Author: Graeme McMillan / Source: WIRED
As the end of Net Neutrality looms large—it ends on June 11, although some states are continuing it on their own—it says a lot about the internet that people got much more agitated about the cancellation of Brooklyn 99 than anything else last week. Look, we love the show too, but there are more important things to think about: Iran and Israel are squaring off against each other! Ebola is back! The Met Gala blew everyone’s minds! People can’t get over how Kristen Stewart looked at Cate Blanchett at Cannes! It’s fair to say the internet has had a lot to think about this week.
And then, there’s everything below.‘This Is America’
What Happened: The most talked about thing online last week? That would be the latest video from Childish Gambino.
What Really Happened: Fresh off his appearance on Saturday Night Live, where he was both host and musical guest, Donald Glover decided to go for a victory lap by releasing the video for his new track, “This Is America” in a suitably understated manner.
Apparently, people liked it.
No, really; it was immediately proclaimed as groundbreaking, politically potent, socially conscious, and above all, thought–provoking—or, at least, thinkpiece-provoking. (And, no, that’s not Trayvon Martin’s dad at the start, playing guitar.) The internet was in awe. And also very ready to attempt to explain the video to anyone and everyone around:
But even as the video’s director and choreographer explained what they thought about the video was all about, Glover himself stayed quiet. Meanwhile, there was a sizable group of people who couldn’t help but compare Glover with another famous musician they didn’t expect this kind of ambitious work from.
…Is that approval? Or simply sharing a link?
The Takeaway: There was, it turns out, another link between Get Out and “This Is America” beyond the potential sunken place riff at the end of the video.
Let’s Un-Make a Deal
What Happened: In which the United States withdraws from a treaty that it helped negotiate, because reasons.
What Really Happened: As many things do, it all started with a tweet from President Trump.
And just that tweet alone was enough to drop oil prices and prompt much concern about what was to come. And that was before anyone knew what he was going to say.
Well, kind of. After all, the idea that Trump would withdraw from the deal was hardly new; he’d been criticizing it since he started campaigning back in 2015. Last year alone, he called it an “embarrassment” and “unacceptable,” with…
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