Hot Takes and Cool Stories

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• His software sang the words of God. Then it went silent. - A fascinating and emotional story about a piece of software called TropeTrainer, used to practice singing Torah verses and prayers, and what happened after its creator's death.
• Hidden in a Fire Island House, the Soundtrack of Love and Loss - An interactive piece about disco cassettes found among the gay community on Fire Island, and their history.
• The BuzzFeedification of Mental Health - An interesting piece about the evolution of mental health as a saleable aspect of a capitalist society.
• The cyberpunk genre has been Orientalist for decades - but it doesn't have to be - A wonderful and much-needed opinion breaking down the incredible Orientalism surrounding Western cyberpunk stories, published following the release of Cyberpunk 2077.
• "I Was a Starter Wife": Inside America's Messiest Divorce - I don't usually read celebrity focused, gossip-type articles, but this account by Justine Musk of her relationship with Elon Musk is fantastically written and downright chilling in parts. Content warning for discussion of emotional manipulation and depression.
• Lord of the Rings' uncredited Gimli actor speaks out for the first time - A great interview with Brett Beattie, the stunt/size double for Gimli in the LOTR movies, and his huge part in shaping the character.
• True Crime Is Rotting Our Brains - A great essay from a woman who was the victim of a random violent crime on how the popularity and pervasiveness of the true crime genre makes us hypervigilant and borderline traumatized.
• How Sun and Jin's relationship went from problematic to transcendent on Lost - An account with quotes from Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim of the evolution of Sun and Jin's relationship on Lost.
• 1 Million Deaths, 13 Last Messages - An interactive piece marking 1 million deaths in the USA from COVID-19. Grim, of course, but very emotional and affecting. (Hopefully obvious) content warnings for discussion of COVID-19, hospitalization, various medical procedures, and death.
• Shooters: How Video Games Fund Arms Manufacturers - A great investigative story about the ties between gun manufacturers and the video game companies that feature their products.