Cultural Obsessions and Coping Mechanisms

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.