These days, it seems like anything could be a recession indicator. Press-on nails. Strip club habits. Lena Dunham’s exodus from New York. But how do we really know if there’s an impending economic ...

When I was growing up, a critic was a jerk, a crank, a spoilsport. I figured that was the whole idea. My favorite characters on “The Muppet Show” were Statler and Waldorf, the two geezers who sat in ...