How to Be Cultured

How to Be Cultured

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T Magazine

April 25, 2026

Photographs by Roe Ethridge. Styled by Stella Greenspan

For this edition of T’s annual Culture issue, we decided to ask what it means to be cultured in the first place — turning to experts of all kinds (professors, artists, filmmakers, puppetry scholars) for their advice on what to read, know, eat, see and argue over. Below is just some of the guidance they shared.

Plus: Greta Lee, Jeffrey Wright and Barry Keoghan take our cultural questionnaires. And, you can test your knowledge with our quiz, before or after reading this issue.

FILM

The Performances That Changed Their Lives

Three great character actors share others’ roles that most influenced them.

By Lovia Gyarkye

Chibesa Mulumba/© A24/Courtesy of the Everett Collection

The Best Movies You’ve Probably Never Seen

The directors Charles Burnett, Ava DuVernay and others share five films that have been unjustly overlooked.

By Lovia Gyarkye

Mary Evans/All Film Archive/Everett Collection

8 of the Most Important Animated Films

The director of “Lilo & Stitch” (2002) and “The Wild Robot” (2024) shares a list of movies that changed the medium.

By Lovia Gyarkye

FOOD

Ryuto Miyake

Cheeses to Know on Sight

From Camembert to Comté, these are the varieties to distinguish.

By Becky Cooper

The Only Chocolate Bars Worth Buying

We asked 43 experts to tell us their favorite brands available in the United States. Here, their top nominations under $25.

By Mackenzie Oster

Ryuto Miyake

Dishes From Around the World You Should Try

Ligaya Mishan, a chief restaurant critic for The New York Times, shares her list of meals from Oslo to Singapore that people should endeavor to try.

By Ella Riley-Adams

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

The 10 Most Important Chairs

By combining utility and style in novel ways, these seats have changed the way we think about how furniture is made — and who it’s for.

By Julia Halperin

What’s the Difference Between Art Deco and Art Nouveau?

Easily confused design terms explained.

By Julia Halperin

Jacquelyn Martin/AP Images

From the Tower of Babel to the White House Ballroom

History’s most controversial buildings, selected by two architects and a critic.

By Julia Halperin

LITERATURE

Karl Leitz for Anthony Cotsifas Studio

The Books You Should Read Before Turning 10, 40 and 90

Dua Lipa, Bernardine Evaristo and others share what to read over a lifetime.

By Rose Courteau

Bridgeman Images

Why Are We Still Obsessed With Magic?

Six myths that remain essential to understanding literature and the human psyche.

By Rose Courteau

Karl Leitz for Anthony Cotsifas Studio

Move Over ‘Middlemarch’: Great Authors’ Unsung Works

Literature’s great B-sides, from “Romola” to “Between the Acts.”

By Michael Cunningham

MUSIC

Ken Howard/Met Opera

If You See Only 3 Operas in Your Life, Make It These

The mezzo-sopranos Joyce DiDonato and Denyce Graves and the countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo share their picks of essential productions.

By Roslyn Sulcas

A Timeline of Classical Music’s Evolution

A primer on medieval chants, minimalist opera and everything in between.

By Mitchell Kuga

Duncan Raban/Popperfoto via Getty Images

These Are the Only Acceptable Karaoke Songs

Actors and karaoke connoisseurs Bridget Everett and Natasha Rothwell rank seven tracks from easiest to hardest.

By Mitchell Kuga

THEATER

The Plays You Need to Know From the Last 100 Years

Cole Escola, Lynn Nottage and others choose the plays that define contemporary theater.

By Juan A. Ramírez

Actors to See Onstage No Matter What They’re In

13 stars of the New York theater scene who elevate every production.

By Jesse Green

How Puppets Explain Culture

A look at six enduring traditions around the world.

By Juan A. Ramírez

VISUAL ARTS

© Holt/Smithson Foundation and Dia Art Foundation/Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, courtesy of Holt/Smithson Foundation. Photo: Nancy Holt

How Artists Reshaped the American Landscape

A history of land art in eight works.

By Julia Halperin

© Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, used with permission

Art That Was Too Blasphemous, Too Weird and Too Explicit

Six notorious artistic controversies, from Édouard Manet’s “Olympia” to Tracey Emin’s “My Bed.”

By Julia Halperin

On loan from His Majesty the King, Royal Collection Trust/© 2023 His Majesty King Charles III

What Must You See at the Met?

Artists share their favorite pieces from institutions around the world.

By Julia Halperin

FASHION