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A Distant Shore has just been released in an expanded version by Cherry Red Records, along with demos for songs that would eventually be released on Everything but the Girl's debut album. Tracey Thorn's classic 1982 indie album has long been a favorite of artists from Björk to Massive Attack, and is constantly rediscovered. In 2013 Thorn spoke about the album to the Guardian [archive link] and also wrote about the circumstances of its writing in her memoir Bedsit Disco Queen, excerpted here.
posted by Kattullus at 2:12 AM Nov 8 2024 - 9 comments [24 favorites]

"How to Find Hope in Dystopian Fiction" in JSTOR Daily (February 2016). "10 Must-Read Dystopian Novels: Our Readers’ Picks" in Open Culture (March 2016). "Column: Dystopias are fantastic in fiction. But do you really want to live in one?" by jscalzi in the Los Angeles Times (November 2016).
posted by cupcakeninja at 6:22 PM Nov 7 2024 - 12 comments [20 favorites (19 in the past 24 hours)]

Did a mega drought topple empires 4,200 years ago? is an article by Michael Marshall in Nature [archive link] about the debate around the 4.2-Kiloyear Event, which was possibly a major shift in global climate patterns that started around 2200 BCE. The effects were especially stark in the Fertile Crescent, where social complexity decreased markedly, empires fell, and cities were abandoned, as recounted in the video essay The First Bronze Age Collapse and the Intermediate Bronze Age. If you want more granular detail, best known archaeological site for this period has a good website with lots of information, The Tell Leilan Project.
posted by Kattullus at 1:31 PM Nov 8 2024 - 5 comments [18 favorites]

Ysabel Jurado has defeated incumbent Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León. De León is a legend on L.A.'s eastside and in California politics: former California Assemblymember, former President of the State Senate, failed U.S. Senate candidate (against Diane Feinstein in 2017), and current Los Angeles City Councilmember. De León was one of four people (three councilmembers and a labor leader) in the 2022 Los Angeles City Council tapes scandal and the last to find consequence. Jurado is a political rookie, a lifelong resident of her council district, the queer daughter of Filipino immigrants, a tenants rights attorney, affordable housing activist, and single mom. [more inside]
posted by kensington314 at 1:02 PM Nov 8 2024 - 6 comments [16 favorites]

If you're visiting MetaFilter for the first time in a while because whoa, US election, just a friendly reminder that MetaFilter depends on member support in order to keep running. Additionally, MetaFilter is moving to a community-run model, so you might want to check out the latest update about that. But because this is a weblog, a few additional links about communities below the fold. [more inside]
posted by warriorqueen at 1:29 PM Nov 7 2024 - 26 comments [39 favorites (14 in the past 24 hours)]

And true, it’s never been so easy to look up an unknown term. But there’s a reward if you get the reference: you are in communion with the author; your specific habits and tastes are seen, confirmed, and validated by the knowledge that someone else is watching the same shows, reading the same books, reposting the same posts as you. from IYKYK: When Novels Speak a Language Only Part of the Internet Gets [The Walrus]
posted by chavenet at 12:36 AM Nov 8 2024 - 36 comments [14 favorites]

Twilight Zone 1986 - A Small Talent for War "When an alien visitor tells delegates at the United Nations that humanity will be exterminated because it has 'a small talent for war,' the countries of the world struggle to forge a disarmament treaty before the visitor's deadline." (SLYT) [more inside]
posted by zaixfeep at 5:33 AM Nov 8 2024 - 14 comments [13 favorites]

If you live in Austria and started middle school in the past 15 years, chances are your English teacher has subjected you to The Story of the Stones. An animated fantasy series so astonishingly, epically cringeworthy that it has created something of a collective traume bond. [more inside]
posted by Omnomnom at 12:22 PM Nov 8 2024 - 15 comments [10 favorites]

Nightfall Turn-based tactics with a hacker theme and light puzzle elements. This is a free remake of the classic 2002 web game Spybotics: The Nightfall Incident for modern PCs and web. The original was posted here in 2004
posted by klangklangston at 9:29 AM Nov 8 2024 - 5 comments [9 favorites]

Which Country Should You Move To?
posted by chavenet at 11:45 AM Nov 7 2024 - 122 comments [15 favorites (8 in the past 24 hours)]

"One of the most amazing things to see": Rain kickstarts Christmas Island's red crab migration. Up to 100 million red crabs have begun their annual march to the ocean ahead of mating season on the remote Australian island, after dry weather delayed last year's migration.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:52 PM Nov 7 2024 - 13 comments [8 favorites]

... but also has remarkable trauma-fighting properties, so play Tetris [so many Tetris previouslies]
posted by chavenet at 11:37 AM Nov 8 2024 - 16 comments [7 favorites]

Angry At The World Right Now? Play Wolfenstein. [Kotaku] “Hey, everything sucks right now. There’s no getting around it, and we’re going to have to live with the consequences of this shit for the rest of our lives. So, if you’re feeling angry about things, like say, the rise of fascism in America, why not grab the Wolfenstein games and kill some Nazis? I need a break from all of this. I need to entertain the notion that I have some power. I need to remember that fascism is a loser ideology and that it can be dismantled, and I will gain all of this by replaying Bethesda and MachineGames’ Wolfenstein games and literally tearing men-turned-monsters to pieces.”
posted by Fizz at 6:58 AM Nov 7 2024 - 31 comments [21 favorites (5 in the past 24 hours)]

Investigation begins to learn exact age of dead crocodile, Cassius. A scientist hopes to learn more about the exact age of the iconic record-breaking 5.48-metre long (17.9 feet long) saltwater crocodile Cassius, believed to be up to 120 years old, after the croc died on 2 November 2024.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 6:57 AM Nov 8 2024 - 16 comments [5 favorites]

Ollie Olsen, visionary Australian post-punk and electronic music innovator, died on 16 October aged 66. Best known for his collaborations with the late Michael Hutchence of INXS, he made an extraordinary contribution to the Australian music scene and in particular its more avant-garde corners. ABC obituary, Guardian obituary, Ollie’s instagram, Wikipedia, Video memorial by Richard Lowenstein. [more inside]
posted by goo at 8:34 AM Nov 8 2024 - 6 comments [5 favorites]

Record sockeye run numbers in Okanagan Valley. Salmon are returning to areas previously blocked by dams after hatchery efforts to reintroduce fish.
posted by Mitheral at 9:23 AM Nov 8 2024 - 11 comments [5 favorites]

In a place where an act as simple as reading the Quran can be an act of defiance, the Taliban has banned women from hearing other women’s voices in its latest attempt to impose their version of Islamic law on Afghanistan, including mandating that women refrain from performing Takbir—an Islamic expression of faith—and from reciting the Quran aloud, even in the presence of other women. [more inside]
posted by rubatan at 4:54 AM Nov 7 2024 - 15 comments [28 favorites (4 in the past 24 hours)]

hello to the mountains of Nagano Prefecture. After two train rides and one on a bus, we were in Kamikochi, one of the most beautiful regions of the Japan Alps [soranews24/wiki]
posted by HearHere at 5:38 AM Nov 8 2024 - 5 comments [4 favorites]

Election Day is finally here. (*gulp*) Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, after replacing a Biden campaign killed by an abysmal June debate, has run a historic sprint to the finish, promising (with Coach Tim Walz) "A New Way Forward" focused on reproductive rights, middle class economics, and protecting American democracy. Former President Donald Trump, saddled with myriad felonies, a historically unpopular running mate, and a platform that ranges from fascistic to incoherent, leads a darkly authoritarian counterculture that tried once to subvert the popular will and aims to do so again. Dozens of key House and Senate and ballot races hang in the balance, and the outcome has titanic implications for human rights, climate change, the international order, and the future of liberal democracy around the world. But despite the stark contrast, a lingering economic malaise (and suspiciously close polling) make this look like the closest contest in modern history. So let's give it a push in the right direction, yeah? Voting resources: 🪪 Check your registration - 🗳️ Find your polling place - 💭 Make your plan - 📆 States with same-day registration - 🗹 See what's on your ballot - 🏛️USA.gov voting guide - Volunteer to get out the vote: 🚪Knock on doors - 📞 Phonebank - 📱Textbank - 🚗 Carpool - 👋 Neighbor2Neighbor - ❤️‍🩹Help cure ballots - Follow the returns: ⌚ Poll closing times - 🚨DecisionDeskHQ results - 📈 538 benchmarks - 📺 Live coverage - 📰 Politico Liveblog - 🐀Preparing for post-election subversion - ⌛Timeline through Inauguration Day [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi at 3:10 AM Nov 5 2024 - 2027 comments [160 favorites (3 in the past 24 hours)]

'We were freaking gorgeous': How Wicked Women captured lesbian sexuality in the late 80s. In the 1980s, two young Sydneysiders came across a women-run erotica magazine from San Francisco aimed at lesbians and were inspired to create something for their own community.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 8:38 AM Nov 7 2024 - 2 comments [17 favorites (3 in the past 24 hours)]