Long Reads

The best writing of the week, October 13

read lead 1020

We all know the feeling. You're sleepless in the sad hours of the night or stumbling around early on a hazy weekend morning in need of something to read, and that pile of unread books just isn't cutting it. Why not take a break from the fire hose of Twitter and RSS and check out our weekly...

Photo Essay

Banksy hits New York City, but the city hits back

Photo

Acclaimed street artist Banksy has crossed the pond from his native UK, and is now leaving his marks all around New York City. Since October 1st, he's created upwards of 10 pieces as part of his month-long "residency" (to borrow a term from the professional art world), titled "Better Out Than In." Banksy's playful work often offers social or political commentary, and he hasn't limited himself...

WikiLeaks combats 'The Fifth Estate' UK opening with 'Mediastan' documentary

Julian Assange flickr espenmoe cc

WikiLeaks has been vocal about its distaste for The Fifth Estate's dramatization of its founder and service, and it's now challenging the film with a film of its own, which anyone in the UK can watch for free. For the rest of this week, Mediastan — a behind-the-scenes documentary on how WikiLeaks handled the reception of state secrets during 2011 — will be streaming on YouTube for those in the UK, where The Fifth Estate opened this weekend. Everyone else will be able to rent the picture for around $2-3 on services like Vimeo and Dailymotion.

"Why not get all your friends around and spend your time watching 'Mediastan'?" Julian Assange

Reddit turning Black Friday chaos into a 12-hour livestream

black friday (flickr craig dugas)

Next month, Reddit is bringing a taste of Black Friday madness online with its very first livestreaming event, called Redditgifts Shopping Network. The Hollywood Reporter writes that the Nov. 29th event will be 12 hours of product demos, comedy, AMAs, and PSAs from nonprofit organizations, not to mention performances from actors, musicians, and "maybe even former heads of state."

The event is taking place on Reddit’s YouTube channel, home of its original Explain Like I’m Five web series,...


Talking Heads' David Byrne: streaming music will 'suck creative content' out of the world

David Byrne (Flickr)

Spotify, Rdio, and a host of other streaming services are quickly becoming one of the de-facto ways for consumers to get their hands on music legally, and the debate continues to rage over whether or not that's a good or bad thing for musicians. Plenty of wealthy and established musicians have weighed in — Pink Floyd recently came out against Pandora (though the band's drummer thinks Spotify is just great), Thom Yorke of Radiohead and...

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