Technology Why these scientists are teaching robots to give good hugs David Pescovitz

interviews Talking Comics with Ignatz Award-Winning Cartoonist Noah Van Sciver Jeffery Klaehn

disinformation Bleach and cocaine do not a coronavirus cure make Seamus Bellamy

Japan Must-haves: Drunk in public Japanese capsule toys Rusty Blazenhoff

tabloids Prince Harry begs forgiveness, the Queen shops Prince Andrew to the Feds, and Kirstie Alley’s secret life, in this week’s dubious tabloids Peter Sheridan

trains Incredible aerial video of a Bangkok market set up on a railway track Mark Frauenfelder

christmas Does the creepy Santa mask from "It's a Wonderful Life" exist somewhere? Rusty Blazenhoff

movies Heartwarming story about how Olivia Newton-John got back her iconic Grease leather jacket David Pescovitz

neural network What happens when a neural network tries to write a bad sex scene Thom Dunn

books The American Library Association says Melvil Dewey is canceled John Struan

politics What's Steve Bannon up to? Stoking race war in Paris, hugging RT's George Galloway in Kazakhstan Xeni Jardin

History What it's like to grow up in a cult Rob Beschizza

public shaming John Oliver looks at public shaming on the internet Mark Frauenfelder

mistakes Report of "deranged person" hugging pillow turns out to be cardboard cutout of MyPillow CEO Rob Beschizza

#metoo Emma Thompson's letter to Skydance about John Lasseter Rob Beschizza

tabloid journalism Did the ‘National Enquirer’ finally get one right with its sensational exposé of Bezos’s affair? Peter Sheridan

review Review: Twelve South HiRise for MacBook laptop stand Seamus Bellamy

Business UK railway arches, the last bastion of publicly owned commercial space, engines of small business, about to be killed by privatization Cory Doctorow

twitter Myspace hasn't tweeted since 9/11, and we're starting to worry Andrea James

gop Congressman Trent Franks [R-AZ] resigns amidst accusations that he pressured his female staff to bear his children as surrogate mothers Cory Doctorow