Through the Lens

In 2000, the social scientist Robert Putnam wrote the book “Bowling Alone.” It was a warning about the collapse of the American community. Why? Declining participation in neighborhood networks and civic clubs.

Talk about bad. Not only does the 1965-film “The Conqueror” feature John Wayne, of all people, in the leading role as Genghis Khan, but its production may have led to cancer diagnoses in the cast and crew.

In 1977, Randy Bachman was a rock star. Then the guitar with which he’d written hits like “American Woman” and “Takin’ Care of Business” was stolen.

Everyone knows the Indigo Girls — or at least they think they do. The indie rock duo hit the music scene in the early 80’s, and people were quick to try to categorize them.

Hotshots are the hardened individuals who fight wildfires. Gabriel Mann’s new film gets viewers as close to the fire line as you can be without becoming a hotshot yourself.

In 2018, a group of inexperienced explorers — all women — set out on a journey that lots of people thought they couldn’t possibly finish: a trek to the North Pole.

“There is pain here,” “But there is also a lot of nobility.” From the book “The Forbidden Memory” by Augusto Góngora.

In 2021, unmarked graves were discovered at several residential boarding schools in Canada. Then, investigations began.

For almost as long as they’ve been around, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing have been mostly thought of as action sports — and not the sports…

Filmed at the most remote high school in the continental U.S., the new documentary Scenes from the Glittering World follows three young people as they…

Few filmmakers are as prolific as Frederick Wiseman. With 47 documentaries to his credit, the director has spent his life exploring institutions that…

The planet’s youngest generations will bear the weight of climate change. So some young people are fighting back — by suing the United States…