I’m not really ready for it to be the first Friday of 2020, and yet, here we are.

New Year’s Day was the last day of my Christmas vacation. Going back to the office on Thursday was not quite as much of a hassle as I thought it would be. Usually when it’s been a while since I went in it takes longer to find things and get out the door… but I was standing at the bus stop earlier than usual. It was very quiet at the office because it seems that about half my co-workers took all of this week as well as last week off, os I spent most of the day just going through my inbox.

Meanwhile, welcome to the Friday Five. This week I bring you: then the top five stories of the week, five stories about science fiction, five stories about science, and five videos (plus notable obituaries and a some things I wrote).

Stories of the Week:

Network Building Anti-Gay Churches Shuttered .

Opinion | Bret Stephens and the Perils of the Tapped-Out Column.

The decade in dumb: Looking back on the silliest of Apple commentary.

John Lewis Diagnosed With Pancreatic Cancer – Civil Rights Icon Needs No Epitaph.

Dispensaries Are Still Not Selling Cannabis to Children.

This Week in Science Fiction:

The New Rude Masters of Fantasy & Science Fiction – and Romance .

A Perfectly Cromulent Review of Books — Every Heart Among Bones Beneath Sugar in a Dream Come Tumbling Down.

[DECEMBER 31, 1964] LOST IN THE DESERT (JANUARY 1965 ANALOG).

The 2019 Darth Vader Parenthood Award for Outstandingly Horrible Fictional Parents.

Jason Sanford – The State of Genre Magazines.

This Week in Science:

Stick-toting puffins offer first evidence of tool use in seabirds.

10 of the wildest discoveries Washington scientists made in 2019.

Bad Astronomy | Happy New Year! … but what exactly is a ‘year’?

500-million-old fossilized brain has totally changed our minds.

How Kepler Invented Science Fiction and Defended His Mother in a Witchcraft Trial While Revolutionizing Our Understanding of the Universe.

In Memoriam:

Jerry Herman, the Broadway composer who wrote ‘Hello, Dolly!’ and ‘La Cage aux Folles,’ is dead at 88.

Commentary: Jerry Herman, composer of ‘Hello, Dolly,’ should also be remembered as an early HIV survivor.

Things I wrote:

Monday Update 12/30/2019: Racist loudmouths, racist enablers, and acts of terror.

My New Year’s Wish for You, 2020.

Videos!

Perry Mason – QUIZ: How Well Do You Know Perry Mason?:

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Harry Styles – Adore You (Official Video):

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Cub Sport – City of Angels (Official Video):

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Billy Porter – Love Yourself (Official Celeb Lip Sync Video):

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Pet Shop Boys – Monkey business (radio edit):

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