Pop Culture

The early website Hot or Not taught its users to rank people at scale. Twenty-six years later, dating apps are trying to escape the culture the site helped create. Read More Culture LatestCulture, Culture / Digital Culture, Face Value 

Disney superfan Toni Kulusich has been accused of stalking her favorite character, sparking discourse about boundaries with park actors. She tells WIRED the backlash is unfair. Read More Culture LatestCulture, Culture / Digital Culture, Forever Young 

Rogue Studios, a new cinematic adult AI-generator, is betting big on the future of “sophisticated” spicy content. Read More Culture LatestCulture, Culture / Movies, Uncensored 

A new Apple documentary explores the life of Aziz “Zyzz” Shavershian, who rocketed to internet fame in an age before influencers, then died at age 22 in 2011. Read More Culture LatestCulture, Culture / Movies, Muscle Memory 

Avatar Aang, Heartstopper Forever, and Exit 8 are among the films deserving of your eyeballs this month. Read More Culture LatestCulture, Culture / Movies, Streaming Guides 

Joi AI hired 10 people to masturbate using AI companions as part of a monthlong “wellness” study. The company claims the practice could help “solve male loneliness.” Read More Culture LatestCulture, Culture / Digital Culture, Solo Effort 

Human-AI marriages are not currently recognized by US law. Some Republican state policymakers are drafting legislation to keep it that way. Read More Culture LatestCulture, Culture / Digital Culture, AI Do 

Debate over the true villain in Obsession is raging again after Universal Studios announced the movie’s female lead will be featured at an upcoming Halloween event. Read More Culture LatestCulture, Culture / Movies, Bloody Mess 

From pessimism around dating to AI reshaping culture, cyber-ethnographer Ruby J. Thelot tells WIRED why people are putting too much stock into things that go viral. Read More Culture LatestCulture, Culture / Digital Culture, Made You Look