Read “Who Is Still Inside the Metaverse?” on Intelligencer: One writer goes inside Meta’s (neé Facebook) much-lauded metaverse experiment, Horizon Worlds. And finds… Well, not much. Sparse users, quite a lot of trolls, and a detached loneliness as they stand (or rather float, as legs are not included) decapitated from their real physical bodies, sippin’ fake beer (while corporeal forms are left thirsty), going down “hidden” PG-13 demonic scare rides, and watching jury-rigged VR porn. What they did find, however—through some prying over a round of virtual drinks—is that this place, for the few still left, acts as a brief escape for those isolated, whether through traumatic experiences or the increasingly-atomized nature of life between the digital and physical. If I had access to the metaverse as a teenager, in my rural Washington town, who’s to say I wouldn’t have floated amongst its comedy clubs, basketball courts, and bars, looking for a few friends?
— Phil Backes, Director of Partnerships & Social Media

Read Gay Bar: Why We Went Out by Jeremy Atherton Lin: Was in Montreal over the weekend for the Document party, with an obligatory visit to SSENSE (a type of pilgrimage). Further becoming a caricature of myself.
—Colin Boyle, Chief of Staff

Saw PHOTOGRAPHY Then at anonymous gallery: Strongly recommend. Up until April 15, with works shown by Jesse Gouveia, Chessa, Buck Ellison, Alyssa Kazew, Thomas Polcaster, and Jack Pierson.
—Syd Walker, Assistant Art and Photo Editor

Watched Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski-crash trial: There’s so much lore surrounding this lawsuit. In no particular order, my favorite theories and tidbits: that Paltrow’s bone-broth controversy—reported on in the days leading up to the trial—was a distraction from the media frenzy sure to come; that her monogrammed court notebook cost $250; that the altercation took place on a Deer Valley bunny slope; that the lawsuit as a whole was a “Waif Hunt,” pure and simple! Or else a money grab, or the byproduct of celebrity worship. In any case, somebody was clearly lying, and everyone else, decidedly smug. The pinnacle of the Theater of the Courtroom, from the costumes to the characters to the topical thematics. (White people battling it out over something that went down on vacation. As a society, we can’t seem to get enough of that.)
—Morgan Becker, Digital Managing Editor

Listened to My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Brian Eno and David Byrne: The first eight or so minutes of my 20-minute walk to work are wasted skipping and shuffling and listening to the first 30 seconds of too many songs, until I find one that could completely change my brain chemistry and make me feel hot and smart and cool. Lately, I’ve been landing on this album, and more specifically “The Jezebel Spirit,” which is paced in a way that makes me walk fast, but not so fast that I sweat—instead leaving me with a dewy glow on the cusp of perspiration, brought on by a confident strut that will probably get me hit by a car someday. Until then, I guess.
—Megan Hullander, Print Managing Editor

Watched Three Thousand Years of Longing by George Miller: With wonderful Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba. A very beautiful, modern take on the classic Genie in a Bottle tale.
—Alice Lefons, Fashion & Market Editor