I first encountered the persistent abuse of the word “relatable” while teaching college classes in 2011 and 2012. My students understood the word as a compliment, applying it to texts, situations, and ...

I think I first heard a student declare a book “not relatable” about five years ago. I got the gist, but the word struck me as strange, clumsy. Before long, though, it had become a regular part of ...

The most sly, fascinating moment in Ellen DeGeneres’s Netflix stand-up special is just a simple list. It comes at the end of her opening sequence, an extended joke on the idea of the show’s title: Is ...

If Twitter is a place in which a user may be rewarded for exposing his most stupid self, Ira Glass put the medium to good use this week, when, after watching John Lithgow appear as King Lear at the ...

Jane E. Wohl writes: "I have noticed among my students a growing use of the word 'relatable,' as in 'I like Sarah Palin. She's relatable' (meaning, 'I can relate to her'). Do you know the origins of ...

It is known that during an election season, a flock of politicians will migrate to local pubs, greasy spoons and fried-Oreo stands at county fairs in an attempt to appear more normal. The wool suits ...