Jen Chaney
@jenchaney.bsky.social
Current: TV and film critic free agent. Former: Vulture, WashPost. Prev bylines: NYT, Vanity Fair, others. Literally wrote the book on Clueless.
Watching a screener for a returning series and just straight-up applauding whenever certain characters make their first entrances.
January 2, 2026 at 4:52 AM
Watching a screener for a returning series and just straight-up applauding whenever certain characters make their first entrances.
2025 was hard and painful for too many. Hoping for better things*, for all of us, in 2026.
*Better things includes, but is not limited to, a new album from Harry Styles.
*Better things includes, but is not limited to, a new album from Harry Styles.
December 31, 2025 at 11:40 PM
2025 was hard and painful for too many. Hoping for better things*, for all of us, in 2026.
*Better things includes, but is not limited to, a new album from Harry Styles.
*Better things includes, but is not limited to, a new album from Harry Styles.
STRANGER THINGS is ending. '80s culture is never going away. An essay I wrote for @ms.now.
www.ms.now/opinion/stra...
www.ms.now/opinion/stra...
Opinion | "Stranger Things" is ending. Our obsession with '80s nostalgia never will.
Jen Cheney: Why this Netflix series belongs to Gen Z as much as, if not more than, preceding generations.
www.ms.now
December 31, 2025 at 8:25 PM
STRANGER THINGS is ending. '80s culture is never going away. An essay I wrote for @ms.now.
www.ms.now/opinion/stra...
www.ms.now/opinion/stra...
So what you're saying is ... it's Monday.
Nah. Sounds fake.
Nah. Sounds fake.
December 30, 2025 at 4:39 AM
So what you're saying is ... it's Monday.
Nah. Sounds fake.
Nah. Sounds fake.
Reposted by Jen Chaney
A lady in her eighties who lives in my building asked me if she should see Marty Supreme, or as she put it, "the one about the pisher who thinks he's a big shot," and I don't think this movie has anything to teach her that she doesn't already know.
December 29, 2025 at 9:42 PM
A lady in her eighties who lives in my building asked me if she should see Marty Supreme, or as she put it, "the one about the pisher who thinks he's a big shot," and I don't think this movie has anything to teach her that she doesn't already know.
Reposted by Jen Chaney
english degree: good luck getting a job, buddy! AI can replace you
coding degree: good luck getting a job, buddy! AI can replace you
film degree: your deep knowledge of behind the scenes stories from Who Framed Roger Rabbit will delight and entertain coworkers in any field for decades to come
coding degree: good luck getting a job, buddy! AI can replace you
film degree: your deep knowledge of behind the scenes stories from Who Framed Roger Rabbit will delight and entertain coworkers in any field for decades to come
December 28, 2025 at 4:57 PM
english degree: good luck getting a job, buddy! AI can replace you
coding degree: good luck getting a job, buddy! AI can replace you
film degree: your deep knowledge of behind the scenes stories from Who Framed Roger Rabbit will delight and entertain coworkers in any field for decades to come
coding degree: good luck getting a job, buddy! AI can replace you
film degree: your deep knowledge of behind the scenes stories from Who Framed Roger Rabbit will delight and entertain coworkers in any field for decades to come
Derrick Henry just pushed that Green Bay player like Cher Horowitz shoving a dude and saying "As if!"
You thought I couldn't somehow make NFL football about CLUELESS. Please. Who do you think you're dealing with?
You thought I couldn't somehow make NFL football about CLUELESS. Please. Who do you think you're dealing with?
December 28, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Derrick Henry just pushed that Green Bay player like Cher Horowitz shoving a dude and saying "As if!"
You thought I couldn't somehow make NFL football about CLUELESS. Please. Who do you think you're dealing with?
You thought I couldn't somehow make NFL football about CLUELESS. Please. Who do you think you're dealing with?
YES IT DOES I JUST DECIDED.
Is Harry Styles teasing his next album? Styles unexpectedly dropped a new video, paying tribute to his fans and Love on Tour, after a 3-year break from music. Does this mean a new album is on the way?
Harry Styles Might Be Teasing His Next Album
Is Harry Styles teasing his next album? Styles unexpectedly dropped a new video, paying tribute to his fans and Love on Tour, after a 3-year break from music. Does this mean a new album is on the way?
www.vulture.com
December 27, 2025 at 9:15 PM
YES IT DOES I JUST DECIDED.
Attempted to parse a major scene in episode seven of Stranger Things season five — you can probably guess which one — while making references to Winona Ryder's filmography and urban legends about Pop Rocks, for @tvguide.com.
www.tvguide.com/news/strange...
www.tvguide.com/news/strange...
Why That Big Will Scene in Stranger Things Season 5 Resonates
It's admittedly a little corny, but when put in context, Will's big moment becomes much more affecting
www.tvguide.com
December 26, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Attempted to parse a major scene in episode seven of Stranger Things season five — you can probably guess which one — while making references to Winona Ryder's filmography and urban legends about Pop Rocks, for @tvguide.com.
www.tvguide.com/news/strange...
www.tvguide.com/news/strange...
My nephew has recently gotten really into David Lynch and TWIN PEAKS so I got him a "Directed by David Lynch" T-shirt and he LOVED it. And *that's* what Christmas is all about.
a man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a wall .
ALT: a man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a wall .
media.tenor.com
December 26, 2025 at 5:15 AM
My nephew has recently gotten really into David Lynch and TWIN PEAKS so I got him a "Directed by David Lynch" T-shirt and he LOVED it. And *that's* what Christmas is all about.
Rewatched BATMAN RETURNS for the first time since 1992 and my opinion remains unchanged: it should have just been Michelle Pfeiffer licking people’s faces for two hours. Could have been a masterpiece.
December 24, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Rewatched BATMAN RETURNS for the first time since 1992 and my opinion remains unchanged: it should have just been Michelle Pfeiffer licking people’s faces for two hours. Could have been a masterpiece.
Listening to Jackson Browne and can actively feel Spotify increasing my listening age to 103.
December 23, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Listening to Jackson Browne and can actively feel Spotify increasing my listening age to 103.
Hey, I can't tell you what to do because I'm not running an authoritarian government. But I will suggest that you listen to my friend Chris's mix because it's really good.
Every December since 2006 I’ve railed against the narrowness of the holiday canon by making a mixtape of the weirdest Christmas songs I can find. Here is this year’s installment, the XXth. Merry XXmas.
ONE JINGLE AFTER ANOTHER—Yuletunes Eclectic & Inexplicable XX: A Christmas Adventurers Adventure
Stream ONE JINGLE AFTER ANOTHER—Yuletunes Eclectic & Inexplicable XX: A Christmas Adventurers Adventure by ctklimek on desktop and mobile. Play over 320 million tracks for free on SoundCloud.
m.soundcloud.com
December 22, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Hey, I can't tell you what to do because I'm not running an authoritarian government. But I will suggest that you listen to my friend Chris's mix because it's really good.
I'm old enough to remember when the Post launched its first podcast, which was just a person — an actual human, not a bot — reading one of the stories in that day's paper. That person was me.
www.npr.org/2025/12/13/n...
www.npr.org/2025/12/13/n...
Questions of accuracy arise as Washington Post uses AI to create personalized podcasts
The Post calls the podcast an "AI-powered tool" that turns its articles into an audio news digest.
www.npr.org
December 22, 2025 at 7:50 PM
I'm old enough to remember when the Post launched its first podcast, which was just a person — an actual human, not a bot — reading one of the stories in that day's paper. That person was me.
www.npr.org/2025/12/13/n...
www.npr.org/2025/12/13/n...
Why do I watch football? Like: why do I even do this to myself?
December 22, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Why do I watch football? Like: why do I even do this to myself?
Reposted by Jen Chaney
Bari Weiss is really bad at her job, until you realize it's her job to be really bad at her job, in which case she is excellent at her job
December 21, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Bari Weiss is really bad at her job, until you realize it's her job to be really bad at her job, in which case she is excellent at her job
I get why John Mulaney doesn't want people using cell phones during his shows. But I saw him last night in DC and I really, really wish there was even some slapdash online video of his RFK Jr. impression so I could experience it again.
December 21, 2025 at 8:02 PM
I get why John Mulaney doesn't want people using cell phones during his shows. But I saw him last night in DC and I really, really wish there was even some slapdash online video of his RFK Jr. impression so I could experience it again.
I wonder if the Kennedy Center Honors broadcast, which airs Tuesday night, is going to call the place the Trump Kennedy Center. Would not surprise me at all if they smacked that name on it so fast so it could be B-roll in the Honors broadcast.
December 19, 2025 at 8:23 PM
I wonder if the Kennedy Center Honors broadcast, which airs Tuesday night, is going to call the place the Trump Kennedy Center. Would not surprise me at all if they smacked that name on it so fast so it could be B-roll in the Honors broadcast.
[Extreme John McEnroe voice] YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS
December 18, 2025 at 6:17 PM
[Extreme John McEnroe voice] YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS
"We have monetized the dysfunction" is like the United States motto at this point.
Zohran: "I mean, think about when you fly. We have made it such a difficult experience to go through TSA that there's now a financial incentive to sign up for a separate program that can move you through it quicker. We have monetized the dysfunction."
December 18, 2025 at 4:51 PM
"We have monetized the dysfunction" is like the United States motto at this point.
I think I have done mostly okay since my layoff back in May. But then I have moments where I see Vulture stories that I so would have wanted to write, and then I feel like shit again.
2025, baby!
2025, baby!
December 16, 2025 at 10:19 PM
I think I have done mostly okay since my layoff back in May. But then I have moments where I see Vulture stories that I so would have wanted to write, and then I feel like shit again.
2025, baby!
2025, baby!
Something I love about this article is how every photo of every single person makes them look like an absolute deranged ghoul.
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
Susie Wiles Talks About The First Year of Trump’s Second Term (Part 1 of 2)
In the first half of ‘Vanity Fair’’s interview with Susie Wiles, the chief of staff discusses Elon Musk’s DOGE disaster, the FBI’s “incredible job” investigating January 6, and how Trump once berated ...
www.vanityfair.com
December 16, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Something I love about this article is how every photo of every single person makes them look like an absolute deranged ghoul.
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...