Search headlines

Fight for the Black vote intensifies in Michigan, a voting bloc El-Sayed can’t afford to lose

Oct 20 • 8:41 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

GOP leans on anti-Trans attacks as economy & corruption are top issues

Oct 20 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

White House officials fear a post-midterms Trump rampage

President Donald Trump still has two weeks to salvage his Republican congressional majorities and defy expectations of a midterm wipeout. But all around him, aides and allies are bracing for what happens if he fails. CNN’s Kristen Holmes reports.

Oct 20 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Vivek Ramaswamy ad features opponent’s estranged mother

Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy backs controversial political campaign featuring his Democratic opponent Amy Acton’s estranged mother.

Oct 20 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Nancy Wyman remembered as Connecticut political pioneer

"Do you want to tell the story of why there are still millions of people in this country who have insurance?" asked U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy. "That story runs through Nancy Wyman."

Oct 20 • 7:19 PM EDT • Politics • ctinsider.com

Apple CEO John Ternus says design still means everything & includes whimsey

"Design is how it works" rings true at Apple today, and John Ternus wants to assure everyone that respect for the user and building products that are beneficial is "job one."

Oct 20 • 5:23 PM EDT • Technology • appleinsider.com

Android 17 QPR3 Beta 2 Released for Pixel Phones

Google released Android 17 QPR3 Beta 2 to all of its still-supported Pixel devices today. If you own a Pixel 6a up through the new Pixel 11 series, you can get an update with fresh software. This latest update has at least 20 fixes and improvements, which is welcome to see. The first QPR3 Beta...

Oct 20 • 4:36 PM EDT • Technology • droid-life.com

Judi Dench still hasn’t seen “Cats”, calls it a ‘waste’ of talent in new memoir: ‘I can’t bear it’

She confessed that she “didn’t feel right” in her role as Old Deuteronomy.

Oct 20 • 3:07 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

‘High Potential’ star Matthew Lamb, 14, reveals his mother died: ‘Still doesn’t feel real’

‘High Potential’ star Matthew Lamb, 14, shared a heartbreaking message announcing the death of his mother: ‘There’s so much she is going to miss in my life.’

Oct 20 • 2:36 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com

Dan Campbell Delivers Encouraging Kerby Joseph Injury Update

Dan Campbell says he expects Kerby Joseph to play for the Detroit Lions this season, but the All-Pro safety still has no return timeline.

Oct 20 • 2:17 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

‘Once Upon a Time in Harlem’ film review: A must-see on Black history, arts, and politics

In 1972, Harlem-born documentarian William Greaves filmed a historic gathering of many still-living talents who had experienced the Harlem Renaissance, which had transpired about 50 years earlier. The Harlem Renaissance was a Black awakening in the arts, politics, fashion, etc.

Oct 20 • 2:10 PM EDT • Politics • peoplesworld.org

How 800 Pound Gorilla became the biggest indie animal in comedy

800 Pound Gorilla marks 10 years of backing comedians including Jim Jefferies, Bill Burr, Nikki Glaser, Leanne Morgan, Patton Oswalt and Chad Daniels.

Oct 20 • 2:09 PM EDT • Entertainment • latimes.com

NMSU professors collaborate on $1.2 million NASA grant

American third grade classrooms are filled with natural-born scientists – children obsessed with asking why and treating the world as an open-ended laboratory. But as they cross the threshold into...

Oct 20 • 2:06 PM EDT • Science • newsroom.nmsu.edu

Sundar Pichai: Google’s Frontier Imperative, Compute Scarcity Dilemmas, Future AI Products and Businesses

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has little patience for doubts about Google’s willingness or capacity to compete at the frontier of AI. His company’s latest Gemini 4 Argon model — long-promised and recently delivered — beats OpenAI and Anthropic’s latest public models on coding, math, science, and knowledge-work benchmarks and has placed Google’s AI back among the world’s best. Amid chatter that Google was fine with good-enough lightweight ‘Flash’ models, Pichai pushed back hard against any suggestion that company is limiting its research ambitions. “We won’t do it any other way,” he told me in a Big Technology Podcast interview recorded this week at Google’s Mountain View headquarters. Pursuing cutting-edge research is costly for Google, requiring compute and chips that otherwise could be sold at a high markup by its cloud business. But Pichai said allocating resources to frontier AI development is “ground zero” for Google. “Our cloud business is at any given moment in time forgoing short-term revenues because we are making compute trade-offs to support frontier AI development,” Pichai told me. In our conversation, we discussed Argon (which Pichai says processed three times as many tokens as Gemini 3 in the 72 hours after launch), AI’s role in developing better models, the AI interface of the future, competition with OpenAI, Google’s partnerships with Anthropic and Apple, data centers in space, and the nature of his optimism. You can read the full conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity, below, or listen to it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice. Alex Kantrowitz: Google is back at the frontier with Gemini 4 Argon, which beats OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s public models on benchmarks spanning coding, math, science, and knowledge work. The conventional wisdom was that Google had given up on the frontier to focus on fast, good-enough models for its products. That was wrong? Sundar Pichai: Very wrong. Look, we are so committed to being at the frontier. It’s in our DNA. We won’t do it any other way. We’ve been thinking about the AI frontier for well over a decade now. The frontier is very dynamic. It’s very competitive. It’s very exciting. I couldn’t be more pleased with how Argon has come together. We took our time with it. We made sure we tested it safely and deployed it carefully. We took a bit longer than our other models, given its capabilities. Across the board, be it for agentic work, knowledge work, coding, creative tasks, Argon is one of the really good frontier models. The first 72 hours since we launched, it’s almost up to 25 trillion tokens used, which is about three times what Gemini 3.0 had in the first 72 hours. And we are capacity constrained as we are serving it. Excited, but there are always areas….. You know, the frontier is very dynamic, and you have to keep evolving the models. There are areas which we can see we need to improve as well. We’ll be at work on all of that as well. Which areas? On any given model, Argon would be across the board better at everything if you just look even two months back. But the space is so evolving. Even on coding, for example, there are pockets where we know we need to do better, and there’s clear feedback. We’ll make it better. The argument for standard models is that they’re already good enough to build great products, with the frontier valuable only for certain tasks. Meta built Muse with good models rather than the best, and Google could put standard models into Maps, Gmail, and Search. Why isn’t that sufficient? It’s definitely not how I have thought about it at all. We are deeply committed to driving the state of the art and actually pushing where this technology can go, all the way from transformers. That’s a journey we’ve been on. You will see us continue to do that. When you’re at the frontier, you get an earlier look into the emerging capabilities, earlier than others, which helps you better prepare for the future. We are fortunate to have a wide set of opportunities across consumer and enterprise. Some of our cloud customers, for sure, want the model at the frontier. The frontier models will be better at developing the next set of models in an era of recursive self-improvement. I would argue it matters there. Internally, we have definitely seen a steep point of inflection by deploying Argon to our developers. It definitely tackles problems which our previous models could not do. Being at the frontier puts you at the innovation frontier and helps you drive that as well. There is room for models of all sizes and capabilities. That’s why we did Flash, Flash-Lite, etc. I agree with you that you can develop very good product experiences with not necessarily the most frontier model, because they tend to be slower and more expensive too. But we care about the Pareto frontier, and we’re committed to doing all of that. You said developing frontier models gives you a look at what’s coming. What do you see on the horizon? What makes this moment so exciting is you build something which you think is a culmination of months of work, and you put it out. You already see clear headroom ahead. We’ve all been working on these agentic, long-horizon capabilities, but clearly the frontier is going to have multiple of these agents working together to do things. That’s an example of an exciting paradigm underway. It’s also clear to me that users, both in consumer and enterprise, will have access to some multi-agent framework for them, working all the time doing things. It feels like a moment of infinite possibilities. Sergey Brin said one of Argon’s core innovations was relying more on the model to help develop the model. Yet incidents involving OpenAI’s bots breaking containment and Google’s bots accessing a site they shouldn’t have suggest these systems still aren’t perfectly aligned. Isn’t there reasonable cause for concern about accelerating toward recursive self-improvement? There are three parts to your question. Let’s first talk about RSI itself. You’re right, Sergey mentioned RSI being a critical contributor as we are developing Argon. But to be very clear, today, in a continuum, we are pretty far from the end state of RSI or something like that. The right way to describe it is you have RSI loops along with AI researchers in various aspects of model development. You almost have agents helping AI researchers in some automated way work together to build these models. It’s good to at least understand where we are today, and it’s super exciting. I expect that continuum to keep making progress as we go into next year. The second question is around safety. Security comes from defense in depth. You’re talking about alignment, obviously. We all are doing a lot of work to make sure the models are as aligned as possible. But it’s an active area of research, and there are clear gaps. That’s not the only thing we rely on. You have the work you do on alignment, but beyond that, we put a lot of effort into real-time monitoring as these models are working. Making sure you have good telemetry into what’s happening so that you can intervene in real time if you see unexpected behaviors. How you do that, the architecture with which you do that, how you make sure it’s all sandboxed and isolated in a way that it can continue doing its job during real-time monitoring — these are all areas of investment. Obviously, when we deploy these models, giving customers, enterprises, control, both with real-time monitoring, but their ability to decide where they deploy, what type of data which models ever have access to, etc. All that work is very, very important, and we are doing a lot of that. As an industry, we need to constantly up our game and take the time to do all this stuff, including dedicating the compute required to make sure you can safely deploy these models. The third part is: Is it all enough? This is why there are a lot of conversations in the industry, and I think it’s reasonable to be worried. The right way to approach something you worry about is early on thinking about what more we can do. As an industry, you’re definitely seeing increased levels of work on alignment, testing for safety, etc., as we deploy these models. The next step would be developing better standards so there are cross-industry standards of how we do these things, including the ability to evaluate using independent evaluators. If you look at areas like financial controls, we have accounting standards, we have independent auditors. Those are all the next natural steps for us as an industry to work toward, and regulation will end up playing a role as we go through all of that as well. Google pursues both language models and world models, while some other AI companies like OpenAI have focused more heavily on LLMs as the path to AGI. Why is world-model research important to you? As humans, you obviously perceive the world around you, and you’re taking all those inputs. Making sure these models are able to understand the laws of physics, simulate the world in high fidelity. All that, I think, are key enabling blocks for intelligence. We are working across all possible applications of this. Take an area like robotics. It’s not an accident: If you look at embodied reasoning benchmarks, Argon is state of the art. That all comes from our experience building world models. Inherently, I would expect there will be architectures which will converge all of this in the future. But for us, we view this as, today, this jagged frontier that is intelligence. We want to be at the frontier of all the possible approaches, and that will help us both drive better research, better insights, and develop a much better AGI model, is how we think about it. Some people argue Google should focus on selling its computing resources rather than using them for AI research. Cloud wants to sell compute at a high markup, while researchers need a very big computer to build the best models. How do you balance those demands? Ground zero for us is making sure we are investing in the compute that’s needed to be at the AI frontier. In 2015, I set the company to be AI-first. AI is that key horizontal ingredient across everything we do, all the way from Search to Cloud to Waymo. That is ground zero for us, making sure both for research and developing the models that we have enough compute needed. Beyond that, we have these independent businesses which each have their own long-range plans. They’re using those long-range plans to project forward, and we plan for compute for all of them. The cloud team, they have a business and they have a projection and they have demand signals. They have committed contracts. With that help, we can plan on a long-term compute trajectory for them. We’re fortunate to have this wide set of opportunities. There’s no company in the world which isn’t making trade-offs at any given moment in time. But the first principles we operate on is making sure we have enough compute to invest in the frontier, and that’s non-negotiable, and everything else works on top. Remember, we are building our own compute, our own data centers. There are long lead times. The compute we have today is a function of decisions I made in 2024. Even if you think back to a year from today, last year the agentic coding takeoff hadn’t happened. Today, obviously, when you sit and look at anything, everyone is short—not just us, other companies—and everyone wishes you had two times what you had planned for. That comes with the territory. At any given moment in time, we are planning for what we would need two to three years out in the future. You’re going to find some decisions you make may look suboptimal two years out, depending on where the state of the art is. I don’t spend too much time thinking about it. The way I think about compute allocation is making sure Google DeepMind, both for research and frontier model development, is cutting edge in terms of compute access. After that, we plan for all our businesses. It’s great we can provide our compute to other people too, like we have done. It allows us to scale that up, get real tests for it in the widest application set possible, test it in the real world, and make sure we are at the cutting edge of technology at every layer of our AI stack as well. Ben Horowitz relayed on a podcast that Andy Jassy had said compute was sold out until 2028. Are you seeing the same thing? If today a customer is coming out and asking us for compute in ’27, that is incredibly difficult to do. Even last year we went out and leased some short-term compute to accommodate some customers and help them out. But yes, we are all dealing with similar timelines. Every major technology shift seems to involve overbuilding, from railroads to fiber. Do you think that’s happening here? It depends on the time frames you’re looking at. This level of build, if I take a long enough time frame, it makes complete sense to me. We are at early stages of the most consequential technology ever, and this is not like fiber. It’s not dark. We are using it. We are capacity constrained on a daily basis. The applications, the underlying technology is improving rapidly. But running a company, the way I work through the moment is you look at your demand signals. You look at your committed revenue opportunities that you’re getting in the form of contracts. You balance that with the underlying technical capability, or internally you balance how we are using it internally, the model trajectories. Based on all that, you take a disciplined approach—a confident, aggressive, but disciplined approach—to plan out compute. But when you talk about the broader economy as a whole, you’re having people operate with various levels of risk. I focus on what I can control as a company and plan through it. If your question is, can there be an overbuild? Yes, because you can have some constrained components. Remember, what matters is a set of everything you need to build out that compute. Memory, electricity, electricians…. Land. Like 2,000 components or more. You could get constrained at some point. There could be things which cause bottlenecks, and then you could have overbuilds. There could be external shocks to the economy. There are macro risks. All that is possible at any given time. But am I confident that the compute we are planning for, we will have uses for it given enough time? Absolutely, yes. I was in the room when you said AI would be as profound as fire and electricity. If you believe that, shouldn’t you give researchers the biggest possible computer, even at the expense of today’s cloud profits? We’re all doing some form of that. Our cloud business is at any given moment in time forgoing short-term revenues because we are making compute trade-offs to support frontier AI development. What you’re seeing is true already. But you want to be thoughtful. Even our AI researchers have some constraints, which are also good. That’s what inspires creativity. That’s what helps you come up with a more efficient algorithmic breakthrough, maybe to use less memory. What we are committed to is to invest what’s needed to stay at the frontier. OpenAI President Greg Brockman told me a few months ago that the ideal AI product might have no interface at all—just as natural as conversation. What do you think the interface looks like in the age of AI? Computing historically has been humans adapting to computing. With AI, it’ll be the other way around. The technology will adapt seamlessly to how humans live and go about their day-to-day life. You want to be able to speak to that AI when you want to. It has context. It can be persistently running somewhere, give you continuity. You’re not dealing with a lot of complexity. It’s natural. All that makes sense to me. That doesn’t mean it won’t have any interface, however. Nowadays, even on my phone, Gemini voice models are so good. I can just press the microphone button. I can just ramble. That’s why we call it Rambler. I can ramble. It intelligently corrects with my personal context. Even my friends’ names, weird names, it gets it right, even if it first guesses it wrong. It’s amazing. I’m not going in, backspacing, editing once I finish saying it. It’s remarkable how good it’s gotten. But there are going to be moments you will need an interface. You may want to entertain yourself. You may want to watch a video. You may ask your AI to create something, and you want to watch it, consume it. The way I think about it is, you want it to be as seamless and as natural as possible, and that you are not doing the hard work adapting to whatever the interface is. The technology is adapting to how you’re working at any given moment in time. When I asked Sam Altman about competition from Google, he argued that OpenAI was building AI-native products and implied Google was bolting AI onto existing ones. Do you accept that framing, and can a “bolt-on” compete with an AI-native product? First of all, it’s a very dynamic moment. We are all pushing each other. OpenAI has pushed us as a company too. This is not just we are doing something to them. Far from it. Yes, Google went into its own version of a code red too. In the AI moment, all of us have to respond with varying levels of urgency at any given moment in time. We are constantly building new products as well. Gemini was built from the ground up as a product—the Gemini app I’m talking about. Or tomorrow, as all of us are adapting to agents, are you bolting agents onto ChatGPT, or are they building it natively? How would you think about that? You can always put these questions back. I don’t think of it that way. I think of it as you want to build world-class product experiences that are AI-native and they are winning. Some of it is adapting products, some of it is rethinking new experiences. They will all be part of how you approach this moment. How do you expect to make money from these AI interfaces? If an agent recommends a product and I buy it, should it take a cut of the sale, even if that’s disclosed? I’m going to put enterprise aside. Consumers are going to increasingly value this technology. Take software developers today. Developers are willing to pay for these coding models because it really helps make them more productive. Nobody would want to code the way they were coding three years ago, or even the same time last year. When you’re delivering value, there’s value to be had. I’ve never seen examples where consumer products really scale to billions of users, where people are using it intensely, and haven’t had monetization to go along with it. If you’re providing value to people, there is inherent value to be had. The nature of it may change. You’re asking a scenario in which agents are doing stuff for you. At the end of the day, you will have commercial needs. The agents need to fulfill those commercial needs. The providers on the other side are going to see value in that. There’s going to be some mechanism by which it gets fleshed out. That’s what an efficient system does. But what matters is that you’re building those world-class consumer experiences. I promised myself one product feature request: Can you make Gemini-powered search in Gmail as good as searching Gmail through ChatGPT? What’s going on here? One of the exciting things we announced recently is the unified Gemini agent for enterprise, and we’re bringing that to consumers. These are persistent agents which run 24/7 in the cloud. We’re spinning up a micro VM effectively for every query, and from the runtime, the harness, the model—it’s all a headless service. It’ll work everywhere, and it has your context with you. You can address this agent whether you’re in Workspace, in Search, in Gemini. Agents are going to drive this unification from a customer experience, which people are looking for. When you have a broad product portfolio and you’re moving forward fast, there are always areas where you’re moving forward faster than some other areas. That’s valid feedback. But we are putting a lot of time and effort into making sure, as we build out our agentic experience, that unification and that capability works well across all these services. People have asked where Google’s equivalent of Muse or Dots is. Do you anticipate creating a new product to compete with them? Our goal with Gemini is to be a personal, proactive, and powerful assistant. That’s what we are working toward. You saw us describe the early versions of it at Google I/O this year with Spark. Effectively, already, if you open the Gemini app as a Pro or an Ultra user, you see Chat and Task, and they start giving you that agentic experience. With Argon now, that capability is dramatically accelerated. What we announced recently in our enterprise event, we are bringing that to consumers as well. Soon in Gemini, you will be able to ask something, and it’s a continuum. You don’t need to think about whether you’re asking a chat or an agentic task. It’ll just automatically do the right thing, and it can work persistently in the background securely and get things done for you. Already, empirically, when I look at what’s coming into Gemini in our app, last year you would have tagged them and most of them would have been chats. But a steadily growing percentage is already agentic tasks in Gemini. Yes, we are going to bring personal agents to our consumers. It’ll work in the Gemini app. It’ll work in Google Search. It’ll work in Gmail. You can address it, call it, etc. We want to make sure we’re getting it right. It’ll be powered by Argon, and we are very excited to bring it to our users. Google has invested and committed tens of billions of dollars to Anthropic. What do you see in Dario Amodei that makes you want such a deep investment and partnership? Very early on, when we looked at the founding team of Anthropic, it was very clear to us this was a world-class team which was involved in some of the earliest GPT models. We were quickly able to assess that they would be at the frontier. We’ve always tried to identify and partner with companies which would be at the cutting edge of technology. We’ve done that with SpaceX. We’ve done that with Anthropic. That’s what we saw, and we had a chance to partner. Is your partnership with Apple to license Gemini for Siri expanding, contracting, or standing still? For both us and Apple, that partnership was about translating the capabilities of AI into better experiences for users. I thought Apple has done a phenomenal job of incorporating—they customize these models and build it into Siri—and it’s been great to see the reception. We are committed to doing more. You’re going to do more with them? There’s nothing specific to comment, but it’s a partnership. It’s working well. What have you learned so far about the feasibility of data centers in space? It’s a very exciting project. Projects like this remind me—I still recall that moment in the desert for the DARPA Grand Challenge, watching the Stanley car compete in it, which ended up being the basis for Waymo. With all these technologies, you’re at a moment in time where it looks a bit like sci-fi, but 10 to 20 years down the line, it’s actually working in a meaningful way. I feel the same in space. We’ve always believed in betting big on these technologies. Quantum has been a great example of it. We’re probably 10 years into the journey. Waymo, we are almost 20 years into the journey. Space, we are two to three years into the journey. It’s clear to me that it’s an approach which will make a lot of sense in the future. Being in sub-synchronous orbits with 24/7 access to the most abundant form of energy we have access to will make a lot of sense for this exponential increase in compute that we are going to need. Having said that, this is a challenging project. The team has disciplined milestones. It was a super exciting milestone to send the TPUs up to space. Sometime, as we are speaking, we are expecting a “hello world” moment from them. I look forward to seeing that happen, and we’ll continue investing here too. You previously said 25% of the code written within Google was written by AI. What’s the number today? That number in our world today is meaningless in the sense that every part of what we now touch is influenced by AI deeply. What we are tracking with Argon, for example, it’s been a point of inflection. People are using Argon to really go tackle complex projects, including projects which affect millions of lines of code. In the four weeks since we have launched Argon, we have seen a 30% increase in CLs, and more importantly, almost a similar increase—a one-third decrease in rollbacks. People are writing code more productively and better code with it. We are tracking it with newer metrics now. How are you dealing with opposition to data centers? If you can’t build in the U.S. the way you want to, where else do you go? We’re very committed to building our data centers very responsibly. When I look at our largest data centers in some of the communities where we have been the longest, I visit them, I talk to people. There are people who come and tell us their kids have gone to college because of our investments in these communities, and we’ve grown in those communities. To me, this is about doing it right. Engaging with the communities early, doing it transparently. We are committed to making sure we are bringing incremental power, and we cover 100% of the cost of our power needs for these projects. It’s understanding the impact on neighborhoods and making sure you’re working thoroughly to address them. Done rightly, you can continue making progress. But we are constantly taking feedback into account. I do worry not everyone operates the same way. People have been surprised by data centers showing up in their backyard. Those are all important. As an industry, we should continue to do better. But part of the reason, in a 20-year time frame, we are thinking about things like data centers in space is making sure we are able to put these data centers where maybe the trade-offs will be different. What unproven area of AI is Google working hardest to crack? Is it continual learning—getting models to keep updating after release—or something else? There are multiple parallel paths. You saw with Argon we have a million output tokens. With our Gemini models early on, we had a one-million context window on the input side. These are all examples of breakthroughs we are constantly working on. How do you think about synthetic data? How do you think about continual learning? How do you think about more efficient architectures? We do dedicate a meaningful percentage of our compute to these research bets too. It always goes hand in hand, including our world models. Those are all bets we are placing. Sometimes, as part of these bets, there are ideas that emerge which just make their way into the mainline models. Maybe we don’t fully talk about it, but we have multiple steps in these areas. Working in technology requires optimism that building something will improve the world, but those bets can leave real consequences when they fail. I recently returned to a town in El Salvador where enthusiasm for Bitcoin had given way to unfinished construction and something resembling a ghost town. How do you maintain the optimism you spoke about in your Stanford commencement address while accounting for those risks? I genuinely have a deep conviction that improving technology and improving access to technology makes people’s lives better. It’s been my personal experience in my life, out of which comes that deep conviction, optimism. But with that, I’ve always felt humanity’s journey is always about working hard to harness that technology to make it work well for society. The optimism is not an optimism that you just build whatever you want, whenever. You work hard to make sure you’re building technology in the service of humanity, to make the human condition better. That’s got to be the defining goal as we are approaching it. With that framework, I’m very, very optimistic. We are in very early stages of the kind of progress that we are going to see on many areas. We’re all talking about areas like healthcare. A lot of the progress is ahead. The ability to make things in a fundamentally cheaper way on many things where things have been getting expensive for a long, long time, discovering new materials, etc., which really bend the curve—it’s tough to step today and understand the impact of all that, but they’re going to be very profound. I’m very optimistic, but we have to be rightfully concerned about all the ways this technology can go wrong. Sundar, I know you don’t do many of these. Thank you. Thanks, Alex. Appreciate it.

Oct 20 • 1:47 PM EDT • Technology • bigtechnology.com

Voters in pre-election poll mixed on state of Massachusetts

Many respondents to a new poll believe Massachusetts has become a worse place to live over the past four years and they still favor keeping incumbent Gov. Maura Healey in

Oct 20 • 1:30 PM EDT • Politics • statehousenews.com

Kenny Atkinson Makes Candid Admission About Mario Hezonja’s Cavaliers Role

Kenny Atkinson says Cleveland is still learning how Mario Hezonja fits and does not want to put the returning NBA veteran in a box.

Oct 20 • 1:24 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

McLellan Sets the Tone as Red Wings Head West

The Red Wings head out for four straight with the Dylan Larkin question still unresolved. #RedWings

Oct 20 • 12:10 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

'GTA 6' at Risk as PS5 Hackers Officially Claim Major New Breakthrough

Fans are hoping GTA 6 will be playable on PC soon, but PS5 jailbreak hackers still face hurdles

Oct 20 • 12:09 PM EDT • Technology • polygon.com

Nvidia Has Reason to Rescue CoreWeave | AI & Business for October 20

Plus, Musk’s donation pledge, and consumers are still wary of giving agents their credit cards.

Oct 20 • 12:00 PM EDT • Business • wsj.com

Lions Named Trade Fit for Chargers’ Young Defender

The Los Angeles Chargers are sitting at 0-6 and likely to be sellers at the trade deadline. After Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press suggested the team call the Chargers for cornerback Tarheeb Still or Donte Jackson, Mike Payton of A to Z Sports suggests the Chargers’ other cornerback is the best fit of […] The post Lions Named Trade Fit for Chargers’ Young Defender appeared first on HEAVY.

Oct 20 • 10:34 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Evolution of women’s healthcare focus of URI’s annual Youngken Clinic

KINGSTON, R.I. — Oct. 20, 2026 — Women’s healthcare is evolving rapidly, and while greater emphasis has been placed on comprehensive care, women still face more barriers to healthcare than men, according to the National Institutes of Health. Pharmacists are key players in helping break down those barriers, playing an increasingly important role in improving […]

Oct 20 • 10:24 AM EDT • Health • uri.edu

Spotify pulled 50 million AI slop and spam tracks from its recommendations

Spotify still isn’t labeling AI tracks, though.

Oct 20 • 10:18 AM EDT • Entertainment • theverge.com

Christina Applegate feels ‘hollow’ and ‘scared’ after MS misdiagnosis

“I’m still in this.”

Oct 20 • 9:58 AM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

The Odds: GOP Popularity?

Oct 20 • 9:54 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Law & Order: College Basketball — How the NCAA's eligibility rules have created chaos before the season's even begun

As the college basketball season quickly approaches, many schools are still trying to fill out their rosters as they navigate legal challenges to NCAA eligibility rules.

Oct 20 • 8:58 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Dodgers notes: Shohei Ohtani and what might’ve been

As the baseball world prepares itself for a low-cost World Series, Dodgers fans might still be looking backwards at what might’ve been. Sonja Chen on MLB.com focuses on how the team managed Shohei Ohtani’s injuries, and what perhaps they might’ve done differently. “I haven’t been able to really come to grip in terms of what […]

Oct 20 • 8:18 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

My grandfather is 86 and still works. He won't retire.

My grandfather is 86 and still works as a doctor after 60 years. His commitment has inspired me to rethink retirement.

Oct 20 • 8:15 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

How much is DeForest Buckner worth on the trade market?

DeForest Buckner is still one of the Colts’ best defensive players, but age and his contract complicate his trade value.

Oct 20 • 8:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

CA immigration business seized over allegations of practicing law without a license

The State Bar of California raided the North American Immigration Center in Chino, calling it an unauthorized law firm

Oct 20 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • sacbee.com

JD Vance declines to endorse Netanyahu

Oct 20 • 7:20 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

“There is life after death.” Why science has no theory that can prove it

Science has studied people who came remarkably close to death, but the hardest question still remains beyond direct measurement. That gap is exactly where the debate becomes most interesting.

Oct 20 • 7:17 AM EDT • Science • yahoo.com

Stefon Diggs: It's still wide open for us

The Commanders fell to 1-4-1 when the clock ran out on Monday night, but wide receiver Stefon Diggs chose to accentuate the positive in the locker room after the game.

Oct 20 • 7:07 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

A note to readers: Science, accountability and elections

Dear readers, As early voting begins, I wanted to share some news — and why it connects to the decisions we make at the ballot box. I’ve been selected for the inaugural cohort of the South Atlantic Climate Journalism Hub mentorship program, hosted by Covering Climate Now. I’m excited to join this group, learn from scientists and fellow journalists, and expand my science reporting. Science directly ties to governance. Local officials make decisions about where development goes, how infrastructure is maintained, what emergency preparations receive funding, and how communities rebuild after disasters. Understanding the evidence behind those decisions helps us evaluate whether our government is serving us well. Here in western North Carolina, those connections are all around us, in Lake Lure and beyond. Flood maps inform decisions about property and development. Engineering assessments help identify risks at dams and bridges. Rainfall forecasts guide emergency preparations. Geological information helps explain landslide hazards. Water testing gives communities information they need to assess conditions. Meteorologists’ knowledge and public perception of weather events shape public safety. Each involves scientific or technical knowledge. Each also raises questions about public responsibility: What did officials know? How did they use that information? What did they tell the public? What did taxpayers receive for their money? A study can identify a problem. Elected officials still have to decide what to do about it, how to pay for it, and how to explain their choices. Reporting should examine both the evidence and the response. That is where I want to strengthen my work. My reporting on Helene recovery, infrastructure, flooding, public safety, and public spending has repeatedly brought me to questions that require scientific expertise alongside public records. This mentorship may help me better understand the research, ask more precise questions, and explain the answers clearly. I also bring the perspective of someone living with these concerns. I live downstream of Lake Lure Dam, and landslides affected my property during Helene. Those experiences bring urgency to my questions. Careful reporting helps establish the answers. Readers deserve to know what the evidence shows, where uncertainty remains, and whether officials accurately describe the information guiding their decisions. You also deserve scrutiny of proposed solutions: what they cost, what they are expected to accomplish, and what risks remain. Access to that information matters. As a mostly deaf journalist who relies on written communication, I will continue pressing for written public warnings, records, and explanations that people can read and use in real time. As you consider the candidates seeking your vote, consider how they approach evidence, preparedness, and transparency. Do they support local journalism, even when it’s not parroting a press release? Do they explain weather events clearly in plain English and explain their decisions after them? Make supporting records available? Acknowledge uncertainty? Follow through when a report identifies a risk? Those are practical questions about governing. Thank you for supporting Cops & Congress and the work that makes these questions part of the public conversation. I’m grateful to David Dickson and the CC Now team for this opportunity, and I look forward to bringing what I learn back to you. Annie DanceEditor & Publisher, Cops & Congress — Learn more about this newsletter, ethics policy, how you can help shape this work, and support it. Follow on X and Facebook. Send constructive criticism, fan mail, and tips with public documents for future stories: CopsandCongress@gmail.com ICYMI: View the Cops & Congress archive — Annie Dance is the publisher of Cops & Congress, a newsletter that analyzes what happens when crime, courts, disaster, democracy, and small-town policies collide. Views expressed here are covered by the First Amendment. Dance has a Bachelor of Arts from Manhattan University in Communication with a focus in Journalism and Government. She has been a journalist for over 20 years. Share Upgrade now or give a gift subscription

Oct 20 • 6:56 AM EDT • Science • anniedance.substack.com

As Hollywood implodes, is success still possible for a striving actor?

Last year 34-year-old actor Katie Folger moved from Austin into a Silver Lake casita to pursue her acting dream. Now she's performing a one-woman show called "Getting in Bed With the Pizza Man" at Elysian Theater. But will the TV pilot sell?

Oct 20 • 6:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • latimes.com

Gen Z founders want lean teams, but they still crave coworkers

I visited a NYC office full of Gen Z startup founders and discovered why building a company with AI doesn't always mean wanting to work alone.

Oct 20 • 5:23 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

Auburn's Georgia Upset Didn't Hide the Problems Alex Golesh Still Wants Fixed

Auburn head coach Alex Golesh isn't overlooking the Tigers' mistakes after their 27-24 upset of No. 1 Georgia. Ahead of Saturday's LSU matchup, Golesh emphasized fixing penalties and dropped passes, building on Byrum Brown's improved offensive role, and developing Auburn's young defense.

Oct 20 • 4:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Final Fantasy Resonance Review: On Its Own Wavelength

Final Fantasy Resonance (Switch 2) Review – 9/10: It may have one foot planted in the series' history, but in a time when mainline Final Fantasy is still figuring itself out, Final Fantasy Resonance is easy to recommend. - Game Informer

Oct 20 • 4:00 AM EDT • Technology • gameinformer.com

Ballots mailed out to Oregon voters: What to do if you didn’t get one

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Election Day is just over two weeks away and ballots in Oregon and Washington were mailed out last week. But there are plenty of voters still wondering where their bal…

Oct 19 • 10:23 PM EDT • Politics • koin.com

Reid Defends Kicker Who’s Still Taking Away Points

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker missed two kicks on Sunday, but Andy Reid doesn't sound concerned.

Oct 19 • 9:46 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Jalen Hurts’ Health Scare Puts NFL’s Relentless Expectations Into Perspective

Six days ago, the conversation surrounding Jalen Hurts was about football. His $255 million contract, Philadelphia's offensive struggles, and whether he was playing well enough to justify the enormous expectations that come with being a franchise quarterback. Those were fair questions. They still are, at least from a football standpoint. But Monday's news that Hurts …

Oct 19 • 9:36 PM EDT • Health • sports.yahoo.com

Jalen Hurts’ Health Scare Puts NFL’s Relentless Expectations Into Perspective

Six days ago, the conversation surrounding Jalen Hurts was about football. His $255 million contract, Philadelphia's offensive struggles, and whether he was playing well enough to justify the enormous expectations that come with being a franchise quarterback. Those were fair questions. They still are, at least from a football standpoint. But Monday's news that Hurts …

Oct 19 • 9:36 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Abdul El-Sayed leans into faith in new political ad

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed embraces faith as a core part of his identity after months of Republican criticism centered on his Muslim background.

Oct 19 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Stupid Never Dies Is Easily the Worst Game of 2026

Are we really still doing this?

Oct 19 • 6:00 PM EDT • Technology • polygon.com

Republicans pull funding in Ohio’s 1st District as race shifts toward Democrats

The district was once considered one of the most competitive in the country, with both parties viewing it as key to maintaining control of the House.

Oct 19 • 5:15 PM EDT • Politics • spectrumnews1.com

You can still get into Macklemore’s sold-out Red Rocks Amphitheatre show for under $100

The Seattle rapper plays a sold-out show in Morrison on Oct. 22.

Oct 19 • 5:11 PM EDT • Entertainment • syracuse.com

Midwest Emmys honor Sanford Health storytelling

Sanford Health News has earned another Upper Midwest Emmy, and this is the first win for multimedia journalist Jason Anschutz.

Oct 19 • 5:00 PM EDT • Health • news.sanfordhealth.org

Megyn Kelly Bemoans ‘You Can See Everything’ ‘Political’ Charlie Kirk Mentions: ‘Cannot Go Anywhere’

Megyn Kelly is still recommending "You Can See Everything" to her audience even if the Charlie Kirk mentions angered her.

Oct 19 • 4:47 PM EDT • Politics • yahoo.com

What Does a Human Heart Need to Grow? Scientists Found the Answer in a Bioprinted Model

Heart problems that babies are born with, called congenital heart defects, often begin developing early in pregnancy. Approximately three weeks after fertilization, the human heart is still a simple, straight tube of cells and, over the course of about five weeks, this tiny structure must undergo a remarkable transformation to reshape itself into the complex organ that eventually pumps blood throughout the body.

Oct 19 • 3:46 PM EDT • Science • pcrm.org

Arc Raiders player numbers hit a six-month high following the release of the extraction shooter's huge Frozen Trails update

Embark's Studios' PvEvP phenomenon Arc Raiders is still going strong, and it's all thanks to the game's recent free weekend and huge Frozen Trails update.

Oct 19 • 1:22 PM EDT • Technology • eurogamer.net

The Chase still has NASCAR chasing its former viewership

While NASCAR reintroduced its final stretch run, The Chase, to rekindle postseason interest, viewership for the races has remained lackluster. Over six races, the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase averages 1.62 million viewers, up just 1% year over year (1.61 million), per NASCAR Communications. So far, The Chase hasn’t delivered the viewership renaissance NASCAR hoped…

Oct 19 • 12:00 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

The RTX 5090 Isn’t 'Alive' if It Costs $10,000, No Matter What Nvidia Says

Nvidia's flagship GPU may still be in production, but that isn't saying much for the state of Nividia's RTX 50-series lineup.

Oct 19 • 11:30 AM EDT • Technology • gizmodo.com

Whiskey rebellion over 1868 law on home distilleries heads to the Supreme Court

When John Ream got into brewing beer at home nearly two decades ago, starting out was as easy as opening the kit his wife bought for him as a gift.

Oct 19 • 10:15 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Entertainment 360, Griffin Gaming: HITpoint Bridges Gaming, Hollywood

Bridging gaming and Hollywood, the new player will "source, develop, package, and produce adaptations" across genres, including action, horror, high-concept spectacle, comedy and beyond.

Oct 19 • 10:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • hollywoodreporter.com

FCC Commissioner on AI-generated political robocalls

Oct 19 • 9:56 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

The Odds: VP Vance to the rescue?

Oct 19 • 9:54 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Duchess Meghan is reading 'a lot of scripts' as she plans acting return

LONDON – Returning to acting is still a priority for Duchess Meghan.

Oct 19 • 9:35 AM EDT • Entertainment • centraloregondaily.com

Data or privacy? Businesses can have both, MIT Sloan research finds

Data regulation doesn’t necessarily cause economic harm. Markets — and consumers — can still derive economic benefits from data collection when it’s tempered by reasonable privacy guardrails.

Oct 19 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • mitsloan.mit.edu

Americans who go to church and trust science are also more likely to believe in ghosts and curses, new research shows

New research suggests many Americans who no longer affiliate with an organized religion may still believe in the supernatural in the form of things like tarot, astrology or psychic services.

Oct 19 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sltrib.com

Scientists discover why some people still can’t taste food after COVID-19

Scientists have uncovered a possible explanation for why some people struggle to taste food more than a year after recovering from COVID-19. By examining taste buds from patients with lingering symptoms, researchers discovered molecular abnormalities that weaken the signals responsible for detecting sweet, bitter, and savory flavors.

Oct 19 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

Meta removed "train" from its business terms after publisher backlash over scraping

Legal experts say the revised terms, set to take effect Oct. 30, could still let Meta scrape sites tied to business accounts

Oct 19 • 7:35 AM EDT • Business • qz.com

Behind the scenes at Nicolas Cage’s zombie shoot in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS — Watching a farmer draw water from a Stillwater well would be a chore if the “farmer” wasn’t Nicolas Cage, one of the biggest stars to commit to a

Oct 19 • 6:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • recorderonline.com

Pens Points: Korczak embracing fresh start with Penguins

Here are your Pens Points for this Monday morning… Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang recently marked 20 years since they first played together on Oct. 18, 2006. Twenty years later, the partnership—and friendships—still endure. [Post-Gazette] Defenseman Kaedan Korczak is embracing a fresh start in Pittsburgh after spending the first several years of his […]

Oct 19 • 6:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Elbit adds $235 million deal to growing European rocket business

The contract covers PULS artillery systems, EXTRA-MR rockets and logistical support. It follows a series of European rocket artillery deals worth more than $1.2 billion combined, according to estimates.

Oct 19 • 5:15 AM EDT • Business • calcalistech.com

CT manufacturing suppliers face costly cybersecurity rules to keep defense business

Connecticut defense suppliers like Windsor’s NE-XT Technologies are still investing in cybersecurity despite the Pentagon’s pause on CMMC audits.

Oct 19 • 4:00 AM EDT • Business • hartfordbusiness.com

Why Insured Workers Still Skip Healthcare

Employers know exactly what their health plan costs. What they usually don’t know is what it costs them when an employee needs care and doesn’t get it

Oct 19 • 4:00 AM EDT • Health • pymnts.com

🎥 Pitch completely flooded! Referee still considers kicking off

This has to be satire. Or so you might think when you watch the following clip from Spain’s fourth division. A match there was called off last weekend due to severe flooding in the region. But that ...

Oct 19 • 3:19 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

All Ja Morant Needs is New Scenery

Traded to Portland for a fresh start, the former All-Star joins a veteran backcourt to prove he can still dominate without the pressure of being the centerpiece.

Oct 18 • 11:49 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Lakers beat writer calls Adou Thiero a 'ceiling raiser'

It seems like the Lakers still see lots of potential in second-year forward Adou Thiero.

Oct 18 • 10:58 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Trump endorses Netanyahu days before Israeli elections

Oct 18 • 10:15 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Part of G10 garage demolished as 865 Neyland entertainment district progresses

A large portion of the University of Tennessee’s G10 parking garage is now demolished as construction continues to make way for the new 865 Neyland entertainment district.

Oct 18 • 9:44 PM EDT • Entertainment • wkrn.com

Chernobyl’s Radioactive Debris Is Defying Scientists’ Expectations 40 Years Later

Some of Chernobyl’s radioactive debris is more resilient than scientists expected, offering clues to when the material trapped inside could escape into the environment. Radioactive dust still contaminates the soil around Chernobyl four decades after explosions scattered debris from the nuclear reactor in Ukraine in 1986. The fragments measure just 8 to 50 micrometers across

Oct 18 • 8:16 PM EDT • Science • scitechdaily.com

Better Business Bureau warns people to pay attention for scams

Wheeling, W.Va (WTRF) – The better business bureau is warning people to pay extra attention when applying for jobs. Recently people have reported of a scam regarding a job opportunity. Includ…

Oct 18 • 5:45 PM EDT • Business • wtrf.com

Thousands take to streets of WeHo to make an impact at AIDS Walk Los Angeles

APLA Health is within striking distance of raising more than $1M to empower Angelenos living with HIV, and there's still time to help defend care and demand action in the fight against AIDS.

Oct 18 • 5:20 PM EDT • Health • abc7.com

BUTCH’S BLOG: Unhealthy Health Care

Unhealthy Health Care Lately I’ve had to deal with some health problems—skin carcinomas to be precise. Too much sunning in my youth on the waves and beaches of New Jersey. My mother used to slather us with Coppertone. Wear hats, I say. And use that high SPF sunscreen. But for me, the horse is already way out of the barn. I’ve had two surgeries now, painful, but successful, one more to go. But I’m not here to whine. I’m lucky. I will survive. And, importantly, I have health insurance. Many are not so lucky. When the bill came from the clinic,...

Oct 18 • 4:47 PM EDT • Health • tillamookcountypioneer.net

Streaming’s Biggest Show Returns…and a Buzzy Genre Struggles

(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Obviously, the big news of the week (if not month) is Netflix letting go of executive Bela Bajaria, their chief content officer. I’m going to cover this in my next “Most Important Story of the Week”, but I also have a data angle that I might publish before then. (Too much news this month, am I right?) But first, I have a bonus Streaming Ratings Report issue for you. Today’s article is a bit of a grab bag of topics I’ve wanted to write about, but couldn’t squeeze into the (already very long) Streaming Ratings Report issues. The NFL drives huge viewership numbers, so I’ve got a look at that. A whole bunch of TV shows returned to the traditional broadcast channels, and I have thoughts. And I have a quick look at adult animated shows, since a couple flopped earlier this month. Plus, the Emmys aired earlier this month, and we got some fun data bout how popular those nominated shows are and why I’m not optimistic about the show’s future. That’s a lot, so let’s dive right in. Subscribe Sports - Football Remains the King of Streaming Over the last two Streaming Ratings Reports, I sorta ignored the biggest “show” each week. (I was tempted to say “piece of content” but I know that word bugs folks.) In my database, I call these “specials”, and they sure are special. I speak of the king of American TV: football!!! Streaming football is back and, unlike some other sports, it routinely dominates all viewership. Probably the best way to show this is to update one of my favorite graphics, the “40 Million Hour Club”1 since football games have joined that club each week they’ve premiered: (Yep, that’s the data through 28-Sep, the first four weeks of the season. As a reminder, I take the average minute audience provided by Nielsen, factor out a percentage of linear TV viewers in home markets, and multiply the run time by the three-hour runtime.) Again, the numbers are huge. Let’s start with Netflix. They grabbed the rights to the bonus opening week NFL Kickoff game (which was on YouTube last year) and it put up 18.5 million viewers on average. That nets out to 47.4 million hours of estimated streaming hours. That’s good! Though, notably, it’s well below Christmas Day games from previous years. Compared to other streamers/broadcasters, that’s a bit of a mixed result. On one hand, Netflix’s 18.5 million average is about what YouTube claimed last year, though Nielsen used a bespoke methodology at that time, so I trust this viewership figure more. So that’s good. (The game also shifted from a Friday to a Thursday and that could have helped the viewership as well.) And Netflix continues to best Prime Video in total viewership—as you’ll see next—though Netflix has had much higher-profile (opening week and Christmas Day) games. NBC/Peacock’s opening game the night before averaged 25.1 million average viewers, which is just much bigger than Netflix (or Prime Video). That’s the big caveat to all streaming viewership records: even in success, they can’t compete with traditional linear TV. Previously, I called this my “hierarchy of viewership”, and the data keeps supporting that thesis. The downside for NBC is that this game’s viewership was down compared to previous years, though it may be a counting issue. Here’s a great chart from Sports Media Watch: Indeed, looking at all the opening week games across all windows, Netflix still lags the other primetime windows, but does well compared to the afternoon games: I saw a few folks make the case that streamers still lag traditional broadcasters in reach, and I’d add they really lag compared to “broadcast plus streaming” options like NBC/Peacock, ESPN/Disney+ and CBS/Paramount+. The best data I saw for this came from Samba TV, who charted reach through the 2025 season, and, wow. (Samba TV’s numbers are historically lower than Nielsen’s, so don’t compare their household figures to Nielsen’s hours, but use them as a proxy for the relative reach of the streamers.) The good news is Prime Video is NOT having a down year. Their opening Thursday Night Football game reached 18.6 million viewers (about what Netflix got), but that’s a high for Prime Video on Thursdays and the biggest Thursday night game since 2015. The TNF games the weeks of 21-Sep and 28-Sep continued this streak, getting 43.1 (16.8 million average viewers) and 42.5 total hours (16.6 million average viewers), which were both up from last year. Still, that continues the (typical) season slide: (For those new-to-streaming-football-numbers folks, the viewership declines for Thursday Night Football as the year goes along.) Overall, it appears as if Prime Video is now part of the “football habit”, be it for customers at home or out at places like bars and restaurants. And its viewership is slowly catching up to broadcast. One last chart shows this. Last season, Nielsen started adding out-of-home viewership to the charts, so I try not to do season-to-season comparisons as I did for the first few years. And while Nielsen added Big Data viewing this year, I’m going to compare the last two seasons. Here’s that chart, which shows the season-over-season gains: When it comes to streaming football, we have to keep a few seemingly contradictory thoughts in our head… First, streaming doesn’t come close to matching broadcast’s reach and, thus, viewership. Second, even with that gap, football is still the biggest “thing” on streaming. It’s very, very popular. Third, while some methodology changes have likely helped Prime Video’s numbers, their viewership does appear to be growing. Lastly, yeah, the NFL started the season off poorly, with week one dragging down the numbers in year-over-year comparisons. However—and again, methodology changes may have helped this—the viewership grew compared to previous seasons over the next couple of weeks. So football is still king. On streaming and off. Television - Adult Animation Continues to NOT Make the Streaming Charts In the last two reports, two adult-animated shows whiffed: Netflix’s animated comedy, Dang! Paramount+’s Sega-video-game-inspired fantasy/comedy, Golden Axe. Neither made the charts, but that’s usually the case for animated shows. I mean, here’s literally every animated show that’s made the Nielsen Original charts since the start of 2025: And one of those shows is G_abby’s Dollhouse_! A kids show! The problem with charts like this is that they don’t give you a sense of how many shows miss the charts. Netflix had at least eleven animated flops, including comedies like Big Mouth (a show everyone assumed was popular in the pre-Streaming Ratings Era), Long Story Short, Haunted Hotel, Mating Season, Strip Law, and Alley Cats, and action shows like Blood of Zeus, Castlevania: Nocturne, Devil May Cry, Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, and Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. Prime Video had at least six animated misses, two in the same universe (Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss), three more comedies (#1 Happy Family USA, The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy and Kevin) and an action show (The Mighty Nein). Disney+ had MCU and Star Wars animated misses (Eyes of Wakanda, Marvel Zombies, Star Wars: Visions, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, and Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld) but I can’t tell how many of those shows were geared towards adults. HBO Max had Harley Quinn and Hulu had Solar Opposites. None of these shows made the charts! That’s a lot of misses! If I remade the chart with all those misses, here’s how it would look: Listen, I know the counter arguments. First, it’s cheaper to produce animated shows than live action. Fair enough, but with viewership this low, even that cheaper price point starts to not matter. Second, just look at the acquired charts. Hit animated comedies can generate viewership for years! Shows like The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers do really, really well. Fair enough, but streaming has failed to recreate the dynamic that Fox has mastered so well. That’s a problem for streaming still. Television - Emmys! The annual Emmys broadcast was a few weeks ago, and I’ve got data on how the nominees performed on streaming, plus hot takes on this year’s viewership (and the big news about the broadcast’s, er, streamcast’s future). We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… The top Emmy-nominated shows… ...why I’m worried about the future of the Emmys telecast... ...the pros of broadcast television ...and the cons... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! Next week, we’ve got a double issue (since the weeks of 21-Sep and 28-Sep were so light), but then I’ll be all caught up after a deluge of streaming ratings data from Nielsen in September. In the meantime, I’m going to try to take a look at Netflix’s stats to explain why Bela Bajaria is out. But even light weeks give me plenty to talk about. The Great British Baking Show returns to Netflix and Apple TV has a buzzy new star-studded comedy. And Netflix has a controversial-but-appears-to-be-popular new game show. Plus big films like Toy Story 5, Backrooms and The Breadwinner head to streaming. And is East of Eden a hit? After that, The Kardashians return to Hulu, Prime Video has a reboot of Carrie, and Netflix has a horror show, Below. Disclosure Day heads to Peacock, The Housemaid heads to HBO Max_,_ a new Ben Affleck film, Animals, lands on Netflix, and Apple TV has a new John Cena action film based on, checks notes, Hasbro’s Matchbox toys. Okay. Longterm, some interesting TV production news. HBO Max ordered How to Survive Without Me, starring Kaley Cuoco, Joshua Jackson, Ray Romano and Rita Wilson, for fifteen episodes! I love that some streamers (or, at least, HBO Max) are finally ordering TV shows with more than eight episodes. In less wise production news, Landman does not appear to be coming back this year, since it just started production. Frankly, I don’t love this (get your shows out on time) but Landman is so popular, I doubt it matters.

Oct 18 • 3:59 PM EDT • Entertainment • entertainment.substack.com

Woman allegedly hit business owner with a closed fist when he tried to stop robbery

KOKH Fox 25 provides, news, sports, weather and local event coverage in Oklahoma City and surrounding areas, including McLoud, Shawnee, Tecumseh, Seminole, Wewoka, Maud, Asher, Wanetted, Goldsby, Norman, Blanchard, Chickasha, Pauls Valley, Purcell, Andarko, Bridgeport, Lawton, Duncan, Okarche, Kingfisher, Guthrie Stillwater and Cushing, Oklahoma.

Oct 18 • 9:30 AM EDT • Business • okcfox.com

What happened to Home Run Dugout plans for San Antonio?

A new baseball entertainment venue was announced for The Rim in 2024, but the $17 million San Antonio project still hasn't taken shape. Here’s what we found at the site.

Oct 18 • 9:02 AM EDT • Entertainment • mysanantonio.com

Business Briefcase: MAEA schedules HR roundtable

POTTSVILLE — The Northeast Pennsylvania Manufacturers and Employers Association, 250 One Norwegian Plaza, will stage an HR Schuylkill roundtable 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 6 titled, “We Did It Right … And Still Faced Backlash: When Good HR Deci…

Oct 18 • 8:30 AM EDT • Business • republicanherald.com

Many Women Are Still Struggling to Fill Estrogen Patch Prescriptions. What to Do If You Can’t Get Yours

As demand for menopause treatment increases, estrogen patches are hard to find at pharmacies. Here’s what to do if you can’t refill your prescription.

Oct 18 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • today.com

Sunday football open thread

OK, no time for frills, fuss, or too many words. Tottenham Hotspur’s men’s team doesn’t play football until Monday afternoon/evening when they host Coventry, but there are still football games to watch and talk about, if you wanna do so. Which I assume you do, because there are always comments on these open threads, and […]

Oct 18 • 8:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

In Ohio, a solidly GOP district is upended by domestic violence allegations

Several Republican voters who spoke to USA TODAY are still supporting Rep. Max Miller of Ohio despite allegations of domestic violence.

Oct 18 • 5:01 AM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com

Scientists Find Evidence That Earth's Core Is Still Leaking Hydrogen, Helium and Tungsten

When Earth first formed, around 4.5 billion years ago, it was an extremely hot, largely molten planet. As it cooled, heavier materials sank to form the core, while lighter materials formed the mantle and crust.

Oct 18 • 3:34 AM EDT • Science • ndtv.com

Is International Business Machines (IBM) A Bargain Or Fully Priced?

International Business Machines has delivered a strong multi year share price run. With the stock recently at US$232.14 and cash flows in focus, the live question is whether that price still lines up with what the business can earn and return over time. Over the past 5 years the share price has gained 130.1%, which puts a lot of weight on the idea that IBM’s future cash flows can justify a much higher valuation than in the past. Fresh commitments in areas such as quantum computing and...

Oct 17 • 11:38 PM EDT • Business • simplywall.st

Castill Health Announces Plans for Philippines Digital Healthcare Launch, Supported by Craig Astill and Caason Group

Singapore, October 18, 2026 -- Singapore-based digital healthcare venture Castill Health has announced plans for its first market rollout in the...

Oct 17 • 11:35 PM EDT • Health • markets.businessinsider.com

Castill Health Announces Plans for Philippines Digital Healthcare Launch, Supported by Craig Astill and Caason Group

Singapore, Singapore--(Newsfile Corp. - October 17, 2026) - Singapore-based digital healthcare venture Castill Health has announced plans for its first market rollout in the Philippines, targeted for later in 2026.The company is developing a digital healthcare platform intended to connect wearable health monitoring devices, personal health information and access to participating medical professionals.Australian entrepreneur Craig Astill alongside Caason Group and Castill Family Office, is...

Oct 17 • 9:36 PM EDT • Health • finance.yahoo.com

Guardant Health (GH) After Shield And Reveal Data Is The Undervalued Story Still Intact

Guardant Health (GH) is back in focus after new data on its Shield blood test for colorectal cancer screening and Guardant Reveal test for melanoma residual disease were released in October 2026. Investors have taken notice of this Shield and Guardant Reveal data, even as the Guardant Health share price has eased in the short term. The 1-month share price return is down 9.32% and the 7-day share price return is down 5.30%. At the same time, the 1-year total shareholder return of 142.29% and...

Oct 17 • 8:20 PM EDT • Health • finance.yahoo.com

Miley Cyrus cries sharing 'gold' memory of Dolly Parton at comeback show

She may have sworn off touring long ago, but when Miley steps on stage, she reminds everyone she still has it.

Oct 17 • 4:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • centraloregondaily.com

Quantum magic state cleanup cuts errors 40-fold in first successful hardware test

Qubits, the quantum equivalent of digital bits, are fragile and prone to errors. That makes building reliable quantum computers extremely difficult. One fix has been to use traditional magic state distillation, ...

Oct 17 • 2:00 PM EDT • Science • phys.org

Opinion | Elon Musk Is Beyond the Pale

How is it possible that he is still part of the Republican mainstream?

Oct 17 • 11:24 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

NVIDIA says RTX 5090 is not discontinued, but good luck finding one for $1,999

The RTX 5090 is still in production, according to NVIDIA. However, the company has not explained how it intends to improve availability as retail prices remain far above MSRP.

Oct 17 • 11:01 AM EDT • Technology • videocardz.com

AI, Robots, and Jobs: Why Gardeners May Still Be Safe

Anthropic's robotics research puts more hands-on jobs in AI's path. But messy tasks such as gardening remain hard to automate.

Oct 17 • 10:00 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

National Association of Realtors helps push Amendment 3 committee over $21M raised

Polls still show there is work to do to sell the proposal.

Oct 17 • 9:27 AM EDT • Politics • floridapolitics.com

Is OPKO Health (OPK) Pricing In Too Much For Sales?

OPKO Health has seen sharp swings over the past few years, and the stock now sits at US$1.53 with investors reassessing what its current sales actually support. With such a mixed share price history and a changing business mix, the question is how much of the story around its revenue base is already priced in. Over the past 5 years the share price has fallen 58.5%, which puts the focus firmly on whether the current market value still lines up with what OPKO Health generates from its...

Oct 17 • 9:16 AM EDT • Health • finance.yahoo.com

Easton’s Witches’ Walk back for 2nd year. Is the magic still there to draw 1,000 again?

New this year, the Twin Flame Experience — a local husband-and-wife duo — will perform theatrical fire-spinning shows between 6 and 7 p.m. both days.

Oct 17 • 9:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • lehighvalleylive.com