public health Vice wants to bring back indoor smoking sections: "local coffee shop . . . would be a lot cooler" Jennifer Sandlin

Opera Bizarre Black Lodge is a captivating punk pageant Jason Weisberger

Robert Anton Wilson Wilson and Shea's Illuminatus! trilogy to become TV series Gareth Branwyn

art A lovely film of spinning tops by Charles and Ray Eames David Pescovitz

scholarship Predatory journals aren't just a scam: they're also how quacks and corporate shills sciencewash their bullshit Cory Doctorow

Science The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a brief history David Pescovitz

video Lovely survey of 2017's best cinematography Andrea James

cancer Tobacco giant Philip Morris is quietly funding an "anti-smoking" foundation offering $1 billion in "grants" to public health leaders Cory Doctorow

happy mutants CIPPIC: Standing Guard for Canadians' Digital Rights David Fewer, CIPPIC

videos For the next year, TV, newspapers, and the web will run massive ads from tobacco companies admitting that their products kill people, that they were engineered to be addictive, and that they covered this up Cory Doctorow

Science Fantastic trailer for new Jane Goodall documentary David Pescovitz

authors Grant Morrison interview: "Laughter can banish any and all demons" Propaganda Anonymous

politics 370 economists sign letter slamming Trump for 'magical thinking and conspiracy theories' Xeni Jardin

art Anarchic Adjustment: pioneering street culture brand revived at L.A. art show David Pescovitz

corruption TPP will let banks write their own regulations and stick taxpayers with the bill Cory Doctorow

movies Meet the scientific storytellers who can make the public afraid of anything—for a price Ethan Gilsdorf

Finding Hidden Treasures in Los Angeles Mark Frauenfelder

books Jo Walton's "My Real Children" [book excerpt] Boing Boing