Spring Sale: Get 1 Year, Save 58%

Michael Barthel

Michael Barthel is a PhD candidate in the communication department at the University of Washington. He has written about pop music for the Awl, Idolator, and the Village Voice.

Paul Ryan: Pop doofus

Michael Barthel
President Obama (AP/Carolyn Kaster)

Obama’s Internet fail

Michael Barthel

Right-wing blockbusters rule

Michael Barthel

Magazines: Hey, look at us!

Michael Barthel
(Reuters/Salon)

Protest songs are pointless

Michael Barthel
Fareed Zakaria (AP/Jason DeCrow)

Cut, paste, plagiarize

Michael Barthel
(Salon)

Stop tweeting about NBC!

Michael Barthel
Mindy Meyer (<a href='http://mindymeyer4senate.com'>mindymeyer4senate</a>)

Mindy Meyer: A troll we can believe in

Michael Barthel
James Holmes' photo from his Adult Friend Finder profile.

Hold the Reddit hype

Michael Barthel
Peter Finch in "Network"

“The Newsroom”: Cliched as hell

Michael Barthel
Chloë Moretz in "Hick"

Child acting’s new golden age

Michael Barthel
(Fox/Benjamin Wheelock)

Ryan Seacrest’s bland ambition

Michael Barthel
Logan Marshall-Green, Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender in "Prometheus"

The movie trailer revolution

Michael Barthel
Alexander Payne, Michel Hazanavicius, Woody Allen, Terrence Malick and Martin Scorsese (AP)

The Oscars’ woman problem

Michael Barthel

When Tourette’s took over my life

Michael Barthel
Abe Foxman

Mosque episode should be Abe Foxman’s Waterloo

Michael Barthel
(© Andrew Winning / Reuters)

Why we ignored two huge stories

Michael Barthel
Shirley Sherrod and farmer Roger Spooner

Don’t forget Shirley Sherrod’s original message

Michael Barthel

New Black Panthers and the right’s new Southern strategy

Michael Barthel
Hispanic community members, some from Phoenix, hold hands in prayer to protest against SB1070, Arizona's immigration law, during a vigil in front of the White House in Washington Wednesday, July 7, 2010.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP)

The silver lining of Arizona’s immigration law

Michael Barthel
The mailbox at the former home of accused Russian spies Donald Heathfield and his wife Tracey Foley in Cambridge, Mass.

Russian spy shows Harvard program for what it is

Michael Barthel