For a long time, I’ve wanted to write my own criticism of pop culture. I spend a great deal of time actively partaking in pop culture: finding television series to devour, movies to consume, records to absorb. I think that criticism is a hugely important way of engaging with art and spend a great deal of time reading criticism to improve my understanding or appreciation of art (and sometimes just so I know what to avoid).

But aside from the occasional end of year “top whatever” list, I’ve rarely made any concerted effort to present my own critical thoughts on pop culture – and as anyone who’s had a conversation with me can asset, I have many such thoughts. The reason for this is simple – I write too much. What was intended as a brief collection of thoughts on, say, a Sopranos episode turns into a rambling treatise with thousands of unnecessary words.

So here’s my solution. Pop culture criticism, two hundred words at a time. No more, no less. Two hundred seems like a good number to cut the core of what matters (or doesn’t) about a work of art without waffling. Two hundred – or, as the Romans say: CC.