FreshSociety

A student drinks from a water fountain at a California elementary school. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press) Regular visits to the dentist to fill cavities used to be a shared ordeal for millions of American children and adults. The reason that hasn’t been the case for late baby boomers and subsequent generations is that … Read more

How Margo Martindale embraced this stickiest of situations “I got a call from Jamie Lee Curtis,” says revered character actor Margo Martindale over Zoom from her Connecticut home, explaining how she scored the juicy lead role of Ruth Landry in Prime Video’s “The Sticky.” The half-hour crime series launches worldwide Dec. 6, inspired by the … Read more

Multifaceted Brian Jordan Alvarez decided to focus on acting. Then came ‘English Teacher’ FX’s “English Teacher” is equal parts funny, sweet and raunchy, mining laughs from divisive cultural issues and messy relationships that aren’t usually seen on television. For all that, creator-showrunner-star Brian Jordan Alvarez gives credit to pretty much everyone around him. Alvarez has … Read more

Angels shield their eyes from God’s blinding light in a detail from Giotto’s Baroncelli Altarpiece, circa 1328-35. (Christopher Knight / Los Angeles Times) Is art history? So asked UC Berkeley art historian Svetlana Alpers in a savvy 1977 essay, a question posed early in an exceptional 60-year career. Alpers, now 88, went on to become … Read more

What to watch this holiday season: ‘Dear Santa,’ musical variety shows and a cute little owl Here in these United States of Cognitive Dissonance, Christmas — against which there is nor has there ever been a war — is coming. If anything, it is attacking you, its troops already arrayed in drugstore aisles, advancing through … Read more

They’re young, but their acting is powerful: four fresh faces this awards season In settings ranging from the streets of London during World War II to the tribal compounds of modern-day Kenya, young actors are leading some of the most compelling and emotional onscreen stories. Four emerging faces, some of whom had never acted before, … Read more

Kathy Bates stars in the reimagined “Matlock” as an attorney with a powerful ulterior motive. (Brooke Palmer / CBS) Kathy Bates doesn’t like getting older. She hates forgetting names. She feels self-conscious about others’ opinions of her stamina. She worries about her ability to remember her lines. But in her mid-70s, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning … Read more

Disney Junior’s Hanukkah episodes aim to introduce the holiday with ‘joy and love’ Growing up, Phil Weinstein, executive producer of “Mickey Mouse Funhouse,” celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah. “My uncle had a religiously blended family,” Weinstein says. “We would go to their house and they would have a Christmas tree and a Hanukkah menorah. It … Read more