When Emily Brontë published “Wuthering Heights,” in 1847, critics were baffled, alarmed, and mostly unimpressed. James Lorimer, writing in the North British Review, promised that the novel would “never be generally read.” Nearly two centuries later, it’s regarded as one of the great works of English literature. In a live taping of Critics at Large at the 92nd Street Y, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss the staying power of the original text and the countless adaptations it’s inspired, from the 1939 film featuring Laurence Olivier to Andrea Arnold’s 2011 version. The most recent attempt comes from the director Emerald Fennell, whose new “Wuthering Heights,” starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, reads as a romantic fever dream. The movie has been polarizing in part for the way it excises some of the weirder and wilder aspects of its source material. But what’s discarded—or emphasized—can also be revealing. “It’s an audacious proposition to adapt a great novel … I don’t think it needs to be faithful, necessarily,” Fry says. “The adaptation itself becomes a portrait of the time in which it’s made.”

Read, watch, and listen with the critics:

“Wuthering Heights,” by Emily Brontë
Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights”
Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” (2026)
“Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ Never Plumbs the Depths,” by Justin Chang (The New Yorker)
“Barbie” (2023)
“Saltburn” (2023)
“Promising Young Woman” (2020)
“Jane Eyre,” by Charlotte Brontë
“The Communist Manifesto,” by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx (1848)
Peter Kosminsky’s “Wuthering Heights” (1992)
William Wyler’s “Wuthering Heights” (1939)
Andrea Arnold’s “Wuthering Heights” (2011)
“All the King’s Men,” by Robert Penn Warren
“I Love L.A.” (2025–)

New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.

Critics at Large is a weekly discussion from The New Yorker which explores the latest trends in books, television, film, and more. Join us every Thursday as we make unexpected connections between classic texts and pop culture.

Toni Morrison was many things in her lifetime—Nobel laureate, renowned author, Princeton professor, and generous mentor to young writers. Her appeal translated seamlessly to the internet, where old interview clips still bubble up regularly on social media, reminding us of her sharp wit and commanding presence. But, as Namwali Serpell argues in a new book of essays, “On Morrison,” this undeniable star persona risks eclipsing the genius—and complexity—of the eleven novels she wrote. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz dive back into these works to rediscover the writer as she was on the page. The hosts discuss Morrison’s début novel, “The Bluest Eye”; “Beloved,” which is widely regarded as her masterpiece; and “Jazz,” the experimental 1992 novel believed to be her personal favorite. Throughout her career, she insisted on writing flawed, dynamic characters rather than paragons of virtue. “The Morrison project is to put Black life, and particularly the lives of Black women, at the very center of literature—but to do it in a way that’s true to character and to human experience,” Schwartz says. “The people she’s writing about are damaged, are greedy, are jealous, are sad . . . and also are generous, and loving, and hurt and trying to heal.”

Read, watch, and listen with the critics:

“On Morrison,” by Namwali Serpell
“Toni Morrison, the Teacher,” by Vinson Cunningham (The New Yorker)
“The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison
“Song of Solomon,” by Toni Morrison
“Toni Morrison and the Ghosts in the House,” by Hilton Als (The New Yorker)
“Jazz,” by Toni Morrison
“Beloved,” by Toni Morrison
“Sula,” by Toni Morrison
“Black Writers in Praise of Toni Morrison” (The New York Times)
“The Blue Period: Black Writing in the Early Cold War,” by Jesse McCarthy
Monuments at MOCA and the Brick
“Language as Liberation,” by Toni Morrison

New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.

Critics at Large is a weekly discussion from The New Yorker which explores the latest trends in books, television, film, and more. Join us every Thursday as we make unexpected connections between classic texts and pop culture.

Once the fervor around Charli XCX’s 2024 album “brat” had cooled, the singer was approached to make a documentary about the tour—a practice that’s been embraced by the likes of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. But Charli, who has built her brand in opposition to mainstream expectations, instead released “The Moment,” a tongue-in-cheek satire about the pressures stars face to milk career highs like “brat summer” for all they’re worth. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz consider “The Moment” alongside both the sanitized documentaries it mocks and other artists’ attempts to subvert the form. Many of these projects promise genuine insight into their subjects, but what they actually show is the increasingly delicate balancing act of “authentic” celebrity. “It is really hard to both reveal and conceal at the same time,” Fry says. “To invite the fan in—but not in a way that feels unsafe, or that could get you cancelled, or could make you sell less, or could make you unloved.”

See Critics at Large live: the hosts will be discussing “Wuthering Heights” onstage at the 92nd Street Y on February 19th. Both in-person and streaming tickets are available. Buy now »

Read, watch, and listen with the critics:

Charli XCX’s “brat”
“The Moment” (2026)
“Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé” (2019)
“Gaga: Five Foot Two” (2017)
“A Hard Day’s Night” (1964)
“Spice World” (1997)
“Taylor Swift: The End of an Era” (2025)
“Sean Combs: The Reckoning” (2025)
“Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” (2023)
“Gimme Shelter” (1970)
“Madonna: Truth or Dare” (1991)
“I’m Still Here” (2010)

New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.

Critics at Large is a weekly discussion from The New Yorker which explores the latest trends in books, television, film, and more. Join us every Thursday as we make unexpected connections between classic texts and pop culture.