Ben Travers
@bentravers.bsky.social
IndieWire Critic & Deputy Editor, TV • TCA Member • Formerly of a Few Podcasts • He/Him • Ann Dowd calls me “honey” (and don't tell me if she calls everyone that).
Reposted by Ben Travers
Somehow, the one image that sums up the state of streaming in 2025 is like 15 years old
HBOMax has started showing a 'remastered' 4K Mad Men and they’ve messed things up so during Roger’s oyster vomit scene you can now see the crew men with the vomit hose on the right
December 2, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Somehow, the one image that sums up the state of streaming in 2025 is like 15 years old
tired: "Mad Men" 4K restoration is a lazy hack job
wired: the "Mad Men" 4K restoration is a lazy hack job that's got us all watching and talking about "Mad Men" again
wired: the "Mad Men" 4K restoration is a lazy hack job that's got us all watching and talking about "Mad Men" again
December 2, 2025 at 3:13 PM
tired: "Mad Men" 4K restoration is a lazy hack job
wired: the "Mad Men" 4K restoration is a lazy hack job that's got us all watching and talking about "Mad Men" again
wired: the "Mad Men" 4K restoration is a lazy hack job that's got us all watching and talking about "Mad Men" again
“The Chair Company” finale is both inevitable and completely insane. Season 2 will break brains. Can’t wait. www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
‘The Chair Company’ Finale Is on Another Level
Tim Robinson's surreal HBO comedy, 'The Chair Company' ends Episode 8 the only way it could: by luring Ron to a deeper plane of insanity. [SPOILERS]
www.indiewire.com
December 1, 2025 at 10:26 PM
“The Chair Company” finale is both inevitable and completely insane. Season 2 will break brains. Can’t wait. www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
Reposted by Ben Travers
Shout-out to my sister, who found and sent me the “Flow” board game so early I had time to add it to the IndieWire gift guide, so now you can find and enjoy it, too! www.indiewire.com/lists/indiew...
November 28, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Shout-out to my sister, who found and sent me the “Flow” board game so early I had time to add it to the IndieWire gift guide, so now you can find and enjoy it, too! www.indiewire.com/lists/indiew...
Shout-out to my sister, who found and sent me the “Flow” board game so early I had time to add it to the IndieWire gift guide, so now you can find and enjoy it, too! www.indiewire.com/lists/indiew...
November 28, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Shout-out to my sister, who found and sent me the “Flow” board game so early I had time to add it to the IndieWire gift guide, so now you can find and enjoy it, too! www.indiewire.com/lists/indiew...
The first episode is pretty OK! www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
‘Stranger Things’ Season 5 Leaves You Wanting Less
Excessive running times aside, 'Stranger Things' Season 5 works better in its few smaller moments than its many big ones. [REVIEW]
www.indiewire.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:30 AM
The first episode is pretty OK! www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
Reposted by Ben Travers
Wong Kar Wai @bostonglobe.com + @ebertvoices.bsky.social, Kubrick @indiewire.com + @thefilmstage.com, rubble films + EDGE OF DARKNESS @thequietus.com, Michel Simon @theguardian.com, Pasolini @sightsoundmag.bsky.social …
Did You See This? www.criterion.com/current/post...
Did You See This? www.criterion.com/current/post...
November 26, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Wong Kar Wai @bostonglobe.com + @ebertvoices.bsky.social, Kubrick @indiewire.com + @thefilmstage.com, rubble films + EDGE OF DARKNESS @thequietus.com, Michel Simon @theguardian.com, Pasolini @sightsoundmag.bsky.social …
Did You See This? www.criterion.com/current/post...
Did You See This? www.criterion.com/current/post...
Reposted by Ben Travers
Apparently I am Catholic again
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Apparently I am Catholic again
Reposted by Ben Travers
Help us send 2,000 books to readers who are incarcerated this winter through our Books Not Bars program
Books Not Bars 2025 Holiday Campaign
BOOKS NOT BARS FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Haymarket Books is committed to making our books available for free to people who are incarcerated.
In an effort to support those inside who are dealing with the imm...
haymarketbooks.app.neoncrm.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Help us send 2,000 books to readers who are incarcerated this winter through our Books Not Bars program
Went a tad long praising one specific Max Greenfield moment in “A Man on the Inside” Season 2 and now I’m realizing I should’ve made more space for Mary Steenburgen (+Ted Danson +David Strathairn +++)
…so look for them in IW’s 2025 Best Performances list, I guess. www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
…so look for them in IW’s 2025 Best Performances list, I guess. www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
‘A Man on the Inside’ Season 2 Solves a Lighter, Merrier Mystery — and Adds Real Romance
'A Man on the Inside' Season 2 sends Ted Danson's undercover agent back to college, where a thief threatens a billionaire's school-saving donation.
www.indiewire.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Went a tad long praising one specific Max Greenfield moment in “A Man on the Inside” Season 2 and now I’m realizing I should’ve made more space for Mary Steenburgen (+Ted Danson +David Strathairn +++)
…so look for them in IW’s 2025 Best Performances list, I guess. www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
…so look for them in IW’s 2025 Best Performances list, I guess. www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
TV's biggest night... Monday! 🤨 variety.com/2025/tv/news...
NBC’s Sunday Night Football Pushes 2026 Emmys to a Monday in September, as the Network ‘Wheel Deal’ Expires
As has been the case in recent years, when it's NBC's turn to air the Emmys, the telecast must run on Mondays due to football.
variety.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:28 PM
TV's biggest night... Monday! 🤨 variety.com/2025/tv/news...
Reposted by Ben Travers
if you're holiday shopping at bookshop dot org, you should shop via our affiliate page! we get a small commission that goes toward us opening a storefront in queens: bookshop.org/shop/NoBorders
November 17, 2025 at 4:24 PM
if you're holiday shopping at bookshop dot org, you should shop via our affiliate page! we get a small commission that goes toward us opening a storefront in queens: bookshop.org/shop/NoBorders
“Those who have interests in keeping the political story alive and growing have to really work to keep it front and center; to define the problem as something present in the minds of ordinary people.”
- Jane Kamensky, historian www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
- Jane Kamensky, historian www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
‘The American Revolution’ Review: In Divided Times, Ken Burns Trumpets a Unifying Dictum: No Kings
Much has changed in 250 years, but Ken Burns' encyclopedic study of 'The American Revolution' finds a rallying cry in rejecting despots —then and now.
www.indiewire.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:57 AM
“Those who have interests in keeping the political story alive and growing have to really work to keep it front and center; to define the problem as something present in the minds of ordinary people.”
- Jane Kamensky, historian www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
- Jane Kamensky, historian www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
Reposted by Ben Travers
wrote an essay about the lowdown, and how it can be hard to think about drama at a time when there never seem to be consequences for bad guys, and how the lowdown offers us a way out
www.vulture.com/article/the-...
www.vulture.com/article/the-...
Drama in a Time of No Consequences
The Lowdown finds hope in a world where most crimes go unpunished.
www.vulture.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:22 PM
wrote an essay about the lowdown, and how it can be hard to think about drama at a time when there never seem to be consequences for bad guys, and how the lowdown offers us a way out
www.vulture.com/article/the-...
www.vulture.com/article/the-...
As a critic, pull-quotes are weird because sure, it’s nice to see your words magnified in support of a show you love, but if those words are so generic they could be anyone’s, I don’t get the excitement.
Whether it’s a tiny outlet or a major one, I think the entire space could pull back quite a bit on the hyperbolic pull quotes. Like how many “masterpieces” do we get a year now?
November 14, 2025 at 3:05 PM
As a critic, pull-quotes are weird because sure, it’s nice to see your words magnified in support of a show you love, but if those words are so generic they could be anyone’s, I don’t get the excitement.
Reposted by Ben Travers
Gen AI is a tool that allows people to cheat themselves of growth.
A pretty bleak thing that GenAI is revealing is that a significant percentage of the population seems to have no interest in actually learning or doing anything. They want to ChatGPT their way out of hobbies, art making, everything... www.thecut.com/article/woul...
The People Using ChatGPT to Cheat at Their Hobbies
Why are so many of us letting AI have all the fun?
www.thecut.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Gen AI is a tool that allows people to cheat themselves of growth.
Reposted by Ben Travers
truly the most convincing argument to watch a show I have ever read
A piece @bentravers.bsky.social was born to write: www.indiewire.com/lists/death-...
The ‘Death by Lightning’ Dudes, Ranked from ‘That Guy’ to ‘My Man!’
A scientific breakdown of what the 'Death by Lightning' cast brings to James Garfield's unconventional picnic table (so to speak).
www.indiewire.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:02 AM
truly the most convincing argument to watch a show I have ever read
Reposted by Ben Travers
A piece @bentravers.bsky.social was born to write: www.indiewire.com/lists/death-...
The ‘Death by Lightning’ Dudes, Ranked from ‘That Guy’ to ‘My Man!’
A scientific breakdown of what the 'Death by Lightning' cast brings to James Garfield's unconventional picnic table (so to speak).
www.indiewire.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:45 PM
A piece @bentravers.bsky.social was born to write: www.indiewire.com/lists/death-...
Explaining to my tiny nephew that I was late to play with trucks 🚜because his grandma asked me if I liked the Springsteen movie and we missed our train. 🚂
November 8, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Explaining to my tiny nephew that I was late to play with trucks 🚜because his grandma asked me if I liked the Springsteen movie and we missed our train. 🚂
Good show. www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
‘Pluribus’ Review: Vince Gilligan’s Intrepid Sci-Fi Series Is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts
Bucking convention at every turn, 'Pluribus' can be fitfully satisfying from scene to scene but its big ideas create a potent overall impact. [REVIEW]
www.indiewire.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Good show. www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
Impossible to overstate how much Shea Whigham Shea Whighams in this. Top-tier entertainment.
www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
‘Death by Lightning’ Review: Michael Shannon Leads a Rollicking Elegy for the American Experiment
Recounting James Garfield's assassination, 'Death by LIghtning' is a Netflix series driven by a rip-roaring cast, wily humor, and keen insight.
www.indiewire.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Impossible to overstate how much Shea Whigham Shea Whighams in this. Top-tier entertainment.
www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
I was amped after the first episode of "All Her Fault" — Sarah Snook and Dakota Fanning teaming up in a trash TV mystery to expose the perverse laziness of disconnected dads? hell yes! — but then it... kept going. And going. And yawn. www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
‘All Her Fault’ Review: Don’t Blame Sarah Snook for Peacock’s Missing-Kid Mystery Falling Apart
In a trashy-fun whodunit that overstays its welcome, a young boy is taken and his family members become the prime suspects.
www.indiewire.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I was amped after the first episode of "All Her Fault" — Sarah Snook and Dakota Fanning teaming up in a trash TV mystery to expose the perverse laziness of disconnected dads? hell yes! — but then it... kept going. And going. And yawn. www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...
Reposted by Ben Travers
As the cold reality of Cuomo’s defeat sets in, this is a moment for centrists to ask themselves: Have we lost touch with the common voter? Get out and spend time in the tattoo parlors and dispensaries. The drag shows, community gardens and outsider art galleries where Real New Yorkers congregate
November 5, 2025 at 5:23 AM
As the cold reality of Cuomo’s defeat sets in, this is a moment for centrists to ask themselves: Have we lost touch with the common voter? Get out and spend time in the tattoo parlors and dispensaries. The drag shows, community gardens and outsider art galleries where Real New Yorkers congregate
Reposted by Ben Travers
People fucking hate this guy. They fucking hate ICE. They fucking hate how much power he has. He is at 63% overall disapproval to 37% approval. That's lower than their poll after January 6th. And this poll was done before he started intentionally starving people. I wish our media would reflect this.
November 3, 2025 at 7:41 PM
People fucking hate this guy. They fucking hate ICE. They fucking hate how much power he has. He is at 63% overall disapproval to 37% approval. That's lower than their poll after January 6th. And this poll was done before he started intentionally starving people. I wish our media would reflect this.
October turned out to be a pretty great month for TV, from exciting series premieres (🪑) to standout new episodes (🍔) — and a few random gems scattered throughout (🧢). A little roundup: www.indiewire.com/gallery/best...
The Best TV from October — New Shows, Great Finales, and Hidden Gems
In October, 'Bob’s Burgers' delivered its 300th episode, 'Mr. Scorsese' introduced himself, and Tim Robinson began his reign over HBO.
www.indiewire.com
November 1, 2025 at 2:00 PM
October turned out to be a pretty great month for TV, from exciting series premieres (🪑) to standout new episodes (🍔) — and a few random gems scattered throughout (🧢). A little roundup: www.indiewire.com/gallery/best...