Favorite Rejects 2021-11-26

Daniel W. Drezner @dandrezner

Jeet’s depiction of the MCU seems… wrong? The first half of “Avengers: Endgame” was all about Snap fallout. Post-blip ramifications were discussed in “Shang Chi” and “Spiderman: Far From Home,” and were central plot points in “Wanda/Vision” and “Falcon and Winter Soldier.” https://t.co/6DJcMvkgRU

Jeet Heer @HeerJeet

I mean, just imagine if humanity actually did encounter god-like creatures, one of whom made half of all life disappear. And then the disappeared (unaged) returned. That would cause massive human and cultural disruption. In MCU it's just thing that happened.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Of course superhero movies aren’t “realistic” but there is such a thing as starting with a fantastical (or science fiction or whatever) premise and then taking the premise seriously. That’s not how the MCU handles the snap.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

@dandrezner It exists as a plot point but with the exception of the first half of “Endgame” there’s no effort to ~take the idea seriously~ in terms of the social and psychological ramifications.

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

Also MCU is just so much better than Star Wars prequels & sequels, Matrix sequels, Pirates of the Caribbean, Avatar, and most of the big-budget Hollywood stuff from recent decades.

Nancy Wang Yuen @nancywyuen

I have never heard this from my parents. 😂😭

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

I actually think this is critical to understanding how to make a good podcast. It’s not an immersive medium the way that text or video is, as a podcaster the job you are hired for is to entertain someone who is multitasking.

Eyes on the Right @EyesOnTheRight

I regret to inform you that the New York Times is at it again.

The New York Times @nytimes

With 6,000 residents, a McDonald’s drive-through, bars and ball fields, the Guantánamo Bay Navy base is more than one big prison. It has the trappings of small-town America and the amenities of a college campus. https://t.co/ChJ2sLs4XA

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

Thread on Omicron

Trevor Bedford @trvrb

Growth rate (in absolute terms and relative to Delta) will be become clearer in the following days, but at the moment, I believe we're looking at a variant that potentially has significant immune evasion and that appears to be spreading rapidly. 15/16

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

The impulse to turn Omicron into a vaccine equity morality tale is blasting through the reality that in South Africa (like the USA!) the constraint on vaccination is demand not supply; they were literally turning away doses earlier this week.