The Guilty Pleasure of the Heist

The Guilty Pleasure of the Heist

From Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

April 9, 2026 · 45 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the cultural fascination with heists, both real and fictional, and the moral implications of rooting for the thieves.

Last fall, a group of masked men broke into the Louvre in broad daylight and made off with some of France’s crown jewels. The stunt swiftly became an online phenomenon. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss the sordid satisfaction of watching a heist play out, both onscreen and off. They dive into the debacle at the Louvre, along with a range of fictional depictions, from the fantasy of hyper-competence in “ Ocean’s Eleven ” to the theft that goes woefully awry in Kelly Reichardt’s “ The Mastermind .” Part of the fun, it seems, lies in rooting for those who identify and exploit the blind spots of an institution. “Someone else, just like me, is seeing that everybody is an idiot. But, unlike me, they’re able to best those people in charge,” Fry says. “It’s an alternative morality—a morality of wits.” This episode originally aired on November 13, 2025. Read, watch, and listen with the critics: “The Mastermind” (2025) “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001) Stella Webb’s impression of “the Louvre heist Creative Director” Jake Schroeder’s “ Ballad for the Louvre ” “ Showing Up ” (2022) “The Italian Job” (1969) “How to Beat the High Cost of…

People in this episode

Host: Vinson Cunningham

Guests: Naomi Fry, Alexandra Schwartz

Topics covered

  • heist
  • cultural commentary
  • film analysis
  • morality
  • online phenomena

Keywords

  • heist
  • Louvre
  • Ocean’s Eleven
  • The Mastermind
  • cultural commentary
  • morality
  • film analysis

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Louvre

Books & works: Ocean’s Eleven, The Mastermind, Showing Up, The Italian Job, How to Beat the High Cost of Living, Drive, Le Cercle Rouge, This Is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist, Good Time, George Santos and the Art of the Scam

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