Provocative storytelling has flourished on cable and streaming channels — including David Lynch’s third season of “Twin Peaks” in 2017. But broadcast networks still have the biggest live domestic viewerships. They use it to air drivel. 2/2

Carl Sagan wrote the words 30 years ago. His foreboding is our emerging reality.

What can we do to stop the slide into superstition? Or are we destined for the darkness? 4/4

“when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.” 3/4

“when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority … “ 2/4