John Powers
John Powers is the pop culture and critic-at-large on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. He previously served for six years as the film critic.
Powers spent the last 25 years as a critic and columnist, first for LA Weekly, then Vogue. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Harper's BAZAAR, The Nation, Gourmet, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.
A former professor at Georgetown University, Powers is the author of Sore Winners, a study of American culture during President George W. Bush's administration. His latest book, WKW: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai (co-written with Wong Kar Wai), is an April 2016 release by Rizzoli.
He lives in Pasadena, California, with his wife, filmmaker Sandi Tan.
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Lauren Wilkinson's sharp debut novel about a black woman living a double life as a spy spans three decades and leapfrogs from New York to the Caribbean to West Africa.
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Cold War'srichness comes from being steeped in detail. And it demonstrates what Everybody Knows does not: that the road to the universal begins with the specific.
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A new, eight-part Netflix series examines the complex aftermath of the 1994 killing spree — and offers a good reminder that history is vast, messy and ever-changing.
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Benedict Cumberbatch stars as the top strategist for Britain's "Leave" campaign in a new HBO film that offers a jaunty — if incomplete — take on the U.K.'s pending departure from the EU.
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Nicole Kidman gives an intense performance as a drunken, pointedly unlikable police officer in Karyn Kusama's new film. Critic John Powers says Destroyeris a flawed, but fascinating, noir thriller.
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Each year, Fresh Air critic-at-large John Powers finds himself haunted by the books, movies and shows that he loved but wasn't able to review on the air.
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Natalie Portman plays a young Christian woman who is propelled to pop stardom following a mass shooting. Critic John Powers says Vox Lux is inventive — and exasperating.
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Gina Apostol's dizzying new novel begin in present-day Manila before diving into the late 19th century — and the tortuous relationship between the U.S. and the Philippines.
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John Powers reviews two new series based on true crime stories. Dannemora dramatizes the story of a 2015 prison break. Dirty John follows the delusions and dangers of a woman falling for a conman.
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A new BBC/Netflix series about terrorism and political chicanery delivers plenty of thrills — but ultimately lacks seriousness. Critic John Powers says Bodyguard is "awash in a timely cynicism."