Barack Obama and <em>Hidden Figures</em>: The Week in Pop-Culture Writing

Barack Obama Was the Perfect Pop-Culture President
Todd VanDerWerff | Vox
“Obama was as comfortable on Fox News as he was on The Daily Show or reading mean tweets on Kimmel. He could play games with Jimmy Fallon or talk policy with journalists, and act demonstrably different with both. It often seemed like he truly understood pop culture, particularly hip-hop and prestige TV, the two most dominant cultural forms of his era. It was like he chose a persona for each occasion—goofy but proud dad, cool guy, serious wonk—and then stepped into it.”

Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib |