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Executive Perspectives: Iowa leaders share their AI outlooks
During the Business Record’s final Power Breakfast of 2026, featuring speaker Mike Stitt, we featured several local executives sharing their perspectives about the role of artificial intelligence in business, from business decisions and outcomes, present and future, to leading strategy and the division of work between humans and AI. The Business Record newsroom reached out…
State agency requests kick off budget process
New Hampshire’s process for crafting a new two-year state budget reached a milestone in October.
Pat Fitzgerald Keeps Michigan State’s Bowl Hopes Alive
Michigan State needs three straight wins to reach a bowl, and Pat Fitzgerald is leaning into the stakes. #Spartans
Nvidia may lose Jensen Huang. The repercussions reach far beyond chips.
China's AI ambitions, Anthropic's IPO, and Wall Street could all feel the effects of an extraordinary Silicon Valley leadership crisis.
Recap: Notre Dame crushes Boston College, 41-7
On Saturday afternoon, the Boston College Eagles football team traveled to South Bend to face off against their longtime rival Notre Dame Fighting Irish. After losing a heartbreaker to Florida State last week, the BC team needs an upset win in order to reach bowl eligibility this season. #5 Notre Dame, meanwhile, would jeopardize their […]
Insurer suffers multiple cyber breaches, exposing 1 million records
Separate data breaches have hit multiple subsidiaries and insurance services of Japan-based MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc., compromising roughly 1 million customer and corporate records…
Gmail’s Material 3 Expressive settings redesign is starting to reach Android users
Google's Gmail settings redesign is rolling out with Material 3 Expressive styling, colorful icons, rounded cards, and improved organization.
How Wildfire Litigation Became Big Business in America
Wildfire litigation against utilities has become a fallback strategy to deal with rising losses in a warmer world. But as payouts reach into the billions of dollars, is it sustainable—or just?
Governor-elect Weiser makes first cabinet picks, including Republican for agriculture commissioner
Phil Weiser won in decisive fashion on Election Day. Now he is reaching across the aisle, nominating GOP State Sen. and Minority Leader Cleave Simpson to be Colorado’s next Agriculture Commissioner.
Climate Adaptation Market: $1.3 Trillion Opportunity
Climate adaptation market could reach $1.3 trillion by 2030. Explore how businesses and governments can build a market for adaptation and resilience.
Care when it matters most: Owensboro Health expands support for sexual assault survivors
For a sexual assault survivor, reaching the emergency room should mean the wait for help is over. Owensboro Health is working to fulfill that promise with around-the-clock access to specially trained nurses and a training program helping more western Kentucky hospitals provide that care closer to home.
John Fetterman Signals Breaking Point With Democrats Over Van Hollen
Sen. John Fetterman has signaled that he could reach a breaking point with the Democratic Party.
Disaster aid becomes political lottery: Libraries, schools and places of worship step into breach
Daniel P. Aldrich, Northeastern University Four tornadoes tore across southwest Michigan in early March 2026, killing four people. They were the state’s deadliest natural hazards in decades. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance to cover uninsured and underinsured losses. FEMA said no. She appealed. FEMA said no again. I study […]
USMNT momentum at risk as Pochettino nears Manchester United deal
USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino reaching a verbal agreement to become Manchester United’s next head coach marks an incredible opportunity for him to get back to the club level, but it would also leave the Stars and Stripes floundering.
DAP Health Launches Foundation to Expand Reach
Here are five things to know about the new philanthropic organization.
Iowa State, Cincinnati battle for bowl eligibility
The Bearcats need one victory to secure bowl eligibility, while the Cyclones must capture two of their final three contests to reach the postseason.
What to know for the first week after the NFL’s wild trade deadline
We’ve reached the second half of the NFL season after an intense trade deadline, and the playoff races are heating up with one division on pace to make history.
McWane Science Center receives $253K to expand STEM education across Alabama
New STEM education funding will help Birmingham's McWane Science Center reach more students in rural and underserved Alabama communities.
A sudden FAA ground stop strands teams and throws the sports weekend into chaos
The Federal Aviation Administration's decision to ground all flights nationwide Friday threw the sports world into chaos, leaving NBA, NHL and college teams stranded as they tried to reach their destinations, and NFL teams were left to wonder whether the issue would be resolved in time for them t...
Five Cornell Summits to Explore AI and Data Science
AI and Data Science are opening new areas for scientific breakthroughs that have been out of reach in the past, and they are also creating pressing
Scientists Solved the Mystery of Why Some People Shiver in the Cold While Others Wear Shorts
Experiments in mice suggest that testosterone and a molecular cold sensor shape who reaches for the parka.
Walker Kessler joins elite club in quick fashion
The Lakers’ Walker Kessler grabbed his 2,000th rebound against the Bucks on Wednesday, becoming the 11th-fastest player in NBA history to reach 2,000-plus points, 2,000-plus rebounds and 500-plus blocks. Kessler...
Voyager 1 forever changed our view of Jupiter — Space photo of the week
As NASA's Voyager 1 probe reaches one light-day from Earth, we look back at its legendary photos of Jupiter that changed our view of the solar system.
Brewers face major Aaron Ashby decision after historic World Series run
The Milwaukee Brewers have reached the pinnacle of Major League Baseball, capturing the first World Series championship in franchise history after defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in a hard-fought five-game series. The title also marked a breakthrough for Tampa Bay, which had yet to win a championship of its own. Aaron Ashby played a key [...]
'Talent has no gender.' Women are making their way into science but few reach the top
Women held 41% of EU science and engineering jobs in 2025. Eurostat reveals regional divides, while separate research shows gaps in senior roles.
Increased Role Expected for Washington RB Jayden Limar
Washington’s opening drive against Penn State was a quality possession that lasted 14 plays and drove 65 yards. The Huskies did not reach the end zone, settling instead for a field goal. But 53 of those yards were gained on the ground for an average of 6.6 yards per rush. Running back Jayden Limar had …
Sam Reinhart Reaches Milestone with Highlight Goal in Panthers’ Victory
In a night to remember, Sam Reinhart celebrated a significant career milestone by reaching 700 points, capping off a stellar performance that helped propel the Florida Panthers to a commanding 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. Reinhart showcased his skill and determination as he weaved through three Blues defenders before slipping…
This Week In Security: Four-Digit Patch Tuesday, SSH Exploited, GitBook Breach, Android GhostMap
It’s the second Tuesday of the month, and that means another Microsoft Patch Tuesday. The new normal is that the numbers are hard to believe. Brian Krebs reports that this month’s relea…
Baptist Health (JAX) completes first procedure in new brain aneurysm clinical trial - Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report
The PIONEER clinical trial evaluates a device designed to treat difficult-to-reach brain aneurysms, potentially expanding treatment options for patients in the U.S. Jacksonville, Fla., November 13, 2026 – Baptist Health […]
Alliance Entertainment and JAKKS Pacific Team Up to Take Anime and VTuber Collectibles Further Across North America
Exclusive partnership pairs JAKKS’ anime product expertise with Alliance’s fan reach and distribution strengthPLANTATION, Fla. and SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alliance Entertainment Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AENT), an entertainment commerce and collectibles platform generating more than $1 billion in annual revenue and serving more than 35,000 retail and e-commerce storefronts, today announced an exclusive distribution partnership with JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (NASDAQ:
A sudden FAA ground stop strands teams and throws the sports weekend into chaos
The Federal Aviation Administration's decision to ground all flights nationwide Friday threw the sports world into chaos, leaving NBA, NHL and college teams stranded as they tried to reach their
Health Coverage Is Out of Reach for Many Californians
Explore five facts about health coverage in California, including Medi-Cal enrollment declines, persistent racial disparities, and barriers to accessing care.
When Science Magazine in 1960 Predicted Doomsday for Friday, Nov. 13, 2026
In 1960, a prominent science journal published a provocative paper calculating that human population growth would reach infinity on November 13 2026. Researchers used historical data to argue that humanity grew faster than exponential rates. Their mathematical model proved surprisingly accurate for decades before global birth rates eventually declined significantly following targeted social changes.
Active ScreenConnect attacks breach MSPs, impact dozens of organizations
ConnectWise is investigating an active malware campaign targeting managed service providers (MSPs) that uses compromised ScreenConnect environments to deploy rogue remote-access clients to customer devices.
A new era in pneumonia prevention must reach those most at risk - Global Initiative for Asthma
FIRS calls for action on World Pneumonia Day 2026 Pneumonia claimed an estimated 2.5 million lives globally in 2023, including 610,000 children under five. Despite being preventable and treatable, it remains a major cause of illness and death worldwide, particularly among young children and older adults. On World Pneumonia Day, 12 November 2026, the Forum ... Continue Reading
Explainer: From undercover employment to corporate data breaches: the "Combating Foreign Threats to Main...
A bipartisan bill that could help U.S. small businesses recognize threats from foreign adversaries, including the risk posed by North Korean workers posing as job candidates, was debated and passed in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. It now moves on to the Senate.
Kyle Larson Joins NASCAR’s Elite Three-Time Champion Club
Kyle Larson clinched his third title on Sunday, becoming just the 11th driver to reach this historic mark in NASCAR history.
Barbie in the Nutcracker at 25: Still the Prima Ballerina of Branded Entertainment
25 years ago, Barbie in the Nutcracker launched the Mattel icon into the world of branded entertainment. As Barbie celebrates a new Netflix retelling of the classic film, marketer Kelly Philp talks about a timely, festive activation with the Royal Opera House and explains how the brand is reaching a new generation - while bringing their zillennial parents along for the ride
Underwater internet cables can help save endangered whales
The cables can eavesdrop on multiple baleen whale species—including the world's largest.
Germany sink sorry Serbia to set up crunch Netherlands clash
Germany cruised to a 3-1 win against Serbia in Belgrade in the Nations League on Friday, setting up a crunch clash with the Netherlands in Berlin on Monday. The Netherlands' 7-0 annihilation of Greece in Amsterdam means the Germans will likely need to win on Monday to reach the quarter-finals, unless Serbia beat the Greeks away from home.
New Fireworks Hack Threatens $1 Billion Business
Fireworks, a startup that helps developers run and train open-source models, in the last week has told some of its large customers including Harvey of a recent, more serious hack to its systems, according to two people with knowledge of the breach. The hack exposed data fromsome Fireworks ...
Can AI help aspiring screenwriters break into Hollywood?
As generative AI spreads through Hollywood, unsettling writers worried about losing jobs and creative control, some L.A. educators see it as a way for emerging screenwriters to develop pitches, visuals and projects — and reach industry contacts once reserved for insiders.
How Rockstar's 'GTA IV' release could reshape gaming, streaming and even paid time off
"Grand Theft Auto VI" launches Nov. 19 with huge expectations. Its impact could reach creators, streaming, music, workplace time off, food delivery and tourism.
Manchester City face another year of uncertainty! Premier League charges could result in sanctions in 2027 after appeal hearing
The legal battle between Manchester City and the Premier League is set to extend well into the future, leaving the club's long-term status in the balance. Despite a guilty verdict being reached earlier this year, the timeline for any potential punishment remains clouded by a complex appeals process.
Orange County school board to vote on teacher health care contract dispute
The dispute comes down to health care costs. A special magistrate was brought in to find middle ground between the school district and the union, but the two sides could not reach an agreement.
Mpox cases rise locally, prompting expanded county public health outreach
San Diego County Friday reported an increase in local mpox cases with 16 confirmed since October 2026, and 48 total so far this year.
“Jessica Pegula Did Mirra Andreeva A Favor” – Serena Williams’ Coach Explains How WTA Finals Controversy Became A ‘Catalyst’ For Teenager
Serena Williams’ coach Rennae Stubbs believes Mirra Andreeva’s remarkable run at the 2026 WTA Finals stems from controversial comments Jessica Pegula made about her ahead of the year-end championships. Andreeva, making her WTA Finals debut this year, has reached the final after three dominant Round Robin phase wins.
Shopping small adds up to big impact for local businesses - The Union-Recorder
Shopping at locally-owned businesses not only impacts the stores that customers support, but the act also reaches across communities.
Democrats’ plan to scrap the Electoral College is finally within reach. One of its architects is having second thoughts.
In 2001, Akhil Amar laid out a creative way the US could adopt a national popular vote. Now it might happen — and he worries it could go badly wrong.
Mastercard (MA) Expands Its Business Banking Reach Through New Partnerships
Mastercard (NYSE:MA) is expanding its business banking reach through new partnerships focused on commercial cards and treasury tools. BMO and Mastercard launched the BMO CashBack World Elite Business Mastercard in Canada, targeting small and midsize firms with rewards and protections. Citizens Treasury Intelligence™ went live through a collaboration between Citizens and Trovata, using Mastercard technology to support corporate treasury management. The BMO CashBack World Elite Business...
State, federal government investing in Missouri veterans’ mental health
The Missouri Veterans Commission’s annual suicide prevention report recommends more peer support and outreach in rural communities to help reduce veteran suicides in the state.
Weekend sporting events in jeopardy as nationwide ground stop throws air travel into chaos
A nationwide FAA ground stop left professional and college sports teams scrambling to reach their weekend games, with some switching to buses as flight disruptions mounted.
The Source |100K Track Expands Remain Solid's Reach With New Major-Label Partnership And Growing Entertainment Empire
100K Track Expands Remain Solid's Reach With New Major-Label Partnership And Growing Entertainment Empire
Svitolina stuns Sabalenka to reach WTA Finals last four
Ukrainian veteran Elina Svitolina beat world number two Aryna Sabalenka in a rollercoaster three sets on Friday to punch her ticket to the WTA Finals last four, where she'll face Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova.Svitolina, meanwhile, continues her campaign for a second WTA Finals crown to go with the one she won in 2018.
Preview | Juventus Women-OL Lyonnes
The Women's First Team are back in UEFA Women's Champions League action, this time hosting OL Lyonnes in Biella.The League Phase has reached Matchday 4, and the Bianconere face eight-time UWCL winners...
Leading Health Policy Experts Across the Political Spectrum View Aging Policy as a National Priority, Suggest Areas of Focus
These principles are informed by a survey and roundtable discussion in 2026 with the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Future of Health Advisory Board. They build on a range of perspectives and do not reflect consensus reached among members. America is experiencing a dramatic demographic shift, driven by the aging of the baby boomer generation, longer life … Continued
Paul McCartney achieves billionaire status, becomes world’s third-richest musician
(CNN) — Paul McCartney reached the realm of billionaire status Monday after Forbes valued his net worth at a colossal $1.4 billion – making him the world’s third-richest musician.
Hill Country mental health funding reaches schools, nonprofits as demand for support continues
Nearly $780,000 in donated funds was distributed to Kerrville, Hunt and Ingram independent school districts to support grief counseling and mental health services for teachers and students as part of a broader $1 million commitment to help the Hill Country community heal.
Health insurance premiums in Mass. climb 38% since 2019, outpacing the national average, report finds
The average family premium reached nearly $30,000 last year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission.
More customers express concerns about Tonganoxie memorial business's communication
More customers are reaching out with concerns about a Tonganoxie memorial and headstone business after KMBC 9 Investigates reported about the company this week.
Ex-Bengals Star Trey Hendrickson Called Out: ‘Quietly Been Awful’
This offseason, the Cincinnati Bengals moved on from star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson after the team allowed him to reach free agency.Hendrickson joined the Cincinnati Bengals prior to the 2021 season and over a five-year period he became perhaps the best free agent signing in franchise history. Unfortunately, things took a downturn during the final […] The post Ex-Bengals Star Trey Hendrickson Called Out: ‘Quietly Been Awful’ appeared first on HEAVY.
‘Reached the lives of many.’ Retired Bellefonte business owner remembered after fatal fire
A GoFundMe campaign for his wife, Karen, was launched after Monday’s fire.
Local barbershop hosts 12-hour haircutting marathon to benefit community health
A local barbershop hosted a 12-hour haircutting marathon on Saturday to aid community health outreach.
Alliance Entertainment, JAKKS Pacific Team Up
The partnership combines JAKKS’ anime product expertise with Alliance’s fan reach and distribution strength across North America.
$750K grant helps veterans build farming businesses | University of Hawaiʻi System News
Military veterans who want to farm have new opportunities from the Veterans Business Outreach Center of the Pacific and CTAHR.
Triune Mercy Center awarded $465K Greenville Health Authority grant
The program will expand street outreach and help connect individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness with essential healthcare services.
Leading Health Policy Experts Across the Political Spectrum View Aging Policy as a National Priority, Suggest Areas of Focus
These principles are informed by a survey and roundtable discussion in 2026 with the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Future of Health Advisory Board. They build on a range of perspectives and do not reflect consensus reached among members. America is experiencing a dramatic demographic shift, driven by the aging of the baby boomer generation, longer life … Continued
Nottingham Forest back men's mental health initiative
A charity is reaching out to fans in the stands to provide support to anyone who needs it.
Mack Hollins reaches end zone
New England Patriots WR Mack Hollins had three catches for 36 yards and a touchdown in Week 9 against the Green Bay Packers
The Pelicans Fall Back To Reality As They Drop Back-To-Back Games
The definition of craziness is doing the same action and expecting different results. The New Orleans Pelicans start out a new season with lows and highs, but it’s a different season, with a different head coach and a somewhat different roster. Though the Pelicans reached four victories a month and a half before last season, …
Large police presence in Garden City leads to evacuation of youth sports game
We have reached out to both law enforcement agencies for more information.
Banner Health generates 25.3 billion for Arizona
A new report found that Banner Health's economic reach in Arizona extends significantly beyond its own workforce.
Earth’s ‘core carbon’ may have come from the far reaches of the solar system
A research team that includes Yale cosmochemist Damanveer Grewal makes the first observational estimate of the isotopic composition of carbon in Earth’s core.
Measles-associated deaths reach 10 in US after two more deaths reported
More than 5,400 confirmed measles cases have been recorded in the US to date this year.
Oklahoma Caring Van program reaches 1 million miles delivering healthcare
The Oklahoma Caring Van program has traveled one million miles over 26 years, providing affordable preventive healthcare to families across the state.
USMNT's Mauricio Pochettino reportedly reaches verbal agreement with Manchester United: What's next?
First embrace, lasting progress: newborn care reaches 6500 facilities across the Western Pacific
The WHO-developed Early Essential Newborn Care (EENC) approach has transformed maternal and newborn care across the Western Pacific Region over the past decade. Since 2013, it has expanded to around 6,500 childbirth facilities in nine priority countries and provided practical coaching to more than 42,500 health-care workers. At the heart of EENC is the “First Embrace”, immediate and sustained skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby, alongside practices such as delayed cord clamping, early breastfeeding, newborn resuscitation and Kangaroo Mother Care. By 2023, nearly 93% of full-term newborns in assessed facilities received immediate skin-to-skin contact. Two new publications highlight EENC’s progress and show how hands-on coaching, teamwork and facility data have helped turn evidence-based guidance into routine care. WHO is now working with countries to make these improvements universal and sustainable, with the goal of ensuring every newborn receives a healthy start.
Tracy McGrady Says Magic Reached Out About Retiring His Jersey
McGrady played 4 of his 16 NBA seasons in Orlando.
Zurich’s first-half net income reaches $3.5B
Switzerland-based Zurich Insurance Group AG’s first-half group net income rose 14% year on year to $3.5 billion, Reinsurance News reported. Property and casualty gross written premiums grew 7% to $29.
Phil Bardsley Reflects on Sunderland’s Memorable League Cup Run
From lifting the Player of the Season award to reaching the 2014 League Cup final, Phil Bardsley looks back on his time at Sunderland. What made those years so special?
Meet Katelyn Liu, the California teen whose free science workshops grew from a local library into a 21-chapter nonprofit that has reached 15,163 young people and distributed 18,525 STEM kits worldwide
A homemade catapult, a miniature wind turbine or a simple robotics experiment can do more than just introduce a child to science. It can spark the confidence to imagine a future in engineering, technology or environmental research.
Marsh acquires Wilshire in push to expand investment advisory reach
The $1.6 trillion AUA deal signals Marsh’s bid to integrate wealth management into its brokerage platform
Newmark's Latest Innovations
Even as vacancies remain elevated in the major U.S. life science markets, active tenant demand across Boston, the Bay Area and San Diego increased 62.6% from its second-quarter 2025 trough, and year-to-date leasing reached 6.9 million square feet, Newmark reported. “The measurable increase in active tenants is likely a bellwether for future leasing demand, although ...
Johnson says definitely more to come after 50 caps
Brennan Johnson says he is happy with what he has achieved in football but would like to reach more major tournaments with Wales.
A Camden County news website hopes to bypass algorithms to connect small businesses with the community
NJ PEN is hosting its first Small Business Street Fair to help boost the community amid changing rules on reaching customers online.
Pennsylvania Measles Cases Surpass 1,500, State Health Department Says
Nov 9 (Reuters) - The number of measles cases in Pennsylvania reached 1,505 as of Monday, up 18 from the previous update on Friday, as the state battles its worst outbreak of the disease in years. Here are more details: • Pennsylvania reported 73 new cases over the past seven days, according ...
OpenAI Gives Businesses New Tools to Reach ChatGPT Users
OpenAI is launching a new suite of tools that lets companies manage their presence on the platform, track customer engagement and deploy artificial
PsiQuantum-AMD collaboration could reach Chicago
A Silicon Valley startup and a powerhouse are tackling quantum together.
ESPN predicts FSU's remaining schedule after Week 10
ESPN's updated Matchup Predictor reveals Florida State's chances of reaching bowl eligibility following its victory over Boston College.
Mass. Indian film series expands to theaters across the country
From beloved classics to rarely screened films, an Indian cinema series that started in Mass. is reaching audiences nationwide.
Alliance Entertainment Q1 Earnings Call Highlights
Alliance Entertainment (NASDAQ:AENT) reported a 10% increase in fiscal first-quarter revenue as sales of physical movies, music and collectibles rose, though higher operating expenses limited growth in operating income. Revenue reached $278.8 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, up fro
Insider Data Theft Incident Reported by Premise Health
Premise Health Holding Corp has announced that a former employee copied patient data without authorization. Data security incidents have also been Premise Health Holding Corp has announced that a former employee copied patient data without authorization. Data security incidents have also been announced by Telecare Corporation and Enara Health.
College Football Playoff to expand to 24 teams
CFP has reached a 5 year agreement with ESPN for 24 teams playoff
Peoria dispensary anticipates increased business as Illinois hemp-derived THC restrictions take effect
Ivy Hall, located at 3929 W. War Memorial Drive, is one of five licensed cannabis dispensaries in Peoria. The dispensary says its products undergo strict testing before reaching store shelves.
Epidemiologist Neil Vora joins Mongabay’s board as it expands global reach and planetary health coverage
Neil Vora has worked on Ebola outbreaks in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and ran New York City’s COVID-19 contact-tracing operation that traced more than 700,000 people. Now the physician and epidemiologist is joining Mongabay’s board of directors. The Ebola deployments came during nearly a decade at the U.S. Centers for Disease […]
Moana, The Invite and “What Customers Want”
(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 going, I wanted to acknowledge that two of the most important figures in sports media (at least to me and my team) are stepping back from two of the best sports shows of all time. First off, Ernie Johnson will no longer host possibly the greatest studio show in the history of all sports, Inside the NBA. (Charles Barkley has said in the past that he’s retiring when Ernie does, which would be even worse!) EJ is one of the greatest to ever do it, and the NBA won’t be the same without him. Next, Michael Wilbon is taking a leave of absence from PTI, my favorite sports news show. I’ve been listening to the podcast for this show since the 2010s, if not earlier, treating it as my daily sports page. Wilbon, along with his co-host Tony Kornheiser, is also one of the greatest to ever do it. The sports media landscape will be worse without these two in it! Wishing all the best to Wilbon and EJ. Okay, on to this week’s issue. We’ve got two big shows—the second season of Prime Video’s The Terminal List and the third season of Netflix’s _Nobody Wants This—_but both were bested by an acquired title landing on Netflix. All that, plus an Original film from Mexico makes the charts but a formerly huge foreign TV show does not, a notable creator’s latest standup special flops, Ted Lasso finishes as a top season four series of all time, big numbers for the NBA’s new season (finally), the top animated shows on linear and streaming, movie budgets, and all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. But first, on the film side, I’m taking a look at Moana and A24’s buzzy film from last summer. 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 October 19th to October 25th, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Film - What Do Customers Want? If I could remove one phrase from entertainment journalism, it would be “what customers want”. It’s not that it’s not wrong per se, but I read a lot of articles that use that phrase, but then don’t provide evidence of what customers actually want.1 For example, look at the bar chart below. It shows customer interest as measured by how much customers actually spent at the American box office, comparing four films to four others. Which films would you say represent “interest” the most? The one on the left certainly seems bigger, right? So it seems like “customers” wanted to see those films more. So here’s that chart with names attached: That’s right, four very buzzy films—The Invite, You Can See Everything, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma and Primetime—went up against four notable “flops” or underperformers—Moana, Disclosure Day, Minions and Monsters, and Supergirl—and the latter clearly had more interest. That doesn’t mean they’re more profitable2 or well-liked by critics, but if you’re asking what customers want to spend their money on, it’s those movies. I’d especially argue that You Can See Everything had about as much media coverage as a film can get—I saw/read about it constantly; whenever random NBA podcasts are talking about it, you know it’s everywhere—and yet Moana will likely best it. I bring this up, because this week features a showdown between a notable box office flop, Moana on Disney+, and a buzzy dramedy, The Invite on HBO Max. Moana was widely considered to be a flop, and it was a disappointment at the box office, only earning $126 million domestically (and $323 million globally). For the budget, that’s a big miss, down from Moana 2’s heights of $1 billion globally. But as I’ve written a few times this summer, we often confuse “this film is profitable” with “more customers want to watch this film”, which is not the same thing. But that’s the box office. Let’s look at the streaming numbers, starting with the Moana live-action reboot. Where, yes, Moana (2026) also disappointed. It made Nielsen, but under 10 million hours, which is low for kid-skewing Disney+ films: It did make Samba TV, but at tenth place for only one week: Those numbers stand in stark contrast to some of Moana’s previous superlatives on streaming. Moana (the original animated film) has made the Nielsen charts 130 times since 2021. Moana 2 opened to 33.3 million hours on Nielsen. Moana was the biggest film on streaming in 2023 and 2024, second in 2020 and 2021, and top six in 2022 and 2025. Moana 2 was second overall in 2025. To be clear, the Moana live-action reboot didn’t work, given how much it cost to make. It’s absolutely a disappointment. But more families paid to see it than people paid to see most of A24’s buzzy films this year, with one notable (horror film) exception. Okay, on to The Invite, A24’s buzzy summer release, which just came to HBO Max. Mainly, I’m curious: Who made money from this film? Or who lost money: the stars of The Invite or A24? No, seriously, read this Deadline article for the details. The Invite’s budget was allegedly “under $15 million” (so...$14 million?) then A24 bought it for “a sum north of $10 million”, which I saw elsewhere as over $12 million (so...$13 million?), but then it just made $26 million in the US. So basically, The Invite’s investors only made money after they sold foreign territories—it made $33 million overseas—but A24 might just make its money back in the US in the theatrical window, assuming it had $0 in marketing. I read one article analyzing this film’s marketing campaign which assumed no marketing spend, even though that article went on to detail how much marketing and PR and ads this film had. For what it’s worth, I saw a lot of marketing for it. A24 will likely just break even after factoring in other windows, but no matter what, this isn’t a hugely profitable juggernaut from Hollywood’s most-heralded film studio. (And, I’d note, most coverage of IP or superhero failures doesn’t account for profitability in future windows.) Really, I’m guessing that the stars—Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Ed Norton and Penelope Cruz—had or kept their backend, hence why they did so much press for this film, which brings me to my actual takeaway, which I just mentioned two weeks ago about Backrooms: I don’t trust A24’s reported film budgets anymore. Either A24 is strategically releasing low numbers to get good press or they’ve really cracked the code on how to make movies at prices no one else can approach. But I’m skeptical about that last point. You don’t keep elite talent happy by keeping budgets in check—see: Dan Lin getting fired—and by all accounts, A24 keeps talent very happy. There’s another option: not paying big name actors their actual quotes upfront by giving away back end/profit participation. Offering backend is one great way to keep the reported budget lower than it actually is, but it makes the film less profitable for A24. (By the way, I’m still running down the numbers on Backrooms’ budget. If you know its actual budget—not the reported $10 million number—reach out to me on my contact page. I’ve heard rumblings I’m on to something, but would love something more concrete.) Okay, enough asking questions about A24’s business model. To the streaming ratings! The Invite came to HBO Max on 23-Oct, so we could look at the streaming numbers now… …and I don’t have any for you since it didn’t make any of the charts I track. And that’s pretty much the moral of the streaming story. Even though it disappointed on streaming, Moana wins this round, too. Quick Notes on Film The only other notable new straight-to-streaming film was S_urviving Hurricane Otis_, a Mexican Original on Netflix. It made Nielsen with 3.4 million hours and Luminate with 4.8 million hours. Overall, I’d call that very solid for a foreign-language title, but still far from a hit. Overall, the Luminate and Nielsen charts felt very light this week. Gladiator II also came to Netflix non-exclusively (it’s still streaming on Paramount+) and had 5.0 million hours according to Nielsen. That’s up from the 3.7 million hours it had when it premiered on Paramount+ a year and a half ago. Netflix’s Animals fell to 4.9 million hours according to Nielsen and fell off the Samba TV charts. Peacock/Universal’s Disclosure Day actually made it for a third week, but only at 2.8 million hours. Apple TV’s Sacrifice was down to 2.7 million from 3.2 million. Still, for an Apple TV film to make two weeks is solid (for them). Toy Story 5 made a fifth week on the charts. 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… ...how The Terminal List did after a four-year break... ...what acquired surprising title topped the charts… …where Ted Lasso finished in the all-time charts… ...big NBA opening week ratings... …a controversial new reality show that missed the charts... ...what very notable foreign TV show flopped... ...all the flops, bombs and misses... ...and a whole lot more... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. If you want an idea of just how much content you’d get in a full issue, check out this older issue.
Communist Party Politics, Rockets and Komsomol Business in Soviet Dnipropetrovsk
This is an excerpt from Ukraine’s Outpost: Dnipropetrovsk and the Russian-Ukrainian War (2022). Free to download from E-International Relations. The Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk (in 2016 the city was renamed Dnipro) was shown on a movie screen in the Soviet Union for the first time in 1981 as a ‘Russian-speaking’ city in Nikita Mikhalkov’s feature film Rodnia. A story of a Russian peasant woman who visited her daughter in the big industrial city was used by Mikhalkov in his movie to emphasise a growing crisis in Soviet family life during the Brezhnev era when former Russian peasants lost their Orthodox Christian identity during the process of socialist industrialisation and modernisation. Paradoxically, Mikhalkov completely ignored the real social and national problems of the city; instead choosing as the setting for his movie Russian peasants’ adjustment to Soviet modernisation. Even now many Russians use this film as evidence of the ‘Russian character’ of Dnipropetrovsk ignoring the real demographic and social history of this Ukrainian region (Elberg-Wilson 2016).[1] Despite Mikhalkov’s picture, the city of Dnipro and the Dnipropetrovsk region had a multi-national and multi-cultural character coupled with the strong influence of Ukrainian and Jewish culture. Get E-International Relations delivered to your inbox, free. As you sign up, consider becoming a paid subscriber, or make a donation, to support our work. Subscribe Using various archival and published documents, this chapter will cover the social, economic and cultural development of the city and the region of Dnipropetrovsk through the period of late socialism after Stalin, showing the ties between the multi-national Komsomol members and business ventures during perestroika and how this influenced the rise of oligarchic clans in post-Soviet Ukraine. Emergence of Soviet Dnipropetrovsk Paradoxically, from the early beginning, the founding of the ‘city of Catherine’s glory’ (Ekaterinoslav in Russian) and its province in 1776 by the Russian imperial administration of the Catherine the Second involved non-Russian ethnic groups, which shaped a historical demography of this region in Southern Ukraine. These ethnic groups included the local Ukrainian Orthodox Christian peasants and Cossacks, Jewish traders and artisans, Armenian Christians, and Tatar Muslim settlers. By the middle of the nineteenth century, thousands of German Protestant and Mennonite colonists also settled in the province. Moreover, by attracting foreign capital, the Russian imperial administration transformed this multi-ethnic and multi-religious region in the booming industrial centre of the Russian Empire by the beginning of twentieth century (Zhuk 2004, 33–96). After the Russian Revolution and civil war, the province of Ekaterinoslav continued to play an important role in the industrial development of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1926 the Soviet administration decided to change the name of Ekaterinoslav which sounded too ‘old fashioned’ and ‘imperial Russian.’ The new name was a combination of the name of the Dnipro River with the last name of Grigorii Petrovskii, head of the All-Ukrainian Executive Committee of the Soviets, and well-known organiser of the working-class movement in the region of Ekaterinoslav before the Revolution. ‘Dnipro-Petrovske’ was later transformed into ‘Dnipropetrovsk’ (Bolebrukh 2001, 156). Both the city and region of Dnipropetrovsk lived through the New Economic Policy (N.E.P.), industrialisation and the Stakhanovite movement. The region lost millions of human lives during collectivisation and the dekulakisation campaign, and especially during the Holodomor of 1932–33. During industrialisation, the Soviet government restored the industrial base of the region. Former metallurgical giants such as the Petrovskii (formerly Brianskii)plant, the Chodoir (formerly Vladimir Lenin) plant and others resumed production of pig iron and steel. During the 1930s, Dnipropetrovsk became an important centre for Soviet heavy industry. In 1932, Dnipropetrovsk regional metallurgical plants produced 20 per cent of the entire cast iron and 25 per cent of the steel manufactured in the Soviet Ukrainian Republic. After the beginning of the campaign of ‘Ukrainianisation’ in 1923, the number of those who spoke Ukrainian grew, reaching 38.5 per cent in the city by the end of the 1920s. Between 1932 and 1939, the number of city dwellers in Dnipropetrovsk increased to over 500,662. The Dnipropetrovsk region became the most urbanised of Soviet Ukraine with more than 2,273,000 people living in the region (Vasiliev 1977, 55; Bolebrukh 2001, 159–164). Dnipropetrovsk also became the cultural and educational centre of Soviet Ukraine. There were ten colleges, including the State University, 97 secondary schools and 19 vocational schools. The Soviet administration restored local drama and music theatres. During the 1930s, Dnipropetrovsk had 120 libraries, five museums, six movie-theatres, 30 clubs and palaces of culture (Bolebrukh 2001_,_159–164). The Leonid Brezhnev Clan Post-war Soviet modernisation influenced the careers of many young and ambitious Komsomol members in the region. One of them, Leonid Brezhnev, was born in 1906 in Kamenskoe, joined the Kommunystycheskaya Partyya Sovetskoho Soyuza (Communist party of the Soviet Union - KPSS) in 1931 and, after graduation from Dniprodzerzhinsk Metallurgical Institute was elected as a council deputy of the city of Dniprodzerzhinsk. The Stalinist purges of the 1930s removed many old Soviet and Communist officials from government positions who perished in prisons and the labour camps of GULAG. Young people such as Brezhnev filled the void created by Stalinist repressions in the region. In 1938, the young Brezhnev was elected as a member of the regional committee of the Soviet Communist party of Ukraine (KPU) and head of the Department of Agitation and Propaganda. By the young age of 32, Brezhnev had become secretary of the KPU committee of the most important industrial region of Soviet Ukraine. His career was interrupted by the Great Patriotic War when Brezhnev joined the army as an ideological officer (see Mlechin 2005). From August 1941 to October 1943, the Dnipropetrovsk region was occupied by the Nazis, and Soviet troops liberated the entire region by February 1944 (Berkhoff 2004, 11, 36, 49, 149–150, 152–153, 248–249). The Soviet administration restored the industrial base of Dnipropetrovsk, and by 1950 the main metallurgical and machine-building factories had reached their pre-war levels of industrial production and productivity. During this period, Brezhnev began his political career as a talented and ambitious organizer of the industrial re-birth of Dnipropetrovsk. He was an experienced young army ideologist who had proved his loyalty to the Stalinist leadership during the war and was familiar with Dnipropetrovsk before 1941. The Central Committee of the KPSS sent Brezhnev to Dnipropetrovsk in November 1947 when he was elected first secretary of the Dnipropetrovsk regional committee of the KPU, and he ruled the oblast until June 1950 (Vosstanovlenie). His successors were Andrei Kirilenko and Volodymyr Shcherbitskyy, both close friends. Two other young comrades of Brezhnev, Oleksiy Vatchenko and Yevhen Kachalovskii led the region respectively in 1965–1976 and 1976–1983 (Vasiliev 1977, 72; Bolebrukh 2001_,_ 233; Mlechin 2005). Brezhnev promoted the political career of his old friends, many of whom became prominent political figures in Kyiv and Moscow during his leadership of the KPSS. Both contemporaries and scholars who study the ‘Brezhnev period’ call this phenomenon the ‘Dnipropetrovsk mafia’ or rule of the ‘Dnipropetrovsk Family’ (Nahaylo 1999, 36, 69; Wilson 2000, 162). Since the rise of Brezhnev to the pinnacle of Soviet power, the ruling elites of Dnipropetrovsk influenced not only regional, but also republican and All-Union politics. Dnipropetrovsk’s transformation into an important centre of the Soviet military industrial complex was directly related to the sudden rise of Brezhnev to the pinnacle of Soviet power in October of 1964. Brezhnev promoted the political career of his compatriots from the Dnipropetrovsk military industrial complex. Brezhnev’s friends and close colleagues from his post-war years in the Dnipropetrovsk region went to Moscow and became prominent political figures in the Soviet nomenklatura hierarchy during the 1960s and 1970s. Two main industries of the Soviet military industrial complex – metallurgy and missile-building – had important factories in Dnipropetrovsk and therefore provided the Brezhnev clan with new members from 1964 until 1982. Even after the downfall of the Brezhnev clan in Moscow in 1983, when Yurii Andropov began his struggle ‘against corruption and nepotism’ in the Soviet nomenklatura, members of this clan continued to play a prominent role in the political life of Soviet Ukraine. Besides the Physical-Technical Department of Dnipropetrovsk State University, the Dnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute also assisted the political careers of many of Brezhnev’s close friends who in the 1970s and 1980s became important members of the Kremlin nomenklatura. Nikolai Tikhonov, former head of Dnipropetrovsk Sovnarkhoz during the 1950s, was one of the deputies of the Soviet Prime Minister between 1966 and 1976, First Deputy of the Prime Minister from 1976 to 1980 and head of the USSR Council of Ministers from 1980 to 1985.[2] Nikolai Shcholokov was the Soviet Minister of Public Order in 1966–1968 and from 1968 to 1982 he was Soviet Minister of Interior. Georgii Tsynev was during 1971–1976 a member of the Central Revision Committee of the KPSS and a deputy head of the KGB from 1970 to 1982. In the KGB he was the 1st Deputy Chairman in 1982–1985 as well as he was a Candidate Member of CPSU Central Committee in 1976–1981 and accordingly was a full Member of the said body in 1981–1986. Victor Chebrikov, who graduated from Dnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute in 1950, was one of the leaders of the city party organisation in Dnipropetrovsk from 1961 to 1971. In 1971 he became the head of the personnel department of the USSR KGB, First Deputy of the Head of this organization and from 1982 to 1988 a chairman of the KGB (Pikhovshek 1996, 11–12, 272–274). Another of Brezhnev’s close friends, Volodymyr Shcherbytskyy, promoted the careers of other people from the region of Dnipropetrovsk. With his support, Oleksii Vatchenko became the head of the Presidium of the Ukrainian Soviet Supreme Soviet from 1976 until 1984 with the assistance of another politician from Dnipropetrovsk, Valentyna Shevchenko. Aleksandr Kapto, who worked as a secretary of both the Dnipropetrovsk Komsomol organization and the Soviet Ukrainian Komsomol in Kyiv in the 1960s, oversaw the Department of Culture in the Central Committee of the KPU; in 1979–1986 he was a Secretary of the Central Committee and accordingly was the main ideologist of the Soviet Ukraine. Many other members of the ‘Kyiv ruling class’ under Shcherbytskyy were also linked to the Dnipropetrovsk metallurgical and military lobby. Shcherbytskyy’s assistant from 1972 to 1984 was Konstantin Prodan who began his career in the Komsomol organisation of the city of Dnipropetrovsk (Pikhovshek 1996, 48–103). As a contemporary political analyst noted, ‘Officially Prodan was put in charge of industrial production, though, according to insiders of the former KPU Central Committee, his principal function was ‘maintaining’ contact with Brezhnev’s assistant Georgii Tsukanov in Moscow’ (Pikhovshek 1996, 33–34). Another important reason for the rise of the ‘Brezhnev Clan’ was the relative independence of Dnipropetrovsk’s local administration from Kyiv. Because of the status of Dnipropetrovsk as a ‘strategically important centre for military industry,’ different branches of the local administration were under the direct supervision of Moscow, rather than Kyiv (Interviews with Tihipko, Markov and Bocharova). The Military Industrial Complex and Ruling Elite of Dnipropetrovsk The city of Dnipropetrovsk was the location of famous metallurgical and machine-building factories in pre-revolutionary Russia and the Soviet Union. Before 1941, Dnipropetrovsk became the most urbanised region of the Soviet Ukraine. Almost 53 per cent of this region’s population lived in 16 cities and towns of the region (Vasiliev 1977, 55; Bolebrukh 2001, 159–164). In 1980, the industrial enterprises of Dnipropetrovsk manufactured a significant part of the industrial products and customer goods for the Soviet Ukrainian Republic. A total of 5.4 per cent of steel, 9 per cent of rolled iron, 28 per cent of pipes, 62 per cent of combine beet-harvesters, 27.9 per cent of television sets, and 8.5 per cent of knitted wear in Ukraine were produced in the city of Dnipropetrovsk (Bolebrukh 2001, 219). After 1945, the main centre of economic and financial activities of the region and the city of Dnipropetrovsk became neither metallurgy nor mining. The new centre which changed the status of the region and of the city was a secret military factory in Dnipropetrovsk. The entire ideological and cultural situation in the region, and especially the city, depended on this one industrial plant which became the most important part of the Soviet military industrial complex. In July 1944, the State Committee of Defence in Moscow decided to build a large military machine-building factory in Dnipropetrovsk on the location of the pre-war aircraft plant. In December 1945, thousands of German prisoners of war began construction and built the first sections and shops of the new Dnipropetrovsk Automobile Factory (Markov, 1995). In 1947–1948 this factory produced its first cars and special military vehicles. However, on 9 May 1951 the USSR Council of Ministers decided to transform the main shops and sectors of this factory into ‘secret production’ which included not only special military vehicles, but also powerful rocket engines and different types of modern military aircraft. The former Dnipropetrovsk Automobile Factory was transferred to the Ministry of Armament of the USSR and received a new name – the State Union Plant #586 (Lukanov 1996, 12). Stalin introduced the organisation of special secret training of highly qualified engineers and scientists who were to become rocket construction specialists. He recommended the introduction of a new college degree at Dnipropetrovsk State University which would be a Master of Sciences in rocket construction. In 1952 the university administration formed a new department with the name ‘physical-technical faculty’ which was the largest department at the university, admitting on average four hundred students each year. These students received better accommodation and a higher stipend payment than students from other departments and colleges; the lowest stipend for this department was 450 roubles, while the highest stipend at another prestigious school, the Dnipropetrovsk Medical Institute, was only 180 roubles. A special commission from Moscow selected talented undergraduate students studying physics from engineering schools all over the USSR and sent them to the physical-technical department at Dnipropetrovsk State University, where they resumed their studies as rocket engineers. Simultaneously, the university administration announced the admission of new freshmen students in this department. The promise of a good stipend and a ‘romantic’ career of rocket engineer attracted thousands of talented young people to this ‘secret’ department, which provided training specialists for only the Dnipropetrovsk Automobile Factory (Horbulin 1998, 9, 62–63). In accordance with another decision of the Soviet government, in 1954 the administration of this automobile factory opened a secret design office with the name ‘Southern Construction Bureau’ (konstruktorskoe biuro Yuzhnoe). The main assignment of this office was to construct military missiles and rocket engines. Hundreds of talented physicists, engineers and machine designers moved from Moscow and other big cities in the Soviet Union to Dnipropetrovsk where they joined the konstruktorskoe biuro Yuzhnoe (KBYu). In 1965, the secret Plant #586 was transferred to the Ministry of General Machine-Building of the USSR and the next year it changed its name into the ‘Southern Machine-building Factory’ (Yuzhnyi mashino-stroitelnyi zavod) or simply Yuzhmash (in Ukrainian Pivdenmash). The first ‘General Constructor’ and head of the ‘Southern’ design office was Mikhail Yangel, a prominent scientist and outstanding designer of space rockets who led the design office and factory from 1954 to 1971. Yangel designed the first powerful rockets and space military equipment for the Soviet Ministry of Defence. Yangel worked with talented engineers who later became the leaders of military production in Dnipropetrovsk and the official directors of Pivdenmash. Two close collaborators of Yangel were the Pivdenmash directors Leonid Smirnov (1952–1961) and Aleksandr Makarov (1961–1986). Makarov’s successor was Leonid Kuchma, the Director General of the Pivdenmash in 1986–1992, who later became one of the most prominent political leaders in independent Ukraine and was and still is the only President of Ukraine (1994–2005) elected twice (Strazheva; Platonov and Horbulin; Romanov and Gubarev; Baikonur; Baikonur, Korolev, Yangel). In 1951 the Southern Machine-building Factory began manufacturing and testing new military rockets with an initial range of only 270 kilometres. By 1959 Soviet scientists and engineers developed new technologies, and as a result, the KBYu launched a new machine-building project producing ballistic missiles. Under Yangel, KBYu produced very powerful rocket engines which dramatically increased the range of ballistic missiles and from the 1960s, began to be used as launch vehicles for Soviet spaceships. Pivdenmash designed and manufactured four generations of missile complexes which included space launch vehicles Kosmos, Interkosmos, Tsyklon-2, Tsyklon-3 and Zenith. The KBYu created a unique space-rocket system called Energia-Buran and manufactured 400 technical devices which were launched as artificial satellites (Sputniks). For the first time in the world space industry, the Dnipropetrovsk missile plant produced space Sputniks. By the 1980s, Pivdenmash manufactured 67 different types of spaceships, 12 space research complexes and four defence space rocket systems. These systems were used not only for purely military purposes by the Ministry of Defence, but also for astronomical research, for global radio and television and for environmental monitoring. Pivdenmash initiated and sponsored the international space programme of Eastern European socialist countries, called Interkosmos. Twenty-two of the 25 automatic space Sputniks of this programme were designed, manufactured, and launched by engineers and workers from Dnipropetrovsk. Pivdenmash and KBYu became not only an important centre of the Soviet space industry and Soviet military industrial complex, but also the main rocket producer for the entire Soviet bloc. (Hall and Shayler 2001, 316ff; Siddiqi 2003, 97, 113, 114, 164, 177, 285) The military rocket systems manufactured in Dnipropetrovsk created the base for the Soviet Strategic Missile Forces (Dnepropetrovskii raketno 1994; Bolebrukh 2001_,_ 209–211, 229; Lukanov 1996, 13). On the eve of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, KBYu had nine regular and corresponding members of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, 33 full professors and 290 scientists holding a Ph.D. More than 50,000 people worked at Pivdenmash. Pivdenmash was ‘a state’ inside the Soviet state. In 1969, after a long competition with Moscow’s V. Chelomei Centre of Rocket Construction, Pivdenmash rocket designs won, and from then leaders of the Soviet military industrial complex preferred only Pivdenmash models. The Soviet state provided billions of Soviet roubles to finance Pivdenmash projects (Horbulin 1998, 6, 24–31). Officially, Pivdenmash also manufactured agricultural tractors and special kitchen equipment for everyday needs, such as mincing machines or juicers for Soviet households. In official reports and public information there were no details given about its production of rockets or spaceships. However, hundreds of thousands of workers and engineers in the city of Dnipropetrovsk were employees of this plant, and members of their families and therefore most local people knew about the ‘real production’ of Pivdenmash. Dnipropetrovsk as a KGB “Testing Ground” The Soviet government approved the KGB’s proposal to introduce the highest level of secrecy over Pivdenmash and its products. According to the Soviet government’s decision, the city of Dnipropetrovsk was officially closed to foreign visitors in 1959. No citizen of a foreign country (even Eastern European socialist) was allowed to visit the city or district of Dnipropetrovsk. From the late 1950s, Soviet people called Dnipropetrovsk ‘the rocket city’ or ‘closed city.’ (Bolebrukh 2001, 211). Members of the Brezhnev clan in the Moscow offices of the KGB and Ministry of Interior also contributed to centralised ideological control in Dnipropetrovsk, which especially influenced the KGB and security operations in the closed city. The local KGB office was always more Moscow-oriented, ignoring the interests of the authorities in Kyiv. At the same time, for Moscow officials who began their careers in Dnipropetrovsk, the city became the testing ground for many All-Union KGB campaigns which they attempted to initiate. Dnipropetrovsk KGB officers were ‘pioneers’ in the organisation of ideological campaigns which became ‘models’ for other ‘closed’ industrial Soviet cities. [This phrase – ‘pioneers of ideological campaigns’ – belongs to a local retired KGB officer. According to the KGB documents, Moscow’s representatives in the Dnipropetrovsk clan always interfered in local KGB business, imposing their own practices on the local officers.] (Igor T.; DADO, f. 19, op. 52, spr. 72, ark. 1–18) As a result, the inhabitants of Dnipropetrovsk experienced more ideological limitations and more brutal anti-Western campaigns than people in many other Soviet cities. Facing direct Kremlin supervision, the local KGB and KPSS ideologists sought to prove their ideological reliability and occasionally exaggerated the ‘threat from the capitalist West.’ KGB officers transformed one building in the Dnipropetrovsk Special Psychiatric Hospital (psikhushka), located in a town of Ihren (now a suburban district of Dnipro), into a special police facility for ‘political dissidents.’ All over the Soviet Union, Ihren psikhushka (especially its Section 9) became notorious and known as the worst incarceration for political prisoners. The Dnipropetrovsk KGB tested various drugs on prisoners and performed different medical experiments, treating the most ‘opinionated’ political dissidents as mentally sick patients. Many religious and civil rights activists and ‘bourgeois nationalists,’ such as national communist dissident Leonid Plyushch, described the Dnipropetrovsk Psychiatric Hospital as ‘mental hell’ because of its police system of harsh treatment and everyday humiliation (Plyushch 1979, 304–326, 340–349). Meanwhile, local KGB officers explained their harsh treatment of dissidents such as Plyushch as an ideological necessity to protect a strategically important centre of the Soviet military industrial complex (Igor T). Growth of the Population and Standards of Living in the Region The new status of the city brought more state investments and contributed to the overall improvement of the standard of living of its inhabitants. During the 1950s, the main sponsor of city improvements and renovations was the metallurgical industry. During the 1960s and 1970s, the space rocket industry and its biggest factory, Pivdenmash, sponsored all major city programmes, renovations and new architectural projects which included the sports palace Meteor with a large indoor pool, football team Dnipro, city airport, city theatre of opera and ballet, historical museum of Yavornitskii, department store ‘Children’s World,’ construction of thousands of modern apartments, libraries and movie-theatres, and celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the city of Dnipropetrovsk in 1976. (Bolebrukh 2001_,_ 211–212). Even the expansion and renovation of the Dnipropetrovsk Central Farmer Market (known as Oziorka) was supported by Pivdenmash as part of its improvement of the city’s life, and a reflection of the growth and strategic importance of the city. From 1958 to 1965 the city administration invested money in building a new covered location for the market and by 1970 they had re-built the entire neighbourhood transforming it into a modern and convenient place for the ‘socialist consumption of goods and services.’ (Lazebnik 2001, 167–185) As a result, the missile factory, the centre of the Soviet military industrial complex, contributed to a new level of cultural consumption among not only the city’s dwellers, but also among all guests of Dnipropetrovsk. Consequently, the pioneering efforts in the popularisation of new modern forms of Western music such as jazz and rock-n-roll also began among engineers and workers of Pivdenmash who contributed to the spread of new cultural forms and activities among those who lived in the city and region of Dnipropetrovsk. The improving living conditions in Dnipropetrovsk led to an increase of the regional population from 2,339,800 people (with a 56 per cent urban population) in 1951 to 2,850,700 (with a 72 per cent urban population) in 1961. The larger salaries and better distribution of food and industrial goods also attracted young people from other regions of the Soviet Union to Dnipropetrovsk. From the 1950s onward, most of the Dnipropetrovsk population were people younger than 30 years old. In 1970 there were 3,343,000 people in the region (76 per cent of who lived in cities) which by 1984 had increased to 3,771,200 people (with 83 per cent urban population). The population of the city of Dnipropetrovsk grew from 660,800 people in 1959 to 1,066,000 in 1979 and more than 1,153,400 people in 1985 when Gorbachev came to power (Glushkina 1985, 10, 11). The Dnipropetrovsk region had a young multinational, predominantly Russian speaking population. Three major ethnic groups shaped the cultural development of the region – Ukrainians, Russians, and Jews. During the peak of ‘international harmony and prosperity of developed socialism’ in 1979, Ukrainians made up the overwhelming majority of the regional (72.8 per cent) and urban (68.5 per cent) population. Due to massive emigration from the Soviet Union, the Jewish population decreased from 2.7 per cent in 1959 to 1.7 per cent in 1979 and 1.3 per cent in 1989. The number of Russians in the region’s population grew rapidly from 17.2 per cent in 1959, 20.9 per cent in 1970, 23 per cent in 1979 and 24.2 per cent in 1989 (O vozrastnoi structure 1971; Goskomstat USSR 1991, 100, 102). By 1985, more than a third of the population in the city of Dnipropetrovsk was ethnically Russian. If we add to this number the 3.2 per cent of Russian-speaking Jews and more than 33 per cent of Ukrainians who considered Russian their native language, we will have more than two thirds of the city’s population who associated themselves with Russian rather than with Ukrainian culture. According to contemporaries, the high salaries and better conditions of living attracted representatives of various nationalities from different republics who also spoke Russian rather than the Ukrainian language in Dnipropetrovsk (Goskomstat USSR 1991, 106, 108, 119, 122; Prudchenko and Smolenska 2007). Komsomol ‘Business’ During the Late Soviet Era The regional economic activities of local ‘businessmen and women’ from the Komsomol during perestroika had their roots in the pre-perestroika era. They also strengthened trends for independence from Moscow which had earlier existed in Dnipropetrovsk. All the elements of their initial business had already been developed during the Brezhnev era when the cultural consumption of late socialism combined the structures of Soviet international tourism with the ideological efforts of Komsomol activists into one business network. Mass rock and discotheque music consumption among Soviet youth was delivered by Komsomol and trade union apparatchiks. International tourism and discotheque enthusiasts provided these apparatchiks with music and video material for their entertainment business. Without these relations it would be impossible to imagine the development of post-Soviet capitalism. The first pioneers of organizing Komsomol business in the region were two graduates of Dnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute, the Ukrainian-Moldovan Sergiy Tihipko, the First Secretary of the Dnipropetrovsk Komsomol regional organization in 1986–91, and the Ukrainian Oleksandr Turchynov, who worked with Tihipko as head of the agitation and propaganda division in the same Komsomol regional organisation in 1987–90. Tihipko and Turchynov initiated and ‘ideologically justified’ the first Komsomol businesses in the region. Two other Komsomol members, who also graduated from the same institute as Tihipko and Turchynov, Kolomoyskyy and Viktor Pinchuk, both of Jewish origin, started their careers not in the official Komsomol business, but on the black market of Dnipropetrovsk, trading various goods, and using their financial and engineering skills for their own survival in the conditions of economic collapse of late socialism. Kolomoyskyy used his financial skills and connections with Tihipko to organize its own financial corporation Privatbank, which became the most successful bank in post-Soviet Ukraine. Pinchuk, using his engineering and managerial skills, founded his own metallurgical venture, entitled Interpipe Company. It is noteworthy that all four of those Komsomol members, two Ukrainian and two Jewish, used their personal connections through their friends and partners from Pivdenmash, including through its last director Leonid Kuchma, to start their first businesses in Dnipropetrovsk (see Golovko 2012). In the mid-1980s, when perestroika created favourable conditions for the managerial skills of Komsomol activists, this system produced new activities for cultural consumption, such as video salons which brought their organisers more profits than traditional discotheque clubs. The video business used the same infrastructure and network of the discotheque movement; namely international tourism, Komsomol activists, trade union leaders and the ‘discotheque mafia.’ This network contributed to the business career of two fans of Western popular music, Yulia Tymoshenko and her husband, Oleksandr (Popov, Milshtein, 55; Ponamarchuk). Yulia Grigian (Telegina) was the daughter of Armenian taxi-driver Grigian and Russian technical worker Telegina, a fan of British rock music. Yulia Grigian married Oleksandr Tymoshenko, son of a member of the city KPU committee in the Pivdenmash administration. In 1978, Yulia Tymoshenko joined the student Komsomol organization in the Department of Economy at Dnipropetrovsk State University. This department was opened on the initiative of the Pivdenmash administration in 1977 to provide training for qualified economists in Dnipropetrovsk’s growing military industrial complex. Yulia Tymoshenko graduated with honours from the Department of Economy in 1984 and began her first job as an engineer-economist through the connections of her father-in-law, Hennadii Tymoshenko. For five years, she worked at the Lenin machine building plant, another factory which belonged to the Soviet military industrial complex. In 1979, she gave birth to her daughter Yevhenia, and until 1988 she and her husband enjoyed a typical Soviet upper-middle class life in their one-bedroom cooperative apartment. They continued to watch movies, listen to Western pop music, and occasionally visited and danced in well-known discotheque clubs in downtown Dnipropetrovsk (Popov and Milshtein 2006, 64–67; Suvorov 1991). Perestroika changed the young Tymoshenko family. Hennadii Tymoshenko recommended his son and daughter-in-law to join the co-operative movement and promised his support through the city’s KPU and Soviet administration. In 1988, the young Tymoshenkos used their old connections in the Komsomol discothèque world to open a public service enterprise, a video-rental shop in Dnipropetrovsk, with 5,000 borrowed Soviet roubles. The profits made from this first venture were used to open a chain of video rental stores. They used the experience of Komsomol apparatchiks, who brought their first VCRs in Dnipropetrovsk through Sputnik. Contacts in the discotheque movement helped provide these apparatchiks with Western video tapes and an audience which was ready to consume new Western cultural products. Former discotheque enthusiasts tested these new business practices and proposed the idea of video salons, which had already become the most popular and fashionable form of entertainment Moscow and the three Baltic republics. As a result, during perestroika both the Komsomol and ‘discotheque mafia’ provided infrastructure for these salons in Dnipropetrovsk. When in 1987the KGB opened the city of Dnipropetrovsk to foreigners, Pivdenmash imported thousands of VCRs using barter agreements with South Korean businessmen. As a regional KPU apparatchik who oversaw the distribution of movies throughout the Dnipropetrovsk region (kinoprokat), Yulia Tymoshenko’s father-in-law had access not only to these Korean VCRs but also to local movie theatres which provided the first mass audience for video films. The main base of a Tymoshenko’s ‘video enterprise’ was the location of the former central Komsomol discotheque club of Dnipropetrovsk oblast– the Student Palace in the Taras Shevchenko Park of Culture and Relaxation in downtown Dnipropetrovsk (Popov and Milshtein 2006, 52–89; Ponamarchuk 2007). In 1989, she quit her old engineer-economist job and became the head of the Terminal co-operative. The same year, another participant in the ‘discotheque mafia,’ Serhiy Tihipko, was elected as the first secretary of the Komsomol organization of Dnipropetrovsk oblast. He not only supported Tymoshenko’s enterprise, but also brought his additional discotheque and Sputnik connections into Terminal. In this way, discotheque activists and Komsomol apparatchiks contributed to the growth and popularity of Tymoshenko’s business (Tihipko). In 1991 after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and Soviet state tourism, the representatives of the Brezhnev era Komsomol elite, such as Tymoshenko demonstrated again that a skilful adjustment of this network to the new economic situation was an important foundation for success in post-Soviet business activities. The initial capital of Terminal, the music and video Komsomol enterprise which Tymoshenko had launched during ‘the discotheque era’ of late socialism, became the foundation of her business and political career in post-Soviet Ukraine. Epilogue: Dnipropetrovsk Komsomol Entrepreneurs and the Formation of Post-Soviet Oligarchs Political corruption in the post-Soviet geopolitical space is rooted in cultural consumption during the Brezhnev era, especially in the so-called ‘discotheque effect’ on society during the era of ‘mature socialism.’ During this period of late socialism in the USSR, millions of Soviet young people, loyal members of Komsomol, fell in love with the catchy sound of ‘beat music’ by the Beatles and hard rock by Deep Purple. Even ten years after dissolution of the Soviet Union, the post-Soviet space was ruled by former Soviet hard rock fans, representatives of the so-called ‘Deep Purple generation,’ new post-Soviet politicians, such as Russian Prime-Minister Dmitri Medvedev, twice Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, President Petro Poroshenko and former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. Paradoxically, détente in the 1970s led to the influx of Western cultural products into the USSR, such as popular music and feature films. As a result, Soviet ideologists, including the Komsomol, attempted to control Soviet consumption of cultural products from the West using ‘Komsomol discothèques’ where Soviet young people could dance to ‘ideologically permitted’ Soviet and Western music. Contemporaries called these organizers ‘disco mafia’ in the industrial cities of Eastern Ukraine. By the end of perestroika in 1991, more than 100 Komsomol businesses had emerged in industrial cities in Eastern Soviet Ukraine, of which more than ninety originated in the city of Dnipropetrovsk (Zhuk 2010, 301). Only a few of the most successful enterprises survived post-Soviet competition during the 1990s and created ‘new business corporations’ such as Yulia Tymoshenko’s ‘Gas Empire,’ Kolomoyskyy’s and Tihipko’s Privatbank, Aleksandr Balashov’s ‘Trade Corporation’ and Rinat Akhmetov’s Liuks. The overwhelming majority of these post-Soviet successful businesses were organised by or directly connected to the ‘disco mafia.’ At the same time, the first Dnipropetrovsk ‘capitalists’ demonstrated a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, from the Ukrainian Tihipko, Armenian-Russian Tymoshenko, Russian Balashov and Jewish Kolomoyskyy contributing to the multi-national identity of the city of Dnipropetrovsk and Dnipro. Some contemporaries noted how the business activities of Komsomol ‘entrepreneurs’ in the 1980s contributed to regional identity in Eastern Ukraine. Many of these ‘entrepreneurs’ who were not ethnic Ukrainians became active participants in the Ukrainian independence movement in 1988–1991 to protect their regional business interests rather than defending Ukrainian culture and language. In the 1990s, former members of the Soviet ‘discotheque mafia’ and their former KPU supervisors became an integral part of the business and political life of independent Ukraine. As leaders of oligarchic clans in Ukraine they have resisted Russian expansion into their ‘spheres of influence.’ The case of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, elected in April 2019, whose entire career was generated inside the Soviet-based system of television entertainment, continues to demonstrate the connection between ‘post-Komsomol‘ business and political careers. Zelenskyy began his acting career in 95-yi Kvartal, which was a reference to a neighbourhood in Kryvyy Rih, where he had grown up and was inspired by the 1960s Soviet television show KVN. As we see, the Dnipropetrovsk and Dnipro elites, who are still rooted in their Soviet past, play a significant role in the development of independent Ukraine. References Berkhoff, Karel C., (2004). Harvest of Despair: Life and Death in Ukraine under Nazi Rule. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bolebrukh, Anatolii G. et al., eds., (2001). Dnipropetrovsk: vikhy istorii. Dnipropetrovsk: Grani. 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Rock and Roll in the Rocket City: The West, Identity, and Ideology in Soviet Dniepropetrovsk, 1960–1985. Baltimore, MD & Washington D.C: Johns Hopkins University Press and Woodrow Wilson Centre Press. **Interviews**Igor T., KGB officer, 15 May 1991, Dnipropetrovsk. Karlo A. Markov, 12 April 1992, Dnipropetrovsk State University. Mikhail Suvorov, 1 June 1991, Dnipropetrovsk. Natalia V. Bocharova, 15 March 1993, Dnipropetrovsk State University. Sergiy Tihipko, director of Privatbank in Dnipropetrovsk, 12 October 1993, Dnipropetrovsk. Yevhen D. Prudchenko and Halyna V. Smolenska, 18 July 2007, Central Library of Dnipropetrovsk oblast, Dnipropetrovsk. Notes [1] I used also numerous interviews conducted with my relatives, who are ethnic Ukrainians, but live in Moscow, Russia, who still support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s anti-Ukrainian politics. [2] Sovnarkhoz is abbreviated from Russian Sovet narodnogo khoziaistva, an economic department in the Soviet government during the early Stalin era and during Khrushchev’s reforms.
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