For eight months this year, I used a flip phone. For most of those eight months, I hated myself and everyone else. Frankly, I’m embarrassed to write about this semifailed experiment. Disconnection has become the most congratulated, least convincing narrative gimmick of recent times, a widely excusable hypocrisy. A popular Instagrammer leaves the platform, only […]
All week, WIRED's Culture team will be writing endorsement letters for various Emmy nominees in advance of next Monday's awards ceremony. Kicking things off: senior writer and resident "Yoohoo" quoter Brian Raftery. This spring, FX aired the Atlanta installment “Teddy Perkins,” a macabre tale of a reclusive pop legend holed up in a Southern mansion. […]
For the first time in four years, there wasn't a new Star Wars movie to talk about in December. But really, that may turn out to be just the calm before the storm of news that's sure to come out of Lucasfilm in the next 12 months before the release of Episode IX. If 2018 […]
How true does my online persona have to be? I like to be really curated. But my significant other is very honest. Too honest if you ask me. Who’s right? Should we be our raw authentic selves, or strike a pose? This feels like a quintessential dilemma of the digital age, but artists and philosophers […]
Last week was nice and quiet. Well, nice and quiet if you ignore President Trump's advisor Roger Stone being arrested and indicted, Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort being ordered to appear in court to face charges of lying to federal authorities, and everything going on in Venezuela. Oh, and Facebook making money off of kids […]
First off, a not-fun stat for you to ponder: According to a new study released last week, more than 80 percent of the accounts that purposefully spread misinformation during the 2016 election are still active. At the same time, even Star Wars: The Last Jedi is being attacked by trolls with political agendas, because there's […]
“Roughly half of Americans would feel better about the concept of a robot caregiver if there was a human operator who could remotely monitor its actions at all times.” —“Automation in Everyday Life,” Pew Research Center (2017) The thing is beeping at Brad. > Begin EOL protocol. OK? > Beep. > OK to begin? All […]
If your preferred metric for animated TV is "absurd but endearing," last night's ninth-season premiere of Bob’s Burgers may have broken your dial. After Tina Belcher’s family accuses her of being preoccupied with boys—“I’m not boy crazy, I’m boy-focused,” she tells them—she decides to dress up as a boy to follow another boy into a […]
Of all the arguments that get had at Thanksgiving dinners, there are very few arguments about Thanksgiving dinners. Which is to say, people rarely argue about what should be present at the meal itself. Sure, no one really wants Aunt Gladys' string-bean casserole, but no one tells her not to bring it. The spread stays […]
I never knew I needed the Doctor to disrupt one of King James’ infamous 16th century witch trials, while snarking about the women’s clothing’s inferior pockets—but I absolutely did. Since the 1960s, Doctor Who has centered around an all-powerful man and the young, sexy women who are along for the ride. Though the Doctor is […]