Morning, darlings! Let’s jump right in.

• The Atlantic asks: Why Do Cartoon Villains Speak in Foreign Accents?

• If you were woken up this morning by an app reminding you that you’re already failing that New Year’s resolution to write the next great American novel while losing thirty pounds by giving up a little thing called ‘food’, remember: “We are being sold on the need to upgrade all parts of ourselves, all at once, including parts that we did not previously know needed upgrading.”

• Being a middle-of-the-road Democrat, I’m not normally a regular consumer of Jacobin Magazine - nor am I their target reader, for that matter - but I am HERE for their look at The Hollow Courage of Bill Maher. Because fuck that guy.

• A reader sends in this delightful/mind-bending piece by Cory Doctorow on the battle for your screen: Persuasion, Adaptation, and the Arms Race for Your Attention.

• And finally, if you’re still spooked from the Hawaii oops-heard-‘round-the-world, here’s what the New Yorker thinks Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Postapocalyptic Tweets would look like.

Are you happy that the Missive is back on a semi-regular schedule? Great, so am I! Would you be willing to share it with anyone you think needs a daily dose of random readings? Much obliged!

Indubitably yours,

Amy