Leila Jordan Berger


Culture Reporting and Criticism

From interviewing a magic groundhog cult to investigating streaming TV budgets

Culture reporting

Paste Magazine •

Puppetry Steals the Show in Eric, So Why Aren’t Puppets in More Media for Adults?

It is a truth that must be universally acknowledged: people love puppets. Puppetry is one of the most endearing artforms in human existence. An artform of overwhelming fondness. They invite us to play pretend, to accept a felted reality and talk to a creature rather than acknowledge a hand.

Most of our collective love of puppets comes from childhood. Especially in the United States, puppetry is a staple of children’s TV. Many people alive today grew up watching puppets in some form, whether it
Paste Magazine •

Hacks Is Showing Us the Future of Gen Z Comedy

There always has to be a show on TV making fun of TV shows, and in our current moment that responsibility falls on Hacks. The Max comedy presently finishing its third season is the latest in a lineage of great skewerings like 30 Rock and most recently The Other Two that understand all the absurdity of contemporary entertainment.

But Hacks’ greatest addition to the genre is its decision to center the impact of the latest demographic influencing entertainment: Gen Z. Hacks’ Gen Z characters aren’
Insider •

While some companies are cutting the CMO role, Gen Z marketers still strive for the top job

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Marketing is going through a very visible transition. The CMO role at several companies,
Insider •

Passion and purpose inspire Brazilian chefs to serve authentic cuisines like the Carnival-favorite dishes feijoada and coxinha

• Chefs say Rio de Janeiro's culinary scene is popular at Carnival but deserves recognition year-round.
• The Brazilian chefs Leticia Schwartz and Luiza Souza shared their favorite dishes, including feijoada.
• This article is part of "Festivals of Flavor," a series celebrating Latin festival cuisines.

Leticia Schwartz, a Rio de Janeiro-born chef, has spent most of her career on a mission.

Her calling, she told Business Insider, is "to put Brazilian cuisine on the map." This inspired her to t
Insider •

AI is helping fragrance companies unlock the sensational possibilities of smell

This article is part of " ," a series about digital tech trends disrupting industries.

Smell is perhaps the most powerful human sense. Think about the scent of fresh lavender or an evergreen forest; these might bring you peace or remind you of something unpleasant. Either way, you don't have control over how they affect you.

The connection between smell and emotion has intrigued scientists for decades. Every person experiences scents and feelings differently, which raises the question, why do
Los Angeles Times •

Commentary: 10 years ago, Amazon tried to reinvent TV pilots. Its failure foretold our streaming future

In 2013, Amazon’s fledgling streaming service, Prime Video, had a new form of competition to confront. With Netflix’s international expansion already proceeding at — the platform had that year launched buzzy original series “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black” — streaming entered the realm of “prestige TV” formerly dominated by premium and basic cable. It was no longer just a new technology: It had suddenly become the way for newcomers to challenge media companies that had dominated th
Paste Magazine •

The Right to Write: How the Writers Guild of America's Formation Remains Relevant 90 Years Later

“The motion picture industry is and has been in a state of uncertainty and transition.” These are the opening words on the first official union contract for screenwriters, written on April 6, 1933. With that phrase, written 90 years ago, the Screen Writers Guild was formed, the union that would eventually become the Writers Guild of America. When they spoke of “uncertainty and transition,” they referred to an industry quickly evolving with new technologies. The economy was in shambles. The futur
Paste Magazine •

The Price for Profits: Why Residuals Are at the Heart of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA Strikes

Editor’s Note: This article originally published August 30th, 2023, but in the wake of SAG-AFTRA’s lucrative deal to mark the official end to the Hollywood strikes, we’re bringing it back to highlight the importance of the writers’ and actors’ fight for fair compensation.

The last time both the writers and actors were on strike was 1960. The unions were less than 30 years old, Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, and Ronald Reagan was considered a promising leader for workers’ rights. But the is
Paste Magazine •

Hollywood Is Going Back to the Assembly Line

The year is 2023 and you want to watch a specific movie. You check all the streaming services you have, a number that has steadily grown over the years. You remember seeing it on HBO Max—sorry, Max—but it’s not there anymore. After scrolling through miles of titles on Netflix you can’t find it there either, although you do learn that there is now an Extraction 2. No luck on Prime Video, nothing on Peacock, and you don’t even bother checking Disney+. But every search just churns up more posters a
Paste Magazine •

The Writers' Strike is Revealing the Cracks in the Emmys Season Status Quo

The start of summer in Los Angeles is not that first 80-degree day. It’s not when the massive tourist wave comes in. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the solstice or any celestial bodies. No, summer in Los Angeles starts when that first “For Your Consideration” billboard springs up for Emmy voters.

If you live outside of an entertainment industry hub, you may be unaware of the ubiquity of award season culture across certain cities. For Your Consideration (or FYC) campaigns are advertisi
Paste Magazine •

For Succession, Everything Is IP

In “Living+” we finally see an often ignored part of the Waystar Royco empire: the movie studio. Waystar Studios have often served as the butt of the Roy family’s jokes, a graveyard for unimportant family members (sorry Amir) or as a dinosaur in Waystar’s catalog of brands and businesses. But in Succession’s final season we are finding out what’s going on out West and what happens when the belief in intellectual property is left to fester.

The most common joke at the studios’ expense is its use
Paste Magazine •

Is Jeopardy Too Easy Now?

For decades, the end of the work/school day has been signified by one fixture: Jeopardy. The trivia game show has existed since 1964, but truly began in the form we all know and love when Alex Trebek joined as host in 1984. The answer-question format, Daily Doubles, Final Jeopardy, and the most awkward small talk imaginable after the first commercial break: that’s Jeopardy.

But in recent years the show is not the same staple it once was. The death of Alex Trebek may have created a war of host s
Paste Magazine •

It's All Content: Peak TV's Crash and the New Era of Television

When the term “Peak TV” began to spread, the inevitable was always waiting. If there’s a peak there must be a crash. It’s time to admit we are in that crash. But the Peak TV crash isn’t a decrease in the number of shows, it’s the way these shows inhabit and have transformed TV as a medium. TV has evolved into something much more sinister than abundance: it’s become merely content.

I. The Rise and Fall of Peak TV

Let’s take a step backward. In his paper “Reasons and Effects of the Peak TV Era”
Paste Magazine •

The Kids Aren't Alright: Inside Gen Z's Chaotic Introduction to Live Music

Live music is back! After a year and a half of isolation and virtual concerts, artists from every genre began to tour again in 2021 and now, halfway through 2022 and with festival season in full swing, it almost feels like the Before Times of concert-going. Almost.

A 2021 Billboard analysis found that the post-quarantine concert boom was heavily driven by first-time concert attendees. The demand for concerts and live experiences is greater than ever, with Billboard reporting a 300% increase in
Paste Magazine •

Dare to Believe in a Magic Groundhog: One Morning in Punxsutawney

An hour and a half outside Pittsburgh, nestled deep in Amish Country and the Christmas tree capital of America, is the town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. A small town that for one day a year becomes thrust on the global stage for their magic weather prognosticating groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil.

But the day is also steeped in much more magic than just a prognosticating groundhog. Phil himself is entrusted to the Inner Circle, the local groundhog club who takes care of him and reads his pre
Paste Magazine •

John Mulaney Reinvents His Persona in an Uncomfortably Vulnerable New Show

Who could’ve predicted John Mulaney would have the most tabloid-covered year?

The former SNL writer turned beloved stand-up comedian went through a divorce, a stint in rehab, a highly publicized relationship with actress Olivia Munn, and now has a baby on the way. In the midst of it all he returns with a new stand-up show, the first since the highly acclaimed Kid Gorgeous, titled From Scratch. The title and the poster design, that of Mulaney as a child, promised a more personal set than usual a

Criticism

FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul •

Welcome to the age of the messy heist movie

There’s nothing cooler than a perfectly executed heist film. The formula has been tightened, perfected and even parodied. An unusual and bold plan comes together, things go wrong on the surface and in the end there’s a satisfying reveal that nothing ever went awry. And art heist films are the most high class of them all, invoking images of well dressed sophistiques looking to obtain the ultimate masterpieces.

Heist films have begun a 30-year cycle of reinvention. It started with the suave 1960s
Paste Magazine •

Enjoying Brendan Fraser's Comeback? Thank TV

Sound the alarms, summon the townsfolk, and listen to the joyous news: Brendan Fraser is back. The iconic George of the Jungle and The Mummy franchise actor is once again a leading man in a major film with Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming drama The Whale. Oscar nomination whispers are already in the air, and Fraser has been welcomed back into the film industry with open arms and extremely long standing ovations. And if that’s not enough, Fraser fans will be rewarded again with his appearance in a lit...
Paste Magazine •

Puppetry Steals the Show in Eric, So Why Aren’t Puppets in More Media for Adults?

It is a truth that must be universally acknowledged: people love puppets. Puppetry is one of the most endearing artforms in human existence. An artform of overwhelming fondness. They invite us to play pretend, to accept a felted reality and talk to a creature rather than acknowledge a hand.

Most of our collective love of puppets comes from childhood. Especially in the United States, puppetry is a staple of children’s TV. Many people alive today grew up watching puppets in some form, whether it
Paste Magazine •

The Regime Finale: The End of the HBO Miniseries and Its Sunday Night Reign

Are there any time slots more coveted on television than HBO’s Sunday night?

Ever since the premiere of The Sopranos 25 years ago, an HBO Sunday show meant you were going to be seeing the best of the best. It was the destination of must-watch prestige TV, from The Wire to Game of Thrones to Succession. Sunday night could make a show a success, seen most evidently with Chernobyl, the historical miniseries that took over the slot from Game of Thrones after its final season and became a surprising
Paste Magazine •

3 Body Problem Is the Consequence of a Post-Game of Thrones TV Landscape

There is a universal truth of the current state of television: Game of Thrones changed everything. The HBO series premiered in 2011 to a very different TV landscape. While expensive TV had been attempted before—especially at HBO, who paid record-breaking bills for series like Rome and Band of Brothers—there was nothing that had reached the same scale of expense and success before. Television, long the medium of small budgets and succinct ideas, was now open to the blockbuster model.

After such
Paste Magazine •

TV Rewind: Max’s Underrated I Hate Suzie Is a Pitch-Perfect Commentary on Celebrity Meltdowns

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our TV Rewind column! The Paste writers are diving into the streaming catalogue to discuss some of our favorite classic series as well as great shows we’re watching for the first time. Come relive your TV past with us, or discover what should be your next binge watch below:

Is there anything more entertaining than a famous woman having a mental breakdown? If you’ve been a part of pop culture the past few decades, the answer is no. Even the most esteemed media consumers
Paste Magazine •

The Sting at 50: The Art of Entertaining

While scrolling through the list of the highest-grossing films in history (adjusted for inflation), there are a lot of obvious hits. Gone with the Wind, The Sound of Music, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But nestled at the end of the top 20 is an offbeat inclusion, a film that made more money than The Godfather, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Avatar: The 1973 Depression-set caper The Sting.

Starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman, The Sting premiered Christmas Day 1973 on the heels of one of the
Paste Magazine •

Despite a Glorious Finale, Loki Season 2 Was Another Waste of Time

Last week, an article in Variety titled “Crisis at Marvel” broke down the many issues plaguing Marvel Studios in 2023. These include diminishing box office and critical responses to recent works, reshoots on The Marvels, and banking the future of the MCU’s next phase on Jonathan Majors, a man currently awaiting trial on assault charges. Marvel Studios, once the unsinkable entertainment monolith, suddenly appears to be taking on water.

In the article, author Tatiana Siegel mentions that the Disn
Paste Magazine •

10 Years After Coven, American Horror Story Is Haunted by Its Best Season

After the long run of Nip/Tuck and the culture defining success of Glee, anyone would buy whatever Ryan Murphy was selling. After making their names with black absurd comedy, Murphy and his creative partner Brad Falchuk shifted directions and decided to take on the horror genre. “I wanted to do something challenging and dark,” Murphy said at the time. “The opposite of what I’ve just done.” American Horror Story, the anthology series that premiered on FX in 2011, was going to be that exact thing.
Paste Magazine •

In Sex Education’s Overstuffed Final Season, You Never Stop Coming of Age

Sex Education’s final season finds itself in a strange predicament: the Netflix teen comedy-drama that premiered in 2019 made superstars out of its cast. Initially, the series’ biggest name was Gillian Anderson as a sex therapist, but she was only the initial selling point before international audiences fell in love with the rest of the cast. Simone Ashley rose to fame as the leading lady of Bridgerton Season 2. Three of its main actors (Ncuti Gatwa, Emma Mackey, Conor Swindells) all appeared in
Paste Magazine •

Minx Fights for its Voice in a Symbolic Season 2 Finale

When Minx first aired last March on then-HBO Max, it was a breath of fresh valley air. The comedy series by Ellen Rapoport that details the trials and tribulations of a feminist erotic magazine in the 1970s was a bright and charming addition to the streamer’s catalog. It felt like a hidden gem that would be gone too soon in the streaming era. Which is why it was so wonderful when, a few months later, the show got renewed for a second season.

But we’re in the downfall of Peak TV, so nothing gold
Paste Magazine •

Black Mirror Struggles to Imagine the Future in an Uneven Season 6

In the 4 years since Black Mirror last aired an episode, technology has changed a lot. AI is capable of creating realistic looking images and writing entire research papers. Apple is trying to make Google Glass a thing again. And we’ve all been forced to learn about the Metaverse and how crypto currency works, since their failures can tank the stock market. With all these new developments, Black Mirror has a wealth of new material to spin with its uniquely sardonic take on technology.

Season 6
Paste Magazine •

It's All Content: Peak TV's Crash and the New Era of Television

When the term “Peak TV” began to spread, the inevitable was always waiting. If there’s a peak there must be a crash. It’s time to admit we are in that crash. But the Peak TV crash isn’t a decrease in the number of shows, it’s the way these shows inhabit and have transformed TV as a medium. TV has evolved into something much more sinister than abundance: it’s become merely content.

I. The Rise and Fall of Peak TV

Let’s take a step backward. In his paper “Reasons and Effects of the Peak TV Era”
Paste Magazine •

Is Euphoria Even Good?

An internet sensation. A showcase of some of the best young up and coming actors. A daring look at the inner lives of teenagers. A sensory overload. A pretentious pile of nothing. A cultural phenomenon. A cultural mistake. HBO’s Euphoria could be called all of these things. But could it be called…good?

Euphoria is sold on its style. In the end, that’s the show’s artistic goal and its greatest claim to quality. Any argument against its tendency for excess is fundamentally flawed. Euphoria is exc

Historical Analysis

Paste Magazine •

Simply the Best: The Strange Legacy of 1932’s Grand Hotel

“People come, people go, nothing ever happens.” Those are the final words Grand Hotel leaves us with. The 1932 MGM film won Best Picture at the fifth Academy Awards and since then has found itself nestled into pseudo-obscurity. An ensemble cast of characters, intersecting stories and then a swift end. The film’s most notable aspect is its one strange honor: Being the only Best Picture winner to not be nominated in any other category. The film came, the film went and no fuss was ever made. But 90
Paste Magazine •

The Right to Write: How the Writers Guild of America's Formation Remains Relevant 90 Years Later

“The motion picture industry is and has been in a state of uncertainty and transition.” These are the opening words on the first official union contract for screenwriters, written on April 6, 1933. With that phrase, written 90 years ago, the Screen Writers Guild was formed, the union that would eventually become the Writers Guild of America. When they spoke of “uncertainty and transition,” they referred to an industry quickly evolving with new technologies. The economy was in shambles. The futur
Paste Magazine •

Hollywood Is Going Back to the Assembly Line

The year is 2023 and you want to watch a specific movie. You check all the streaming services you have, a number that has steadily grown over the years. You remember seeing it on HBO Max—sorry, Max—but it’s not there anymore. After scrolling through miles of titles on Netflix you can’t find it there either, although you do learn that there is now an Extraction 2. No luck on Prime Video, nothing on Peacock, and you don’t even bother checking Disney+. But every search just churns up more posters a

Gen Z and Online Media

Paste Magazine •

Hacks Is Showing Us the Future of Gen Z Comedy

There always has to be a show on TV making fun of TV shows, and in our current moment that responsibility falls on Hacks. The Max comedy presently finishing its third season is the latest in a lineage of great skewerings like 30 Rock and most recently The Other Two that understand all the absurdity of contemporary entertainment.

But Hacks’ greatest addition to the genre is its decision to center the impact of the latest demographic influencing entertainment: Gen Z. Hacks’ Gen Z characters aren’
Insider •

While some companies are cutting the CMO role, Gen Z marketers still strive for the top job

By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time by visiting our Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the email.

Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app

Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview

Marketing is going through a very visible transition. The CMO role at several companies,
Paste Magazine •

The Kids Aren't Alright: Inside Gen Z's Chaotic Introduction to Live Music

Live music is back! After a year and a half of isolation and virtual concerts, artists from every genre began to tour again in 2021 and now, halfway through 2022 and with festival season in full swing, it almost feels like the Before Times of concert-going. Almost.

A 2021 Billboard analysis found that the post-quarantine concert boom was heavily driven by first-time concert attendees. The demand for concerts and live experiences is greater than ever, with Billboard reporting a 300% increase in
Paste Magazine •

Is Euphoria Even Good?

An internet sensation. A showcase of some of the best young up and coming actors. A daring look at the inner lives of teenagers. A sensory overload. A pretentious pile of nothing. A cultural phenomenon. A cultural mistake. HBO’s Euphoria could be called all of these things. But could it be called…good?

Euphoria is sold on its style. In the end, that’s the show’s artistic goal and its greatest claim to quality. Any argument against its tendency for excess is fundamentally flawed. Euphoria is exc

Show me the money: a series on streaming budgets

Paste Magazine •

How Netflix’s Extravagant Marco Polo Launched the Streaming Era—For Better or Worse

I want to look back at an older time. Not quite as old as 14th C. China but just as ancient in our collective memory. A time when streaming TV was a fresh concept and people were beginning to watch through the binge model. The entire entertainment industry was being turned upside down by the humble DVD mailing service Netflix. And they were about to make their biggest bet yet: turning the story of Marco Polo and Kublai Khan into the second most expensive TV show in history.

The story of Marco P
Paste Magazine •

The Beginning and End of Carnival Row: An Ode to Amazon's Abandoned Original Fantasy Show

Let me tell you a dark, mysterious, and magical tale. The story of how an original idea becomes a multi-million dollar TV series that eventually got dumped in the garbage.

The story of Carnival Row begins long before there were streaming wars fought over market share. In 2005, Travis Beachum, a recent college graduate, had his first spec script bought by New Line Cinema. The “dark neo-noir fantasy thriller” called A Killing on Carnival Row soon grabbed the attention of directors like Guillermo
Paste Magazine •

Yes, Rings of Power Feels Like a Billion Bucks, but What Does That Really Mean for Amazon?

Before it was called Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, it was called “Amazon’s $1 billion Lord of the Rings show.” The headlines around The Rings of Power have always been contextualized by the sheer amount of money behind the TV series for Prime Video. And the financial breakdowns will make your jaw drop: in 2017 Amazon paid $250 million just for the rights from the Tolkien estate with at least a $750 million commitment for five seasons. The first season alone ended up costing $465 million
Paste Magazine •

3 Body Problem Is the Consequence of a Post-Game of Thrones TV Landscape

There is a universal truth of the current state of television: Game of Thrones changed everything. The HBO series premiered in 2011 to a very different TV landscape. While expensive TV had been attempted before—especially at HBO, who paid record-breaking bills for series like Rome and Band of Brothers—there was nothing that had reached the same scale of expense and success before. Television, long the medium of small budgets and succinct ideas, was now open to the blockbuster model.

After such