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Attention isn't multiplied by dividing it.

Apr 06, 2025

Minecraft-Themed 4DX Auditorium Opens in Antwerp, Belgium - Boxoffice

Trump extends deadline to keep TikTok running in US
It sounds like a sale may have been done, but post-Liberation Day dealmaking with China is going to be a bit more complicated:

Beijing hit the brakes on a deal Thursday after Trump announced wide-ranging tariffs around the globe, including against China. ByteDance representatives called the White House to indicate that China would no longer approve the deal until there could be negotiations about trade and tariffs

The race was reportedly down to Oracle (with A16Z), Blackstone (with existing ByteDance US shareholders), Amazon, AppLovin (that’s cute), and a joint venture between a crypto foundation and OnlyFans’ founder (of course there is). If a deal was done, it’s not totally clear who was in front, and that much less is clear following the latest developments.

Let the countdown to June 19 commence.

AI 2027
A team of futurists and researchers wrote an interactive scenario about what the next three years of AI’s integration into our lives might look like.

You should give it a scroll.

The next era of psychedelics may be precision-designed states of consciousness
A startup aims to design psychedelics that produce highly tailored states of mind — transforming unpredictable trips into “precise, repeatable experiences that could help improve mental health treatments” or just way cooler nights at The Sphere. 1

Meet the MIT physicist turned Marlins coach behind the ‘torpedo’ bats used by the Yankees
You cannot escape the torpedo bat. 2

All 52 Video-Game Movies, Ranked
Apropos of today’s subject line: brother, you haven’t lived until you have seen Minecraft 3D in 4DX right after wolfing down a Minecraft Adult Happy Meal. 3

The TikTokification of The White Lotus

We’ve entered the era of second-screen television—shows you can watch while looking at your phone—and The White Lotus seems to be adapting accordingly. The editing pattern of White Lotus feels like a direct response to this phenomenon, a competitive adaptation, an early milestone in the TikTokification of TV. I just can’t shake the feeling that the third season is intentionally edited for this effect, the way Cocomelon is engineered with rapid cuts to capture the attention of children. 4

“They curdle like milk”: Warner Bros DVDs from 2006-2008 are rotting away in their cases
Nothing lasts forever, including your Fred Claus and Blood Diamond DVDs.5

GOOD MOVIE: Kill Bill
Apologies to your inbox but Shea Serrano’s new Substack, where he watches a movie and provides timecoded commentary, is another must-subscribe. 6

The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils, 1952-1967
A tale of innovation in the time of the Great Tokyo Pencil Rivalry. 7

R.I.P.

Val Kilmer, Film Star Who Played Batman and Jim Morrison, Dies at 65

Val Kilmer covered a lot of ground from the time he entered Julliard at 17 until his passing at 65. A few of the better remembrances this week:

Time itself is a concept. It’s just because we’re lame, because we can’t see that fast, because we can’t imagine that fast-we think that fast, but it’s hard for us to articulate it. That doesn’t mean you misapprehend it. It just means that you can’t diagnose it with the same language. The human language is lame. It’s lame, I say! That’s as deep as I can get without dinner.

Val Kilmer
Interview, March 2011