Prospero

The protagonist of “Next to Normal” has bipolar disorder. The show is encouraging audiences to open up about their own well-being

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/04/16/an-american-musical-about-mental-health-takes-off-in-china

Aesthetics and politics are powerfully entwined in the 50-year career of the South African artist

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/04/15/sue-williamsons-art-of-resistance

The recently rediscovered painting made headlines in 2017 when it fetched $450m at auction. Then it vanished again

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/04/13/what-happened-to-the-salvator-mundi

A new documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick explores the writer’s own image-making

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/04/07/ernest-hemingway-the-man-the-myth-the-legend

Its founder hopes to digitise the 150,000 volumes for the benefit of future generations

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/04/06/inside-hymag-the-worlds-largest-collection-of-magazines

The work of the celebrated composer was ignored after her death. That oversight is being corrected

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/31/reinstating-florence-prices-place-in-western-music-history

Do you know your chaos pilots from your french fries?

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/30/silicon-valley-lingo-separates-the-insiders-from-the-outsiders

Industry initiatives, as well as social-justice movements, have drawn attention to their stories

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/29/indigenous-film-makers-are-gaining-prominence

His paintings of the same scenes capture something of the lockdown experience

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/19/for-claude-monet-familiarity-bred-respect

Even “Creation Stories”, a new biographical film, struggles to capture the importance of his record label to Britain’s indie scene

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/18/they-dont-make-music-titans-like-alan-mcgee-any-more

Why did Warner Bros give the director $70m to remake a box-office flop?

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/17/the-long-expensive-gestation-of-zack-snyders-justice-league

She is one of the first women to receive a major commission from the Metropolitan Opera in its 137-year history

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/16/missy-mazzolis-operas-defy-pigeonholing

Jessica Beshir’s mesmerising documentary captures the frustration and disillusionment of a generation

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/12/faya-dayi-evokes-what-it-means-to-be-young-in-ethiopia

And how it might improve

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/11/why-hollywood-struggles-to-tell-stories-about-climate-change

Compared with Hollywood, China’s film industry is in rude health

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/10/hi-mom-is-chinas-latest-mega-hit

“Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell”, made with the permission of the rapper’s estate, is grim but insightful

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/09/a-new-documentary-explores-the-legacy-of-the-notorious-big

“The Dissident” chronicles a macabre plot carried out by ruthless killers

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/05/a-new-film-sheds-light-on-the-murder-of-jamal-khashoggi

The hit novelist’s new book follows Elsa as she leaves Texas for California with her children

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/04/kristin-hannah-looks-at-the-dust-bowl-from-a-mothers-perspective

A documentary and a biopic revisit the tumultuous life of Lady Day

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/02/as-the-subject-of-two-films-billie-holiday-returns-to-the-spotlight

The 78th, socially distanced, edition of the awards was overshadowed by recent criticism of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/03/01/covid-19-and-controversy-at-the-golden-globes

Released in 1985 and recently reissued, the brilliant album was the work of two British-Pakistani teenagers

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/26/disco-se-aagay-fused-synth-pop-and-the-sounds-of-the-subcontinent

The artist has been beguiled by the creatures since she was a child. She began painting them more frequently in 2020

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/23/minyoung-chois-fish-are-symbols-of-confinement

Rosamund Pike excels as an awful woman making her living from exploiting the elderly

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/22/i-care-a-lot-is-delightfully-nasty

By Photoshopping hundreds of athletes together, the idea of winners or losers is made redundant

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/19/pelle-casss-composite-images-reimagine-sports-photography

A new book digs up pop music’s gay roots

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/17/why-pop-history-is-nothing-without-queer-history

A documentary series offering an “emotional history of the modern world” fails to convince

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/16/cant-get-you-out-of-my-head-is-ambitious-but-largely-forgettable

Three exceptional lead performances bolster Shaka King’s film

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/15/judas-and-the-black-messiah-tells-a-story-of-hope-and-betrayal

“Zindagi Tamasha” was put forward as the country’s entry to the Academy Awards—despite the fact that it has not yet been released there

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/12/citing-blasphemy-islamists-in-pakistan-obstruct-the-release-of-a-film

For a while the genre was relegated to coffee shops and romantic comedies. Now it is confrontational again

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/11/soft-rock-has-rediscovered-its-hard-interior

Adapted from Nella Larsen’s novel, the film follows an African-American woman who is passing as white

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/10/passing-explores-race-and-identity-during-the-harlem-renaissance

A digital archive of more than 65,000 photographs allows visitors to drive down Sunset Boulevard in different decades

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/09/ed-ruscha-has-chronicled-los-angeles-for-half-a-century

Sam Levinson’s film is tiresomely self-regarding

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/08/malcolm-and-marie-seeks-to-justify-its-own-existence

In lockdown many are longing for the hubbub of cities. Ms Lebowitz offers a different view

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/05/fran-lebowitzs-caustic-ode-to-new-york

Geovany, the protagonist in “Unforgivable”, is ostracised from society and from his gang

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/04/an-astonishing-documentary-follows-a-young-gay-sicario-in-prison

Her peak was brief; her impact lasting

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/03/nancy-sinatras-bootprints-are-all-over-pop-music

It follows Sam and Tusker, a happy couple beset by illness

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/02/supernova-is-a-heart-rending-portrait-of-devotion-and-dementia

In Russia art has long been a means of private resistance

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/02/01/when-the-police-came-for-anastasia-vasilyeva-she-played-beethoven

Based on the excavation of Sutton Hoo in 1939, the film is more delicate than most second world war dramas

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/01/29/the-dig-is-a-poetic-reflection-on-permanence-and-transience

“The Catastrophist” is told from the perspective of Nathan Wolfe, an American virologist

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/01/28/a-new-play-examines-attitudes-towards-risk-and-disaster

Though commissioned before the outbreak of covid-19, the series reveals many parallels with the current public-health crisis

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/01/27/its-a-sin-pays-tribute-to-the-victims-of-the-aids-epidemic

Adapted from a prizewinning novel, the film depicts a searing new anti-hero for a new India

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/01/26/the-white-tiger-explores-ambition-and-anger-in-indias-underclass

Karel Capek’s play of 1921 introduced the word “robot” to science fiction

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/01/22/rur-foreshadowed-fears-about-artificial-intelligence

The writer-director of “Quo Vadis, Aida?” hopes that it will combat the culture of denial surrounding the genocide

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/01/20/a-haunting-retelling-of-the-srebrenica-massacre

After a decade of dominance at the box office, the franchise turns its attention to the small screen

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/01/19/the-marvel-cinematic-universe-arrives-on-tv-with-wandavision

The producer created a cult of pop personality, which he used to justify his monstrous behaviour and overstate his own talent

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/01/18/phil-spectors-legacy

The American-made film is ineligible for the Best Picture (Drama) category at the Golden Globes on the basis of its dialogue

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/01/13/minari-sets-off-a-debate-about-awards-and-foreign-language-films

Lessons from an artistic programme set up during the Depression are being applied at a British playhouse

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/01/12/the-royal-court-takes-inspiration-from-the-federal-theatre-project

On screen, the arrival of a baby is most often used for comedy or horror set-pieces

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/01/11/pieces-of-a-woman-offers-a-tragic-portrayal-of-childbirth

Adapted from a stage play of the same name, the film fictionalises a real-life meeting between four influential friends

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/01/07/activism-art-and-sport-collide-in-one-night-in-miami

Despite the racism of American show business, the singer and actor achieved a number of firsts

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/01/05/looking-back-on-ethel-waterss-extraordinary-career

The sculptures, inspired by Mesopotamian statuettes, are a tribute to the victims of the Syrian civil war

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2021/01/04/issam-kourbajs-idols-link-past-and-present

How a single instrument defined the 1980s and beyond

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/31/yamahas-dx7-synthesiser-changed-modern-music

The British sketch is curiously unpopular in its country of origin

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/30/people-all-over-the-world-watch-dinner-for-one-on-new-years-eve

Karin Lehmkuhl Bodony and Matthew Burtner have turned the electromagnetic field of the Northern Lights into music

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/29/the-sound-of-aurora-borealis

Unlike other superhero fare, this adventure is devoid of cynicism or irony

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/28/wonder-woman-1984-is-a-funny-bright-balm

An Australian tune about missing family is relevant amid covid-19 restrictions

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/18/how-to-make-gravy-is-a-particularly-apt-song-this-christmas

Born 150 years ago, Saki was a master of social observation who sided with life’s rebels

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/17/saki-was-one-of-the-greatest-satirists-of-christmas

They offered culinary advice, investigated catastrophes and told personal stories

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/16/the-best-podcasts-of-2020

These excellent shows made the long evenings and weekends in isolation tolerable

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/15/the-best-television-series-of-2020

Italians get in the mood with sex farces, Swedes watch “Fanny and Alexander” and Russians opt for a screwball comedy

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/14/how-does-festive-programming-vary-around-the-world

They were about investigative journalism, abortion and 20th-century black British life

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/11/the-best-films-of-2020

Artists, writers and philosophers have long invested the festive ornaments with meaning

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/10/the-strange-appeal-of-snow-globes

A new documentary reassesses the genre-defying British band

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/09/the-quixotic-creativity-of-the-style-council

The awe-inspiring works of Robert Smithson challenged assumptions about what art could be

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/08/land-arts-monumental-interventions-in-nature

There was much to enjoy in music this year, even in the absence of live performances

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/07/the-best-albums-of-2020

Ostensibly about the co-writer of “Citizen Kane”, David Fincher’s new film is more interested in electioneering

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/04/a-patchy-biopic-of-herman-mankiewicz

In lockdown Michael Mandiberg started capturing the offices, bedrooms and kitchens of others while on video calls

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/03/the-zoom-paintings-are-dispatches-from-a-strange-year

Lance Henriksen⁠—playing a crass, irascible man with dementia⁠—is a revelation

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/02/viggo-mortensen-makes-a-strong-directorial-debut-with-falling

How a German tradition became a global phenomenon

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/01/the-booming-business-of-advent-calendars

Charles Jackson’s cautionary tale, the inspiration for an award-winning film released 75 years ago, was praised for its medical verisimilitude

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/30/the-lost-weekend-is-a-searing-account-of-addiction

A new documentary draws on a trove of previously unseen footage of the zany singer-songwriter

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/27/the-making-of-frank-zappa

An impressive series of broadcasts by the Imperial War Museum looks beyond the headlines

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/26/a-virtual-festival-demonstrates-arts-role-in-the-refugee-crisis

Shot over a seven-year period, “Belly of the Beast” uncovers a disturbing pattern of tubal ligations in California

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/25/a-new-film-chronicles-the-illegal-sterilisation-of-women-in-prisons

A superb new documentary shadows reporters as they expose fraud and corruption

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/24/collective-follows-tenacious-investigative-journalists-in-romania

He is the second Scot to win the award

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/20/douglas-stuarts-shuggie-bain-wins-the-booker-prize

The new season of the hit Netflix show depicts the Windsors as not just flawed but rather awful

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/19/the-crown-runs-counter-to-royal-spin

The musician revives a Dutch folk genre to capture her city’s gentrification

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/18/sophie-straats-songs-of-new-amsterdam

Is it an attempt to connect with them or an elaborate marketing ruse?

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/16/musicians-are-increasingly-collaborating-with-their-fans

Their albums released under the Stax label still shine today

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/11/the-staple-singers-were-the-greatest-of-pop-gospel-groups

Unassuming public artworks are the remnants of a centuries-old political battle

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/10/britain-has-its-own-vexed-history-of-civil-war-monuments

“I Am Greta” and “David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet” show how fame can both help and hinder activism

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/09/new-documentaries-follow-two-figureheads-of-the-environmental-movement

His stories belie his twee reputation

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/06/a-century-of-adventures-pursued-by-rupert-bear

A retrospective of his work is also a reflection on social progress

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/05/sunil-guptas-photographs-document-50-years-of-gay-liberation

Lee Child hands the keys of his literary kingdom to his brother, Andrew

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/04/jack-reacher-has-a-new-chronicler

After a stint in jail in Khartoum, an award-winning auteur is picking up where he left off

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/03/hajooj-kukas-art-of-resilience

Filmed over six years, Eva Mulvad’s documentary follows a family as they flee persecution and await refugee status

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/11/02/love-child-offers-a-glimpse-into-the-lives-of-iranian-asylum-seekers

It is the first time a Nollywood film has depicted a lesbian relationship

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/10/28/ife-tells-a-story-of-forbidden-love-in-nigeria

As well as examining an “abrasive moment in American history”, the initiative aims to make theatre more equitable

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/10/27/in-the-breath-project-performers-respond-to-george-floyds-murder

“Feels Good Man”, a new documentary, explores how a cartoon animal became a symbol of the alt-right

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/10/26/the-transmogrification-of-pepe-the-frog

The internet has been a ballast, not a setback, it argues

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/10/23/a-new-documentary-explores-the-remarkable-resilience-of-the-book

But much like its heroine, it is haunted by its predecessor

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/10/22/ben-wheatleys-adaptation-of-rebecca-is-slick-and-sumptuous

The Vietnamese-Danish artist explores the rise and fall of empires and his own past via an exquisite assemblage of objects

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/10/21/danh-vos-history-of-the-world-in-fragments

Aaron Sorkin’s superb new film chronicles one of the most notorious cases in American history

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/10/20/the-trial-of-the-chicago-7-reinvigorates-the-courtroom-drama

Eighty years ago, the actor made his first “talkie”—and a bold political statement

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/10/19/in-the-great-dictator-charlie-chaplin-broke-his-silence

Today’s politicians prove hard to satirise

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/10/16/the-new-spitting-image-will-please-the-puppeteered-more-than-the-public

One of rock’s pioneers died on October 6th

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/10/09/remembering-eddie-van-halen-guitar-hero

The choice of the former American poet laureate came as a surprise, yet it is uncontroversial

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/10/08/louise-gluck-wins-the-2020-nobel-prize-in-literature

Amid secular modernity, does the idea of sin still resonate?

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/10/07/the-national-gallery-offers-a-powerful-but-partial-view-of-transgression

With “Wake Up Calls”, Cosmo Sheldrake hopes to “highlight the beauty we’re losing”

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/10/01/making-music-from-the-sounds-of-endangered-british-birds

In the Netherlands, a country still reeling from the shooting-down of Flight MH17, a play about an airplane crash could seem tasteless. But it succeeds

https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/09/30/simon-stones-poignant-retelling-of-the-good-hope