A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
I'm returning to the Emmy Awards by examining the remaining nominees for limited and anthology series that have Gold Derby odds at the the Creative Arts Emmy Awards. I'm following Gold Derby's order of categories beginning with Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Linda Cardellini – DTF St. Louis as Carol Love-Smernitch (HBO)
Dakota Fanning – All Her Fault as Jenny Kaminski (Peacock)
Laurie Metcalf – Monster: The Ed Gein Story as Augusta Gein (Netflix)
Joy Sunday – DTF St. Louis as Jodie Plumb (HBO)
Youn Yuh-jung – Beef as Chairwoman Park (Netflix)
Constance Zimmer – Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette as Ann Messina Freeman (FX)
Linda Cardellini leads as the selection of 93.8% of experts, 66.7% of editors, and 87.7% of users. As has commonly been the case, the professionals and the amateurs disagree on which nominees have the next best odds. Constance Zimmer, who I've been a fan of since she was in UnREALten years ago, is the professionals' second choice with 6.3% of experts and 33.3% of editors, but only 2.6% of users; Youn Yuh-jung is the users' choice with 7.8% of them voting for her to win. Laurie Metcalf earned 1.1% of the users, followed by Dakota Fanning with 0.7%, and Joy Sunday with none.
Gold Derby also thinks that an actor from DTF St. Louis will win this award, too, as 87.5% of experts, 88.9% of editors, and 82.8% of users expect David Harbour will walk off the stage with the Emmy this weekend. Charles Melton and Richard Gadd split the remaining expert vote at 6.3% each with the users breaking the tie in favor of Melton with 11.9% while Gadd has the support of 3.4%. Nick Offerman is fourth according to the users with 1.1% of their votes. Jason Bateman and Richard Jenkins split the remaining user vote at 0.4% each with the rest of the experts breaking the time this time as the choice of the last 11.1%.
Follow over the jump for the categories recognizing the contributors behind the camera.
It’s clear that the youngest generation of voters isn’t the same as the ones that came before. So, what’s up with the kids?
Gen Z researcher Rachel Janfaza joins Vox’s Astead Herndon to discuss how young voters are prioritizing economic survival, confronting their anxieties related to AI-job displacement, and searching for pragmatic, transparent leaders who address their everyday challenges.
00:00 Astead’s love-hate relationship with Gen Z
05:04 The theory of two Gen Z’s
06:19 How the pandemic broke Gen Z
09:48 Growing up with a phone in one hand
16:15 Rejection of the algorithm
17:56 The drivers of economic anxiety
22:08 AI and the future of work
25:25 The gender divide, explained
31:43 Hope for a post-Trump politics
32:51 Takeaways
I've been teaching since 1978, when I became UCLA's flag instructor, and I've seen how every generation is different. They require me to change my teaching to match their peer personalities. Some generations are independent learners, some require more direction. That difference generally reflects how they were taught in K-12. Having been trained and worked as a secondary school teacher allows me to pick up the styles they learned under. Gen Z in particular has been, as Rachel Janfaza pointed out, shaped by remote learning during the pandemic. That would make them more independent, along with the effects of social media, giving them access to sources outside of the classroom, both for good and for ill.
I agree with FiveThirtyEight's quick summary of what our gerontocracy means for policy. It's good for issues relevant to seniors, but maybe not so good for those important to younger Americans. That's good and bad for me personally. I'm 63, so the current Congress would be more likely to pay attention to health issues, like my diabetes, and retirement. On the other, they might not take climatechange and technology as seriously as I think they need to, while a younger group of legislators would. Sigh.
Gen Z getting mobilized against AI in general and data centers in particular shows that they are getting other generations to attention to pay attention to their issues.
I'm not surprised by Gen Z's activism; according to Strauss and Howe, they are the same kind of generation as the Silent Generation, that of my parents. That was the generation that supplied the then-young activists of the Civil Rights Movement and later the Women's Liberation Movement. Boomers may claim credit based on their protests against the Vietnam War, but the Silents really provided the people power behind the first two.
Speaking of the past, Gen Z probably has even less connection to the events of the Depression and World War II than I had to the Civil War in my youth. First, I was a young boy during the Centennial of the Civil War, so I got reminded of it regularly. Second, the U.S. has never stopped rehashing the issues of the Civil War, such as sectionalism and racism; the Civil Rights era was still going on when I was young. The Cold War replaced the global struggle of fascism, which everyone thought was defeated. Now that fascism is back, the people who remember are mostly gone and today's young people see World War II as ancient history; they don't understand the relevance. That's one of the reasons why history, even if it doesn't repeat, certainly does rhyme, as Theodor Reik wrote, then had his line attributed to Mark Twain. The history is forgotten, then it returns. Cue George Santayana: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
That's a gloomy thought, but one that isn't enough to make me think less of the final generation of my students. I like the generation that is saving movies and the mall. As I wrote in those two posts, I like them and think they're good people.
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for more Emmy Awards coverage tomorrow.
This song treats the Trump shenanigans in recent days as he has escalated a trade war with Canada and – when faced with defiance and the threat of counter tariffs – indulged in petty statements and pathetic acts such as sanctimoniously renaming Lake Ontario as ‘Lake America’. We have been inundated with requests from Canadian followers for something on this topic (including plenty of suggested lyrics and songs) – but we’ve stuck to our own model and selection, which we nearly always do. We wanted to use an iconic Canadian musician for the parody, and opted for the cutting tongue and clean spiky sound of Alanis Morissette – whose show Danielle loved seeing live in London recently. "Jagged Little Pill" was one of our favourite albums - coming out in 1995 when we first met at uni - and "Ironic" (co-written and produced by Glen Ballard) topped the Canadian chart for six weeks when released, thanks in part to a memorable music video that showcased different characters/versions of her.
After President Trump took offense to an advertisement featuring Ronald Reagan, he threatened Canada with major tariffs. Here now is Canada’s official response.
The nominees for Reality Competition Program are Dancing With the Stars, RuPaul's Drag Race, Survivor, Top Chef and The Traitors.
RuPaul's Drag Race leads nominations with nine (eleven for the franchise), followed by six for The Traitors, five each for Dancing with the Stars and Survivor, and four for Top Chef. The prognosticators at Gold Derby orders the top two like they did last year, when I wrote 'RuPaul's Drag Race' leads nominations for Outstanding Reality Competition Program, but 'The Traitors' will likely win again. Every editor, 95.2% of experts, and 93.5% of users think The Traitors will threepeat. The fans and the professionals diverge on the next most likely, with 4.3% of users rooting for RuPaul's Drag Race to upset, while the remaining 4.8% of experts and 1.8% of users selecting Survivor. Dude, I used to be such a big Survivor fan that I was a moderator of a reality TV forum; I get it, but it's not happening this year. Top Chef trails with the last 0.4% of users, while no one is picking Dancing with the Stars.
Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program
RuPaul Charles – RuPaul's Drag Race (MTV)
Alan Cumming – The Traitors (Peacock)
Kristen Kish – Top Chef (Bravo)
Ariana Madix – Love Island USA (Peacock)
Jeff Probst – Survivor (CBS)
Alan Cumming won last year and Gold Derby expects he will win again as the choice of every editor, 92.3% of experts, and 91.9% of users. The professionals and fans split on the next two with 7.7% of experts and 1.9% of fans choosing RuPaul Charles while 5.0% of users picked Jeff Probst. Kristen Kish and Ariana Madix divide the remaining users at 0.6% each. By the way, I predicted "Love Island...will be nominated for at least one Emmy next year after breaking through," and I was right. Sorry, Sharks, who got snubbed. On the other hand, congratulations to Madix; just being nominated is an honor.
Michael J. Fox – Shrinking: "The Field" as Gerry (Apple TV)
Brett Goldstein – Shrinking: "Happiness Mission" as Louis Winston (Apple TV)
Hamish Linklater – Widow's Bay: "Seasickness" as Richard Warren (Apple TV)
Christopher McDonald – Hacks: "No New Tricks" as Marty Ghilain (HBO Max)
Rob Reiner – The Bear: "Tonnato" as Albert Schnur (FX)
Connor Storrie – Saturday Night Live: "Host: Connor Storrie" as host (NBC)
Connor Storrie is the only SNL performer nominated at these Emmy Awards and the youngest SNL guest host ever nominated, but that doesn't seem to count for much at Gold Derby, where none of the professionals have picked him to win. Their leader is Michael J. Fox, who has the support of
53.8% of experts and 42.9% of editors along with 60.7% of users. Fox is followed by the late Rob Reiner, the choice of 23.1% of experts, 28.6% of editors, and 22.0% of users and Hamish Linklater, picked by 23.1% of experts, 14.3% of editors, and 7.0% of users. Professional and fan opinion diverge for fourth and fifth, as 14.3% of editors but only 2.3% of users consider Christopher McDonald to be a potential winner while no professionals but 7.5% of users selected Storrie. At least everyone generally agrees that Brett Goldstein has the worst chance with only 0.5% of users.
I just returned from my morning appointment and will drive into the office this afternoon. By the time I return home, Pearl's odometer will have rolled over another 1,000 miles, so it's time for a driving update.
People always hate congestion pricing...until they see how good it is. Whatever you want to call it — "the valley of political death," "the hill of hysteria" — it's a dynamic that goes way beyond congestion pricing. Let's examine.
Gerrymandering, more often than not, is used to disenfranchise people who live in cities and scatter their votes into outlying districts. It doesn't have to be this way.
[T]here have always been embarrassingly bad, nakedly partisan congressional maps, but things went to a whole ‘nother level in 2026. And it’s bad enough that it’s impacting the balance of power in the legislative branch, but what really sticks in my craw is how it stacks the deck against cities.
So today’s video tackles a couple questions: how big should the House of Representatives be, and how should we be drawing districts to make sure city dwellers and rural folk both get legitimate representation?
(Side note: I spent more hours on this video topic than any I’ve ever done, partly because it comes with a companion piece on my site — nerd4cities.com — that also ate up a bunch of hours. The time kind of flew by, though, so...call it a labor of hate)
I find all three formulas converging on one district for every 500,000 people encouraging. It tells me that my support for the "Wyoming Plan," which has the population of every district being the size of the smallest population state, is well founded. It's also why I'm not terribly eager to add the U.S. Virgin Islands; their population would make the Wyoming Plan unwieldy, if not downright impracticable. Fortunately, the last referendum overwhelmingly supported territory status...However, making the population of a district 500,000 and not that of the lowest population state would remove those reservations.
Ray advocating for the Wyoming Plan/Rule bolsters my support.
As for Ray's preference for keeping communities of interest together running afoul of the Voting Rights Act, I think he shouldn't worry too much about it as long as the current Supreme Court justices are serving. As I wrote in Vox and MS NOW explain 'The voting rights case that could set us back 60 years' and repeated in 'Last Week Tonight' examines redistricting, "the conservative majority of the Supreme Court shot multiracial democracy in America in the leg, if not an even more vital part of the body. The bullet is still traveling, injuring tissues and organs on its way." Much, if not most, of the redistricting that Ray is objecting to is the result of that decision.
That's a wrap for today. I have an appointment in the morning and will return to the office tomorrow afternoon, so stay tuned for another short evergreen educational entry I can share next month, which begins on Tuesday.
Dolly Parton passed yesterday, and I couldn't ignore it. Instead of posting an obituary from a news program (I'm sure TIME will include her in their end of 2026 list), I'm paying tribute to her my own way, through the mutual interaction between her and marching bands. I begin with Marching.com's tribute, Remembering Dolly Parton: She Was Her Own Parade | Dollywood Opening Day 2024.
Dolly Parton didn't just lead the parade — she was the parade.
Today, we extend our condolences and sympathy to all who are mourning her loss. The world has lost a joyful icon who brought beauty, kindness, and inspiration to countless lives. Her music, generosity, and spirit touched generations and left an immeasurable mark on the world.
Captured by Marching.com during Dollywood’s Opening Day Parade on March 8, 2024, this video shows Dolly riding through the park atop a stunning flower-covered carriage that looked worthy of the Rose Parade itself. Her signature smile and larger-than-life presence turned the parade into a truly unforgettable moment.
Thank you, Dolly, for sharing your light with the world.
Franklin High School Band Contest of Champions Finals performance of the Dolly Parton Tribute "Rags to Rhinestones" 2023 including “Rocky Top” “Shucking the Corn” “9 to 5” “Jolene” “Coat of Many Colors” and “I will always Love You”
Both Dolly and the Franklin band can be proud of that show.
Karoline Leavitt is leaving her role as White House Press Secretary and spokesperson for Donald Trump at the end of this week. So we didn't want to let the moment pass without marking it. We used for our parody the emotional and uplifting ABBA ballad farewell song "Thank You For The Music" - originally released in 1978 and penned by the inimitable Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus.
I'd say good riddance except that I'm sure her replacement will be worse. They almost always are in Donald "Pervert Hoover" Trump's White House.
The El Niño event that is developing over the Pacific Ocean is likely to be the strongest in living memory, the Met Office has warned.
The powerful natural climate phenomenon pushes up global temperatures and can increase the risks of extreme weather.
Added to the effects of human-induced climate change, the Met Office is warning that it is "very likely" to mean 2027 is the hottest year on record globally.
There is growing evidence that weather patterns around the world.
Hearing about all the effects El Niño is having on food supply and food prices reminds me of two of Commoner's Laws, "There is no free lunch" and "Everything is connected to everything else." I'll try to remember this when I teach Environmental Science one last time beginning next month.
Speaking of stories I tell my students, looking at the graph showing the effects of El Niño and La Niña on global temperature also reminds me of a question I ask in the worksheet for Chasing Ice, "How is increasing greenhouse gases like using performance-enhancing steroids?" They make extreme events more frequent and stronger. While climatechange doesn't make El Niño more frequent, it is making the naturaldisasters it causes more frequent. Also, climate change is making El Niño at least appear stronger and El Niño is definitely increasing temperatures.
The UK's Met Office says this year's El Nino could unleash extreme weather, the likes of which the world has not seen in a century. The results could be record-breaking global temperatures in 2027 and a raft of natural disasters. DW's Sarah Kelly talks about the weather phenomenon with Liz Bentley, Chief Executive of the Royal Meteorological Society in the UK and President of the European Meteorological Society.
The graph shows that the Pacific sea surface temperatures are already 2oC above normal and could reach between 3 and 4oC higher than average by the end of the year. Will that be stronger than 1877? Maybe.
With El Niño officially here, and predicted to get stronger, let's see how it's going to affect our snow forecast for this winter! Weathered host Maiya May breaks it down.
The pattern predicts less snow here in Michigan and more snow in the mountains of California and the arid Southwest. That's good news for both places, so not everything about El Niño is bad.
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for another brief evergreen educational entry tomorrow.
