In 2001, over the holidays, I received six copies of Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation. They came mostly from friends of my parents—people I had never received a present from before (and haven’t since). Fast Food Nation’s in-depth exposé of the American meatpacking industry struck a chord with so many people, that even those who […]
Suzette Smith
Suzette Smith is the arts & culture editor of the Portland Mercury. Go ahead and tell her about all your food, art, and culture gripes: suzette@portlandmercury.com. Follow her on Twitter, Bluesky, and Letterboxd.
Posted inComedy
Rachel Rosenthal, the Siren Theater’s First Artist in Residence, is Here to Teach Hip-Hop Improv
KEITH HUANG “I’ll forever go down in history as the person that wants to have sex with windows,” says Rachel Rosenthal, referencing a joke that blew me away during her performance with hip-hop improv troupe North Coast at the 2016 Stumptown Improv Festival. Recapping that night for the Mercury, I noted that combining hip-hop, improv, […]
Posted inBooks
Keep the Fires Berning in 2017
A Revolution For Every Dreamy College Kid You Know
A Revolution for every dreamy college kid you know.
Posted inMusic
The Siren Theater Gets Its First Artist in Residence
North Coast’s Rachel Rosenthal is Here to Teach Hip-Hop Improv
North Coast’s Rachel Rosenthal is here to teach hip-hop improv.
Posted inMusic
Fred Thomas Still Rents in His Video for “Voiceover”
Yesterday Michigan scene indie folk old boy Fred Thomas debuted a video for the first single from his upcoming record Changer (out Jan 27 on Polyvinyl) via NPR’s Songs we Love series. “Voiceover” charges in and—to a certain degree—past you with an upbeat tempo and Thomas’ unstoppable ruminations on laying “awake for hours” with “no […]
Posted inMovies & TV
The Eagle Huntress Review: The Prettiest Movie Since, IDK, Lord of the Rings?
The Eagle Huntress looks amazing. The documentary’s images—featuring a grinning 13-year-old Aisholpan Nurgaiv as she holds a splendid eagle half her size—are the stuff of myths. I went in pumped up to see a girl-power/girl-falconer documentary with plenty of big, cool-looking birds, and I was not disappointed. First-time director Otto Bell accomplishes a level of […]
Posted inBooks
Jill Thompson, Jewel of the Comics Industry
With The True Amazon, She Gets Wonder Woman Right (Finally)
With The True Amazon, she gets Wonder Woman right (finally).
Posted inMovies & TV
She’s the Very First Eagle Huntress!
(Sort Of) (Not Really)
(Sort of.) (Not really.)
Posted inArts
In Defense of David Sedaris
Don’t Step to Me That He Isn’t Deep.
Don’t step to me that he isn’t deep.
Posted inBooks
Sarah Glidden Explores Conflicts in the Middle East and Ethics in Comics Journalism
Sarah Glidden I read Rolling Blackouts in black and white. Our review copy was a gray-toned paperback with one burst of tantalizing color pages stapled near the back of the book. I was happy to read it, even in gray, but over the course of Sarah Glidden’s detailed narrative of traveling through Iraq, Syria, and […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Let’s Get Fucked Up on Doctor Strange‘s Supernatural Medicinals
Doctor Strange first appeared in the 1963 Marvel Comics anthology Strange Tales as a crippled neurosurgeon apprenticed to a wise Tibetan sorcerer, the Ancient One. After ascending to the position of Sorcerer Supreme, Strange went on to defend Earth from magical attackers and, eventually, chill with the Avengers. As recently as 2011, Strange was loaning […]
Posted inArts
Rolling Blackouts is an Ambitious Muddle
Sarah Glidden Explores Conflicts in the Middle East and Ethics in Comics Journalism
Sarah Glidden explores conflicts in the Middle East and ethics in comics journalism.