One of the great pleasures and honors of my life was the chance to interview my wonderful dad for Emmy Magazine in honor of the upcoming 60th anniversary of his famous speech to the National Association of Broadcasters, calling television “a vast wasteland.” An excerpt: Sixty years ago, on May 9, 1961, the 35-year-old Chairman of …

Continue reading “Interview with My Dad, Newton Minow, about the FCC, the SS Minnow, Saying No to JFK, and Media Today”

Outsider artist Bill Traylor was born into slavery. Traylor was the name of the white family that enslaved him and his family. They were more benevolent than some; the plantation owner’s will provided that Bill Traylor’s family should not be split up when they divided the estate. And so, even after emancipation, Traylor’s family stayed, …

Continue reading “Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts”

Relationships are complicated. That’s one reason we like movies, where they are generally less complicated, and give us the reassuring but inaccurate message that things work out the way we wish they would. The title of “We Broke Up” sets us a premise that looks like a romantic comedy but ends up as a bittersweet …

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I think we’re due for a chases and explosions movie, aren’t we? And “F9” looks like just the thing to kick off the post-pandemic world into gear. This is why they should have a stunts category at the Oscars. And why they should give another one to Helen Mirren.

Best Picture nominee “Nomadland” has an intimate, documentary tone. In this peek behind the scenes we can see how writer/director Chloe Zhao (also nomainated) and her production team mingled actors and real nomads to let us see the world of people who choose to live their lives on the road.