Category: Recommended

I have written a lot of articles and several books about Russia’s transformation under Vladimir Putin, but the experience I’ve always found hardest to describe is one of feeling as if creativity and imagination were sucked out of society after he came to power. The reason is not so much censorship or even intimidation as it is indifference. When the state took over television, for example, it wasn’t just that the news was censored: it was that the new bosses didn’t care about the quality of the visuals or the writing. The same thing happened in other media, in architecture, in filmmaking. Life in an autocracy is, among other things, dull.

This took place in the old Brooklyn. Don’t picture no smoothie shops or whatever. This was early ’80s Crown Heights, you know what I mean? They were out here robbing babies, man.

That would be Lynda Carter. In her starry trunks and scarlet bustier, both of which got skimpier as the seasons progressed, her Wonder Woman became the iconic female superhero. Despite the character’s activist origins, however, ABC didn’t take her particularly seriously. Wonder Woman was clearly satirical. It had a super cheesy theme song—“In your satin tights,/fighting for your rights”—used comic book-style speech bubbles, and its pièce de résistance was a ridiculous transformation involving a slow-mo beep-laden twirl. “Please, whatever you do, don’t ask me what I think of women’s lib,” Carter told Orange Coast Magazine two years in. “I’ve heard that question so many times I could scream.” It was a good way to avoid explaining why the first time we see Diana, she is running through a jungle in a gauzy pastel teddy and big hair like she’s in Valley of the Dolls. “There’s a reason it’s called jiggle TV,” says Cocca. “There’s a lot more running than you need to see.” Which is not to say Wonder Woman did not touch on feminism—it couldn’t really avoid it. “Any civilization that does not recognize the female is doomed to destruction,” Diana says in the pilot. “Women are the wave of the future and sisterhood is stronger than anything.” It’s just that she says it while torturing the woman beside her.

As I’m sure you know, this kind of bliss does get a bit tedious as time goes on—too much of a good thing makes Johnny a dull boy. So sometimes I crave something different. In these moments, I grab my cell phone and begin to look at various social-media sites. Instagram is one that I use in particular—I hear that it is quite popular. If you go to instagram dot com, you’ll see what I’m talking about. Images, more than any one person could possibly imagine, flood the senses! Any sensation of bliss is replaced with a rabid urge to scroll and see every last one. If you take a look, there are even a number of cartoons there! I’m told that it is part of “my job” to be “aware of this,” but in truth there’s excitement in discovering life’s little mysteries. I’ve even learned that the most popular cartoons we’ve posted on Instagram this year can be collected in one place, and enjoyed all at once! If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, you’re in for a treat. If you, like me, need a fun-filled break from the exalted state that this year has left you in, feast your eyes on the cartoons below.

I lucked into the romance of driving at its fervent peak.

Twitter and other social-media platforms are exposing lawmakers’ infirmities to new and harsher scrutiny, violating an unspoken culture of complicity and coverup. Prior to the recent reëlection of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Internet was ablaze with close-up photos of his bandaged, purple hands, setting off wild speculation about the health of the seventy-eight-year-old Republican from Kentucky. The physical and mental fitness of Trump, who is seventy-four, and Joe Biden, who is seventy-eight, have also been extensively covered. “In the 24/7 news cycle we have now, you can’t really hide,” one former top aide to Feinstein told me.