Stephen Benedict Dyson

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. KCNA/via Reuters

What makes Kim Jong Un tick?

A scholar who has profiled leaders like Saddam Hussein and Vladimir Putin says there is a method to understanding the madness.
North Korean leader Kim Jung-un inspects an outpost and Jangjedo defending force. REUTERS/North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)

What makes Kim Jong Un tick?

A scholar who has profiled the likes of Saddam Hussein and Vladimir Putin says there is a method to understanding the madness.
The Starship Enterprise, the famed setting of the original ‘Star Trek’ series, was almost lost to the graveyard of failed pilots. alanoodle.com

How ‘Star Trek’ almost failed to launch

With a pilot that was deemed too complex and cerebral, ‘Star Trek’ looked dead in the water. Fifty years later, we look back at the show’s rocky beginnings.
Alejandro G. Inarritu’s Birdman took home four awards, including Best Picture. Mike Blake/Reuters

Oscars 2015: expert reaction

Indies to the rescue, the quiet power of foreign language films, Gen-X’s crowning moment. All – and more – are covered by our experts, who weigh in on this year’s Oscars.
In The Gambler, Mark Wahlberg portrays Jim Bennet, a bored literature professor whose gambling debts spiral out of control. POPSUGAR

In The Gambler, an anti‑hero story is retold

“Life is a losing proposition,” explains Mark Wahlberg’s literature professor/compulsive gambler Jim Bennett. “You might as well get it over with.” Intent on doing just that, Bennett runs up massive debts…
In Interstellar, Matthew McConaughey plays the protagonist, Cooper, who wears many hats: everyman farmer, laconic space hero, grieving father. Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Interstellar: Nolan’s flawed masterpiece

At about the midway point of Interstellar, a spacecraft descends into the atmosphere of a pristine white planet. Gliding downwards, the tip of the craft brushes against a cloud, and the cloud shatters…

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