Neil Chaitin - S.f. Civic Leader - Dies

On May 26, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated filmmaker Payal Kapadia on the Cannes success of All We Imagine as Light, her drama slated for U. S. release on Nov. 15. Not only was it the first Indian film to play in competition at Cannes in 30 years, it also became the first to win the festival’s coveted Grand Prix, its ostensible silver medal.

Americans had a pandemic on their minds back in 2020 when then-President Donald Trump signed a $2.3 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that stimulated the slack economy and averted a government shutdown. Tucked inside the bill, however, was another bit of business entirely—a provision requiring the Pentagon to investigate more than 120 sightings by military pilots of what used to be known as UFOs, and now go by the more decorous-sounding “unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).” Lawmakers wrote the requirement into the must-pass legislation in the hope that it might help explain cockpit footage of UAP sightings that the Navy had declassified earlier that year and that had been burning down the internet ever since.

Most of us inhabit pretty unromantic lives, particularly when it comes to getting into and sustaining relationships. From interview-style dates to unaffectionate couples who feel more like roommates, we’ve sucked the joy out of our interpersonal relationships, leaving many to feel that romance is just too evasive or idealistic to obtain. But romance isn’t just for the starry-eyed.

NEW YORK — A year after turning to comedian Jimmy Kimmel to host their big show, The Academy Awards will pivot to another familiar TV funnyman — Conan O’Brien. “America demanded it and now it’s happening: Taco Bell’s new Cheesy Chalupa Supreme. In other news, I’m hosting the Oscars,” O’Brien said in a statement Friday. It will be his first time as Oscar host, but he’s emceed other high-profile awards shows, like the Emmy Awards in 2002 and 2006 and the White House Correspondents’ dinner in 1995 and 2013. The Oscars will air live on ABC on March 2, 2025. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Academy (@theacademy) O’Brien is best known for hosting the late-night talk shows “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” and “Conan.” Before his TV hosting career, O’Brien was a writer for “Saturday Night Live” and “The Simpsons.” O’Brien joins the list of Oscar hosts that includes Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, David Letterman, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart, Hugh Jackman and Neil Patrick Harris. “He joins an iconic roster of comedy greats who have served in this role, and we are so lucky to have him center stage for the Oscars,” said Craig Erwich, president, Disney Television Group.

The Wicked Witch of the West has been a fixture in American culture for nearly 125 years. After coming to life in 1900 with L. Frank Baum’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, she rose to prominence onscreen in 1939, portrayed by Margaret Hamilton as a sinister old lady intent on ruining an innocent girl’s wish to go home.

Technological progress can excite us, politics can infuriate us, and wars can mobilize us. But faced with the risk of human extinction that the rise of artificial intelligence is causing, we have remained surprisingly passive. In part, perhaps this was because there did not seem to be a solution. This is an idea I would like to challenge. AI’s capabilities are ever-improving.