In the Star Wars universe, the Force is everywhere. It connects everyone to each other; it permeates all things, living and dead, mechanical and organic, solid, liquid, or gas. This makes it a powerful storytelling tool. The Force is a built-in metaphor machine, basically, a bellwether any Star Wars narrative can gesture toward to reinforce…

Revolution is never quiet. The sound of it is not so much a sound as it is an action—a gathering tide, a firework just as it is about to mushroom with wild light, a tremor gaining force. It’s not what we hear but what we witness. In the theater of cruelty that is the modern…

Last spring, students at Hinsdale Central High School discovered six vaping detectors in bathrooms and locker rooms around campus. About 20 miles southwest of Chicago, Hinsdale Central has been battling on-campus vaping for years. Administrators tried making students take online courses if they were caught with ecigarettes; they talked to law enforcement; the Village of…

Happy Thursday! Welcome to a new edition of The Monitor, WIRED’s pop culture news roundup. What’s happening this week? Disney+, mostly. But that’s not the only streaming service lighting up the headlines. Read on to find out more.The Witcher Will Get a Second Season on NetflixThe Witcher doesn’t hit Netflix until December 20, but the…

In an age when so much of the internet feels bad, Pinterest has carved out a niche as the place you come to feel good. So when the company noticed Pinterest users searching for content related to “self-harm”—not a ton, but enough to catch someone’s attention—it decided first to filter out what would show up…

Sean Lomax likes to tell people he came out of the womb whistling.“I've been whistling ever since I can remember,” he says. “That's what I do. I love it.”Winner of numerous international championships, Lomax has mastered his craft in ways we mere mortals can’t. Unlike those who can barely hold a tune while whistling, Lomax…

I’m really excited about this new Star Wars spin-off show, The Mandalorian. It’s not part of the Skywalker saga, so pretty much anything can happen. And there’s the whole mystery of the armored Mandalorian: Who is he? What’s his motivation? How does he eat with a helmet on?But I just watched the trailer for the…

Retailers love to throw the term Black Friday around a lot. A whole lot. From Black Friday marketing emails hitting your inbox mid-January to the "Black Friday in July" sales that hover around Amazon Prime Day, it's easy to think that Black Friday lasts all year long. Those emails and sales are deceptive, but they…

Saving up for a new screen? To help you navigate the dozens of seemingly identical TV models from Samsung, LG, Vizio, TCL, and other manufacturers, we've picked a few of our favorites—including the absolute best TV you can buy, our favorite budget TV, and a few excellent choices in between. All of these models have…

Eric Meyers stayed silent as he trained his rifle on the eight-point buck. He fired once and watched the deer shudder from the bullet's impact. But the wounded animal turned and fled through the woods north of Clarksville, Ohio, spattering autumn foliage with blood as it ran. Meyers followed the buck's trail for hours before…