Pop Chart

LOVE IT

• Popples, the colorful teddy-bear-like toys that were popular in the ’80s, are getting their own animated show next year on Netflix.

• Ello, a new ad-free social network that promises not to collect personal data (for now, at least), already has hundreds of thousands of users.

• Inspired in part by Harry Potter, scientists at the University of Rochester have created an early version of a real-life invisibility cloak.

• Actor and director Alex Winter confirmed plans for a second sequel to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, two decades after the last installment. It will be “really f-cking funny,” he said.

VERBATIM

‘I was really hoping I would be able to … crush their dreams of immortality.’

JOHN GREEN, responding to a question about the school district in Riverside, Calif., that banned The Fault in Our Stars–Green’s book about kids with terminal cancer–because it makes students address the possibility of death

ROBOT BOY

A pioneer in the field of video art, Korean-American artist Nam June Paik spent his life exploring the relationship between technology and the human body through works like Transistor Television (2005, above), now on display in a retrospective at the Asia Society in New York City through Jan. 4.

DIGITS

1.86 miles

Length (3 km) of a recently approved pipeline in Brugge, Belgium, designed to funnel beer between a prominent brewery and its nearby bottling plant–taking approximately 500 delivery trucks off the road

QUICK TALK

Meghan Trainor

The 20-year-old singer-songwriter recently released her debut EP, Title, featuring her smash-hit ode to plus-size figures, “All About That Bass.”

–NOLAN FEENEY

It seems as if “All About That Bass” is playing everywhere now. Are you sick of hearing it yet?

Oh, for sure. My mom just said, “Wow, that’s pretty annoying now.” But she still loves it.

Songs about loving your size are having a moment right now–Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda,” Colbie Caillat’s “Try” and more. Why do you think that is?

I have no idea. I’m just glad mine’s one of them.

There’s a line referencing “skinny bitches,” though, which some people have taken as a dis to thin people.

The label did say, “You might get some backlash for this line,” but I guess that’s what made the song really popular–people kept talking about it.

Do you think the criticism is valid?

I think [those critics] stopped listening after they heard “skinny bitches” and didn’t hear the next line about “Nah, I’m just kidding, I know even you guys think you’re fat, and I’m here to say you’re perfect.” I didn’t get a record deal to write a song to bash skinny people. I was just trying to say everyone is beautiful in their own way.

A couple of songs on your EP, like “Dear Future Husband” and “Title,” seem to be rallying against hookup culture, which is rare in pop music. What inspired you?

Growing up with social media, it’s all, “Did he like my picture? Did he text me back? He must hate me!” I didn’t like myself as much as I should have, and I hope people hear my songs and know I’m a badass girl and I deserve a good guy to take me out on a date.

“ON MY RADAR

• Modern Family

“I’ve seen every episode.”

• Veep

“My mom started and got me watching. It’s great.”

• Soca music

“It’s really catchy, and everything’s upbeat and all about partying and loving life.”

BEHIND BARS

San Francisco’s Alcatraz Island has been a military base, a federal prison and a site of Native American activism. Now Chinese artist-activist Ai Weiwei has turned it into a gallery: “@Large,” running until April 26, features installations that comment on human rights and freedom. All works were designed remotely, however. The 57-year-old hasn’t been allowed to leave China since he was detained for alleged tax evasion in 2011 (following his criticism of the government).

ROUNDUP

Cults of Personality

In May, Fox’s then broadcasting chief Kevin Reilly heralded the network’s new comedy Mulaney (premiering Oct. 5) as “Seinfeld for the new generation.” The similarities are apparent: a stand-up comedian (John Mulaney) playing a fictionalized version of himself in an eponymous multicamera sitcom. But as past efforts show, replicating that formula–in full or in part–doesn’t always guarantee success.

THE BERNIE MAC SHOW

The late comedian’s popular sitcom–loosely based on his life doing stand-up comedy–had a successful run on Fox from 2001 to 2006, paving the way for a slew of high-profile movie roles.

THE PAUL REISER SHOW

Audiences and critics might have loved him on Mad About You, but Reiser couldn’t lure either to his 2011 sitcom, which didn’t last even a full season on NBC.

LOUIE

Since its 2010 premiere, Louis C.K.’s dramedy has become a bona fide hit: it regularly averages over half a million viewers on FX–impressive by cable standards–and its creator and star has earned three consecutive Emmys for comedy writing.

WHITNEY

Like Mulaney, Whitney Cummings was relatively unknown outside the stand-up world when she landed a sitcom in 2011. But NBC canceled it after two seasons amid poor ratings and mixed reviews.

THE SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM

Silverman’s popular Comedy Central sketch show lasted three seasons, earning its creator and star an Emmy nomination in 2009 and kick-starting her burgeoning acting career.

LEAVE IT

• Two San Francisco–based artists have developed a “hamster wheel” standing desk.

• Saturday Night Live’s Chris Pratt–hosted season premiere was met with mixed reviews.

• A woman is suing Disney for $250 million, claiming that Frozen was stolen from her memoirs (which do not contain any talking snowmen).

• A Brooklyn mailman reportedly hoarded more than 40,000 personal letters instead of delivering them.

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