A screenshot from Squid Game

The Gruesome Truth at the Heart of Squid Game

Would you be willing to play games to get out of debt? Would you sell your organs?
An illustration depicting a face made out of circuits that dissolves into a cloud filled with screenshots of streaming television and movie title images

Are You Still Watching?

The work of cinema in the age of streaming services.
The Witcher

Why Netflix’s The Witcher Is a Gamble

TV shows based on video games can't capture all the little minutiae that captivate gamers, like the map in the instruction manual.
Two women speaking beside a water cooler in an office

Streaming Television Might Just Bring Us Together After All

A look at TV watching as a social activity, from the "water cooler" network shows of yore to today's "second screen" live-tweets.
The Mechanism Netflix

Netflix Is A Questionable Historian

Brazilian social media is in an uproar about a recent Netflix show that portrays Brazilian political corruption. Can film and TV ever get history right?
Dating algorithm

How to Build the Netflix of Love

There's no shortage of online dating sites and apps. But there’s one common problem with these services: they’re all looking at the wrong data. Dating apps should take a hint from Netflix's algorithm.
13 Reasons Why

Can Fiction Really Spark Suicide?

The Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why is so powerful—and so controversial—it's sparked a national debate about teenage suicide.
Close-up of a hand on a television remote control

Will the Fall of Cable Mean Darker TV?

Last week, HBO and CBS both announced plans for stand-alone online services, leading to much chatter about the end of cable TV as we know it.