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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Fanon, who died in 1961, wrote about the politics and psychology of colonialism. In The Rebel's Clinic, Adam Shatz captures the thorny brilliance of a man whose radicalism is still shaping our world.
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The action takes place all in one day, as 7-year-old Sol attends the birthday party of her father, who's dying of cancer. But Tótem isn't really a movie about death; it's about living. -
Set in London, this AppleTV+ miniseries centers on an old murder case that may need to be reopened. Though the show doesn't dig as deeply as it could, the two antagonists crackle with genuine dislike. -
The jokes and bodies pile up in this eight-part Netflix series about a Taiwanese assassin who travels to L.A. to protect his goofy younger brother and his formidable mother, played by Michelle Yeoh.
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Painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer was born in war-ravaged Germany in 1945. Wim Wenders' new film conveys the beauty, bleakness and moral weight of Kiefer's art. -
Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki's melancholy romantic comedy about two lonely souls trapped in dead-end jobs builds to a gorgeous ending — with a great and revelatory final joke. -
Two lonely souls bond over an injured border terrier with thousands of dollars in medical bills in Colin from Accounts — a bawdy, Australian series brimming with life and honesty. -
Helen Garner, 80, embraces the many-sidedness of life. Her books crackle with curiosity and unpredictability — they win big prizes, kickstart controversies and say things other people rarely dare. -
While the drama of the 1954 film hinged on the high stakes of the Pacific theater during World War II, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial involves an all-volunteer navy and no sea battles. -
This zippy six-part Paramount+ series, based on a 1983 theft of three tons of gold bars, focuses on the outlaws' efforts to elude capture and legitimize their booty.
