WIRED October 2021
The Wired mission is to tell the world something they've never heard before in a way they've never seen before. It's about turning new ideas into everyday reality. It's about seeding our community of influencers with the ideas that will shape and transform our collective future. Wired readers want to know how technology is changing the world, and they're interested in big, relevant ideas, even if those ideas challenge their assumptions—or blow their minds.
in this issue
to the pixel and beyond
In 2007 a new documentary called The Pixar Story screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival. It covered the wild antics of the studio’s founders as they crafted a new kind of movie—a fully computer-animated picture bursting with riotous colors and textures, ultra-vivid characters, and plotlines subversively seeded with mind-expanding wisdom. During a panel discussion afterward, the interviewer asked a provocative question. “This might be crazy,” she began, “but is there any connection between the world of the counterculture and psychedelics, and Pixar?” The panelists on stage—Ed Catmull and John Lasseter, both central to Pixar’s development—fell into an uncomfortable silence. Drugs and the counterculture are edgy subjects for employees of a Disney division beloved by generations of children. Finally, Lasseter said, “Is Alvy Ray Smith in the audience?” If Smith, the bearded,…
in six words, write a story about a self-aware self-driving car: he thinks i’m taking him home.
Honorable Mentions I TAKE LITHIUM FOR RANGE ANXIETY. —@JAMESJOAQUIN, VIA TWITTER I DREAMT OF THE AUTOBAHN AGAIN. —JAMES WORTZ, VIA FACEBOOK HONEST, OFFICER—THE HUMAN WAS DRIVING. —STEVE MAGID, VIA EMAIL DON’T MAKE ME PULL ME OVER. —@ATLRUN, VIA TWITTER THE SMART CAR DROVE ITSELF CRAZY. —@FRASCAFRASCA, VIA TWITTER THE GRANDMA OR THE BABY—SHIT. —@GAOPHILIP, VIA TWITTER HAVE I CHOSEN THE RIGHT PATH? —ANDREW DAWSON, VIA EMAIL IT TAKES ITSELF ON LONG DRIVES. —WADE SHEPPARD, VIA EMAIL Every month, we ask for a new six-word story on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Submit your ideas there, along with the hashtag #WIREDSIXWORD. And visit the archive at wired.com/six-word to see how we’ve illustrated our favorites. Disclaimer: All #WIREDSIXWORD submissions become the property of wired. Submissions will not be acknowledged or returned. Submissions and any other materials, including your name or social media handle, may be published, illustrated, edited, or otherwise used…
