In a recent talk, Stephen Hawking estimated that humans have about a thousand years to find a new planet to inhabit. If we haven't done it by then, the chance of human extinction is significant. (The thousand-year estimate assumes we figure out a way to deal with issues such as "artificial intelligence, the ravages of climate change and the threat of nuclear terrorism" in the nearer term.) "Although the chance of a disaster to planet Earth in a given year may be quite low, it adds up over time, and becomes a near certainty in the next thousand or ten thousand years. By that time we should have spread out into space, and to other stars, so a disaster on Earth would not mean the end of the human race." (I will never move to space, in part because I don't want to miss the look on my cat's face when all the humans die.)

+ Before we begin the mass migration to another planet (or the much talked-about move to Canada), it pays to consider that while "most Americans believe that residential mobility is accelerating and that it is a source of social ills," the truth is that America is going through a great settling down. (Geographically, not emotionally...)

We're known for being able to shop until we drop. Well, election 2016 took us to our knees. From Fortune: "Consumers who were riveted and stressed out by the close presidential context last week held back on spending, costing online retailers $800 million between Nov. 1 and Nov. 14." Come on, folks. Let's suck it up and get back out there.

+ Many NFL execs are hoping that you weren't watching games because of the election, and that you'll be coming back now that it's over. One potential problem with that theory is that college football ratings didn't suffer the same drop.

"Honestly, people are definitely dumber. They just keep passing stuff around. Nobody fact-checks anything anymore -- I mean, that's how Trump got elected. He just said whatever he wanted, and people believed everything, and when the things he said turned out not to be true, people didn't care because they'd already accepted it. It's real scary. I've never seen anything like it." I don't necessarily agree with this guy's assessment of what factors drove the election results, but it's pretty interesting to hear from a fake news writer.

+ It's difficult to measure the impact of fake news. There's a lot more evidence that the James Comey letter had an impact. And that's not me talking. That's Corey Lewandowski's opinion. I think the outsized coverage of that letter was the most important media-related moment of 2016.

+ "The fact that Gawker is no longer engaged in massive character assassination of people and invading their privacy means it's a better world." GQ's Jason Zengerle pays a visit to Charles Harder. And the Lawyer Who Killed Gawker, Isn't Done Yet

+ The level of trust we have in media will become a massive issue as we enter the Trump era. The president-elect has already made several critical comments about the coverage he's gotten from the NYT. Are his complaints valid? Philip Bump checks the stories (and the Tweets) to find out.

+ Here's the NYT on the incredibly troubling crackdown on journalists in Turkey.

+ I am both a critic of the media, and a staunch supporter of journalism. The growing divide between working class Americans and journalists is very dangerous. I'm a lot less worried about the spread of fake news than I am about the attack on real news.

"Across America, there are state laws that don't protect women who became pregnant through rape from being forced to share their children with their rapists." CNN with a disturbing account of women who have to fight custody battles with their rapists.

+ "I felt bad that that man died, but how can they say that I caused his death all these years later. I already did my time for what I did." From Buzzfeed: "Carlos Carromero served 10 years in prison for shooting and paralyzing a man in 1984. After the victim died from related injuries 29 years later, should Carromero have been charged with his murder?"

There have been a lot of reports about dysfunction (and intrigue) inside Trump's transition. But -- at least in terms of timing and getting things done -- it's not all that unusual.

+ "There have been times when I wanted never to leave the house again." That phrase would probably sell pretty well on a T-shirt. It was also a comment made by Hillary Clinton who did in fact leave the house to make a pretty inspirational speech to the Children's Defense Fund.

Even aside from presidential elections, the vast divide between urban and rural America is worth considering. Like Donny and Marie, America is a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. Unlike Donny and Marie, we're not making music together.
Dave Jamieson has an interesting report from an Ohio town that voted for Obama by huge margins. Then it flipped to Trump.

+ "We need to get over this political correctness. Everybody's got to stop getting their feelings hurt. Time to put your big boy shoes on, go to work." Reveal talks to a man who saw Trump's win coming.

+ LA Times: Why these Californians voted red.

"In the past year and a half, the grandson and grandfather have rarely spoken or seen one another, communicating mainly through lawyers, says Tyler Shultz. He and his parents have spent more than $400,000 on legal fees, he says. He didn't attend his grandfather's 95th birthday celebration in December. Ms. Holmes did." The WSJ on the the how a Theranos whistleblower (and the grandson of George Shultz) shook the company -- and his family. Here's a link by way of a Tweet so you can get past the paywall.

"The beach is every bit as artificial as the towers and turquoise pools. For years the sea has been eating away at the shore, and the city has spent millions of dollars pumping up sand from the seafloor to replace it, only to have it wash away again. Every handful of sand on Miami Beach was placed there by someone." From The Verge: Miami Beach has run out of sand. Now what?

You may have noticed that we are being overrun by scripted content. Amazon and Netflix are pouring Internet money into the business, and the traditional players are trying to keep up. That means a lot of content for you. And a lot of money for actors who can get your attention.

"My body was her gearstick." Yes, it's that time of year again. Here are the contenders for the bad fictional sex award. (Some days, even fictional sex seems like a longshot.)

+ Why do we bite our nails? (I mean aside from reacting to the feeling that our republic is imploding.)

+ Why do fast food restaurants test new menu items in Ohio? (I am so sick of swing states...)

+ A guy stole a credit card and then was caught on video as he used it to buy a home security camera. Someone should tell this guy that irony is dead. There's no point trying to resuscitate it.