The tush. You know what I’m talking about. Serial. You’ve heard all about it. True Detective. You remember the memes. This is the viral era when a nice piece of pop culture can earn a place around our water coolers at an unprecedented pace. And often — even usually — the content we talk about the most isn’t really all that popular. It’s part social media. It’s part a desire to be the first to share something cool. And, in this age of digital compartmentalism, I’m convinced it’s part of an increasingly desperate desire to be talking about the same thing at the same time. Slate’s Willa Paskin on the new age of cultural manias.

+ 40 million people saw the new Star Wars trailer within 72 hours of its release.