Gallery: 14 Pop Culture Masterpieces You Should Have Savored by Now
Universal/Everett Collection01BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II, Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, 1989. (c)Universal/courtesy Everett
[*The Back to the Future* trilogy](http://amzn.com/B0054OGQM8) | The best ’80s movies wrapped adventure and comedy into a single package—but none as iconically as *BTTF*.
02culture-people-chapelle
*[Chappelle’s Show](https://youtu.be/4eHMgXlugIU)* | After the Internet but before YouTube, Dave Chappelle’s short-form series was both incisive and viral—and paved the way for today’s sketch boom.
03culture-people-arrested-dev
*[Arrested Development](https://youtu.be/y1_HPx6h1do)* | Mitchell Hurwitz’s mid-’00s family farce married the long-form plotting of a drama with the cleverness of … well, of nothing else.
04TheSandman
*[The Sandman](http://amzn.com/1401225756)* | Fantasy and comics came together like never before in Neil Gaiman’s sprawling literary tale of Morpheus and his family of immortals.
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*[Freaks and Geeks](https://youtu.be/-R24HH7ophg)* | Before Judd Apatow and Paul Feig (and James Franco and Seth Rogen) took over movies, they made magic with this valentine to teen nonconformity.
06snowcrash
*[Snow Crash](http://amzn.com/0553380958)* | Researchers had been interested in virtual reality since the late ’60s, but Neal Stephenson’s 1992 sci-fi thriller gave the mainstream its first taste of the VR future.
07culture-people-half-life
*[Half-Life 2](https://youtu.be/ID1dWN3n7q4)* | First-person shooters arose in the ’90s, but they were mere trifles compared to this gripping, complex 2004 title that elevated a scientist to a hero.
08Batman-The-Dark-Knight-Returns
1986’s dark heroes | The rise of the antihero in pop culture? You’ve got Alan Moore’s *[Watchmen](http://amzn.com/1401245250)* and Frank Miller’s *[Batman: The Dark Knight Returns](http://amzn.com/1563893428)* to thank for it.
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*[Limbo](https://youtu.be/Kyk0Xoku8Ms)* | As the games industry got bigger and bigger, the best games got smaller. This gloomy monochrome 2010 puzzler is a huge reason why.
10Funcrusher Plus
*[Funcrusher Plus](https://youtu.be/cVyXe5lFKpc)* | For years, rap’s only division was coastal—until Company Flow faced off against labels with an “independent as fuck” ethos in this 1996 masterpiece.
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*[The Omega Man](https://youtu.be/NUkU18MrBzU)* | It wasn’t the first adaptation of *I Am Legend*, nor the last, but this 1971 sci-fi footnote is a cult favorite for good reason.
12the-earthsea-cycle-childrens-books
[*The Earthsea* cycle](http://amzn.com/0547773749) | From 1968 to 2001, these six novels by Ursula K. LeGuin redefined what fantasy could be and forged paths that J. K. Rowling would later tread.
13culture-people-the-wire
*[The Wire](https://youtu.be/zmIvu1yg3bU)* | HBO first established “prestige TV” with *The Sopranos*, but David Simon’s blistering mid-’00s indictment of inequality is still the form’s sublime ideal.
14Kid-A
*[Kid A](https://youtu.be/PSrMeiWSZ9M)* | By supplanting their usual guitar-driven rock with a new sound, Radiohead heralded an era when digital music wasn’t “electronic”—it just *was*.
Spooky New Infostealer Malware Uses AI to ‘Autodox’ Victims
Named “Volta-Autodoxer,” the recently uncovered malware uses AI tools to collect troves of data about victims, from login credentials and credit card numbers to Discord sessions and UberEats receipts.
Lily Hay Newman
There’s a Completely New Type of Whisky. It’s French and Made in Concrete Eggs
The founders of Maison Lineti are, in a world first, making single malt whisky as if it were wine—and the spirit world is mighty impressed.
Jeremy White
Light Up Your Home Like Christmas With These Smart String Lights
Glow up your home indoors or out with these versatile, discounted, full color smart string lights. They’re WIRED-tested and 25 percent off right now.
Simon Hill
Power Outages Are No Match for This Fridge Battery
Backup by BioLite is designed to power your fridge when the grid goes down. It works, but protecting your ice cream doesn’t come cheap.
Christopher Null
Meta’s Muse Could Upend All Kinds of Businesses. It Hasn’t Yet
Companies have spent the past several weeks trying to reassure investors that Muse and other AI agents pose more of an opportunity than a threat.
Paresh Dave
An AI Agent Injected Drugs Into a Live Mouse’s Brain
A biotech startup let an agent choose a gene therapy and successfully inject the treatment, offering a startling glimpse of the future of research labs.
Emily Mullin
Get Bose QC Headphones at Their Lowest Price Ever
They’re a steal at over 40 percent off in multiple colors. Plus, other great Bose deals you should know about ahead of Black Friday.
Harry Rabinowitz
The Keurig Alta Brewer Can Do It All, With No Plastic Pods
This multifaceted home coffee brewer and its new AltaRounds will make you rethink everything you know about Keurig machines.
Louryn Strampe
Are Memories Transferable? Meet the Scientists Replicating an Infamous Study to Find Out
In the 1960’s, an odd experiment showed planarian worms could transfer memories by consuming each other. It was a sensational finding—that is until the worms stopped learning.
Claire L. Evans
Sunrise Alarm Clocks to Help You Adjust to Shorter Days
I’ve never been a morning person. This bedside gadget is the only thing that’s ever changed that.
Nena Farrell
White Dwarfs Aren’t Just White. Scientists Discover Dying Stars Turning Pink and Green
Astronomers find that a white dwarf’s density and the kind of material it absorbed from its surroundings can produce a rainbow of shades in the star’s atmosphere.
Petr Kubala
Wayfair Coupons for November 2026
Get 10% off with Wayfair promo code, up to 80% off furniture, and more top coupons.
Molly Higgins