The 'Guerrilla' Wikipedia Editors Who Combat Conspiracy Theories
Susan Gerbic spent her career photographing babies at a department store in Salinas, California, just 100 miles south of San Francisco. Today, the retired 55-year-old has dedicated her life to something entirely different: Wikipedia. As a member of the skeptical movement, Gerbic is committed to promoting critical thinking, scientific inquiry, and empirical evidence—particularly when it…
Cantina Talk: Life After Solo May or May Not Include a Lando Movie
The reviews are out for Solo: A Star Wars Story, and they’re … uh, OK? (For perspective, Rogue One scored higher on Rotten Tomatoes than the Han Solo origin story.) Mostly, though, the reviews don't matter; the movie is still likely to make a fortune. But while you’re considering what you’re going to be wearing…
7 True Crime Docs You Should Stream Right Now
One of the greatest takeaways from 2017—if, indeed, any such takeaway could be considered “great”—is that real life can be much more frightening than anything Hollywood could ever conjure. Maybe that’s one way to explain the public’s rabid fascination with all things true crime-related. From podcasts like Serial to docuseries like Making a Murderer, audiences…
Why Black Mirror's Most Controversial New Episode Is Its Most Important
Utopianism rests upon a single, fundamental truth: that we can be better than we were before. But what if we can’t? What if we’re stuck in a loop, slave to new innovations that only amplify hate, human flaw, and social fragility? In the techno-dystopian wheelhouse that is Charlie Brooker’s darkly imaginative anthology series, Black Mirror,…
Cantina Talk: Did You Catch the Rogue One Easter Egg in The Last Jedi?
Yes, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is in theaters and that’s all you really need to know. Well, that and the fact that it made a lot of money and has been surprisingly divisive amongst fans. (Maybe.) Now you're all caught up. Let’s just get on with things, shall we? Everyone Loves The Last Jedi,…
While You Were Offline: The Internet Is Here for the Parkland Shooting Survivors
Last week, KFC ran out of chicken in the UK and Ireland. No, really. Also, some Instant Pot cookers are overheating and melting. But considering this all happened in the same week as former Donald Trump campaign aide Rick Gates decided to plead guilty and cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, those items definitely…
The Feedback Loop of Donald Trump's Personal Attacks
In a presidency defined more by its unrestrained racial acrimony than its respect for the office, Donald Trump’s latest offense will likely register as little more than a footnote. During a ceremony on Monday honoring Navajo Code Talkers from World War II, Trump set his sights on Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has claimed to be…
Celeste Is Exactly How the Nintendo Switch Continues to Win
A year ago, the Nintendo Switch looked like a Hail Mary from a legacy game company that desperately needed a win. A hybrid machine—part living-room console, part handheld— that turned the Wii U’s kinda-portability into a success? Well, it could work…maybe. Now, of course, the Switch feels like an inevitability. It has already outsold the…
TV's Challenge in 2018: Staying As Intimate As It Was in 2017
In the final moments of SMILF’s debut episode, its strapped-for-cash, do-anything heroine Bridgette auditions for a small role in a PSA about post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans. Curious as to how she staged such a tear-inducing performance, she casually tells the director, “I was sexually abused by my dad, which also causes PTSD. So I…
Don’t Blame Social Media for Celebrity Politicians. Blame Everyone.
Within hours of Oprah Winfrey’s Golden Globes speech last week, the internet had somehow transformed the moment from the capstone of an exceptional career in entertainment to the launch of a new political ascendant: President Winfrey. #Oprah2020 surged on Twitter. Quinnipiac University tweaked their polls to pit Trump against Winfrey. Etsy sellers began rolling out…