Dirt on Ware* + Links

Revisit some of our favorite tech stories we’ve published over the years; plus, some good links from Daisy and Walden.

Ahoy citizens of the Dirtyverse! Today we’re trying out something a little bit different: a collection of some of our favorite pieces we’ve published, all centered around one theme. Below you’ll find Patrick McKemey on the desktop internet, Terry Nguyen on the fall of skeuomorphic apps, Meghna Rao on Ursula K. Le Guin’s blog, plus interviews with Maya Man and Robin Schmidt. Think of these articles as corollary reading—or perhaps just a sneak peak—for the longform story we’re publishing this Friday; and make sure to scroll all the way down for some good links. —Walden

DIRT ON ‘WARE (SOFT & HARD)

PLAYBACK

Snippets of streaming news—and what we’re streaming.

• Lie 95 by Bartees Strange (Spotify)

• Las Cruces by Romulus Wolf (Spotify)

• tricky! by Hadji Gaviota (Spotify)

• Paul A. Thompson reviews Lupe Fiasco’s Samurai (Pitchfork)

• Lindsay Ellis is back (in the U.S.S.R.), baby (YouTube)

• Jessica Hopper is executive producing the Lilith Fair documentary, a series of words that will either mean nothing to you—or mean everything to you (Consequence of Sound)

• We finally have a trailer for Season 2 of Severance, and I’m actually glad it took this long (I can’t handle another Yellowjackets) (YouTube)

MIXTAPE

Good links from the Dirtyverse.

• Sophie Kemp is in Complete Control (Google Docs, yes, really)

• Call it filler. Call it slop. Call it running the video game DOOM on a fleshlight—these days, we’re absolutely surrounded by forgettable and disposable content (Garbage Day)

• Is Stan Twitter just sports betting for the parasocially-minded music fan? (Chasing Sundays)

• There are Dirt listicles everywhere for those with eyes to see (The Fence)

• Broke: I’m sad Lena Dunham isn’t directing the Polly Pocket movie anymore. Woke: Lena Dunham is one of our last true auteurs, refusing to compromise her artistic vision (The New Yorker)

• “When the company stops posting on Instagram — that’s usually a [sign] that something’s really not OK.” Anna Hensel on “Zombie brands” (Modern Retail)

• This short story got Tree Paine to send a cease-and-desist letter to Brendon Holder (Angel Food) [Editor’s note: Daisy had to text Walden and tell him this wasn’t true and he got Poo Craved]

• A book rec duet: Kelsey McKinney on the Times’ 100 best books of the 21st century (Defector) and Sophie Vershbow on the cults of Oprah, Jenna, and Reese (Esquire)

• In a genuinely shocking turn of events, iFunny is actually funny again. Or at least, whoever’s running their Twitter is (X)