Louder: How the Beatles got their hooks into Gen X

November 22, 2025

	By Caryn Ganz

Telling the Beatles’ history is something beyond a cottage industry — Ben Sisario calls its sprawling tentacles the “Beatles Cinematic Universe” — and its onscreen starting point can be traced to “The Beatles Anthology” from 1995, the TV documentary that showed viewers too young to have experienced the band the first time around what all the fuss was really about. On its 30th anniversary, a new edition of the project is on the way (it adds an episode about the surviving members finishing three Lennon songs), and Ben, who was flipped from Beatles agnostic (or even antagonistic!) into superfan by the doc, writes about its history and impact on a Gen X’er like himself in a lovely notebook.

We have a lot of experts telling a lot of history this week: As the Grand Ole Opry turns 100, Bill Friskics-Warren breaks down the institution’s 10 decades, choosing a song that best represents each one and explaining what was happening both in country music and at the longest-running radio show in the United States at the time. (You can listen to it as a playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.)

Also this week: Greg Ginn of Black Flag hadn’t given a formal interview in 13 years, but the 71-year-old punk rocker broke his media “retirement” to discuss the latest reboot of his hardcore institution — featuring three musicians in their 20s — with Nate Rogers. And Jon Caramanica reviewed Summer Walker’s “Finally Over It,” which he called “almost certainly” the best R&B release of the year, and also “one of the funniest releases of the year.”

A photo of the Beatles poking up from the sunroof of a van and smiling and waving.

Apple Corps Ltd., via Disney

Reporter’s Notebook

How the Beatles Got Their Hooks Into Gen X and Never Let Go

Young people coming of age in the Fab Four’s shadow rolled their eyes at the band’s boomer bona fides. The “Anthology,” now back after 30 years, changed all that.

By Ben Sisario

A black-and-white photo of a man in a bowler hat and dark vest over a white shirt smiling and sitting at a piano.

A Fats Waller Musical All but Disappeared (Until Now)

The jazz pianist and composer wrote music for the World War II hit “Early to Bed,” which was running when he died at 39. Two concerts will bring its songs back to life.

By Will Friedwald

THE CRITICS

A woman in a silver bodysuit sings into a microphone onstage.

Scott Legato/Getty Images

Album Review

Summer Walker, R&B’s Maestro of the Funny Side of Heartbreak

On “Finally Over It,” the singer and songwriter rolls her eyes and brings in like-minded cynics for tracks that recall the soulful sounds of the ’90s.

By Jon Caramanica

A man wearing glasses and an open collared shirt and blazer holds a saxophone.

Cody O'Loughlin for The New York Times

Critic’s Notebook

At 80, This Composer Is Easier Than Ever to Celebrate

With new releases and concerts, Anthony Braxton’s output as an artist and thinker is quickly available for longtime fans and initiates alike.

By Seth Colter Walls

A black-and-white photo of the Grand Ole Opry stage, showing a barn that says WSM Grand Ole Opry 650 on it, and a stage full of performers in front of spectators in benches.

Les Leverett, via Grand Ole Opry Archives

The Grand Ole Opry at 100

As the country music institution celebrates a century of its radio broadcast, listen to how the show defined the culture — and was reshaped by it — decade by decade.

By Bill Friskics-Warren

Eli Durst for The New York Times

Black Flag’s Latest Reboot Has Everyone Talking (Even Greg Ginn)

At 71, Ginn has remade his hardcore institution once again — this time with zoomer-aged bandmates. Is it a punk statement or karaoke?

By Nate Rogers

‘WICKED: FOR GOOD’

A woman in pink with a tiara and a woman with green skin in black clothes and a pointy witch's hat.

How 2 New Songs Made Their Way Into ‘Wicked: For Good’

Each witch gets a new number as part of an effort to flesh out the arc of the stage show’s second act.

By Esther Zuckerman

Ariana Grande, dressed as a princess in an iridescent gown and crown, a scepter in her hands.

Obsessed With ‘Wicked’? Try 9 More Songs From Beloved Musicals.

If you’ve got Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande on repeat, add these songs from “Rent,” “Hadestown,” “13” and more to the rotation.

By Nancy Coleman

A woman dressed as a green-skinned witch stands beside a woman with blonde hair and in a pink dress.

‘Wicked: For Good’ Review: Two Besties Till the End

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande return to Oz for the second part of Jon M. Chu’s maximalist adaptation of the Broadway musical.

By Manohla Dargis

A green-skinned witch wearing a black pointed hat and cape flies through the sky on a broomstick. Flyiing monkeys are behind her in the background.

Anatomy of a Scene

Watch a ‘Wonderful’ Moment From ‘Wicked: For Good’

The director Jon M. Chu narrates a sequence from his film featuring Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Jeff Goldblum performing the song “Wonderful.”

By Mekado Murphy

OBITUARIES

Todd Snider poses for a portrait in a checkered shirt and a brown vest in front of a turquoise wall

Todd Heisler/The New York Times

Todd Snider, Folk Singer With a Wry Wit, Dies at 59

Mentored by the likes of Jimmy Buffett and John Prine, his big-hearted ballads told of heartache even as his humor revealed a steadfast optimism.

By Derrick Bryson Taylor

Two women sing while wearing long, sparkling silver dresses.

Karl Mittenzwei/DPA, via Associated Press

Alice and Ellen Kessler, ’60s Singing Sensations, Die at 89

The twin sisters from Germany, who were nightclub stars and regular guests on international variety shows, chose to end their lives together.

By Clay Risen

A white-haired man in shirtsleeves and a tie sits below a colorful painting.

Susana Raab for The New York Times

Bill Ivey, 81, Dies; Quelled Conservative Ire Over U.S. Arts Agency

As the head of the National Endowment for the Arts, Mr. Ivey, a leader in country music, shifted the agency’s focus away from avant-garde work and won more funding.

By Richard Sandomir