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Wes Locher recently published the book Braving Britannia, about the seminal MMO Ultima Online, which he played obsessively for five years. Unlike most videogame books, which focus on game design or gameplay strategies, Braving Britannia is an oral history, collecting fond reminiscences from dozens of players. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Even in the middle of the day, the 50-mile trip from San Francisco to San Jose is a pain. Like a toddler, Bay Area driving toggles between slumber (rush-hour slogs) and frenzy (passing-happy speeding). It’s enough to make one eager for the day when robots rule the roads. And it’s more than enough to make me envy Evan Livingston, who doesn’t have to show up in person this meeting, held in a Lincoln...

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Look, we get it. If you saw the news at all over the weekend, you probably saw something about Special Counsel Robert Mueller finally turning over the findings of his 675-day Russia investigation. Entertainment news likely fell by the wayside. But that's why The Monitor is here: To fulfill your pop culture cravings. So, what'd you miss? Well, writer-director Jordan Peele's Us did very well for its...

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Volvo has had it up to här with drivers. The Swedish carmaker has spent decades building a reputation based on safety (and low-key luxury), but humanity’s taste for speeding, distraction, and impaired driving remains a threat no airbag, semi-autonomous system or moose-detection system can neutralize. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The trick to pronouncing presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg's last name is to keep your lips almost totally puckered through all three syllables. At least, that's the only way I'm able to do it. If I can get my lips halfway between a pout and a whistle, and say it in one quick exhale, I can get it. Bood-eh-jedge, bood-eh-jedge, bood-eh-jedge. I learned this a few d...

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In the five days since Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed a few minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people aboard, regulators around the world have grounded the Boeing 737 MAX 8. That’s a reaction to the fact that the circumstances of this disaster match those of Lion Air Flight 610, another 737 MAX 8, which crashed into the Java Sea in October, killing all 189 occupants....

The day was young and full of promise, electrified by the moon in Sagittarius. An astrologer named Aliza texted me that I was on the cusp of a new cycle. It was time to tantalize my “Venusian sensibilities.” Power emoji: 💆 I had found Aliza while beta-testing a new app, called Sanctuary. The app, designed to be the “Talkspace for astrology,” offers free daily horoscopes and, with a $20 monthly...

I live in Portland, Oregon, a city in which notifying your host of your eating restrictions is just good manners. Maybe you too have friends who are vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free. Or lactose-intolerant, paleo, or perhaps adhering to my toddler’s diet, which is best described as “pepperoni.” In this fraught environment, pizza has saved our social life. Pizzas are customizable and dough is cheap...

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." As an advocate, organizer, and campaigner for preschool access, tax fairness, plastic pollution and other causes for the last 14 years, I’ve heard this saying many times. You tell it to your volunteers when it looks like your movement has hit a wall or when it looks like your opposition has the upper hand, and you...

Ben Bova is the author of over a hundred science fiction books, and also served as editor for the legendary magazines Analog and Omni. In his short story “Bloodless Victory,” which appears in his recent collection New Frontiers, he depicts a future in which dueling makes a comeback thanks to sophisticated virtual reality technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoi...

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In the earliest days of the new scooter sharing wave, when a new, Uber veteran-run company called Bird showed in southern California, working in the industry felt a bit like stumbling into the O.K. Corral. High school students scrapped for their chance to charge or fix scooters for between $10 and $20 a pop. “Mechanics” broke handlebars and wheels en masse, so they would be paid to patch them up....

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If there's one line, one quote, that will endure from Captain Marvel, it'll likely be this one from Carol Danvers herself: "What happens when I'm finally set free?" It's rhetorical. Danvers says this as she's coming to realize the true awesomeness of her powers. For years, she's had her past hidden from her, been gaslighted into believing she needed to rein in her powers to be a better warrior for...

A wise man once said, “Words are trains / for moving past what really has no name.” Many of us spend our days working on these railroads, hammering away on keyboards mechanical and otherwise. But do you have to? Not really; a number of products promise to free you from the tyranny of the keyboard, allowing you to lay words down by speaking, writing with a pen, or using gestures. Some of us, me inc...

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If I had to describe Devil May Cry 5—and I do, it's my job—I'd call it a guitar riff. You know the type. The big, cheesy run that's trying, so hard, so very earnestly, to be cool. But it has something, some bit of inspiration and wit, that even though trying to be cool is the least cool thing in the world, you still really dig it. You start dancing, a little. Yeah, you say. Yeah, this is cool. Thi...

Just days after the massive layoffs at Activision Blizzard, the developer of Guild Wars announced this week that it would be letting go dozens of members of its staff. But that doesn't mean all the news in the world of videogames is bad. Fortnite's new season is here, y'all. Also, Pokémon! What else do you need to know? Read on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Foldable phones like Samsung’s Galaxy Fold and Huwaei’s Mate X are coming, whether you’re ready or not. In fact, they’re coming whether they’re ready or not. The software remains untested or nonexistent. The prices are either astronomical or unannounced. But those potential issues can be fixed on the fly. The real thing you should hold out for? Glass. Yes, glass. Learn more about your ad choices....

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