Critics at Large | The New Yorker Podcast

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Critics at Large is a weekly culture podcast from The New Yorker. Every Thursday, the staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss current obsessions, classic texts they’re revisiting with fresh eyes, and trends that are emerging across books, television, film, and more. The show runs the gamut of the arts and pop culture, with lively, surprising conversations about everything from Salman Rushdie to “The Real Housewives.” Through rigorous analysis and behind-the-scenes insights into The New Yorker’s reporting, the magazine’s critics help listeners make sense of our moment—and how we got here.

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Here's a quick summary of the last 5 episodes on Critics at Large | The New Yorker.

Hosts

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Vinson Cunningham is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he covers culture, arts, and literature. He is known for his insightful analysis and engaging writing style, contributing to the magazine's coverage of contemporary cultural trends.
Naomi Fry is a staff writer at The New Yorker, specializing in culture, arts, and entertainment. Her work often explores the intersections of pop culture, literature, and personal identity, providing nuanced perspectives on current trends.
Alexandra Schwartz is a staff writer at The New Yorker, focusing on arts and culture. She writes about film, literature, and the arts, offering in-depth reviews and cultural commentary.
Paul Elie is a writer and editor known for his work covering religion and culture. He has contributed to various publications, including The New Yorker, where he has written extensively about the Vatican and the Catholic Church. Elie is also the author of several books that explore the intersection of faith and literature, and he is recognized for his insightful analysis of contemporary religious issues.

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The New Yorker offers a signature mix of reporting and commentary on politics, foreign affairs, business, technology, popular culture and the arts, along with humor, fiction, poetry and cartoons. We work with talented filmmakers from around the world through screening their distinguished documentaries and films on our YouTube channel.

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Episodes

Here's the recent few episodes on Critics at Large | The New Yorker.

0:00 50:25

Lessons from “Sesame Street”

Hosts
Vinson Cunningham Naomi Fry Alexandra Schwartz
Guests
Vinson Cunningham Naomi Fry Alexandra Schwartz
Keywords
Sesame Street children's education media evolution childhood development public broadcasting

 “Sesame Street,” which first aired on PBS in 1969, was born of a progressive idea: that children from all socioeconomic backgrounds should have access to free, high-quality, expressly educational entertainment. In the years since, the show has become essential viewing for generations of kids around the world. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz consider the program’s radical origins and the way it has evolved—for better or for worse—over the decades. What do the changes in “Sesame Street” ’s tone and content reveal about how parenting itself has changed? “The way that a children’s program proceeds does give us a hint as to the kinds of people that a society is producing,” Cunningham says. “And childhood is not the same as it was when we were kids.”


Read, watch, and listen with the critics:

“Sesame Street” (1969–)
“Rechov Sumsum” (1983–)
How We Got to Sesame Street,” by Jill Lepore (The New Yorker)
Cookie, Oscar, Grover, Herry, Ernie, and Company,” by Renata Adler (The New Yorker)

New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.



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0:00 47:44

The Season for Obsessions

Hosts
Vinson Cunningham Naomi Fry Alexandra Schwartz
Guests
Vinson Cunningham Naomi Fry Alexandra Schwartz
Keywords
culture summer obsessions art music literature film pop culture personal identity

There’s arguably no better time for falling down a cultural rabbit hole than the languid, transitory summer months. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss how the season allows us to foster a particular relationship with a work of art—whether it’s the soundtrack to a summer fling or a book that helps make sense of a new locale. Listeners divulge the texts that have consumed them over the years, and the hosts share their own formative obsessions, recalling how Brandy’s 1998 album, “Never Say Never,” defined a first experience at camp, and how a love of Jim Morrison’s music resulted in a teen-age pilgrimage to see his grave in Paris. But how do we square our past obsessions with our tastes and identities today? “Whatever we quote, whatever we make reference to, on so many levels is who we are,” Cunningham says. “It seems, to me, so precious.”


This episode originally aired on June 27, 2024. 


Read, watch, and listen with the critics:


“Heathers” (1988)

“Pump Up the Volume” (1990)

The poetry of Sergei Yesenin

The poetry of Alexander Pushkin

GoldenEye 007 (1997)

Elvis” (2022)

“Jailhouse Rock” (1957)

Pride & Prejudice” (2005)

The Neapolitan Novels, by Elena Ferrante

Ramble On,” by Led Zeppelin

Never Say Never,” by Brandy

The Boy Is Mine,” by Brandy and Monica

The End,” by The Doors

“The Last Waltz” (1978)

The Witches of Eastwick,” by John Updike

Atlas Shrugged,” by Ayn Rand

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003)

“Postcards from the Edge” (1990)

“Rent” (1996)


New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.



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0:00 44:56

The Grand Spectacle of Pope Week

Hosts
Vinson Cunningham Naomi Fry Alexandra Schwartz
Guests
Paul Elie
Keywords
Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV papal memes election analysis Vatican cultural offerings The Young Pope Conclave Angels & Demons The Two Popes

In the weeks since Pope Francis’s passing, the internet has been flooded by papal memes, election analysis, and even close readings of the newly appointed Pope Leo XIV’s own posts. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz consider why the moment has so captivated Catholics and nonbelievers alike. They discuss the online response and hear from the writer Paul Elie, who’s been covering the event on the ground at the Vatican for The New Yorker. Then the hosts consider how recent cultural offerings, from last year’s “Conclave” to the HBO series “The Young Pope,” depict the power and pageantry of the Church, with varying degrees of reverence. Leo XIV’s first address as Pope began with a message of peace—an act that may have contributed to the flurry of interest and excitement around him. “The signs are hopeful,” Cunningham says. “And reasons to hope attract attention.”

Read, watch, and listen with the critics:

Francis, the TV Pope, Takes His Final Journey,” by Vinson Cunningham (The New Yorker)
White smoke, Black pope?,” by Nate Tinner Williams (The National Catholic Reporter)
The First American Pope,” by Paul Elie (The New Yorker)
Brideshead Revisited,” by Evelyn Waugh
“Conclave” (2024)
“Angels & Demons” (2009)
“The Young Pope” (2016)
“The Two Popes” (2019)
Pope Leo XIII’s “Rerum Novarum

New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.



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0:00 51:00

I Need a Critic: May 2025 Edition

Hosts
Vinson Cunningham Naomi Fry Alexandra Schwartz
Keywords
cultural dilemmas art recommendations existential concerns The New Yorker literature film television

In a new installment of the Critics at Large advice hotline, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz field calls from listeners on a variety of cultural dilemmas, and offer recommendations for what ails them. Callers’ concerns run the gamut from the lighthearted to the existential; several seek works to help ease the sting of the state of the world. “I can’t say that we will solve those deeper issues,” Cunningham says. “But to share art with somebody is to offer them a companion.”

Read, watch, and listen with the critics:

The New York Issue of The New Yorker (May 12 & 19, 2025)
Birds of America,” by Lorrie Moore
“Eighth Grade” (2018)
Gilead,” by Marilynne Robinson
Danny, the Champion of the World,” by Roald Dahl
“Midnight Diner” (2016-19)
Sentimental Education,” by Gustave Flaubert
Middlemarch,” by George Eliot
My Life in Middlemarch,” by Rebecca Mead
How the Method Made Acting Modern,” by Alexandra Schwartz (The New Yorker)
Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts”
“First Reformed” (2017)
“Better Things” (2016-22)
The Functionally Dysfunctional Matriarchy of ‘Better Things,’ ” by Alexandra Schwartz (The New Yorker)
Odes,” by Sharon Olds
TJ Douglas’s “Dying
Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”
“Peppa Pig” (2004—)
Aaron Copland’s “Billy the Kid”
Dennis Wilson’s “Pacific Ocean Blue”
Caetano Veloso’s “Ofertório”
Crosby, Stills & Nash’s début album

New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.



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0:00 43:15

How “Sinners” Revives the Vampire

Hosts
Vinson Cunningham Naomi Fry Alexandra Schwartz
Keywords
vampire Sinners Ryan Coogler Jim Crow-era South historical realism monster-movie-style horror America in 2025 The Vampyre Dracula Twilight ethical bloodsucker Y.A. heartthrob

The vampire has long been a way to explore the shadow side of society, and “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler’s new blockbuster set in the Jim Crow-era South, is no exception. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss what “Sinners,” which fuses historical realism with monster-movie-style horror, illuminates about America in 2025. They trace the archetype from such nineteenth-century texts as “The Vampyre” and “Dracula” to the “Twilight” moment of the aughts, when Edward Cullen, an ethical bloodsucker committed to abstinence, turned the vampire from a predatory outsider into a Y.A. heartthrob. What do he and his ilk have to say today? “The vampire is the one who can unsettle our notions, and maybe give us new notions,” Cunningham says. “The vampire comes in and asks, ‘But have you considered this?’ ” 

Read, watch, and listen with the critics:

“Sinners” (2025)
“Black Panther” (2018)
The Vampyre,” by John Polidori
In the Blood,” by Joan Acocella (The New Yorker)
Dracula,” by Bram Stoker
“Dracula” (1931)
“Love at First Bite” (1979)
“The Lost Boys” (1987)
“True Blood” (2008–14)
“Twilight” (2008)
“What We Do in the Shadows” (2019–24)

New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.



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Ratings

Global:
4.4 rating 630 reviews

USA

4.4 ratings 488 reviews

Canada

4.4 ratings 57 reviews

UK

4.8 ratings 48 reviews

Australia

4.5 ratings 27 reviews

Ireland

5.0 ratings 6 reviews

New Zealand

5.0 ratings 2 reviews

South Africa

5.0 ratings 2 reviews

Singapore

0.0 ratings 0 reviews