Sophie Charara

London, United Kingdom

Journalist and Editor at Freelance

Journalist/Editor formerly @WIRED // available for commissions // sophiecharara at gmail dot com

Articles

「Bluetooth接続」の声はわたしです──声優はAI時代をどう生き抜くか | WIRED.jp

5 days ago | wired.jp | Sophie Charara

!DOCTYPE html>「Bluetooth接続」の声はわたしです──声優はAI時代をどう生き抜くか | WIRED.jp
10 of The Best Spike Lee Joints

1 month ago | shortlist.com | Sophie Charara

With Highest 2 Lowest - which reunites Spike Lee and Denzel Washington - premiering at the Cannes Film Festival soon, now’s as good a time as any to dig into the director’s filmography. The new Spike Lee film, from A24 and Apple, is based on Akira Kurosawa’s classic High and Low from 1963, which the Prince Charles Cinema in London is showing to mark the festival debut of this ‘re-interpretation’. There’s plenty to fuel the hype. First, the Denzel of it all.
10 new non-fiction books you need to read this Spring

1 month ago | shortlist.com | Sophie Charara

Our non-fiction book picks for Spring include titles on the mess of the manosphere, the future of the Baltics and the emotional lives of The Beatles. We also see the return of the mighty nature writer Robert Macfarlane, explore two very different memoirs focusing on fatness and, well, Google searches, and we get schooled in the new concept of ‘moral ambition’ by Rutger Bregman that might just up-end your life. Read on for the titles to expand your noggin' over the next few months.
10 new non-fiction books you need to read this Spring

1 month ago | flipboard.com | Sophie Charara

4 hours agoWant to learn piano? AI can teach youMaster everything from the Beatles to Bach TL;DR: Learn to play piano with Skoove Premium Piano Lessons, an AI-powered teacher, now offering lifetime subscriptions for $149.99 (reg. $299). Always wanted to learn piano?
10 Must-Read Fiction Books To See You Through Spring

1 month ago | shortlist.com | Sophie Charara

Your spring book stack starts here. We’ve read a bunch of new fiction releases out now or due this season and put together this edit of ten must-reads. The list includes heavyweights such as the return of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a fiendish murder mystery debut from Louise Hegarty and a stunning book exploring the impacts of war from French author Mathias Enard. Elsewhere, we have a road trip novel, some speculative near-future fiction and a book about one, long, strange night out.
The Bluetooth Lady Speaks! ‘Voice-Over Actors Will Be Artisans in the AI Age’

2 months ago | technewstube.com | Sophie Charara

Kristen DiMercurio went viral on TikTok when she revealed she was probably the voice of your Bluetooth speaker … and your headphones … and that gadget how-to video … and your insurer’s call center.
The Bluetooth Lady Speaks! ‘Voice-Over Actors Will Be Artisans in the AI Age’

2 months ago | wired.com | Sophie Charara

“OK, so you have to say it with a smile, no matter what you’re saying, because the shape of your mouth makes a difference.” Kristen DiMercurio is teaching me how to sound like my Bluetooth speaker. “The resonance is in your chest and throat, it’s very deep, very low. You have to enunciate every consonant. I do a slight amount of airiness. I’m practically singing it, it’s very melodic. And there’s a certain rhythm: It usually goes up and then down at the end. You get that unnatural, clipped sound.
10 Films By British Directors to Watch Out For in 2025: Tom Hardy, Hot Milk and Samurai in Scotland

2 months ago | shortlist.com | Sophie Charara

There are some terribly British films coming out this year that are not in fact directed by Brits: Pressure (Andrew Scott does D Day), Hamnet (Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal do Shakespeare) and The Thursday Murder Club (every actor you know over 60 does cosy crime-solving). It also goes without saying that you should pencil in Downton Abbey 3 for September.
オフィス回帰の先に待つ「従業員監視」の実態

2 months ago | wired.jp | Sophie Charara

職場で従業員を監視する技術を売っている会社のネット広告を見ると、米国の普通の勤め人も、機会さえあれば会社に反抗しようとする、危険な人物であるかのように描かれている。そこには「米国で働く人の半数近くが、勤務中に仕事をさぼった経験があると認めています！」、「生体認証リーダーの導入で監視精度の向上を！」、「自販機の利用履歴に基づく管理で、さまざまなメリットを提供！」といった宣伝文句が並んでいる。 25年に入り、「オフィスへの回帰（RTO）」を義務付ける新たな波が起きている。JPモルガン・チェース、広告代理店のWPP、アマゾンといった大手企業も例外ではない。また、1月下旬にトランプ大統領が連邦政府機関の幹部に対し、リモートワーク体制を打ち切り、職員たちをオフィスでのフルタイム勤務に戻すよう指示したことも話題になった。新型コロナウイルス感染症によるパンデミックの発生から5年を経て、離れた場所からでも、あるいは多少の融通を利かせながらでも、多くの職務を問題なく遂行できることは世界中で実証されている。そんないま、何が突然の“心変わり”を招いたのだろうか。...
The surveillance tech waiting for workers as they return to the office

Feb 27, 2025 | businessandamerica.com | Sophie Charara

Under-desk sensors, in particular, have received high-profile backlash, perhaps because they are such an obvious piece of surveillance hardware rather than simply software designed to record work done on company machines. In the fall of 2022, students at Northeastern University hacked and removed under-desk sensors produced by EnOcean, offering “presence detection” and “people counting,” that had been installed in the school’s Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering Complex.