we go. 
Ethan: Hi, critics. My name is Ethan. Um, my friend is going off to the military soon. It's a one-year military service, and he was asking me what sort of books to bring into the barracks.
And I think this is a great opportunity for a diverse set of literature and a reading list. So critics, what do you think are good books, novels, or essays to read while serving the military? 
Vinson Cunningham: Ethan, that's so interesting. That's such a, that's such a great question. To me, even though the military is never overtly portrayed, the body of work of someone who I think is now unfairly maligned J.
D. Salinger- 
Naomi Fry: Mm-hmm ... 
Vinson Cunningham: is all about having served in the military. I would, um, recommend my favorite Salinger text, which is, um, I, I guess it's two novellas smashed together. Um, but I think of it as a, a sort of novel in two parts. It's called Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, and Seymour: An Introduction. One is the funniest narration of a, the day of a funeral that you will ever read.
Also, one of the great people stuck in a car texts. And then Seymour is just a brother talking about his brother in an obsessive, sort of fanatic, almost evangelistic way. But it's about sociality between young men, how brothers think of other brothers, how susceptible we are to the manners and the attitudes and the tastes of other people, all the kinds of things that I think might be interesting for sort of like a, a young man surrounded by other young men, uh, in a novel environment.
That's what I'll say for now. 
Alex Schwartz: Critics at Large will be back in just a minute with more advice. Stick around.
:: MIDROLL :: 
Alex Schwartz: All right. Here's what I got for you guys. It comes from Sophie. 
Sophie: Hi, critics. My question is twofold, and adds a new facet, I think, to the episode you did on art and grief. Here is my situation. Last summer, my son Felix was stillborn at full term, and navigating this grief obviously has been indescribably challenging.
Amongst other things, I was drawn to literature of all kinds, and Euan Lee's book, Things in Nature Merely Grow, truly spoke to me, for example. So that was a great recommendations. Thank you for that. But lately, I find myself seeking books that talk about the challenging nature of friendships, because this enormous grief has affected some of my friendships, and I finally finished reading the Ferrante My Brilliant Friend series, which made me reflect more on this topic in relation to grief.
So here is my question: Do you have any suggestions on books and other kinds of art that talk about changing friendships in times of grief? Thank you, and hello from Canada. 
Alex Schwartz: Um, Sophie, it's great to hear from you. I am just, I'm just glad to hear you and to, and to be on the other end for you sometimes. Um, I wanna know if my co-hosts have an answer 'cause I...
This question brought to mind a few different answers, but none of them is maybe enough about friendship. 
Vinson Cunningham: Um, the one thing I'll say is that, you know, I don't know. I don't know if this is gonna-- I don't know if this satisfies the brief, say that.
Um, but I have found that the poems of Sylvia Plath make so much more sense to me after my own encounters with, like, livid grief, and they're often about The way that our perceptions change. Some of the images of these poems is like, you know, friends coming into and out of the, the room at a sanatorium, uh, bringing flowers, and the sort of almost, like, sickly sweet way that she describes the flowers as of, like, a sort of ruined beauty.
And in the same way, these people, she's like, "I love you, but please leave." You know, there's this, um, change in attitude that is aesthetic but also sort of, like, communal or something like that. Um, and then, you know, this is a big swing, but I would say, first of all, I think so much of the literature of the AIDS crisis is about precisely this, the way that we just sort of see not only societies but other people differently when, uh, encountered by a great grief.
And if you look at some of the relationships in Tony Kushner's great masterwork, Angels in America, uh, what happens to Prior's relationships, for instance, in that, in, in that play? Um, it's all about a world gone wrong and how that can change how you see. 
Alex Schwartz: Okay, here is Daphna. 
Daphna: Hi, critics. My name is Daphna, and I have a question that I constantly think about as a reader, and that is, when is it actually okay to DNF a book? By the way, DNF stands for did not finish. Um, I read a lot for pleasure and escapism. I really don't want my reading to feel like homework, and yet I dabble with this question a lot, uh, especially when picking up either classics or popular reads.
So, for example, I DNF'd My Brilliant Friend at around 60%, and I just never regretted it. I could not connect to that book, as popular as it may be. Um, but more recently, I read The Secret History, and I almost quit it multiple times, but I went through with it. I finished it, and I'm really happy I did. I learned a lot from that book.
So how do you go about, um, deciding when to push through versus when to let it go when picking up a book? Thank you. 
Naomi Fry: That's a, that's a, that's a good question. Uh, thank you, Daphna. Uh, it's I mean, I think I, I'm kind of like self-s- a, a little self-punishing. Like, I have a s- a streak of like, "No, I have to finish."
Vinson Cunningham: Yeah. 
Naomi Fry: Especially when it comes to classics. I think a certain amount of difficulty or a certain amount of kind of like, um, friction with a book you're reading is, is normal. And, uh, it's not always meant to be completely like, you know, page-turner-y. 
Vinson Cunningham: Mm-hmm. 
Naomi Fry: However, sometimes you just don't like the cut of a book's jib.
Vinson Cunningham: Yeah. 
Naomi Fry: You know what I'm saying? 
Vinson Cunningham: I do. 
Naomi Fry: You're like, "I fucking hate this narrator." Get the fuck out of 
Vinson Cunningham: here, 
Naomi Fry: man. "I hate this language. This is fake." "This is, I don't like this. Okay, goodbye." 
Vinson Cunningham: Yeah. Yeah. 
Naomi Fry: Yeah. 
Vinson Cunningham: I, that was a great... Like, that is exactly how I feel. 
Naomi Fry: Mm. 
Vinson Cunningham: And sometimes it comes down to me being honest with myself.
Why is this happening? 
Naomi Fry: Why is this happening? 
Vinson Cunningham: Why? Like, an examination of conscience. Like- 
Naomi Fry: Yeah ... 
Vinson Cunningham: is it because my brain has been ravaged by whatever, the internet, my s- my phone, and this becomes a way to, like, get myself back into the sort of rigorous depths of reading? Then I gotta fight it. But if it's truly this is not, this is not working, it's bad writing, it's, you know, I, I just don't respect this or like it, then I will allow myself.
But there are times, you know, 'cause the, the common answer is, "Of course, whenever you want. Do what- do what you want." But there are times when I'm like, "Hmm, this is something wrong." Yes. "It's you and you gotta fix it, and it has to happen with this text." So I ask myself these questions, I try to be honest, and then I act.
Alex Schwartz: Yeah, I like that, Vincent. I think it's a real know thyself. What's going on here? What an opportunity for further introspection and self-analysis- Yes ... is presented to us before our own failures in any category, let alone this one. Yeah, my instinct is to say, "Whatever, move on." It, I had a piano teacher once who just said, "Do you like this piece?
'Cause if you don't, life is too short. There's so much music to play. Let's, let's find something you do like." But as one is older, yeah, there is a question about why and what's happening. Often I just think if this is going on, uh, first of all, I don't feel a great deal of guilt around this question, basically zero.
Like, I'm in charge here- Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm ... and I gotta choose how I wanna spend my time. Um, but sometimes I just know it's a question of moment. This is not working for me right now, and I'm gonna return. 
Naomi Fry: Okay, guys, it's back to me. And this is actually, this is a really lovely question that I think will make us feel good because it's, it's, it's kind of y- you'll see.
It's like w- we, it's kind of like we're growing and l- and living with our listeners. We're side by side with them, holding their hands through various seasons of their lives. 
Alex Schwartz: My curiosity is piqued. 
Naomi Fry: Yes. So please, let's hear from Sophie. 
Sophie: Hi critics. This is Sophie calling from New Orleans. I actually called in for your first I Need A Critic episode 'cause I was pregnant at the time, looking for a positive book about being an artist and being a mother.
You recommended Katherine Rickett's book The Artist's Mother, and I just wanted to let you know that from there I read it, I loved it. Um, she and I connected on Instagram. We then got coffee, during which I cried telling her how much I loved the book. Oh. Um, that led to a virtual book club that I put together with people online and a friendship, so thank you.
Oh my God, Sophie. My new question is I am looking for a new song to sing my son to sleep with every night. Uh, right now I mainly sing him The Nearness of You by Louis Armstrong or, um, Deeper Than the Holler by Randy Travis. Before I learn the lyrics to a new song and add it to my repertoire that I will sing for the next five years, I just wanted some recommendations.
Um, what did you guys sing to your kids, and what should I practice for my son Lorenzo? Thanks so much, guys. Love, love, love listening every week. 
Alex Schwartz: I remember Lorenzo. I totally remember, 
Naomi Fry: yeah. 
Alex Schwartz: Lorenzo. Um, there's one person I wanna hear from this immediately on, and that's Vincent, of course. 
Vinson Cunningham: You know, it's so hard because especially as the baby gains in consciousness and therefore develops taste, which, um, sometimes they accept the song, sometimes they don't.
Sometime the song comes to signal bedtime, and therefore a wholesale rejection of songs. It is a, it is a, it's terrible. It's terrible. And so what we've started to do is to sing about- The surroundings and the day. We try to improvise a song. In my daughter's, uh, nursery there are- We've put up these, like, they're like these decal stickers of underwater life on the walls, and so there are lots of songs that are based on what's a whale, do you see the narwhal, say good night to the squid and to the stingray.
Um, there's a lot of description of what happens. One of the first songs I made up for my daughter was all about the trees that you can see outside our window. All these plants, all these green- ... forest green outside our window. Songs like that, that are just, like- I like that ... frank descriptions of what's happening, and then, like, sort of confirming the reality of life for the child.
Alex Schwartz: I mean, again, I must say it again, I love learning about my fellow critics through the answers. Who knew that this was going on? Oh, it's always happening. Who knew this was going on? Yeah. But it's happening. Okay, so I got- I have an answer for you, Sophie. First of all, I'm absolutely thrilled by everything you described.
I'm very touched. I'm very moved. This is really wonderful. So when my son was born, I, I had two songs teed up to be his songs. One was I Will by The Beatles, sung very sweetly by Paul. Who knows how long I've loved you. Beautiful song. Gorgeous song. The other one was, um, St. Judy's Comet by Paul Simon, which is about singing your kid to sleep.
Specifically, it's about singing your kid to sleep if you're Paul Simon, and it's a little bit of an ego challenge. "If I can't sing my boy to sleep, well, it makes your famous daddy feel so dumb-" Mm-hmm ... is something that Paul Simon sings that makes no sense when anybody else sings it. So this worked fine when this child was teeny, teeny baby, and then it kind of came to seem that he didn't care for these songs in at least my version of it.
So here's where we, where we are now. The song that works the best is one of my favorite songs ever. It's Sail Away Lady as sung by Odetta, as sung by me. It's a beautiful song. It is very lyrically simple. In fact, it's so lyrically simple that when I was looking it up today, I realized that I had just simply cut out a full verse that seems to have to do with, um, death, which, like, you know, that's all for the best.
It's gone now. And you can just sing it, it, around and around and around again. Um, I'm happy to play it if anyone wants to hear it. Please. Mm-hmm. A little snippet of it right now. Sure. I have it on my phone.
It's just very relaxing and very beautiful, and O- Odetta has one of my absolute favorite voices ever. So hope that helps. 
Vinson Cunningham: Beautiful.
What a, what a show. 
Alex Schwartz: What a show. 
Naomi Fry: Yeah, you guys- What, what listeners ... you 
Alex Schwartz: did it. We've been stirred, we've been moved, we've been excited, we've been motivated. I hope you feel the same.
Listeners, we're here for you. We love you
This has been Critics at Large. Alex Barasch is our consulting editor, and Rhiannon Corby is our senior producer. Our executive producer is Steven Valentino. Our show is mixed by Mike Kutchman, and we had engineering help today from Pran Bandy, with music by Alexis Cuadrado. Coming up on the pod, we are working on an episode about the man, the legend, the Steven Spielberg.
We're all excited to talk about Disclosure Day, but we're getting into the oldies too. Vinson, is this gonna be your first time seeing Jaws at last? 
Vinson Cunningham: Finally, I'm gonna watch the movie Jaws. 
Alex Schwartz: Consider it a sign. I 
Vinson Cunningham: can't wait. 
Alex Schwartz: I'm going back to ET. We're talking Jurassic Park. Where, Noomi, any, any- Close, 
Naomi Fry: Close Encounters 
Alex Schwartz: of the Third 
Naomi Fry: Kind.
Alex Schwartz: Close Encounters. We're there. Yeah. And we're gonna spend the next week or two catching up on these stone cold classics. Maybe you wanna join us and watch along. It's never a bad time to re-watch ET. I have not seen it in, in years, my friends. 
Naomi Fry: Oh my God, so good. 
Alex Schwartz: In the meantime, you can find each and every one of our episodes anytime at newyorker.com/critics.​