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It’s September. When the kids go back to school, what do the adults return to? Tradition? Seasonal basics? Cyberstalking like it’s the early aughts? Natasha Stagg reflects on summer’s wind-down for the final Out of State of 2021.
Why does film – an art form built on stardom, visual pleasure, and control – have such a persistent sexual misconduct problem? It's an industry full of either monsters or geniuses, depending on who you ask.
With an uptick in breakthrough cases and breakups, what’s left in New York? The shambles of the Astor Place Kmart, some piecemeal conspiracy theories about who controls it all – models, probably – and the Friends Experience (not to be confused with having friends).
Good poetry and graceful aging might be casualties of the reality TV era, but at least we can all star in our own private dramas – or opt out and gossip anonymously.
From cult classic to Cannes, Abel Ferrara is the uncancellable auteur par excellence. Natasha Stagg settles in with the popcorn to muse on his silver-screen retrospective.
In unseasonably California (home of Joan Didion and serial killers galore), Natasha Stagg considers the perils of America's increasingly confusing corona-culture.
As cinemas reopen and "immersive" art experiences flood New York with their competing ads, Natasha Stagg wonders if we've lost the plot. Is reality still our north star, or has it been eclipsed by a collective fiction?
These days, you can monetize anything, or so the Internet has us believe. Natasha Stagg has a secret talent that might be profitable, if only she would stop giving it away for free.
Even in a summer of change, some things remain the same. NATASHA STAGG’s column is back. This week, for the first installment, she observes that certain constants – like FOMO and self-delusion – are here to stay.
We’re saying farwell to NATASHA STAGG’s weekly column, and with it too, the summer, and maybe even the idea of a future where the nice guys don’t finish last.
Out Of State (part 8) is back in New York, and there NATASHA STAGG wonders about the future of the restaurant biz and all of the people that used to flock to the Big Apple for the good eats and parties. Did we see this coming?
Get your black spandex tights and head down broadway musical memory lane with NATASHA STAGG in her seventh installment of OUT OF STATE. After the curtain drops, there's still New York behind any rendition of "New York, New York." Which is your favourite?
This week, the OUT OF STATE (No. 6) train is headed to Baltimore, once home to the inimitable Divine, muse of many a John Waters' flick, and now site of his final resting place. Pilgrimage to the grave, and a few musings on the plight of Cancel Culture, are on the menu. Just no dog shit.
Get OUT OF STATE (No. 5) with Natasha Stagg this week, where she follows the great exodus from New York (at least for a weekend). But beware of Lyme disease, weird neighbourly hymns, and the countryside's glacial pace when it comes to motivation.
Is there such a thing as Deleter’s Remorse? NATASHA STAGG’S fourth column sifts through the aftermath of her deleted Instagram account, and all of the things she misses – and doesn't miss – about the social media giant. Who knows? Maybe she'll create a Finsta profile now in its place.
NATASHA STAGG’S third column focuses on speech acts, and the elected officials who seem incapable of delivering them with any eloquence. As the US just celebrated the 4th of July, maybe the fireworks will do a better job of speaking for New Yorkers than the old dudes behind a podium.
NATASHA STAGG’S second column gives us another snapshot of New York in the midst of a struggle between justice for its citizens and the desire to pose for a close-up. Spoiler alert: Stagg has parted ways with the selfie-behemoth, Instagram, in the process of writing this.
Summer is here, so let’s go out of state! Frequent Spike contributor and New York denizen, NATASHA STAGG, is back with a weekly column for the remainder of the warm season. In her first of the series, Stagg talks about branding, policing, and the endless stream of images that fill our screens and our squares (the big ones).
A Summer Chronicle, part 4: NATASHA STAGG watches Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and reflects on the culture that engendered Sharon Tate and Marilyn Monroe's tragic stardom.
A Summer Chronicle, part 1: NATASHA STAGG is back with her summer column and draws the connections between consumerism, waste, sustainability, and the intangibility of identity
A Summer Chronicle, part 6. NATASHA STAGG on the pressure to keep up with body trends, makeup masks in the sheets, and why we need to to stop talking about going to the gym
A Summer Chronicle, part 5. NATASHA STAGG on the conflicting worlds of the art scene and her garbage man boyfriend, and the economies of attraction between writers and fans
A Summer Chronicle, part 3: Natasha Stagg observes the day to day life of New York's Upper East Side while sitting in a coffee shop offering 26$ wedge salads
