THE MID-20TH CENTURY WIFE IS SUCH A VIVID type in popular art that we think we've got her down cold; in our minds, she's usually a June Cleaver cliché. But in real life the midcentury wife faced daunting expectations. She may have worked outside the home during wartime, but more often than not, the wife life changed all that. She was supposed to bear children and raise them to be cheerful, productive adults, all while keeping a spotless home and having dinner on the table by 6. Stressed out from all of that? Barbiturates, Benzos, and booze were the dysfunctional solution.
The midcentury wife couldn't win, though we all know of women who kicked free of those expectations, sometimes at great cost to themselves or those around them. These women usually don't get movies made about them. Yet somehow, often miraculously, the culture subconsciously corrects some of its problems. Whether by accident or by unconscious design, 2023 has been the year of the movie wife. In Bradley Cooper's Maestro, Sofia Coppola's Priscilla, even Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer and Michael Mann's Ferrari-those last two made by male directors who aren't exactly known for exploring the experiences of women-the movie wife has come barging in from the sidelines in all her glory. She may not be the main character, but she's resolute about taking up space in the frame.
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TV SHOWS
An artistic triumph. A record-breaking 18 Emmy wins. An all-time viewership high for FX.
MOVIES
If you read only the synopsis of Babygirl before seeing it, you might imagine it's an erotic age-gap thriller about the workplace power dynamic between men and women.
BOOKS
Percival Everett's reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which won a National Book Award, is a sweeping story centering on Jim, the enslaved sidekick in Mark Twain's classic adventure tale.
ALBUMS
Singer Beth Gibbons hasn't released much music in the 30 years since her iconic band Portishead stormed out of the gate with seminal trip-hop record Dummy. Nor has she spoken to the press much, gaining a reputation for intense privacy.
PODCASTS
The most engrossing podcast Dan Taberski has produced since Missing Richard Simmons, Hysterical investigates a mysterious illness that spread among high school girls in Le Roy, N.Y., beginning in 2011, in what is believed to be the largest case of mass hysteria since the Salem witch trials.
Elton JOHN
Elton John has no address. Visitors to his home are given three names: the name of a house, the name of a hill, and the name of a town, which is near Windsor, as in Windsor Castle, where King Charles III lives.
Caitlin CLARK
A Fever coach has tasked me with standing under the basket to retrieve her misses. But as Clark, the two-time college national player of the year for the University of Iowa, reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year from the Indiana Fever, and emergent American sports icon, runs all over the court to launch long-range bombs, I barely have to move. Swish, swish, swish. She hits 14 shots in a row. A dozen in a row. Eleven in a row. Nine in a row. Another nine.
Lisa SU
It's the day after the U.S. presidential election, and like much of the nation she was awake until the early hours, transfixed as the results came in, only tearing herself away once it became clear that Donald Trump had won.
Donald TRUMP-THE CHOICE
A once and future President whose influence dominated this year
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2024's progress hints at things to come
