The Political Fairy Tales Of Edouard Laboulaye

“Laboulaye’s creative work has been eclipsed by his political career” — a judge during France’s Second Empire, he was committed to women’s rights and the end of slavery — “but in his day he was recognized as a writer of fiction, too, and especially known for his fairy tales … [in which] rulers are more often than not oppressors, and women and outcasts and peasants usually win out.” – The New York Review of Books

Biopic Of India’s Prime Minister To Be Released On Election Day After Commission Declines To Intervene

“Opposition parties, including the Indian National Congress, had petitioned the Election Commission to delay the film’s release until after the polls close on May 19, on the grounds that it was propaganda for the incumbent prime minister and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Producers announced that the film” — titled simply PM Narendra Modi — “will release simultaneously in 38 countries.” – Variety

They Told Us The Digital Revolution Would Make Our Lives Better. It Hasn’t Turned Out That Way

Douglas Rushkoff: “In some ways, we’re all hostage to our technologies, or we’re simply at the mercy of this system. We’re being steamrolled by our devices, and the result is a kind of emotional slavery. And we know that billions of dollars are going into applying everything, every nasty trick we know about behavioral finance, to the digital realm.” – Vox

The Writers Guild Deadline Gets Extended To Friday

The extension came right before the original deadline of 12:01 am on April 7th, “after a Saturday afternoon meeting with a small group of talent agents, at which the agencies said that they would present proposals to the guild for a negotiated settlement and requested an extension. But the guild warned that the requested extension, 12:01 a.m. April 13, would be a ‘true deadline.'” – The Hollywood Reporter