Mary McNamara is a culture columnist and critic for the Los Angeles Times. Previously she was assistant managing editor for arts and entertainment following a 12-year stint as television critic and senior culture editor. A Pulitzer Prize winner in 2015 and finalist for criticism in 2013 and 2014, she has won various awards for criticism and feature writing. She is the author of the Hollywood mysteries “Oscar Season” and “The Starlet.” She lives in La Crescenta with her husband, three children and two dogs.
Latest From This Author
Abortion access. Paid parental leave. Federally funded daycare. If the U.S. is so serious about celebrating mothers, this is what’s on our wish list.
May 9, 2024
Just as women’s reproductive rights are being restricted, a flurry of troubling reports about ‘Ozempic babies,’ egg freezing and more underscore the male bias in our healthcare system.
May 3, 2024
Being found in contempt of court in his ongoing hush money trial is just the latest example: The former president has no respect for the country or citizens he’s running to lead.
May 1, 2024
As has happened throughout U.S. history, student demonstrations over Israel’s war in Gaza are a prism of the wider world. Their activism must be taken seriously, for all our sakes.
April 25, 2024
I loathe the term ‘helicopter parent,’ writes columnist Mary McNamara. But amid a teen mental health crisis and other pressures, don’t blame us for being anxious.
April 23, 2024
Alex Garland’s powerful war drama is ostensibly a tribute to the fourth estate. But the film is absent the examination of causes and consequences central to great journalism.
April 15, 2024
O.J. Simpson’s murder trial followed fast on the heels of devastating civil unrest and a deadly earthquake — a time when Los Angeles was so used to reeling it became a state of mind.
April 11, 2024
Disney has many urgent problems for Bob Iger to tackle. Too much inclusivity in its movies and TV series is not one of them.
April 3, 2024
Like darkness emanating from Mordor, rat-a-tat headlines about Trump signal the return of a figure dead set on power. And no one is coming to save us.
March 29, 2024
Movies and TV shows have fetishized close friendship to the point that the real, often fraught rhythms of such relationships have been lost. Not so in ‘Merrily We Roll Along.’
March 28, 2024