In a press release, George R.R. Martin announced the publication date for his next book, Fire and Blood, and confirmed that “winter is not coming . . . not in 2018, at least.” While The Winds of Winter won’t be arriving any time soon, “imaginary history” Fire and Blood will be published next November.
Peter Thiel has withdrawn his bid for Gawker.com. In an agreement with the adviser in charge of the site’s liquidation, HuffPost’s Sara Boboltz reports that Thiel has promised “to not remove Gawker’s content from the internet or to pay anyone else to do so on his behalf.” Boboltz writes that the decision may have been made in order to avoid a tortious interference lawsuit.
A Danish court has found Peter Madsen guilty of murdering journalist Kim Wall on his homemade submarine last year.
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on the case of Drew Cloud. A supposed student loan expert that had been quoted by the Washington Post and other news outlets, Cloud turned out to be the creation of LendEDU, a student loan refinancing company.
Reporters Without Borders has released their annual World Press Freedom Index. The US is ranked at 45, and other countries like Turkey and the Philippines have fallen lower on the list. “When foreign leaders see the U.S. president denounce the media on a regular basis, it gives them free rein to do the same,” RSF North America director Margaux Ewen told the Washington Post. “It is much harder for foreign leaders to take our requests for them to show greater respect for human rights and press freedom seriously when the U.S. does not lead by example.”
Tonight at McNally Jackson Books in New York, Viv Albertine talks with Joanna Scutts about her new memoir, To Throw Away Unopened.