The Best Truthdig Arts & Culture Stories of 2019

This year’s top Arts & Culture stories include film reviews of must-see films like “The Irishman” and “Joker,” exclusive interviews with filmmaker Errol Morris and author Naomi Klein, and an account of the 2019 Venice Biennale, among others. To read the full stories, click on the hyperlinked titles. 

Martin Scorsese Closes the Book on the Mafia Genre By CARRIE RICKEY The scope of “The Irishman” is as big as the U.S., and the director delivers a hit that lives up to the hype—and then some.

Neoliberalism Is the True Villain of ‘Joker’ By LESLIE LEE

In its depiction of an austerity-wracked Gotham, Todd Phillips has made one of the most subversive and left-leaning major films of 2019.

Geena Davis Puts a Sexist Hollywood on Notice By KASIA ANDERSON

In “This Changes Everything,” Davis and peers like Kimberly Peirce, Meryl Streep and Taraji P. Henson zoom in on their industry’s gender gap.

‘Mulholland Drive’ Is David Lynch’s ‘Ulysses’ By ALLEN BARRA

One of the filmmaker’s most compelling fever dreams deserves another look.

Naomi Klein: We Have Far Less Time Than We Think

By ILANA NOVICK

In a new interview with Truthdig, the author of “On Fire” explains why the next year could determine the future of U.S. climate policy.

Watch the CIA Get Away With Torture

By JORDAN RIEFE

Based on the 2014 Senate probe into the use of “enhanced interrogation,” “The Report” sheds light on a shameful chapter in U.S. history.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Is Still Revolutionary at Age 100 By NATASHA HAKIMI ZAPATA and ROBERT SCHEER

The legendary poet, who is now 100 years old, can be described by nearly enough epithets for every year he’s been alive.

Venice Biennale Artists Foresee a World on the Brink By DAVID MATORIN

The tangible effects of political concerns, ranging from mass displacement to climate change, are unavoidable at the 58th Venice Biennale.

Ellen DeGeneres and the American Psychopath By JACOB BACHARACH

The talk show host’s sanctimonious defense for catching a football game with George W. Bush speaks to a disturbing national pathology.

Errol Morris Is as Scared as You Are By JACOB SUGARMAN

The legendary documentarian opens up about his new film, “American Dharma,” his fear of Steve Bannon and what makes compelling propaganda.

The Most Horrifying Look at Monsanto Yet

By NATASHA HAKIMI ZAPATA

Samanta Schweblin has terrified readers across the globe precisely because she tells familiar stories we should all dread.

‘Black Is Beautiful’: Identity, Pride and the Photography of Kwame Brathwaite

By JORDAN RIEFE

A new look at the activist impresario and photographer provides a positive guide for building community.