That got out of hand: this week on Fresh Powder

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The lede

After all the news and in-depth explainers of it, followed by the “What’s Nexts” for him and her and them, it’s now time for the round of media introspectives. “The Resistance Media Weren’t Ready for This,” measures The Atlantic: “After years of accruing followers, retweets, and Patreon donations with fevered speculation about the Mueller probe, they are facing the end of a gold rush — and they’re looking for the next opportunity.” (Back to selling websites…)

…  “Then when he became president, the instantaneous decision was to declare his presidency illegitimate and foreign-aided. I think there was a deep need to make sense of it all, to somehow not recognize the result. So a lot of people wanted to cancel it out. But that’s not what the press is supposed to do. That’s not our job,” Rolling Stone columnist Matt Taibbi told Vox. “I mean, this was the greatest reality show in history. It had sex, it had cloak and dagger intrigue, it had the shadowy British spy, it had obscure meetings on remote islands. And it had the added advantage of being able to tell audiences, ‘You can’t turn us off, because this thing could blow up any minute.’” Vox: Did the media botch the Russia story?

…  Wired has the definitive social media timeline of the initial news, followed closely by Victory Lap 1 and Victory Lap 2: “The Internet Will Forever Fight Over the Mueller Report”

Seconded

Taylor Lorenz, on the value of an online nemesis, for The Atlantic: “While hating is about putting others down, a nemesis is about pushing yourself to be better than they are. You still might relish in their failings, but ultimately you value your nemesis. You’d still show up to their funeral.”

TGIF

“Billie Eilish Is The Future.” The headline on Craig Jenkins’ Vulture review of Eilish’s debut album begs us to consider her. Let’s!

…  “How Billie Eilish Is Redefining Teen-Pop Stardom”: one of a “Diary of a Song” video series by The New York Times. More Eilish in NYT: On her “redefining” debut album and every other redefining thing, “a collective middle finger to the strictures of teen-pop sex appeal.”

…  Billie Eilish you’ve probably heard

…  Billie Eilish, huge fan of The Office

…  Billie Eilish, excellent Instagram handle

#MillennialProblems

“Another mother says of her children, ‘they’re the ones that told me Spotify would change my life. And it kind of has.’” Radio is nervous: Rolling Stone

…  (Preface this unrelated bit: You’re welcome.) “Local News Anchors In Ohio Decided To Use Teen Lingo And It Went About How You’d Expect”: BuzzFeed News(The video is at the bottom.)

Sports!

Duke lost! (x1)

…  Duke lost! (x2)

Thinking ahead

When it comes to “Game of Thrones,” I don’t like reading guesswork. But, maybe you do. (Vice: Military Historians Tell Us Who Will Win ‘Game of Thrones’)

This also happened last week: Celebrities, they’re just like us. (Nicolas Cage files for annulment 4 days after Vegas wedding.) And McDonald’s is threatening to change the drive-thru on us. (Jokes on you, McD’s; I order the same thing every time.)