Pope Memes and Hallway Characters [#161]

A little weekend reading on this balmy Sunday. (It's balmy in LA, anyway)

Hello!

I’ve enjoyed two(!) weekends in a row without travel so I am celebrating with a McDonald’s sausage egg and cheese biscuit meal and some poetry by Sarah Kay this morning.

I have become a student of Gen Alpha dialect now that I am the parent of a middle schooler, and one turn of phrase Eva used last week was particularly charming. She has a crush on a dude who’s not in any of her classes and she’s never spoken to, but she has decided to train her attention on and find him crush-worthy anyway. A classmate told the object of her affection about her recently, and the crush took notice of her, so she announced “I’ve been unlocked as a hallway character!” This means (as she explained) she went from an unknown to him, like an NPC (gamer-speak for a non playing character) to what she calls a “hallway character,” once he knew she existed. Something about this was so cute. Kids say the darndest things. What new vocab or turns of phrase should I know about? Write me or leave a comment.

Reading

Recession indicators are everywhere (stay til the kicker). Tyrants like Trump always fail. The real divide within the Democratic party, between those who believe the emergency is now and those who want to be polite.

Jason Stanford

with all the receipts showing Donald Trump is a Russian stooge. Little boys require substantial affectionate nurturing.

Hunter Harris

on how Michael B. Jordan plays one twin hotter than the other, in the masterful Sinners. And you can read up on the intellectual roots of the Sinners theme of otherness and desire with bell hooks’ classic, Eating the Other.

On my nightstand: Careless People, by Sarah Wynn Williams. This is gripping, and I tore the book. By now you know about all the damage Facebook has wrought around the world. This is the inside story of these callously careless execs at Facebook, who cared about nothing besides growth, truly at all costs. Meta got an injunction to keep the author from doing any publicity, but she spoke to NPR before the injunction so you can listen to her interview.

Werk Werk Werk

Public media (like my longtime work home of NPR, and the valuable PBS) — which are even more vital in rural communities where commercial media has retreated — are facing substantial threats under this administration, and we urge you to speak up to support it.

Stacey Abrams felt like an old friend when she came on Forever35 and talked with us about hope, activism, and her favorite TV shows.

My interview with tech ethicist Tristan Harris about how the current way industry is rolling out AI is chaotic and insane, and there’s a more responsible way forward.

This lovely episode of TED Radio Hour features my TED Talk and some of my ideas about self image and the way digital culture is shaping it.

The team and I are still hard at work on our post-fire documentary, spending time this weekend on the campus of John Muir High School in Pasadena. The alumni of the high school include Octavia Butler, Jackie Robinson, his brother Mack Robinson (an Olympian), Rodney King and so many other notables. Something like 25% of the student body, and 16 staffers, lost their homes and/or were displaced by the fires. They recently held their prom in spite of everything, and I continue to learn from these kids and feel so privileged and touched spending time with them.

Watch and/or Listen

SINNERS! Sinners! Go see Sinners! And if you haven’t seen it in IMAX, go see it again, in IMAX. Director Ryan Coogler’s geeked out master class on film aspect ratios is a riveting and educational watch, if you haven’t seen it yet.

We are still loving The Studio from AppleTV over here at the Hu house, and especially the recent episode that takes place at the fake Golden Globes.

Happy Mother’s Day to those who observe,

E