The Italian communist Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) would argue that it was precisely through the proliferation of such norms in our culture—wherein the inequalities of capitalism appear natural, as “senso comune” (common sense)—that the ruling classes stay as such. - BookForum
For years now, each day has brought a torrent of new TV shows to watch, movies to see, albums to listen to, podcasts and YouTube videos and now Substack newsletters to check out. Living in the digital era has meant existing in a perpetual state of “How can I possibly get to it all?” - Boston Globe
Tourism is attractive because it underwrites a desire that, when we go overseas, stuff doesn’t get too strange, risky or foreign. Increasingly, we travel not to decentre our worldviews or challenge our sensibilities, but to chillax and populate our Instagrams. - The Guardian
The maturity of the subscription market varies by industry, but in some of the categories best known for these kinds of services, there are indicators that the ceiling is close, at least in the United States. - The Atlantic
"Westerns aren’t about gunfights or stagecoaches. They’re about how an extreme landscape boils human storytelling down to the essentials. ... The Western is Greek tragedy for America’s rugged individualism—and also for its machismo." - The Atlantic
One PhD student at Queens University recorded it all. "Like many cities throughout the UK, Belfast had previously been dominated by the sound of human activity. During lockdown, these were replaced by subtle industrial, urban and natural sounds." - BBC
And, as a matter of fact, if the Academy can't fully respect them, get them their own show. Yes, their own awards show - focused on craft skill. - Variety
The main character is "directing a multilingual production of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya with a cast composed of actors who speak English, Chinese, Tagalog, Japanese, and Korean Sign Language." The actors' - and the audience's - task is to trust the rhythm and emotional response. - The Atlantic
In the most jaw-dropping Kickstarter ever, the fantasy author has taken in (at the time of posting) $24 million for a year of special publishing perks for his fans. Some writers seem annoyed. But this is a one-time kind of thing, right? Right? - Slate
Fairly or unfairly, many tech companies with disproportionately young employees and leaders have gone from a shining example of how entrepreneurial capitalism can improve our lives to something that seems unhealthy and even sinister over the past several years. - The Atlantic
Could it be that the internet is not best seen as a lifeless artifact, contraption, gadget, or mere tool, but as a living system, or as a natural product of the activity of a living system? - Wired
It sounds futuristic and perhaps more than a little invasive—a computer watching your every move? But it feels less creepy once you learn that these technologies don't have to rely on a camera to see where you are and what you're doing. Instead, they use radar. - Wired
Social media enables people to make, shape, and share anything they want and call it their own, even when it’s not—further helps to distort what we experience on these platforms. Feeds are flooded with culture that, translated through the screen of a creator who is only interested in clout, comes across as hollow and cheapened. - Wired
“You can read medieval monks nearly a millennium ago complaining that they were suffering from attention problems of their own. As human beings get older, they can focus less, and they become convinced that this is a problem with the world and with the next generation, rather than with their own failing minds.” - The Baffler
Andy Warhol, innovation expert Clayton Christensen, and Etherum creator Vitalik Buterin walk into the bar. They don’t start out talking about crypto, but like everyone else, they end up there. - O'Reilly
