The headline of the week comes from this story in The Guardian: “Are we living in a golden age of stupidity?” You probably know the answer even before you start reading the story. You also know the answer to these related questions: “Is social media a factor?” and “Does ChatGPT bear part of the blame?”

There was good news about journalism and democracy this week, as the vast majority of press outlets refused to sign a “contract” that basically said reporters would lose their Pentagon press credentials unless they agreed not to report anything that hadn’t been approved by Department of Defense (War?) officials. The sound you heard coming from the Pentagon this week was from dozens of news organizations turning in their press passes — including conservative outlets like Newsmax and Fox News, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used to work. Of course, this doesn’t mean that reporters will stop writing stories about the Defense Department; it just makes the task a little bit harder, as Amy Kristin Sanders notes in this column for The Conversation.

The Corvallis School Board — in the midst of weighing difficult budget decisions — has asked Superintendent Ryan Noss to come up with a proposal that would involve closing more than one school. It’s probably the right move — as hard as this may be for some Corvallis residents to believe, the enrollment shortfalls that are a primary driver of the budget woes aren’t going away soon. The quick turnaround, however, is worrisome: We’re talking about making decisions now for the next school year, the one that begins in September. And let’s be realistic about the medium-term future as well — I don’t see any way that the district can avoid closing a high school in the next five or so years. The Gazette-Times’ Hans Boyle has the story.

You thought that the forthcoming “Big One” — the devastating earthquake along the West Coast triggered by the Cascadia Subduction Zone — was all that you had to worry about, at least on your “devastating earthquake” list of worries. Chris Goldfinger, the Oregon State University marine geologist who likely knows more about the Cascadia Subduction Zone than anyone on the planet, has added a new worry in that category: In a new research paper, Goldfinger and colleagues say that the Cascadia quake also could set off quake activity along the nearly San Andreas Fault System. The Oregon Capital Chronicle featured a story about the study. (This is part of the reason, by the way, that I’m looking for space in the house to store a two-week supply of Mountain House food.)

You might remember a Weekend Reader item from a couple of weeks back about Elon Musk vowing to devote his brainpower and considerable cash to create an alternative to Wikipedia, in part because he thinks it’s hopelessly woke. I suggested at the time that you could consider making a donation to Wikipedia. Well, I finally got around to making one of my occasional donations to Wikipedia (I do use the site frequently, as I suspect you do as well). And I noticed that this weekend’s edition of “The Interview,” The New York Times’ series of in-depth conversations with interesting people, is with Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales. (The audio version of the interview is available wherever you get your podcasts.)

Oregon State University Sunday fired head football coach Trent Bray — not a huge surprise, given that Bray led the team to an 0-7 start this season. Here’s the next question: Who will OSU hire to pull the program out of the its current spiral toward irrelevance? Ryan Clarke, who covers Beavers football for The Oregonian/OregonLive, put together a list of potential candidates. Jon Wilner, the ace sportswriter who did a great job covering what used to be the Pac-12, has a controversial addition to the list. I imagine the chance to pull a program out of the basement at a particularly fraught time might be of interest to some coaches.

But it’s no mystery why the OSU job might not be particularly appealing. In fact, The Athletic’s David Ubben this week ranked Oregon State football No. 4 on a list of the 10 bleakest situations in all of college football. Here’s a quote:

What happened to Oregon State football feels cruel. It’s as dark a situation as you’ll find in the sport as a once-proud program stares a bleak new reality in the face. Here’s hoping more programs don’t find themselves in this boat if college football merges toward two super leagues.

If there’s any consolation for Beaver fans, it’s this: Michigan State — coached by Jonathan Smith, the former OSU coach whose departure from Corvallis still has fans here angered — is No. 6 on the list. (Athletic stories may be behind a paywall; all other links in the Weekend Reader are free.)

But here’s the most important question of the weekend regarding OSU athletics: Will the return of the Bronze Beaver statue rally the football team to its first win of the season? Clarke of The Oregonian has the story.

Forty years after “The Goonies,” fans still flock to Astoria, where much of the movie was filmed. A writer for The New York Times spent a few days in the town, which embraces “The Goonies” even more than it embraces craft breweries.

Finally this week, here’s a long piece from Spencer Kornhaber, who writes about culture for The Atlantic. Kornhaber wonders: In a world where everybody’s a critic, what role remains for actual cultural criticism in the mainstream media? After all, The Associated Press no longer reviews books. The last full-time print-media movie reviewer in Chicago — the home of Siskel and Ebert — recently accepted a buyout offer from the Chicago Tribune. The surprise in the piece is that Kornhaber comes away with a more positive prognosis than you might think.

What I’m reading: “The British Are Coming,” the first volume of a trilogy about the Revolutionary War by Rick Atkinson. The second volume has just been published to wide acclaim, but I thought I should start at the beginning.

New movies that might be suitable for adults: “The Librarians,” a documentary about librarians (but you probably guessed that) struggling against book-banning efforts; and “Good Fortune,” a comedy with Keanu Reeves as a well-meaning angel meaning to show two men that money doesn’t buy happiness. Let’s just say the message doesn’t immediately catch on.

That’s it for this weekend. Let’s gather here next weekend and swap notes. I’ll be ready with some Mountain House packets.