Good News is a weekly collection of stories from this week about things that were actually pretty nice. From pop culture to maybe even some politics, we all deserve a dose of good news.
Especially since this week in particular, there was a lot of not-good news. But cast that out a moment. Some good things did still happen around the world.
First-ever Whole Foods union formed in Philadelphia
On Monday, workers at Philadelphia’s flagship Whole Foods learned the results of a historic vote. They are now the first unionized workforce in not just Whole Foods’ history, but within Amazon’s entire grocery business.
Whole Foods has been around since the 1980s, but Amazon bought them out in 2017. Amazon, famously, does not offer good working conditions for their workers. And these Whole Foods employees are fighting for better wages, more affordable health care, child care options, and, yes, better working conditions.
They will join the local chapter of The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. In 2022, an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island became the first to unionize. May many more Amazon Warehouses and Whole Foods follow, despite Amazon’s displeasure.
US Copyright office decrees AI images don’t count
The United States Copyright office released a new report on “Copyright and Artificial Intelligence” this week. In the report, they make a bold and refreshing claim: purely AI-generated art cannot be copyrighted. It is not protected by current copyright law.
AI-generated art is created by a user writing a prompt into an AI system, which the system then “interprets.” The Copyright Office says this is not enough to “make users of an AI system the authors of the output.” The AI system itself also cannot hold a copyright.
This is a huge win for the artist community. AI systems are able to “interpret” prompts by drawing from a large database of art, often without the artist’s consent. Artists have said this amounts to AI companies stealing their art, especially since AI prompts can spit out images which are suspiciously close to the artists’ originals.
To have such recreations become copyrightable would not only get messy for individual artists trying to maintain control over their work—it would be a slap in the face. It’s nice to hear the Copyright Office verify that 15 seconds of typing is not the same as a piece someone has crafted with their artistic skill.
Hayao Miyazaki shows off his beloved car
Speaking of artists who hate AI—let’s move to Hayao Miyazaki, the legendary founder of Studio Ghibli. (Hayao Miyazaki is on camera breaking AI techies’ hearts and saying AI is an “affront to life itself.”)
Ghibli Park opened in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture in 2022, allowing Ghibli fans to walk through immersive versions of landscapes from classic films like My Neighbor Totoro. This week, the park got a new attraction: Miyazaki’s car.
This may not seem like a big deal, but to the most dedicated Miyazaki fans and to the man himself, it’s a huge deal. Miyazaki loves that car, a light blue Citroën 2CV he’s been driving for decades. He loves it so much, it stars in his very first film, 1979’s Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro. Miyazaki loves it so much, his son Goro Miyazaki put the car in his first first, 2020’s Earwig and the Witch.
But Miyazaki is 84, so he recently decided to forfeit his driver’s license. But his beloved car is not fated to display fall into disuse. Miyazaki himself specifically requested it be placed in Ghibli Park, alongside an exhibit about the car’s history. There is something very pure and heartwarming about an old man’s love for his old car.
One of HBO’s best comedy series is returning soon
Season 4 of The Righteous Gemstones was announced way back in December 2023, but details have been scarce since them. But, hallelujah, the silence ends here! On Thursday, the first teaser for season 4 dropped alongside a release date—March 9. Which is very soon!
Danny McBride’s wild comedy about televangelists has delighted viewers since its premiere. The only potential bad news in this good news is that season 4 will be Gemstone‘s final season. But at least it was able to know that in advance and craft its ending on its own terms, eh?
South Korean president indicted for attempted insurrection
This one’s admittedly kind of dark and can be triggered, so skip this one if you just want pure good news.
You might recall that South Korea had a very dramatic evening on December 3, 2024. Deeply conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law over the country and sent police officers and troops to the (liberal-controlled) National Assembly. He’s said he did this to raise “awareness” of the assembly’s “danger.”
But here’s where things divulge from a darkly familiar story: enough lawmakers managed to get into the National Assembly to hold a vote, and they unanimously voted against Yoon’s martial law decree, which lifted it. The ordeal lasted six hours. In the following days and weeks, Yoon was impeached and arrested. Imagine that.
On Sunday, Yoon was indicted on rebellion. That’s a deeply grave criminal charge. If convicted, Yoon faces either a life sentence or the death penalty.
You and I may have understandable scruples about the death penalty. And in South Korea, the incident has both brought up a traumatic history and has accentuated the country’s growing political divide. Yoon’s supporters stormed the court building after the indictment, breaking windows and injuring police officers. Again, darkly familiar.
But the point here is that it’s a relief to know that, as countries around the world slide into conservative regimes, some places still have principled lawmakers who actually follow laws.
Devil May Cry anime picks an absolutely ridiculous song for its OP
This last one may or may not be considered “good” news, depending on your feelings about a certain music group. But it’s objectively amusing news, so that’s something.
Netflix is gearing up to premiere Adi Shankar and Studio Mir’s anime adaptation of Capcom’s beloved action game series Devil May Cry. Although the show doesn’t drop until April, Netflix released the OP on Thursday. The animation is gorgeous and stylish. But the music choice made headlines. Because the OP is set to Limp Bizkit.
Yes, you can watch Dante slice up devils to the tune of Limp Bizkit’s 2000 hit “Rollin’.” And here’s the thing—it works. It’s ridiculous, but it works.
Published: Jan 31, 2025 03:47 pm