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The cult of tech. Some technology companies have found manipulative ways to inspire irrational levels of devotion. Should we be worried?     MIT Alumni News: Feature The cult of tech Some technology companies have found manipulative ways to inspire irrational levels of devotion. Should COURTESY OF MICHAEL SAYLOR, GETTY IMAGES “THE CULT OF THE FOUNDER.” “THE CULT OF THE TECH GENIUS.”  “Beware: Silicon Valley’s cultists want to turn you into a disruptive deviant.” “Tech’s cult of the founder bounces back.” “Silicon Valley’s Strange, Apocalyptic Cults.” “How the cult of personality and tech-bro culture is killing technology.” “Company or cult?” “Is your corporate culture cultish?” “The Cult of Company Culture Is Back. But Do Tech Workers Even Want Perks Anymore?” “10 tech gadgets with a cult following on Amazon—and why they’re worth it.” “13 steps to developing a cult-like company culture.” The headlines seem to write themselves (if that cliché is allowed anym...

  In 1996, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., wrote about the life of Anatole Broyard, a literary critic who reinvented himself by denying his true identity.

  A middle-aged, murderous Tom Ripley; a boozy, stagestruck Mary Todd Lincoln; an unlikely pair of singers at the Grammys—these were the acts that broke through the noise of this fractious, tumultuous year. The Best Performances of 2024

  From 1927: James Thurber’s humorous retelling of “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” (also known as “The Night Before Christmas”) in the style of Ernest Hemingway.

  In “Babygirl,” Nicole Kidman’s character defines a new dynamic with a younger employee—which culminates in an orgasm. When filming, the director Halina Reijn instructed Kidman to “think of a grizzly bear”: to act “low and growly and beyond vanity.” newyorker.com A Feminist Director Takes On the Erotic Thriller Halina Reijn has always loved the genre—and revelled in creating a steamy melodrama for Nicole Kidman in which the protagonist is “greedy,” “dark,” and “wrong.”

  By collecting fairy tales—as well as legends, songs, and myths—the Brothers Grimm sought to create a cohesive national identity for German speakers. newyorker.com The Brothers Grimm Were Dark for a Reason Their version of “Cinderella” or “Rapunzel” could be disturbing. But turning Ger

  “His face was blazing. He loved the world, and the world loved him.” Fiction by John Cheever.

  Technology hounds us. Modern life drives concentration away. How can we reclaim our attention?

  As American civic life has become increasingly shaped by algorithms, trust in government has plummeted. Is there any turning back? newyorker.com The Artificial State As American civic life has become increasingly shaped by algorithms, trust in government has plummeted. Is there any turning back?

 

 

  “This year’s productions tended to be outrageously fabulous or solemnly communal in feeling,” Helen Shaw writes. See her list of the year’s standout theatre.

  The dawn of J. J. Reddick’s coaching career and the dusk of Lebron James’s playing years converge in an erratic season, while the N.B.A.’s ratings are tanking.

  Luca Guadagnino, the director behind “Challengers” and “Queer,” discusses some books about his longtime preoccupation: the codes and customs of the rich. newyorker.com Luca Guadagnino’s Fascination with the Bourgeoisie The “Challengers” and “Queer” director discusses some books about his longtime preoccupation: the codes and customs of the rich.

  Sally Rooney’s short story “Color and Light,” from 2019, explores the excitement of the unfamiliar. newyorker.com “Color and Light” “At what point did his relations with Pauline begin to violate the ordinary rules.

  “ ‘Babygirl’ is a fairy tale,” Halina Reijn said. The director took pleasure in folding over-the-top circumstances and “airport novel” flourishes into her screenplay. At the same time, she wanted the film’s depiction of sex to feel true.    

  In 2014, the Hallmark Channel aired “Christmas Under Wraps,” starring Candace Cameron Bure, who in childhood co-starred on “Full House.” Bure plays a big-city doctor who finds love in Garland, Alaska, which, she correctly suspects, is home to Santa’s workshop. “I guess when it comes down to it, a patient is a patient,” she says, wide-eyed, icing Rudy the Reindeer’s leg. At the beginning, she is striving for a prestigious Boston surgical fellowship; by the end, she has everything she needs right there in Garland. The movie was a “breakthrough,” the former C.E.O. of Crown Media, Hallmark’s entertainment company, said. Soon afterward, the company ramped up production. “Christmas Under Wraps” is one of hundreds of original movies that Hallmark broadcasts nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from late October to January—making it the No. 1 cable network among women between the ages of 25 and 54. What’s the allure of these cookie-cutter, nostalgia-filled films? Hallmark is “your p...

  Why are people so preoccupied with what goes on between couples they will never meet? Lauren Michele Jackson writes about our collective obsession with celebrity breakups. Our parasocial dismay has become confused with social critique.

  In New Yorker Humor, Charlie Brown grapples with the result of the Presidential election. newyorker.com Trump Won—Get Over It, Charlie Brown! You blockhead! We wanted something meme-able!

 

  “Archie McLaverty had a singing voice that once heard was never forgotten. It was a straight, hard voice, the words falling out halfway between a shout and a song. Sad and flat and without ornamentation, it expressed things that were unsayable.” Fiction by Annie Proulx, from 2008.

  Time will tell how influential Elon Musk will be in a second Trump term. Still, it’s hard to overstate the success that a Trump-Musk axis has already had in rebranding Trump’s image.   How Elon Musk Rebranded Trump. The tech billionaire’s alliance with the President-elect has far-reaching.

  “Darkness that, by contrast, makes light all the brighter; bright moments that seem to redeem the dark: that black-and-white opposition is, for me, what makes up the poignant imagery of Christmas,” Vinson Cunningham writes. “Looking back at the year, I can’t help but see things in this Christmassy, paradoxical way.” In art and politics, 2024 has been a swerving journey between high peaks and low depths, blind confusions and piercing revelations, the crooked and the straight. One shock followed another until, by year’s end, it was hard to feel really shocked. In a new essay, Cunningham considers a year of surprises—in art and politics, and in his own life.

  From New Yorker Humor: “After a few days in the castle, I started to worry that my prince was just like any other man, interested in only one thing—my Christmas cookies.” Quote - RTL.

  From “utepils” (Norwegian, “a beer that is enjoyed outside . . . particularly on the first hot day of the year”) to “mbuki-mvuki” (Swahili, “to shed clothes to dance uninhibited”), the Positive Lexicography Project gathers untranslatable words that describe happiness.   The Glossary of Happiness Could understanding other cultures’ concepts of joy and well-being help us

  “In December, Rovaniemi has about three hours of daylight. . . . Twenty-one hours of darkness is misleading. The darkness has layers that, like the ocean, reflect its surfaces.” Rachel Louise Snyder recalls a Christmas in Rovaniemi, Finland.

 

  Our basic sense of right and wrong appears to be the product of evolution. The hard question is how unsettling that should be.

  Luvia Lazo, a self-taught photographer from the Indigenous Zapotec community of Teotitlán del Valle, was raised by her great-grandparents. After her great-grandfather passed away, she used her art to navigate her feelings of loss. At her local market, Lazo began approaching elder artisans who were selling their products.  She would ask them about their grandchildren, tell them about her recent loss, and photograph them. The images are all variations on a simple concept: bodies that don’t reveal their faces, either covering them with the items they hold or turning their backs toward the camera. Devoid of their most identifying features, the subjects became abstract canvases upon which Lazo could project her grief. See more of her images here.

  From New Yorker Humor, a nepo-baby discussion of epic (and holy) proportions.

  On a new episode of our Poetry podcast, Dobby Gibson joins Kevin Young to read a poem by Diane Seuss, and one of his own poems. Listen here.

  The new Netflix thriller “Black Doves” is a sentimental spin on the spy genre; love, not geopolitics, is the governing force in its protagonists’ lives. “If ‘Black Doves’ aspires to inject some coziness into the generally chilly espionage genre, ‘The Agency,’ on Paramount+, turns the thermostat way down,” Kang writes. “In comparison with the gentle subversions of the Netflix show, this remake of the French thriller ‘The Bureau’ goes all in on the loneliness of saving the world.” Read Kang’s review of two new spy shows.

  Kyle Abraham’s performers in his new dance memoir offer an intimate and flowing dance that seems as natural to them as water and air: sweeping movements, elegant and fluid line, with an intense physical focus on the inner life.

The Disturbing History of Royal Infatuation With Hitler. From Edward, Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson to Princess Mafalda of Italy, many royal houses are still grappling with their family’s collaboration with the Nazis.  

3 workplace trends that will define 2025. These are some of the biggest topics that will influence the way we all work next year. [Photos: AVAVA/Adobe Stock; Ocelia_Mg/Adobe Stock; Jakub Krechowicz/Adobe Stock] BY  Julia Herbst 3 minute read Coffee badging . The Great Stay . Revenge quitting.   This year has seen no shortage of terms to describe the new ways we work. As 2024 comes to a close, Fast Company ’s Work Life team has been thinking about the major trends we’ve seen this year—but also what the new year will bring. Here are some of the biggest stories we’ll be monitoring in 2025. 1. The fight over RTO Why are we still talking about a return to office ? We’ve been chronicling the push to get workers back into physical offices for over three years now, but the rift between what most employees want (flexibility and a hybrid schedule) and what some leaders want (in-office collaboration and a return to pre-pandemic workplace norms) remains. As much as everyone wan...