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Terri Irwin recalls final days, ‘long and sweet goodbye’ with husband Steve Irwin 20 years after his death
Terri Irwin recalled her final days with late husband Steve Irwin in an emotional tribute, 20 years after his death on Sept. 4, 2006.
Bumbershoot 2026: Lineup, schedule, tickets and what else to know
SEATTLE — One of Seattle’s biggest festivals of the summer, Bumbershoot, is back this Labor Day weekend at Seattle Center. Hometown indie-rock heroes Death Cab for Cutie are headlining the
Where have all the soft-shell clams gone? Scientists and shellfishers seek answers.
A scientific-commercial partnership has sparked research to better understand the life and death of a North Shore export.
Sony's PlayStation disc plant is losing 10 percent of its volume in 2028, not 90
Sony’s PlayStation disc plant is losing 10 percent of its volume in 2028, not 90 Sony won’t license disc pressing to anyone else, Microsoft does, and a former PlayStation boss thinks that’s the whole problem. When Sony DADC chief Dietmar Tanzer spoke with an Austrian broadcaster in July about PlayStation disc production at the Thalgau plant, a number of press outlets misunderstood the report, writing that production would fall to a tenth of current levels. It won’t. Sony DADC confirmed to Game this week that the figure is a 10 percent decline, not a decline to 10 percent. “To clarify and avoid any misleading information: in that statement Dietmar anticipated an overall product volume decline by 10 percent, not a decline down to 10 percent,” a spokesperson with Sony DADC told Game. That figure covers 2028. Tanzer didn’t put a number on the years after, and the spokesperson declined to comment further. What we do know is that on July 1, PlayStation announced that physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting January 2028 and that the transition has no impact on games that have already released in disc format or will be releasing in disc format prior to that month. “So, there will be reorders going to the market after January 2028,” the Sony DADC spokesperson said. “For details around that I would ask you to liaise with the PR team from PlayStation, as we can’t speak or comment on their behalf.” PlayStation officials did not respond to questions about reorders or other disc-related matters. But I did recently speak with Shawn Layden, Game Industry Strategic Advisor and former chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios, who called a future without physical PlayStation discs “depressing, but solvable.” then added, “I think.” The chief hurdle to third-party manufacturing of collector’s editions or any other version of a PlayStation game disc is that Sony owns the proprietary process to press those discs, Layden said. “And unless they decide or determine a way to license that to some of these bespoke disc manufacturers, there’s no way to make it happen,” he said. Layden was careful to add that he understands the concept but doesn’t have “line of sight on the particulars.” “Depressing but solvable, I think.” — Shawn Layden Microsoft already licenses replication to outside plants. Xbox discs are pressed by manufacturers Microsoft certifies as Authorized Replicators, a term defined in its publisher agreements, with the approved list set at the company’s sole discretion and Microsoft retaining the right to halt manufacture. The structure is still in place today: publishers select an Authorized Replicator in Partner Center and submit a bill of materials created with a Microsoft representative. Sony, by contrast, presses PlayStation discs through Sony DADC, its own manufacturing subsidiary. No one I spoke with said they were in discussions with Sony about doing that, and PlayStation hasn’t responded to questions about whether it would be open to a licensing deal. There is an obvious reason Sony might not want to. Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad pointed it out on the day of the announcement: it’s a platform-led decision, he wrote, designed to cut costs, eliminate the resale market, and drive all revenue through the PlayStation Store. The math is not subtle. On a $70 third-party game sold through the PlayStation Store, Sony keeps $21. Sold at retail, Ahmad says, it earns about half that. Licensing disc replication to an outside manufacturer might not be worth it. And even if it were, it seems unlikely that such a deal would come from boutique companies like iam8bit, which sells collector’s editions of video games. “We would absolutely love to find a way forward to continue making physical PlayStation games,” said Jon Gibson, co-owner and co-creative director of the company. “We are big believers in giving humans the option to truly own media. If we can play a role in helping make that a reality for the future of PlayStation games, count iam8bit in!” If it were to happen, it would most likely be with a company like Conectiv Supply Chain Solutions, a Memphis-based manufacturer of optical discs and vinyl records that also runs third-party logistics, fulfillment and distribution for packaged media. The company, which was formed in 2025 when Los Angeles private equity firm Variant Equity Advisors purchased Vantiva’s Supply Chain Solutions division, traces its lineage back to Technicolor. When it sold the division, Vantiva described the business as having served video game creators for more than 25 years. Conectiv is also buying, not shrinking. Last month it acquired SDS, the distributor for Universal and Warner Bros. home entertainment, consolidating those studios’ packaged-media pipeline from pressing plant to retail shelf. I reached out to Conectiv and its CEO, but haven’t heard back. Layden pointed to music and books in our discussion about the ongoing value of physical media. “No one ever saw the comeback of cassette tape,” he said. “And vinyl didn’t so much come back. The flame went down, the fire’s dying, but the ember was always there, and it just kind of came back. Much like the book business. We thought we’d all be on Kindles right now. “I believe that physical media is crucial and important. One of the things that makes us gamers, one of the core game mechanics, going back to the beginning of time, is collecting stuff. “Did you get all the diamonds in Crash Bandicoot? Did you get all the stars in Mario? And we like to collect our games. And we have a game shelf. And we put all our boxes up there. And if you’re super hardcore, when you buy a game, you buy two copies, right? One stays in the shrink wrap, and you play the other one. What happens to that important cultural part of the gaming world? You know, we buy the steelbook and the three-disc Final Fantasy set and the figurine and, you know, you can’t download any of that. “What happens to that?” And Layden believes it shouldn’t have been a revenue question for PlayStation. “This was a core thing to the experience of our most devoted fans,” he said. “Yeah, it’s fan service. Why would we take that away? Well, we can’t afford to. It’s already 120 bucks, you know, limited edition special purchase onyx box version of whatever, and those sell at a higher rate than the box selling at $69.99 does. So yeah, the market has said they will continue to buy them. You’re just saying you just don’t want to make them anymore.” Layden said he was recently talking with someone about these sorts of business decisions and how they’re made. Too often, he said, it’s all about the financials and nothing else. “OK, we can do this and save this much money, or we can invest this to look at that outcome, or we can do this and have this happen over there, or move this team to Sri Lanka,” he said. “But each one of those, someone also has to have a ledger there saying, ‘OK, what is the brand impact from that move?’ “Iif you can’t resell it, do you really own it?” — Shawn Layden “If we do that, dollars and cents work out. I get it. That’s just math. But what’s the brand impact? Are people going to say, ‘Good move, you guys?’ Or are they going to say, ‘We hate you guys. Quit doing that.’ And sometimes they say, ‘We hate you.’ Then you take a note and say, OK, how much of that can we live with? How much ‘we hate you’ is OK. And when does it go over the line? “I see a lot of companies making decisions which, objectively speaking, I don’t know what the dollar end of that was for you, Mr. Company, but your brand value just dropped 30 percent. So I hope it was worth it.” Of course, shifting to a digital-only model for games raises other issues beyond simply wanting to collect. The biggest is ownership. Layden pointed out that once you go to a streaming-only or download-only model, it’s just a digital footprint on a hard drive. “What does ownership mean anymore?” he said. “It’s a genuine question. Well, in fact, it’s not even a question anymore. It’s like you are shifting the model from ownership to accessibility. “And what’s always been true, which people forget, is you’ve never been able to sell your iTunes library. And you can’t sell your PlayStation download library. So if you can’t resell it, do you really own it?” The touching tribute found in the credits for Star Wars Zero Company. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy Interview and Hands-On with a Minoan Masterpiece Star Wars Zero Company hands-on: Attack Astromechs, permadeath, and delightfully fatal Rube Goldberg tactics Control Resonant opens up as you get stronger — and as characters start trusting you
Milwaukee adopting Baltimore's model for reducing infant mortality
In Baltimore, a 2009 initiative has reduced infant deaths by more than one-third and closed gaps between Black and White infant outcomes.
One year after its founder's death, Armani faces challenge of 'inevitable evolution'
One year after the death of founder Giorgio Armani, the Italian fashion house is entering a pivotal period as the clock starts ticking on plans for an initial stake sale, after the group spent the last year focused on governance.
Postpartum depression linked to babies’ deaths—albeit by natural causes
Researchers made the finding after analyzing almost 415,000 infant mortalities that occurred well before Lindsay Clancy strangled her 8-month-old baby and two young children in 2023, forcing a spotlight on postpartum mental-illness risk.
Dolly Parton's cousin Richie Owens reveals why singer's funeral was private
Dolly Parton's death was mourned around the world, but her funeral was a private affair.
Carla Jeffery’s family denies drugs played a part in Disney Channel star’s death
The “Zombies” star died at the age of 33 on Wednesday.
Carla Jeffery’s family denies drugs played a part in Disney star’s death
Carla Jeffery, known for Disney Channel’s ‘Zombies,’ died at the age of 33 on Wednesday; a cause of death was not immediately revealed.
Lindsay Clancy trial shines spotlight on maternal mental health
Lindsay Clancy is on trial in Massachusetts for the deaths of her three young children.
Sabotage, leaks and political ties: the story of the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder trial
Maltese businessman cleared of involvement in journalist’s death, but trial revealed challenges faced by those leading search for killers
Ebola Outbreak 'Still Evolving' As Deaths Pass 3,000
More than 3,000 people have now died in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak out of 6,250 confirmed cases, the Africa Centres for
Dolly Parton's cousin reveals why singer's funeral was private
Dolly Parton's death was mourned around the world, but her funeral was a private affair.
Gloria Steinem On Breast Cancer Journey, Health History Before Death at 92
Gloria Steinem was open about the health challenges, procedures and diagnoses she endured as a young woman and later in life, including cancer and a chronic pain disorder.
Kennedy asked to remove Pennsylvania measles death from CDC tally, sources say
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked his new CDC director to remove a reference to two Pennsylvania deaths from the agency’s online measles tally after he questioned whether the disease contributed to the fatalities, three sources familiar with the situation said.
Just one drink a day may increase the risk of dying from numerous cancers
Alcohol’s role in deaths from numerous cancers has increased over the past two decades, a new study found. It only takes one standard drink a day, every day.
Imagination Library sees enrollment boost after Parton's death
In the week since country music artist Dolly Parton's death, her namesake children's literacy program has seen an influx of support in her memory.
Juneau schools and organizations increase mental health support following death of teenagers
The Juneau School District and community organizations are offering additional support and resources following the death of two teenagers Monday evening. KTOO compiled this list of mental health resources, prevention events and support.
Everyone can help: Recognizing the signs and preventing suicide
Mental health challenges affect people of all ages, backgrounds and walks of life. Yet conversations about these concerns aren’t always easy to discuss. That’s especially true when it comes to a topic like suicide, which remains a leading cause of death in the United States, responsible for more than 48,000 deaths each year. The impact […]
Trumps' new CDC director ordered delay in counting 2 measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania
In a highly unusual move, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not counting two measles-associated deaths reported by the state of Pennsylvania.
Tim Curry’s cause of death revealed
Tim Curry’s cause of death has been revealed after the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ star’s passing at age 80.
Health record analysis of one million cattle identifies early prevention as key to reducing feedlot respiratory deaths
New research involving more than 1 million Australian feedlot cattle has found that the strongest predictors of death from bovine respiratory disease (BRD) are established before animals even enter the ...
Congo Ebola outbreak: Deaths top 3,000 as virus spreads at unprecedented speed
The World Health Organization said the outbreak is on track to exceed the deadliest on record.
August Monthly Review: ChatGPT In Epic
Death, taxes, another frontier lab healthcare launch inspiring truly insane LinkedIn takes. As much as I want to stay away, I repeatedly am the crewman unplugging his ears whenever we pass these sirens. So it’s not the first and probably not the last time we dial up the typewriter rather than tie ourselves to the mast. The full blow-by-blow timeline: Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe The End of the Standalone PHR (Jan 8): ChatGPT Health arrives for consumers, at the time powered by b.well. I was bullish on the approach in that the best way for the PHR to finally solve distribution was to meet consumers were they already are (i.e. When Horizontal Meets Healthcare (Jan 9): OpenAI for Healthcare puts out the shingle for enterprises, with SharePoint ingestion standing in for the EHR integration the product actually needed. Another One: Anthropic’s Healthcare Debut (Jan 16): Claude's version, on HealthEx rails instead of b.well, with Agent Skills for FHIR development as the one true vertical-specific investment. ChatGPT for Clinicians: The Trap Sprung (Apr 24): OpenAI filled in the missing GTM middle with a free product for verified clinicians, effectively peeling the enterprise wrapper off ChatGPT for Healthcare and taking the PLG fight directly to OpenEvidence. OpenAI’s Second Attempt at Health (Jul 31): a relaunch of their patient specific app, now branded Health in ChatGPT, where the privacy partition came out, the connectors thinned, and b.well disappeared in favor of first-party FHIR work against a smaller network Beyond a Shingle So what was announced now? Today, we’re introducing a new electronic health record integration that brings authorized patient context from Epic into ChatGPT for Healthcare, along with the Healthcare Public Data plugin for direct, structured access to official healthcare datasets like PubMed, DailyMed, and CMS Coverage. Together, these capabilities bring ChatGPT closer to the systems and sources healthcare teams trust, while supporting the controls and compliance healthcare work requires. The core portfolio is unchanged from prior announcements we delineated and discussed (aside from the relaunch of patient-facing). Since trade publications still seem to be confusing them by using the wrong names: Enterprise sales motion: ChatGPT for Healthcare Protecting their core product / PLG: ChatGPT for Clinicians Consumer/patient-facing product: Health in ChatGPT So really, this is a feature release (specifically for ChatGPT for Healthcare when it comes to EHR integration). What’s cool about it, though, is that we are moving beyond just putting out a shingle. Everything in the January enterprise launch was horizontalizable: Horizontal tech companies thus generally start verticalization with their “putting out a shingle phase”. Telling the world you’re open for business as a horizontal tech company reliably attracts early inbound interest from buyers who are already trying to force-fit horizontal tools into domain-specific workflows and are eager for any signal that the vendor intends to support their use case more directly. Nothing was really vertical specific, which is exactly what you'd expect from the ultimate hypergrowth horizontal company dipping their toes into specific industries. But eventually you have to stop changing the sign on the door and start changing the product. Can you guess where the horizontal product was going to run out of road? This is the core dilemma writ large: verticalization requires differentiation, while scale economics of consumer and horizontal push toward unification. I’ve buried the lede so deep here it will be painful to some readers, but what should be shocking to no one is that my perspective is that EHR integration is the only path that meaningfully resolves this tension for ChatGPT for Healthcare. Integration with Microsoft Sharepoint is fine, but it is categorically insufficient for any product that hopes to influence clinical decision-making. SMART Money Well here we are, eight months later! Real vertical investment has begun, which surprised a few people. One friend in the industry messaged me: “Absolutely no way Epic gave ChatGPT API access.” Looking forensically at the announcements, the integration is notably read-only across appointment notes, laboratory results, medications, and specialist documentation. So while I’m not a betting man, I'd wager the house this is a SMART on FHIR launch: That sounds a lot like USCDI! The recommended path for the workflow they outline would be SMART on FHIR Their Health AI lead’s post is evocative of both standalone and EHR launch SMART, which another termed “ChartGPT” and “EHR Plugin” The implementation burden for SMART on FHIR is the lowest of the available integrative paths This is the team who literally did patient-facing SMART on FHIR with Epic last month Most importantly, if you’re a horizontal company, you generally still haven’t taken the full plunge and thus (overly) value reusability. SMART on FHIR is the logical compromise: healthcare-specific enough to matter, but standardized enough to reuse. Nobody Asked Judy Another friend asked “I thought they had to go to each health system, or did they go direct to Epic and now health systems opt in?” Given the trust paradigms in healthcare, this functionally cannot be Epic hoovering up all the data for OpenAI and shoving ChatGPT in their customers’ faces (or they would revolt). However, I do believe the aforementioned terrible coverage by TechCrunch and other outlets is probably responsible for that question, given the 325 million reference. When using FHIR as a business associate to an Epic customer, there is no EHR gatekeeping to speak of, as that isn’t how fhir.epic.com works: You register an app You pick your APIs You test against the sandbox APIs You list as “Ready for Production” Hospitals pick your app You test and go live with them Bluntly, nobody had to say yes or no in Verona (nor were they given the chance). Vendor Services (their next developer tier up that I doubt OpenAI is using quite yet in this initial release) certainly has contractual paperwork that some resent, but even there, the twin pressures of mounting antitrust and information blocking make outright gatekeeping increasingly fraught. My friend’s sentiment is, to me, representative of a broader industry neurosis, perhaps a sort of scar tissue of prior eras: people assume the gate is still there and never actually try the door. There are certainly other ways Epic (and any EHR) can put its thumb on the scale, but they are not so dumb as to stand in front of a federally mandated API and play bouncer at this exact moment in time. So I think they can and probably should go deeper, as this release is at best parity and at worst behind vertical-specific competition. OpenEvidence did a basic SMART launch with Sutter Health in February, allowing for more convenient evidence search by providers. They then add patient-context (the equivalent SMART on FHIR flow to what we see here) when Cedars-Sinai went enterprise-wide in May. UpToDate has four distinct applications across deeper workflows like patient engagement listed in Epic Showroom and announced a partnership with Epic to power Art at UGM Abridge and other ambient scribes have invested deeply into the deepest bidirectional clinical copilot workflow with integrations well beyond SMART on FHIR. In that light, the “Who is OpenAI primarily targeting here?” is clear. This release brings them into striking distance of OpenEvidence, but not the others quite yet. They are the only one of the three you can reach without building something truly Epic-specific. When will they go further? Competition is a great motivator to overcome the horizontal demons and start building things that can’t be reused: not across industries, not across EHRs, maybe not past the customer you built them for. That’s the price of actually verticalizing. The question is if and when OpenAI will be willing to pay it. Month in Review Here is the monthly review. As a reminder, this is a regular round-up of the month’s posts and other content to surface things you may have missed across regulation, litigation, interoperability, and beyond. AI assistance is used in these bullet summaries so I can focus on articles. Articles Published: None this month Video Content: The Information Exchange: Standards-based Thruple Edition (Aug 14): Back to school for us too, with Brad reporting in from the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem’s one year anniversary in DC. We get into the January CMS-0057 deadline, the fall rulemaking reading list, and why enrollment still keeps most apps off FHIR. The Information Exchange: Epic Dúnadan Edition (Aug 25): A UGM roundup with Ryan Brickner joining for the first time to check our takes against what the building actually thinks. Rangers, Ergo sitting on top of EHI, and a down-market lineup that needs some cuts. Regulatory: Stacked Deck, Bad Hand (Aug 05): ONC’s website refresh took the entire HIT Policy Committee record with it, so I rebuilt the archive and went looking for the regulatory capture story everyone assumes is buried in there. Stacking the deck and winning the hand turn out to be very different things. The Sixth Generation of Patient Access (Aug 19): A quick catalog of the five generations of patient access we’ve layered on since HIPAA, and the two candidates now competing to be the sixth. One is planned. The other is the market routing around the plan entirely. Court cases: Three Cases Walk Into a Docket (Aug 06): Two surprise settlements cleared the board in a single week, and then Judge Maddox dropped ninety-four pages on Vyne v. Henry Schein. The sleeper is a DMCA holding that makes direct-to-database a considerably riskier business model. Epic v. Health Gorilla: Into the MDL (Aug 10): Nine class actions are headed to Miami, and the Panel signaled it wants to bring the case that spawned them along too. That would leave Epic arguing the requests were obviously fraudulent in one courtroom and unknowable in the other. Amazon v. Perplexity: Agents Are Legalized! (Aug 11): The Ninth Circuit vacated the injunction against Comet, holding that the user is the one accessing the servers rather than the company that built the agent. A real win for agentic access, and a much narrower one than the headline suggests. Veeva v. Epic: Come At Me, Bro (Aug 26): Epic’s response brief wants the dismissal affirmed and, unusually, wants the opinion published as precedent. Buried in it is Epic’s own description of what its non-competes actually prohibit, which current and former employees should read closely. EHRs: The Contract Epic Would Never Sign Today (Aug 04): A 1999 SEC exhibit catches Epic licensing nearly its entire product line, Tapestry included, to the company that became TriZetto. The marketing services menu attached to it is the part that will make you blink. Forecast from Verona (Aug 07): The Epic Almanac makes one argument six different ways: the AI is only as good as the networks behind it. Emmie headlines, Art’s context stack is the most ambitious part, and Penny finally gets an autonomous coding date on the calendar. Works With Epic MyChart (Aug 17): Epic’s first new Showroom category since the death of Workshop certifies hardware instead of software, badge on the box and all. Made for iPhone, but for blood pressure cuffs, and rough news for anyone selling the RPM stack sitting in between. UGM Hot Takes 2026 (Aug 20): Everyone else covered the AI announcements, so I went after Savvy deleting the payment gateway, Rangers as Boost with the timer removed, and a down-market lineup with too many entries. Plus the Health Grid tidbits I cannot help myself on. MyChart Central Grows Up (Aug 24): Device data and Emmie turn Epic’s identity hub into a full consumer platform, which is both a logical answer to ChatGPT and a bit of a mistake. It also happens to be the best scraping target Epic has ever shipped. Industry Analysis: The Wrong Yardstick (Aug 12): Vertical software keeps getting judged against Superhuman and Notion, which is the wrong bar entirely. Your user is comparing your product to a whiteboard and forty phone calls before lunch. Primitives vs. Abstractions (Aug 27): Developers want building blocks, systems of record prefer to hand out business logic, and both sides have a real case. There’s no test from the outside that separates the engineering reason from the competitive one, which is why this keeps ending up in court. Cross-industry Comparisons: The Two Kinds of Platform Power (Aug 18): Attention power and record power are different problems that keep getting handed the same regulatory toolkit. Congress’s latest swing at Big Tech shows both what’s possible and where it falls apart. The Dogs of (Platform) War (Aug 21): A CourtListener alert turned up a property management fight with healthcare’s exact shape and none of the Cures Act. Shell prospects, ghost accounts, a notetaker bot that came back to haunt someone, and a lawyer arguing both sides of the same theory in two states. Fractals All the Way Down (Aug 31): Yardi dominates property management right up until you zoom into one segment, where AppFolio owns it outright and Yardi doesn’t appear at all. Where you draw the line around a B2B software market is about to decide an awful lot of cases. Other News: If Judy Had the Courage (Aug 13): A short eulogy for the era when software was allowed to look insane: WinAMP, bold colors, and everything the grey chatbot era has taken from us. External Media: Portland Monthly Health Tech Meetup: Erin O’Brien channeled my own feelings - maybe it’s just because it’s August and beautiful, but the monthly edition of the PDX Health community meetup was a ripper. Make sure to reach out if interested to join for the next one. STAT’s Coverage of Epic This Month: Brittany Trang of STAT did a fantastic job of breaking the FTC investigation that’s been lurking, as well as UGM related coverage, so I had to give her her wish of a meme. Fall Conferences: I’m pumped to be kicking off my fall conference season in NYC at Nabla Accelerate next month, which Chrissy provided the link to apply for. Here’s the rest of my schedule in case you want to meet up: Commonwell (Redwood Shores, CA): Oct 13-14 Open@Epic (Madison, WI): Oct 21-22 eHealthExchange (Austin, TX): Oct 27 Sequoia Project (Austin, TX): Oct 28-29 HLTH (Vegas): Nov 15-18 RSNA (Chicago): Nov 29-Dec 3 Posts I Liked: HTI-6 Should Unbundle API Certification: Josh Mandel makes the case that HTI-6 should split (g)(10) into separate authorization and data certifications, so a PACS or a genomics platform can certify only the role it actually performs. Imaging is the urgent example, but the structure solves a much bigger problem. On implementing ePrior Auth with Epic: Scott Rossignol’s field notes from a live ePrior Auth build on Epic, including the two app registrations nobody warns you about and the CPT mapping problem waiting at the end. CMS-0057 implementations are going to be such a beast. Healthcare point solutions are starting to look a lot like streaming services: Spencer Dorn runs the cable-to-streaming arc against health IT and lands squarely on the bundling half of the cycle. Bundling can be good! It can also be bad! Life is nuanced. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
Science reveals a surprising trace of St. Thérèse's faith
Nearly 130 years after her death, one tiny relic is offering a fascinating glimpse into the very physical reality of St. Thérèse's Little Way.
Mosque shooter's parents sue mental health organization after Islamic Center killings
The parents of one of the shooters involved in the deadly San Diego Islamic Center killings have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the mental health organization that had been treating their 18-year-old son, Caleb Vazquez.
Chris McKenna details ‘disappointing’ exit from ‘General Hospital’ after shocking death scene
Chris McKenna admits his departure from ‘General Hospital’ is ‘disappointing’ after his powerful and mysterious character Jack Brennan met a grisly end on Tuesday’s new episode of the daytime drama.
Dolly Parton’s Walk of Fame star vandalized days after country icon’s death
Dolly Parton’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star was vandalized days after the country icon’s death. As of Tuesday, Sept. 1, the star is being repaired, as they were previously scheduled.
What Box Office Bomb Crushed Obsession on Streaming?
(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.) Before we get into this week’s issue, let me ask you for some suggestions. At the risk of coining too many names for too many things (hence my dictionary of terms...), I need a name for straight-to-streaming films that are too expensive to justify a straight-to-streaming release, but not big enough to justify a theatrical release. Like some of the films I highlighted in last week’s tally of the biggest film flops of 2026 so far: Hulu’s Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, Pizza Movie or Never Change! They don’t feel like “made for TV movies” (think Hallmark and Lifetime movies, cheap Netflix romcoms, or Disney Channel Original movies, for example) but they don’t feel big enough for the big screen. They’re not “cinematic” enough, so to speak. As I wrote... “I still need a name for this middle zone of film that’s too expensive to go straight-to-streaming but too small to justify a theatrical release (with all the PR, distribution, marketing and whatnot costs that go along with it), the Goldilocks zone of streaming film death.” Friend of the newsletter Brandon Katz has suggested the “Bermuda Budget Triangle”, “The Platform Gap” and “The Distribution Deadzone”. I love that first one. I’d offer up the much wordier “The Streaming Budget Dead Zone” or “the Goldilocks Zone of streaming film death” but that last one isn’t accurate since, unlike Goldilocks’ porridge, these films are the opposite of “just right”. That’s the problem! Anyway, if you have any suggestions, let me know! On to today’s Streaming Ratings Report. As you can tell by today’s headline, things are going to be spicy! I’m looking at a box office bomb that did really, really well on streaming, somewhat challenging a few different narratives. And another Netflix series declined in its second season. All that, plus Wicked: For Good switching streamers, The Hawk continuing its strong run, _The Bear’_s finale season finally dropping off the charts, the WNBA posting a big viewership number, “shallow libraries”, a sitcom spinoff failing to launch, more big budget IP flopping on Paramount+, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of July 20th to July 26th, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Film - The Latest Theatrical Success Story on Streaming In the latest edition of “Flops, Bombs and Misses of the First Half of 2026”, I made a crucial change: I started including theatrical films with the streaming misses. The streamers have collectively—including Netflix, but not to as big of an extent—stopped making a lot of straight-to-streaming films, and the ones they do make aren’t as expensive as in the heyday of the streaming bubble. After the following two films bombed in theaters, you’d guess that they’ll be included in my next collection of flops, bombs and misses six months from now: Masters of the Universe on Prime Video (only $64 million domestic box office) Mortal Kombat II on HBO Max ($79 million domestic) But you’d be wrong! Masters of the Universe, a reboot of the He-Man franchise, a toy from the 1980s, came to streaming on 22-July and did great! This long-gestating project—it’s been at every studio for years, and came close to getting a greenlight at Netflix—then finally came to theaters in June, and showed up on streaming less than two months later. (I don’t love this short theatrical window.) It surprisingly grabbed nearly 20 million hours on its debut: That means, wait for it, Masters of the Universe is currently the eighth biggest film on streaming through two weeks. My rough bar for “hit” is shows or films in the top 15%. Ergo…Masters of the Universe is a legit, streaming hit! (One quick caveat: if it falls out of the top ten next week, it will move to 13th overall, just on the edge of the top 15.) Of course, that’s the data for just 2026. Here’s how it stacks up to Prime Video’s theatrical films: That drop into its second week is typical for Amazon films, but also a worrying sign. I have a feeling interest in this film is front-loaded and we’ll see it drop off after this. As for Mortal Kombat II, in this case, the viewership numbers roughly match the theatrical outing, with only 4.1 million hours in its first week. Here’s how it stacks up to other HBO Max films: The best defense of this number is that, as a relatively violent rated-R film, Mortal Kombat II never had a good chance at breaking out. So now it’s time for a little big of “Entertainment Nuance Guy”: First, yeah, my headline is obviously facetious, since Masters of the Universe besting Obsession says more about horror as a genre than it does that film. Second, I read and listened to quite a few “nobody wanted this IP” takes about Masters of the Universe, and that’s not really true. At least enough people wanted it to power a 20 million+ hour debut! Third, both this film and Mortal Kombat II were considered “average” by viewers, but not great films, with a 6.4 and 6.3 respectively on IMDb. That’s just shy of the level needed to be a word-of-mouth hit. Fourth, in the olden days, strong word of mouth could transform a box office miss into a cable/DVD hit, like Austin Powers or The Shawshank Redemption. We haven’t seen a lot of examples of that on streaming, though. And there are far fewer ways to monetize the post-theatrical life of a film these days. Fifth, Prime Video has shown an ability to push their own titles well, likely because they control the Amazon Fire TV ecosystem. Add it all up, and here’s my nuanced take on Masters of the Universe: it was a box office bomb, but, shockingly, a streaming hit. Unfortunately, while being a theatrical hit saves your film financially, being a streaming hit does not. Both Masters of the Universe and Mortal Kombat II had big budgets and needed to make more money in theaters to justify them. So…Straight-to-Streaming or Theaters? We’ve hit a really fun point in the streaming calendar, since the films that came out in theaters in April, May, and June are now arriving on streaming. So the “Do theatrical releases help streaming performances?” question is gonna get a fresh round of updates nearly every week. No single week will answer the question, but we may get some insights. For example, so far in 2026, it looks like theatrical films are lasting longer on the weekly Nielsen film charts. Here’s a list of films that have made the charts in their fourth or fifth week of release, separated by “for kids” and “general entertainment”: It certainly seems like theatrical films are lasting just a pinch longer on the charts, with Project Hail Mary being the current five-week champion. One Battle After Another did well for HBO Max too, and even The Sheep Detectives made it four weeks. The only exception to this trend? Obsession, which only lasted two weeks on the charts. You might tempted to overreact to this news. Don’t. Obsession is a huge horror hit, but horror just doesn’t do as well on streaming. By the way, here’s the Google Trends for various theatrical and stremaing films: Plus, when it comes to Netflix in four months, Obsession may have another big boost. Quick Notes on Film Note that when I write, “the streamers have pulled back on straight-to-streaming films” that doesn’t mean “abandoned” because Netflix is gonna Netflix. On 24-July, they released 72 Hours, a Kevin Hart comedy. Along with Eddie Murphy, Mark Wahlberg, John Cena and Adam Sandler, Kevin Hart is a streaming film star now. Did this latest one work? Not really. It only garnered two weeks of 13.2 and 12.2 million hours on its debut, well below the 20-million-hour hit threshold. It also was poorly received critically—a 44 on Metacritic—and by customers—a 5.4 on IMDb on 21K IMDb reviews. 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 latest Netflix true crime doc to pop on the charts… How The Bear finished its run… Netflix’s latest Western to return to streaming… What Paramount+ animated film flopped… And what sitcom also missed… All the flops, bombs and misses… And a whole lot more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! I’m behind by a week, so we’ve got two issues coming your way this week, including one in a couple of days or so, then we’ll be all caught up**.** Next issue, inspired by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie coming to Peacock, I’m going to take a look at the workhouse of streaming TV: kids films. Plus The Devil Wears Prada 2 continues theatrical films’ big run on streaming. All that, plus another surprise hit on Hulu, Lioness on CBS, and a whole lot more. Long term, LeBron James is filming his own “Last Dance”-style docu-series, surprising no one. But as I’ve been writing about a lot this summer, this genre is really overrated, so whoever ends up buying it (reportedly ESPN) really shouldn’t pay too much for it.
Repairs underway on Dolly Parton's Hollywood Walk of Fame star
The Walk of Fame star on Hollywood Boulevard became a gathering place for fans in the hours after the country music legend’s death at age 80.
Chicago records 2 human cases of West Nile virus, 1st death of 2026: Health officials
Chicago health officials reported Tuesday the city's first two human cases and first death from West Nile virus this year.
Chicago Department of Public Health announces 2 West Nile cases, 1 death for 2026
The Chicago Department of Public Health on Tuesday announced two human cases and one death from the West Nile virus in the city this year, and one of those two people has died.
The time for talking about healthcare costs has long passed
The medical claim 'death spiral' is out of control. Lip service won't fix it.
Review | ‘Les Miz’ takes to the hills at Hudson Valley Shakespeare
For a show so preoccupied with God, death and redemption, there is something fitting about seeing “Les Miz” played against the actual landscape as daylight
Strengthening bacterial meningitis surveillance in Central America
San José, Costa Rica, 20 August 2026 – Approximately 25 representatives and experts from seven countries participated in a subregional workshop organized by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to strengthen epidemiological and laboratory surveillance of bacterial meningitis. Meningitis caused an estimated 5,000 deaths in the Americas in 2021, one-third among children under 5, and approximately one in four survivors experience permanent sequelae.
NYC unveils new Legionnaires safety measures after 11 deaths in Upper East Side cluster
The 11 deaths top the total number of deaths in a similar outbreak in Harlem in 2025, when seven people lost their lives.
Health board sorry after death of man given wrong types of food
The 89-year-old died after developing a lung infection in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in 2024.
Two student deaths prompt University of Utah to share mental health resources
The University of Utah is mourning the deaths of two students who died in unrelated circumstances over the weekend and has shared mental health resources with t
NC father at center of US Senate ad says he was ‘swindled’ by GOP political operatives
Ronald Hayes was cautious when he talked to a reporter this week about the political TV advertisement he appears in, talking about the death of his son Shemar, a college football player who was murdered in Charlotte in March 2024 at age 23.
William Jewell expands mental health resources to provide care after death of football star
William Jewell expands mental health resources to help students, staff and others deal with the death of MicahJo Barnett, standout football player and person
C.D.C. Director Challenges Pennsylvania’s Report of Two Measles Deaths
Questioning a state’s investigation is highly unusual for the public health agency, but reflects tensions between the Trump administration and many states over health issues.
New CDC director delays adding Pennsylvania deaths to measles data
The deaths have been at the heart of a bitter political dispute between RFK Jr. and Gov. Josh Shapiro (D).
US health officials exclude measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania from counts
RFK Jr, the health secretary, has suggested the death were ‘fabricated’ while the CDC claimed it was reviewing them
Measles deaths reported in Pennsylvania spark feud among politicians and health officials
Medical experts say the brouhaha has diverted focus from an exploding public health threat.
Measles deaths reported in Pennsylvania spark feud among politicians and health officials
Medical experts say the brouhaha has diverted focus from an exploding public health threat.
12 actors, TV personalities and industry veterans we said goodbye to in August
Hayden Panettiere is among the actors, reality stars and Hollywood figures whose deaths were reported in recent weeks.
Officials press Pennsylvania health department on ‘measles-associated’ deaths
Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons wrote over the weekend. “If the governor disputes [the coroner’s] finding, he has a responsibility to say why in a clear, transparent way, rather than dismiss it. Nothing prevents him…
A pediatrician is running for Senate. Can doctors change the political debate over health and science?
After Lindsey Graham’s death, Democrat Annie Andrews finds herself in a closely watched race as she seeks to flip his Republican seat
A pediatrician is running for Senate. Can doctors change the political debate over health and science?
After Lindsey Graham’s death, Democrat Annie Andrews finds herself in a closely watched race as she seeks to flip his Republican seat
A pediatrician is running for Senate. Can doctors change the political debate over health and science?
After Lindsey Graham’s death, Democrat Annie Andrews finds herself in a closely watched race as she seeks to flip his Republican seat
Chatbots got safer but will still role-play self-harm with users
A study that staged more than 50,000 conversations with AI chatbots found that they will help users role-play or write stories about their suicide or death.
This Marine Died in the Iraq War. His Mother Asks, ‘What Was It For?’
Travis Fuller was from my hometown. I went back and talked with his family about how they made sense of his death, 25 years after Sept. 11.
‘Glee’ star Naya Rivera’s 10-year-old son Josey sets film debut opposite his father
Naya Rivera’s son Josey has landed his first film role at only 10 years old. He will star in the drama ‘The Burning Valley’ opposite his dad, Ryan Dorsey, 6 years after his mother’s death at age 33.
Dolly Parton laid to rest in private Nashville funeral
Dolly Parton was laid to rest in a private Nashville service attended by immediate family following her death at age 80, her great-niece shared on Instagram.
International Overdose Awareness Day
August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day which is designated to raise awareness of overdose, reduce the stigma of drug-related death, and honors the memories of those we have lost. Remember.
Brad Paisley gets emotional as he sings Dolly Parton duet solo after her death: ‘Never thought it would be about her’
Brad Paisley says his 2005 duet with Dolly Parton, ‘When I Get Where I’m Going,’ has taken on new meaning since her Aug. 25 death at 80.
Dolly Parton ‘laid to rest’ in private Nashville funeral
Dolly Parton’s friends and family gathered for an intimate funeral honoring the Queen of Country, following her death on Aug. 25.
The cost of despair: Preventable deaths surging among Latinos in the U.S., data shows
The Latino community’s long-documented health resilience is breaking down.
Governor Shapiro and US Health Secretary RFK Jr. trade jabs amid measles outbreak
(WHTM) — Measles mistrust and skepticism boiled over in Pennsylvania this week as deaths were announced and deaths were disputed. It led to a war of words between Governor Shapiro and U.S. He…
Palestinian health officials say Israeli attacks killed three in central Gaza
Israeli strikes and fire in central Gaza killed three Palestinians and wounded others on Saturday, according to local health officials.
Rural health centers in Lesotho increasingly rely on male midwifes
The southern African kingdom is seeing more men becoming midwives. Lesotho has a high rate of women’s deaths around childbirth, and the government emphasizes that gender shouldn’t matter in childbirth care.
Lil Nas X announces death of his mother Tameka Hill
Lil Nas X, whose real name is Montero Hill, announced the death of his mother Tameka Hill on Saturday, Aug. 29.
When the Nation's Top Health Official Becomes the Outbreak's Biggest Obstacle
RFK Jr. cast doubt on confirmed measles-associated deaths during Pennsylvania's worst outbreak in decades.
Integrated pollution and carbon mitigation delivers major health and economic cobenefits in China
Synergistic mitigation of air pollutants and greenhouse gases is crucial for achieving clean air and carbon neutrality, but quantitative evidence of sectoral and regional health co-benefits in China remains limited. Authors develop an integrated Energy-Economy-Air Quality-Health framework coupling CEEPA, GAINS, and a province-level health module to simulate fourteen policy scenarios from 2020 to 2050. Coordinated strategies reduce CO2 and pollutants (SO2, NOX, PM2.5) by 75% relative to 2020, avoiding more than 500,000 premature deaths by 2050 and yielding monetized gains of 1.07 trillion CNY. Health benefits concentrate in industrially dense and populous provinces, with near-term PM2.5 reductions driven by pollution control and long-term improvements reliant on decarbonization. The integrated approach achieves a benefit-to-cost ratio of 1.42, lowering abatement costs by 11% relative to pollution-only measures. These findings highlight the value of coordinated, sector- and region-specific strategies for simultaneous climate mitigation, air quality improvement, and public health protection.
Iconic singer and TV personality dies at 94: ‘Absolutely unforgettable’
A cause of death has not been reported.
Measles deaths reported in Pennsylvania spark fight among politicians and health officials
NEW YORK — The recent announcement of Pennsylvania’s first measles-related deaths in decades has ignited a public feud among politicians and health officials who disagree over the role of the contagious disease in the fatalities.
Jamie Foxx reflects on ‘second chance’ after near-death stroke
Jamie Foxx says he was told he’d been given a ‘second chance’ after he nearly died from a stroke. Here’s why that frustrated him.
11 deaths linked to Upper East Side Legionnaires' outbreak, city says
The city announced two more deaths linked to the Upper East Side Legionnaires' outbreak, bringing the toll to 11.
RFK Jr. questions measles deaths in Pennsylvania
Click in for more news from The Hill{beacon} Healthcare Healthcare The Big Story RFK Jr. seizes on Shapiro’s measles statements Top Trump administration health officials are seiz…
NYC health department announces 2 more deaths linked to Legionnaires' outbreak
Officials said there is no evidence of ongoing transmission.
Measles deaths reported in Pennsylvania spark fight among politicians and health officials
The recent announcement of Pennsylvania’s first measles-related deaths in decades has ignited a public feud among politicians and health officials who disagree over the role of the contagious disease in the fatalities
Measles deaths reported in Pennsylvania spark fight among politicians and health officials
NEW YORK (AP) — The recent announcement of Pennsylvania’s first measles-related deaths in decades has ignited a public feud among politicians and health officials who disagree over the role of the contagious disease in the fatalities.
Political feud between Gov. Shapiro and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. erupts into high-stakes battle over vaccine safety
Amid a worsening measles outbreak that has sickened hundreds throughout the state, Gov. Josh Shapiro stepped to the podium during a press conference in...
Review: A lively if familiar ‘Buddy Holly Story’ at Drury Lane
CHICAGO — Truth be told, it was strange on Wednesday to be at a show that depicts the life and death of a great American music star not named Dolly
Pennsylvania Department of Health reports 460 cases of measles in 31 counties
Death from measles, though rare, occurs in one to three patients per 1,000 cases, according to the press release.
Judge Excludes Key Confession in Sept. 11 Case
Prosecutors argued the statements by the defendant, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, were crucial evidence for the eventual death-penalty trial.
Jake Reiner details call from sister Romy after parents’ murders
Jake Reiner recalled the morning his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, were discovered dead, revealing that he declined a call from sister Romy.
Shapiro, Kennedy have war of words following 2 measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Department of Health this week recorded its first two measles-associated deaths in 35 years, both in people who were unvaccinated. The agency declined to provide further details, saying it was protecting patient privacy.
Josh Shapiro is battling RFK Jr. over measles, and the politics are getting messy
A feud between the Pennsylvania governor and health secretary sparked by this week's reports of measles-related deaths laid bare the increasingly polarized politics of public health.
Josh Shapiro is battling RFK Jr. over measles, and the politics are getting messy
A feud between the Pennsylvania governor and health secretary sparked by this week's reports of measles-related deaths laid bare the increasingly polarized politics of public health.
Shapiro, RFK Jr. clash after Pennsylvania health officials report 2 measles-related deaths
Two people with measles died in Pennsylvania. Misinformation and politics erupted.
The state Health Department said an infant’s death was associated with measles. The county coroner says the baby with measles died of a ruptured spleen.
Trump officials cast doubt on Pennsylvania measles death claims
Top Trump administration health officials are openly questioning the circumstances of two deaths that Pennsylvania officials attributed to measles. “We don’t know exactly what happened in P…
CNN apologizes to Dolly Parton’s family after accidentally using photo of Las Vegas impersonator in death reporting
CNN has issued an apology to Dolly Parton’s family after the network made an ‘error’ in broadcasting a photo of a Las Vegas impersonator in a segment about the ‘Jolene’ singer’s death.
Pennsylvania health official confirms 2 measles-associated deaths in state
Pennsylvania measles deaths prompt concerns for NJ health leaders
NJ health officials are urging people to stay up to date on immunizations following two measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania.
Jake Reiner gives first interview after parents Rob and Michele’s murders, Nick’s arrest
Rob and Michele Reiner’s eldest son, Jake Reiner, spoke about their deaths in his first sit-down interview and declines to answer questions about his brother Nick Reiner’s arrest.
Vin Diesel divides fans with cover of Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ after her death
First, there was Whitney Houston. Now, there’s Vin Diesel, whose tribute cover of ‘I Will Always Love You’ divided fans in the wake of Dolly Parton’s death.
AP report: RFK Jr. said a Samoa trip had nothing to do with vaccines. New documents refute that
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., then a prominent anti-vaccine activist, preempted the 2019 visit with a letter to the Samoan prime minister requesting to study the Pacific island nation’s measles, mumps and rubella vaccines after the deaths of two children who had received them. In the letter, he used the words vaccine or vaccination eight times.
A tragic Pennsylvania death is drawing attention to a growing health threat
Pennsylvania health officials confirmed that one of two measles-related deaths involved an infant as the state’s outbreak grows.
ASCO Remembers Dr. Harold P. Freeman, Preeminent Health Equity Expert and Pioneer of Patient Navigation
ASCO joins the oncology community in mourning the death of Harold P. Freeman, MD, a world-renowned expert on and advocate for health equity and the pioneer of patient navigation services in oncology. ...
Baby among 2 reported measles deaths Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, health officials say
Pennsylvania officials say an infant was among the two unvaccinated patients who died while being infected with measles.
Essex mental health trust's leaders need to improve, says CQC
It issues its latest report on an NHS trust under scrutiny at an inquiry into mental health deaths.
Texarkana fans reflect on late entertainment icon Dolly Parton
TEXARKANA -- Local fans on Wednesday added their voices to the millions expressing their grief and admiration upon the death of entertainment icon Dolly Parton.
Dolly’s business empire will continue growing even after her death
Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop plans to open more locations in the future, Dolly Parton’s SongTeller Hotel in Downtown Nashville is scheduled to open this fall and Dollywood will remain open and continue with its long-term expansion plans moving forward.
FDA announces recall of all Impella heart pump controllers after 3 deaths
Johnson & Johnson MedTech is recalling all of its Automated Impella Controllers due to an ongoing safety issue linked to 37 serious injuries. Care teams can still use these devices as they await a replacement.