On the HBO Harry Potter, and y’know, transphobia aside (which to be clear, is my top reason for not planning on watching), but:

In the context of the way culture these days is a series a reboots and reboots, and what should be done about it.

Radically reduce copyright down to 10 years or something. More than that: invent a new super-anti-copyright which actively imposes costs on any content which is too close to any existing content in an AI-calculated vibes database or something.

i.e. tax unoriginality.

The past is a foreign country that we should impose tariffs on.

• Any Human Ever: one life from over 100 billion
  A properly marvellous little tool that, without being preachy, manages to illustrate the odds that any of got here at all, and how, for all the world is on fire, how much better the early 21st century is than any other time in human history. My first two tries at a random life have them dying of dysentery as a newborn in what is now South China in 37CE, and dying in an an accident aged 4 in the Nile valley in 861BCE. Only on attempt 3 do I get a life that lives to 62, before dying of the Black Death in the Bengal Delta in 1285.
  Tags: history, interesting

• Lafcadio Hearn – Wikipedia
  And the wikipedia about him, too, for reference.
• Books by Lafcadio Hearn – Project Gutenberg
  This chap had a remarkable life, and there's a few books in here I want to spend a bit of time with.
  Tags: history, writer, lousiana, japan

• Kentucky Superstitions | by Daniel Lindsey Thomas, Lucy Blayney Thomas
  A load of fascinating old superstitions. Some wildly racist ones, be warned.
  Tags: superstitions

• Toy Biz, Inc. v. United States – Wikipedia
  Marvel successfully argued in court that their action figures for some of their range were for "nonhuman creatures" and avoided paying a higher rate of tax on X-men figures. Magneto was right, that's all I'm saying.
  Tags: comics, toys, law

• HOLY REAL ESTATE! The BATMAN ’66 WAYNE MANOR Is Up For Sale
  I cannot improve on that headline. Also, if you click through to the listing and look at the pics, as American megamansions with (let's be kind and call it) a "strong aesthetic" go, this one is surprisingly bearable, and actually feels like it'd be quite liveable. Anyone got 32 million lying around that I can have?
  Tags: batman, housing

• The AI Bubble — No One's Happy
  A depressing but probably accurate analysis.
  Tags: ai, bubble

• Inside the Secret History of the DeGrange Family – The New York Times
  A fascinating account of one family, split into two branches, and a very clear highlight of how much many elements of race/racism are a social construct. Some sad and difficult stuff in here, and some cause for hope, too.
  Tags: history, race

• At Long Last, I Have Maxximized My Looks – McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
  A perfect set of little touches makes this a must read.
  Tags: funny

• Why Han Solo Was An Amazing TTRPG Player And TTRPG Players Of Han Solo Characters Mostly Aren't – Old Men Running The World
  Keiron is absolutely bang on here. It can be summarised as "get buy in", but the flip side is "if you want to play a reluctant-hero character who has to be convinved to do things, make sure it's very, very easy to convince them".
  Tags: ttrpg