pine trees
and ethnic cleansing
Midnight Magic
From gulping grapes in Spain to donning yellow underwear in South America and practicing Scotland’s ancient “first-footing” tradition, people around the world embrace odd—and oddly meaningful—rituals to ensure good luck…
when someone steals your house
Mohammed El-Kurd
Native American Children
murdered at US boarding schools
Episode 163: Ten Years After “Over the Garden Wall”
We're taking a cozy, autumnal trip back in time to "peak television," when animation was truly feral and we had shows like "Over the Garden Wall." We'll talk about this…
Can we avoid the enshittification of clean-energy tech?
In this episode, I chat with author Cory Doctorow about "enshittification," his viral term for how digital platforms and smart technologies inevitably get worse over time. We explore how monopoly…
January 1, 2025 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1929 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1924!
On January 1, 2025, thousands of copyrighted works from 1929 will enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1924. They will be free for all to copy,…
Black Panthers on why they opened a clinic in Chicago in 1969
the contradictions within the system
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession is a 2004 documentary film about Los Angeles pay cable channel Z Channel which was directed by Xan Cassavetes, daughter of Hollywood director and actor…