Barricades, as we know them today, are thought to date back to the European wars of religion. According to most historians, the first barricade went up in Paris in 1588; the word derives from the French barriques, or barrels, spontaneously put together. They have been assembled from the most diverse materials, from cobblestones, tyres, newspapers, dead horses and bags of ice (during Kyiv’s Euromaidan in 2013–14), to omnibuses and e‑scooters. Their tactical logic is close to that of guerrilla warfare: the authorities have to take the barricades in order to claim victory; all that those manning them have to do to prevail is to hold them.  The 19th century was the golden age for blocking narrow, labyrinthine streets. Paris had seen barricades go up nine times in the period before the Second Empire; during the July 1830 Revolution alone, 4,000 barricades had been erected (roughly one for every 200 Parisians). These barricades would not only stop, but also trap troops; people would then throw stones from windows or pour boiling water onto the streets. Georges‑Eugène Haussmann, Napoleon III’s prefect of Paris, famously created wide boulevards to make blocking by barricade more difficult and moving the military easier, and replaced cobblestones with macadam – a surface of crushed stone. As Flaubert observed in his Dictionary of Accepted Ideas: ‘Macadam: has cancelled revolutions. No more means to make barricades. Nevertheless rather inconvenient.’   Lead image: Barricades, as we know them today, are thought to have originated in early modern France. A colour engraving attributed to Achille‑Louis Martinet depicts the defence of a barricade during the 1830 July Revolution. Credit: Paris Musées / Musée Carnavalet – Histoire de Paris. Above: the socialist political thinker and activist Louis Auguste Blanqui – who was imprisoned by every regime that ruled France between 1815 and 1880 – drew instructions for how to build an effective barricade Under Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann widened Paris’s streets in his 1853–70 renovation of the city, making barricading more difficult Credit: Old Books Images / Alamy ‘On one hand, [the authorities] wanted to favour the circulation of ideas,’ reactionary intellectual Louis Veuillot observed apropos the ambiguous liberalism of the latter period of Napoleon III’s Second Empire. ‘On the other, to ensure the circulation of regiments.’ But ‘anti‑insurgency hardware’, as Justinien Tribillon has called it, also served to chase the working class out of the city centre: Haussmann’s projects amounted to a gigantic form of real-estate speculation, and the 1871 Paris Commune that followed constituted not just a short‑lived anarchist experiment featuring enormous barricades; it also signalled the return of the workers to the centre and, arguably, revenge for their dispossession.    By the mid‑19th century, observers questioned whether barricades still had practical meaning. Gottfried Semper’s barricade, constructed for the 1849 Dresden uprising, had proved unconquerable, but Friedrich Engels, one‑time ‘inspector of barricades’ in the Elberfeld insurrection of the same year, already suggested that the barricades’ primary meaning was now moral rather than military – a point to be echoed by Leon Trotsky in the subsequent century. Barricades symbolised bravery and the will to hold out among insurrectionists, and, not least, determination rather to destroy one’s possessions – and one’s neighbourhood – than put up with further oppression.   Not only self‑declared revolutionaries viewed things this way: the reformist Social Democrat leader Eduard Bernstein observed that ‘the barricade fight as a political weapon of the people has been completely eliminated due to changes in weapon technology and cities’ structures’. Bernstein was also picking up on the fact that, in the era of industrialisation, contention happened at least as much on the factory floor as on the streets. The strike, not the food riot or the defence of workers’ quartiers, became the paradigmatic form of conflict. Joshua Clover has pointed out in his 2016 book Riot. Strike. Riot: The New Era of Uprisings, that the price of labour, rather than the price of goods, caused people to confront the powerful. Blocking production grew more important than blocking the street. ‘The only weapons we have are our bodies, and we need to tuck them in places so wheels don’t turn’ Today, it is again blocking – not just people streaming along the streets in large marches – that is prominently associated with protests. Disrupting circulation is not only an important gesture in the face of climate emergency; blocking transport is a powerful form of protest in an economic system focused on logistics and just‑in‑time distribution. Members of Insulate Britain and Germany’s Last Generation super‑glue themselves to streets to stop car traffic to draw attention to the climate emergency; they have also attached themselves to airport runways. They form a human barricade of sorts, immobilising traffic by making themselves immovable.   Today’s protesters have made themselves consciously vulnerable. They in fact follow the advice of US civil rights’ Bayard Rustin who explained: ‘The only weapons we have are our bodies, and we need to tuck them in places so wheels don’t turn.’ Making oneself vulnerable might increase the chances of a majority of citizens seeing the importance of the cause which those engaged in civil disobedience are pursuing. Demonstrations – even large, unpredictable ones – are no longer sufficient. They draw too little attention and do not compel a reaction. Naomi Klein proposed the term ‘blockadia’ as ‘a roving transnational conflict zone’ in which people block extraction – be it open‑pit mines, fracking sites or tar sands pipelines – with their bodies. More often than not, these blockades are organised by local people opposing the fossil fuel industry, not environmental activists per se. Blockadia came to denote resistance to the Keystone XL pipeline as well as Canada’s First Nations‑led movement Idle No More. In cities, blocking can be accomplished with highly mobile structures. Like the barricade of the 19th century, they can be quickly assembled, yet are difficult to move; unlike old‑style barricades, they can also be quickly disassembled, removed and hidden (by those who have the engineering and architectural know‑how). Think of super tripods, intricate ‘protest beacons’ based on tensegrity principles, as well as inflatable cobblestones, pioneered by the artist‑activists of Tools for Action (and as analysed in Nick Newman’s recent volume Protest Architecture).   As recently as 1991, newly independent Latvia defended itself against Soviet tanks with the popular construction of barricades, in a series of confrontations that became known as the Barikādes Credit: Associated Press / Alamy Inversely, roadblocks can be used by police authorities to stop demonstrations and gatherings from taking place – protesters are seen removing such infrastructure in Dhaka during a general strike in 1999 Credit: REUTERS / Rafiqur Rahman / Bridgeman These inflatable objects are highly flexible, but can also be protective against police batons. They pose an awkward challenge to the authorities, who often end up looking ridiculous when dealing with them, and, as one of the inventors pointed out, they are guaranteed to create a media spectacle. This was also true of the 19th‑century barricade: people posed for pictures in front of them. As Wolfgang Scheppe, a curator of Architecture of the Barricade (currently on display at the Arsenale Institute for Politics of Representation in Venice), explains, these images helped the police to find Communards and mete out punishments after the end of the anarchist experiment. Much simpler structures can also be highly effective. In 2019, protesters in Hong Kong filled streets with little archways made from just three ordinary bricks: two standing upright, one resting on top. When touched, the falling top one would buttress the other two, and effectively block traffic. In line with their imperative of ‘be water’, protesters would retreat when the police appeared, but the ‘mini‑Stonehenges’ would remain and slow down the authorities. Today, elaborate architectures of protest, such as Extinction Rebellion’s ‘tensegrity towers’, are used to blockade roads and distribution networks – in this instance, Rupert Murdoch’s News UK printworks in Broxbourne, for the media group’s failure to report the climate emergency accurately Credit: Extinction Rebellion In June 2025, protests erupted in Los Angeles against the Trump administration’s deportation policies. Demonstrators barricaded downtown streets using various objects, including the pink public furniture designed by design firm Rios for Gloria Molina Grand Park. LAPD are seen advancing through tear gas Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Roads which radicals might want to target are not just ones in major metropoles and fancy post‑industrial downtowns. Rather, they might block the arteries leading to ‘fulfilment centres’ and harbours with container shipping. The model is not only Occupy Wall Street, which had initially called for the erection of ‘peaceful barricades’, but also the Occupy that led to the Oakland port shutdown in 2011. In short, such roadblocks disrupt what Phil Neel has called a ‘hinterland’ that is often invisible, yet crucial for contemporary capitalism. More recently, Extinction Rebellion targeted Amazon distribution centres in three European countries in November 2021; in the UK, they aimed to disrupt half of all deliveries on a Black Friday.   Will such blockades just anger consumers who, after all, are not present but are impatiently waiting for packages at home? One of the hopes associated with the traditional barricade was always that they might create spaces where protesters, police and previously indifferent citizens get talking; French theorists even expected them to become ‘a machine to produce the people’. That could be why military technology has evolved so that the authorities do not have to get close to the barricade: tear gas was first deployed against those on barricades before it was used in the First World War; so‑called riot control vehicles can ever more easily crush barricades. The challenge, then, for anyone who wishes to block is also how to get in other people’s faces – in order to have a chance to convince them of their cause.        2025-06-11 Kristina Rapacki Share

By Naomi Keena and Avi Friedman (Routledge, 2024) The next frontier for housing is one that looks to embedding housing as part of a circular economy. Is it possible, this book asks, to disrupt the “take, make, waste” model of producing housing to instead provide affordable, waste-free housing? A circular economy approach is often associated with waste recovery: designing buildings so that their component parts can be disassembled and reused. But an equally important aim is to right-size buildings and keep them in use for as long as possible, through strategies including engaging in the sharing economy and planning for flexibility in the use of spaces. The book also explores the role of digitization and data standardization, such as in digital passports that track raw materials as they are used—and reused—over time. This book is primarily intended as an academic text, but for architects interested in the topic, there are gems to be gleaned, especially in the global case studies. A particularly revealing graphic shows the exponential growth of construction material use in the United States over the past century—a mountain that dwarfs all other resources. A circular economy approach to housing is not just a luxury—but will be necessary to reverse the trend, and ensure a sustainable future.  As appeared in the June 2025 issue of Canadian Architect magazine  The post Book review: Sustainable Housing in a Circular Economy appeared first on Canadian Architect.

Warning: contains spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale series finale. Finale? More like DVD Extra. The cast of a once-unmissable show reunited one last time for a series of watery-eyed goodbyes and I love yous. 55 minutes of June trundling around a recently liberated Boston remembering things and having feelings? The Handmaid’s Tale hasn’t delivered a more inessential episode since the ‘What Luke Did” flashback in season one. You know what’s to blame: therapy. It’s taught us concepts like ‘processing trauma’ and ‘closure’ – both useful in their context but ruinous when mistaken for storytelling. Real lives may benefit from being lived with wisdom, growth and acceptance, but fictional ones can afford more chaos. Characters don’t all need to bow out of their story with instructive understanding; some should be allowed to kick their way out pulling a grenade pin between their teeth.  The Handmaid’s Tale made its name as protest art with iconic imagery, a killer soundtrack and attitude to spare. It could have sent June thundering into the flames, but instead, she got this weepy valedictory tour.  A beautifully acted weepy valedictory tour, one should say. The cast of The Handmaid’s Tale never let you down, but on rare occasions like this one, they’re let down by writing that cares more about completing its characters’ emotions worksheets than about entertaining an audience. Don’t mistake me, I’m pleased that June had all of those repetitive reunions – with Serena, with Emily, with Luke, with baby Holly, with her mother, with Lydia, with Serena again… I just don’t feel like I needed to witness ‘em. How about some story instead? Why not let us see, say, Hannah in wartime? Why not is because that’s all being saved, along with Aunt Lydia’s next steps, for sequel The Testaments, a continuation that this episode dutifully set up without managing to raise much anticipation for. The series finale wasn’t about looking forward, it was all about looking back. Hence the surprise return of Alexis Bledel’s Emily, who showed up magically at June’s side with a callback to the start of their tentative friendship in season one. Emily was just one of a rollcall of faces from the past. Those also came in the form of cameos from departed friends Alma, Brianna, and Janine’s right eye, as June fantasised about the karaoke night that might have been.  The episode’s closing moments, in which June revisited the Waterford house burnt out by Serena in season three, were another callback. June took up the same window seat position as she had in episode one and delivered the same opening lines to the Margaret Atwood novel that started all this. Except, now those lines were the opening lines to June’s memoir, bringing the show metatextually full circle.  Nothing in the finale mattered so much as its heavily insisted-upon message, which was all about parents fighting to create a better world to keep their children safe. June readied herself to leave little Holly again, bolstered by Emily’s assurance that it didn’t mean she was abandoning her family. Luke planned to reach Hannah by liberating one state from Gilead at a time. Naomi Lawrence returned little Charlotte to her mother to keep her out of a warzone. Even Mark Tuello was conjured up an off-screen son to motivate his military moves. By the time Holly Sr had declaimed over not being able to keep June safe, and Serena had promised to dedicate herself solely to the raising of her precious baby Noah, it was hard not to feel a little Gilead propaganda going on in terms of children being the only reason that anybody does anything. I don’t recall that being the point Margaret Atwood was making back in 1985. Nor was the finale’s ultra-serious, highly emotive tone always the way of things in The Handmaid’s Tale. June’s irreverence, not to mention her excellent way with an expletive, is part of what’s made her an attractive lead character over the years. Next to Gilead’s mannered prayer-card conversational style, she’s been a breath of fresh air. In this finale though, June’s wryness was replaced with her telling Serena to “go in grace” like she was issuing a papal blessing, and telling little Holly all about how much mommies love their babies. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! There were flashes of beauty among the sap. The shot of June walking back along the bridge as Boston’s lights turned on was terrific both in idea and execution. Janine getting Charlotte back was a genuine – if unexplored – surprise. “The Wall” being co-opted by revolutionary graffiti and women reclaiming their own names was gorgeous. Overall though, this was a repetitive and surplus hour that used its screentime to remind us of things that didn’t really require a reminder. June misses Hannah. June once loved Nick. Serena feels bad. The children are our future. We know. You already told us.  The Handmaid’s Tale season six is streaming now on Hulu in the US, and airing weekly on Channel 4 in the UK. 

Each week on Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home. This week, Mickey 17, the science fiction comedy from Oscar-winning Parasite writer-director Bong Joon Ho, starring Robert Pattinson as an expendable clone, gets copied onto HBO Max following its March theatrical debut. Netflix has a full slate of releases, with the Academy Award-winning Brazilian drama I’m Still Here and Fear Street: Prom Queen, the fourth horror flick in the franchise based on the R.L. Stein books. Guy Ritchie fans can check out his adventure film Fountain of Youth on Apple TV Plus, and you can rent Wolfs to watch George Clooney and Brad Pitt team up again. Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend. New on Netflix Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds Genre: DocumentaryRun time: 1h 31mDirector: Matt Wilcox The documentary takes viewers inside the cockpit of the U.S. Air Force’s demonstration squadron, which has been touring the country since 1953 to perform feats of aerial acrobatics and family-friendly military propaganda. The Netflix original, produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, features interviews with the daredevil pilots, explaining how they train to show off the capabilities of the F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets with complex synchronized maneuvers. Fear Street: Prom Queen Genre: HorrorRun time: 1h 30mDirector: Matt PalmerCast: India Fowler, Suzanna Son, Fina Strazza There’s just two days to go until senior prom 1988, and the most popular girls at Shadyside High are fighting over the title of prom queen. But the race gets shaken up as candidates start disappearing. Expect a lot of gory kills. Matt Palmer (Calibre) co-writes and directs the slasher film, which is the fourth in a series based on R.L. Stein’s Fear Street books. I’m Still Here Genre: Political dramaRun time: 2h 15m Director: Walter SallesCast: Fernanda Torres, Selton Mello, Fernanda Montenegro As a military dictatorship takes over Brazil, congressman and father of five Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello) is arrested and disappears. His wife, Eunice (Fernanda Torres) spends decades searching for answers and justice. I’m Still Here won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film, and Torres won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for her performance. New on Apple TV Plus Fountain of Youth Genre: Action adventureRun time: 2h 5mDirector: Guy RitchieCast: John Krasinski, Natalie Portman, Stanley Tucci Guy Ritchie puts his spin on Indiana Jones in this Apple original, where estranged siblings Luke (John Krasinski) and Charlotte Purdue (Natalie Portman) go on a globe-trotting adventure to chase the legendary source of eternal life. The film was shot on location in London, Cairo, Vienna, and Bangkok, and is packed with chase scenes, gunfights, and puzzles. From our review: If Fountain of Youth kept up the simple fun of its first few scenes, it could have been a solid tribute to the adventure genre. But James Vanderbilt and Guy Ritchie’s attempt to find some profound meaning in the search for lost treasure never really works, because their characters are too thin to make their emotional catharsis meaningful. New on Hulu The Last Showgirl Genre: DramaRun time: 1h 25mDirector: Gia CoppolaCast: Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista After three decades of donning a sparkly costume and feathered crown to perform in Le Razzle Dazzle on the Las Vegas strip, Shelly Gardner (Pamela Anderson) learns the show will be closing in two weeks, pushing her to reassess her life and try to figure out her future. Anderson was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in the melancholy film. New on HBO Max Mickey 17 Genre: Science fictionRun time: 2h 17mDirector: Bong Joon HoCast: Robert Pattinson, Naomie Ackie, Mark Ruffalo Desperate to get off Earth, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) volunteers to become an expendable, a crew member who is cloned over and over again to assist with space exploration in the latest science fiction film/vicious critique of capitalism from Oscar-winner Bong Joon Ho. Mark Ruffalo plays the buffoonish leader of a planned colony, whose ambitions come into conflict with the creatures living on the frozen planet. New on Shudder The Surrender Genre: HorrorRun time: 1h 35mDirector: Julia MaxCast: Colby Minifie, Kate Burton, Chelsea Alden The Surrender starts as a family drama with Megan (Colby Minifie of The Boys) returning home to help her mother Barbara (Kate Burton) care for her terminally ill father and deal with the issues that drove them apart. But when Robert (Vaughn Armstrong) finally dies, Barbara plans a resurrection ritual instead of a funeral, and the horror really begins. New to digital The Legend of Ochi Genre: Fantasy adventureRun time: 1h 36mDirector: Isaiah SaxonCast: Helena Zengel, Finn Wolfhard, Emily Watson, Willem Dafoe A24’s family-friendly movie used complex puppetry to bring its titular adorable monkey-like creature to life. Set in a remote area of the Carpathian mountains, the film follows lonely 12-year-old Dasha (Emily Watson), who goes on a quest to return a baby ochi to its family, defying her father Maxim (Willem Dafoe), who thinks the mythological creatures are vicious beasts that should be hunted down. The Trouble with Jessica Genre: Dark comedyRun time: 1h 29mDirector: Matt WinnCast: Shirley Henderson, Alan Tudyk, Rufus Sewell Cash-strapped Sarah (Shirley Henderson) and Tom (Alan Tudyk) are having one last dinner party for their old friends before selling their London home, but one of those friends, Jessica (Indira Varma) almost ruins everything when she hangs herself in the garden. Two couples band together to try to cover up the death and avoid spooking the buyer as things get increasingly out of hand. Until Dawn Genre: HorrorRun time: 1h 43mDirector: David F. SandbergCast: Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Odessa A’zion A teen investigating her sister’s disappearance leads a group of her friends to a mysterious mansion in an abandoned mining town, and they get stuck in a time loop where they’re brutally murdered in a different way each night. Reminiscent of The Cabin in the Woods, David F. Sandberg’s love letter to the horror genre (and only very lose adaptation of the 2015 video game Until Dawn) builds tension as the group puzzles together how to survive the night. The film is only available for digital purchase as of May 23, with no date set yet for digital rental. From our review: There’s way too much going on in Until Dawn. Director David F. Sandberg tried to make a faithful-ish adaptation of the popular 2015 video game, a Groundhog Day-style repeating-day movie, a comedy, a drama with something to say about trauma, and a love letter to every horror subgenre ever, all at the same time. But the byproduct of all this ambition is a movie that never quite finds an identity, and winds up feeling more generic than inspired. Wolfs Genre: Action comedyRun time: 1h 48mDirector: Jon WattsCast: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Amy Ryan Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts reunites George Clooney and Brad Pitt as a pair of lone-wolf fixers who both get called in to dispose of the same body. But when the job gets messier than expected, they’re forced to grudgingly work together to survive the night.

Wildlife Studios and Winners Alliance today announced a major licensing partnership, bringing Naomi Osaka and other stars to the hit mobile game Tennis Clash. Tennis Clash has been played by more than 170 million users worldwide. Through the agreement, Wildlife Studios now holds rights to feature the names, images, and likenesses of select men’s and women’s players, marking the first time officially licensed players will appear in Tennis Clash. Launched in 2019, Tennis Clash is one of the most downloaded mobile sports games globally. Wildlife Studios – founded in 2011 – has released more than 60 games and surpassed 4 billion lifetime downloads across its portfolio. Starting May 23, users can compete as four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who debuts in a custom outfit inspired by her 2024 U.S. Open look. Wildlife Studios will introduce at least three more licensed player characters later this year, with more in development. The integration of real players brings even more realism and depth to the game, allowing fans to experience tennis in a more immersive, authentic, and personal way. Through interactive avatars, the sport’s top stars are connected with Tennis Clash’s massive global audience in ways that reimagine how tennis is played, promoted, and experienced. “Winners Alliance is proud to bring professional tennis players into a platform as dynamic and far-reaching as Tennis Clash,” said Eric Winston, president of Winners Alliance, in a statement. “Wildlife Studios has taken great care to reflect each athlete’s officially licensed identity, and this is just the beginning of what’s possible when gaming and athlete licensing come together at scale.” “We strive to make Tennis Clash as authentic and entertaining as possible, which is why we’re excited to partner with Winners Alliance to welcome some of the sport’s most beloved stars into the game,” said Giovanni Piffer, partnerships lead at Wildlife Studios, in a statement. “We’re eager to see how our players enjoy the new Naomi Osaka character and can’t wait to unveil the additional characters coming soon. Tennis Clash is giving gamers and tennis fans a new way to engage with the sport – closer, more personal, and more interactive than ever before.” Winners Alliance is a global, athlete-centric commercial solution dedicated to creating novel group licensing, sponsorship, partnership, content, investment and event opportunities for world-class athletes collectively. Wildlife is one of the world’s largest mobile gaming publishers. In over ten years, it has launched more than 60 games, including hits such as Sniper 3D, Zooba, Tennis Clash, War Machines and Colorfy. Founded by brothers Victor and Arthur Lazarte, the company’s games have been downloaded more than 4 billion times across the planet. GB Daily Stay in the know! Get the latest news in your inbox daily Read our Privacy Policy Thanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here. An error occured.

Warning: contains spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 episode 9 “Execution”.  The wages of sin is death? You got that right, Wharton. In “Execution”, the wages of the commanders’ sins were a glittering firework of a death thanks to Joseph Lawrence – economist, loving father, freedom fighter and part-time James Bond.  Talk about laying low the arrogance of the terrible (“Guess you decided to join the winners,” crowed Nick, just before they were all blasted into bitesize BBQ chunks). Amid calls for cigars, Lawrence and his Mayday bomb laid the whole plane approximately 30,000 feet lower than planned, ensuring that his epitaph would read more than: Designed Gilead, Good at Sarcasm. Lawrence’s poignant sacrifice was the best part of this penultimate episode. Nobody could ever think that noose would really tighten around June’s neck this close to the end, making that scaffold scene much more perfunctory than its histrionic tone suggested. Ann Dowd’s Aunt Lydia already has a job lined up in sequel series The Testaments, which effectively took the rope from around her neck too even before Mayday struck. Moira, Janine… They were all bound to get out of it somehow – a sentiment that’s has been this show’s curse for seasons now.  Every arrest, every blocked escape route, every cage, we’ve been able to calmly wait through instead of holding our breath in terror that this could be the moment we lose someone important. We never do because The Handmaid’s Tale is too protective of its main characters – a crazy thing to type considering what this story has put them all through. What were the words to the Taylor Swift song that soundtracked this week’s opening scenes? “I rose up from the dead. I do it all the time.” That could have been this show’s theme song. It’s certainly June’s. Finally, though, finally, we’ve lost somebody. Two somebodies. Joseph Lawrence and Nick Blaine aren’t coming back for the sequel, and the work done in this final season to explain their inner workings paid off handsomely.  Unlike June, I shed no tears for Nick, who made his choice and now has to live – or rather not live – with it. After his Jezebels betrayal and the “Forget it, Rita, it’s Chinatown” moment that followed, we understood that Nick was no heroic double agent, but a lost kid who’d sold out his ideals for survival. Well, look how well that ended up. June may have silently howled as he climbed those steps into the jet, but I was mentally ushering him up them with a cheery ‘byeee’.  Lawrence, however, hurt. There hasn’t been enough screentime developing his redemption-through-love-of-a-child arc this season, but what little we’ve seen has been effective. Joseph thawing over little Angela – whose future he must have been picturing when he chose to follow Wharton and co. onto that plane – has been a beautiful final path for a complex character. The grouchy, wry loner melting under the full-beam affection of a child is a storytelling classic for a reason, and here it gave us that wonderful goodbye scene with his copy of The Little Princess. Even Naomi seemed human for a millisecond as she took on board Lawrence’s plea to ignore one of Gilead’s ugly edicts and to teach their kidnapped child to read.  By the time that Lawrence, blindsided by the early arrival of the other commanders, made his brave choice and paused momentarily to put his hand on his chest in a goodbye gesture to June, I was feeling well fed. After years of asking where this brilliant, evil mind stood morally, Lawrence’s ending put him firmly on the “one of us” side.  The doubly widowed Serena’s place there is fixed too, according to June. Like Lawrence, Serena gave up the commanders to right her past wrongs, but more importantly, she did it for this episode’s theme of love. That’s what June exhorted Wharton to choose instead of revenge. That’s the plea June made to Serena about the world they both wanted for their children. Those were the words June, Janine and Moira exchanged as their leader was led away yet again in cuffs. (7 minutes 45 seconds, by the way – the amount of time between June and the Handmaids running triumphantly towards their freedom at the end of last episode, and them cowering at gunpoint under a bridge in this. This show is an abusive relationship.)  Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! Setting up love as Gilead’s opposite is an unbeatable argument, as June found in her appeals to Serena, Wharton and last episode, to Aunt Lydia. What really sold those appeals though, and particularly to those audiences, was June’s Christianity. Making her character a theist has been a masterstroke on the part of this story’s creators, because it broadens the argument base. June, who can quote scripture with the best of them, can’t be dismissed as ignorant and godless. Her belief negates any accusation from the religious right that this show’s messages are anti-faith. They’re not. They’re anti-oppression, pro-love, and, in the right circumstances, all for taking out the bastards who grind us down. The Handmaid’s Tale concludes with “The Handmaid’s Tale” on Tuesday May 27 on Hulu. Season six airs on Channel 4 in the UK. 

Michelle Williams says she wants her kids to grow up seeing their mother work. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Turner 2025-05-20T04:36:35Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Michelle Williams knows how challenging it is to be a working mother. She says balancing her career and motherhood is like figuring out "which master you're going to serve." "Because the truth is, if work is going well, somebody else is taking care of the kids," she said. Michelle Williams knows balancing her acting career with being a mom is tough.During a Monday appearance on the "Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard" podcast, Williams, 44, shared how she juggles life as a mother of four while keeping her acting career on track."Kids are such great life checkers. They force you to put your best self in front of them," she told podcast host Dax Shepard. "You can't abdicate your life and your work and your own desires, but you do have to put them in check and figure out which master you're going to serve."The "Brokeback Mountain" star welcomed her first child, Matilda, in 2005 with her then-boyfriend, the late actor Heath Ledger. In 2020, she married director Thomas Kail, with whom she shares three children.For her, being a working mom is about striking a careful balance — never letting her kids or her career go "unattended for too long.""Because the truth is, if work is going well, somebody else is taking care of the kids. And if you're in a high point with your kids, the work is shoved to the side," Williams said."You can't be equally good at them at the exact same time, and you have to allow for that give and take, but then also replenish the other things. If you have a big period of being at home, you need to go back to what you've left unattended and put some light over there," she continued.Williams says she also wants her kids to grow up seeing their mom work, which makes it hard to step away from her career for too long. However, the pull of being a mother is hard to resist."My best day with my children is better than my best day at work. I am more thrilled with that high than I am with a work high," she said.This isn't Williams's first time speaking about being a working mom."So you have to figure it out because we have to stay in the workforce, even though it often feels like it's untenable. My heart obviously belongs to my children; they tug at it the most. But I really want to be able to have both," she told Entertainment Weekly in a January 2023 interview.Other female Hollywood stars have also spoken up about balancing their personal and professional lives.Naomi Watts, 56, said she tried freezing her eggs when she was in her early 30s to focus on her career."Because I came into it late — at least with my launching — I was told to work, work, work because it'll all be dried up at 40," Watts told Katie Couric in a January interview.Cameron Diaz, who took a decadelong hiatus from Hollywood, said she spent those 10 years "trying to stay alive just like every other mother."During Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit 2024, she elaborated on her decision to stop acting."It really comes to: What are you passionate about? For me, it was to build my family," Diaz said.A representative for Williams did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours. Recommended video

NetherRealm Studios’ brand is bloody fighting games, though in 2013, it toned down the violence a tad for Injustice: Gods Among Us. Based on the title, it may not have been even totally clear to Mortal Kombat fans that it was a fighting game starring DC Comics heroes and villains, like Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Joker. But Injustice was a hit for the studio, and spawned a sequel in 2017 that expanded the weird and wild world while offering the same knuckle-busting gameplay.Unfortunately, outside of a tie-in comic and an animated film adaptation, the series has been dormant ever since. Despite the series’ strong sales and high review scores, NetherRealm hasn’t delivered a sequel, instead focusing on its Mortal Kombat franchise. While we can certainly hope the studio’s next game is Injustice 3, and there are murmurs that it might be, NetherRealm hasn’t given any indication as to what it’s developing next.If an Injustice 3 were to be announced, there are some key changes and additions, in my humble opinion, that NetherRealm could make to elevate the franchise.​​​​​​​ For your (and NetherRealm’s) consideration:Make sure Injustice 3’s DLC characters aren’t one-offsNetherRealm Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive EntertainmentThe first two Injustice games had expansive rosters, but there are plenty more heroes and villains from the DC universe NetherRealm could bring in for a potential threequel. First, however, some of the DLC fighters need to be brought back — and be used for storytelling purposes. Characters like Batgirl, Martian Manhunter, and Zatanna were great additions in the first game, but were nowhere to be found in the second. Similarly, Black Manta, Starfire, and Enchantress offered great character variety in the second game, and we can only hope they return if the series continues.Injustice: Gods Among Us had two dozen characters for its base roster while Injustice 2 had 28, and the DLC additions pushed its roster to almost 40. NetherRealm has demonstrated time and again it can deliver plenty of unique heroes for each of its games, so I have no doubt that if Injustice 3’s base roster were to include 30-plus heroes, they’d all feel unique and justified. Personally, I’m hoping for more Teen Titans.“Add these characters to Injustice 3” lightning roundBatman Beyond Batman: Because a little nostalgia for ’00s cartoons never hurts.Batwoman: Just about everyone else in the Batfamily has made it. Why not Kate Kane?Beast Boy: Fans have long wanted Beast Boy in the series, and for good reason — his shape-shifting powers have the potential for the most unique move set of any fighter.John Constantine: Plays a huge role in the original Injustice comics, but has yet to be playable in the games.Kilowog: The more Green Lanterns, the better.King Shark: Scene stealer in everything he appears in, whether we’re talking The Suicide Squad or Harley Quinn.Mister Miracle: Everyone’s favorite depressed hero before Bob from Thunderbolts came along.Naomi: Probably Brian Michael Bendis’ best addition to the DC universe, it’s time Naomi got to kick some butt in a game.Ra’s al Ghul: Batman’s father-in-law deserves to duel his son-in-law shirtless, just like in the animated show.Peacemaker: He’s already in Mortal Kombat 1, so just bring his peace-loving ass over.Static: How did Static join the mobile game before the real game???Terra: One of the most influential Teen Titans can be Injustice’s version of Mortal Kombat’s Tremor.Go back to comic-accurate suitsInjustice 2 swapped out alternate costumes for gear. Instead of adorning Batman in his Red Son costume or Nightwing in his New 52 digs, you’d instead equip various pieces of gear to each character. You could also add different shaders, giving each character wildly different color schemes than they were traditionally known for, like a purple Superman or gold Green Lantern. Each character ultimately ended up with a similar, armored-up aesthetic. Gone were the unique, comic-accurate skins.Personally, I wasn’t a fan of Injustice 2’s gear system. Even aside from the aesthetics, it introduced a tedious item-management system to the game, full of stats, transmog options, and, of course, microtransactions. Instead, I’d prefer Injustice 3 to go back to a focus on alternate costumes inspired by comics, movies, and everything else. There have been plenty of new costumes for each hero introduced since the games dropped, meaning the possibilities for alternate skins in a new game would be quite substantial.Add premium skins for more character varietyImage: NetherRealm Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive EntertainmentPremium skins from both games need to return, and I’d love for even more to be included. Premium skins would change the appearance and voice of a character while retaining its move set. For example, equipping the Reverse-Flash costume for Flash would turn the character into his archnemesis but play the same as the hero you know and love. Characters like the Flash and Green Lantern are ripe for premium skins so players could fight as Wally West or Simon Baz without entirely new characters needing to be made. And could you imagine playing as 2022’s The Batman’s version of the character with voice work by Robert Pattinson or as David Corenswet’s Superman? Let’s speak it into existence.Take advantage of DC Comics’ multiversal characters and storiesThe first Injustice game was a light multiverse story. It had heroes from only two worlds interacting, but most of the plot concerned heroes from the main DC universe fighting evil, alternate versions in a parallel universe where Superman broke bad. Injustice 2 stuck to the parallel world and explored how it developed in the years after the first game, telling a story of how its heroes and villains had to unite to stop Brainiac.In the years since, multiverse stories, especially with superheroes, have exploded in popularity — and characters. I’m not asking NetherRealm to create hundreds of versions of its characters, but it would be fun to see the studio create even more new takes on the existing heroes.Image: DC ComicsThe story could take inspiration from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Dark Knights: Metal event, where DC’s heroes contend with twisted versions of Batman. Or it could go with a classic trope of villains meeting variants of each other; perhaps Darkseid could team up with his multiversal counterparts in an attempt to rule the multiverse.I know this one’s a longshot, but maybe there’s crossover potential with bringing Watchmen characters into the multiverse shenanigans. DC has been open to doing new things with the characters in recent years, like in the Doomsday Clock miniseries and HBO show. I’d love to see how NetherRealm interprets Rorschach, Ozymandias, and Doctor Manhattan, both from a gameplay and a storytelling perspective.DC’s newest comic initiative would work well in a game, tooImage: DC ComicsOne particular universe that Injustice 3 could draw inspiration from is DC’s Absolute comics line. One of the core tenants of the Absolute Universe is stripping DC’s heroes of key characteristics while keeping the core idea of who they are intact. For example, Absolute Superman grew up on Krypton and arrived on Earth as an adult, removing his Kansas family ties. Absolute Wonder Woman was raised in Hell, giving her a new outlook on the world — and new powers.Absolute Batman is perhaps the most altered of DC’s heroes. Gone is the rich playboy and in comes a bulked-up engineer. Batman’s appearance is dramatically different; he’s taller and his muscled frame rivals that of Bane’s. The Bat symbol on his chest can be detached and used as an axehead, meaning an Absolute version would play extremely differently in Injustice 3 than the Batman we’re used to.Or maybe just Mortal Kombat vs. Injustice?Back in 2008, Midway Games released an ambitious crossover fighting game, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. It found the heroes and enemies of both franchises at odds with one another before coming together to fight Dark Khan, a fusion of Shao Kahn and Darkseid, and save their universes. It was a fun crossover that would influence storytelling in fighting games, but unfortunately it was one of Midway’s last titles. The studio eventually shuttered and from it was born NetherRealm, which hit the ground running with a Mortal Kombat reboot and then the first Injustice game.If an Injustice 3 isn’t going to happen, maybe DC fans could be appeased in a different way — a followup to Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. The title is sitting right there: Mortal Kombat vs. Injustice. It could pick up threads from the ending of Injustice 2 and pit its evil Superman and Wonder Woman against Mortal Kombat stalwarts Liu Kang, Scorpion, and Raiden. A crossover could serve fans of both franchises while exploring the characters in new ways, both in terms of story and gameplay.Is there hope for an Injustice 3 release?Between 2011 and 2019, NetherRealm released a game every two years, alternating between Mortal Kombat games and the Injustice series. Since then it’s only released Mortal Kombat 1 in 2023 and hasn’t yet divulged what its next game will be. It could be a new Mortal Kombat, something new entirely, or, ideally for DC fans, a third Injustice game. Injustice director Ed Boon gave fans some hope in 2024, telling The Direct, “[W]e love the Injustice games. You know, I would be surprised if we never did one again.”James Gunn and Peter Safran became the architects of their DC Universe in 2022, looking to usher in new films and build a cohesive storytelling universe across films, TV series, and games. Earlier in 2025, they met with the heads of NetherRealm and Rocksteady, the makers of the Batman: Arkham games. “It’s really the first time it’s ever been this way at Warner Bros.,” Safran said (via EuroGamer). “We sit with [the studio heads] and we talk about characters and stories that we’re interested in and that they’re interested in.”Gunn detailed how the film plan may influence the games, saying, “We see designs for the projects in their very earliest stages. We talk about those, we talk about what the story might be and we’ll say ‘Well, maybe you want to go this way because we’re planning on maybe doing something with this character.’” Gunn and Safran meeting with NetherRealm Studios can be looked at positively. To assume it means NetherRealm has something DC cooking would be too much of a stretch, but it at least gives Injustice fans hope that a third entry isn’t dead in the water.See More:

Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up to Parasite is coming to streaming on Max in just a few days.Mickey 17, starring Robert Pattinson as multiple versions of a menial worker in a dark future, is the latest film from the Academy Award-winning Bong. Pattinson’s Mickey agrees to become an “expendable” in order to escape a debt on Earth. He’s assigned to a colonial mission to outer space, where he is used to accomplish all the most dangerous tasks; every time he dies, he’s given a new cloned body and put back to work.He’s Mickey 17 because he’s now on his 17th body — at least until he seemingly dies in another work-related accident and the colonists create a Mickey 18. But the first Mickey somehow survives, leading to two Mickeys (which is against the law in this bleak future) running around their space ship.In addition to Pattinson in the two lead roles, the film also stars Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo as Kenneth Marshall, the former politician turned quasi cult leader who is heading the expedition into space to find a new planet capable of sustaining human life.Warner Bros.Warner Bros.loading...READ MORE: 10 Horror Movies So Extreme They Made Audiences SickHere is the film’s official synopsis:From the Academy Award®-winning writer/director of “Parasite,” Bong Joon Ho, comes his next groundbreaking cinematic experience, MICKEY 17. The unlikely hero, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) has found himself in the extraordinary circumstance of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to the job… to die, for a living.Mickey 17 premieres on Max (soon to be HBO Max again) on May 23. It premieres on HBO proper on Saturday, May 24 at 7:40 PM.Get our free mobile appThe Best Box-Office Bombs in HistoryThese films flopped in theaters — but they are worth watching now.Filed Under: Bong Joon-ho, Max, Mickey 17, Robert PattinsonCategories: Movie News

Nails by Kumi. Image © Kumi Chantrill Fresh Sets: Tembe Denton-Hurst Celebrates 35 Boundary-Pushing Nail Artists May 16, 2025 BooksDesign Jackie Andres From the birth of the first modern nail parlor in 19th-century Paris to the rise of the Vietnamese nail industry in America after the fall of Saigon, nail beautification has always been connected to the world it adorns. Author Tembe Denton-Hurst reminds us of this in her new book, Fresh Sets: Contemporary Nail Art from Around the World. Setting the scene with her own experience of falling in love with manicures as a child in Brooklyn and a brief survey of the transformative history of nail embellishment throughout time, the book showcases 35 standout artists thriving today. Nails by Kumi. Image © Kiel Wode. All photos courtesy of Prestel Publishing, shared with permission While basic sets remain timeless, there’s no doubt that in the 21st century, contemporary aesthetics have flourished in a subversive, powerful way. From birthday candle pedicures and maximalist jeweled acrylics to moss-covered fingertips and sculpted claws channeling cyber sigilism, Fresh Sets features 300 vibrant images highlighting ongoing innovations in the medium. The democratization of nail art has allowed the creative form to flourish across time and space. Extravagant designs once only seen sauntering down the catwalk, for instance, are now within reach for daily wear. The rise of nail artists has uniquely blurred this line between luxury and everyday accessory, forging paths and connecting worlds. One such artist featured in Fresh Sets is Lauren Michelle Pires. With a methodical precision, she approaches her practice as a designer, collecting extensive archives of color combinations and references images. Once a fashion student, Pires now works with designer brands such as Loewe, Diesel, Miu Miu, and more. “I view being a nail artist as a very intricate and pristine job, and I definitely try to capture beauty in my work,” she explains. “But, over time, I’ve really learned how to experiment more and to lean into the awkwardness of beauty.” Nails by Kumi. Image © Kiel Wode As the realm of nail design continues to evolve in tremendous fashion, transforming one’s own fingernails as if they were ten tiny canvases—each a site for creating an extension of self, asserting identity, and even signifying resistance—has and always will be a deeply resonant gesture for many. As Denton-Hurst shares in the introduction, “long nails have become part of me, as identifiable as the brown of my skin or my loud laugh.” You can find your own copy of Fresh Sets on Bookshop. See more from Tembe Denton-Hurst on Instagram. Nails by Iksoxo. Image © Alona Sobolevska Nails by Dxpper Acrylics. Image © Black Archives Nails and image © Tomoya Nakagawa Nails and image © Naomi Yasuda Nails by Juan. Image © Juan Alvear Nails by Yeswhat Nails. Image © Violetta Kurilenko Nails and image © Tomoya Nakagawa Nails and image © Nikki Panic Next article