Barbara Chai

Nov 19, 2024 | nytimes.com | Barbara Chai

Charles Yu's novel "Interior Chinatown" is about stories. Stories we tell ourselves, stories we tell about others. Stories where only certain people get to be the main characters while others, like the protagonist Willis Wu, are relegated to playing bit parts. Yu structured the novel in the format of a screenplay. The title follows the scriptwriting convention of scene headings, which specify where the action is taking place (for example, INT. UNMARKED POLICE CAR).

Oct 22, 2024 | editorandpublisher.com | Sia Michel |Barbara Chai

We are thrilled to announce that Derrick Bryson Taylor, who has a sharp eye for breaking news ideas and popular culture, will be joining the Culture desk as a reporter. Derrick will cover breaking news in pop culture and other arts, and will eventually take on weekends. His pieces will take the form of traditional articles as well as explainers, visual stories and other new formats.

Dec 20, 2023 | nytimes.com | Robin Kawakami |Barbara Chai

There’s no “Bah, humbug” here.

Nov 15, 2023 | nytimes.com | Barbara Chai

When I was growing up, the holidays meant no school, which gave me the chance to curl up on the couch in a robe and fuzzy socks while drinking hot chocolate from a red thermos. Everyone gathered at home, and if we were lucky, there was snow falling outside, and we’d usually have one movie playing: “A Christmas Story.”Scenes from the movie became so familiar it was as if they had happened in real life. When Ralphie almost shoots his eye out. The decoder telling him to be sure to drink his Ovaltine.

Oct 31, 2023 | nzherald.co.nz | Robin Kawakami |Barbara Chai

The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz left many kids with nightmares. Our first horror movie is often a memory imprinted on our brain and, for some of us, our heart. How young is too young to watch a scary movie? Seeing it’s Halloween week, we asked you, the reader, to share your experiences of this rite of passage. Nearly 1,000 people responded with indelible memories; for some, watching a scary movie at a young age inspired a lifelong love of horror movies.