Ripped from the Headlines: May 2020: This Week In Culture: May 3–9, 2020

Becoming, the documentary about Michelle Obama, is streaming on Netflix. The film follows the first lady on her book tour, showing her on stage and behind the scenes, sometimes accompanied by her husband, a former law professor who happened to become President. Anekdotos is Hellenistic Greek for "unpublished."

Florian Schneider, co-founder of Kraftwerk, died this week. Kraftwerk, a duo made up of Schneider and Ralf Hütter, were pioneers of electronic pop music in the 1970s. Techno, trance, house, and dozens of other genres of music today — from trap to K-pop — owe their existence to the musicians and producers who were inspired by Kraftwerk's use of synthesizers, sequencing, noise, and their futuristic, robotic aesthetic.

We're always on the lookout for new things to watch and do online during quarantine, and this list covers all the bases: TV, film, books, art, design, photography, and theater. No matter what you're into, there should be something here that grabs your interest. Lavache is Old French for "torrential rain," so lavish is used to describe something that's plentiful, even decadently so: a meal, the decor in a sumptuous apartment, or praise.

Major League Baseball is moving forward with a plan for the upcoming season, and will present it to the Players Association next week. Spring training may begin in June, with the regular season possibly starting in July, though some observers say that's probably too optimistic. Many details remain to be worked out. The mani- in manifold comes from the Germanic root for many; -fold is a suffix you'll still see in examples like the phrase "a threefold increase."

Director Taika Waititi is reportedly on deck to direct the next Star Wars movie. After the poor reception The Rise of Skywalker received, critics wonder if Waititi has what it takes to deliver a movie that will stand the test of time, rather than feeling disposable. Ostensible comes from the Latin verb ostendere, meaning "to show," , or "to reveal."

Christopher Nolan, the A-list director of films like Inception, The Dark Night, and Dunkirk, plans to release his latest project in theaters on July 17. Titled Tenet, it's a sci-fi epic that's been eagerly awaited by Nolan's fans. But it's far from certain that cinemas will be able to reopen by July, and even if they do nobody knows how many people will be willing to go.

Online gaming is full of cheaters, and the problem is getting worse. Various software companies and gaming platforms are working to prevent the sort of hacks that allow cheaters to see through walls, move faster than other players, or have other unfair advantages. You probably know that a riddle is a puzzling question, but it's also a verb meaning "to fill with holes." The two meanings actually come from different Germanic roots: one for a trick question, the other for a sieve.

Actor Val Kilmer has led a long and charmed life, achieving great fame and success with some iconic performances. However, he recently lost his voice to cancer, undergoing a tracheostomy during treatment, and is now barely able to speak. Serendip is an old name for Sri Lanka; serendipitous was coined by the Writer Horace Walpole in 1754, based on the titular characters in a story called The Three Princes of Serendip, who were always making fortunate discoveries by accident.

Actor Joe Mangianello has been hosting a long-running Dungeons & Dragons game in his basement that includes Vince Vaughn, Tom Morello, D.B. Weiss, and other celebrities. The basement in question has been elaborately decorated to look like a dungeon. During quarantine, players gather virtually using Zoom or Roll20, a remote tabletop and RPG (role-playing game) app.

Ballet superstar Misty Copeland started Swans for Relief, an online dance video initiative to raise money for out-of-work dancers during the pandemic. The video features 32 dancers from around the world, and was produced in collaboration with the Entertainment Industry Foundation and K Period Media. The fundraising goal is $500,000.