Latest posts
- PostscriptFeb 08, 2026Ernie Smith
Mass layoffs are a fact of life in journalism. Your favorite writers and editors have dealt with them. But they weren’t supposed to happen at The Post. Over the last week or so, I’ve been dealing with a bit of a nightmare. Our upstairs heat pump system got frozen over because of the recent weather issues—and the temp did not tip above freezing for days. So we were stuck away from our house for an
- A Quiet Townhouse, A Great GiftFeb 06, 2026Ernie Smith
A mostly unknown townhouse in Manhattan was the site of a small but significant moment in the history of 20th-century American literature. It also gives insight into how modern society defines its history. Hey all, Ernie here with a piece from an old friend—Andrew Egan. This is his first piece since 2023, and we’re happy to have him back on here once again. I’ll be back at the bottom of the piece
- Slide AwayJan 29, 2026Ernie Smith
My favorite UX metaphor, the scrolling window manager, is having a moment—and it’s for pretty dank reasons. I was a pretty early adopter of perhaps the best GNOME extension, PaperWM, which displays your windows as sliding frames that move fluidly with the press of a keystroke. When everyone was going nuts over tiling windows, I was quietly calling this scrolling style the real innovation in windo
- Minus WorldJan 23, 2026Ernie Smith
Rumors of OnePlus’ possible death are heating up, which would be a real shame, given how much the smartphone market has already contracted. It’s not true, but their grip is slipping. With all the panicked chatter about the OnePlus brand over the last couple of days, I have a useful anecdote to add. And it involved a recent trip to the very T-Mobile store I first got acquainted with the OnePlus br
- They Were RobbedJan 19, 2026Ernie Smith
The tale of the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, the place where hits go to die—in some cases, over and over again. Let’s talk about the chart through the lens of its two most iconic artists. Today in Tedium: If you’re an artist who has multiple songs on the overhang of the Hot 100, can you really be called a “hitmaker”? For much of Billboard’s history, the Hot 100 has frequently appeared
- Splitting MachinesJan 12, 2026Ernie Smith
How the virtual machine, a foundational element of cloud computing, found its modern footing after a couple of scientists proved a couple of theorems wrong. Today in Tedium: Is there a technology that is more taken for granted in modern computing than virtualization? It’s an essential part of so many parts of modern computing, including cloud infrastructure. One could draw a straight line between
- A Number Of Surprising ImportanceJan 02, 2026Ernie Smith
The number 26, which gets back-burnered compared to numbers with neater divisibility, is an essential digit. And you’re gonna be hearing all about it in 2026. Hey all, it’s our annual lookahead, which we’ve done every year since the start of this crazy thing. (To give you an idea, here’s last year’s.) This covers a lot of ground in a very broken-up format. Hope you dig! Today in Tedium: In 2017,
- The Accidental BlockbusterDec 31, 2025Ernie Smith
The absurd comedy of errors that led to the year’s best feature story is almost too silly to be believed. But it happened. OK, next up on our year-end closeout is the best feature story of the year. In case you missed or best online video award, check it out here! I don’t think you can talk about good feature articles in 2025 without talking about the amazing journalism being conducted day after
- A Complex Case For EmpathyDec 30, 2025Ernie Smith
One of the best videos of the year came from someone who once publicly quit YouTube. It’s a multi-hour epic—and it’s stuck with me for months. Hey all, Ernie here with the first of our year-end Tedium awards. We’ll be giving out three this week, along with our year-end piece. Anyway, here are our picks for best online video of 2025: Lindsay Ellis has a well-earned distaste for YouTube, having ear
- Convoy SteamrollerDec 25, 2025Ernie Smith
The unexpected connection between advertising, a 1975 novelty song, CB radio, and some of your favorite modern Christmas tunes. Hey all, Ernie here with a piece from David Buck, who decided to offer a cultural contrast to my piece on CB radios from earlier this year. This time, we’re diving deep into “Convoy” territory—and beyond. Today in Tedium: “Breaker one-nine, this here’s the Rubber Duck. Y