Roll back the clock precisely 20 years, and you’d encounter a curious phenomenon bubbling up in Detroit. September 1997: Kid Rock had just landed a major-label record deal. Little-known Eminem was about to catch Dr. Dre’s ear and land his own. The face-painted duo Insane Clown Posse was grabbing headlines and hitting the charts amid controversy.

Near the end of J D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (1951), the novel’s hero Holden Caulfield buys his sister Phoebe a ticket to the carousel in the park and watches her ride it. It begins to rain, and Holden – having spent most of the book in some form of anxiety, disgust or depression – now nearly cries with joy. ‘I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy, if you want to know the truth. I don’t know why. It was just that she looked so damn nice, the way she kept going around and around...

One day, while scrolling through Twitter, a post from Kitchen Arts & Letters caught my eye. The renowned New York City bookstore was selling a “Nancy Drew Cookbook” from the ’70s, written by Nancy Drew author Carolyn Keene “herself.” (Keene was the pseudonym of several ghostwriters, male and female, who wrote the beloved mysteries over the years.) As a fan of Nancy Drew, retro recipes, and any intersection of food and literature, I found it too good to pass up.

Thanks to a decline in homophobia, straight men are now better able to embrace "bromances" with other men, according to a new study published in the journal Sex Roles. In order to explore the evolution of these so-called bromances -- which the report describes as being "more emotionally intimate, physically demonstrative, and based upon unrivaled trust and cohesion compared to their other friendships" -- the study's authors interviewed 30 undergraduate heterosexual and "mostly heterosexual" men studying sport-degree programs at a British University.

And sorry, Eleven, but psychic powers won’t transport you to another world. By Shannon Stirone.

“Why don’t superheroes go after the real bad guys.” – The Authority

Watch MST3k! The most complete list of free online Mystery Science Theater 3000 videos!

The latest psychedelia fare is once again delivered successfully to the masses by wrapping it in the entertainment-friendly foil of science fiction. By Roger Keen.

The late great counter cultural figure, poet and publisher Felix Dennis collected an incredible array of psychedelic advertising posters during his lifetime, from the 1960s and 1970s… By Paul Gallagher.

From Eliot to Steiner, Debord to Martel, Some Ideas on the Death of Meaning. By Mario Vargas Llosa. (Sept. 6, 2016)

"What does it say that Oliver runs interference for a system of exploitation, consistently minimizes ruling class crimes, and pushes a flag-waving nationalism that wouldn’t be out of place on Fox & Friends? Maybe the media is highlighting Oliver as a liberal success story precisely because his semi-radical trappings are wrapped around this reactionary core." By Lorenzo Ae.

Gudetama is a cartoon egg yolk that feels existence is almost unbearable. How did it win so many Japanese hearts? By Patrick Winn.

The actor Matt Damon has declared himself unconcerned about the prospect of being replaced in the action franchise with which he’s become synonymous. Speaking in South Korea ahead of the premiere of the fifth Jason Bourne film, Damon declared himself “totally fine” with someone new taking over the role. “I’m definitely going to be replaced some day by some new young Jason Bourne,” he said. “That happens to everybody and they reboot these things, and that’s totally fine.”

Lucifer. Damien. The Witch. A new TV show based on The Exorcist. Hell, even 'Once Upon a Time' is getting in on the current craze for Satanic, but this is certainly not the first time demons have infiltrated entertainment. A new book aims to trace the history of how the supernatural came to be so damn popular. By Cheryl Eddy.