Kyndall Cunningham is a culture writer based in Baltimore, Maryland. She's an entertainment contributor at The Daily Beast where she investigates breaking pop culture stories and Internet gossip in addition to writing cultural criticism and reviews. She also currently recaps MTV's The Challenge and HBOMax's Gossip Girl for Vulture.
As an avid media consumer and Perpetually Online Person, Kyndall's interests cover multiple facets of pop culture—from reality programming to women in film to pop music to celebrity beefs—and its intersections with race, class and gender.
Her other bylines can be found at Bitch Media, Polygon, Hyperallergic, Glamour, Bustle, The CherryPicks, The Film Experience and Rewire.
For commissions and other opportunities, email kyndall [dot] cunningham [at] yahoo [dot] com
See my work below!
Selected Writing
Film
“Marriage Story” Doesn’t Reckon with the Misogyny of Its Male Protagonist
Zendaya and John David Washington's Odd Troll of a Movie
Telling the Stories of the Women Behind Chicago’s BLM Movement
Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘Another Round’ and Hollywood’s Weird Obsession With Remaking Foreign Classics
Television
How Barry Jenkins’ ‘The Underground Railroad’ Avoids the Trauma Porn of Slavery Movies Past
‘The Real World Homecoming’ Reminds Us How the MTV Reality Show Changed America
“Succession” Rejects the Redemption Arc for Its Ruthless Characters
"Tiger King" is about Murder, Mayhem and Misogyny
Music
Will Katy Perry Ever Be Great Again?
Drake Shoots Blanks on "Certified Loverboy"
Ed Sheeran's Bizarre History of Musical Thievery
Internet
Brie Larson’s laid-back YouTube channel is a surprising act of anti-troll defiance
YouTuber David Dobrik’s Fall from Grace and Why We Can’t Ignore a ‘Nice Guy’s’ Bad Behavior
The Cynical Truth Behind Will Smith’s Quarantine Bod Reveal
How Khloé Kardashian’s #PhotoGate Exposed the Toxic ‘Body Positivity’ of Kardashian Inc.
Reported Pieces
Four Women Reveal Their Horror Stories of Teddi Mellencamp's "All In By Teddi" Diet
Why Sex Workers Are Pissed At Meryl Streep and Rashida Jones
Does Celebrity Red Carpet Activism Make A Real Impact?
Interviews
Author Amanda Ann Klein on her book "Millennials Killed The Video Star"
"The Challenge" OG Mark Long on Being an All-Stars Player-Coach and Bringing Fun Back to the Franchise
How Ashley O’Shay Uplifts Black Female Activists Without Deifying Them
Recaps