Hello from the dead week of the year, when all sane people have logged off to spend time with their families. This is when I typically write at least one deeply weird post while I’m working over the holiday. One time I got left alone on New Year’s Day and posted about cats all day […]
According to YouTube’s 2025 Recap feature, the podcast I consumed the most on its platform was Seth Meyers’ recurring segment “A Closer Look” on his show Late Night. Last year, I would have argued that this is not a podcast. That it is, in fact, a clip of a TV show. But in 2025, with […]
On Monday, several dozen members of the public are lined up outside 100 Centre Street in Lower Manhattan, hoping to squeeze into the courtroom to hear testimony from witnesses called by the state against Luigi Mangione – the man accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson a year ago. Despite the endless news […]
One year after the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan, his alleged shooter, Luigi Mangione, faces charges of first and second degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon, stalking, forgery, and others. Mangione has become a folk hero to many online, amid debates over wealth inequality, healthcare affordability, and even content moderation. His […]
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on internet culture, follow Stevie Bonifield. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started The indie web began a few years after the end of GeoCities, […]
The more than 20,000 pages of Jeffrey Epstein emails released earlier this month by the House Oversight Committee have been enough to prompt more investigations into the convicted child sex offender and the people around him, like former Harvard president and OpenAI board member Larry Summers. Now, Luke Igel and Riley Walz have reformatted the […]
There has been a recent deluge of generative AI videos featuring uncannily fresh-faced teens waxing nostalgic about how much better the world was during the ’80s and ’90s. As the AI youths smize and show off their period-specific haircuts, the clips cut to dreamlike footage of sun-drenched cul-de-sacs and vintage cars while songs like “Everybody […]
On July 1st, Perez Hilton uploaded a YouTube video with breaking news. “Hello everybody, it is Perez, the queen of all media, the original influencer, and allegedly, I have been subpoenaed by Blake Lively,” Hilton said, stretching out the four syllables in the word “allegedly” as far as they could go. Since the actress sued […]
After six years as Fandom’s CEO, Perkins Miller is parting ways with the popular wiki hosting platform. While there has yet to be an official announcement, The Verge has learned that Miller is no longer working for Fandom as of last week. In a statement sent to The Verge on Fandom’s behalf, Katie Schroeder confirmed […]
Pitchfork is going full midlife crisis mode, experimenting with user-generated content, adding comments (when much of the web is moving away from them), and dropping absolutely deranged best-of lists. Like most of the media industry, Pitchfork has struggled in recent years as audiences have shifted towards influencers on social media and advertising revenue has dried […]