The Alien Overlords of Captive State Might Be Coming—for Us
The world suffers an imbalance. An alien authority known as the Legislators has invaded Earth under the false promise of “peace, unity, and harmony.” Governments have been seized. Militaries demobilized. Cities walled off. The great, last hopes of the contemporary age have fully rotted, giving way to a climate of fear and subjugation. Social fractures…
Ed Skrein Leaving Hellboy Proves How Easily Hollywood Could Stop Whitewashing
Ed Skrein is not an A-lister. He's a good actor who showed up in Deadpool and starred in Transporter Refueled, but he's not a certified star. But now that he's quit the Hellboy reboot, his is a name Hollywood likely won't forget for a while. Yesterday, in an unprecedented move, the British actor gave up…
Mr. Know-It-All: Should I Let My Spouse Look at My Browser History?
Is My Browser History Fair Game for My Spouse? Before there were browser windows, there were regular windows—ones you could see through. And one day in 1914, Florence Carman saw too much. Florence’s husband, Edwin, a local physician on Long Island, had an office on the ground floor of their home. One of its windows…
While You Were Offline: Twitter Just Gave Tim Allen an Evolution Lesson
From the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia (and death of Heather Heyer) to the terror attacks in Spain, this last week has been an especially rough one both online and off. Sure, a few small, funny things have been happening on the internet amidst all of it, but those blips have been largely drowned…
Cantina Talk: Here Is All of Star Wars in Just 5 Minutes
After what seemed like the motherlode of Episode IX information last time, we're back to relative silence about Star Wars' next cinematic installment. Maybe that's because principal photography on the movie is wrapping right now, meaning the production is moving into its next phase. And, as if the release of both Episode IX and The…
America Needs a New Thanksgiving Movie. Let's Make It Coco
It’s an annual fall ritual for which few culture-writers would want to give thanks. Every November, representatives from your favorite websites—including, yes, WIRED—gather to discuss Thanksgiving-week content. (Or “gobblecon,” as it’s called in the biz). And without fail, someone in the room eventually asks that most doomed of questions: “What about a round-up of great…
Batman Is Only Kinda Good at Crime Scene Investigation
You’ve seen the scene a thousand times: a cop, probably in a trench coat, shows up at the site of a brutal murder or some other crime and starts poking around, trying to figure out what went wrong. It might look like standard gumshoe stuff on TV or in the movies, but crime scene investigation…
How Comedy Bang! Bang! Perfected the Podcasting Long Game
This week, the long-running podcast Comedy Bang! Bang! marked its 500th installment with an episode that's about as loose, loopy, and star-packed as it gets. Regular guest Paul F. Tompkins shows up—playing one of the approximately 768 characters he's performed over the past several years—as do ace improvisers Lauren Lapkus, Mary Holland, Jon Gabrus, and…
The Ever-Evolving Headlines of Black Celebrity-Gossip Sites
Out of the typhoon that was Alabama’s special Senate election, it was black women in particular who showed up in force for Doug Jones, the Democratic challenger. According to exit polls, an overwhelming 98 percent of black women voted for Jones, with 93 percent of black men backing the former US attorney—ultimately propelling him to…
While You Were Offline: The Internet Doesn't Care About James Cameron's Wonder Woman Opinions
Welcome back, internet fans. We've got a lot to catch up on, so let's get started. First of all, to set the scene, it's been the kind of week where an attempt to avoid backlash causes backlash and everyone in Texas is, as of this writing, getting ready for a hurricane that will hopefully disappoint…