Amazon’s alternate history original drama The Man in the High Castle has been renewed for a second season, Variety reports.
The series, based on the 1962 Philip K. Dick novel of the same name, takes place in a reality where Germany and Japan won World World II, and the world is a very different place because of it. The U.S. is occupied by both powers, who have split the country in two.
A pilot for The Man in the High Castle aired on January 15, and based on the response, Amazon greenlit the series for 10 episodes in February. The series became available for Amazon Prime customers on November 20, and was apparently successful enough to secure renewal for a second season.
The show is produced by Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions, and is written by The X-Files writer Frank Spotnitz, who also acts as showrunner. We spoke to Spotnitz last month, who is very aware of the series’ sensitive subject matter.
“The reason to do this series is to reflect on the world we live in now. The subject matter is really challenging. It’s difficult, and it risks offending a lot of people too,” Spotnitz said. “I’ve been really sensitive to that, and tried to be as thoughtful as I can. This is a fiction show, but when you’re dealing with Nazi-ism and the extermination of Jews and blacks — people take this very personally.”
As part of advertising the launch of the series, Amazon used marketing materials that contained Nazi imagery on subway cars in New York City. Riders weren’t amused, and neither were city officials. Amazon pulled the materials after complaints from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and state Governor Andrew Cuomo.
There is no word yet on when the new season will air, but like the first season, it will consist of 10 episodes.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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