This week was all about making connections. Connections between people. Connections with art. Connections between us and our commenters—and what meaningful connections they are! Other connections this week include:
Writing …
The Chilling Truths Behind Patricia McCormick’s YA Novels
McCormick talks for the first time about the trauma she suffered as a young girl — which led her to pen stories of other survivors. Her latest, ‘Never Fall Down,’ is the true story of a Cambodian refugee
PopulistMovies
Reel Love: Top 10 Movies that Led to Off-Screen Romances
As rumors swirl around the young stars of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man,’ TIME looks back at some movies that sparked real-life relationships
Zac Brown Band Defies Country Expectations with Uncaged
What exactly is ‘country,’ after all?
Essence Music Fest: Will Aretha Franklin Sing Every Song She’s Ever Recorded This Weekend?
Only time will tell — so we hope concert-goers have a lot of it
Coachella Moving Out of Indio? Music Fest May Relocate, Cancel 2014 Event
If lawmakers move forward with a proposed tax, Coachella may be saying good-bye to its home for the past 13 years
‘Spelunky’ Review: A Punishing Platformer That’s Always Changing
The Do-Deca-Pentathlon: Arm-Wrestling and Ping-Ponging Toward Maturity
In this grass-is-always-greener scenario, two brothers confront old jealousies while waging a fierce but fairly ridiculous competition
Too Sincere for the Internet? How the Web Journal Thought Catalog Sparked an Online Firestorm
It only takes a brief survey of the O’Connell library to recognize that he means every word he writes
The Walking Dead Returns: Season 3 Preview This Weekend
Make sure your seat is comfortable — we’re talking about nearly a full day of gore
Oliver Stone’s Savages: It’s the Dope
In a welcome return to his nutsy-greatsy days, the veteran director fever-dreams a drug war between California dudes and a Mexican killer cartel
Essence Fest: When Is a Music Festival Not About Music?
New Orleans and the Essence Fest make sweet music together
Andy Griffith: His Hottest Decade Was the ’50s
TV fans love him for Mayberry and Matlock, but at the start of his career he had a top-10 record, two hit Broadway shows, one popular movie and another — A Face in the Crowd — that turned his smiling-yokel persona into a …