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.
Happy Flashback Friday! I promised "Stay tuned for another winner at the News & Doc Emmy Awards along with a retrospective of posts on a related theme" for today and get to both of those after I lead into them beginning with SciShow explaining How Instagram Hacks Your Brain.
Do you feel addicted to social media? You're certainly not alone. Social media and our brains have a messy relationship, and researchers are working hard to understand what's going on, who might be more or less at risk, and why.
Hosted by: Hank Green (he/him)
Can't Look Away: The Case Against Social Media is the Emmy winner I'm featuring today and it's all about how social media algorithms make the platforms addictive and how they especially harm teenagers. Howtown examined another possible cognitive harm in What the actual science says about "brain rot".
Are TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts actually destroying our attention spans, or is “brain rot” just another moral panic? In this video, we dig into the science behind short-form video and attention, from debunking viral goldfish statistics to explaining real cognitive psychology experiments testing analytical thinking and prospective memory. We break down what researchers actually mean by “attention span,” how infinite scroll and autoplay feeds are genuinely different from previous forms of media, and what lab tests can and can’t tell us about the mental effects of short-form video.
As much as I have proclaimed "Behold the power of the YouTube algorithm," I at least had the choice of clicking on the preview of the intriguing video the program presented to me. With YouTube shorts, TikTok, and Instagram reels, the only choice I have is to watch the next video or stop watching unless I see the preview of the short on my YouTube home page, where I still have the choice to click. It's one of the reasons I generally avoid TikTok, the other being the ownership, both old and new. Do I think the format is making me stupid? No, although it's certainly distracting, entertaining, and surprising, especially as Instagram reels, some of which I find educational. That loops back to Hank Green's observation about Instagram hacking my brain. I like closing loops.
The second loop to close is today's featured News & Doc Emmy Award winner.
After I watched Can't Look Away's trailer, I declared, "I don't have to look at the other two trailers; I think this is the winner." I was right; it won. Congratulations!
Follow over the jump for the final loop, today's featured post from the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News, which was also about a legal action against social media.
Paramount Skydance is preparing to make a bid for Warner Brothers Discovery. NBC News' Tom Llamas talks to media and sports reporter Alex Sherman about what this potential merger could mean for film and television.
This could have major effects on entertainment production and consumption, although the resulting company would still not be as big as Amazon and Apple, which are primarily technology companies, or Disney, which definitely is still a media company. CNBC Television was thinking of a different media company when it uploaded Combining Paramount and Warner Bros. could create real competition to Netflix: Puck's Matt Belloni.
Matt Belloni, Puck founding partner, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss reports of Paramount Skydance preparing an all-cash takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, impact on the media industry, and more.
I was wondering if/when Joe Kernan would say something that would annoy me and he lived down to my expectations by speculating on what this merger would do to CNN's personnel. CBS News and CNN merging would likely result in a more conservative news outlet, which would make Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump get out of the deal's way. It's a legitimate topic that I'm concerned about, but Kernan's attitude rubbed me the wrong way. Good thing Andrew Ross Sorkin stepped in to change the tone.
Rich Greenfield, LightShed Partners co-founder, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss reports of Paramount Skydance preparing an all-cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, impact on the rest of the media industry, prospect of Comcast making a competing bid, and more.
When I first heard about a potential buyer for Warner Bros., it was NBCUniversal, which would make sense for Universal Studios theme parks; Harry Potter's movie and theme park IP would under the same umbrella instead of being split. That was under the Biden Administration. As Greenfield pointed out, this won't happen with Hoover Cleveland in charge. Besides, the Ellisons can outbid NBCUniversal, so it won't happen from a business perspective, either.
There was a lot of talk about a potential purchase of TikTok, but I'm going to save that for a future post. Speaking of which, stay tuned for a post about tonight's Emmy winners tomorrow.
2022 winner Love on the Spectrum leads with five nominations, followed by defending winner Welcome to Wrexham with three, 2021 winner RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked with two, and newcomers America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives with just this one. That's pretty much the order that Gold Derby predicts for the nominees. Half of the experts, 85.7% of the editors, and 77.4% of the users have chosen Love on the Spectrum to walk off the stage with the statuette. The other half of the experts, including Joyce Eng, 14.3% of the editors, and 12.8% of the users expect two-time winner Welcome to Wrexham will repeat. RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked has the support of 6.8% of users, while long shots The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders currently have the votes of 2.2% and 0.8% of users, respectively.
The search for true love continues as newcomers and returning favorites navigate the ups and downs of dating on the autism spectrum.
This is sweet. It is also shot, edited, and scored more like a documentary than a reality show, which shows the fine line between nonfiction and unstructured reality, a line crossed by United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell in 2023, where Bell found the competition stiffer.
RuPaul’s Drag Race Live Untucked captures what really happens behind the curtain of the hottest show on the Las Vegas Strip. Premieres April 16 on WOW Presents Plus: https://hubs.la/Q03dBxBM0
Welcome to Vegas, baby! Set at the iconic Flamingo Las Vegas, Season 2 of the outrageous, 6-part docu-series stars Drag Race legends: Bosco, Derrick Barry, Kennedy Davenport, Latrice Royale, Lawrence Chaney, Mirage, and Nymphia Wind[.]
Starring Taylor Frankie Paul, Demi Engemann, Jennifer Affleck, Jessi Ngatikaura, Layla Taylor, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Mathews and Whitney Leavitt.
The scandalous world of a group of Mormon mom influencers implodes when they get caught in the midst of a swinging sex scandal that makes international headlines. Now, their sisterhood is shaken to its core. Faith, friendships, and reputations are all on the line. Will #MomTok be able to survive and continue to give the rulebook a run for its money, or will this group fall from grace?
I'll sum up our reaction by quoting what I wrote in 2016, "My family roots for the U, not the Y!" My nephew even attends the University of Utah. Also, this show gives me another reason to be suspicious of TikTok.
Perfection isn't always perfect. With unfiltered access to the auditions, training camp and full NFL season, this is the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders like you've never seen them before. AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders premieres June 20th only on Netflix.
I was wondering if this is connected to Cheer and it is. That's a good sign, although it won't be enough for the show to win this year.
Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominations these shows earned.
Americans are blithely trashing more clothes than ever. In less than 20 years, the volume of clothing Americans toss each year has doubled from 7 million to 14 million tons, or an astounding 80 pounds per person. The EPA estimates that diverting all of those often-toxic trashed textiles into a recycling program would be the environmental equivalent of taking 7.3 million cars and their carbon dioxide emissions off the road.
Yikes! On the one hand, replacing Forever 21 with a clothing outlet that produces more sustainable clothing would be an improvement. On the other, that's not likely to happen. Instead, until Americans, especially young women, change their fashion tastes, they will just buy fast fashion online and more malls will be stuck with empty anchors and other stores, creating more dead mall[s]. Sigh.
I have become more opposed to fast fashion and Americans have apparently accelerated their acquisition of cheap clothing, a trend being pushed by new chains I hadn't even heard of then, Shein and Temu, and haven't mentioned until now, through a social media platform, TikTok, I wouldn't mention until 2020. Then, I was concerned about TikTok's capacity to monitor users on behalf of China and its ability to misinform, which are why I don't use it, despite its promotion of dance, a phenomenon I can watch on YouTube shorts, thank you very much. I didn't think enough about it as an advertising medium affecting Americans' shopping habits beyond convincing young people to shop local. Now I am. That's another reason to be suspicious of the platform.
That's it for Forever 21 until either or both Company Man and Bright Sun Films produce a video about its second bankruptcy. Stay tuned for another post worth sharing in April next.
Last year, I wrote "a name I've been tracking for years, Mateo, the name of Jane's son in 'Jane the Virgin,' continued its rise to eleventh from fifteenth in 2021, twentieth in 2020, 26th in 2019, and 37th in 2018. I wouldn't be surprised if Mateo reached the top ten this year or next." Mateo made the top ten in a big way in 2023, soaring to sixth. I'm not surprised Mateo made it, just that the name got this high this soon. Theodore also made a move from tenth last year to seventh this year. On the other hand, Henry and Lucas both dropped one place, William fell from sixth to tenth, and Benjamin dropped out of the top ten entirely to eleventh!
All ten of last year's girls names remained in the top ten with only Mia leapfrogging over Isabella and Ava to shuffle the order. Even Harper, which fell out in 2022, stayed in eleventh. On the topic of girl's names, Xiomara, another name from Jane the Virgin I've been tracking, continued gaining in popularity, rising to 402 in 2023 from 493 (corrected from 494) in 2022, 551 in 2021, 606 in 2020, and 652 in 2019. Jane itself managed to reverse its long-term slide in popularity, rising nine places to 281 from 290 in 2022 and 265 in 2021 after peaking at 261 in 2020. Whew! Finally!
While some names didn't break into the top 10, they proved to have grown in popularity. The name Emryn for girls jumped 1,287 places, coming it at No. 888 on the list. Fastest-rising boys name Izael burst into the top 1,000 in 2023, landing at No. 806.
Chozen also spiked, becoming the second-fastest rising boys name, coming it at No. 813. In the Netflix show "Cobra Kai," the character Chozen becomes the hero at the end of the fifth and latest season, which aired in September 2022 and could've had an impact on the baby name trend.
The fastest-rising name for girls may have also been influenced by media – social media, that is. Kaeli, the name of YouTuber and TikTok star Kaeili McEwen, rose 1,692 spots. The content creator, who goes by Kaeli Mae, has 14.8 million followers on TikTok and is known for lifestyle videos focused on cleaning and organizing.
Another popular boy name has a connection to social media. Content creator Wyatt Eiden, who has 3.1 million followers on TikTok, is known for quizzing strangers on the street and giving out prizes. His last name, Eiden, is the third-fastest riser on the boy name list.
That's an analysis I couldn't have written myself!
I'm briefly calling attention to the fourth-fastest rising name on the boys list, Cassian. It's the given name of the protagonist of RogueOne and Andor and is thus a Star Wars name. I plan on covering those names for Father'sDayweekend. In the meantime, stay tuned for a Mother's Day edition of Saturday Night Live.
You deserve better than Shein.
...
There are countless articles and videos breaking down the abysmal labor practices, horrifying environmental toll, and overall mountain of waste produced by the fast fashion industry. Activists and even just large swaths of the general public have been raising the alarm about this for well over a decade, but it hasn’t stopped the rise of some of the worst offenders in the industry. For example, the ultra-fast fashion brand Shein has skyrocketed in value over the past five years largely due to their marketing success on TikTok. A lot of us know that fast fashion is bad, but the only way companies like Shein still thrive is if we convince ourselves otherwise and hit “add to cart” anyway. So why do we do it?
The answer is that e-commerce has completely warped our view of what items should cost and how long they should last (this includes and extends to our obsession with Amazon and two-day shipping). We’re moving through trends at an unprecedented pace and it’s doomed to get worse if we don’t adjust our buying habits and learn to slow down. Consumers are being manipulated, but we can do better.
I made a pessimistic assessment five years ago that "as an environmentalist, I probably should be more opposed to fast fashion than I am" and predicted "until Americans, especially young women, change their fashion tastes, they will just buy fast fashion online..." I have become more opposed to fast fashion and Americans have apparently accelerated their acquisition of cheap clothing, a trend being pushed by new chains I hadn't even heard of then, Shein and Temu, and haven't mentioned until now, through a social media platform, TikTok, I wouldn't mention until 2020. Then, I was concerned about TikTok's capacity to monitor users on behalf of China and its ability to misinform, which are why I don't use it, despite its promotion of dance, a phenomenon I can watch on YouTube shorts, thank you very much. I didn't think enough about it as an advertising medium affecting Americans' shopping habits beyond convincing young people to shop local. Now I am. That's another reason to be suspicious of the platform.
That's it for today's more-or-less evergreen post for Earth Month (if TikTok actually is blocked in the U.S., I expect most of its users will migrate to YouTube shorts, including the shopping influencers, so the issues will just move to a new platform). Stay tuned for the return of more timely topics, like Donald Trump's trial in New York. I've been ignoring that and postponing my retrospective of the most read entries featuring late night talk show hosts. It's time to cover both. A topical Throwback Tuesday tomorrow!
Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) advertises his God Bless the USA bible.
With luck and hard work by his opponents, we won't have Donald Trump in power and possibly even the news next Easter. If we do, we'll have worse things to worry about than an SNL Easter skit with Trump as Pontius Pilate or the equivalent.
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama attending a fundraiser for President Joe Biden in New York City.
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week’s biggest news, like a famous Washington D.C. cherry blossom tree getting chopped down.
The Oscar-winningOppenheimer opening in Japan makes today's post worthy of being the Sunday entertainment feature. A robotic police "dog" being shot reminds us that we live in science fiction times complete with 21st Century crime scenes. Also, pour one out for poor Stumpy, although the tree's genes will live on.
Follow over the jump for the rest of Weekend Update, two Ramadan skits, and a recap of last year's top SNL posts.
Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary
Eat The Rich: The GameStop Netflix Icahn: The Restless Billionaire HBO Max Independent Lens TikTok, Boom. PBS POV The Last Out PBS Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons Hulu
This is the only nomination for each of these documentaries, so I can't handicap their odds on that basis. Instead, I'm embedding their trailers. Maybe then I can make a guess.
This humorous documentary series follows a group of millennial misfits who banded together online to rescue their beloved GameStop from the clutches of Wall Street bigwigs, in a viral David vs. Goliath story for the 21st century.
Ah, yes, GameStop, a tale of the stock market and Retail Apocalypse. This looks like the most fun documentary of the field. It's also the one I'm most connected to, as my wife got involved with Wall Street Bets and Robin Hood. That made investing fun, even if it may not have been as profitable as she and I might have liked.
The HBO original documentary #IcahnHBO offers unprecedented access to the the provocative, straight-talking billionaire financier, Carl Icahn.
Icahn the icon — I feel like I've been hearing about him most of my adult life. While the GameStop documentary looks like fun, Icahn's story is probably more important in the grand scheme of things. That written, I've only mentioned the man once before, and that was in passing. It's about time he got more scrutiny here.
I'm mixing and matching for the next nominee. First, TIKTOK, BOOM (Trailer) from ZFF Zurich Film Festival.
What does it mean to be a digital native?
TikTok, Boom. dissects the platform along myriad cross-sections—algorithmic, socio-political, economic, and cultural—to explore the impact of the history-making app. Balancing a genuine interest in the community and its innovative mechanics with a healthy skepticism, delve into the security issues, global political challenges, and racial biases behind the platform. Featuring Gen Z influencers like Feroza Aziz, Spencer X, Deja Foxx, and Merrick Hanna.
Three Cuban baseball players leave their families and risk exile to train in Central America and chase their dreams of playing in the United States. At the shadowy nexus of the migrant trail and pro sports, The Last Out chronicles their difficult journey, from multi-step immigration obstacles and learning English to the broken promises and dubious motives of agents. Official selection, 2020 Tribeca Film Festival (premiered in 2021). A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting.
The Last Out made its national broadcast and streaming debut on the PBS documentary series POV and pbs.org/pov on Monday, October 3, 2022 on PBS!
On the one hand, this is probably the most moving human story of the lot, which should work in its favor. On the other, this is, by far, the least viewed trailer of any of the nominees. I'm the 168th person to watch it. It's hard for a nominee to earn votes if no one is watching it.
The story behind the brand that dominated the malls of America. Uncover Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons on July 14.
As I exclaimed the one and only time I mentioned Victoria's Secret before, oh my. I had no idea Jeffrey Epstein was involved with this business, too. No wonder the trailer has so many views; it's a business story about using sex to sell its product that includes a sex scandal. Whether those trailer and presumably program views result in the producers bringing home a trophy is another matter — remember, electorates matter — but at least the voters will have watched the show. That makes this the nominee I expect to win, even though it's not my personal favorite.
I will continue my awards show coverage, but I might revisit the SAG-AFTRA strike tomorrow first. Stay tuned.
Previous posts about the 2023 News & Documentary Emmy Awards
Attorney General Merrick Garland (Mikey Day) and FBI agents (Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, Bowen Yang) give a press briefing on their search for more classified documents.
Believe it or not, this is only the second time I've mentioned Attorney General Merrick Garland on this blog, the first time being Meyers, Colbert, and Kimmel take closer looks at Biden documents, gas stoves, Trump investigations, and George Santos two weeks ago. The man's been in the news on and off since 2016, when then-President Obama nominated him to replace Antonin Scalia, only to have "Grim Reaper" Mitch McConnell refuse to hold hearings to confirm him. I guess I was too confident in Hillary Clinton winning in 2016 so he could be confirmed. Instead, The Former Guy won, so he nominated and the Senate confirmed Neil Gorsuch instead. Sigh. At least SNL found a way to make Garland funny so he receives the attention he deserves.
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Mike Pence saying he is "ready and willing to fully cooperate" with any questions about the classified documents found in his home.
Speaking of whom, TFG returning to Facebook and Twitter is a reversal of his 2021bans. Just like Jost, I think it will work out as well as reopening JurassicPark, a spectacular and entertaining disaster.
While Bowen Yang didn't return to play GeorgeSantos, Weekend Update did mention him, proving my prediction that he will be a great inspiration for comedy as long as he stays in the news.
Both the Ticketmaster hearings and the closing of Splash Mountain at Disney World qualify this entry as the Sunday entertainment feature. Both news items tie into what I first wrote in 2011, "America is quite clear about its screwed up priorities. My experience has convinced me that the surest way to get Americans to act is to mess with their entertainment." Both Ticketmaster and Disney messed with (some) Americans' entertainment, although I'm more sympathetic with the Swifties than those complaining about Splash Mountain. The former are reacting to a monopoly, while the latter strike me as a bit selfish and insensitive. Besides, I think it's about time that "The Princess and the Frog" gets its own attraction, while "Song of the South" was dated even when the ride opened in 1989.*
Follow over the jump for two more clips from last night's show.
Small Business Saturday reminds us of the prime shopping opportunities right in our own communities. Not only do the small businesses where we work, live, and play offer numerous gift-giving possibilities, they are hands-on and ready to complete your shopping list with quality, thoughtful gifts.
National Day Calendar is nearly always a good place to start with a holiday and seeing the first 2018 post on Small Business Saturday lead off with the site inspired me to see if Marlo Anderson had a video for today. He did.
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the expectations for Small Business Saturday, inflation, and the outlook for small businesses this holiday season.
A recent study finds that 60% of Americans say they will shop small this Small Business Saturday. Shoppers appear to be considering more and more just where they spend their money, especially younger shoppers.
The U.S. added new sanctions to punish Russia for war crimes in Ukraine, and renowned Tolkein expert Stephen Colbert reacts to news that Facebook employees use a "Lord of the Rings" reference when poking fun at their boss Mark Zuckerberg.
Colbert spent even more time on Elon Musk and Twitter than he did on what Facebook/Meta employees call Zuckerberg. Still, it made for an appropriate video to share today, as the top post about Facebook last year also featured a Colbert clip.
Washington Post Tech Columnist Taylor Lorenz joins Shep Smith to discuss her story about Facebook's efforts to turn users against social media company TikTok.
Now I wonder if TikTok will start calling Zuckerberg Sauron, too.
YouTube is STILL not doing a Rewind! In October, Youtube announced that not only would they not be making a YouTube Rewind for 2021, but that they will stop making YouTube Rewinds entirely. So we decided to make one for them...again! 2021 was stacked with epic videos, trailers, trends, and announcements, including Sora Comes to “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate”, Logan Paul vs. Floyd Mayweather, ”Resident Evil Village” Release, and more! What was your favorite video of 2021? Let us know in the comments!
I'll miss YouTube's official rewinds; they were a lot of fun. I'm glad WatchMojo, producers of "high-quality, well-researched clickbait," picked up the slack so I could continue my year-end tradition.
2021 has seen a lot of really great YouTube Channels grow and succeed. For this list, we’ll be looking at YouTubers you suggested and voted for on our community poll. You told us who you wanted to see and here are your favorite content creators! Our countdown includes Arcade Crainiacs, Mark Rober, Dead Meat, CrankGamePlays, and more! Did we miss a YouTuber that really impressed you in 2021? Let us know in the comments!
Unlike last year's video, which only mentioned one channel I knew, this year's lists three, First We Feast, PewDiePie, and Good Mythical Morning. In addition, the host of Mr. Beast looks familiar, even though I didn't know his channel name. The channel I most want to watch of all of them is Mark Rober. His videos look both fun and educational.
To say that people enjoyed these YouTube videos would be a massive understatement. For this list, we’ll be looking at videos with the most likes on the video sharing platform! Our countdown includes Ping Pong Trick Shots 3, Me at the Zoo, How Zach King Gets Away With Doing Graffiti, and more! Do you think these videos deserve the likes? Let us know what you think in the comments!
Dude Perfect, PewDiePie, and Mr. Beast all have videos in this top 10, which also showcases creators outside of the English-speaking world. YouTube is global.
So are TikTok and Twitter. ABC News covered some of their most popular videos in 2021’s top memes.
ABC News’ Will Ganss shares the best and funniest internet moments of 2021, from Zoom cat lawyer to Gorilla Glue girl!
In a year that continued to test many, the world searched “how to heal” more than ever. Whether they’re taking care of mental health, honoring a loved one, or reuniting with family, people are finding ways to come back stronger than before.
Ah, the feels!
That concludes my blogging for 2021. Stay tuned for 2022. Happy New Year!
I've spent most of the past week ragging on Facebook and its sister platform Instagram for their practices that are harmful to a healthy democracy, so I'm not going to do that today. Instead, I'm turning my attention to other platforms that spread misinformation, beginning with WhatsApp, featured in Misinformation by "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver."*
John Oliver discusses how misinformation spreads among immigrant diaspora communities, how little some platforms have done to stop it, and, most importantly, how to have a very good morning.
After a year and a half of watching John Oliver recording his show in "a blank void" with no one laughing at his jokes, seeing him in the studio was reassuring, but I'm still not used to hearing a studio audience.
Like your most rhythmically-challenged friend, TikTok is having a hell of a time mastering its latest challenge: stopping the spread of harmful misinformation. To prevent dangerous conspiracy theories and lies from going viral, everyone's favorite clock app needs to do better!
Of course, some of the worst misinformation is about the pandemic. Sigh. I wish I were surprised.
