riding the echo down

1) Some good news, NPR program revenue is way up, and much of it is coming from new donors. Also, John Oliver not only did his final 2025 episode about it which you can watch on YouTube but held an auction which, given how its bidding was going, is likely to raise about $1.25 million for them.

2) I can see why a lot of people enjoyed this (definitive) Fantastic 4 movie. Like many others I loved the set design, the 60s retro futurism, and the framing and pacing for it. It was not easy to build in those domestic and intimate character scenes within a movie that had a lot to get through.

Unfortunately though, the more I thought about the movie after, the more it fell apart. ( Read more... )

3) First posted on tv_talk, I couldn't help comparing 2 shows that are forever tied together for me because of a friend, now gone from us, who I watched them with. ancing with the Stars which had its 20 year anniversary this month, has been on so long it had its own In Memoriam segment. (Charo and Wayne Newton though, in the audience, still with us). It was a great show, starting with an excellent opening number. Funnily enough, I turned to my partner and commented on how well choreographed it was, only to find out a minute later that it had been done by Derek Hough.

"He should choreograph everything," he said. There were a number of excellent dances, as well as a good effort by Andy Richter.

The best moment though, was at the start when we not only saw the original pros start the show (I can't believe there were no interviews or moments with them about their memories – guess that was all saved for the podcast) but Tom Bergeron was back. I am quite happy with Alfonso and Julieanne as co-hosts but I miss Tom.

And speaking of hosts, Project Runway has had a more checkered history for several reasons. ( Read more... )

In the meantime, there's a lot of joy on DwtS, perhaps best exemplified by this semi-final performance of Robert Irwin's:



4) I watched The Roses with Olivia Colman/Cumberbatch, which is a remake of War of the Roses but much more British. Near the end he builds this house by the sea, and I just wanted the movie to spend time showing all parts of it because it looked great! I recently saw pics of the Stahl House in L.A. which is up for sale, and am a sucker for those integrated-with-the-environment type buildings.

As to the movie ( Read more... )

5) What has always been known has now been proved about who's behind most of the MAGA shit stirring on X (and undoubtedly every other platform). The biggest irony of all is that so much of it isn't even political manipulation by foreign powers so much as international scammers getting paid for ruining the U.S. social sphere.

"Musk instituted an “engagement-based” payment structure that pays out money based on how many views, retweets, and comments you get. For people in lower income regions, trolling on politically sensitive topics in America to generate likes and clicks (especially now that they can use AI to do so) isn’t just easy—it’s an actual business model that Musk built into the platform."