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Writers Strike: Why AI Should Be Central in the Fight | Vanity Fair

By Nick Bilton, May 9, 2023

From Getty Images. 

When you’re writing a story about an issue that affects a large group of people, whether it’s for a news outlet or a television show, you often pick one person as the anecdotal lead of the tale. That character serves a purpose: to make a specific thesis feel less nebulous and more, dare I say, human.

Right now in Hollywood, there are some 11,500 humans who could be the lead of this particular story. Writers who have spent their careers holed up in writers rooms or coffee shops, figuring out plots and characters and dialogue and stuffing them into 30- or 60-page scripts. But this past week, those same screenwriters have woken up, donned blue T-shirts that say “Writers Guild of America,” grabbed a red-and-black picket sign, and descended on the sidewalks of one of the big Hollywood studios. Then, as gangly palm trees sway nearby and rivers of cars flow along Los Angeles’s concrete canals, these writers have trudged back and forth on the pavements in front of Paramount Studios and CBS and Disney and Netflix—on strike as screenwriters for television shows and movies for the first time in 15 years.

Source: Writers Strike: Why AI Should Be Central in the Fight | Vanity Fair

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The 65 Best Christmas Movies of All Time | Vanity Fair

‘Tis the season for staying in and watching your favorite Christmas flick, so pick a platform and let the holiday cheer begin.

By Tara Ariano and Savannah Walsh, December 16, 2022

The Bailey Family: (Clockwise from left to right: Larry Simms, Karolyn Grimes, James Stewart, Donna Reed, Carol Coombs-Mueller, and Jimmy Hawkins. From Everett Collection.

‘Tis the season to watch the best Christmas movies. That means committing to the holly jolly bit—stick a candy cane in the hot chocolate, curl up under a blanket, and enjoy some holiday fare new and old. There are the tried-and-true classics like It’s a Wonderful Life and Home Alone, the modern rom-coms such as Happiest Season or Love Hard, and the movies that aren’t strictly seasonal, but emit the yuletide aura nonetheless. Here’s our list of all the best titles you can stream at home—some undeniably Christmas-themed; others with just a few pivotal scenes that take place during the holidays, for when you need to take a little break from the merriment.

Source: The 65 Best Christmas Movies of All Time | Vanity Fair

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Queen Elizabeth’s Funeral Updates: The World Mourns | Vanity Fair

By Vanity Fair, Updated 6 hours ago, 09:44 AM

Vanity Fair

On Monday, Queen Elizabeth was laid to rest following her state funeral which was attended by fellow royals, international dignitaries, and heads of state. The 96-year-old monarch, who served the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth for more than seven decades, died on Thursday, September 8, at her beloved Scottish estate, Balmoral.

Since last Wednesday, thousands of mourners have visited Westminster Hall, where the queen lay in state until Monday’s funeral procession. The queen’s coffin was transported by the State Gun Carriage to Westminster Abbey, where the state funeral service was performed by the Dean of Westminster. Toward the end of the service, there was a national observance of two minutes of silence to honor Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, before a procession brought her coffin through Wellington Arch and to its final destination of St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. It was there that a second service was conducted by the Dean of Windsor before a private burial for the royal family to attend.

Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images. 

She was laid to rest in the King George VI Memorial Chapel alongside her late father, mother, sister, and husband, Prince Philip. Married for more than 73 years, it was both the queen and Prince Philip’s wish that they be buried together. Philip died in April 2021 at the age of 99. 

During the funeral, King Charles led the processions of the coffin and was joined by the queen’s other children, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. Her grandchildren Prince William, Prince Harry, and Peter Philips also participated in the procession, as well as the queen’s cousin Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester; her nephew David Armstrong-Jones, the Earl of Snowdon; and Princess Anne’s husband, Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence; among other trusted members of the queen’s household.

Editor’s Note: Read more, see link below for original item…

Source: https://www.vanityfair.com/live/queen-elizabeth-live-funeral-coverage

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Nichelle Nichols, Pioneering Star Trek Actress and NASA Recruiter, Dies at Age 89 | Vanity Fair

The communications officer aboard the original USS Enterprise delighted fans onscreen and at conventions for more than 50 years. 

By Jordan Hoffman, July 31, 2022

By CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Nichelle Nichols, best known for her groundbreaking role as Lt. Uhura on Star Trek, passed away on Saturday, a family spokesperson said on Sunday.

Her presence as one of the USS Enterprise’s heroic bridge officers was groundbreaking in 1966.

As an 11-year-old Whoopi Goldberg famously called out to her mother, “There’s a Black lady on TV and she ain’t no maid!” After completing the original show’s three seasons, Nichols continued her portrayal in a short-lived animated show in the early 1970s, and in a succession of six films from 1979 to 1991. She was 89 years old at the time of her death.

Born in 1932 in a suburb of Chicago, Nichols began her career as a singer and dancer, touring with both Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton’s bands. She appeared at the legendary Blue Angel club in New York, as well as the Playboy Club, and was in a production of Carmen Jones in Chicago. She also had an uncredited role as a dancer in Otto Preminger’s 1959 film version of Porgy and Bess.

Source: Nichelle Nichols, Pioneering Star Trek Actress and NASA Recruiter, Dies at Age 89 | Vanity Fair

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Donald Trump Should Never Be Allowed Within 1,000 Feet of the White House Again: A Pocket Guide | Vanity Fair

If you or someone you know still needs convincing, allow us.

By Bess Levin, July 13, 2022

The first public hearing of the January 6th Congressional Committee, as seen on TV, on June 9, 2022. The first hearing included video clips of the insurrection and testimony. Video of Donald Trump’s speech at the Ellipse in Washington DC on January 6th, the day of the insurrection.\By Mark Peterson/Redux.

If you’re reading this, then you probably already know: Donald Trump is reportedly thinking about running for president a third time. As he would only be one of a handful of ex-presidents to run again after losing reelection, there aren’t a lot of historical parallels for this, should he announce. But it would kind of be like the bubonic plague announcing a comeback and expecting people to be happy about it. Or your oncologist telling you your stage IV cancer had returned. Or the worst president in modern history, the one who incited a violent coup because his ego is so fragile he couldn’t admit he’d lost, deciding to take another stab at terrorizing the nation for another four years. Something like that.

Does Trump actually have a shot at winning? That he has a greater than 0% chance of doing so should terrify everyone in this country, as well as the people living in the countries he’d probably drop a bomb on if given the chance—and considering the 74,223,369 who voted for him last time, including those who have publicly stated he’s a danger to society but would nevertheless still vote for him again, his odds are clearly a lot higher than that.

Though a New York Times/Siena College poll this week found nearly half of the party’s primary voters wanting someone else in 2024, Trump still leads the field—and thus remains the favorite to take the Republican nomination if he runs. And as Politico noted Tuesday, Trump “could launch his third campaign any day now.”

In short, if you’ve been paying any attention at all, this news has no doubt caused you to panic, driven you to drink, or ripped through your stomach like a batch of bad oysters shucked by Mr. Mar-a-Lago himself, who you know ignores the “employees must wash hands before returning to work” sign. To be clear, given the circumstances, these are appropriate responses.

But maybe you still need convincing. Or maybe you know a person who knows a person who still needs convincing. Whatever your situation, the following is a list of some of the many reasons why Donald Trump should never be allowed inside the White House again. Not even as a guest! Not even as a school trip chaperone standing quietly and respectfully in the back. It doesn’t include literally every reason, seeing as our fingers would break off before we could get through every single one. But for anyone wondering if it would really be that bad, it should be enough to convince them that yes, it would really be that fucking bad.

–from article

Source: Donald Trump Should Never Be Allowed Within 1,000 Feet of the White House Again: A Pocket Guide | Vanity Fair

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“I Don’t F–king Care That They Have Weapons”: White House Aide Gives Bombshell Testimony Of the Day Trump Incited the Capitol Attack | Vanity Fair

Cassidy Hutchinson testified in the January 6 committee hearing that Trump attacked his security detail, threw his lunch against the wall and raged at staff on Jan. 6 for not letting him go to the Capitol alongside rioters.

By Eric Lutz, June 28, 2022

from twitter
from Twitter, and PBS News Hour

Irate that he could not storm the Capitol with his supporters on January 6, Donald Trump physically assaulted a member of his security detail and attempted to grab the steering wheel of the car he was in, a former top White House aide said in an explosive public testimony Tuesday.

According to Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, the ex-president entered a secure vehicle after his January 6 speech believing he was going to be driven to Capitol Hill, where he’d just urged supporters to march and “fight” on his behalf — even though he’d been warned they were armed and that he may be engaging in illegal conduct.

But Robert Engel, the head of his security team at the time, said that was not possible and that he was instead being transported back to the White House. Trump was incensed, Hutchinson told the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack, recounting what Engel and former Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Ornato told her after the incident.

“I’m the fucking president,” Trump allegedly said. “Take me up to the Capitol now.”

Source: “I Don’t F–king Care That They Have Weapons”: White House Aide Gives Bombshell Testimony Of the Day Trump Incited the Capitol Attack | Vanity Fair