Enter the Age of Borderless Memes
English-speaking YouTube has established tropes—workhorse video concepts like unboxing, shopping hauls, and microwaving things you’re not supposed to. Over the last few years (but especially in the last six months), a new second-hand delight has started gobbling up YouTube viewers’ attention. It’s called mukbang, and the rules are simple: Acquire a truly astonishing amount of…
Happy 30th Birthday to the Engine That Powered the CGI Revolution
When Pixar president and co-founder Ed Catmull announced his retirement earlier this year, people rightly saw his impending departure as a transitional moment for the animation studio. But it's bigger than that. Catmull's shadow looms large not just over groundbreaking films like Toy Story and Coco, his influence can be traced all the way back…
The Bot-Strewn History of the Best Kids' Show on Netflix
On a late June day in 2012, Gregg and Evan Spiridellis uploaded five videos to YouTube. Each featured a quintet of monochromatic cartoon robots, catchy songs, and an educational slant. Six years, 150 songs, and 500 million views later, StoryBots is now a kid’s entertainment empire. It also just happens to be one of the…
The Case for Giving Robots an Identity
The first time Stephanie Dinkins met Bina48, in 2014, she worried the thing was dead. “She was turned off,” Dinkins says. Switched on, Bina48 whirred to life, 32 motors animating its facial expressions behind a layer of frubber. Dinkins caught the robot’s stare and knew she’d found her muse. Bina48 had been conceived several years…
Steam's Platform Dominance Takes an Epic Hit
This week, we've got four big stories for you, from Steam's weaknesses and challenges to Facebook's weird ad policies and some huge news for Destiny fans. Eyes up, Guardian. (That's a Destiny reference. Sorry, everyone else.) Division 2 Will Skip Steam—and Head Straight to Epic Game Store That's right, Epic's ongoing attempts to horn in…
Do Standalone Episodes Hurt or Help Their Shows?
When Amazon’s Forever debuted earlier this month, it announced itself with a kernel of discord hidden within. Viewers reaching the show’s sixth episode found it stripped of its main characters—June (Maya Rudolph) and Oscar (Fred Armisen), a married couple trapped in unchanging circumstances—and instead angling its view in a different direction. “Andre and Sarah,” directed…
Black Panther's Oscar Wins Made History
Good morning, and welcome to a special post-Oscars edition of The Monitor. Yes, in this latest edition we have news about Marvel's big wins, Netflix's one big loss, and the dedication Carrie Fisher probably could've done without. Stick with us, kid—we promise you'll be as shocked as Olivia Colman winning an Academy Award. Black Panther…
While You Were Offline: Twitter Says Goodbye to the Opportunity Rover
What kind of a week includes Congress turning on the president, Barbies in wheelchairs, adorable wire fox terriers, and actual, genuine discussion over where politicians fall on the moldy jam issue? Your answer, of course, should simply be, "Oh, just any ol' week in 2019." This, dear friends, is the hyper-accelerated world of today, and…
Fallout 76's Buggy Beta Apologia and the Rest of the Week in Gaming
Halloween is nearly upon us, and game news is—well, actually pretty normal. Let's catch up. Bethesda Prepares Readers to Expect Bugs, Hilariously With all the grace of an iPhone Notes application apology, Bethesda tweeted out a very official-looking letter to fans this week in advance of its Fallout 76 beta test. The letter does two…
The Future of Super Bowl Ads Doesn’t Include TV—or Football
This Super Bowl Sunday, as football fans gather for pre-game festivities, musical theater enthusiasts will have their own spectacle to appreciate: a one-time-only performance at famed downtown NYC theater Joe’s Pub, starring actor and Broadway star Dexter’s Michael C. Hall. The production, written by Pulitzer-finalist playwright Will Eno, is an anti-consumerist allegory filled with songs…