Gold Dust Woman Niela Orr Aug 19 2021 Hulu’s Framing Britney Spears, a documentary which looked at the titular star’s conservatorship, the “Free Britney” movement, and the effect of the ‘90s and ‘00s media in ...
One Life to Live Niela Orr Jul 27 2021 There's an old-school rule about the technique of fiction writing that claims the first sentence of a story should tell its whole plot. I don’t believe in hard-and-fast rules ...
Work in Process Niela Orr Jun 21 2021 The best thing about sports fandom is the sensation of living in a feel-good movie, as storylines develop in real time. Watching the 2016 NBA finals felt like seeing an ...
Didn’t They Almost Have It All? Niela Orr Aug 9 2020 This essay was commissioned for Hive, a Longreads series about women and the music that has influenced them. It was edited by Danielle A. Jackson, who ...
An Agreement Between the Seasons Niela Orr Jun 26 2020 In Philadelphia, we are accustomed to fire. Some Black Philadelphians think about it every May. Last month was the thirty-fifth anniversary of an event that has come to define ...
Long Time Woman Niela Orr Jun 1 2020 Well 99 years is a long, long, long time99 years is such a long, long, long time99 years is a long, long timeWell look at me, I’ll never be freeI’m a long time woman—Pam ...
Call for Help Niela Orr May 7 2020 “What cannot be mystified in Las Vegas must be contextualized.” —Dave Hickey Last month, Twin Peaks celebrated its thirtieth anniversary, just as it’s begun to ...
An Interview with Samantha Irby Niela Orr Apr 1 2020 In the author photo that accompanies Samantha Irby’s new collection of essays, Wow, No Thank You. (which came out March 31, 2020), she’s wearing a black sweatshirt with the ...
An Interview with Maxwell Niela Orr Jan 31 2020 In April 2019, Maxwell the musician was trilling on a piano to illustrate a point about human physiology and music. He was explaining that, when singing, he needs to feel as ...
Laetitia Sadier in Conversation with Victoria Legrand Niela Orr Aug 1 2019 It’s rare to get to talk to purveyors of a thing that doesn’t really exist. Like neo soul after it, dream pop (or shoegaze) is a somewhat vexing term used to describe a genre ...