Cannonball with Wesley Morris

What did we get for our country’s 250th birthday, a.k.a. the semi-quincentennial? An Ultimate Fighting Championship cage match on the White House lawn? A sparsely attended Great American State Fair? An underwhelming...

When Madonna’s new album, “Confessions II,” dropped in early July, it went straight to the top of the Billboard 200 (her 10th No. 1 album). Many of the 16 tracks plumb her own history for lessons learned along the way...

If you haven’t seen Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” yet, good luck. The hit of the summer is selling out showtimes around the country. Wesley Morris initially thought he didn’t need this adaptation. Then, Matt Damon...

After five weeks of action, the World Cup is finally coming to an end, a tournament that will be remembered as much for its feats of athleticism — the precision passes and laserlike goals — as for the passionate fans...

Olivia Rodrigo’s third record, “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love,” is a 13-song concept album that imagines the arc of a young relationship from desperate yearning, to domestic coupling, to eventual dissolution...

Forget the hot dogs and apple pie. Wesley has one thing on his mind this Fourth of July — potato salad! The moment has stirred up some really strong feelings for this classic summer staple and how it lives up to the...

A few weeks ago, “Cannonball” hosted its first live show at the 2026 Tribeca Festival. Wesley Morris thought to himself, “What could we talk about in front of a bunch of New Yorkers that would be interesting to them?”...

It’s no secret that Steven Spielberg is fascinated with the cosmos. His latest aliens-are-among-us action thriller, “Disclosure Day,” follows a TV weatherperson (Emily Blunt) and an encryption specialist (Josh O’Connor)...

“Obsession” is about a guy who makes a wish for a girl to love him “more than anyone in the entire world.” What follows is a classic horror movie trope: the girlfriend from hell. One of the movie’s tag lines is “be...

Each spring, in the months leading up to the Tony Awards, Wesley Morris tries to see as many Broadway shows as he can. And this season’s spree (including “Ragtime,” “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” “Proof,” “Dog Day...

A list, according to The Times’s co-chief restaurant critic Ligaya Mishan, can be a way “to make sense of chaos” and to also “destabilize the current order.” Her list of “the 100 Best Restaurants in New York City in...

The “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” ends this week. When CBS announced the show’s cancellation last summer, the network said in a statement that it was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in...

Wesley Morris liked “The Devil Wears Prada 2” more than he thought he would. He didn’t need this sequel, but it captures the spirit of the original well enough. Miranda and Andy, played by Meryl Streep and Anne...

The public outrage was inevitable. The New York Times Magazine published a list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters. Two hundred and fifty music insiders submitted ballots. Six Times music critics and writers...

“Michael,” the new Michael Jackson biopic, knows what it’s doing. That’s clear from the opening shot: high-water pants and white socks pushed down to a pair of black penny loafers. It’s appealing to a very specific...

Wesley loves Zendaya. The actress caught his eye as the charming but drug addled Rue in HBO’s “Euphoria.” But he thinks Hollywood hasn’t cast her in roles worthy of her considerable gifts. So when Zendaya showed up in...

“Cannonball” is on its last week of spring break, so we’re sharing an episode of “Popcast” that features Jack Harlow discussing his pivot to R&B. In a viral clip from this episode, Harlow, a white musician, says, “I got...

While the “Cannonball” team is on a short break, Wesley is recommending some notable conversations he’s listened to lately from other New York Times shows. This week, it’s an episode of “Modern Love,” featuring host...

Every spring, Wesley Morris finds himself searching for music that captures the light and breezy feeling that comes with the end of winter. This year, there’s an obvious soundtrack to the season: Harry Styles’s new...

The latest from the Ryan Murphy television fun house is an unquestionable hit. It’s also a ’90s nostalgia bomb. People are trying to eat, shop and dress like John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. They’re obsessed...

Wesley Morris is an unabashed believer in the Oscars. That they genuinely matter. Every year, he has to re-convince his friend, Sasha Weiss, the culture editor for The New York Times Magazine. This year, of course...

This is one of those “who knows what’s going to happen” years at the Oscars. And maybe the biggest question of the night is which movie will dominate: “Sinners,” with its record 16 nominations, or “One Battle After...

Back in 2003, a new reality TV show hosted and co-created by Tyra Banks convinced an entire generation that they too might have what it takes to become America’s next top model. Now, a new Netflix docu-series wants us...

Seven years after Toni Morrison’s death, we’re experiencing what the critic Parul Sehgal describes as a “wave of Morrisonia.” Eleven of her novels are being reissued by her publisher. There’s a new book of criticism...

Valentine’s Day weekend is over, and we’re left with a new film adaptation of Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights.” Audiences are hot, bothered and swooning. Can you blame them? The trailer had promised — and the film...