Carl Wilson is Slate’s music critic.
Brow Beat
Oct. 1 2014 12:26 PMStill Don’t Get Leonard Cohen? Here’s a 10-Song Primer.Carl Wilson
Books
Sept. 28 2014 8:45 PM“No Child Has Ever Been Harmed by Music”John Darnielle’s novel digs into an artist’s unspoken fears and doubts about his fans.Carl Wilson
Music
Aug. 4 2014 10:21 AMNot Gonna Break for YouCalifornia songs about American mistakes from Jenny Lewis.Carl Wilson
Music
July 16 2014 4:47 PMHis BolognaA mostly fond farewell to pop music’s longest-running—sometimes only running—comedy act, Weird Al.Carl Wilson
Culturebox
June 16 2014 3:47 PMCrying ShameWe don’t look down on movies designed to make us laugh—why do we look down on ones designed to make us cry?Carl Wilson
Culturebox
May 30 2014 11:57 AMMy Voyage With MimiHow a Mariah Carey skeptic finally fell for the elusive chanteuse.Carl Wilson
Music
May 8 2014 4:26 PMBones Banging Out BeatsTune-Yards’ Nikki Nack and the dangers of appropriation.Carl Wilson
Music
March 20 2014 7:08 PMSurprisingly Enjoyable New Albums From George Michael and Boy GeorgeCarl Wilson
Music
Feb. 14 2014 12:18 PMWhat Is “Achy Breaky 2”?A remix? A sequel? An answer record? (And what is Larry King doing here?)Carl Wilson
Music
Jan. 27 2014 1:13 PMThe Same LovesWhite people win again at the Grammys.Carl Wilson
The Music Club
Dec. 20 2013 3:12 PMThe Music Club, 2013Entry 9: In defense of Brad Paisley’s “Accidental Racist.”Carl Wilson
The Music Club
Dec. 16 2013 12:16 PMThe Music Club, 2013Entry 1: Beyoncé broke the Internet. (So did Bowie.)Carl Wilson
Brow Beat
Nov. 8 2013 9:06 AMWhere Do I Start With Céline Dion?Carl Wilson
Music
Oct. 28 2013 12:30 PMLou ReedWhy the music, and even the man himself, will always be with us.Carl Wilson
Brow Beat
Oct. 4 2013 9:06 AMStop Dismissing Young Female Musicians as “Inauthentic”Carl Wilson
Music
Oct. 1 2014 12:21 PMHow Even an Old Hipster Can Age GracefullyOn their new albums, Leonard Cohen, Robert Plant, and Loudon Wainwright III show three ways.Carl Wilson
Books
Sept. 10 2014 12:56 PMSecret ChordsThe brilliance—and the blind spots—of one of the world’s great rock critics.Carl Wilson
Music
July 21 2014 11:43 AMA Different Kind of Summer SongGaze wistfully into the past, and hopefully into the future with Reigning Sound’s Shattered. Carl Wilson
Music
July 3 2014 11:58 AMProudly Hailed“The Star-Spangled Banner” is militaristic, syntactically garbled, and impossible to sing. It’s perfect.Carl Wilson
Music
June 5 2014 8:44 AMCountry Music’s Bro ProblemCan Miranda Lambert take the country charts back for female artists?Carl Wilson
Culturebox
May 23 2014 9:36 AMMacklemore and Masquerade“Jewface,” umbrage, and pop music’s original sin.Carl Wilson
Music
April 2 2014 10:22 AMIt Ain’t Me, Babe
Was Dylan really terrible in the ’80s—or had we just forgotten how to listen to him?Carl Wilson
Music
Feb. 24 2014 12:06 PMYoung Women, Old MusicOn their new albums, Angel Olsen, Lydia Loveless, and Alynda Lee Segarra use history to change the present.Carl Wilson
Music
Feb. 3 2014 4:34 PMPunk Is AliveWith songs of terror and longing, Against Me returns punk to its origins as a refuge for sexual outsiders.Carl Wilson
Music
Jan. 15 2014 6:47 PMThe River & the ThreadRosanne Cash's thrilling new album about the road, the South, and history—hers and ours.Carl Wilson
The Music Club
Dec. 18 2013 9:45 AMThe Music Club, 2013Entry 5: Lorde and Macklemore are not racist for critiquing the aspirational materialism of black pop.Carl Wilson
How We Watch Now
Nov. 26 2013 11:41 AM“Got Me Knocked Up in ’ 84”What you can learn about music—and humanity—from the YouTube comments on Bob Seger’s “Night Moves.”Carl Wilson
Music
Nov. 1 2013 1:14 PMThirteen Ways of Looking at Arcade FireThe frustrations of Reflektor.Carl Wilson
Music
Oct. 24 2013 11:47 PMListening Between the LinesHow much of musicians' lives should we read into their songs? How much of their lives should they put into them?Carl Wilson
Music
Oct. 3 2013 4:09 PMCall Me, DefinitelyThe brash, swaggering girls of Lorde and Haim.Carl Wilson
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Politics
Oct. 24 2014 8:39 PM
Bad Habits
Why October’s campaign attacks explain next year’s political dysfunction.
John Dickerson
The Democrats’ Best Hope to Keep a Senate Majority Is Iowa’s Bruce … Something-or-Other
The Courts’ Baffling New Math of Abortion and Voting
Where Does ISIS Get Its Money? And How Much Does it Have Left?
#MuckReads: Lead Poisoning, Toxic Weed Killer, and Other Things That Will Make You Sick
Israel’s Defense Minister Talks Hamas, ISIS, Syria, and Iran
Inside the Murky World of Beijing’s Expat Drug Dealers
Business Insider
Oct. 26 2014 6:30 AM
Inside Wall Street's New Tug of War
Linette Lopez
Surprising Findings About Introverts in the Workplace
Go to This Site Right Now and Check If Someone Owes You Money
Don’t Get Used to Mobile Apps—Their Days Are Obviously Numbered
Why a Professor Is Teaching an Entire Class About Beyoncé
Amazon Investors Decide Losing Money Might Not Be Great for Business After All
Get an Inside Look at the Massive Data Centers Behind Google
Inside Higher Ed
Oct. 26 2014 7:22 AM
What’s Happening With Free Tuition in Chile?
President Michelle Bachelet’s plan to make higher education free hits some snags.
Alex Usher
Longform: Open Letters from Martin Luther King Jr. and Philip Roth
Be Warned: The Next Big Trend in Men’s Fashion Is Dressing Like a Hippie
These Apartments Were Designed to Induce Immortality
Japanese Designers Give the Ordinary Rubber Band a Hip Makeover
Dressing in Drag for Halloween? You’re Probably Doing It Wrong.
4 Features From Other Languages That We Wish English Had
The XX Factor
Oct. 24 2014 4:42 PM
Jewish Women Forced to Use Tiny Torah and Magnifying Glass to Celebrate Bat Mitzvah
Miriam Krule
Some Light Emotional Sharing With Amy Poehler
“Men’s Rights” Group Tries To Lure Visitors Away From Anti–Domestic Violence Website
Online Misogyny Levels Up as Gamergate Targets Gawker
Watch Little Princesses Curse for the Feminist Cause
Poker Games and Male Mentors: The Culture of Business in Tech Is Not Great for Women
Three Ways Your Text Messages Change After You Get Married
Tv Club
Oct. 24 2014 10:20 AM
The American Horror Story: Freak Show Podcast, Episode 3
The “Edward Mordrake (Part 1)” edition.
J. Bryan Lowder and Willa Paskin
Aisha Harris’ Recommended Reading From Slate This Week
Slate’s Working Podcast, Episode 2 Transcript: On Being a Doctor When Your Patients Are Poor
Slate’s Walking Dead Podcast: Listen to Slate-sters Recap Episodes 1 and 2
What David Plotz Learned From His Podcast Series on Working
Behold
Oct. 26 2014 11:02 AM
What Different Countries Look at for Target Practice
Jordan G. Teicher
Panda Bear’s New Song Is a Psychedelic Vision of What Pop Can Be
Is Birdman a Virtuoso Masterpiece or Hollow, Pretentious Filmmaking? We Debate.
Taylor Swift’s 1989: A Track-by-Track Breakdown
Killer Mike and El-P of Run the Jewels Talk Writing, Rap Regionalism, and Cat Sounds
Why David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive Is a Great Horror Film
Watch a Hitchcock Tribute That Includes Every Single One of His Surviving Films
Future Tense
Oct. 24 2014 5:46 PM
Google Senior VP Jumps From Stratosphere, Beats Red Bull’s Space-Diving Record
Lily Hay Newman
There Might Be a Way to Securely Reuse Abandoned Email Addresses
Does the Internet Sleep? Depends on Where You Are.
How to Be More Productive During Your Commute
South Florida Is Leaving the Rest of the State One Way or Another
There Is a Porn Monopoly, and Its Name Is Mindgeek
What Would the United States of Reddit Look Like Mapped?
New Scientist
Oct. 26 2014 9:06 AM
The Most Reprehensible Black Market
Fake or weak malaria drugs could cost millions of lives.
Curtis Abraham
Spectacular Cloud Colors (Photo)
The Strongest Organism on Earth Isn’t an Ant
STUNNING Video Promoting Space Exploration ... and It's Not What You Expect
Watch Animals Watching Themselves in Mirrors. What Do They Think They See?
Why Ebola Won’t Go Airborne
Gallery: The Partial Solar Eclipse of October 2014
Sports Nut
Oct. 20 2014 5:09 PM
Keepaway, on Three. Ready—Break!
On his record-breaking touchdown pass, Peyton Manning couldn’t even leave the celebration to chance.
Chris Wade and A.J. McCarthy
The 2014 Kansas City Royals Show the Value of Building a Mediocre Baseball Team
How Relief Pitching Has Changed Baseball
Simone Biles Is the Best Gymnast in the World, and It’s Not Even Close
Baseball’s Strike Zone Is Getting Bigger Every Year. Will Someone Shrink It Back Down to Size?
Happy Baseball Fans Stormed the Field As Far Back As the 1920s. Why’d They Stop? (Video.)
A New U.S. Map Based on Where Baseball Players Were Born