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Last week, there was some drama surrounding the Romney campaign, but this time, it wasn't due to the Republican candidate's political leanings; it was over a sudden increase in Twitter followers. Crunching the numbers, The Atlantic reported Tuesday that graphs indicate there has most likely been "bot involvement," despite the campaign strenously denying that they've purchased followers.

Comedian Peter Kremidas doesn't much think it matters what the campaign says, because robots are definitely involved and they've got opinions of their own. Read an excerpt below or listen above.

Hello! My name is Michael. I’m here to talk about The Romney. Get ready for some fun!

I will talk about this story. It is a Twitter story. This month, The Romney acquired an average of three to four thousand new Twitter followers every day.

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- Harry Potter will have a comeback in our city, notes the Sun-Times, as BBC TV hosts Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner of Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience.

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- The fifth season of The Late Live Show starts Saturday September 1 but this year, it'll be at 8 pm. They have a Kickstarter.

- Reminder: Chicago Opera Theater is doing The Magic Flute this fall.

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"Super-Silent Owl Drone Will Spy on You Without You Ever Noticing" reported Wired last week. Yup, that's all we got. But actor and comedian Baron Vaughn makes it clear: "While bots will start to look more human, Humans will start to look more like bots." Read an excerpt below or listen above.

OK, so we have drones. Not a surprise. Not surprising news. People have known about drones for years. Drones are known. They're known drones, and other "own" sounds. But, of course, as one would assume to be an inevitability, we're trying to make smaller quieter drones. Silent owl drones. Is that an owl? Nope, just the government. Minimize the size so we can maximize the eyes.

The go-to question to bring up here is one of privacy. Privacy, Personal security, yadda yadda yadda. There are a lot of people who say "bro" and "man" that will voice concerns like "They're watching us, man!" "How far will it go, bro?" And I say those things are already true. They've been true.

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As I sit in my air-conditioned apartment dodging 100-degree heat, I must admit I don’t look forward to venturing out to spend an evening on a lawn breathing leaden air and watching Shakespeare.  And that tells you the entire story of the drawbacks of outdoor theater: Everyone, actors and audience alike, is at the mercy of the elements.  If it rains, we have to cancel; if it already has rained, we have to skirt mud and still end up with wet bottoms; if mosquitoes arrive, we can slap them or ignore them but either way they're going to be around. (And if you tickle us, do we not laugh?) Outdoor theater, in other words, is a supremely physical experience.

And that, despite its disadvantages, is what makes outdoor theater worth doing. Theater artists often comment on the difference between a film, where the actors are mere shadows on screen, and a play, where the actors are living breathing beings occupying the space right in front of you.

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- John Malkovich, who some may not realize is an ensemble member of Steppenwolf, will play Casanova in a production of The Giacomo Variations in New York.

- TV star Isaiah Washington is set to take part in Unspeakable, a play about Illinois native and comedian Richard Pryor at the Royal George Theatre this October. The role of Pryor will be played by James Murray Jackson, Jr., who originated the role at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2005.

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You might love the Olympics, and you might think you're not alone, but there's at least one man out there who vehemently disagrees with you. Comedian Dan Telfer, whose new album Tendrils of Ruin is out this week, shared his thoughts on the greatest display of human physical perfection ever at The Paper Machete.

"No matter what feats of strength are achieved, it is also a piece of civilization’s detritus stuck to Gaea’s hangnail," he said bluntly. Read an excerpt below or listen above.

This is going to sound extremely negative to some of you. But I like to dig down to the bottom of my misery and bring up all the shiny ore I found on the way down. I hear you Olympic fans like shiny ore. I am going to speak optimistically. Eventually.

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