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…
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…
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…
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…
This weekend marks the unofficial beginning of summer. (Technically it starts June 21, but everyone knows it truly commences with the first three-day weekend during which it's acceptable to wear shorts.) That means the time has come for taking hikes, playing frisbee, and spending long hours in a pool near you. But for a certain…
Last week involved a shooting at YouTube, numerous scandals involving EPA director Scott Pruitt, and surprising new sanctions placed on Russian oligarchs, and yet, none of that makes it into what’s being discussed below. Does that mean, perhaps, that the week was too busy? Read on and make the decision for yourself. When the News…
Each time a volunteer editor adds a new fact to one of Wikipedia's over 44 million articles, they're required to cite where they learned it. The nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, which oversees the encyclopedia, became interested in what kinds of sources editors rely on the most. A recent study conducted by the organization revealed something fascinating:…
There are many things that Westworld is. It is artful. Its scenes are sculpted with the same beauty and care that went into building the robots' exquisite bodies. It explores with delicacy the adjacent modes of consciousness that accompany sophisticated artificial intelligence. And then there are the things that Westworld is not. Warm, intimate, relatable,…
For his first novel, the 2011 blog-turned-book-turned-movie The Martian, Andy Weir chose a main character who was pretty similar to himself: a white guy who loves science. For his follow-up, which came out on November 14, Weir wanted to try something different: Artemis follows Jazz Bashara, a 20-something woman of color who lives on the…
Toward the end of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, one of our heroes stares out toward a vast, bleached-out vista that’s peppered with low-slung space-junk (I wouldn’t dare say which character it is, or even what planet we’re on; such info would rankle most Force-fans, and we all know a death mark’s not an easy…