Good Morning,
The most radical institution in America right now may be the public library. Branches are lending power tools, musical instruments, even prom dresses alongside the books (The New York Times) — running on the premise that you should be able to borrow what you can’t afford to own. Essentially the new Commons.
Universal has started skipping the influencer screenings and is taking The Odyssey straight to the few remaining professional film critics (Wired), a bet that expertise still sells tickets. Meanwhile, the limited series, prestige TV’s darling, is collapsing under its own weight (Vulture), and Quibi turns out to have been right about microdrama, just half a decade early (The Seattle Times).
Two novelists made the same argument from opposite temperaments. Dave Eggers warns that once a machine writes for you, “you’re cooked as a species” (The Guardian); Margaret Atwood, more wryly, says the real AI problem is a very old one (Deadline).
And if you’re a George Washington reenactor, the semiquincentennial has made this your year (NPR).
All of our stories below.
