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Serial Experiments Lain

Lain Iwakura, an awkward and introverted fourteen-year-old, is one of the many girls from her school to receive a disturbing email from her classmate Chisa Yomoda—the very same Chisa who recently committed suicide. Lain has neither the desire nor the experience to handle even basic technology; yet, when the technophobe opens the email, it leads her straight into the Wired, a virtual world of communication networks similar to what we know as the internet. Lain's life is turned upside down as she begins to encounter cryptic mysteries one after another. Strange men called the Men in Black begin to appear wherever she goes, asking her questions and somehow knowing more about her than even she herself knows. With the boundaries between reality and cyberspace rapidly blurring, Lain is plunged into more surreal and bizarre events where identity, consciousness, and perception are concepts that take on new meanings. Written by Chiaki J. Konaka, whose other works include Texhnolyze, Serial Experiments Lain is a psychological avant-garde mystery series that follows Lain as she makes crucial choices that will affect both the real world and the Wired. In closing one world and opening another, only Lain will realize the significance of their presence. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Currently available on 2 streaming services.

Serial Experiments Lain - Season 1 (1998)

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13 Episodes

S1 e1 - season 1, s1 e2 - season 1, s1 e3 - season 1, s1 e4 - layer:04 – religion, s1 e5 - layer:05 – distortion, s1 e6 - season 1, s1 e7 - layer:07 – society, s1 e8 - season 1, s1 e9 - layer:09 – protocol, s1 e10 - season 1, s1 e11 - layer:11 – infornography, s1 e12 - layer:12 – landscape, s1 e13 - season 1, streaming, rent, or buy serial experiments lain – season 1:.

You are able to buy "Serial Experiments Lain - Season 1" on Apple TV, Microsoft Store as download.

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Serial Experiments Lain

"I have only abandoned my body, I still live here" - are the words emailed to friends of Chisa, several days after her death by suicide. As Lain delves deeper into the world of the "Wired" (also known as the internet), the line between it and reality becomes more and more unclear. Close the world, open the nExt.

• Psychological
• Virtual Reality
• Original Work

Content Warning

• Mature Themes,

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StoryIf the purpose of Serial Experiments Lain is to get your mind whirling, it succeeds. If its purpose is to get you thinking, not so much. This anime is a hit-or-miss philosophical cesspool that could either captivate or disgust. It’s like swallowing a series of shots that burn your throat and make you either drunkenly euphoric or nauseous. At the time, Serial Experiments Lain was covering ground few had covered before, and people were hailing the work as the turn-of-the-21st-century version of 1984. Now, more than ten years later, one could look at Lain and call it even more relevant. As it ponders the consequences of over-stimulation and over-connectedness, we ourselves have to ponder if being connected is the only way to assert our identity. In this way the anime is worthy of praise. It uses an innovative, pertinent medium to ask an age-old question. Is it possible, though, for subject matter like this to come in such an unsavory form? The anime’s highly experimental and impressionistic style ends up blurring much of what it wants to say. In ingesting the Lain pill, the viewer becomes desensitized instead of enlightened, and eventually he gets lost and stops paying attention.  For all the effort it takes to watch the thing, it leaves one with a diaphanous general idea and little satisfaction. There have been arguments that Lain does this purposefully so that we can make our own conclusions, but the storytelling isn’t engrossing enough for us to even want to make our own conclusions. The anime burrows under a smothering blanket of metaphors, leading us on and then giving us a paltry return for how much we invested. We will follow the mystery as if by masochistic impulsion, stomach the nearly indigestible, and then emerge at the end with our mind whirling but not made any better.AnimationThe animation does its job. And it’s an important job. Rarely does one come across an anime whose central tenets are linked so closely to how they are drawn. The dark red splotches on the pavement hints at a shadowy world that lurks just beneath the real one; solid gray figures sit inertly at their desks and on the train, unable to connect to the world around them; connected power lines loom against a garish yellow sky, ready to entangle those who walk in their midst – they’re all symbols. It is a visual style so abstract it could be called meaningful, a style so distasteful it could be called artistic. A cruel beauty, if you will.SoundThe sound, or rather the lack of sound, suits the anime well, and eerie minimalist electronic music quietly adds to the unsettlement. Personally, I would have replaced the ill-fitting alternative-rock riffs for some Berg or Kurtag. Rock is just too down-to-earth for this business.CharactersLain is not a girl I would want to take up in my arms and cuddle. Her vacant expression and porcelain-glass eyes incite more unease than empathy. However, the identity crisis she undergoes in the latter half provides all that is needed for the story to jump-start. Lain’s efforts to fill her empty life with worth becomes mildly arresting, if not frustrating. As she continues to ask herself the same questions and uncovers no answers, her journey to self-discovery teeters between suspense and stagnancy. Things do come to a head at the end, but I have to wonder if it's worth the hours of waiting. Meanwhile, the other characters fit into Lain’s story a bit like incorrect puzzle pieces. Some of them, like Lain’s sister and father, are good ideas that lack the punch to make an impact. Others, like her friend Alice and the mysterious men who spy on Lain outside her house, appear again and again, meant to be manifestations of Lain's internal struggles but instead flickering out as uninspired motifs that the viewer would likely deem not important enough to figure out.OverallThe beginning of the last episode opens with Lain saying, “I’m confused again.” I agree. To me Serial Experiments Lain resembles those books one reads in high school English class that are supposed to be eye-opening but actually just sweep past the brain and go out the other ear. There is no denying that the anime is a groundbreaking and creative work, but it seems to have remained in anime history not so much for what it says as for what it represents. While the ideas are there, it has stumbled a little over its convoluted wording.

There are anime in this world that will make you tilt your head to the side so hard you get a crick in your neck for a week. Lain is probably one of the best examples of this genre. There will be times while watching Lain where you need to stop and try to wrap your mind around what just happened. And while other anime slowly build to this point, like Evangelion or Paranoia Agent, Lain goes straight into the realm of mindf*ck in early episodes. However, as an older anime, it does suffer a bit from limited tools, but I would say it holds up to its more contemporary counterparts.  Story: The plot of Lain is actually fairly straightforward for all of it's weirdness. The perplexity of the story is not in the complex plot, but rather the way the plot unfolds. Instead of immediately stating how the world of Lain works, especially the Wired, the plot unfolds each layer like taking apart an origami crane. Once the truth is revealed, layer by layer, the plot begins to make sense. It isn't necessarily an anime that will make you question existance, in a way The Matrix might. Lain is more of a story about the potential of computers, in much the same wavelength as Ghost in the Shell. But unlike other anime, it throws strange imagery, unreliable narration, and often odd behavior at the viewer to hide the plot.  Animation: Here's the main part that Lain falls short. It's not that the animation is bad, it's just that the tools for the time period mean a lot of the animation is saturated. Many scenes are too dark to make out detail, while others are light-bleached. The animation itself is rather fluid, though there are jerky movements from time to time (a lot of it intentional). There isn't a lot of detail to the faces, especially Lain's, and much of the scenery can be fairly bland. However, the complexity of the Navi systems seems to be what took up most of the animation budget.  Sound: For the most part, the sound is great. The opening song is so 90s that it's nostalgic to my generation, even if its the first time hearing it. The voices are excellent, and the sound studio mixes a reverb or metallic sound whenever a voice is over the Wired, which I found interesting.  Characters: Here's the problem with the characters; there are a lot of them introduced, but not many are given more than a token trait. For example, Lain's family is very distant, but beyond a trait like "loves the Navi system", they don't have much going for them. Lain's friends are a bit like stock characters, except Arisu, who actually has a personality and flaws. The Knights are shown, living their daily lives, but are not given much exposition beyond their role in the Wired as a group. And the main character, Lain, isn't a reliable source of information. She's very difficult to relate to because of who/what she is. Still, I liked Lain, for all of her weirdness and flaws.  Overall, I'd recommend the anime and not just because it's for a badge. Just be prepared to suspend disbelief completely.  This review brought to you by Secret Santa 2016. 

Lain is mostly remembered today for the opening song, or the creepy atmosphere, but it also stand out as a period piece by being one of the best speculative fiction series of the time period it came out. Although the way it presented the internet in its early stages can be seen as silly now that we are all using it, it still predicted how it affects the way people think or how bad guys would abuse it for achieving deification by controlling peoples’ minds. It’s an exaggerated version of what actually happens today. You know, the mass media controlling the narrative, megalomaniac sociopaths promoting their agendas, and many becoming NPCs who are supporting the current thing. The presentation in Lain is of course not that down to earth, it’s done in a metaphysical way, as was the style at the time. Because back then the end of the millennia was near, people were worried about new technologies, and Neon Genesis became a big hit by having the exact same concept with Instrumentality, so let’s copy it to get a piece of the pie.Historical impact aside, the anime is obviously dated in terms of visuals, although it still holds up in terms of mysterious atmosphere and mindfuck special effects. The biggest issue most newer fans will have with it is how it doesn’t have the usual crap that sell, such as elaborate fight choreographies, or excessive fan service. The heroine can be seen as a waifu when she is dressed in those silly bear pajamas (and you are that fatally desperate to need one for watching an anime), but she’s mostly a surrogate for the viewer. She’s not there as a manic pixie dream girl that motivates some dull guy to participate in some hobby, as is the trend these days. Lain is not entertaining, it’s not about carefree characters in some high school and there are no silly romantic triangles. You see, the bulk of anime are about escapism. To run away from the boredom of your dull existence and into a realm of excitement and lack of responsibility. Lain seems to be doing that at first with everyone getting hooked on their internet and videogames (with wireless joysticks I must point out, at a time when it wasn’t widespread or cheap). And then it makes the whole thing to seem horrifying by changing peoples’ perception, and by causing death and mayhem everywhere. In effect it becomes anti-escapism and a cautionary tale on what happens when you indulge too much in any hobby. That’s the prime difference with something like Sword Art Online which is the polar opposite of what Lain is going for. You know, videogames are cool, I too wanna get trapped in a virtual reality and have lots of waifus being amazed with me. That is the main difference between sci-fi shows of the late 1990s and the 2010s. Back then almost everything was serious and scary. Lain is of the same vein as something like the original Ghost in the Shell movie. Philosophical, about loss of self in a virtual sea of impersonal information. What happens if your consciousness becomes data and you get a fusion of man and machine? Do you become a God? Do you ascend into a higher dimension? It’s that shit that makes science fiction great and memorable. With that said the show has its problems. How does a girl who doesn’t know or like computers that much changed so fast in a few episodes? It feels like a character rewrite because we don’t see the change, it happens out of screen. It’s the same thing with Kirito and Asuna in Sword Art Online loving each other when we hardly see them together. I mean, it’s done for maintaining a sense of mystery by making you ponder why does such a thing happen, but it’s still too sudden. Also why does nobody do something if videogames and The Wired are forcing people to commit suicide? What are the parents doing, the teachers, or the police? Why don’t they ban or regulate the damn thing? Because if they did we wouldn’t have a story. Also the whole concept of technology changing your perception is resolved in a really cheap way at the end that almost makes the whole theme pointless. The answer to the mystery of what is going on and why is Lain acting like a different person at times is not her losing touch with reality because of overexposure to The Wire. She was a deity. Not because of the internet, she was all along. So, um, what kind of a moral message does that leave you with? It’s no longer about how technology changes her, because she was always different. She was another Suzumiya Haruhi, which is not helpful when she’s supposed to be a stand-in for the viewer. Oh, what a betrayal. We are mortals, we wanna view and evaluate the show with mortal standards. That’s why it was way better when in the Haruhi anime the protagonist was Kyon. A mortal, not the goddess. As if that wasn’t enough, the mortals in Lain (and by that I mean every other character in the show) don’t achieve that much. Not only the heroine takes up most of the screentime, the others don’t affect the outcome much. There’s this really elaborate conspiracy going on that involves a dozen different things which are resolved in a hurry at the end and in a cheap way because the heroine can do a lot of weird reality warping shit. So what was the point of the show? If you are not the Special Chosen One from the very start you are fucked? Thanks every popular fighting shonen ever made! What would we do without your important moral message?With that said, Lain is still a good watch. It’s thematically powerful and attracting as a mystery, the music and the atmosphere hold up. It’s just that it’s very impersonal (and dare say un-relatable if you are a feelfag) when you get the answers and not everything comes together in an organic way at the end. It works far better conceptually than it does in execution. Still worth recommending, but not flawless.

Related anime

• same franchise

Serial Experiments Lain: LPR-309

• 2000-01-01 - 2000-01-01
• DVD Special: 3 ep

Related manga

Serial Experiments Lain: The Nightmare of Fabrication

• 1999-05-01 - 1999-05-01

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Serial experiments lain

Lain wasn’t interested in computers until she received her first email from a formerly suicidal classmate. Her newfound desire to connect with the dead will lead her into the twisted maze of the “wired world.”

Accela – a designer drug born of nanotechnology – is a big hit with the club kids, but what’s that got to do with Lain? Only a madman who painted the dance floor with blood can answer that question – and he’s dead.

Lain has questions about a computer chip someone left in her locker, and her Dad’s not talking. Some kids at the club say they know all about it – but they want a piece of Lain’s wired wild side.

The more involved with computers she becomes, the more Lain begins to transform. In the cybernetic cocoon that was once her room, she’s hard at work blurring the lines between reality and the wired.

Lain’s friends suspect her involvement in a series of computer errors that caused a lethal traffic accident. Meanwhile, her sister is haunted by mysterious messages demanding that she “fulfill the prophecy”.

When an image of herself appears in the clouds, the “real” Lain enters the wired on a search for answers. Her quest leads to a “child-killer” scientist whose devious work is being exploited by the Knights.

Cast & Crew

Ayako Kawasumi

Kaori Shimizu

Obayashi Ryunosuke

Rei Igarashi

Information

© 1998 Triangle Staff/Pioneer LDC

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Serial Experiments Lain

14+ (TV-14)

Strange things start happening when a withdrawn girl named Lain becomes obsessed with an interconnected virtual realm known as "The Wired". Serial Experiments Lain featuring Kaori Shimizu and Youko Asada has one or more episodes streaming with subscription on Funimation, available for purchase on Apple TV, and available for purchase on Microsoft Store. It's an anime and horror show with 13 episodes over 1 season. Serial Experiments Lain is no longer running and has no plans to air new episodes or seasons. It has a high IMDb audience rating of 8.1 (17,879 votes).

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Available to rent or buy

Currently you are able to watch Serial Experiments Lain streaming on Funimation. It is also possible to buy Serial Experiments Lain on Apple TV, and Microsoft Store.

'Serial Experiments Lain' Streaming: How to Watch Anywhere

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Streaming availability last updated: 03:03:57 AM, 08/14/2024 PST

More Information onSerial Experiments Lain

Lain Iwakura (voice)

Kaori Shimizu

Arisu Mizuki (voice)

Youko Asada

Mika Iwakura (voice)

Ayako Kawasumi

Yasuo Iwakura (voice)

Ryūsuke Ōbayashi

Miho Iwakura (voice)

Rei Igarashi

Yasuyuki ueda, yoshitoshi abe, reichi nakaido.

Ratings & Reviews

The Reelgood Score is a comprehensive weighted index designed to evaluate movie & TV quality, deriving its value from a blend of Reelgood user engagement, external ratings metrics expressed through content popularity, and user feedback, including ratings such as "loved," "liked," and "disliked." The score is presented on a scale from 1 to 100, where 100 signifies content that is highly esteemed and positively rated within the community.

I love Lain and how "The Wired" works as now its a reflection of our world today. Seeing the risks Lain took. The journey she went on followed by a banger of an opening, it truly warms my heart at the end of the story to see Lain went away, but at the same time stuck around.

EPISODE GUIDE

Serial experiments lain season 1 overview.

Season 1 of Serial Experiments Lain has 13 episodes that are available to stream on Funimation and for Rent or Purchase on 2 Services.

Serial Experiments Lain Season 1 Episodes

S01 E13 .css-d0ljjn{color:#BBBDBE;}@media (max-width:650px){.css-d0ljjn{color:rgba(255,255,255,0.72);}}@media (max-width:450px){.css-d0ljjn{font-size:14px;}} Ego

Lain's guilt over the havoc caused by her interaction within the wired provokes her to take drastic - and irreversible...

S01 E13 of Serial Experiments Lain is available to stream on Funimation and for Rent or Purchase on 2 Services.

S01 E12 Landscape

"God" preaches that our bodies are simply an obstacle preventing the evolution of mankind. An exhausted Lain appears willing to...

S01 E12 of Serial Experiments Lain is available to stream on Funimation and for Rent or Purchase on 2 Services.

S01 E11 Infornography

Lain risks a meltdown by uploading a Navi clone into her own brain. Later, the border between reality and the...

S01 E11 of Serial Experiments Lain is available to stream on Funimation and for Rent or Purchase on 2 Services.

All Seasons of Serial Experiments Lain

Cast & Crew for Serial Experiments Lain

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Serial Experiments Lain

• TV Mini Series

Strange things start happening when a withdrawn girl named Lain becomes obsessed with an interconnected virtual realm known as "The Wired". Strange things start happening when a withdrawn girl named Lain becomes obsessed with an interconnected virtual realm known as "The Wired". Strange things start happening when a withdrawn girl named Lain becomes obsessed with an interconnected virtual realm known as "The Wired".

• Yasuyuki Ueda
• Kaori Shimizu
• Bridget Hoffman
• 95 User reviews
• 33 Critic reviews

Episodes 13

Top cast 99+

• Lain Iwakura

• Additional Voices

• Additional Voices …
• DJ (Present Day announcer)

• Mika Iwakura
• Arisu Mizuki

• Reika Yamamoto

• Yasuo Iwakura

• Lain's NAVI …
• Miho Iwakura

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia There are numerous references to Macintosh and Apple Computers: The phrase "To Be Continued", with a colored "Be" is shown at the end of most of the episodes. This is a reference to BeOS, whose logo has similar coloring. The Be company was founded by Jean-Louis Guasse, a former Apple executive. The Navis use an operating system named Copeland, which was the codename for Apple's MacOS 8. Navi's operating system has a graphical user interface (GUI) similar to that of MacOS. Arisu's Navi resembles the original Apple iMac. The series slogan "Close this world. Open the NeXT" is a reference to the NeXT company, founded by Steve Jobs in the late '80s and purchased by Apple Computer in December 1996. All of the Navis shown in the series use one-button mice as Macintosh computers do. The electronic voice heard saying the episode titles is the "Whisper" voice from the MacOS Speech Control Panel, a program that permits text-to-speech. The child's Navi that Lain used to use was modeled after the 20th Anniversary Macintosh. The HandiNAVI, the handheld computers which both Lain and Arisu used was based off the Apple Newton, the first PDA. Navis and Macintoshes are both built by companies named after fruit, Tachibana (a type of orange) and Apple, respectively.

Lain Iwakura : No matter where you go, everyone's connected.

• Connections Featured in AMV Hell 3: The Motion Picture (2005)
• Soundtracks Duvet Performed by Boa

Technical specs

• Runtime 24 minutes

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Serial Experiments Lain English Dubbed

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Season 1 – Serial Experiments Lain

Where to watch, serial experiments lain — season 1.

Buy Serial Experiments Lain — Season 1 on Apple TV.

Audience Reviews

Cast & crew.

Bridget Hoffman

Lain Iwakura

Ryutaro Nakamura

Chiaki Konaka

Akihiro Kawamura

Executive Producer

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How to Get Started With Serial Experiments Lain

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10 Most Well-Written Anime Characters of All Time

15 sad anime quotes that will break your heart, japan ranks the top 10 anime of summer 2024 to watch until the end.

Serial Experiments Lain is a seminal entry in the annals of cyberpunk anime , logging into and dialing up a world that was eerily prophetic. Disturbing, unsettling and incredibly relevant to the modern world, Lain showcased a setting where disaffected youth became transformed by the power of cyberspace. It’s now not very futuristic at all, which is what makes the story so powerful to this day.

Perhaps due to just how topical it is in the modern world, especially with the rise of social media, Serial Experiments Lain has seen a tremendous resurgence in popularity. This is especially true on, ironically enough, social media platforms such as TikTok. Given how affecting the show is, and the red carpet that it laid out for the modern world, here’s a look at Serial Experiments Lain , what makes it so special and how to watch the series.

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The Plot of Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain follows Lain Iwakura, a socially awkward young girl who’s distant from her equally emotionally withdrawn family. This makes her somewhat of an outcast at school, although things quickly heat up in her life following a spooky event. Girls around Lain’s school, including Lain herself, begin receiving emails from China, a student who is supposedly dead. In actuality, Chisa merely abandoned her corporeal form, having now become one with the cyberscape known as The Wired.

The Wired encompasses aspects of the internet, phones and other connected electronic services, being a prescient foreshadowing of social media. Lain meets and becomes an object of desire for Masami Eiri, the veritable God of The Wired. He’s worshipped by the Knights of the Eastern Calculus, while outside forces battle to take back control of what has become of The Wired. All the while, Lain questions herself, her place in the world and whether she should join The Wired permanently.

The series is very surreal and introspective, questioning reality and the concept of life itself. Considered an artistic risk at the time it was produced, Serial Experiments Lain is also something of a cultural war between the East and West in regard to concepts like individuality. It was also envisioned at one point as a multimedia franchise, eventually receiving video games and other ancillary media. The existential mecha series Neon Genesis Evangelion was a big influence, as were works such as Dan Curtis’ Dark Shadows and cyberpunk titles like Cyberia . Filled with subtext and symbolism, Lain is a show that demands to be thought about -- and indeed, many viewers are still doing so.

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Where to Watch Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain was produced by Triangle Staff, whose other works include mecha film Macross Plus and the animated film A Chinese Ghost Story . It was directed by Ryutaro Nakamura, who also worked on some episodes of the Ghost in the Shell anime. Releasing in 1998, the still-influential series ran for 13 bizarre and dreamlike episodes. Its theme song "Duvet" has also become a huge hit thanks again to modern social media.

Currently, Serial Experiments Lain can only be streamed through the Funimation streaming service , although individual episodes can be purchased through Apple TV. In addition, the Blu-ray box set can be purchased from Amazon, meaning it’s still fairly easy to enter The Wired for an unnerving classic.

• Serial Experiments Lain
• Watch Order

How to Watch Serial Experiments Lain anime? Easy Watch Order Guide

By Epic Dope Staff

Updated: September 9, 2020

No Comments on How to Watch Serial Experiments Lain anime? Easy Watch Order Guide

The late ‘90s and early ’00s were an extremely experimental era of anime where creators like Satoshi Kon and Chiaki J. Konaka created many psychological thrillers. One of them being, Serial Experiments Lain by Chiaki J. Konaka.

Serial Experiments Lain is an anime that demands your absolute attention and is not something you could treat as white noise while doing something else . It is a very dark and mature anime that forces you to think about our society and makes you want to discuss what you just watched. It may take one than a single watch for you to truly grasp the essence of the anime.

A true madness masterpiece, Serial Experiments Lain was way ahead of its time.

If you love anime like Paranoia Agent, Serial Experiments Lain is a must-watch!

1. Release Order

I. tv series.

• Episodes: 13

2. Conclusion

Serial Experiments Lain has only one season with episodes chronologically released. Hence, there is no need for a special watch order.

3. Quick Review

I. story and characters.

The plot of Serial Experiments Lain is simpler than its concept. The story is disjoint in nature, and the pacing is slow. These seemingly off-putting aspects of the show, actually make it more impactful. The story forces you to think about the events that take place, and despite having no jump-scares, it makes shivers crawl up your spine.

The main character, Lain, is perhaps the most thought-out and deep character in a psychological anime. Her actions as a character are realistic, and her emotions, jumbled, and complex. The side characters in the form of Lain’s family, too, have depth and an understanding of the environment around them.

II. Animation and Sound

Serial Experiments Lain believes in the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Some concepts are best described by imagery or a series of images. Although it is not conventionally eye-pleasing anime art, the way it distorts according to emotions of our characters and bends around the plot is commendable.

The soundtrack perfectly resonates with the environment of the anime . Again, it isn’t catchy or especially melodious, it conveys the depth and complex themes in the anime.

4. About Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain is an anime television series produced by Yasuyuki Ueda and animated by Triangle Staff. It was directed by Ryūtarō Nakamura and written by Chiaki J. Konaka.

Serial Experiments Lain follows the story of Lain Iwakura, an introverted technophobe 14-year-old. One day a classmate of hers commits suicide, and the following day, she, along with other classmates, receives an email from the deceased girl, Chisa Yomoda. Whenever Lain opens her email, it directs it to Wired, a virtual world of invisible networks that is similar to the Internet. Wired exposes her to strange, mysterious, cryptic messages that affecting her in real life. She is followed by Men in Black wherever she goes and asks her a variety of questions, some being personal. She feels as if they know her more than she knows herself. With the line between the virtual and real-world getting blurry, Lain begins to experience a series of bizarre mishaps where her personal identity and worldly perceptions begin to alter and takes on new meanings.

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Where to watch Serial Experiments Lain anime: Series streaming details, explored

Serial Experiments Lain , a thought-provoking and enigmatic anime series, made its debut in 1998. It was created by Yasuyuki Ueda and directed by Ryutaro Nakamura. Its captivating plot examines intricate themes like identity, reality, and the impact of technology on society.

Serial Expe­riments Lain has attracted a devote­d fanbase over the years due to its unique narrative style and thought-provoking themes. For fans eage­rly seeking access to this captivating anime­, it's natural to wonder where they can watch it online­.

All you need to know about Serial Experiments Lain anime

Where to watch serial experiments lain anime.

Serial Expe­riments Lain is not easily accessible on popular streaming platforms like Netflix or Hulu. However, fans who are eage­r to watch the series still have options available to them.

One of the highly favored platforms for streaming Serial Expe­riments Lain is Funimation. By subscribing to Funimation , fans can enjoy the entire series in its original Japanese audio with English subtitles.

Crunchyroll is another stre­aming platform that offers access to Serial Expe­riments Lain . Renowned for its vast colle­ction of anime series, Crunchyroll cate­rs to the interests of anime­ enthusiasts by providing a wide range of title­s. Within their catalog, fans can delve into the intricate storyline and philosophical refle­ctions offered by Serial Expe­riments Lain .

Similar to Funimation, Crunchyroll gives viewers the option to watch the series in Japane­se with English subtitles.

Plot overview of Serial Experiments Lain anime

Serial Experiments Lain unfolds in a near-future world where the lines between reality and the digital realm blend together. The narrative cente­rs around Lain Iwakura, an apparently ordinary 14-ye­ar-old girl whose life takes a mysterious twist when she receives an email from her classmate­ who tragically took their own life.

As Lain explore­s the mysterious Wired, a global communication ne­twork resembling the inte­rnet, she uncovers hidde­n truths about herself, reality, and existence.

This captivating series delves into theme­s of consciousness, identity, and the profound impact of technology on human lives. Prepare for an unparalleled viewing experience that will provoke conte­mplation and spark curiosity.

The team behind Serial Experiments Lain anime

Ryutaro Nakamura, the dire­ctor known for his unique visual style and atmospheric storyte­lling, expertly guided the production of Se­rial Experiments Lain . Yoshitoshi Abe, celebrated for his intricate illustrations, skillfully designed the captivating characters.

The haunting and ethe­real soundtrack, composed by Reiji Kitazato and pe­rformed by the renowned band Boa, added depth to the imme­rsive atmosphere of Se­rial Experiments Lain . Togethe­r, Nakamura's direction, Abe's character de­signs, and Kitazato's music created a truly distinctive and e­ngaging series .

Final Thoughts

Serial Experiments Lain , an anime series of groundbreaking nature, continues to captivate­ its audience with its intricate narrative­ and thought-provoking themes. Although it might not be re­adily accessible, dedicated fans can still find the se­ries available on platforms like Funimation and Crunchyroll.

Fans can explore the captivating world of Serial Experime­nts Lain either through a subscription-based se­rvice or by purchasing the series. Whichever path they choose, they will embark on a mind-bending and introspe­ctive journey. So, sit back, grab some popcorn, and let yourself be immerse­d in the enigmatic universe of Lain Iwakura .

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Get the Reddit app

A subreddit for the anime Serial Experiments Lain. Let's all love Lain!

I recently watched Serial Experiments Lain.

Here's my much detailed breakdown for the mind bending show ahead of its time-

To me Lain was already what she is at the start of the show, she was never human, she just took human form. And the Wired is not the internet, and Lain is not AI.

Lain is the collective consciousness of all mankind. She's all of us. The Wired is a higher dimensional/mental/spiritual plane manifesting in physical space, through which the collective consciousness can press itself into physical space as a human girl, to live with us.

The consequence of her pressing herself into the world was creation of the Wired - a kind of infinite possibility space where human collective consciousness manifests its will - which,, she manifested in physical space through. Masami Eiri, who comprehended what it was and what she was (l'm not quite clear on whether Eiri made her take human form or if she was doing that herself... l'd have to rewatch it... but either way) used her to take control of the Wired, and with it, what power it was able to manifest in physical space as wel - which got stronger the more Lain integrated herself into the physical world ascended the physical world accordingly into the Wired, and the more humankind Connected to the Wired, which was actually two sides of the same process of mass ascension.

This is why Lain had to abandon physical form - because there was no way to maintain it and integrate fully into human existence without fully unifying human consciousness and merging the Wired with the real world. If all mankind had accepted ascension, this would have been fine... but Arisu didn't. It's not clear what would have happened if Lain had completed the process while Arisu rejected it - either a forced itegration (for how that's experienced by the individual human, see Evangelion,) or a cutting off of Arisu from Lain and the rest of mankind as the collective ascended into the Wired.

Either way, she couldn't do that to Arisu So she undid the entire process, reversing the creation of the Wired entirely and all its Consequences. After this, we see her back in the "higher" realm, speaking to her "father" - God. (Not proselytizing my own beliefs, that's what the show is depicting.) She's crying because she has to leave, and he seems to understand her, saying something to the effect of "You love them, right?"

But Lain is the collective consciousness of all mankind. She is always here and has always been here. She can see us any time and we can see her any time, and always Could. She never needed to exist in physical space for that. Reflected in the end of the show, with the final scene depicting Lain expressing just that - ""ll be with you forever," or from the Dub which| prefer (for this line at least) "I promise you I'l always be right here. I'm right next to you - forever "

Lain is a show about esoteric spirituality, it just managed to also say a lot about society and technology at the same time by using a technological aesthetic.

And so I give it a 9/10

Certainly a one time watch for me. But something that will stick with me for the longest in time. 💗

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Harris Chooses Walz

A guide to the career, politics and sudden stardom of gov. tim walz of minnesota, now vice president kamala harris’s running mate..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

Hey, it’s Michael. Before we get started, I want to tell you about another show made by “The New York Times” that pairs perfectly with “The Daily.” It’s called “The Headlines.” It’s a show hosted by my colleague, Tracy Mumford, that quickly catches you up on the day’s top stories and features insights from “The Times” reporters who are covering them, all in about 10 minutes or less.

So if you like “The Daily”— and if you’re listening, I have to assume you do — I hope that means you’re going to “The Headlines” as well. You can now find “The Headlines” wherever you get your podcasts. So find it, subscribe to it, and thank you. And now, here’s today’s “Daily.”

From “The New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.”

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Today, the story of how a little known Midwestern governor became Kamala Harris’s choice for a running mate. My colleague Ernesto Londoño walks us through the career, politics, and sudden stardom of Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota.

It’s Wednesday, August 7.

Ernesto, over the past few days, we watched Vice President Harris bring the final three contenders for her running mate to her house in Washington, DC, for a set of in-person interviews. And then we watched as she seemed to narrow her pool of choices down to a final two — the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, and the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz. And now, of course, we know that she has made her choice. What has she told us about her campaign strategy, the way she views this race, in ultimately choosing Tim Walz?

Michael, I think what the choice tells us is that Kamala Harris was drawn to two qualities that Governor Walz brings to the table. And what’s interesting is they may seem to be in tension. For starters, here’s the ultimate everyday man, somebody who grew up in a small town in Middle America, served in the National Guard, was a high school teacher, a football coach, very plain-spoken, goes to campaign events wearing T-shirts and baseball caps, is a gun owner and very proud about it. He sort of embodies the Midwest.

And she clearly thinks that that is going to bring the kind of moderate, white, working class voters that the campaign needs in swing states to come to them, to make this feel like a balanced ticket and something that will give her enough of the crucial votes to defeat Donald Trump in the fall.

On the other hand, as governor, he passed a slew of pretty progressive legislation in the past couple of years, everything from abortion rights to gun control. So these things are likely to appeal to bread and butter Democrats.

But the question is, when voters have examined these two facets of Tim Walz, may it bring them enough enthusiasm from the base and enough undecided voters that the campaign desperately needs, or at some point, do these two aspects of him start canceling each other out?

Right. In short, you’re saying Harris is betting on a dual appeal from Walz to two essential constituencies, but the risk is that the appeal to one of them is just much, much greater than to the other.

Right. You could definitely see a scenario where voters, once they’ve examined Tim Walz’s story and legacy, may conclude that both of these candidates are quite liberal.

OK, so tell us the story of Tim Walz, a story that I think a lot of us don’t know because we really don’t know Walz all that well, and how he has come to embody these two qualities and that tension that you just described.

Michael, the origin story of Tim Walz’s political career is quite fascinating.

He and his wife were teachers in a small city south of Minneapolis. And in 2004, when George W. Bush was running for re-election, Walz took a group of his students to a political rally in his hometown. They wanted to just see the president make his case. And a strange scuffle happened when they were trying to get in.

Well, one of the kids had a John Kerry sticker on his wallet. And this is where the individual says, well, you’re not going to be allowed to enter. You’ve been deemed a threat.

Apparently, one of the students had a sticker for Bush’s rival, John Kerry, on his wallet. And security officials at the rally didn’t want to let them in.

And I said, oh, it’s OK. They’re with me. And who are you? And I said, I’m Tim Walz. I’m their teacher here, and showed them my ID. And they said, well, you two have been deemed a threat to the president. And I said, well, that’s not true. And it kind of escalated.

And this really ticked off Tim Walz. He was really upset. There was a fight and a confrontation at the rally.

At this point in time, I’m kind of nervous. I’m getting arrested. So I’m like saying, well, I’m Teacher of the Year in Mankato. And they didn’t care about that. And it was kind of a sad epiphany moment, how it felt for people to be looked right through by people. These people didn’t see me. And this is happening.

And ultimately, he sort of walks away from this moment feeling really sick of the Bush administration, the politics of the day. And he turns around and volunteers for the Kerry campaign.

And then the more interested he becomes in politics in this era, he starts looking around his congressional district, and there’s a Republican who’s held the seat for many, many years. This was a largely rural district in southern Minnesota. And there’s no reason to believe that a newcomer to politics, somebody without a donor base, could make a run for this seat and win.

But Walz signs up for this weekend boot camp, where expert campaigners train newcomers who want to run for office. And he gets really enthused by the idea that he can pull it off. So he starts raising money with the support of an army of students who become so thrilled and energized by the prospect that their nerdy and kind geography teacher is making this uphill bid for a congressional race.

So his campaign staff is basically his former students.

That’s right. And he proves to be a formidable candidate. He draws a lot of attention to his experience in the classroom and as a coach.

When I coached football, these stands held about 3,000 people. That’s a lot. It’s also the number of American soldiers who have died fighting in Iraq.

He’s a very strong advocate for pulling out of the war in Iraq.

Serving right now are kids that I taught, coached, and trained to be soldiers. They deserve a plan for Iraq to govern itself, so they can come home.

And one thing that happens in the campaign that is really surprising to people is he comes out as being in favor of same-sex marriage. Now, it’s useful to remember that this is 2006, when the vast majority of Democrats, Democrats running for most elected office, were not ready to come out in favor of same-sex marriage.

And here’s a guy who’s new to politics, who’s trying to unseat a Republican who’s held on to his seat for more than 12 years, taking what appeared to be a reckless position on something. And when he was asked about it at the time, Tim Walz told a supporter, this just happens to be what I believe in. And I’d rather lose a race that I’ve ran being true and consistent to my values than try to run as somebody I’m not.

And of course, he wins.

Yes. To everybody’s surprise, he pulled it off.

So from the get-go, he shows a kind of maverick, “politics be damned” quality, taking stands that he knows may be unpopular among the voters he’s trying to win over. But he’s got some innate political gifts that are all making it work.

Yeah, I think that first campaign showed us that Tim Walz had real political chops. He was a very effective campaigner. And people really liked him. When he was knocking on doors, when he was introducing himself to voters, they saw him as somebody who was very genuine and who was admirable.

So once he gets elected in this conservative leaning district in Minnesota, what does he actually do in Congress?

In Congress, he develops a reputation for being somebody who can work across the aisle. And this is a period where Democrats and Republicans were deeply polarized over the Iraq War. He spends a lot of his time lobbying to expand benefits for veterans, so it’s easier for them to go to college after their service, and also becomes a leading voice in the quest to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the policy that prohibited openly gay servicemen from serving in uniform.

And he remained really popular. He easily won re-election five times. The last time he runs for his seat happens to be 2016, when President Trump wins his district by about 15 points.

And still, voters kept Tim Walz in office.

I think it’s important to note what you just said. Walz is distinguishing himself as a Democrat who can take some pretty progressive positions, as he did in that first campaign on gay rights, as he did with Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and keep winning in very Trump-friendly districts of his state.

That’s right. And as he’s serving his sixth term in office, he sets his sights on the governor’s mansion and decides to run for office in 2018. He wins that race easily. And early on, during his time as governor, the eyes of the world are on Minnesota after a police officer kills George Floyd. And what we see is massive looting and protests in Minneapolis.

Right, and remind us how Governor Walz handles that violence, those protests.

Yeah, I think that’s a crucial chapter in Tim Walz’s political career and one that will come under scrutiny in the days ahead.

After George Floyd was killed on a Monday —

People are upset, and they’re tired. And being Black in Minnesota already has a stigma and a mark on your back.

— protests took root in Minneapolis.

Y’all want to sit out here and shoot off your rubber bullets and tear gas.

And they got progressively larger and more violent.

There comes a point where the mayor and the police chief in Minneapolis plead for help. They ask the governor to send in the National Guard. And crucially, that request was not immediately heeded.

This is the third precinct here. There are fires burning to the left of it at the —

And at the height of the crisis, a police precinct building was abandoned.

There’s someone climbing up the wall right now, kicking the window in, trying to climb up the wall.

Because city officials grew concerned that protesters were about to overrun it and may attack the cops inside their own turf.

[EXPLOSIONS]

And the building is set on fire.

Right, a very memorable image. I can recall it happening in real-time.

Yeah, and in the days that followed, I think there were a lot of questions of why the governor didn’t send in troops earlier and whether a more muscular, decisive response could have averted some of the destruction that spread through the city.

And how does Walz end up explaining his decision not to send in the National Guard more quickly?

The governor and his administration have said that they were really, really dealing with an unprecedented challenge. And I think there was a concern that sending in troops into this really, really tense situation could have done more to escalate rather than pacify things on the street.

But in the weeks and months that followed, there were a lot of questions about Governor Walz’s leadership. And there were critics who said, during what may have been the most challenging week of his life, we saw a governor who was indecisive and who waited too long to send in resources that ultimately allowed the city to get to a semblance of order.

Right, and it feels like this is a moment that will almost assuredly be used against him by Donald Trump and JD Vance, the Republican ticket, which has made law and order so central to their message in this campaign.

Yeah, absolutely. And here in Minnesota, that was certainly a liability for him when he ran for re-election in 2022. But voters kept him in office, and he won that race handily. And not only did he win, but Democrats managed to flip the Senate and have full control of the legislature on his watch.

And that sets in motion one of the most productive legislative sessions in Minnesota history, where Tim Walz and his allies in the House and the Senate managed to pass a trove of really progressive legislation, oftentimes on a party vote.

Tell us about some of that legislation.

Well, Minnesota becomes the first state in the wake of the Supreme Court ending the constitutional right to abortion to actually codify this right under state statute. And they did a lot more stuff. They had a huge budget surplus, and they used that, for instance, to fund meals for all school children.

They managed to pass a couple of gun control laws that were very contentious. They gave the right to undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses. They legalized recreational marijuana. And finally, the governor takes a pretty bold stance on this issue of gender affirming care for transgender kids and teenagers, and says that Minnesota will be a safe haven for people who want that health care.

So, Ernesto, so how should we think about that blitz of legislation and the largely progressive tone of it, given the way that Walz had campaigned and succeeded up to that moment as somebody with such broad appeal across the political spectrum?

When the governor was asked whether this had been too much too quickly in terms of progressive legislation, his answer was that these were broadly popular policies, that these are issues Democrats had campaigned on. And here, Democrats had a window of opportunity where they were in control of the governor’s mansion and control of the House, the Senate, and that when you have political capital, you spend it.

But when you start listening to Republicans in Minnesota, they say, here’s a guy who campaigned on this mantra of “One Minnesota.” That was his campaign slogan. And he sort of came into office with this promise that he would govern in a bipartisan way, reach across the aisle.

But when they had all the votes they needed to pass their policies, Republicans felt that Walz was not bothering to bring them into the fold and to pass legislation that was going to be palatable to conservatives in the state. So I think people who once regarded him as a moderate now start seeing him as somebody who, when he had the power, acted in ways that were really progressive and liberal.

So at the height of his power, Governor Walz emerges as somebody who, when given a shot at getting done what he really wants to get done with a Democratic legislature, is a pretty progressive leader, even at the risk of being somewhat at odds with his earlier image as more moderate, because in his mind, enough people in the state are behind these policies.

Yeah, and I think he assumed that he had banked enough goodwill and that people across the state liked him enough to tolerate policies they may have disagreed with. And I think it’s safe to say, among the people who cover him here regularly, there was never any real hint that Tim Walz was eyeing a run for higher office. He’s not somebody who has written the kind of political memoir that oftentimes serves as a case of what you would bring to a national ticket or to the White House. And he seems pretty happy with a state job.

So it was a huge surprise when Tim Walz starts going viral through a string of cable news appearances right after President Biden drops out of the race, and the Democrats are scrambling to put Harris at the top of the ticket. And what becomes clear is that Walz is very forcefully auditioning for the role of vice president, and Vice President. Harris starts taking him very seriously.

We’ll be right back.

So, Ernesto, tell us about this cable news audition that Governor Walz undertakes over the past few weeks and how, ultimately, it seemed to help him land this job of being Harris’s running mate.

I think Walz does something really interesting, and that is that he says that Democrats shouldn’t be talking about Trump and Vance as existential threats. He kind of makes the case that Democrats have been in this state of fear and paralysis for too long, and that it’s not serving them well. So the word he latches onto is “weird.”

Well, it’s true. These guys are just weird.

It is. It is.

And they’re running for he-man women hater’s club or something. That’s what they go at. That’s not what people are interested in.

And I think one other thing we see in Walz is somebody who’s putting himself out there as a foil to JD Vance.

That angst that JD Vance talks about in “Hillbilly Elegy,” none of my hillbilly cousins went to Yale, and none of them went on to be venture capitalists or whatever. It’s not —

I think the case he’s making is that Tim Walz is a more authentic embodiment of small town values.

What I know is, is that people like JD Vance know nothing about small town America. My town had 400 people in it, 24 kids in my graduating class. 12 were cousins. And he gets it all wrong. It’s not about hate.

And behind the scenes, people from Tim Walz’s days on Capitol Hill start calling everybody they know in the Harris campaign and the Harris orbit and saying, here’s a guy who has executive experience as governor, but also somebody who has a really impressive record from his time on Capitol Hill and somebody who could be an asset in helping a Harris administration pass tough legislation. So you should take a hard look at this guy.

Which is, of course, exactly what Harris ends up doing. And I want to talk for a moment about how Harris announces Walz as her running mate on Tuesday morning. She did it in an Instagram message. And it felt like the way she did it very much embraced this idea that you raised earlier, Ernesto, that Walz contains these two appeals, one to the Democratic base, one to the white working class.

Harris specifically cites the work that Walz did with Republicans on infrastructure and then cites his work on gun control. She mentions that he was a football coach and the founder of the high school Gay Straight Alliance. She’s straddling these two versions of Walz.

But I want to linger on the idea for a moment of Walz’s vulnerabilities, because once he becomes Harris’s running mate, Harris and Walz are going to lose a fair amount of control over how they present him to the country, because he’s going to become the subject of very fierce attacks from the Republicans in this race. So talk about that for just a moment.

Yeah, I mean, it’s important to keep in mind that Governor Walz has never endured the scrutiny of a presidential race. So the questions he’s going to be asked and the way his record is going to be looked at is going to be different and sharper. I think the Harris campaign is billing him as, first and foremost, a fighter for the middle class. And I think that certainly will have some appeal.

But I think in coming days, there’s going to be a lot of attention drawn to parts of his record that may be unpopular with many voters. For instance, giving undocumented immigrants driver’s licenses, which Governor Walz championed. It’s likely to provide fodder for an attack ad.

The very dramatic footage of Minneapolis burning in 2020 is also something that I think people will be drawn to. And there’s going to be interest in reexamining what the governor did and what he could have done differently to avert the chaos.

And on Tuesday, we saw that the Trump campaign wasted no time in trying to define Tim Walz as soft on crime, permissive on immigration policy. And they also made clear they wanted to relitigate the era of George Floyd’s killing. And specifically, they want to try to tie him to the effort at the time to defund the police, which is a movement that Walz personally never endorsed.

So the Republican attack here will be pretty simple. Walz is liberal. Harris is liberal. So, in their efforts to speak to especially white working class and rural voters in swing states, the Trump campaign is going to say this is not the ticket for that group of voters. This is the ticket of burning police precincts and gun control. And of course, that may not be fair, but that’s very likely going to be the message over the next couple of months.

Right. I think there’s going to be effort to portray him as a radical liberal who has used his small town roots to put on this sort of veneer of being a moderate and a really sort of understanding and being part of the segments of the electorate that I think are critical in this election.

I want to speak for just a moment about the person Harris did not pick when she chose Walz because many Democrats had felt that Walz was a potentially too liberal seeming running mate for a candidate, Kamala Harris, who herself comes from a blue state and is caricatured by the Republicans as liberal herself.

And the person she didn’t choose was Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, who was seen as having a huge appeal in that particular key swing state, but also presented risks of his own of alienating parts of the Democratic base with his well-documented support for Israel and his criticism of campus protesters. How should we think about the fact that, ultimately, Harris chose Walz over Shapiro?

Yeah, I think in the final stretch of this campaign to be the vice presidential pick, we started seeing a lot of acrimony in pockets of the Democratic base, drawing attention to the fact that Governor Shapiro could be divisive on Gaza, which has really sort of split the party in recent months.

So I think at the end of the day, they made a calculation that Tim Walz would be more of a unifying figure and would be somebody who would inspire and energize enough pockets of the electorate that they need, particularly in the Midwest, to make him the stronger and more exciting pick and somebody who wouldn’t force them to go back to defending and relitigating the Biden administration’s record on Israel and on the war in Gaza.

Right, and then, on Tuesday night, we got our first glimpse of Harris and Walz together on stage for the first time at a campaign rally. I’m curious, what struck you about their debut together.

Good evening, Philadelphia.

I think everybody was watching the opening scene of this rally to see what the chemistry between these two people was going to be like. And they both seemed giddy. They were literally, at times, bouncing with enthusiasm.

Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future.

So Pennsylvania, I’m here today because I found such a leader.

Governor Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.

They soon got down to business. And that business was how to define Tim Waltz for voters who don’t know him well.

To those who know him best, Tim is more than a governor.

And right off the bat, we saw that Kamala Harris really highlighted a lot of pieces of his pre-political career.

To his former high school football players, he was Coach.

She repeatedly called him Coach Walz, Mr. Walz, evoking his time in the classroom, and even used his military title from his days in the Army.

To his fellow veterans, he is Sergeant Major Walz.

And then when it came time for Tim Walz to introduce himself on this massive stage —

Welcome the next vice president of the United States, Tim Walz.

— he drew a lot of attention to his small town roots.

I was born in West Point, Nebraska. I lived in Butte, a small town of 400.

He said something that he said repeatedly recently in campaign appearances, which is —

In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule — mind your own damn business.

The golden rule of small towns is you mind your own damn business, which is something he said in the context of his argument that Republicans have been limiting, rather than expanding, people’s rights. But he also drew attention to the fact that he’s a gun owner.

By the way, as you heard, I was one of the best shots in Congress. But in Minnesota, we believe in the Second Amendment, but we also believe in common sense gun violence laws.

And then when it came time to draw a sharp contrast with their opponents, Tim Walz said, these guys are phonies.

Donald Trump is not fighting for you or your family. He never sat at that kitchen table like the one I grew up at, wondering how we were going to pay the bills. He sat at his country club in Mar-a-Lago, wondering how he can cut taxes for his rich friends.

He said it’s actually people like me and Kamala Harris who come from humble origins and showed what is possible in America when you hail from a working class background, and you seize opportunities that were available to you.

Thank you, Philadelphia. Thank you, Vice President. God bless America.

So when it comes to this question of Walz’s dual identities and dual appeals, what did we learn on day one of this new Democratic ticket, do you think?

I think the campaign is trying to convey that these two facets of Tim Walz’s life are not mutually exclusive, that they don’t need to be in tension. They don’t cancel each other out. They’re both part of Tim Walz’s story. And I think that’s how they’re going to present him from now until Election Day.

Ernesto, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

It’s my pleasure, Michael.

Here’s what else you need to know today. On Tuesday, Hamas said that Yahya Sinwar, one of the masterminds behind the deadly October 7 attacks on Israel, had consolidated his power over the entire organization. Until now, Sinwar had held the title of Hamas’s leader in Gaza. But with the assassination of Hamas’s top political leader by Israel last week, Hamas said that Sinwar would take on that title as well. Sinwar remains a major target of Israel and is believed to have been hiding in tunnels underneath Gaza since October 7.

And the US Department of Justice has charged a Pakistani man with ties to Iran with trying to hire a hitman to assassinate political figures in the United States. The man recently traveled to the US and was arrested in New York last month. American authorities believe that his potential targets likely included former President Trump.

Today’s episode was produced by Alex Stern, Eric Krupke, and Olivia Natt. It was edited by Lisa Chow and Patricia Willens, contains original music by Pat McCusker and Marion Lozano, and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Nick Pittman and Minnesota Public Radio.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.

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Earlier this summer, few Democrats could have identified Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.

But, in a matter of weeks, Mr. Walz has garnered an enthusiastic following in his party, particularly among the liberals who cheer on his progressive policies. On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris named him as her running mate. Ernesto Londoño, who reports for The Times from Minnesota, walks us through Mr. Walz’s career, politics and sudden stardom.

On today’s episode

Ernesto Londoño , a reporter for The Times based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest.

Background reading

Who is Tim Walz , Kamala Harris’s running mate?

Mr. Walz has faced criticism for his response to the George Floyd protests.

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Michael Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson, Nina Lassam and Nick Pitman.

An earlier version of this episode misstated the subject that Walz’s wife taught. She taught English, not Social Studies.

How we handle corrections

Ernesto Londoño is a Times reporter based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest and drug use and counternarcotics policy. More about Ernesto Londoño

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