-
This Forgotten Fantasy Book Masterpiece Will Hook You in Just 10 Pages
The article makes the case for Joe Abercrombie’s “The Blade Itself” (2006), the first novel in his First Law trilogy, arguing it is an underappreciated masterpiece of grimdark fantasy that grabs readers within its opening pages. Despite subverting genre conventions with morally flawed characters and a politically corrupt setting, the trilogy has not achieved the…
-
Ex-NFL star backed by Trump wins battleground state primary: ‘True America First Conservative’
Jay Feely, a former NFL placekicker, has won the Republican primary in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District after securing the endorsement of President Donald Trump. The result adds to a string of primary victories for Trump-backed candidates in the 2026 cycle and hands Republicans a nominee in what is expected to be a competitive open-seat contest…
-
Los Angeles Angels fired advance scout nicknamed ‘Baseball Spy’ after he was caught filming Rockies
The Los Angeles Angels have dismissed advance scout Justin Prinstein, who had earned the nickname “Baseball Spy,” after he was caught filming the Colorado Rockies’ coaching staff from the stands. The incident, first reported by The Athletic, raises questions about the boundaries of legitimate scouting versus prohibited surveillance in Major League Baseball, where teams routinely…
-
Netflix’s Gruesome New 8-Part Sci-Fi Thriller Just Hit 24.3M Hours Streamed
Netflix’s new Japanese sci-fi thriller Human Vapor has proven a hit with audiences, racking up 24.3 million hours viewed and landing in the platform’s Global Top 10 Non-English TV rankings shortly after its debut. The eight-episode series, which premiered on 2 July, reimagines a little-known 1960 Toho cult classic, blending crime drama, political conspiracy, body…
-
‘Woods’: The 2009 song that started Bon Iver’s obsession with autotune
In 2009, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon released “Woods,” a stark, largely a cappella track built almost entirely from layered, heavily Auto-Tuned vocal harmonies, on the Blood Bank EP. The song marked a significant departure from the raw, unprocessed folk sound that had defined Bon Iver’s breakthrough debut album, “For Emma, Forever Ago,” and set the…
-
Sarah Hardwig Showcases Her ‘Natural Gift’ With Inspiring Audition on ‘AGT’: Watch
Sarah Hardwig, a blind singer-songwriter from Nashville, delivered an emotional audition on “America’s Got Talent” that earned praise from all four judges and a standing ovation from the studio audience. Hardwig, who was born with the genetic eye condition Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, told the judges she wanted to prove that people can achieve anything regardless…
-
‘Dumb’ Yellowstone tourists filmed dangerously close to scalding waters of world-famous hot spring
A video has emerged showing tourists at Yellowstone National Park standing dangerously close to the scalding waters of one of the park’s famous hot springs, prompting widespread criticism online of the visitors’ behaviour as reckless. The footage has reignited concerns about tourist safety at the park, where geothermal features can reach extremely high temperatures and…
-
Gruesome images in D4vd hearing are ‘worst nightmare’ for teen girl’s family
A preliminary hearing began in the murder case against singer David Anthony Burke, known as D4vd, during which prosecutors showed graphic crime scene photographs of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s dismembered body in front of her parents. The hearing, held in Los Angeles, was the first public presentation of evidence previously only detailed in court filings,…
-
House passes spending bill to head off government shutdown before midterms
The US House of Representatives passed a stopgap spending bill on Tuesday to keep the government funded until 4 December, as Republican leaders sought to remove funding fights from the political agenda ahead of November’s midterm elections. The move comes ahead of a 30 September deadline, when current spending authority expires, and follows repeated shutdowns…
-
The 2017 role that gave Ewan McGregor an existential crisis: “Fuck! What if I can’t do it?”
Ewan McGregor said reprising Mark Renton in 2017’s T2 Trainspotting gave him an existential crisis because he feared he was no longer sufficiently Scottish to portray the character convincingly. The concern mattered because Renton is one of McGregor’s best-known roles, and the sequel reunited him with the world and collaborators of the acclaimed 1996 film.…