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NPR Books editor Petra Mayer died suddenly Saturday of a presumed pulmonary embolism. Mayer was a proud nerd and was a driving force behind the NPR Books concierge (A Mefi fave) and this past summer's special series Summer SciFi & Fantasy Best of the Decade Poll (which also popped up on the Blue.) [more inside]
posted by Wretch729 at 6:01 PM PST - 52 comments

What happened to Eric Clapton? The guitar legend has long been inscrutable, but his covid turn has friends and fans puzzled like never before. (Archive link) [more inside]
posted by Lyme Drop at 10:30 AM PST - 147 comments

In China, live shopping is already a standard form of retail. Typical live shopping events last around three hours, while special events can go on around the clock. This is the future that awaits American retail. The live shopping format generated $60 billion in sales globally in 2019 – with China far in the lead. Yet only $1 billion of those transactions took place in the U.S. Now, the format is estimated to hit $25 billion in the U.S. alone by 2023. Social media platforms are all in – and so are major retailers. Walmart is hosting live shopping events on TikTok. Facebook’s Live Shopping Fridays now feature brands ranging from Sephora to Abercrombie & Fitch. Instagram has a dedicated “Live” hub inside its Shopping section and ran a 10-day live shopping event with partners such as Peloton and Aveda. And Amazon launched Amazon Live.
posted by folklore724 at 8:21 AM PST - 123 comments

Ben Bartlett, a physics PhD student, proposed to his boyfriend of eight years by using an hexagonal mirror array to reflect the light from the setting sun onto the ground to spell “MARRY ME?”. To max out the romantic quotient, the proposal was on the beach on their 8th anniversary, Mobius rings included. Oh, and the 3D printed mirror array is open-source.
posted by of strange foe at 6:36 AM PST - 16 comments

"The first time I tried to regreen our town, I was sixteen. I got sentenced to 150 hours of community service..." "Choose Your Battleground" by Andrew Leon Hudson is a short, light, triumphant science fiction story about urban ecology. "A bee man came by a few months ago. I don’t like bees much, but I took some." "The Restoration" by Karen Heuler is a little longer and slower and more unsettling, as humans reckon with our discomfort with real ecological balance.
posted by brainwane at 3:56 AM PST - 8 comments

"This dress is pure sisterhood" The Red Dress is the culmination of a 12 year project spanning 28 countries and 244 embroiderers. [more inside]
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 3:53 AM PST - 7 comments