Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now that we've been through Israel, Gaza, Russia, Ukraine, the health risks of turf playing fields and the New Jersey governor's race, we're going to end on a lighter note for our last 10 minutes with your calls on the question, where do you get your arts and entertainment suggestions and when, if ever, do you read reviews? 212-433-WNYC. Why this? Well, we're asking about arts criticism and how you engage with it. In light of news, the many publications are pulling back from criticism. Think movie, album, book reviews. Where do you get your arts and entertainment suggestions? When, if ever, do you read reviews? Call us up. You'll get right on. 212-433-WNYC. 212-433-9692. Call or text. To help set this up with a temperature check as your calls and texts are coming in, do you even read criticism in the first place? When you're thinking about seeing a new movie, buying a new book, do you read reviews or rely on word of mouth? For those of you who do read reviews, do you read them before to help you decide, or, like an increasing number of people who I know, read them only after to help think through what you saw or read, and also to have no spoilers?
212-433-WNYC. 433-9692. The news here is the New York Times reassigned four long-term arts critics to new roles as part of a plan to expand their coverage, "beyond the traditional review." According to an internal Times memo that was leaked to Variety and garnered a lot of attention. The chief film critic at the Washington Post took a buyout. Vanity Fair, for its part, is away from reviews, even Vanity Fair. Do you think that kind of drawdown of arts and entertainment criticism is leaving a void, or is there just less need in the social media era, for example? What do you think? The question, where do you get your arts and entertainment suggestions? When, if ever, do you read reviews? 212-433-WNYC. Call or text. We'll see what you have to say right after this. Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now, to about six minutes of where you get your arts and entertainment suggestions and when, if ever, you read reviews, beginning with Amanda in Weehawken. Hi, Amanda, you're on WNYC.
Amanda: Hey, Brian, thanks for having me. I listen to well, first of all, I listened to NPR religiously for my arts and culture recommendations, but I specifically listen to the Pop Culture--
Brain Lehrer: Oh, good choice.
Amanda: Thank you. The Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, which I think is fantastic. They always have a wide range of viewpoints and recommendations. They also have a great segment called What's Making Us Happy? Which I feel like is an insight into each individual critic, could be things even from the past that are making them happy in the present day. I tune into that. In terms of when I read reviews, I actually just looked up a review this morning to KPop Demon Hunters because my 11-year-old daughter has been watching it on repeat, and I wanted to see like, am I an outlier in actually enjoying this weird Netflix animated musical about a K-pop band that hunts demons? Yes-
Brian Lehrer: The answer was?
Amanda: -that's when I tuned in to reviews. It was well reviewed.
[laughter]
Brian Lehrer: Amanda, thank you very much. Couple of texts. One listener writes, I read the New York Times book reviews because it's enjoyable, like reading short stories. I definitely know people who read the Times book reviews and then feel like they don't have to read the books. Listener writes, "Criticism has democratized a lot. A lot of my friends and myself use sites like Letterboxd and Rate Your Music for opinions on film and music. We'll go next to Joel in Brooklyn. You're on WNYC. Hi, Joel.
Joel: Hi there, Brian. Good to speak to you. I love to read reviews. I do it because there's a level of civilizational discourse going on. I don't read it just to find the next gobbet of distraction, to fill in my clock days and my dance card, and not that all criticism that's around on the major media and even specialty considerations are always on the highest level. As long as we're trying to maintain something like a civilization in the middle of all this contemporary, without use of obscenity circumstances we're in, it's about maintaining something like a civilized discourse.
Brian Lehrer: This is the one segment where I thought we weren't going to get into the existential threats to civilization, but we did. Joel, thank you very much. Listener writes, "I rely on top critics, percentage ratings on Rotten Tomatoes to get overview and then only read reviews after I've already seen it. Fewer spoilers and less outliers that way." How about Susan in Westchester? You're on wnyc. Hi, Susan.
Susan: Hi, Brian. I get my play reviews from friends, word of mouth and then I tend to after I've gotten the ticket, read a review. For example, I have tickets for Operation Mincemeat, and there is this wonderful piece about Ian Fleming in the Times this morning. Speaking of the Times, Jesse Green makes me very mad. I never read him until after the play. Then I get even more furious because he's so negative. I do tend to read reviews after. Thanks for asking.
Brian Lehrer: Susan, thank you very much. Don't you love to hate the critics who hate the things that you love? Donna in North Bellmore, you're on WNYC. Hi, Donna.
Donna: Hi, Brian. Great to be with you. I'm part of a movie group, and we, as the host, like a book club would operate, we pick the movie. We need to find something that's discussable, so we do read reviews and other things. The group cannot read reviews before we discuss. We discuss them. We read the reviews. That seems to work. I will tell you, some of those reviewers, particularly with movies, get a little snarky, and we comment on that. There was a great scene in Birdman, the movie, where he tells off the criticism. You try doing what I'm doing for one night.
Brian Lehrer: [laughs] Donna, thank you very much. I'm going to give the last word, and you'll hear why to a listener who texts, "I get my arts and culture suggestions from All Of It. Alison Stewart's interviews are so good." That's The Brian Lehrer Show for today, produced by Mary Croke, Lisa Allison, Amina Srna, Carl Boisrond, and Esperanza Rosenbaum. Zach Gottehrer-Cohen produces our daily Politics podcast. Our interns this summer have been Vito Emanuel and Adelina Romero. Megan Ryan is the head of live radio. That was Juliana Fonda at the audio controls. Yes, stay tuned for Alison.
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