happy mutants Empire Games: Charlie Stross starts a new phase in the Merchant Princes series, blending spycraft, Leninist thought experiments, and parallel dimensions Cory Doctorow

tabloids Bimbo Duchess and a giant UFO in this week's dubious tabloids Peter Sheridan

books "Under The Banner of King Death" puts pirates in their place — in the history of workers' rights Thom Dunn

Spoken Word with Electronics How to connect a landline phone to a car Ethan Persoff

Spoken Word with Electronics The Music of Stranger Things and "Universal Event Generators" Ethan Persoff

makers My favorite maker tips for 2021 Gareth Branwyn

science fiction Exclusive excerpt of Rudy Rucker's new novel: Million Mile Road Trip Mark Frauenfelder

law For the best of reasons, The Slants won the right to trademark racially offensive slurs — and now there's rather a lot of that Cory Doctorow

islamophobia Man with Muslim name blocked from playing video game Mark Frauenfelder

fiction The Man Who Sold The Moon Cory Doctorow

Business What's the story with the Makerbot patent? Cory Doctorow

Entertainment A masterful long take brings True Detective to its midpoint [Recap: "Who Goes There," S1 Ep4] K.M. McFarland