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The Thing About ‘Black Mirror’ Is, It’s Not So Fictiony Anymore

“Every episode serves in part as a warning about how technological advancement run rampant will lead us, often willingly, toward a lonely, disorienting and dangerous future.” Yeah, so, yikes. - The New York Times

When Hobbies Like Knitting And Fishing Become Too Expensive, We All Lose

When hobby inflation takes over, we lose community across all kinds of lines: “Hobbies can produce communities where, because the hobby itself takes top priority, the participants’ social or cultural differences become less important.” - The Atlantic

How One Talk Show Absolutely Nails It On TikTok

“Before taking the stage, guests make their way down a hallway as members of the show’s staff serenade them with a complicated, customized hype song, sung entirely from memory.” Almost all of the clips go viral. Who cares what they say on stage? - The New York Times

Once You’ve Begun Writing, When Do You Stop?

Poet and memoirist Maggie Smith says, “You have to enjoy the process more than you enjoy patting yourself on the back about having a product that you created. I mean, the most fun is the making of the thing.” - Slate

After A Movie That Lionized Him, The Guy Who Popularized Tetris Wants To Tell The Truth

The movie, described by one outlet as The Big Short meets The Bridge of Spies, was a bit, let’s say, intensified. But the real guy’s “story is especially notable as Tetris continues to thrive.” - The Verge

Making Opera Local Again

“If you want to find a creative space, it doesn’t necessarily need to be in Manhattan or Brooklyn. … It’s where you are.” - The New York Times

How Trump And His People Want To Capture The History Of The United States

“The president has gone beyond rhetoric, moving to challenge or seize control of history-related federal cultural institutions including the Smithsonian, the National Park Service and the National Endowment for the Humanities.” - The New York Times

When An AI Chatbot Simply Makes Up A Company Policy, Things Can Go Very Wrong

This seems fine: “Instead of admitting uncertainty, AI models often prioritize creating plausible, confident responses, even when that means manufacturing information from scratch.” - Wired

The Important Twins Of Recent Media

“Eer since people have feared the idea of doppelgängers, twins have been featured in hundreds of stories over the years.” - Variety

The Life Of An Author Can Be, Well, Imaginative

Author Sayaka Murata: “Ever since I was a child, I’ve had 30 or 40 imaginary friends who live on a different star or planet with whom I have shared love and sexual experiences.” - The Guardian (UK)

Way Too Early Emmys Handicapping

“With so much time between now and July 15 (nomination day), not to mention September 14 (Emmys night), we’ll have plenty of opportunities to read the tea leaves and make carefully calibrated predictions. This week, however, we’re in the mood to take some big swings.” - Vulture

Some Hollywood Productions Are Filming Anywhere But California

“International sites often come with lower labor costs and more expansive tax incentives than those that California offers, making it much cheaper to film there.” - The New York Times

Can Architecture, And Urban Planning, Help Older People Age In Safer Neighborhoods?

“Cities are often defined by spatial ageism where environments are not set up for older people. The age-friendly movement aims to ensure older people can still play a part in civic life.” - The Guardian (UK)

Samuel Beckett Versus The Archbishop’s Censorship

“After the archbishop’s interference, Beckett withdrew all rights in protest, for all of his works in Ireland, indefinitely.” - Irish Times (Internet Archive)

Turner, 250 Years On, Is Still Britain’s Best Artist

That “is partly because he is so intensely aware of a defining fact about his country: it’s an island. For Turner, Britain is bordered by death, terror and adventure.” - The Guardian (UK)

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