Interpol has been trapped in the snow near Buffalo, New York for more than two days. Living in its bus on the highway and surviving on ramen noodles, vodka, and Starbursts, the New York band and its El Pintor tourmates, Hundred Waters, got trapped by the massive and sudden snowstorm that dumped nearly six feet of snow on the city earlier this week. The group has been live-tweeting its snowy ordeal and, though its bus actually got moving earlier today, is still apparently stuck somewhere near or in Buffalo.
So far, the group has been forced to cancel two shows, including one in Toronto and one in Montreal.
"I don't know if North America is on the edge of a revolution, but I wanted it to feel that way in the song, since it feels that way in so many other parts of the world. You turn on CNN and it's like, 'Wow!' We'd have it on for 15 minutes and we'd have to shut it off because it was so depressing."
If you prefer to get your news in the medium of Nickelback, prepare to bone up on every sort-of-protest-related event of the past four years. In what Yahoo Music calls the Canadian band's "most poignant political song," frontman Chad Kroeger has delivered a stinging rebuke of Wall Street, government surveillance, and the (presumably) American education system. Oh, and the protests in Ferguson, MO, which may have inspired the song, although "there was rioting like crazy" isn't exactly the most sympathetic description of them. It might mean there's a revolution, or maybe it doesn't, but there are definitely revolutions probably happening somewhere, so who knows? A sample of the lyrics, which The Independent has printed in full:
Hey, hey, just obey. Your secret’s safe with the NSA. In God we trust or the CIA? Standing on the edge of a revolution.
Yes, Nickelback is an easy target, and every band is allowed an awkwardly facile protest song — this is hardly the worst one out there. But the song and video are such an incredible combination that they become unintentionally sublime. Based on the fairly believable premise of Nickelback performing in a high school classroom, they're the id of the ill-informed, middle-of-the-road teenage activist who lives within at least some of us, without even the veneer of rebellious pop-punk to lend them legitimacy. The propaganda videos that were cliche decades ago, the inexplicable radiation hazard signs all over everything, the random Occupy Wall Street banners and Anonymous masks — they're a crash course in vague political symbolism, context-free expressions of the fact that you're mad about something, you're pretty sure it has to do with money and the government, and you fully plan on wearing a snarky t-shirt and some pins expressing your disapproval of it. All that's missing is WikiLeaks and Kim Dotcom.
It doesn't hurt that this song is incredibly, potently, nostalgic, because it sounds exactly like every other Nickelback song that was sandwiched between far better mainstream rock radio hits of the mid-'00s. If you'll excuse me, I have some American Idiot and Toxicity to queue up.
ABC, CBS, NBC won't carry Obama KGUN 9 NEW YORK (AP) - ABC, CBS and NBC decided against covering President Barack Obama's speech on immigration live on Thursday, although the Spanish-language Univision network is delaying its telecast of the Latin Grammy Awards to show the address.
The story of Apple’s now-bankrupt sapphire venture in Arizona is full of drama: The Wall Street Journal’s Daisuke Wakabayashi reports at length (paywall) on some of the challenges and disappointments that Apple and its partner, GT Advanced Technologies, have dealt each other.
But there’s one particularly interesting stat that explains why Apple and GTAT even bothered in the first place. Apple is already consuming “one-fourth of the world’s supply of sapphire to cover the iPhone’s camera lens and fingerprint reader,” Wakabayashi writes.
That is impressively high—and about to get a whole lot higher. Sure, Apple could sell 200 million fingerprint-reading iPhones and iPads next year, but such readers are relatively small. Imagine the volumes when the company starts making watches with sapphire displays, and iPhones with sapphire screens.
No wonder Apple wants more. As Wakabayashi notes, the Arizona venture was to “produce 30 times as much sapphire as any other plant in the world.”
In a 2004 interview with this website, director John Landis discussed the theory that his film, The Blues Brothers, shares some plot points with The Sound Of Music. “I think you could do that with any movie,” he said. “I saw Galaxy Quest and A Bug’s Life, and both of those films are completely, plot-point-by-plot-point, a movie I made called ¡Three Amigos!” Landis and his Amigos, however, may have to take their place in line behind the late Akira Kurosawa. In honor of the 60th anniversary of The Seven Samurai, Decider has assembled a compelling slide show that compares the classic Japanese film to Pixar’s A Bug’s Life and finds some remarkable similarities. “We didn’t just find exact themes, which is expected,” declares Olivia Armstrong’s accompanying article, “but exact scenes.” Perhaps the most interesting example is a comparison of contemplative moments from each film. The ...
These utterly gorgeous posters don't celebrate Star Wars or other classic films the way some of our favorite Olly Moss posters have. But they're still incredibly beautiful and will fill you with a love of the great outdoors. And they're on sale for four days.
aaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA FUCKING GOD DAMN MOTHERFUCKING JESUS BURN IT ALL TO THE FUCKIN GROUND FUCK EVERYBODY
Rat Queens co-creator and artist Roc Upchurch has been arrested for domestic violence after allegedly beating his ex-wife.
Arrested in Henry County, Upchurch was charged with “Battery- Family Violence, First Offense Misdemeanor” on October 31st. After the incident, Upchurch’s ex-wife wrote a blog post detailing the night of the arrest.
Though her original post has been deleted, you can still read it via Google Cache – but be aware that it may be triggering. Along with photographs of her bruising, she has posted a screenshot of the police report, and an account of what allegedly happened. After, she writes:
My husband told me this is what I wanted, that I push him to this point, that I turn him into this person. Some part of me believes that to be true or at least I wonder is it true. Do I? Did I…turn him into this monster that he refers to himself as? If I do I must be a horrible person…but all I want to do is make this right, put my family back together, give my kids the family I never had and grow up in a two parent household.
Which is so tragic and textbook that it could very well have come out of a pamphlet on domestic abuse.
Bleeding Cool reached out to Upchurch, who confirmed to them the arrest. He also gave them a statement which we will not be reposting here; but to paraphrase, Upchurch’s statement justifies his attack on his ex-wife because he alleges she hit him first. It is, unfortunately, a quintessentially victim-blamey statement.
It’s always difficult when someone who creates content you love does things with which you just can’t align yourself. It’s especially difficult when you recognize that stopping your monetary support of said content also punishes the other, not-problematic people who work hard on the final product. You are still allowed to enjoy the content you enjoyed before; but it’s also important to recognize something like this has happened, so that you can make your own informed decision about how you feel about further supporting that particular creator’s work.
Though we undoubtedly don’t (and likely will never) know the full story here, it’s worth mentioning that often the bravest and most helpful thing you can do for a woman in situations of domestic abuse is to believe someone when they tell you their story. Please remember that you can reach the Domestic Abuse Hotline at any time at 1-800-799-7233.
PHILADELPHIA—Stipulating that the funds be used for “furthering the invalidation of sexual assault claims wherever they occur,” an anonymous donation received Thursday by Temple University is reportedly intended to be used to build a cen...
Today in National Book Awards news that isn’t horribly depressing, last night Ursula K. Le Guin was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by none other than Neil Gaiman himself. In typically impressive Le Guin fashion, the 85-year-old then delivered a passionate speech about the future of fantasy, the responsibilities of writers, and the dangers of treating books as nothing more than a commodity (cough cough, Amazon).
Gaiman said of last night’s event, “I do not remember being happier than getting to give Ursula LeGuin her award.” I get it, buddy. I get it.
…[The father and son team behind 18charlie] have built a lot of terrain from scratch already. ‘Because what the big companies sell are expensive, and what we make ourselves is cooler anyway. We’ve learned a lot, making things ranging from a bizarre transparent jungle, to a crystal laden field, or from a standard bunker to a menacing tomb.’
…And as they explained, it’s very easy to make loads of them using 3D printing. As 3D printing every single piece will take a while (and cost a bit), they instead designed and 3D printed a master mold of the crystals. This was used to cast objects in a common and inexpensive clear casting resin, which is quite easy to manipulate (add some texture!) and paint. However, they have already experimented with plaster as well, which produced some nice results too and left the mold intact.
This 3D printed mold is thus a great way to quickly create a load of cool and diversifiable terrain options to spice up your gaming nights. ‘The possibilities are endless with stackable pieces like this.’ And just imagine what other terrain features you could make with a regular desktop 3D printer….
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!
Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!
The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! We also offer the LulzBot TAZ – Open source 3D Printer and the Printrbot Simple Metal 3D Printer in our store. If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!
Not only do the Washington Wizards have an X-Box at work, they have an X-Box and a REALLY HUGE JUMBOTRON TO USE at work. Sometimes, it's nice being a professional athlete.
The Togolese striker moved quickly to deny that he kicked his mother out, or even that he thinks she is a witch, but he definitely thinks that his family should stop using witchcraft.
Obviously I'm not a pastor, I am a footballer so I cannot point out a witch...
I never sacked my mum from the house; she decided to leave the house ... But how am I going to be in touch with my mum if my mum is the one telling everyone that my work will not go forward, so I will just be on my side and do my thing.
They should stop talking talking,they should stop doing Juju on me; they should leave me alone ... The one talking there and calling herself my sister I bought a house in East Legon for $1.2m ... can you imagine that sister went to rent the house without my knowledge?
Witchcraft, juju, whatever you want to call it.
One thing that is certain: there is some sort of a family squabble.
That is literally the only thing that is certain here.
Slava Voynov faces a maximum of nine years in prison if convicted as charged.
Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov has been charged with one felony count of corporal injury to a spouse, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County district attorney office announced on Thursday.
The district attorney's office released a statement saying that Voynov faces a maximum sentence of nine years in state prison if convicted as charged. Voynov will be arraigned on Dec. 1.
Voynov was arrested on Oct. 20 on domestic violence charges when police were called to a hospital where an individual believed to be Voynov's girlfriend was being treated for injuries. The hospital staff were the ones who alerted the police that their presence was needed and Voynov was ultimately charged under section 273.5 of California's penal code. Police would not confirm that the individual was Voynov's spouse but indicated that "a certain relationship was required" to be charged under section 273.5.
The Redondo Beach jail released Voynov later that day on $50,000 bound. The NHL immediately suspended Voynov indefinitely and he has not participated in hockey-related activities since. In total he has missed 13 games.
'Goldberg also likened Cosby's current controversy to the media frenzy that came after Paula Deen admitted to using the “n-word.”
“I just think there's a big difference between a rape allegation and Paula using the N-word,” O'Donnell said.
“No, there's not,” said Goldberg. “Because until you know if it's true, it's an allegation. That's what it is.”
Goldberg went on to say: “It seems now you are guilty, no matter what.”
“It's harder when 13 women accuse you,” O'Donnell said.
“My point is, people jump on the bandwagon,” Goldberg said. “I know you have very different feelings about it, which you are entitled to. But for me, I'm going to wait.”
“What's the motivation of the women?” O'Donnell asked. “There's no financial gain. They woke up and said, ‘I want to ruin Bill Cosby today?'”
“Maybe,” said Goldberg.'
“What's the motivation of the women?” O'Donnell asked. “There's no financial gain. They woke up and said, ‘I want to ruin Bill Cosby today?'”
“Maybe,” said Goldberg.
Investigators have recovered a journal and several pre-recorded videos where May "expressed fears of being targeted, and he wanted to bring attention to this issue of being targeted," DeLeo said.
Ralph Wilson Stadium won't be hosting the Bills' game this Sunday.
The Buffalo Bills' home game against the New York Jets will not be played Sunday afternoon in Buffalo, NFL spokesman Michael Signora announced. Citing safety issues and the weather conditions, the league has decided that Ralph Wilson Stadium will not be operational in time for Sunday's 1 p.m. ET kickoff.
Buffalo has been hit with massive amounts of snow, and another storm blanketed the area on Thursday. The three-day snowfall amounts have now reached upwards of 6 feet or more across western New York, paralyzing the region and making it virtually impossible for residents to leave their homes, let alone prepare for a football game.
There is an estimated 4 feet of snow at the stadium, and more snow is forecast to fall on Thursday and Friday. Bills officials said Wednesday that it takes roughly three days to remove 1 foot of snow from the stadium and its surrounding areas. In fact, it could be a struggle to get the stadium ready for the team's next home game on Nov. 30.
The question now remains when and where will the game be held. Possible locations include Detroit and Washington since both teams are on the road this week, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. Pittsburgh is on a bye but will not be able to accommodate the game, according to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport. Heinz Field is hosting the WPIAL playoffs this weekend, and there is a University of Pittsburgh football game on Saturday. The field will not be able to withstand a third game in that short period of time
Wherever the NFL decides to move the game, the likeliest possibility is that it will be played on Monday, according to Rapoport.
They should also try handing out Tommy Bahama shirts and blasting "The Piña Colada Song." It's all about getting in the right mindset. BE WARMER, DUMMIES.
reifman writes Amazon's hiring so quickly in Seattle that it's on pace to employ 45,000 people or seven percent of the city. But, 75% of these hires are male. While Seattle women earned 86 cents per dollar earned by men in 2012, today, they make only 78 cents per dollar. In "Amageddon: Seattle's Increasingly Obvious Future", I review these and other surprising facts about Amazon's growing impact on the city: we're the fastest growing — now larger than Boston, we have the fastest rising rents, the fourth worst traffic, we're only twelfth in public transit, we're the fifth whitest and getting whiter, we're experiencing record levels of property crime and the amount of office space under construction has nearly doubled to 3.2 million square feet in the past year.
'Upon accepting the award, Woodson thanked the audience of authors for “changing the world,” a statement to which ceremony host Daniel Handler (better known by his pseudonym of Lemony Snicket) chose to respond with a “joke” about watermelon.
You can watch a video of Woodson’s acceptance and Handler’s subsequent remarks here; a webcast of the entire ceremony is also available. After Woodson left the stage, Handler commented:
I told you! I told Jackie she was going to win. And I said that if she won, I would tell all of you something I learned this summer, which is that Jackie Woodson is allergic to watermelon. Just let that sink in your mind. And I said you have to put that in a book. And she said, you put that in a book. And I said I am only writing a book about a black girl who is allergic to watermelon if I get a blurb from you, Cornell West, Toni Morisson, and Barack Obama saying, “this guy’s ok! This guy’s fine!” Alright [to Woodson] Alright, we’ll talk about it later.
Woodson wasn’t the only African-American author whose achievements were reduced to punchlines last night for Handler’s MC routine; earlier in the evening he also introduced award-winning author Sharon Draper by mentioning her Coretta Scott King award (an honor given to YA literature about the African-American experience), “a prize I hope to one day receive myself. That’s a children’s publishing joke. We’ll explain it to you later.” According to the CCBC, a miniscule 3% of American children’s books are written by black authors or feature black characters. Get it? Chronic lack of diversity and representation! How hilarious!'
Last night Jacqueline Woodson was awarded the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for Brown Girl Dreaming, her bookof poetry about growing up as an African-American woman during the ’60s and ’70s. Upon accepting the award, Woodson thanked the audience of authors for “changing the world,” a statement to which ceremony host Daniel Handler (better known by his pseudonym of Lemony Snicket) chose to respond with a “joke” about watermelon.
I told you! I told Jackie she was going to win. And I said that if she won, I would tell all of you something I learned this summer, which is that Jackie Woodson is allergic to watermelon. Just let that sink in your mind.
And I said you have to put that in a book. And she said, you put that in a book.
And I said I am only writing a book about a black girl who is allergic to watermelon if I get a blurb from you, Cornell West, Toni Morisson, and Barack Obama saying, “this guy’s ok! This guy’s fine!”
Alright [to Woodson] Alright, we’ll talk about it later.
Woodson wasn’t the only African-American author whose achievements were reduced to punchlines last night for Handler’s MC routine; earlier in the evening he also introduced award-winning author Sharon Draper by mentioning her Coretta Scott King award (an honor given to YA literature about the African-American experience), “a prize I hope to one day receive myself. That’s a children’s publishing joke. We’ll explain it to you later.” According to the CCBC, a miniscule 3% of American children’s books are written by black authors or feature black characters. Get it? Chronic lack of diversity and representation! How hilarious!
In an excellent blog post on Handler’s comments, David Perry writes “for Handler, the disclaimer and humor, the wink that he knows he’s on dangerous ground, functions to excuse a joke linking to a long racist history of associating black people with watermelon.”
Handler’s “routine” was inexcusable regardless of context, but particularly troubling considering his audience and delivery. As National Book Awards spokesperson for the night, he responded to the achievements of African-American authors by belittling the need for greater representation and taking advantage of his vocal role during the ceremonies to undermine the message of Woodson’s work and attack her personally. But Handler’s tongue-in-cheek, casual racism indicates that this reflexive impulse to punch down isn’t just a “Daniel Handler problem–” it’s indicative of a more widespread problem within publishing culture as a whole.
Handler has since released an apology for his comments:
My job at last night’s National Book Awards #NBAwards was to shine a light on tremendous writers, including Jacqueline Woodson… -DH [1/2]
…and not to overshadow their achievements with my own ill-conceived attempts at humor. I clearly failed, and I’m sorry. -DH [2/2] — Daniel Handler (@DanielHandler) November 20, 2014
National Book Awards attendees and at-home spectators also took to Twitter to voice their concerns:
Glad to see @DanielHandler take responsibility and apologise. And to put attention on where it belongs, the NBA winners. — Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) November 20, 2014
Someone should send Daniel Handler the clip of Toni Morrison explaining racism to Stephen Colbert last night. — Rebecca Schinsky (@RebeccaSchinsky) November 20, 2014
I need y’all to really think about why Daniel Handler had to work racist jokes into his commentary at an awards show.
Not to be outdone, he makes a joke about two black nominees in poetry as “probable cause.” — Roxane Gay (@rgay) November 20, 2014
Daniel Handler’s racist “humor” at the NBAs last night is not okay and I am shocked that so few people are talking about it. — Roxane Gay (@rgay) November 20, 2014
Facebook shuttle drivers vote to unionize. Monterey County Herald Facebook shuttle drivers voted Wednesday to unionize, triggering what some believe could be an organizing trend among service workers who perform many of the utilitarian duties that help keep Silicon Valley's tech boom on track. The 43-28 vote by drivers ...
Economists, pundits and politicians have been asking for years: What does reshoring manufacturing into the United States look like in the 21st century? Well, part of the answer might look a lot like the matte black face of a Los Angeles-made Weiss watch.
Back in the early 20th century, when America was in the midst of its industrial boom, US companies made some of the best watches in the world. Giants like the Hamilton Watch Company and the Waltham Watch company, which “produced tens of millions of watches and clocks from 1854 to 1957” according to a post on the watch blog Hodinkee, invented an assembly line system, like Ford did with cars, to produce watches on a massive scale.
After World War II though, almost as a bellwether to what would happen to American manufacturing at large, watchmakers lost their grip on production. The Swiss had simply built a better, more efficient system, and grabbed the business out from under the Americans. (It’s worth nothing the same thing has now happened to the Swiss—most mass watch production now happens in China and Japan.)
But now, watchmaking in the US is coming back, in a small but significant way. It will never supplant Switzerland or Asia in volume, but it will create new jobs and a expand what has been a growing category of consumer goods: the “Made in America” object of function and industrial aesthetic. And funny enough, the Swiss are lending the Americans a hand.
Two companies leading the resurgence are Shinola of Detroit and the Weiss Watch Company of Los Angeles. In just over a year, Shinola has a achieved a tremendous following, due its reputation for quality. The company won’t release sales figures, but Quartz has learned that it sold 50,000 watches during its first year in business. By staking their brand on the idea that quality goods can be made again in the US, the company is the embodiment of those gritty Detroit renaissance seen in those Chrysler commercials on your TV. (The difference being Shinola isn’t owned, as Chrysler is, by Fiat, a firm based in Italy.)
Shinola’s early successes can also be traced to its partnership with a Swiss company, Runder, which provides the mechanical movements for some Shinola watches, along with factory equipment and employee training. Runder even helped Shinola design the layout of their factory. As Shinola CEO Steve Bock told me recently, that partnership has been critical to his company’s growth and success.
“We had a constant flow of trainers coming here from our Swiss partner,” says Bock. “Now we have a somewhat regular schedule and we have people flying from Detroit to Switzerland where they’re exposed to more of the process at Runder.”
Weiss Watch Company, even smaller than Shinola, is led by its 27-year-old founder, Cameron Weiss. Weiss has also benefited from oversees training. Cameron honed his watchmaking skills at a school run by the Swatch Group in Florida. He then went to work for a while in Geneva, and eventually landed at Vacheron Constantin before returning to Los Angeles, where he is pioneering a West Coast watch industry from scratch. As he told Quartz, he has had to personally teach machinists how to produce the parts in minute detail, based on what he learned from the Swiss.
“All of these things have not been done in the US for around a hundred years now. So there’s no infrastructure for it,” he says. “For each part, we actually have train the staff to properly cut the material from a block of metal, and then properly handle the material. We really have to reinvent the industry.”
Perhaps not coincidentally, both Shinola and Weiss have popped up in areas where some of the remaining infrastructure of once booming industries, cars in Detroit and aerospace in Southern California, are helping them produce their watches today. Certainly, recycling old, unused factory space has been a helpful factor for both companies, as is access to a ready pool of labor, even if it’s in need of new training.
The examples of Shinola and Weiss Watch show that manufacturing can come back to the US, but it won’t be because US companies are able to compete on cost with leaner manufacturing methods, or even exclusively by creating high-tech or green jobs; two mantras often repeated by politicians. Instead, US manufacturers are finding success by reshoring know-how, technique, process and even machinery that went overseas many years ago. They then can repackage all this and sell it to a nostalgic, and perhaps patriotic, public as brand America.
Weiss and Shinola are just two companies trying to convince consumers that the the US can make a better watch, the same way the Swiss did 60 years ago. To succeed, they have to show that America is synonymous with precision, quality and craftsmanship. If they can do that, then maybe soon more makers in other industries will begin to invest in bringing “brand America” manufacturing back online.
'The more I listen, the more I’m becoming conscious of that. And it’s starting to make me feel uncomfortable and voyeuristic. Unlike the addictive drama of serial shows like Scandal, behind this one there is actually a man in prison serving a lifelong sentence for murder. And perhaps more importantly, there is a murdered woman, who so far has received very little attention in the show.'
Such an addiction, in fact, that when I started the first episode last weekend, I spent practically every free moment of the next three days listening to the first eight episodes. The upwards of five million listeners who tune in religiously fill the gaps between episodes with Reddit posts about the show, podcasts about the podcast, and charts that try to solve the mystery early.
The podcast, which has the kind of cult following typical of today’s binge-worthy TV shows, is a real-lifeattempt by a journalist to solve a murder that happened in 1999, when a high school student, Adnan Syed, was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. Every week, reporter Sarah Koenig delves in, letting the listener in on what she’s thinking about her investigation, who she believes or doesn’t believe (it changes a lot), and what new complications she’s uncovered.
But the anticipation and excitement of the show’s mystery narrative makes it easy to forget that Serialis not just a well-produced crime show—it’s a story about real people.
The more I listen, the more I’m becoming conscious of that. And it’s starting to make me feel uncomfortable and voyeuristic. Unlike the addictive drama of serial shows like Scandal, behind this one there is actually a man in prison serving a lifelong sentence for murder. And perhaps more importantly, there is a murdered woman, who so far has received very little attention in the show. Instead, the story focuses more on the convicted, Syed, and whether or not he is innocent. In fairness, a spoiler alert: In this week’s episode, Koenig finally goes into detail about trying to reach the victim’s family. But that came only after criticism about Lee’s minor role in the podcast.
Earlier this week someone claiming to be the victim’s brother posted on Reddit that even though he listens to the podcast, he was upset at people who tune in for the entertainment and forget about the people who are the story:
TO ME ITS REAL LIFE. To you listeners, its another murder mystery, crime drama, another episode of CSI. You weren’t there to see your mom crying every night, having a heartattck when she got the new that the body was found, and going to court almost everyday for a year seeing your mom weeping,crying and fainting. You don’t know what we went through. Especially to those who are demanding our family response and having a meetup… you guys are disgusting.
The user first posted what he said was a screenshot of a Facebook chat Koenig had sent requesting an interview, but took it down because it included the reporter’s personal information. He also offered some facts about Lee as proof that he’s her brother.
His identity on Reddit hasn’t been verified, but the point rings true either way: This reporter’s quest for discovery, which is arguably what makes the show so addictive, is overshadowing the real tragedy.
Even Rabia Chaudry, a lawyer and friend of Syed’s who originally brought the story to Koenig, is struggling with the show’s impact. Chaudry blogs weekly about each podcast and how she’s been affected by Serial.From her blog on Wednesday:
Earlier this year I hit a real low. A spiritual and emotional low on many levels, and on many issues, including Adnan’s case. I knew at that point that Sarah was still investigating, I didn’t know how it was going or what the end story would look like. I felt tired of praying and tired of everything. For the first time in my heart I felt like there was little hope, and maybe nothing would ever change. Maybe Adnan would die in prison and maybe those who loved him would die without ever having him home.
Perhaps it’s inevitable that Serial’s listeners take pleasure in joining their narrator in playing detective. But we should complement that enjoyment with an awareness of the story’s real-world significance: that criminal justice isn’t cut and dry, even in countries with strong rule of law. Witnesses change their stories, facts are hard to define, juries are biased.
The podcast’s long-form format gives both the reporter and her listeners the room to thoroughly delve into these larger problems—in a way that might actually help to influence policy. But to have that kind of impact, the show and its fans need to keep reality top of mind.
djempirical
Rat Queens co-creator and artist Roc Upchurch has been arrested for domestic violence after allegedly beating his ex-wife.
