We Want Your Culture Stories: A Call for Pitches

Were looking for your smart, original pieces about arts, entertainment, and the world beyond.
All objects, all phases of culture are alive. They have voices. They speak of their history and interrelatedness.
And they are all talking at once!Camille Paglia
The best Atlantic culture pieces examine questions people have long had but never quite identified. They aim
for strong arguments and analysis, exploring the less obvious facets of film, television, books, music, theater,
art, design, media, fashion, architecture, language, food, and sports. All these things are much more than
entertainmenttheyre how people relate to life, and how they ask and answer questions about what it
means to be human.
Why does racial diversity matter so much in pop culture? What can the tabloid chatter about a celebritys
alleged sexual assault say about gender politics? What do a spate of works about drones say about societys
collective fears and concerns about warfare and surveillance?
Thoughtful critiques and rigorous analyses catch our attention more than screeds or paeans do. Were more
interested in writers whove done research and reporting rather than those offering up half-baked personal
observations. And were particularly interested in finding writers whose experiences and opinions are
underrepresented in the media.
The types of stories we love:
Reviews or essays that use books/TV shows/films/news to explore larger trends and questions in culture
The Confederate Flag, Pop-Culture Phenomenon
Why Women Choose Not to Have Children
Ending the Internet Outrage Cycle
Why Theres No Conservative Jon Stewart
Pieces that explore issues of race and gender in a nuanced, unexpected, and non-patronizing way
The Unsung Legacy of Black Characters on Soap Operas
On MasterChef Junior, Innate Biases Are Hard to Beat
The Radical Queerness of Kate McKinnons Justin Bieber
Why Theres So Much Riding on Fresh Off the Boat
Consent Isnt Enough: The Troubling Sex of Fifty Shades
Trend pieces that explain why a phenomenon or fad mattersand not just point out that it exists
How Comedians Became Public Intellectuals
Unmanned: Why Anxiety About Drones Is Creeping Into Pop Culture
The Ascendancy of the Awkward Older Sister
The Unbearable Darkness of Prestige Television
Pieces that reevaluate forgotten/misunderstood works of the past
The Forgotten Handmaids Tale
The Messy, Misunderstood Glory of David Lynchs Dune

Harry Potters Forgotten Predecessor

The Great War Novelist America Forgot
Cultural histories
From Dallas to Spoiler Alerts: The Rise and Fall of the Cliffhanger
Born to Run and the Decline of the American Dream
Cinderella: The Ultimate Postwar Makeover Story
The History of Thug
Deep (well-researched) dives into bigger cultural phenomena
The New True Crime
The Unlikely Reanimation of H.P. Lovecraft
The Death of the American Dance Critic
Personal essays with a cultural bent
An Introverted Writers Lament
What I Learned Trying to Write a Muslim-American Cop Show for HBO
Pro-tips for pitching thatll impress us from the start:
-No one- to two-sentence pitches, please. If youve already done your research and can flesh out your
argument briefly and state why the subject matters, well love you for it.
-Have a news peg in mind for the piece (and unless youve written for us before, ideally one thats at least a
couple of weeks away).
Some housekeeping (to borrow from the sentiments of our wonderful colleagues over at the science, tech,
and health teampitch them, too!):
1. We pay for all stories! The amount mostly depends on the type/length of story.
2. Send us your initial pitches to entertainment @ theatlantic.com (instead of our personal emails). Well
aim to get back to you within a week, but if we dont, feel free to follow up then (not a day or two after
sending your pitch).
3. We want a diversity of voicesincluding those of women, people of color, sexual minorities,
international writers, and people of various geographic and educational backgrounds.