Author: bradberens

  • Retro Futures: “Wag the Dog” and Deep Fakes

    A classic 1997 movie about technology-fueled misinformation shows how democratized deception has become in 2024, and why we shouldn’t call them “deep fakes” in the first place. Typically, when I write about retro futures I’m exploring what a classic work of science fiction got right and wrong about the future and what that says about life today.…

  • Experience Stacks and Matthew Perry (R.I.P.)

    When social media surfaced a clip of the late “Friends” star on “The West Wing,” it activated crashing contexts that explain how Experience Stacks work and why they can be powerful. I am more aware of Matthew Perry after his premature death last October than I ever was while he was still alive. In part…

  • Why Nikki Haley Should Stay in the Race

    Conventional wisdom doesn’t apply in unconventional times, plus two not-so-secret rules of presidential politics.  Back in 2017, film director Judd Apatow shared an only slightly tongue in cheek rule about presidential politics: the funnier candidate always wins. “Reagan was funny. Bill Clinton was funny. Bush was funnier than Gore. Obama was funnier than probably anybody who’s…

  • TV Is Doing Just Fine… For Now

    A new op-ed about the possible end of “peak TV” misses the real story.  Film historian and critic Peter Biskind’s op-ed in The New York Times hangs black crepe, mourning the end of peak TV. The funeral came at last week’s Emmy Awards, with an open casket where viewers could see the cast of Succession. Biskind’s piece went…

  • 20 Years of Innovation!

    This week, I share a new infographic tracking two decades of transformational companies and products. Plus, “13 Ways of Looking at Las Vegas.” (Issue #101) I had a ball leading StoryTech tours of the show floor at CES in Las Vegas last week. This year’s distinct theme was AI. My favorite exhibit was Timekettle from China: it’s one of…

  • What’s So Great About Steamboat Willie?

    The 1928 first appearance of the character who became Mickey Mouse entered the public domain on New Year’s Day. Should anybody care? Image created by DALL-E. On New Year’s Day, an avalanche of works from 1928 entered the public domain, their copyrights having expired after 95 years. Walt Disney’s almost eight minute Steamboat Willie cartoon earned a disproportionate…

  • My 2023 in Books

    My annual journey across the dozens of books I read this year. If you’re looking for a good read (or things to avoid) then dive in! Good morning! This is the final Dispatch of the year, and I’m happy to share that next issue will be the 100th. Thank you for the gift of your attention over…

  • Is David Zaslav the new Beeper King?

    Hollywood hearts went pitter-pat after the Warner Bros. Discover and Paramount Global CEOs ate lunch together, but would a merger accomplish anything? Image created with Ideogram.AI and Adobe Photoshop. After Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) CEO David Zaslav and Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish had a leisurely lunch together last week, the entertainment press exploded with…

  • Dueling Intelligences

    How realistic is the idea that flesh and blood actors will soon find themselves performing alongside long-dead movie stars? Image created by DALL-E. Last time, I shared a microfiction (1,000 words or less), a short science fiction story called “The Only Living Boy,” about an actor, Tom, who is the only flesh and blood performer…

  • The Only Living Boy, a Microfiction

    What happens when real and virtual actors join forces in a new production of Shakespeare’s “Othello” on Broadway? As regular readers already know, I’ve been experimenting with microfictions, short SF stories (1,000 words or less) that help me explore and illustrate aspects of how our lives might evolve within digital transformation. Here, then, is another microfiction. Next…