Summary: Amidst the gloom that blankets America, evidence grows that another discontinuity in history approaches – a singularity. If so, it will evaporate many of today’s problems and create new ones. Let’s prepare for what is coming.
The next singularity will change everything“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
— Attributed to Charles H. Duell, Director of US Patent Office 1898-1901. It is as false as the idea it expresses.
Not No Longer but Not Yet LRB. Review of the collected writings of Mark Fisher, author of Exiting the Vampire Castle. Even if Fisher didn’t invent “Mighty woke of you” (drumlin woodchuckles) he surely would have, given the appropriate conjuncture.
Wit, mockery, joking, buffoonery: The oldest monastic rule we know of forbade joking. Laughter has long had a dangerously democratic democratic quality
In 1940, thousands of Polish officers, writers, and artists were shot. The painter Jรณzef Czapski survived to contemplate a question: Why Him?
Back Row America First Things. Chris Arnade. Today’s must-read.
The Gross Inequality of Death in America The New Republic
Why We Join Cults Areo. “We”? And if you’re looking for an explanation of the various *DSs ( ____ Derangement Syndromes) that we seem to be accumulating, they don’t fit the criteria given for cult in the article. Interesting nonetheless We
Uber’d Eschaton. Just spitballing here, but what if there’s so much capital sloshing about that Uber’s VCs backed it as a form of social engineering: To destroy public transportation, increase traffic, degrade employment law, pioneer an immiserated labor force of gigsters, and so forth. What’s not to like? Uber’s inability to ever turn a profit would have then been a secondary consideration, and Uber a sort of hobby farm for the 0.1%. Oh, and Uber (along with Facebook) pioneered the idea that “move fast and break things” applies to the law, as well. And what’s wrong with freeing capital from such antiquated fetters?
Emirates flight attendant Rachel Chami caught in major drug blitz - Daily Telegraph
“Chinese consumers for the first time last year bought more Cadillacs than Americans did, helping drive profits at General Motors. And though the designs for those Cadillacs may have been drafted in Detroit, nearly all of the luxury automobiles were assembled in China by some of GM’s nearly 60,000 local workers.” Link here.
Now you can hear 'The Loudest Voice'
The trailer for the new Showtime series premiered in advance of the show's June 30 release.
The
trailer for Showtime’s upcoming seven-part series, “The Loudest Voice,”
about Fox and its late chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, is out. The series is
scheduled to premiere June 30 and centers on Ailes, Fox News and its role in
American politics.
Russell Crowe plays Ailes and Naomi Watts plays Gretchen
Carlson. The series also stars Seth MacFarlane, Sienna Miller and Annabelle
Wallis.
Based on the trailer alone, it doesn’t look like a very
flattering picture of Fox News and, in particular, Ailes, who resigned from Fox
in 2016 after numerous allegations of sexual harassment. He died in 2017.
In the trailer, Ailes says, “People don’t want to be informed.
They want to feel informed … We’re going to give them a vision of the world,
the way it really is, and the way they want it to be. If we could do that then
they will never change the channel.”
Hollywood and journalism keep cozy
Tom Hanks will appear on a special segment of the 'Today' show.
Tom Hanks. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)
Tom Hanks is on a journalism kick. He recently played venerated
Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee in “The Post," voiced a Super Bowl
halftime ad for that paper in real life, and now he's playing in the journalism
sandbox with a special morning show appearance. Hanks
is scheduled to co-host an hour of the "Today" show on NBC on May
23. It’s all part of NBC’s coverage of Sen. Elizabeth Dole’s Hidden Heroes
organization, which supports military caregivers. Hanks is the chair of the
organization. He and "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie will interview
Dole in Indianapolis. The show will be there ahead of the network’s coverage of
the Indianapolis 500 on May 26.
Build the wall?
A study looks at paywalls across international media, and determines the average cost for viewers.
Seems as if every news outlet has a digital paywall these days.
But how widespread are paywalls? Writing
for Nieman Lab, Felix Simon and Lucas Graves use a new
report from the Reuters Institute for Journalism to study the paywall
landscape from the United States and six European Countries.
The study looked at 212 news outlets made up of daily and weekly
newspapers, magazines, TV news and digital news sites. The study showed that 69
percent of newspapers in the study had some kind of pay model, but that hard
paywalls are rare. Of weeklies and magazines, 52 percent had pay models. All TV
news stations offered free access to their digital news.
The other big question: How much can you expect to pay for
online news? The study found the average price of a digital subscription (not
counting any discounted specials) is about $15.75 per month.
Hot type
A curated list of great journalism and intriguing media.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
- The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer writes that Hungary prime minister Viktor Orban’s government has systematically crushed some of the best universities in that country, but a university founded by George Soros has stood defiant.
- Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, in an opinion piece for The New York Times, writes that it’s time to break up Facebook. And, already, Facebook has a response. Hughes is scheduled to appear on today’s “CBS This Morning.”
- So what is Jeopardy wiz (and professional gambler) James Holzhauer going to do when his Jeopardy run is over? The Washington Post’s Dave Sheinin writes that with his passion for baseball and analytical, data-based way of thinking, Holzhauer might make a great baseball executive. (And baseball people agree.)
