From luxury produce selling for nearly $20 apiece to babies gnawing on ribeye steaks, food and drink extremes in 2025 reflected American culture in unique ways.
Viral videos, social media challenges and wellness-driven experiments pushed boundaries in grocery aisles, with coffee cups and even for high chairs.
The global protein supplement market surged to as much as $30 billion in 2025, according to some industry analyses, with no signs of slowing as consumers chase perceived health and wellness benefits.
Whether driven by indulgence, health fads or shock value, these six trends reported by Fox News Digital stood out as some of the strangest and most talked-about bites and beverages of the year.
Check these out.
Protein-packed foods and drinks surged in popularity in 2025.(iStock)
1. $20 strawberries
A Los Angeles grocery store stunned shoppers by selling a single strawberry for $19.99.
Imported from Japan, the Elly Amai strawberry is packaged in its own display case. Influencers praised its flavor, while critics dismissed the price as a “social experiment.”
Some joked that it was “still cheaper than eggs,” a nod to another wild trend of 2025. Soaring egg prices at one point topped $8 a dozen, driven by disease-related supply disruptions and broader food inflation.
Luxury Japanese strawberries drew both praise and backlash after selling for nearly $20 each. (Elly Amai)
2. ‘Carnivore babies’
The controversial “carnivore baby” trend took off on social media, with some parents feeding infants butter, bone broth, sardines and even ribeye steak instead of traditional baby food.
While some doctors called the approach ancestral and nutrient-dense, many pediatric experts warned that cutting out fruits and vegetables could pose serious health risks for developing children.
Infants have been fed butter, bone broth and steak — sparking controversy among pediatric experts.(iStock)
3. Luxury water
At upscale restaurants, water became the new wine, with curated water menus offering sommelier guidance on mineral content, acidity and mouthfeel. Bottles have been priced from $11 to as much as $95.
Driven in part by wellness trends and Gen Zers drinking less alcohol, the booming “fine water” movement sparked both fascination and ridicule as diners debated whether luxury water represented refined indulgence or was simply pretentious.
4. Protein preoccupations
The protein obsession continued throughout 2025, spilling far beyond shakes and bars into everyday foods and drinks.
Viral trends promoted protein lattes, clear protein drinks and even Parmesan cheese wedges as cleaner whole-food alternatives to bars and powders, even as dietitians cautioned the craze is often driven by marketing and is easy to take too far.
Some say eating Parmesan cheese wedges has been taken too far.(iStock)
5. Butter-dipped ice cream
The Connecticut-based Stew Leonard’s grocery store ignited social media debate after unveiling butter-dipped vanilla soft-serve cones, coating ice cream in melted butter for a crunchy, salty shell.
Some viewers were horrified while others were intrigued. Many admitted they were curious to try it.
Store officials described the treat as “addictive” and “totally decadent.”
Stew Leonard’s coats a cone of vanilla soft-serve ice cream in “real butter.”(Stew Leonard’s)
6. ‘BeanTok’
“BeanTok” gained traction as TikTok users claimed that eating about two cups of beans a day improved digestion, mood and appetite control.
Experts said the trend’s benefits are largely driven by fiber and resistant starch, which support gut health, blood sugar regulation and feelings of fullness.
The craze reflects a broader resurgence of interest in fiber, as consumers look for food-based ways to naturally improve digestion and metabolic health.
Fox News Digital’s Andrea Margolis, Khloe Quill and Angelica Stabile contributed reporting.
Deirdre Bardolf is a lifestyle writer with Fox News Digital.
It was another year of high-conviction bets — and fast reversals.
From bond desks in Tokyo and credit committees in New York to currency traders in Istanbul, markets delivered both windfalls and whiplash. Gold hit records. Staid mortgage behemoths gyrated like meme stocks. A textbook carry trade blew up in a flash.
Investors bet big on shifting politics, bloated balance sheets and fragile narratives, fueling outsized stock rallies, crowded yield trades, and crypto strategies built on leverage, hope, and not much else. Donald Trump’s White House return quickly sank — and then revived — financial markets across the world, lit a fire under European defense stocks, and emboldened speculators fanning mania after mania. Some positions paid off spectacularly. Others misfired when momentum reversed, financing dried up or leverage cut the wrong way.
As the year draws to a close, Bloomberg highlights some of the most eye-catching wagers of 2025 — the wins, the wipeouts and the positions that defined the era. Many of those bets leave investors fretting over all-too-familiar fault lines as they prepare for 2026: shaky companies, stretched valuations, and trend-chasing trades that work, until they don’t.
Crypto: Trumped
It looked like one of crypto’s more compelling momentum bets: load up on anything and everything tied to the Trump brand. During his presidential campaign and after he took office, Trump went all-in on digital assets — pushing sweeping reforms and installing industry allies across powerful agencies. His family leaned in, championing coins and crypto firms that traders treated as political rocket fuel.
The franchise came together fast. Hours before the inauguration, Trump launched a memecoin and promoted it on social media. First Lady Melania Trump soon followed with her own token. Later in the year, Trump family–affiliated World Liberty Financial made its WLFI token tradable and available to retail investors. A set of Trump-adjacent trades followed. Eric Trump co-founded American Bitcoin, a publicly traded miner that went public via a merger in September.
Each debut sparked a rally. Each proved ephemeral. As of Dec. 23, Trump’s memecoin was floundering, off more than 80% from its January high. Melania’s was down nearly 99%, according to CoinGecko. American Bitcoin had sunk about 80% from its September peak.
Politics gave the trades a push. The laws of speculation pulled them back down. Even with a friend in the White House, these trades couldn’t escape crypto’s core pattern: prices rise, leverage floods in, and liquidity dries up. Bitcoin, still the bellwether, is on track for an annual loss after slumping from its October peak. For Trump-linked assets, politics offered momentum, but no protection. — Olga Kharif
AI Trade: The Next Big Short?
The trade was revealed in a routine filing, yet its impact was anything but routine. Scion Asset Management disclosed on Nov. 3 that it held protective put options in Nvidia Corp. and Palantir Technologies Inc. — stocks at the center of the artificial intelligence trade that’s powered the market’s rally for three years. While not a whale-sized hedge fund, Scion commands attention due to the person who runs it: Michael Burry, who earned fame as a market prophet in The Big Short book and movie about the mortgage bubble that led to the 2008 crisis.
The strike prices were startling: Nvidia’s was 47% below where the stock had just closed, while Palantir’s was 76% below. But some mystery lingered: Due to limited reporting requirements, it was unclear if the puts — contracts that give an investor the right to sell a stock at a certain price by a certain date — were part of a more complicated trade. And the filing offered just a snapshot of Scion’s books on Sept. 30, leaving open the possibility that Burry had since trimmed or exited the positions. Yet skepticism about the lofty valuations and massive spending plans of major AI players had been building like a pile of dry kindling. Burry’s disclosure landed like a freshly struck match.
Nvidia, the largest stock in the world, tumbled in reaction, as did Palantir, though they later regained ground. The Nasdaq also dipped.
It’s impossible to know exactly how much Burry made. One bread crumb he left was a post on X saying he paid $1.84 for the Palantir puts; those options went on to gain as much as 101% in less than three weeks. The filing crystallized doubts simmering beneath a market dominated by a narrow group of AI-linked stocks, heavy passive inflows and subdued volatility. Whether the trade proves prescient or premature, it underscored how quickly even the most dominant market narratives can turn once belief begins to crack. — Michael P. Regan
Defense Stocks: New World Order
A geopolitical shift has led to huge gains in a sector once deemed toxic by asset managers: European defense. Trump’s plans to take a step back from funding Ukraine’s military sent European governments into a spending spree, giving a huge lift to shares of regional defense firms — from the roughly 150% year-to-date rally in Germany’s Rheinmetall AG as of Dec. 23, to Italy’s Leonardo SpA more than 90% ascent during the period.
Money managers who once saw the sector as too controversial to touch amid environmental, social and governance concerns changed their tune and a number of funds even redefined their mandates.
“We had taken defense out of our ESG funds until the beginning of this year,” said Pierre Alexis Dumont, chief investment officer at Sycomore Asset Management. “There was a change of paradigm, and when there is a change of paradigm, one has to be responsible and also defend one’s values. So we’re focusing on defensive weapons.”
From goggle makers to chemicals producers, and even a printing company, stocks were snapped up in a mad rush. A Bloomberg basket of European defense stocks was up more than 70% for the year as of Dec. 23. The boom spilled into credit markets as well, with firms only tangentially linked to defense attracting hordes of prospective lenders. Banks even started selling “European Defence Bonds,” modeled on green bonds except in this case ringfenced for borrowers like weapons manufacturers. It marked a repricing of defense as a public good rather than a reputational liability — and a reminder that when geopolitics shifts, capital tends to follow faster than ideology. — Isolde MacDonogh
Debasement Trade: Fact or Fiction?
Heavy debt loads in major economies such as the US, France and Japan — and a lack of political appetite to confront them — pushed some investors in 2025 to tout gold and alternative assets like crypto, while cooling enthusiasm for government bonds and the US dollar. The idea gained traction under a bearish label: the “debasement trade,” a nod to historic episodes when rulers such as Nero diluted the value of money to cope with fiscal strain.
The narrative reached a crescendo in October, when concerns over the US fiscal outlook collided with the longest government shutdown on record. Investors searched for shelter beyond the dollar. That month, gold and Bitcoin both rose to records — a rare moment for assets often cast as rivals.
As a story, debasement offered a clean explanation for a messy macro backdrop. As a trade, it proved more complicated. Bitcoin has since slumped amid a broader retreat in cryptocurrencies. The dollar stabilized somewhat. Treasuries, far from collapsing, are on track for their best year since 2020 — a reminder that fears of fiscal erosion can coexist with powerful demand for safe assets, particularly when growth slows and policy rates peak.
Elsewhere, price action told a different story. Swings in metals from copper to aluminum, and even silver, were driven at least as much by Donald Trump’s tariff policies and macro forces as by concerns about currency debasement, blurring the line between inflation hedging and old-fashioned supply shocks. Gold, meanwhile, has kept powering ahead, reaching new all-time highs. In that corner of the market, the debasement trade endured — less as a sweeping judgment on fiat, more as a focused bet on rates, policy and protection. — Richard Henderson
Korean Stocks: K-Pop
Move over, K-drama. When it comes to plot twists and thrills, it’s hard to beat this year’s action in South Korea’s stock market. Fueled by President Lee Jae Myung’s efforts to boost the country’s capital markets, the benchmark equity index rocketed more than 70% in 2025 through Dec. 22, headed toward his aspirational goal of 5000 and handily topping the charts among major stock gauges worldwide.
It’s rare to see a political leader publicly set an index level as a goal, and Lee’s “Kospi 5000” campaign drew little attention when it was first announced. Now, more and more Wall Street banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. think it’s achievable in 2026, helped in part by the global AI boom, which has increased demand for South Korean stocks as Asia’s go-to artificial intelligence trade.
There is one notable absence from the Kospi’s world-beating rally: local retail investors. While Lee often reminds voters that he was once a retail investor himself before entering public office, his reform agenda has yet to persuade domestic investors that the market is a durable buy-and-hold proposition. Even as foreign money has poured into Korean equities, local mom-and-pop investors have been net sellers, channeling a record $33 billion into US stocks and chasing higher-risk bets ranging from crypto to leveraged exchange-traded funds overseas.
One side effect has been pressure on the currency. As capital flowed outward, the won weakened, a reminder that even blockbuster equity rallies can mask lingering skepticism at home. — Youkyung Lee
Bitcoin Showdown: Chanos v Saylor
There are two sides to every story. In the case of short-seller Jim Chanos’s arbitrage play involving Bitcoin hoarder Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc., there were also two big personalities, and a trade that was fast becoming a referendum on crypto-era capitalism.
In early 2025, as Bitcoin soared and Strategy’s shares went through the roof, Chanos saw an opportunity. The rally in Strategy had stretched the premium the company’s shares enjoyed relative to its Bitcoin holdings, something the legendary investor saw as unsustainable. So he decided to short Strategy and go long Bitcoin, announcing the move in May when the premium was still wide.
Chanos and Saylor started publicly trading barbs. “I don’t think he understands what our business model is,” Saylor told Bloomberg TV in June about Chanos, who in turn, called Saylor’s explanations “complete financial gibberish” in an X post.
Strategy’s shares hit a record in July, marking a 57% year-to-date gain, but as the number of so-called digital asset treasury firms exploded and crypto token prices fell from their highs, Strategy shares — and those of its copycats — began to suffer and the company’s premium to Bitcoin shrank. Chanos’s wager was paying off.
From the time Chanos made his short call on Strategy public through Nov. 7, the date he said he exited from the position, Strategy shares dropped 42%. Beyond the P&L, it illustrated a recurring crypto boom-and-bust pattern: balance sheets inflated by confidence, and confidence sustained by rising prices and financial engineering. It works until belief falters — at which point the premium stops being a feature and starts being the problem. — Monique Mulima
Japanese Bonds: Widowmaker to Rainmaker
If there was one bet that repeatedly burned macro investors in the past few decades, it’s the infamous “widowmaker” wager against Japanese bonds. The reasoning behind the trade always seemed simple. Japan carried a vast public debt, and so the thinking was that interest rates just had to rise sooner or later to lure in enough buyers. Investors, therefore, borrowed bonds and sold them, expecting prices to fall once reality asserted itself. For years, however, that logic proved premature and expensive, as the central bank’s loose policies kept borrowing costs low and punished anyone who tried to rush the outcome. No longer.
In 2025, the widowmaker turned rainmaker as yields on benchmark government bonds surged across the board, making the $7.4 trillion Japan debt market a short-seller’s dream. The triggers spanned everything from interest rate hikes to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi unleashing the country’s biggest burst of spending since pandemic restrictions eased. Yields on benchmark 10-year JGBs soared past 2% to reach levels not seen in decades, while those on 30-year paper advanced more than a full percentage point to an all-time high. A Bloomberg gauge of Japanese government bond returns fell more than 6% this year through Dec. 23, the worst-performing major market in the world.
Fund managers from Schroders to Jupiter Asset Management to RBC BlueBay Asset Management discussed selling JGBs in some form during the year and investors and strategists are betting the trade has room to run, as benchmark policy rates edge higher. On top of that, the Bank of Japan is trimming its bond purchases, pressuring yields. And with the nation boasting the highest government debt-to-GDP ratio in the developed world by a wide margin, bearishness to JGBs is likely to persist. — Cormac Mullen
Credit Scraps: Playing Hardball Pays
Some of 2025’s richest credit payoffs didn’t come from turnaround bets, but from turning on fellow investors. The dynamic, known as “creditor-on-creditor violence,” paid off big for funds like Pacific Investment Management Co. and King Street Capital Management, who waged a calculated campaign around KKR-backed Envision Healthcare.
When Envision, a hospital staffing company, ran aground after the Covid-19 pandemic, it needed a loan from new investors. But raising new debt meant pledging assets already spoken for. While many debt holders formed a group to oppose the new financing, Pimco, King Street and Partners Group broke ranks. Their support enabled a vote to allow the collateral — a stake in Envision’s valuable ambulatory-surgery business Amsurg — to be released by the old lenders and used to back the new debt.
The funds became holders of Amsurg-backed debt that eventually converted into Amsurg equity. Then Amsurg sold to Ascension Health this year for $4 billion. The funds who spurned their peers generated returns of around 90%, by one measure, demonstrating the payoff from waging such internecine battles. The lesson: in today’s credit markets, governed by loose documentation and fragmented creditor groups, cooperation is optional. Being right is not always enough. The bigger risk is being outflanked. —Eliza Ronalds-Hannon
Fannie-Freddie: Revenge of the “Toxic Twins”
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage-finance giants that have been under Washington’s control since the financial crisis, have long been the subject of speculation over when and how they would be released from the government’s grip. Boosters such as hedge fund manager Bill Ackman loaded up on the two in the hopes of scoring a windfall on any privatization plan, but the shares languished for years in over-the-counter trading as the status quo prevailed.
Then came Donald Trump’s re-election, which catapulted the stocks into a meme-like zeal on optimism the new administration would take steps to free up the companies. In 2025, the excitement ratcheted up even more: The shares soared 367% from the start of the year to their high in September — 388% on an intraday basis — and remain big winners for 2025.
Driving the momentum to its peak this year was word in August that the administration was contemplating an IPO that could value the enterprises at around $500 billion or more, involving selling 5% to 15% of their stock to raise about $30 billion. While the shares have wavered from their September high amid skepticism about when, and whether, an IPO will actually materialize, many remain confident in the story.
Ackman in November unveiled a proposal he pitched to the White House, which calls for relisting Fannie and Freddie on the New York Stock Exchange, writing down the Treasury’s senior-preferred stake and exercising the government’s option to acquire nearly 80% of the common stock. Even Michael Burry joined the party, announcing a bullish position in early December and musing in a 6,000-word blog post that the companies which once needed the government to save them from insolvency may be “toxic twins no more.” — Felice Maranz
Turkey Carry Trade: Cooked
The Turkish carry trade was a consensus favorite for emerging-market investors after a stellar 2024. With local bond yields above 40% and a central bank backing a stable dollar peg, traders piled in — borrowing cheaply abroad to buy high-yield Turkish assets. That drew billions from firms like Deutsche Bank, Millennium Partners and Gramercy — some of them on the ground in Turkey on March 19, the day the trade blew up in minutes.
It was on that morning that Turkish police raided the home of Istanbul’s popular opposition mayor and took him into custody, sparking protests — and a frenzied selloff in the lira that the central bank was unable to contain. “People got caught very much by surprise and won’t go back in a hurry,” Kit Juckes, head of FX strategy at Societe Generale SA in Paris, said at the time.
By the end of the day, outflows from Turkish lira-denominated assets were estimated at around $10 billion, and the market never really recovered. As of Dec. 23, the lira was some 17% weaker against the dollar for the year, one of the world’s worst performers. The episode served as a reminder that high interest rates can reward risk-takers, but they offer no protection against sudden political shocks. — Kerim Karakaya
Debt Markets: Cockroach Alert
Credit markets in 2025 were unsettled not by a single spectacular collapse, but by a series of smaller ones that exposed uncomfortable habits. Companies once considered routine borrowers ran into trouble, leaving lenders nursing steep losses.
Saks Global restructured $2.2 billion in bonds after making only a single interest payment, and the restructured debt is itself now trading at less than 60 cents on the dollar. New Fortress Energy’s newly-exchanged bonds lost more than half their value in the span of a year. The bankruptcies of Tricolor and then First Brands wiped out billions in debt holdings in a matter of weeks. In some cases, sophisticated fraud was at the root of the collapse. In others, rosy projections failed to materialize. In every case, investors were left to answer for how they justified taking large credit gambles on companies with little to no proof they’d be able to repay the debt.
Years of low defaults and loose money eroded standards, from lender protections to basic underwriting. Lenders to both First Brands and Tricolor had failed to discover the borrowers were allegedly double-pledging assets and co-mingling collateral that backed various loans.
Those lenders included JPMorgan, whose chief executive Jamie Dimon put the market on alert in October when he colorfully warned of more trouble to come, saying, “When you see one cockroach, there are probably more.” A theme for 2026. — Eliza Ronalds-Hannon
–With assistance from Benjamin Harvey, Kerim Karakaya, Youkyung Lee, Cormac Mullen, Michael P. Regan, Isolde MacDonogh, Eliza Ronalds-Hannon, Yvonne Yue Li and Matt Turner.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
In a year marked by disaster and devastation, it was quiet bravery, from Coast Guard rescue swimmers to local firefighters, emergency crews and everyday citizens, that turned moments of crisis into stories of survival.
Camp Mystic director dies trying to save campers during Texas flooding
On July 4, 2025, catastrophic flash flooding along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, Texas, devastated Camp Mystic, a Christian girls’ summer camp that had been operating for nearly a century.
Dick Eastland, the longtime director and co-owner of Camp Mystic, died while trying to save campers as fast-rising floodwaters tore through the campgrounds before dawn.
Eastland, who had led the camp since the 1970s, was widely remembered by former campers and staff as a father figure and selfless leader whose final moments reflected a lifetime spent protecting children in his care.
Debris and damage in Camp Mystic cabin split with a photo of Dick Eastland(Reuters/Sergio Flores; LeslieEastland/Facebook)
“It doesn’t surprise me at all that his last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers,” said Paige Sumner, a former camper and friend of Eastland.
At the time of the flooding, more than 700 campers and counselors were at Camp Mystic. Twenty-seven girls and counselors were killed when the Guadalupe River surged through a low-lying area of the camp, rising from 14 feet to 29.5 feet in just 60 minutes. The camp did not fully evacuate before the floodwaters hit.
The destructive flooding ultimately killed at least 136 people across Central Texas, triggering widespread scrutiny of emergency preparedness and warning systems. Community leaders and lawmakers paid tribute to Eastland’s bravery, calling his final actions emblematic of the quiet heroism displayed during one of the deadliest natural disasters of the year.
Coast Guard swimmer saves 165 in Texas floods
A United States Coast Guard rescue swimmer from New Jersey was hailed as a hero for his role in lifesaving efforts during the deadly flash floods in Central Texas.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Scott Ruskan, 26, was credited with saving 165 people as the only triage coordinator on the ground amid the chaotic flood response near Camp Mystic and surrounding areas.
Destroyed cabin at Camp Mystic after flooding hit Texas.(Eli Hartman/AP Photo, File)
“United States Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer and Petty Officer Scott Ruskin [sic], directly saved an astonishing 165 victims in the devastating flooding in central Texas. This was the first rescue mission of his career and he was the only triage coordinator at the scene. Scott Ruskin is an American hero. His selfless courage embodies the spirit and mission of the @USCG,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X.
Ruskan described spotting a large crowd of “about 200 kids at a campsite” and focusing rescue efforts there to get as many people to safety as possible.
Former Georgia officer dies saving 5 from rip current
A decorated former police officer and former Baltimore Orioles minor league player died while rescuing swimmers caught in a rip current off the coast of South Carolina in July, according to authorities and family members.
Chase Childers, 38, entered the water near Pawleys Island on July 13, 2025, after people were reported in distress. While others who attempted to help were able to return to shore, Childers was caught in the rip current and did not make it back, police said.
Former police officer Chase Childers died in a rip current in Pawleys Island, SC after attempting to rescue others.(GoFundMe)
“We would like to provide additional information on Sunday’s incident,” the Pawleys Island Police Department said in a statement. “The victim, Chase Childers, and another person entered the water to help individuals who were in distress. Sadly, Mr. Childers was caught in the rip current, as well. He died trying to save others.”
Emergency responders recovered Childers’ body about 90 minutes after the initial distress call, with assistance from Midway Fire Rescue and the U.S. Coast Guard. Officials praised first responders for their efforts and offered condolences to the family.
According to a GoFundMe created in Childers’ memory, he was a devoted husband and father who displayed “extraordinary courage and selflessness” while saving a family of five, putting their lives above his own. During his law enforcement career in Cobb County, Georgia, Childers received a lifetime achievement award for saving several lives, the page said.
Hero ‘band dads’ take down elderly active shooter
On Feb. 1, 2025, an active shooter incident erupted during a band competition at Pasadena Memorial High School in Texas, when an 83-year-old man, identified as Dennis Brandl, opened fire inside the school auditorium.
One person, a 26-year-old percussion technical consultant, was shot in the shoulder and transported to a Houston-area hospital, where he remained conscious and was expected to recover.
Before police could fully respond, a group of four fathers known as the “band dads” — all of whom had military or law enforcement backgrounds — sprang into action. The men rushed toward the gunfire, tackled the suspect and disarmed him, preventing further injuries at the crowded event.
A group of four tactically-trained band dads jumped into action and apprehended an active shooter at a band competition at Pasadena Memorial High school.(FOX 26 Houston)
“As soon as everyone was screaming and yelling, gunshots fired, Joe and myself looked at each other and ran straight to the door,” Army veteran Adam Curow told FOX 26. “By the time we got inside, Polo and Abram were right behind us as a band-dad team.”
Pasadena ISD police officers, along with civilians and community members, helped restrain Brandl until law enforcement secured the scene. Authorities later said Brandl told police he believed he was being chased and feared that he and his wife would be killed.
The Houston Police Department praised the men involved, including HPD Sgt. Joe Sanchez, who was attending the event, for their decisive actions.
“When danger struck, HPD Sergeant Joe Sanchez didn’t hesitate,” the department wrote in a statement on X. “While attending a band competition at a Pasadena school, Sgt. Sanchez was among those who quickly stepped up to protect lives. This month, he marks 33 years with HPD. We’re grateful for his service.”
Father jumps into ocean to save daughter after fall from Disney cruise
A dramatic ocean rescue unfolded aboard a Disney Dream cruise ship after a 5-year-old girl fell overboard while the vessel was sailing in international waters between the Bahamas and Port Everglades, Florida, authorities said.
The incident occurred around 11:30 a.m. on June 29, 2025, when the child lost her balance while sitting on a railing near a porthole on Deck 4 and fell backward into the ocean, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office. After the girl’s mother alerted her husband, the child’s 37-year-old father jumped into the water to save her.
A father and his daughter were rescued after falling overboard from the Disney Dream cruise ship, June 29, 2025.(Janice Martin-Asuque)
Investigators said the father located his daughter and treaded water with her until rescue crews arrived, as the ship’s “man overboard” alert sounded and crew members launched an emergency response. The total time from the child’s fall to the rescue was about 20 minutes, authorities said.
Security video corroborated the family’s account, and officials credited the ship’s crew with executing a swift rescue due to their man-overboard training.
“The crew aboard the Disney Dream swiftly rescued two guests from the water,” a Disney Cruise Line spokesperson told Fox News Digital, praising the crew’s prompt actions.
The father and daughter were evaluated by the ship’s medical staff and later transported to a hospital after the ship docked. Authorities said the family, who live out of state, requested privacy, calling the outcome a blessing in what could have been a tragic incident.
Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace, Rachel Wolf, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Christina Shaw and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
Stepheny Price is a Writer at Fox News with a focus on West Coast and Midwest news, missing persons, national and international crime stories, homicide cases, and border security.
The world lost a host of icons in 2025, from nonagenarians with decades of great work behind them to younger stars whose lives were cut tragically short. Read on to remember 23 cultural figures who left their marks on the world of film, TV, music, fashion, sports, and, in one case, science—and find out where you can read more about each of them in the pages of Vanity Fair. Though their bright lights have dimmed, they won’t be forgotten.
Being the child of a Hollywood star has its perks, and one of them is access to a designer wardrobe.
In addition to inheriting their famous parents’ good looks and talent, these nepo babies also have the key to their mothers’ vintage-filled closets.
Carys Zeta Douglas
Carys Zeta Douglas wore one of her mother’s old dresses to an event in October.(Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Perelman Performing Arts Center; KMazur/WireImage)
Carys Zeta Douglas, the daughter of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, borrowed an iconic look from her mother’s closet in October.
The 22-year-old posed on the red carpet with father Michael in her lace-accented black dress, a frock the movie star wore 20 years ago to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The Brown University graduate styled the vintage dress with pointed black heels and ruby-hued earrings.
Zeta-Jones originally styled the dress in 2005 with black fringed stilettos and a matching clutch, adding a diamond pendant necklace and earrings.
Carys Zeta Douglas appeared with father Michael Douglas at the event.(Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Perelman Performing Arts Center )
Catherine Zeta-Jones during the 20th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2005.(KMazur/WireImage)
Carys Zeta Douglas also wore her mom’s pink and white Ungaro dress for her 21st birthday.(Carys Zeta Douglas/Instagram)
This is not the first time Zeta-Jones’ daughter borrowed one of her designer dresses.
The “Mask of Zorro” actress wore the frock in 1999 to the MTV Movie Awards.
Apple Martin
Apple Martin, daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, attended the “Marty Supreme” premiere with her mother and brother Moses in December 2025.
The 21-year-old singer and model borrowed a designer dress straight out of Paltrow’s closet.
Apple wore Paltrow’s Calvin Klein slinky black dress she originally wore to the premiere of her film “Emma” in 1996.
Paltrow was 24 when she first wore the stunning low-cut, fitted maxi dress with black heels and a matching clutch. The actress paired the look then with dark lipstick, and her hair was in a messy updo.
Apple Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow attend A24’s “Marty Supreme” New York pemiere Dec. 16, 2025, in New York City.(Dia Dipasupil/WireImage)
Apple went more natural with her makeup and had a more polished hairstyle for the “Marty Supreme” premiere in mid-December.
In 2020, Paltrow told People she saved her red carpet dresses for daughter Apple, 15 years before she was even born.
“I have saved everything for her since 15 years before I had her. I save everything. Not everything, but every red carpet look I have saved for her,” Paltrow told the outlet.
Apple Martin attends the New York premiere of “Marty Supreme” Dec. 16, 2025.(Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
Gwyneth Paltrow at the 1996 premiere of “Emma.”(Kevin Mazur Archive/WireImage)
Dannielynn Birkhead
Dannielynn Birkhead, the daughter of the late Anna Nicole Smith, paid tribute to her mother at the 2025 Barnstable Brown Gala.
Dannielyn, 19, attended the event with her father, Larry Birkhead, in a black and crystal dress that Smith wore in 2004 to the same event.
Larry shared pictures from the event in May 2025 to his Instagram, captioning it, “Dannielynn is wearing Anna Nicole’s dress that she wore 21 years ago to this same event. Life full circle. She said she chose the dress because it was her Mom’s and ‘super cool.’”
Dannielynn Birkhead wore one of Anna Nicole Smith’s gowns earlier this year.(Getty Images)
While walking the red carpet, Dannielynn told Access Hollywood wearing the dress is “the closest to a hug I can get from her.”
Larry told People at the time it “was emotional” seeing their daughter in her dress because the last time he saw the dress was when Smith wore it. He added that the Barnstable Gala in 2004 was where he met Anna Nicole for the first time.
Smith died Feb. 8, 2007 at 39 from an accidental overdose.
Anna Nicole Smith in the dress her daughter later wore to an event.(Jeff Snyder/FilmMagic)
Qualley wore MacDowell’s Alberta Ferretti gown she previously wore in 2017 at an event in Spain.
The gray low-cut frock had sheer black lace from the knees down. Qualley posed in the gown alongside her mom for the magazine photo shoot.
Andie MacDowell and her daughter, Rainey Qualley, posed together for a photo shoot this year.(Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Andie MacDowell at Remus Lifestyle Night Aug. 3, 2017, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.(Getty Images)
Kaia Gerber
Kaia Gerber channeled mother Cindy Crawford’s famous 1991 Versace Oscars look.
While it wasn’t the exact dress Crawford wore, Gerber wore a red gown that was reminiscent of her mother’s iconic ’90s look, per Vogue.
Crawford attended the 63rd Annual Academy Awards wit her partner at the time, Richard Gere.
In November 2025, Gerber wore the frock with Crawford at the 2025 LACMA Art + Film Gala.
Cindy Crawford, with Richard Gere, wore this red dress to the Oscars in 1991.(Ron Galella/Getty Images)
While it wasn’t the exact dress, Kaia wore a red gown that was reminiscent of her mother’s ’90s look in November.(Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)
Mia Threapleton
Mia Threapleton, daughter of Kate Winslet, channeled her mother’s 1998 Oscars look, a green and gold Givenchy dress.
Threapleton, 25, opted for a stylistic homage, not a re-use of the dress.
The daughter of the “Titanic” star wore a dark green Oscar de la Renta number to the 2025 Cannes Film Festival that featured accents along the torso.
Kate Winslet’s daughter, Mia Threapleton, drew inspiration from an old look of her mother’s.(Rocco Spaziani/Archivio Spaziani/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
Kate Winslet at the 70th annual Academy Awards.(KMazur/WireImage)
Lila Grace Moss
In March 2025, Lila Grace Moss Hack, 23, borrowed her mother Kate Moss’ leopard print jacket.
The model wore the bold coat for an outing, 19 years after her mom wore it in 2006.
“She’s definitely got my magpie gene, which is great when we’re shopping together at Saint Laurent or Lovers Lane and less great when she’s squirreling through my closets for vintage Galliano or Westwood to steal. I think she may have pinched my boots today, you know,” Moss told Vogue in 2023.
In March 2025, Lila Grace Moss Hack, left, 23, borrowed her mom Kate Moss’ (right) leopard print jacket.(Neil Mockford/GC Images; James Devaney/WireImage)
Through his attorney, Alex told People that Fuller and Carr’s series “mischaracterizes Alex’s relationships with his wife Maggie and his son Paul, both of whom Alex loves so dearly.” To that, Fuller tells VF: “I do truly believe, to whatever extent I can understand, that he did love Maggie and Paul. I think that’s one of the reasons he can’t open that door of monstrousness to acknowledge what he did.”
In one final, prescient twist, Alex used a visit to his elderly mother, Libby, then suffering from dementia, as an alibi for the murders. “After the most dehumanizing, monstrous thing someone could do, he went and sat there with his mom,” Fuller says.
Like Alex fleeing from the darkest moments of his life and into the arms of his mother, Fuller ventures that the rocky last few years have led us back there culturally too. “We’ve been through so much in the past 10 years, particularly the past five. The collective psyche has just been so traumatized, and there’s so much uncertainty when we’re dealing with AI, what the economy’s going to look like, climate change—all these massive things,” says Fuller. “We dramatized [Paul’s older brother] Buster Murdaugh saying at the end of his father’s murder trial, ‘I just want my mom.’ There is something fundamental that a mother in the most general way provides. But what we’re seeing, with If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and Die My Love, is the burden of that on the individual.”
Die My LoveMubi/ Everett Collection
In a year where men channeled their inner demons into vampires (Sinners), gods (Superman), and even a new Frankenstein, motherhood served as a trippy catalyst for many writer-directors. “We are thinking about ourselves as mothers, but also our own mothers. If you have a good enough mother, those problems and demands and terrible feelings that we’re putting forth in these movies are all behind the scenes,” says Bronstein. “Those are mommy’s little secrets. Kids go to bed, wine comes out or whatever it is, but we don’t see that as kids. We don’t see all the work that goes into even something as simple as a birthday.”
The unflinching portraits of maternity have had a profound effect on mothers, but also on young people deciding whether or not to procreate. “Women are really openly expressing a total disinterest in marriage and children,” says Gallagher, citing a recent Pew Research Center study that found a 22-point drop over the last three decades in teenage girls’ desire to get married. As of 2025, teenage girls are officially less likely than teenage boys to say they want to get married. “So, it makes sense to me that we’re finally free enough perhaps to explore and say out loud that having kids isn’t for everyone, and/or you can love your kids to death and still acknowledge that the life of having kids is really hard,” she continues.
The year 2025 was jam-packed with must-see genre entertainment. io9 covered an extensive range of pop culture across film and television, including major releases from Marvel Studios, DC Studios’ big Superman arrival, Netflix heavy hitters like Stranger Things, and awesome anime.
Beyond the screen, io9 kept you updated on the latest in theme parks and immersive experiences, as well as the latest in collectibles, toys, books, games, and comics.
To close out 2025, we’ve compiled our staff picks, highlighting our most treasured stories and sharp coverage that defined the world of genre entertainment this year.
The Director of Good Boy on Creating Horror From a Dog’s Point of View
By Cheryl Eddy
Most dog owners can recall at least one instance where their pup has reacted to a seemingly invisible presence. Are they picking up a sound pitched higher than our hearing? Sniffing out the memory of a dropped piece of food? Or perhaps… using their canine super-senses to detect something supernatural?
Good Boy, the feature debut of director and co-writer Ben Leonberg, takes that idea and runs with it, following Indy (played by Leonberg’s own dog) and his owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), as they move into the former home of Todd’s late grandfather. It’s a gloomy, dark, isolated place, and—as Indy soon realizes—it appears to be teeming with unquiet spirits. [Read more]
The Superman We Need Right Now: A Report From the Set of James Gunn’s New DC Film
By Germain Lussier
When Superman started kissing the football on a stick, it all clicked together. The day was June 24, 2024, and io9 was in Cleveland to watch the filming of James Gunn’s Superman. At the end of a giant battle over the streets of Metropolis, the Man of Steel knelt down to kiss and profess his love to an inanimate object that special effects would later transform into his dog, Krypto. That little dash of heartfelt weirdness, in the middle of a massive action scene, did a near-perfect job of showing what the film’s cast and crew had been trying to articulate all day: this is not just a unique, new Superman, it’s James Gunn’s Superman. [Read more]
In Sinners, Honesty Leads to Freedom
By Justin Carter
Sinners is the type of movie where nearly every scene could be considered a standout moment on a technical, writing, or performance level. For me, there’s two moments—one utterly sincere and raunchy, the other delightfully meta—that speak to one of the film’s core themes.
In the first, burgeoning blues guitarist Sammie (Miles Caton) is getting intimate with singer Pealine (Jayme Lawson) and proceeds to get on his knees. He’s about to employ the advice his older cousin Stack (Michael B. Jordan) gave to him about pleasuring a woman earlier in the film, and just as Pearline’s about to politely decline, Sammie looks up at her and says: “You’re beautiful, and I want to taste it.” He’s clearly taken with her, and says this with the earnestness of someone who believes in what he’s saying. [Read more]
What’s the Story Behind Tron: Ares? Our Report From the Set
By Germain Lussier
“I have to ride a lightcycle.” That was my first thought last year when the invite arrived to visit the set of Disney’s new sequel, Tron: Ares. It seemed like a logical request. When you think of Tron, you think of lightcycles. They’re a huge part of both 2010’s Tron: Legacy and 1982’s Tron. And yet, I had to wonder, were there even lightcycles in this movie? What exactly WAS this movie? Coming out 15 years after the last one, with basically a whole new cast, it seemed any concept of what the film could or would be was entirely up in the air. I had questions. I wanted answers. And, perhaps, a ride on that lightcycle. [Read more]
I Love the Moment That Everything Changes in Gundam GQuuuuuuX
By James Whitbrook
The latest entry in the Gundam franchise, GQuuuuuuX, is built around one of the most fascinating premises a mainline Gundam show has had in years. To get there, we’re asked to cast our minds back over 45 years to the original 1979 anime—and in doing so, we’re also asked to consider a pretty hilarious idea.
The vast majority of Gundam GQuuuuuuX—as covered in its prequel/compilation movie GQuuuuuuX Beginning, out in American theaters today for a limited run—is predicated around the fact that the show is in fact set in an alternate version of Gundam‘s “Universal Century” timeline. The primary timeline of the original Gundam and its direct successor series, among others in the franchise, GQuuuuuuX‘s version of events asks us to consider another outcome. What if the antagonistic forces of the original series, the secessionist space colony Zeon, actually managed to win the war against Earth? [Read more]
7 Reasons Why The Nightmare Before Christmas Is Not a Halloween Movie, 4 Reasons Why It Is
By Sabina Graves
Every year, it seems that Halloween creeps in earlier than before, and with it, its Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington.
Take the Haunted Mansion Holiday at Disneyland; it’s a haunted house with ghosts that, as soon as Halloweentime arrives at the Disneyland resort at the end of summer, becomes inhabited by Jack and the people of Halloweentown. However, they’re not there for Halloween; they’re there to make Christmas. There’s the rub, because the once cult and now very mainstream holiday staple from the mind of Tim Burton and director Henry Selick is about one holiday taking over another. [Read more]
Bryan Fuller Reveals the Inspirations for His Dark Fairytale Feature Debut
By Sabina Graves
He’s best known for his acclaimed genre TV shows, but Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Pushing Daisies) is making his feature film directorial debut with Dust Bunny, a coming-of-age storybook fantasy with his signature twist.
The film reunites the Hannibal series creator with star Mads Mikkelsen. He plays a hitman hired by a young girl named Aurora (Sophie Sloan), who wants his help to hunt the mysterious and monstrous Dust Bunny tormenting her apartment.
In a recent conversation with io9, Fuller talked about how the feature got the big screen treatment after previously being pitched as an episode of the Steven Spielberg-produced Amazing Stories series for Apple TV, and what it was like working on it with genre great Sigourney Weaver. The cult-fave creative mind also opened up about how he feels in regards to some of the projects he’s been attached to that have fallen through—as well as his excitement for a project yet to be announced. And yes, we even got a few details about his potential Silence of the Lambs limited series. [Read more]
Birds of Prey Deserved Its Full, Chaotic 15 Minutes of Fame
By Justin Carter
It always sucks when something that’s pretty good and was clearly well made just doesn’t hit the way it seems like it should’ve. This is particularly true when it comes to movies; think of a film you saw that was surprisingly enjoyable and how it didn’t really get a fair shake for whatever reason.
Plenty of examples come to mind for me, but one of the first is Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. Originally released on February 7, 2020, under its initial (and funnier) title, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), the film’s a bit of a tangled knot. You may remember it first seemed like a solo vehicle for Margot Robbie’s Harley post-Suicide Squad 2016, then somewhere along the line, it also may have become something for the popular, usually women-starring B-list superhero team, and then ended up being… kind of both? [Read more]
Castlevania: Nocturne Writers Talk Religion, Revolution, and Black Representation
By Isaiah Colbert
Castlevania: Nocturne returns with its second season on Netflix, sparking online discussions about video game references, animation enthusiasts sharing their favorite action clips, and Alucard babygirl posts in its wake. However, a new season also brings the resurgence of pearl-clutching and Gamergate-adjacent rhetoric concerning Black representation, which should be celebrated in the Powerhouse Animation series instead.
To address and preempt criticisms from those who deride the inclusion of Black characters in the video game series as “woke,” we talked to Black Castlevania: Nocturne writers Testament and Zodwa Nyoni, and executive producer Clive Bradley, about how they enriched Konami’s fantastical source material setting with real-world events and the Black experience. [Read more]
How Fionna and Cake Reflects the Legacy of Adventure Time
By Sabina Graves
Season two of Fionna and Cake has arrived on HBO Max, taking Adventure Time fans into a new world—and it’s one that’s finally established as its own universe, thanks to Prismo breaking the rules and making the Ice King’s fan fiction real.
The first season’s ending metatextually had Fionna and friends fight to make their world canon, and there’s now more to explore in its earned existence and how it might cross over into Adventure Time‘s Land of Ooo.
But don’t get the premise twisted, Fionna and Cake isn’t just fan service to sneak back into Adventure Time territory completely. In a conversation io9 had with producer Adam Muto, we discussed how the creative teams aim to make their beloved character variants stand on their own and, yes, sometimes stand with the legacy faces to take on new interdimensional threats. [Read more]
A Love Letter to Cobra Kai, One of the Greatest Sequels Ever
By Germain Lussier
When I first watched Cobra Kai, I stopped it five minutes in. This is a true story. I started the first episode and was so absolutely blown away by what I was seeing, I almost didn’t believe it was real. Since I was about five years old, I’d been a massive fan of The Karate Kid franchise, and here I was in my 30s watching the same actors from those movies tell this dynamic, awesome, follow-up story. There was no way this show was this good. It was impossible. [Read more]
Tony Gilroy Looks Back on Taking Shit Seriously in Andor
By James Whitbrook
Tony Gilroy is a man with a vision. That vision guided him from the extensive reshoots of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story all the way to a Disney+ series about one of that film’s heroes, Cassian Andor—and finding in it a critical acclaim unlike anything the galaxy far, far away had seen in a generation.
He’s also a very frank man who knows when that vision can potentially turn on a dime—as it did one day while filming the series in Scotland, when the writer, director, and showrunner realized that his grand plan for Andor wasn’t going to work. [Read more]
Andor‘s Tony Gilroy and Genevieve O’Reilly Break Down Mon Mothma’s Pivotal Dance
By Sabina Graves
During io9’s interview with showrunner Tony Gilroy and star Genevieve O’Reilly, who plays Mon Mothma, the duo broke down the last moments of the third episode of this week’s drop. Gilroy also discussed how framing these pivotal years as three-episode mini-movies came about. [Read more]
Andor‘s Finest Hours Just Delivered a Huge Gut Punch
By Sabina Graves
What it takes to sustain a rebellion is brought into question in this week’s episode arc of Andor, which covers what happens two years before the main events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the original Star Wars saga. Thematically it’s time for the rebels to figure out if they want to just fight or actually win, as tensions come to a head on Ghorman in what’s probably the most gut-wrenching watch of the series, and perhaps even Star Wars as a whole. [Read more]
Who Was Syril Karn?
By James Whitbrook
“Who are you?” is the question that haunts Syril Karn for his entire life. From the moment we met him, prim and proper security uniform modified to be just so, a sense of purpose in a vast and uncaring universe has been at the core of understanding what makes Syril tick. The journey that took him across the galaxy reached a climactic moment in Andor‘s penultimate arc this week, and raised that haunting question once more. But the answer is more complicated than mere villain in Andor‘s narrative, doubting or otherwise. Because even as the hero of his own story, the man we know Syril to be, until the very end, is shaped less by himself and more by the systems and structures that made a tool of him. [Read more]
They Just Gave Kleya a Goddamn Gun
By James Whitbrook
There’s a scene in the ninth episode of Andor‘s second season where Vel Sartha, inspecting a table full of requisitioned weaponry at the Rebellion’s Yavin base, picks up a blaster and asks whose it is. Except, that’s not what she asks, raising the pistol into the air in front of a crowd of new recruits. What she actually says is “Who belongs to this?”
I was thinking a lot about that line an episode later, when, as she infiltrates a hospital in a desperate attempt to end the life of the man who saved hers as a child, Kleya Marki, one of Andor‘s standout characters, slips a tiny blaster with one hell of a kick out of her purloined nurse’s scrubs and calmly executes an ISB tactical officer. And then does it again. And again. It’s the climactic, tense moment of an episode that builds up to this singular moment of emotional and dramatic release as she tearfully turns off Luthen’s life support. In many ways, Kleya’s whole life, one torn apart by the Empire, and rebuilt out of her hatred of it, is leading to this moment, and this moment of infiltration and execution is just the final flourish. [Read more]
Vinland Saga Creator Makoto Yukimura Looks Back on Writing His Pacifist Viking Epic
By Isaiah Colbert
Anime and, by proxy, manga are typically viewed through a lens where violence begets violence, and the only hero is one with attention-grabbing hairdos, the ability to power up, and the capacity to punch things even more brilliantly. Very rarely is the traditional hero’s journey, whether in shonen or its older brother genre, seinen, predicated on having its hero question the nature of violence as a catch-all solution, rather than a spoke that keeps the cycle spinning. Then again, not every manga series challenges that notion so brilliantly as Vinland Saga. [Read more]
Revolutionary Girl Utena Is as Lynchian as Shojo Anime Has Ever Been
By Isaiah Colbert
Over the years, critics and everyday people have come to identify media as “Lynchian,” in reverence for how video games, movies, and TV shows evoke the dream-like quality of the late auteur David Lynch. Although most media described as Lynchian takes its inspiration from seminal works like Twin Peaks through referential nods, no show completely embodies the ephemeral vibe of Lynch’s opaque-yet-piercing style of storytelling quite like the similarly influential shojo anime series Revolutionary Girl Utena. [Read more]
Deep Space Nine Understood the Fantasy of Spies—and Their Reality
By James Whitbrook
In just under a week, the next Star Trek project arrives in the form of Section 31, a streaming movie starring Michelle Yeoh diving into the titular black ops organization—one that, at least in all the footage we’ve seen so far, puts an emphasis on the glitz and glam of secret agent work. There’s action, there’s dazzling costumes, there’s even, perhaps most surprisingly in the context of it all, direct Federation oversight, like a co-worker with a stick up their ass who’s here to stop you from having fun. [Read more]
The Leftovers Is Still One of TV’s Great Miracles
By Cheryl Eddy
Losing a loved one brings pain no matter the circumstances. Not knowing what happened to them only adds more agony. That grief and confusion is what propels The Leftovers, but on a global scale—leading to three fascinating, thought-provoking, audacious, cigarette-filled, and often miraculous seasons of TV.
At the start of the first episode, it happens: two percent of the world’s population vanishes into thin air. The amount of missing isn’t huge, but it’s significant. The people who lost someone dear are personally wounded, but nobody escapes being touched in some way by the event, which leaves humanity with an infuriating array of mystical questions. Why did those who left get “chosen”—and why were those who didn’t go get left behind? Was God or some other cosmic being involved? Where did they go? Will they ever come back? And will it happen again? [Read more]
The 6 Biggest Moments in the Shocking Foundation Season 3 Finale
By Cheryl Eddy
Foundation season three has come to an end, but it still feels like there’s so much story left to tell. Thank goodness Apple TV+ confirmed just yesterday that season four is on the way! But before we ponder what’s next, we must discuss the season finale.
“The Darkness” was… well, a lot sure did happen, didn’t it? [Read more]
Stranger Things Lets It Rip to Kick Off Its Final Season
By Sabina Graves
The conclusion to Netflix and the Duffer Brothers’ pop culture phenomenon Stranger Things begins with an epic first volume that’s now streaming for your binging pleasure.
Action and horror propel the return to Hawkins in volume one as our heroes race to find Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), hoping to vanquish him once and for all. In the time since the Upside Down ripped open in season four, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) has been training with Hopper (David Harbour) to strengthen her powers. Seeing Eleven’s growth into a strong as hell young woman from her early days throwing bullies off her friends is such a joy. Clearly, that’s thanks to Eggo waffles. [Read more]
Why Gainax’s Gunbuster Pose Is More Than Anime Rule of Cool Reference Fodder
By Isaiah Colbert
Anime of the late ’80s has an undeniable impact that extends beyond the medium into movies, TV shows, and video games. Many of the homages are to 1988’s Akira, which existed before Western culture had a grasp of what anime really was or could be. The “Akira slide”—an iconic shot of Kaneda sliding sideways on his bike in the 1988 movie adaptation of Akira—has become an icon of anime culture, referenced over and over in numerous cartoons and films, western and Japanese, ever since, including Jordan Peele’s Nope, Tron: Ares, and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, amid an ocean of other Akira nods.
While Akira references are rife in new media like Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic, letting fans know that the creators are aware of its rule of cool, it’s hard not to feel a bit like the buck stopped at aping aesthetics for easy internet referential brownie points over carrying over its core narrative themes. Although most pop culture nods (Scavengers Reign aside) borrow Akira‘s surface style without echoing its thematic depth, every homage to fellow 1988 anime film Gunbuster‘s iconic arm-cross pose endures as a timeless gesture of steeled resolve wrapped in a badass stance. [Read more]
Meet Freddy Fazbear and Friends at Halloween Horror Nights’ Five Nights at Freddy’s House
By Sabina Graves
Take a look inside the Five Nights at Freddy’s house at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights. It looks like a real Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza location right out of the mind of game creator Scott Cawthon and Emma Tammi’s cinematic adaptation.
io9 was invited to a behind-the-scenes walkthrough of the Hollywood attraction based on the video game and Blumhouse film franchise, opening at HHN ahead of December’s Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. Creative director John Murdy took us through to highlight the incredible work done between Horror Nights, Cawthon, and Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. [Read more]
How Science Fiction Became the Key to This Year’s Most Buzzed About Concert
By Germain Lussier
2001: A Space Odyssey. Star Wars. Star Trek. Tron. Blade Runner. Akira. The Fifth Element. Interstellar. Superman. Flash Gordon. The Matrix. That sounds like a list of the greatest sci-fi films of all time, but actually, it’s a list of the films mentioned during a discussion about the inspirations behind the Backstreet Boys’ popular new residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This past July, one of the biggest boy bands of all time celebrated 20 years of their iconic album, Millennium, at the technologically advanced venue, with two months of sold-out shows that generated a ton of buzz and interest. As a result, two more months of shows were recently added, and io9 spoke to Baz Halpin, CEO and founder of Silent House, about it. [Read more]
KPop Demon Hunters and Expedition 33 Are Having a Moment
By Justin Carter
Have you watched KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix or played Clair Obscur: Expedition 33?
Chances are the answer is “yes,” and if not, you’ve certainly heard of them: both were released earlier this year to fairly glowing reviews (if not outright critical acclaim) and performed very well commercially. The latter, a turn-based RPG from newcomer Sandfall Interactive, will likely pick up some awards at year’s end, while Netflix is planning to go all in on KPop. Along with talks of sequels and an ever-growing wave of merchandise, the streamer submitted the mid-movie song “Golden” for Academy Award consideration. Both may also wind up jumping to live-action; Expedition had a movie announced months before the game’s release, while Netflix is reportedly mulling over a remake with human actors. [Read more]
Epic Universe’s Monster Lore Gives Us the Best Possible Dark Universe
By Sabina Graves
When you visit Epic Universe’s Dark Universe, you get hints of a story that’s so mysterious you’ll want to keep coming back to learn more. In Darkmoor Village, where monsters and humans co-exist—barely—the relationship between the villagers, the mad scientist in her castle with her monsters, and the vampires below is a very fragile menagerie of the macabre.
When io9 visited Darkmoor during Epic Universe’s opening week, we couldn’t help but wonder if the dense canon introduced would offer some insight into Universal’s abandoned Dark Universe film franchise. It turns out that some elements in the attractions, details in the land offerings, and immersive interactions echo what was once supposed to herald an Avengers-like assembly of the Universal Monsters on the big screen. [Read more]
Death Stranding 2 Is Hideo Kojima’s Most Refined and Relentless Vision Yet
By Isaiah Colbert
When Hideo Kojima—the man fashioned into a video game auteur out of his work on Metal Gear Solid—launched his debut title under the newly formed Kojima Productions in 2019, Death Stranding arrived shrouded in mystery and hype. Every Death Stranding trailer was full of cryptic imagery and spectral apparitions, and its stacked cast featuring Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux, and Mads Mikkelsen set expectations sky-high. It was also the first title to come from the creator following a messy and public exodus from Konami. Would Kojima once again rewrite the rules of game design?
Upon release, Death Stranding didn’t disappoint so much as it defied prediction. At its core, it was an immersive, slow-burning post-apocalyptic courier simulator. Players took control of Sam Porter Bridges, a pulp comics-esque naming convention of a protagonist suffering from aphenphosmphobia, an extreme fear of being touched, tasked with completing a herculean cross country trek across haunted landscapes by plagued eldritch horrors with the help of a baby in a container on his chest—avoiding environmental hazards and balancing parcels on every available piece of real estate on his body to “reconnect America.” Reductively, Death Stranding is regarded in gaming circles as a “triple-A” indie game, with a weird (but not overly confusingly dense) world-building serving as the connective tissue propelling every careful footstep on Sam’s odyssey. What Death Stranding lacks in conventional thrills, it made up for with sheer conceptual weight. [Read more]
Walt Disney Returns as a Surreal Animatronic for Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary
By Sabina Graves
As of this week, Walt Disney returns to his original Magic Kingdom, with a little help from the magic-makers at Imagineering.
Through the audio-animatronics technology Walt Disney introduced when he opened Disneyland 70 years ago, the evolution of the show robots has gone from static positioning with some movements, as first seen on the singing birds in the Enchanted Tiki Room, to a roaming animatronic of Uncle Walt. Stationed in the Main Street Opera House, the (m)animatronic is the crown jewel of the Walt Disney – A Magical Life show, where he, along with the help of Disney CEO Bob Iger as the program’s narrator, gets to sit and stand front and center to share his story in his words. [Read more]
Ghost of Yotei Is a Stronger, Self-Assured Sequel
By Justin Carter
There was a moment early on in Ghost of Yotei where I knew it’d won me over. As Atsu, I wasn’t hunting down the Yotei Six who killed my family and left me for dead back in my youth; I was taking on a simple bounty who’d managed to get the better of me. I was all set to watch him plunge his katana in my back and restart the swordfight. Instead, a wolf jumped in out of nowhere, biting him and granting me full health so I could get back up and resume the fight and get my bounty. [Read more]
The Best Disney Park Ride Overlays, and Where to Find Them
By Sabina Graves
Seasonal and promotional ride overlays are now ways to draw in more people to revisit beloved attractions at Disney’s parks or give passholders a reason to come back over and over. Over time some have had more longevity than others, as the most popular overlay continues to be Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion Holiday, which has Jack Skellington and friends take over the West Coast haunt with his spooky Christmas shenanigans. Meanwhile, the haunted version of Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy seems to have exorcised its spirit—it just might have been a tad too scary, while Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain stays beating out the rest. [Read more]
Mass Effect 2 Helped Change What Being an RPG Meant
By Justin Carter
The Mass Effect series has always held a special, and often divisive spot in fans’ hearts. BioWare’s sci-fi RPG saga blew up with its first game back in 2007, and its sequel took the franchise to bigger, more mainstream heights. In the years since that game’s release, it’s cast a long shadow—not just over its own franchise and creator, but the larger RPG space, particularly those from western developers. [Read more]
Back to the Future Returns to Universal Studios Hollywood With an Incredible Immersive Experience
By Sabina Graves
With Back to the Future: Destination Hill Valley, Universal delivers on the promise of bringing you into the movies in a new, impactful way. The immersive experience is a triumph and you won’t want to leave.
You get on the studio tour and it becomes a time traveling tram that drops you into the moment that Marty McFly arrives and through the events of Back to the Future on the courthouse square where the Robert Zemeckis film was shot. Through roaming actors portraying George, Lorraine, Biff, and Doc, we get to see iconic moments recreated and be a part of them. I got to chat with my childhood crush George McFly and turned into a total shy mess as he asked if I was going to the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. The storytelling propels forward as you are able to encourage him to ask Lorraine to go with him and help with his writing before we see the hilarious hijinks of Lorraine hitting on Marty, her future son who she wants to go to the dance with. Biff shows up and causes mayhem while fans spectate and quote along. [Read more]
Deus Ex Did Good Work, and I Wish It Could Do More
By Justin Carter
For as many long-running franchises were born during the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era—your Assassin’s Creeds and Borderlands, to name a few—some old series tried making a return. Among those was Deus Ex, a series of cyberpunk role-playing games which just turned 20 years old and had an unfortunately short-lived return with a duology that under better circumstances, would’ve been a trilogy. [Read more]
Books, Art, and Toys
The full package – Regal Reobot
The Story Behind the Funniest Indiana Jones Prop Replica You’ve Ever Seen
By Germain Lussier
Indiana Jones is always on the hunt for rare antiquities. He’s found the Golden Idol, Ark of the Covenant, Holy Grail, and so much more. All of which makes prop replicas of those things rather obvious. But, for the Indiana Jones fan who wants to be like their favorite adventuring archaeologist and get something more rare and specific, how about a clothes hanger? [Read more]
For Sale: One Book of the Dead, Slightly Used
By Cheryl Eddy
That little getaway in the woods sure would have been much less eventful if Ash Williams and his pals hadn’t decided to read passages out of that creepy old book someone left behind. But we’re so glad they did—thereby awakening the forces of darkness, sparking the events of The Evil Dead and its sequels, launching Bruce Campbell into the goofy action hero pantheon, and giving horror fans endless delights over the past 40-plus years. And now, you can own the actual prop that started it all! [Read more]
You Have to Check Out These Insanely Detailed Pop Culture Sculptures
By Germain Lussier
Play-Doh is not generally considered a pathway to a career in art, but it was exactly that for Brad Hill. Years ago, the aspiring artist was gifted the popular children’s toy and, as a thank you, molded some of it into a head. “I was like, ‘Oh wait. That’s kind of fun,’” Hill said. “Every day, I’d just wake up and sculpt a head out of Play-Doh. And I thought, ‘Well, this isn’t sustainable.’” He was wrong. Fifteen years later, Hill’s work has gone all over the internet, and this week he’s having a retrospective art show featuring not just brand new work, but pieces from throughout his still blossoming career. [Read more]
Being a Manga Letterer Is More Than Having a Fun Job
By Isaiah Colbert
When people read manga, they often focus on the Instagram caption-worthy one-liners and larger-than-life illustrations that fill their pages. What usually goes unnoticed in picking up a manga is the work that goes into its lettering and graphic design, done by the folks who pour their craftsmanship into typesetting popular Japanese manga for Western audiences.
We spoke with professional letterers Brandon Bovia (The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All, Dragon Ball Super, Kaiju No. 8), Evan Hayden (Battle Angel Alita, Land of Lustrous, Akira), Sara Linsley (Kamudo), Aidan Clarke (Otaku Elf, Neo Faust, Les Miserable), Barri Shrager (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?), Kyla Aiko (Dandadan, Gokurakugai, RuriDragon), and Finn K. (Shinobi Undercover, Dear Anemone) about the challenges of typesetting the best manga in the world. [Read more]
How the Grinch Stole Modern Christmas
By Sabina Graves
He’s a meme one, Mr. Grinch, or at least that’s the current pop culture identity of the iconic Dr. Seuss creation.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the beloved illustrated Seuss book that many of us first experienced as a story read to us as children, initially became a cultural phenomenon thanks to its timeless themes about how Christmas can be found not only in gifts but also in the hearts of all—even the grumpiest of green meanies. [Read more]
If the question of whether anime is mainstream was still on anyone’s lips, 2025 emphatically etched the medium in stone as an emphatic hell yes. Still, despite the banner year anime has had in theaters, it’s also been a year at an impasse about whether we’ll see it in its brilliant final form or only get glorified previews and compilation events masquerading as cinematic experiences moving forward.
Just to get them out of the way, because we’ve thoroughly glazed them in the past and their accolades bear repeating, anime films in 2025 were defined by the meteoric success of ufotable’s Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle and Mappa’s Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc. As they should be. The former, arguably the repopularized inception point of anime as a theatrical experience, exceeded already high expectations among its fandom with the studio’s crisp animation, a likeable ensemble, and blisteringly fast action, which added to the spectacle of being the first of a film trilogy to conclude the series, a hat on top of a hat of hype.
But most importantly, what Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle had to showcase was new and felt like a movie (with the conceit of the first leg of a film trilogy). Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc had the same high quality, yet somehow more so, in that it encompassed a complete arc of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s series as a cinematic experience that’ll occupy real estate in the frontal lobe of anime fans for years to come.
Still, despite these two big marquee films of 2025, fans were also graced with the gift of theatrical releases of movies that deserve as much shine for being a cinematic experience, mostly thanks to the effort of GKids and its initiative to make anime films more than just rereleases of retro greats like Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke and Studio Deen’s Angel’s Egg remastered in 4K. Those films include the likes of Science Saru’s synesthesia-fueled music anime The Colors Within, Rock’n Roll Mountain‘s film adaptation of Orb: On the Movements of the Earth, and creator Uoto’s emotional track-and-field epic, 100Meters.
One recently established format of anime in cinemas that’s quickly become a bit of an annoying hanger-on is theatrical preview events. Whether they be compilations of past seasons of shows like Jujutsu Kaisen or episodes stitched together as a three-episode test sampling of newer shows like Witch Watch, these events have started to leave a lot to be desired as theatrical experiences.
On paper, they were interesting. Basically, they were for the FOMO-averse who wanted to check out assuredly hot anime like Dan Da Dan before spoilers hit their timeline, as well as a way of being a part of those who beat the artificial scarcity of watching Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX weeks before they hit streaming platforms. They had some growing pains at the start, adding documentary content from creators positioned before the episodes themselves, scooping whatever surprises lay in wait. But this phenomenon began to lose its luster in part because of the forthcoming cinematic explosion of Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man and the diminishing returns of this format.
The first pang of annoyance with this anime film format was inevitable: having to wait for new episodes, weeks into shows that had finally aired. It’s basically like having the blowback from a gun you shot smacking you in the face. Sure, it was your fault for buying into the preview ahead, but strong-arming your disposable income for a steeply priced movie ticket to basically watch three (maybe four) episodes of an anime to feel like the “They don’t know” meme whenever patient anime fans have water cooler talk online about said episodes routinely became a bitter pill to swallow.
Aside from seeing the opening themes of those shows, moviegoers were basically resigned to not really feeling part of the whole weekly experience because they ponied up the cash to be cursed with knowing where things were going.
And while Jujutsu Kaisen fans know no shame regarding spoiler culture etiquette, nobody wants to be that guy who accidentally ruins the fun for folks because they basically did what video games have been admonished for with paid service subscriptions: accessing a game days earlier than everyone else. Speaking of Jujutsu Kaisen, its hybrid compilation film-preview event for its upcoming season, Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution, was among the worst of both worlds in this format.
As a compilation film, it didn’t do a good job of showcasing the season’s best moments. Not to be mean, but TikTok content creators do a better job of not cutting around the emotional thrust of these sorcery-fighting moments. The film’s handling of it only highlighted the weaker points of the series’ fair-weather story when condensed rather than spread out in an episodic format. And because the series is such a dense information dump of concepts and power sets, the actual new content in it wasn’t worth the squeeze, with its inevitable cliffhanger ending making even its action, the series’ strong point, feel a bit pyrrhic on the big screen, as the whole thing was bogged down by jerry-rigging itself into an arc redolent of an actual movie.
To be fair to JJK, it was a far cry from the worst of these formatted anime movies (in name only) theatrical experiences. That’d probably be Shaft’s Virgin Punk Clockwork Girl, a mostly documentary film and a preview event. While pretty, it wasn’t giving FOMO but ROMO (relief of missing out), given how expensive movies are and how little it lived up to the price of admission.
But in the wake of films like Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man proving that anime is best experienced as a complete cinematic experience rather than a glorified trailer for streaming platforms, the anime industry feels like it’s on the razor’s edge in how it’ll release its projects moving forward. Either it can take its mainstream status as a launching pad to treat its movies as full-arc experiences, or it can continue to position itself as a neat novelty act. Hopefully, the global industry will decide to make its future theatrical experiences more like Reze Arc and less like glorified preview events from now on.
NEW YORK (AP) — You don’t need to major in astrophysics at Harvard to become an actor — but it doesn’t necessarily hurt, either.
“I thought that’s what you go there to do. It’s like why are you paying all this money to go to this fancy school if you’re not going to study a hard science to try to save the world? … But I was quickly humbled,” chuckled Chase Sui Wonders, who began failing classes within her first few weeks. Her college application essay had been about making movies, so she decided she “might as well just pivot back to what I know best.”
That calculated redirection paid off for the magna cum laude graduate who’s now a standout cast member of the Emmy-winning comedy “The Studio,” a cynical and satirical take on the film industry.
Chase Sui Wonders always thought she was “kind of funny,” but it was confirmed when she booked “The Studio” after just one audition. It’s been an eventful year for the AP Breakthrough Entertainer who plays the ambitious assistant-turned-creative executive Quinn Hackett on the Emmy-winning comedy. (Dec. 10)
“The attention’s definitely weird, but can feel good,” said the 29-year-old, flashing her warm smile throughout the interview. “The most energizing thing about the whole thing is when you get recognition, the phone starts ringing more, and these other avenues are opening up that I always kind of dreamed about.”
“The Studio” amassed an astounding 23 Emmy nominations in its debut season, taking home a record-breaking 13 wins. But Wonders may not have seemed like an obvious choice for comedy with her past roles, including the 2022 film “Bodies Bodies Bodies” and her breakout role, the teen-themed series “Genera+ion,” which was canceled by HBO Max after one season. But all it took was one virtual video audition to land the role of Quinn Hackett, the hyper-ambitious, cutthroat assistant-turned-creative executive under studio head Matt Remick, played by the show’s co-creator and co-executive producer Seth Rogen.
“I had always … felt like, ‘I think I’m kind of funny,’” she laughed, acknowledging feeling she had to prove herself working alongside comedic heavyweights like Rogen, Catherine O’Hara, Kathryn Hahn and Ike Barinholtz. “That pressure felt really daunting and scary. But I think, hopefully, I rose to the occasion.”
This image released by Apple TV shows Chase Sui Wonders in a scene from “The Studio.” (Apple TV via AP)
This image released by Apple TV shows Chase Sui Wonders in a scene from “The Studio.” (Apple TV via AP)
Despite mere degrees of separation from Hollywood as the niece of fashion designer Anna Sui, an acting career seemed unattainable growing up in Bloomfield Township, a Detroit suburb. Born to a father of Chinese descent and a white mother, Wonders and her siblings were primarily raised by their mom after their parents divorced.
GET TO KNOW CHASE SUI WONDERS
AGE: 29
HOMETOWN: Detroit suburbs
FIRST ROLE: Technically, 2009’s “A Trivial Exclusion,” a feature-length film made with her family. Otherwise, let’s go with the 2019 horror film “Daniel Isn’t Real.”
YOU MIGHT KNOW HER FROM: “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” “Genera+ion” and her character’s climactic love of quesaritos in “The Studio”
2025 IN REVIEW: The “I Know What You Did Last Summer” reboot and “The Studio”
WHAT’S NEXT: The films “I Want Your Sex” and “October,” as well as a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot series
HER HARVARD MAJOR: Film studies and production. In the end, she did graduate magna cum laude.
Want to know more about Chase and our other Breakthrough Entertainers of 2025? Read our survey.
An extremely shy child and self-described tomboy, she developed a love for sports — she won high school state championships in both ice hockey and golf — and spent much of her childhood making videos with her siblings. Thanks to her mother encouraging her to take performance arts classes, she was able to break out of her shell. But coming from an achievement-driven family, all signs pointed to a career in business.
A corporate track nearly began after struggling to break into the industry, and she even considered taking a job in Beijing to begin her adult life in the business world. But with only a week to decide on the job offer, she decided to give Hollywood one more shot. Three months later, she booked “Genera+ion.”
Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP
Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP
“There have been different moments in my life where I’ve been seriously humbled,” said Wonders, who has aspirations of directing. “It just has taught me just not to take it all too seriously. … I do feel absurdly lucky that I get to be on set with all my friends and telling a bunch of jokes and being a weirdo on screen.”
Next up for Wonders is the Gregg Araki-directed “I Want Your Sex,” starring Olivia Wilde, and she’ll star in A24’s horror thriller “October.” She’ll also appear in the upcoming “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot, with Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao directing the pilot. And of course, a second season for “The Studio” is in the works.
Gary Gerard Hamilton’s previous Breakthrough Entertainer profiles include Megan Thee Stallion, Sadie Sink, Simu Liu, Tobe Nwigwe and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. His own media breakthrough came in third grade, after recording a PSA about endangered animals for a Houston TV station.
Red carpets and magazine covers couldn’t be a more antithetical life for the girl who assumed she’d climb the executive ranks at one of the major car companies headquartered in Detroit. Instead, she’s climbing the Hollywood ladder — and she wouldn’t tell her younger self to speed up the process.
“It’s so fun how life surprises you,” said Wonders. “I wouldn’t tell her anything. I would tell her it’s all going to make sense in the rearview mirror — but no spoilers.”
Perfidia left Bob and Willa 16 years earlier, and DiCaprio’s character hasn’t fully recovered from the blow. “He’s not only getting older but also increasingly cranky and closed off,” Anderson said in a press release for the film. “It’s those mundane battles of daily life that are wearing on him. No one, not even Bob, can outrun what’s inevitable. Now he is trying to be a good father and watch his daughter, Willa, and the next generation come up. But they’re not doing it like he did.” DiCaprio said that Bob’s journey in the film, then, centers on reclaiming his sense of purpose in an evolving social landscape. “It’s about trying to be fearless in an age where we are riddled with fear and constantly silenced, but coming out of our shells…. He’s been somebody that’s been isolated, suspicious, and paranoid, and he’s pushed into a set of circumstances where he needs to be fearless.”
He’s not the only Man of a Certain Age grappling with modern masculinity and his place in a politically fraught climate. Also sporting a tiny, greasy bun and some oversized eyewear is Balls, Bradley Cooper’s character in Is This Thing On? (out December 19). Cooper and Will Arnett, who plays the film’s leading man, Alex, star as frazzled fathers navigating middle age with the help of cannabis. Both plaid-clad men have stoned epiphanies about their respective marriages (to Andra Day and Laura Dern) and professional lives—Cooper’s character is a struggling actor, while Arnett’s is a wannabe stand-up comedian. “This movie is not a midlife crisis—it’s a midlife catharsis,” Cooper, who directed the film, told Vanity Fair. “Sometimes you realize you’re coasting and you’ve lost your rudder and your North Star in life, and that takes a toll on whoever is in your orbit.”
Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett and Andra Day in Is This Thing On?Everett Collection.
It’s been a difficult year for the people who create video games, with layoffs persisting while the tech industry tries to force us to use artificial intelligence for everything. But great games emerged nonetheless — and I can’t imagine AI ever being able to deliver the kind of thrilling, rewarding adventures we’ve seen in 2025.
The biggest story this year was the release of Nintendo’s new console, the Switch 2. It’s a terrific piece of hardware, but it doesn’t yet have the killer app that makes it essential.
The second biggest story was the arrival, seemingly out of nowhere, of one marvelous game that left many of us slack-jawed with wonder. It’s as profound an example of interactive storytelling as I’ve ever seen, and an easy choice for game of the year.
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The debut release from French studio Sandfall Interactive pays tribute to classic turn-based role-playing adventures like 1990s Final Fantasy, with a crew of intrepid fighters on a mission to confront a potentially world-destroying entity. But, man, does it take some surprising twists — I can’t remember a game had me gasping so often, either in horror or delight. The graphics and music are stunning throughout, and it’s all anchored by impeccable voice acting that made me care deeply about every single character. Altogether, a landmark achievement.
2. The Outer Worlds 2
Scenes from “The Outer Worlds 2.” (Xbox Game Studios via AP)
Scenes from “The Outer Worlds 2.” (Xbox Game Studios via AP)
This image released by Xbox Game Studios shows a scene from the video game “The Outer Worlds 2.” (Xbox Game Studios via AP)
This image released by Xbox Game Studios shows a scene from the video game “The Outer Worlds 2.” (Xbox Game Studios via AP)
California’s Obsidian Entertainment has become one of the premier studios in the U.S., and this spacefaring romp is its best game yet. It drops you into a galactic feud among three political philosophies: totalitarianism, hypercapitalism and a math-based religion (think of the most annoying techbro you know). There’s plenty of satisfying combat against radioactive mutants and renegade robots, but even the grimmest situations are juiced with healthy doses of satire as you try to navigate the demands of all three would-be overlords.
3. Silent Hill f
This image released by Konami Digital Entertainment shows a scene from “Silent Hill f.” (Konami Digital Entertainment via AP)
This image released by Konami Digital Entertainment shows a scene from “Silent Hill f.” (Konami Digital Entertainment via AP)
The latest chapter of Konami’s long-running franchise digs into its J-horror roots, moving the action from America to Japan in the 1960s. Hinako Shimizu, the teenage protagonist, not only has to confront the trauma of high school — she has to fight off the grotesque monsters that have invaded her small town. What makes Silent Hill f fascinating is the way the two nightmares seem to be related. It’s the scariest horror game in years.
4. Assassin’s Creed Shadows
“Assassin’s Creed Shadows” video game. (Ubisoft via AP)
“Assassin’s Creed Shadows” video game. (Ubisoft via AP)
Another young Japanese woman takes center stage in this sprawling adventure from Ubisoft. Naoe is a crafty ninja in feudal Japan who’s out to avenge her father’s murder. She’s soon joined by Yasuke, a powerful samurai. The mission variety here is impressive, letting you switch on the fly between Naoe’s stealthy attacks and Yasuke’s brute force. It’s a shining example of Ubisoft’s do-it-your-way approach to the open-world format.
5. Donkey Kong Bananza
The best new game on Nintendo’s Switch 2 is ideal for those times when all you want to do is punch something. The big ape’s bananas have been stolen and he has to dive into a vast underworld to retrieve them. Almost all of the environments are destructible, but when you get tired of pounding there are plenty of clever puzzles and minigames that often hark back to DK’s swinging jungle adventures.
6. The Séance of Blake Manor
This image released by Raw Fury shows a scene from “The Séance of Blake Manor.” (Raw Fury via AP)
This image released by Raw Fury shows a scene from “The Séance of Blake Manor.” (Raw Fury via AP)
In this haunting mystery from Ireland’s Spooky Doorway, a group of mystics have gathered around Halloween 1897 to commune with the dead. You’re called in to investigate when one of the living humans vanishes. It’s a classic point-and-click puzzle game in which everyone has something to hide. It also digs deep into Irish folklore and history, adding an urgent element of class struggle to a very effective ghost story.
7. Avowed
Scenes from the video game “Avowed.” (Xbox Game Studios via AP)
Scenes from the video game “Avowed.” (Xbox Game Studios via AP)
This image released by Xbox Game Studios shows a scene from the video game “Avowed.” (Xbox Game Studios via AP)
This image released by Xbox Game Studios shows a scene from the video game “Avowed.” (Xbox Game Studios via AP)
Speaking of class struggle, Obsidian Entertainment’s other big role-playing game of 2025 doesn’t shy away from politics either. You are an emissary sent to investigate a deadly plague in the quasi-medieval Living Lands. Problem is, few of the locals are happy to see you, and they’re too busy fighting each other to help much. Again, Obsidian’s mastery of role-playing action is on full display, this time with swords and spells rather than lasers.
8. Ghost of Yōtei
Scenes from the video game “Ghost of Yōtei.” (Sony Interactive Entertainment via AP)
Scenes from the video game “Ghost of Yōtei.” (Sony Interactive Entertainment via AP)
This image released by Sony shows a scene from the video game “Ghost of Yōtei.” (Sony via AP)
This image released by Sony shows a scene from the video game “Ghost of Yōtei.” (Sony via AP)
Yet another Japanese woman takes the lead in this revenge drama from Sony’s Sucker Punch Productions. Atsu is a mercenary who returns to rural Japan in the 1600s to hunt down her family’s killers, stirring rumors that an “onryō” — a vengeful ghost — is on the loose. The narrative is tighter than that in AC Shadows, but this is a real treat for fans of classic samurai movies — especially if you play in black-and-white “Kurosawa mode.”
9. South of Midnight
This fantasy from Canada’s Compulsion Games is a hypnotic evocation of the mythology of the U.S. Deep South. After a hurricane rips through her neighborhood, a woman named Hazel ventures into the bayou. The creatures she meets — a talking catfish, a massive gator, a blues-playing ghoul — are gorgeously rendered in stop-motion-inspired animation. The gameplay is fairly simple, but the art and music make for a memorable journey.
10. The Alters
In this survival adventure from Poland’s 11 Bit Studios, you are a humble engineer left on a hostile planet. Fortunately there’s a movable base nearby — but you can’t run it alone, so you’re going to have to clone yourself. Each clone has different personality tics, and the result is a fascinating metaphysical brainteaser that will have you wondering how long you’d be able to put up with half a dozen versions of you.
There are gifts, and then there are gifts, the ones inventive enough to surprise and delight the recipient. Some are fun; others, practical. They all aim to improve how we do or enjoy things.
Consider adding these innovative gifts to your shopping list. There’s something here for every budget.
Elevated luggage
Invented by a mom of four who sought to cut down on hotel-room chaos, Props carry-on suitcases have luggage racks built right in. Like a folding table, each suitcase has legs that unfold easily to elevate it off the floor. You could even use it as a snack table or laptop stand at the airport.
Other features include an interior compression packing system, an integrated TSA-approved combination lock, a telescoping handle, two 360-degree spinning wheels at each corner and carry handles on three sides. Available in five colors; 21.5” x 14” x 9.5” (width expandable to 11.5”). $399.
A smart collar
Like a fitness tracker for pets, the PetPace V3.0 smart collar is an AI-powered health-monitoring device that tracks pets’ locations via GPS and monitors their vital and biometric signs.
Using AI analytics and machine learning, the smart collar gets to “know” your dog or cat over time, collecting data on activity, body temperature, pulse rate and so on. The mobile app tracks and displays subtle changes.
Users also get free access to a veterinarian via 24/7 chat, and the ability to share a link with their own vet to provide historical physiological and behavioral data. $299-$399. plus subscription fees, which start at $13.90 per month.
Secure shade
If there’s a beach lover on your list, the AnchorOne Classic Beach Umbrella System will keep them comfortable and safe from the inconvenience — and danger — posed by wind-borne umbrellas.
Setting up the umbrella takes about five minutes, and an anchor filled with sand keeps it from blowing away in winds up to 25 mph (40.2 kph).
An adjustable tray keeps snacks, drinks and cellphones off the sand, and the umbrella’s 7-foot (2.1-meter) canopy has an Ultraviolet Protection Factor of 50+. Available in five colors. Carry bags are included for both the umbrella and anchor. $119.99.
Cuddly calm
Talking dolls and stuffed animals have been around for decades; some even “read” books and tell stories. But Pause with Panda uses interactivity for more than entertainment, providing kids with exercises designed to help them regulate their emotions and practice mindfulness.
The cuddly panda’s programming guides children through audible, age-appropriate “pauses,” including ones aimed at reducing anxiety, improving attention, building emotional awareness, developing compassion, and supporting daily routines and transitions, like bedtime. Caregivers can monitor on the accompanying mobile app.
Topics can be customized for anxiety, sleep and ADHD, and adults can even record their own “pauses” for children to hear.
Suitable for ages 3 and up. $99, including a storybook and stickers.
Sparkle anywhere
Sparkling water and seltzer lovers know they can either pay for the bottled stuff or use a kitchen-counter model to carbonate liter-size bottles at home. Now, Aerflo, a portable soda-maker system, lets them make fizzy drinks on the go.
Fill the stainless steel and BPA-, lead- and PFAS-free plastic bottle with water, attach a mini capsule to the cap and screw on the lid. Then tap the cap to release beverage-grade carbon dioxide into the water and give the bottle a shake, repeating as desired for more bubbles.
The set includes a 17-ounce bottle; four refillable capsules, which carbonate four bottles apiece; a three-capsule travel case; and a prepaid shipping box for zero-waste capsule exchanges. $84.
Airborne audio
Many in-flight entertainment systems still require users to plug wired headphones into an airplane’s one- or two-pronged audio jack. And the system’s lack of a Bluetooth option leaves most folks with wireless earbuds or headsets with two options: Buy a cheap pair from the flight attendant or sit in silence.
The JBL Tour One M3 Smart TX headphones change that. You plug the included touchscreen Bluetooth transmitter into the jack, and the device will connect to the headphones, allowing you to listen to high-resolution, 24-bit audio — with or without noise cancellation — and move about freely.
The system also connects to other audio sources, like computers, cellphones and older TVs, and allows two listeners to connect to one transmitter for shared listening. The Zoom-certified headphones let you control how much of your own voice you hear on calls. Available in three colors. $449.95.
A frigid friend
Die-hard cold plungers know that tap water isn’t frosty enough to provide the chilling effects they seek, and standalone cryotubs can take up too much space in small bathrooms.
Enter HomePlunge, a portable water-cooling unit that can transform any bathtub into an ice bath.
The wheeled unit rolls up to the tub and has a hose arm that draws in water, cools it and then returns it to the tub, reaching set temperatures as low as 34 degrees F (1 degree C) in 30-60 minutes.
When you’ve had enough, roll the modular chiller out of the way until the next session, which you can schedule in advance via the accompanying mobile app. $2,999.
Flushed for the holidays
Toilet paper — original and inventive? You bet!
It may get some laughs when they open the box, but Charmin’s new supersize Forever Roll just might be the most practical gift you’ll ever give.
Although it won’t live up to the “forever” hyperbole in its name, each giant roll — measuring 1 foot (.3 meters) in diameter, weighing 2 pounds (.9 kilograms) and providing 1,700 sheets of 2-ply, septic-safe toilet paper — promises to last a whole month in an average two-person household.
The starter kit includes two Forever Rolls and a brushed stainless-steel stand, with refills sold separately. $39.99.
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s the most wonderful time of the year, unless you want to find the perfect gifts for tech lovers.
There’s a lot of slop to sift through as we get closer to the holidays, many interests to appeal to and a whole bunch of deals-that-aren’t-deals flashing before our screens. So here’s a guide — and some sales — to help you get started on your gift shopping journey.
For your gamers
The Nintendo Switch 2 was the biggest and most anticipated console launch of 2025, and if history is any indication, it will be increasingly harder to find as Christmas approaches. But for the gamers in your life — both young and adult — this is the gift to get.
Nintendo’s Black Friday deals for the console and games have been announced but the best bang for your buck may be the console bundles. The Switch 2 is still available as just the console only for $449 or bundled with Mario Kart World for $499. A new $499 bundle is now available where the console is packaged with Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Games retail for about $70 a piece, so you do save a little with bundles.
Need a new iPhone?
The iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Max captured the headlines this year when the new lineup launched, but the base iPhone 17 received an upgraded camera (telephoto lens), more base storage and a longer battery life. Given the price for this model hasn’t changed, you’re straight up getting more tech for the same price. If your gift recipient’s current iPhone is a few generations behind, this is a good time to consider an upgrade.
What about AI? The iPhone 17 doesn’t make as many leaps into the technology as its predecessor, but the new iOS and processer prepares the phone for any advancements that may come in 2026. The iPhone 17 retails at $800.
Or maybe you’d like a foldable phone?
If you or someone in your life has ever been curious about a foldable phone, consider Samsung’s newest Galaxy Z Fold 7 model. This phone solves many of the issues users have been concerned about since fold phones hit the market: It’s much thinner and lighter than its predecessors — 0.17 inches thick when unfolded and less than half an inch folded — and it weighs slightly less than half a pound, impressive considering they boosted the size of all the screens.
But the price of a fold phone remains steep compared to the flagship iPhone and Galaxy devices. The Z Fold 7 currently is running a sale on its site but normally retails starting at $1,999.
Planning to shoot more video or pictures?
For anyone interested in doing more filming or photography with their mobile device, this supremely portable tripod by SelfieShow offers solid stability even when extended to its max height of 71 inches. The mounting arm also offers a wide array of positioning for shooters on the go. And the rig can collapse into a retractable selfie stick for even more functionality and portability.
For aspiring influencers, podcasters or vloggers in your life, try these wireless microphones by Hollyland. The Lark M2 Wireless Microphone mics are easy to use, have good range and do well in filtering out background noise. You can easily attach these to clothes for interviews or even hold them for the tiny mic lifestyle. Best of all, it comes with two mics per order.
For those TV lovers who just want a little more for their gaming or cinematic experience, consider Samsung’s S90F OLED TV. This higher-end TV offers excellent contrast, colors and Ethernet performance. It also can act as a giant monitor if you want to plug your PC/gaming console into it, offering VRR support up to 144Hz on all four of its HDMI ports. For those who like to add sound systems or other peripherals to their TV, it also offers an additional three USB-A ports and one USB-C port.
Normally this TV retails around $1,800, but an ongoing holiday promo (until Dec. 1) puts it, at 55 inches, at $1,199.99.
Typing on the go
Portability is core to the Logitech Pebble 2 wireless keyboard and mouse combo. This minimalist and highly functional offering by Logitech will satisfy on-the-go users who are looking for a silent, but still tactile, Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. It also offers a one-tap, multi-device switching option if you’ve already paired it with said devices — which include Android tablets and Apple iPads in addition to laptops — a great feature if you’re multitasking.
If you think gifts for movie lovers begin and end with Blu-Rays and cineplex gift cards, think again. There’s lots of ways to get creative (and impress) the film fan in your life.
For the very forward-thinking, you could help the Christopher Nolan fan in your life brush up on “The Odyssey” before next July with Emily Wilson’s translation (at bookstores.)
Here are a few of our other favorite finds this holiday season for all kinds of movie fans.
The ultimate Wes Anderson box set
The Criterion Collection’s 20-disc Wes Anderson Archive box set is an investment for the true diehard. Anchored around 10 films over the past 25 years, from “Bottle Rocket” through “The French Dispatch,” the mammoth package includes new 4K masters, over 25 hours of special features, and 10 illustrated, chicly clothbound books, as well as essays from the likes of Martin Scorsese and James L. Brooks. $399.96.
Mise en Scènt candles
Home movie nights need the right atmosphere, and this female-owned, Brooklyn-based company creates (and hand pours) candles inspired by favorite movies. Their bestselling — and sometimes out of stock — “Old Hollywood” candle will bring you back to the silver screen’s golden age with the smell of “deep, smoky and worn-in leather,” which might be ideal with TCM playing in the background. The “Rom Com” scent evokes the feeling of a “meet-cute in a grocery aisle” with something clean, fresh and floral (maybe for watching “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” or “Materialists” ). There’s also a “French New Wave” candle that would work well with Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague.” Other scents include “Mystery,” “Fantasy,” “Macabre,” “Villain Era,” “Bad Movie” and “Main Character.” Starting at $24.
Baby’s first movie book
These adorable and beautifully illustrated board books take parents and kids on a journey through genres, from “My First Hollywood Musical” and “My First Sci-Fi Movie” to the very niche “My First Giallo Horror” and “My First Yakuza Movie.” There are also three box sets available for $45 each. Oscar-winning “Anora” filmmaker Sean Baker called them his “go-to gifts for new parents.” From ’lil cinephile. Starting at $15.
Pajamas fit for a KPop Demon Hunter
Rumi’s “choo choo” pajama pants would make a cozy gift for days when you find yourself chanting “Couch! Couch! Couch!” Don’t understand what any of that means? Don’t worry, the “KPop Demon Hunters” fan in your life will. Available from Netflix. $56.95.
A Roger Deakins memoir
Even if you don’t know the name Roger Deakins you certainly know his work — simply put, he’s one of the greatest working cinematographers in the business. His credits include “Fargo,” “The Big Lebowski,” “No Country for Old Men,” “Sicario,” “Skyfall” and “1917.” Fittingly, his memoir “Reflections: On Cinematography” is uniquely visual, with never-before-seen storyboards, sketches and diagrams. The 76-year-old Oscar winner also looks back on his life, his early love of photography and how he found his way into 50 years of moviemaking, where he’d find longstanding partnerships with some of the great auteurs, from the Coen brothers to Sam Mendes and Denis Villeneuve. Hachette Book Group. $45.
An alternative streamer for cinephiles
If Netflix is too pedestrian for the cinephile in your life, the Kino Film Collection offers a robust and rotating lineup of classic and current art house and indie films. Categories include Cannes Favorites (like Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Dogtooth”), Classics (like “The General,” “Metropolis” and “Nosferatu”) and New York Times Critics’ Picks (like Jafar Panahi’s “Taxi” and Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border”). At $5.99 a month or $59.99 year, it’s also less expensive than the Criterion Channel ($10.99/month, $99/year) and Mubi ($14.99/month, $119.88/year).
The Celluloid card game
Who’s the biggest film buff in your family or group of friends? This clever card game might have the answer for you. Each Celluloid card contains prompts (like location, character and action) and you have to pick a movie that fits as many cards as possible. $19.
An expressionistic dive into Chloé Zhao’s ‘Hamnet’
Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao, actor Jessie Buckley and photographer Agata Grzybowska collaborated on a gorgeous coffee-table book about “Hamnet,” opening in theaters in limited release on Nov. 27 and expected to be a major Oscar contender. The film, based on Maggie O’Farrell’s story, which won the National Book Critics Circle prize for fiction, imagines the circumstances around the death of William Shakespeare’s 11-year-old son and how it may have influenced the writing of “Hamlet.” The coffee-table book, called “Even as a Shadow, Even as a Dream,” is not a making-of, or behind-the-scenes look in any conventional sense, but an otherworldly, haunting companion piece of carefully chosen images and words. Mack books. $40.
Imagine, if you will, a world without mobile phones, the internet or The New York Times (digital OR print). Would your favorite puzzler survive? The good folks at the Times have something perfect to put in the bunker: “Puzzle Mania!” It’s a stylish hardcover book full of Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, Minis and more. By a lead Times puzzle editor, Joel Fagliano. Authors Equity. $38.
Contemporary art
Painting, collage, photography, sculpture, performance. Derrick Adams has embraced them all in a career spanning more than 25 years. His first monograph, “Derrick Adams,” includes 150 works that explore Black American culture and his own identity. Portraiture abounds. There’s joy, leisure and resilience in everyday experiences and self-reflection, with a little humor on board. Monacelli. $79.95.
Steph Curry inspiration
“Being shot ready requires practice, training and repetition, but it rewards that work with an unmatched feeling of transcendence.” That’s Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry in his new book, “Shot Ready.” The basketball star takes his readers from rookie to veteran, accompanied by inspiring words and photos. One doesn’t have to be into basketball to feel the greatness. One World. $50.
The American West
The photographer Frank S. Matsura died in 1913, but his work lives on in a hefty archive. He was a Japanese immigrant who chronicled life in Alaska and the Okanogan region of Washington state. He operated a photo studio frequented by the Indigenous people of the region. Many of those portraits are included in “Frank S. Matsura: Iconoclast Photographer of the American West.” Edited by Michael Holloman. Princeton Architectural Press. $40.
The gift of bird chatter
Cheeseburger, cheeseburger! The handy little book “Bird Talk” seeks to make identifying bird calls fun and accessible without heavy phonetic descriptors or birder lingo. Becca Rowland, who wrote and illustrated, offers funny, bite-size ways to identify calls using what’s already in our brains. Hence, the black-capped chickadee goes “cheeseburger, cheeseburger!” Storey Publishing. $16.99.
Mocktails and cocktails
David Burtka is sober. His husband, Neil Patrick Harris, imbibes. Together, they love to throw parties. This elfin book, “Both Sides of the Glass,” includes easy-to-follow cocktail and mocktail recipes, with commentary from Harris, who took mixology lessons out of sheer love of a good drink. Written with Zoë Chapin. Plume. $35.
It’s a book. It’s a burger.
This tome with a cover design that evokes a Big Mac is a country-by-country work of journalism that earned two 2025 James Beard awards for Gary He, a writer and photographer who previously freelanced for The Associated Press and self-published the book. He toured the world visiting McDonald’s restaurants to do his research for “McAtlas: A Global Guide to the Golden Arches.” As social anthropology goes, it serves. $49.95.
Yosemite love
From the cute but ferocious river otter to the gliders of the night, the Humboldt’s flying squirrel, this striking book is the first comprehensive work in more than a century dedicated entirely to the park’s animal kingdom. “Yosemite Wildlife: The Wonder of Animal Life in California’s Sierra Nevada” includes more than 300 photos and covers 150-plus species. By Beth Pratt, with photos by Robb Hirsch. Yosemite Conservancy. $60.
Samin Nosrat’s new book
Samin Nosrat lays herself bare in this long-awaited second book from the chef and author of the acclaimed “Salt Fat Acid Heat.” Her first book was 17 years in the making. In its wake, she explains in “Good Things,” was struggle, including overwhelming loss with the deaths of several people close to her and a bout of depression that nearly swallowed her whole. Here, she rediscovers why she, or anybody, cooks in the first place. The recipes are simple, her observations helpful. You can taste the joy in every bite. Penguin Random House. $45.
Chappell Roan
She struggled in the music game for years, until 2024 made her a star. Chappell Roan, with her drag-queen style, big vocals and queer pride, has a shiny Grammy for best new artist. Now, in time for the holidays, there’s a sweet little book that tells her origin story. “Chappell Roan: The Rise of a Midwest Princess.” With text contributions from Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, Dibs Baer, Patrick Crowley, Izzy Grinspan, J’na Jefferson, Ilana Kaplan and Samantha Olson. Hearst Home. $30.
Snoop’s homemade edibles
For edible-loving weed enthusiasts, “Snoop Dogg’s Treats to Eat” offers 55 recipes that can be done with or without the weed. The connoisseur includes tips on how to use your goods for everything from tinctures to gummies, cookies to cannabutter. Perhaps a loaded milkshake or buttermilk pancakes with stoner syrup. Chronicle Books. $27.95.
A style muse
With her effortless beauty, and tousled hair and fringe, Jane Birkin easily transitioned from her swinging London roots in the early 1960s to a cultural and style muse for decades. She lent a bohemian charm to everything she did, from acting to singing to liberal activism. And she famously was the muse for the Hermès Birkin bag. The new “Jane Birkin: Icon of Style,” encompasses all of Birkin. By Sophie Gachet. Abrams Books. $65.
More Taylor Swift
All those Easter eggs. All those songs. It’s Taylor Swift’s world and we’re just eyes and ears taking it all in. Swift has been everywhere of late with her engagement to Travis Kelce, her Eras tour and now, “The Life of a Showgirl.” Add to the pile “Taylor Swift All the Songs,” a guide to the lyrics, genesis, production and secret messages of every single song, excluding “Showgirl” tracks. By Damien Somville and Marine Benoit. Black Dog & Leventhal. $60.
Got a theater buff?
What’s the beating heart of American theater? Broadway, of course. Teale Dvornik, a theater historian known on social media as The Backstage Blonde, has written a handy little history of New York’s Theater District, “History Hiding Around Broadway.” She takes it theater by theater, offering backstage insights into the venues themselves, along with shows that played there and Broadway highlights through the ages. Running Press. $25.
Christmas baking, Gilded-Age style
Sugarplums. They’re a thing! Fans of “The Gilded Age” are well aware and will eat up “The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook.” It includes treats from the era, some culinary history and a lot of old-time charm. For the record, sugarplums date to the 1600s, when they were basically just sugar. By the Gilded Age, starting roughly in the late 1800s, they were made from chopped dried figs, nuts, powdered sugar and brandy. Yes, please. By Becky Libourel Diamond. Globe Pequot. $34.95.
Forever flowers
Know a crafter? Know a flower lover? In “Everlasting Blooms,” floral artist Layla Robinson offers more than 25 projects focused on the use of dried flowers. She includes a festive flower crown, table displays, wreaths and arrangements with buds and branches. Her step-by-step guidance is easy to follow. Robinson also instructs how to forage and how to dry flowers. Hachette Mobius. $35.
Michelle Obama style
A brown polyester dress with a plaid skirt and a Peter Pan collar. That’s the very first fashion statement Michelle Obama can remember making, circa kindergarten. It was up, up and away from there, style-wise. The former first lady is out with a photo-packed book, “The Look,” taking us behind the scenes of her style and beauty choices. Crown. $50.
Here’s a look back at some of the most powerful moments and interviews from the “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell” this year. We’re looking forward to bringing you even more hard news with heart in 2024.
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Welcome to Startups Weekly. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Friday.
Thank you for subscribing to Startups Weekly. This week, I’m taking my parents to Yosemite to explore the snowy peaks and to see if my car can handle snow. In lieu of a regular Startups Weekly, I figured I’d dive in and give you a reminder of some of the biggest startup stories from 2024 — both on TechCrunch and our subscription sibling TechCrunch+.
Here are some of the biggest themes that have echoed throughout the startup ecosystem in 2023.
Crime and punishment
Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch
Some of the biggest startup stories on TechCrunch in 2023 were related to the deeds and misdeeds of those in the ecosystem.
The other big story was the trial of Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes. She is now serving a prison sentence of 11 years and 3 months after being indicted for wire fraud in a scheme to defraud investors. Theranos, once valued at $10 billion, promised revolutionary blood testing technology but was exposed in 2015 for its nonfunctional technology, which posed health risks to patients. The subsequent unraveling of Theranos led to numerous lawsuits and government investigations. The case serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of fraudulent practices and that the “fake it till you make it” approach that can be prevalent among startups doesn’t always work out.
The other big “hmm, maybe you shouldn’t have done that” serial story of the year was the Sam Bankman-Fried trial, which extended over five weeks. It turned out to be a spectacle of evasion and memory lapses. The former CEO of FTX faced the jury for several days, delivering a testimony that was remarkable mostly for its lack of substance. When cross-examined by prosecutors about his past decisions and actions, Bankman-Fried’s responses were predominantly “Yup” (372 times), “Not sure” (117 times), and “I don’t remember” (73 times). He was found guilty on all seven charges of fraud and money laundering, and will be sentenced in March 2024. Around the same time, there will likely be a second trial, with a bunch of additional charges.
More from the courts and legal systems:
It’s not just the startups . . . : Former VC Mike Rothenberg, known for hosting extravagant parties, was convicted on 21 counts last month, including for bank fraud, false statements, money laundering, and wire fraud. The conviction brings his journey from a promising entrepreneur, launching a VC firm in 2013, to being a convicted fraudster to a close. He was originally charged with fraud by the SEC in 2018, which resulted him having to pay $31 million. Sentencing in the fraud case is scheduled for March.
I’m trying to reach you about your extended warranty: The FCC imposed a record $300 million fine on a robocaller operation for scamming people with fake auto warranty sales. This operation made at least 5 billion calls.
The Swiss army knife for hackers: Flipper Zero, a multi-tool hacking device, is on track to achieve $80 million in sales this year, a significant increase from its $25 million sales last year. Started in 2020, the device can manipulate various systems like garage openers and RFID card systems.
The fun and quirky
Image Credits: Brian Heater
The world of startups wasn’t just murders, fraud and shenanigans — some of our most-read stories this year were a lot more lighthearted, thank goodness.
One of the highlights was Apple’s 31 new emojis — including a shaking face for when you’re “shook” and a pink heart because, obviously, we need more heart colors. There are even two pushing hands that could mean “stop” or “high five” — because interpreting vague hand gestures is what we all needed more of. Want to spam your friends with a moose or a jellyfish? Apple had your back this year.
My other favorites in the more-or-less-quirky-news category:
Strap this computer to your face: Apple’s new mixed-reality (XR) device made a significant impact with its high-quality hardware and features. It boasts 24 million pixels across two panels and advanced optics. It has brand-new chips to ensure smooth performance without judder or frame drops, with accurate eye tracking and gesture control. Panzer tried it out, and I argued that the device would be a game-changer for startups operating in the space.
We’re getting a little bored of Elon’s antics: At some point, TechCrunch editor Darrell decided he had enough, and penned this piece — concluding that enough is enough.
The year of AI
Image Credits: Darrell Etherington with files from Getty under license
There can be little doubt that, above all, for better and for worse, 2023 was the year of AI.
The darker side of AI got its time in the limelight as well. The advancement of AI porn generators, such as Unstable Diffusion, has raised significant ethical and societal concerns. These generators, which have improved in creating more realistic and diverse images, are posing some new risks — and continues to make the internet more toxic, especially for women (the majority of deepfake pornography targets women and is often used as a tool for harassment). We were also successful in tricking Lensa into generating NSFW content by putting crudely photoshopped photos into its source material. In short: maybe deepfakes-for-all is worse than we thought.
That submarine story: OceanGate trying to dip down to the Titanic and imploding in the process was everywhere for a hot moment. A whistleblower was fired in January 2018 after presenting a scathing quality-control report on the vessel to OceanGate’s senior management, including founder and CEO Stockton Rush — who later died onboard the submarine. We originally covered the company back in 2017 when it first revealed the plans to go 3D-scan the Titanic.
Is it a bird? Is it a balloon?: Pathfinder 1 is an electric airship that’s giving the Goodyear blimp a run for its money. At 124.5 meters long, it’s like the Hindenburg had a tech-savvy baby with a drone. With 12 electric motors and a penchant for helium (significantly safer than its high-explosive, Hindenburg-exploding hydrogen counterpart), it’s set to conquer the skies at a whopping 75 mph . . . eventually.
TechCrunch+ is TechCrunch’s subscription service, offering in-depth analysis, exclusive articles, and comprehensive reports on the technology industry, startups, and venture capital. If you’re not a subscriber — well, you should absolutely subscribe.
My popular Pitch Deck Teardown series is up to more than 75 sample pitch decks, complete with analysis for what’s working and what ain’t. And, of course, there’s oodles of additional amazing content too. Here’s a handful of stories you may have missed:
From cloud to on-premise: After a decade of cloud transformations, sophisticated enterprises are now developing hybrid strategies to support critical data science initiatives, moving away from exclusive reliance on cloud computing and bringing workloads back to on-premises systems.
The evolution of layoffs: Back in July, we looked at how the era of tech layoffs was evolving, noting that while it was not over, it was losing some of its intensity and was developing into its own unique trend.
Stage appropriate over perfection:Startups should focus on creating minimum viable products that are laser-focused on answering specific questions, rather than trying to scale too quickly, wasting resources in the process.
Hey, OpenAI, generate a marketing strategy: In this case study, we showed how using OpenAI for generating marketing strategies led to significant improvements in SEO ranking on Google, resulting in a substantial increase in site traffic, domain rating, and backlinks in less than a year.
Build on someone else’s tech and get burned: An update on OpenAI’s ChatGPT allowed for PDF uploads. That was a spanner in the work for startups, especially those built around a feature gap in ChatGPT. It underscored the vulnerability of such businesses to changes in underlying technologies.
Growth is hard: The former CEO of PlanGrid reflected on key mistakes they made while leading the company to $100 million in annual recurring revenue, offering insights to help other founders avoid similar pitfalls.
Setting the stage for a battery gold rush: Volkswagen’s breakthrough in lithium-ion battery technology could significantly impact the automotive industry, especially as it grapples with increased costs due to inflation and supply chain issues.
To remote or not to remote: We looked at the shift in remote work startups, where initial enthusiasm for dedicated remote work tools has waned, as companies have adapted to a hybrid work model rather than a purely remote one, leading to challenges for startups focused solely on remote work solutions.
Here’s why your pitch deck sucks: In the year of AI, I built a tool that analyzes startup pitch decks (because of course I did — why wouldn’t I build a tool that puts me out of business) and found a ton of interesting data about what startup founders get wrong when they create pitch decks.
Oh, and because I just know you are crazy curious: The featured image of this post was taken with an iPhone 14 Pro Max. I created the bauble using the Circular Name Ornament creator from Cuttle Labs, along with a Glowforge Aura. After I reviewed the entry-level laser cutter from Glowforge in July, I decided that I just had to have one. Because, well, what kind of nerd would I be if I didn’t set shit on fire on a semi-regular basis.
