Culture encompasses books, movies, television, music, video games, internet memes, and thousands of branches of art. And sure, culture includes the latest entertainment news too. At The Verge, we construct entry points both into the mainstream and the niche, the tentpoles and the hidden gems, to help make the most notable and discussed parts of the cultural conversation understandable and accessible to everyone.
Welcome to the new old internet.
Video generators like Sora rely on a monoculture that no longer exists — and their creations are straight-up trash.
The convoluted saga of Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively, and It Ends With Us is still raging on social media, thanks to influencers.
Just when you thought you had heard the last of Labubus, Tim Cook gets a custom one. Kasing Lung, the artist responsible for the viral sensation, gifted Cook a doll wearing glasses and holding an iPhone. But is it really a Labubu if you didn’t spend hours trying to buy one?
In a private meeting with members of media, the pope condemned clickbait news as a “degrading practice,” The Guardian reports. Pope Leo XIV is clearly thinking about the digital information ecosystem: he said he chose his papal name in part due to developments in AI “that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.” Will the pope weigh in on SEO next?
To support their suits against OPM and DOGE, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is selling a retro-looking ringer t-shirt, and honestly it’s kind of a banger. I think I am going to buy one, hem it into a crop top and wear it when I go rock climbing. At $25 it’s a steal.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sent a letter to the Wikimedia Foundation accusing the site of “left-wing bias.” As I wrote in a feature about the site last month, there is a growing campaign by the Trump administration and other powerful actors around the world to influence the encyclopedia.
Cruz’s letter exhibits many of the common traits of these attacks: citations of dubious studies from conservative think tanks, quotes from the disgruntled Wikipedia co-founder, complaints about right-wing sources deemed unreliable, and requests for information about Wikipedia policies that are publicly available -- in meticulous detail -- on Wikipedia itself.
This is the glass cliff to end all glass cliffs.
The Internet darling valued at $100 billion in 2001 when it merged with Time Warner is for sale by Apollo Global Management for about 1 percent of that. Italy’s Bending Spoons is said to be interested, owner of WeTransfer, Evernote, Komoot, and Vimeo.
Look, I’m more of an Oxford English Dictionary girlie, but I respect the hustle from Merriam-Webster. I hope our terminally online dictionary raises a cool billion.
Delightful scene report about a bunch of children who think they’re building god. Highlights include: appearances from Dumpster Boyfriend, “a sperm-racing start-up,” and “Carsten, a Swiss German 27-year-old who was designing AI-involved sandals but recently pivoted to drug testing.” Claude, is this a top signal?
[Intelligencer]
Two terrorism-related charges against Mangione were dropped at a court hearing on Tuesday in the New York state case.
Mangione was facing with two terrorism-related charges in the New York State case. It will likely be seen as a big win for Mangione. In his ruling Judge Carro wrote:
While the defendant was clearly expressing an animus toward UHC, and the health care industry generally, it does not follow that his goal was to “intimidate and coerce a civilian population,” and indeed, there was no evidence presented of such a goal.
[NY Courts]
This is the first time Mangione is appearing in court since February’s chaotic hearing that became a public spectacle. We’re expecting more news to come of this hearing — the judge may even set a trial date.
Last year, the Archive lost an appeal in its ebook lending case, and now it has settled the lawsuit over its Great 78 Project:
The Internet Archive’s blog simply says:
As noted in the recent court filings in UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Internet Archive, both parties have advised the Court that the matter has been settled. The parties have reached a confidential resolution of all claims and will have no further public comment on this matter.
We aren’t your friends, and you’ll never be alone again.
Boys Go to Jupiter writer / director Julian Glander sees his new movie as a story about society’s lost connections.
But she won’t get the editor-in-chief title that Anna Wintour held for decades — the role is officially called the “Head of Editorial Content.” Editor of Vogue.com Chloe Malle was named to the position this morning.
Malle is something of a safe bet: she’s been at Vogue for 14 years, beginning with a social editor position. Her last name may be familiar: she’s the daughter of director Louis Malle and actress Candice Bergen (she’s also related to perfume industry giant Frédéric Malle).
Your collection of artworks looted by the Nazis could end up in the news. A Dutch newspaper recently spotted what appears to be a missing painting that belonged to a Jewish art dealer during World War II — in an online real estate listing for a home in Argentina. A second missing painting was reportedly seen in a social media post by one of the daughters of a Nazi official.
Raphaël Graven, a 46-year-old French influencer known by his streaming handle, Jeanpormanove, died in his sleep during a live broadcast on Kick earlier this week after being “humiliated and mistreated for months” on the platform, according to French technology minister Clara Chappaz. A judicial investigation into his death is underway.
The most effective MAGA influencer happens to be the most shameless, IRL attention-seeker of them all.
Actor Sydney Sweeney is currently embroiled in a days-long “discourse” cycle about a campaign she shot with American Eagle. The ad — and whether it’s a eugenics dog whistle — is one thing. But I liked this Atlantic piece that zoomed out and put the outrage and online content cycle into perspective. Chat, is discourse cooked?
[theatlantic.com]
Getting copied is devastating — but not necessarily illegal. Who owns what in an era of unprecedented mass consumption?
Or would you? The weird little toys are a nightmare to buy so we took matters into our own hands.
We’ve talked before about the funhouse-mirror-alternative-reality that Trump (and Musk) have built. JP Brammer, who watches much more YouTube than I do, notes something weird is going on in content land — it seems Donald Trump has lost control of the plot. NBC’s Brandy Zadrozny, writing from a more anxious angle, seems to agree. Content has now outpaced reality. I guess we’re going to find out by how much.
[johnpaulbrammer.substack.com]
What foundational internet words have to do with 4chan.
The Mamdani affair exposes the paper’s weaknesses. Again.
In our second annual trend forecast, The Verge staff weighs in on Labubus, tariffs, The Hague, and AI slop.
Drummer Greg Saunier explains the moral calculus behind leaving the biggest streaming platform.
