It’s a beautiful day in ToastedShoes’ version of Palworld, where the YouTuber is currently hunting creatures on “Legal Island.” He creeps through the grass and makes a delighted discovery: “Look at that!” he yells. “It’s my favorite legally distinct pocket-sized creature—Electric Yellow Rat.” Indeed, that is exactly what it is, …
Read More »
Starting Thursday, the sounds on TikTok have gotten a little quieter. That’s because Universal Music Group has removed its catalog from the video-sharing app after the massive music company failed to reach a licensing agreement with TikTok. Taylor Swift, Drake, Ariana Grande, and Billie Eilish are just a few of …
Read More »
I have strong feelings about the Apple TV+ series Slow Horses. It’s a combination of gripping John Le Carré–style espionage thriller and workplace comedy, like The Office. Gary Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, an unkempt, neckless individual who slurps up greasy lo mein noodles and presides over Slough House, where …
Read More »
Kazuma Kiryu, a legendary ex-gangster in the Japanese underworld, stops before a bridge, a café, a nightclub, or an office building, suddenly awash in memories of bygone times. Scenes flash before his eyes of lost loves—of old rivals and friends from his past. He thinks back on bare-knuckled fights with …
Read More »
A decade ago, cord-cutters prophesied a world free of exorbitant cable bills where everyone binged The Office without intrusions from advertisers. Now, you have to pay extra to not watch commercials on most streaming services. On Monday, Amazon Prime Video became the latest streamer to embrace the ad tax, tacking …
Read More »
The estate of George Carlin has filed a federal lawsuit against the comedy podcast Dudesy for an hour-long comedy special sold as an AI-generated impression of the late comedian. But a representative for one of the podcast hosts behind the special now admits that it was actually written by a …
Read More »
Social media is having a crisis of identity. In the 15 months since a change of ownership rocked the foundation of Twitter—now confusingly rebranded X—competitors have scrambled to rekindle the allure and influence of the platform that first reshaped, then defined, and eventually dominated the online social universe of the …
Read More »
The mobile app BeReal has taught us that we are all essentially the same: unkempt, unscripted, and a little boring. Now it wants us to see that celebrities and brands are just like us too. The social media platform announced this week that, beginning February 6, celebrities and brands will …
Read More »
HBO’s post-apocalyptic mushroom-zombie series The Last of Us was easily the network’s most popular show of 2023. It averaged just over 30 million viewers per episode, the largest for any series on HBO/Max since the final season of Game of Thrones in 2019. However, that per-episode average doesn’t fully represent …
Read More »
Children of Dune, the third book in author Frank Herbert’s Dune series, explores the lives of Leto and Ghanima Atreides, the twin children of Paul Atreides, the hero of the first novel. TV writer Andrea Kail was impressed by the book’s thoughtful examination of complex ideas. “This is a very …
Read More »