
Critics at Large is a weekly culture podcast from The New Yorker. Every Thursday, the staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss current obsessions, classic texts they’re revisiting with fresh eyes, and trends that are emerging across books, television, film, and more. The show runs the gamut of the arts and pop culture, with lively, surprising conversations about e... more
| Publishes | Weekly | Episodes | 135 | Founded | 3 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Category | Society & Culture | |||

Critics at Large will be back next week. In the meantime, you can hear Vinson Cunningham and Naomi Fry on a recent episode of The New Yorker’s Political Scene, hosted by Tyler Foggatt, where they consider several high-profile collisions of sports and... more
When “Jaws” hit theatres in 1975, no one—neither the studio executives involved nor the film’s twenty-six-year-old director, Steven Spielberg—was betting on its success. But it dominated at the box office and promptly revolutionized the way movies we... more
Since the days of Aesop, stories about animals have been used to explore distinctly human values, virtues, and vices. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz consider such childhood classics as E. B. ... more
This week, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz kick off the summer months with a new installment of the Critics at Large advice series. Listeners’ questions run the gamut: a high-school economics teacher seeks films for his students ... more
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Thank you thank you thank you to Vinson, Alex, & Naomi for helping me decompress before every weekend. I came to you as a recommendation from the Vibe Check podcast about a year ago. I recently flipped my life upside down, left a career in medicine, and moved across the country to go back to school. I’ve been steadily working my way through every CAL episode to remember what it means to be a full person. You give a new depth to authors, artists, and their work that make me see the larger world d... more
I want to like this podcast, but the forced tralalala cheer rubs me the wrong way every time I put it on. We’re nearly three years into a genocide, the country is embroiled in a disastrous war, ICE is kidnapping our neighbors. Not everything has to be about politics, but some things are about politics and some efforts to ignore the political moment give off the impression of comfortable people trying their hardest to keep up a conversation about the Met Gala and drown out the sound of a child be... more
The BTS pod cast was really limited and missed the multi-age, cross cultural positive message and belonging of this music and movement. I think it is really poor taste that they did not treat them as musicians, situating it in a musicality discussion. Nor did they even know the members names. They are the kind of KMart interpretation from within a limited interpretation as juvenile pop from an American judgement lens. I think they’ve missed what it is entirely. Watch the reception in Mexico. Th... more
This is the podcast I recommend anyone who loves pop culture/cultural criticism. Alex, Vinson and Naomi always bring thorough context, interesting takes and varied examples across mediums (literary, film, tv, etc.) in every episode on broad topics in the zeitgeist. I never skip an episode. Feels like sitting in on the best college lecture every week. We’re so lucky to have this podcast!
I was a regular listener at the start of the pod since I’m familiar with Naomi Fry via How Long Gone. Fell off for a bit, I don’t entirely remember why, but excitedly pressed play on the BTS episode. As a BTS fan of 7+ years, I really appreciated this thoughtful conversation about the group. I’m happy you folks didn’t have an expert guest or ARMY on, as tons of pods often do, because the conversations then are afraid of being critical. It was refreshing hearing three perspectives from people ent... more
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.
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Apple Podcasts | #246 | |
Apple Podcasts | #84 |
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Critics at Large offers thoughtful culture critique from a trio of The New Yorker staff writers, covering a wide range of topics from fashion and film to literature and television. Episodes often juxtapose close-reading analysis with personal memory and contemporary context, producing nuanced takes on current obsessions, classic texts revisited, and trends shaping the cultural moment. Notable strengths include sharp, interdisciplinary conversations, a willingness to scrutinize media narratives, and a consistent habit of tracing how power, class, and identity surface across media, politics, and society. A standout is the balance between rigorous critique and accessible, conversational banter among three highly credentialed critics, which can... more
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These podcasts share a similar audience with Critics at Large:
1. The New Yorker Radio Hour
2. The Political Scene | The New Yorker
3. The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker
4. The New Yorker: Fiction
5. The Book Review
Critics at Large launched 3 years ago and published 135 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
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Recent guests on Critics at Large include:
1. Kelefa Sanneh
2. Jason Adam Katzenstein
3. Louisa Thomas
4. Padma Lakshmi
5. Alex Barasch
6. Morgan Spector
7. Helen Rosner
8. Richard Brody
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