XXX
“What a Ride I’ve Had”: Peter Berlin on Sadness, Immortality, and Good Sex
February 19, 2025
“I’m constantly entertained by my thoughts,” the legendary 82-year-old artist tells writer Brontez Purnell. “Usually, I find myself more interesting than the people I’m dealing with.”
RETROSPECTIVE
“If You Can Walk, You Can Dance”: Inside the Whitney Museum’s Alvin Ailey Retrospective
December 31, 2024
Three titans of contemporary dance—Masazumi Chaya, Donna Wood Sanders, and Sylvia Waters—joined Brontez Purnell to reflect on the Whitney’s retrospective on the Alvin Ailey Dance Company.
FIRST LADY
“At Least Her Dress Is Pretty”: Brontez Purnell Reviews Melania Trump’s New Memoir
October 30, 2024
The experience of reading Melania Trump’s new memoir, Brontez Purnell writes, was one of “lobotomized boredom punctuated with turbulence and terror.”
PERFORMANCE
“I Want To Terrorize Americans”: Crackhead Barney Strikes Back
June 19, 2024
Following a dramatic guest appearance on Piers Morgan, the artist called up Brontez Purnell to talk Trump rallies, Black titties, and babysitting men.
RIOT GRRRL
“We’re Trauma Bonding”: Kathleen Hanna, In Conversation With Brontez Purnell
May 14, 2024
Before publishing her memoir “Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk,” the Bikini Kill singer looked back at her place in the Riot Grrrl movement with fellow punk rocker Brontez Purnell.
SUPERSTAR
Brontez Purnell on Paul Morrissey, the OG Edgelord
February 22, 2024
The writer explores how the filmmaker and Warhol collaborator’s legacy lives on in mumblecore, viral fame, and reality TV.
KINK
Photographer Florian Hetz Wants to Abolish Artist Statements
January 9, 2024
“Berlin has turned into this kind of weird sex and drug resort.”
BARB
“Act Hood, Think Globally”: Brontez Purnell Reviews Pink Friday 2
December 28, 2023
“For far too fucking long, female rap has felt like a suicide career choice.”
CLASSICS
Brontez Purnell Has Some Thoughts on The Little Mermaid
June 9, 2023
“Ariel, in her universal heroism, represented that part of us that would sacrifice everything just to get to something new,” writes Brontez Purnell in his review of the 2023 remake of “The Little Mermaid.”
Icon
John Waters and Brontez Purnell on Dirt, Scams, and Sensitivity Readers
June 17, 2022
The King of Filth spoke to the divine writer about his debut novel “Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance.”
IN CONVERSATION
Adam Baran and Brontez Purnell on New York’s Lost Cruising Spots
September 13, 2021
“I like the idea of going to a place and digging through men, like a thrift store.”