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Speaker Johnson says House will pass Trump’s voter ID bill through arduous process after GOP revolt
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he plans to move quickly to advance President Donald Trump’s signature voter ID legislation through the arduous budget reconciliation process once the House returns to Washington, downplaying the heightened tensions within the GOP after he sent lawmakers home early for the holidays after a few Republicans brought the floor to a halt.
It’s not clear how California’s education power shift will impact schools this year
After California lawmakers and the governor changed state law so the Department of Education is overseen by the governor instead of the state superintendent, it’s unclear how the move will impact the upcoming school year. "What we hope to see is a streamlining of the administration of public education in California," Assembly Education Chairwoman Assemblymember Darshana Patel, D-San Diego, said in an interview on California Politics 360.Patel helped carry the change through legislation at the state Capitol.
Top California public schools chief says he was left out of power shift decision
California’s top public schools official says he was left out of the negotiations and decision-making when the governor and state lawmakers approved a major education overhaul and stripped the Department of Education from his office.
California Politics 360 full episode | Major leadership shift for CA Education Dept.
As lawmakers and the governor passed the state’s spending plan for the year, they also approved a major change in who oversees the California Department of Education.
Prediction market betting would be authorized in NC’s new budget. What it means for sports betting
Tucked into the state budget is a proposal that could have massive implications for how prediction markets operate in North Carolina. Some lawmakers say it’ll create a new revenue stream. Others worry it’ll cost the state millions.
Data center controversies in the spotlight during Missouri primaries
Missouri residents and lawmakers are pushing for more transparency as data center projects expand across the state.
JD Vance says British politics 'broken' ahead of expected UK Prime Minister transition
Lawmaker Andy Burnham is widely expected to succeed Starmer after emerging as the sole candidate to replace the outgoing leader.
$28.5M modernization project planned at San Juan High School
Demolition and construction are taking place this summer at San Juan High School as part of a science wing and campus-wide modernization project, San Juan Unified School District officials say...
‘Moral and political blindness’: EU lawmaker savages FIFA over Russia - Live Updates
Lithuanian MEP Petras Auštrevičius explained why FIFA’s decision to allow Russia to play in the upcoming U-15 World Cup is bad news.
Oura Ring 5 In-Depth Review: Smaller yes, but still worth it?
The Oura Ring 5 In-Depth Review, covering accuracy, new features, size comparisons, and plenty more. I dive into whether or not it's worth it.
‘Check Your Political Identities at the Door’: Lawmakers Come to UVA Darden to Practice Leadership
A select group of state legislators will gather at UVA Darden for a nonpartisan leadership program focused on productive disagreement, values-based decision-making and leading across political differences.
NATO tensions push Europe to chart a path past Washington
Ahead of a major NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey next week, strain on the alliance is pushing European lawmakers toward a new posture—one that is less reliant on Washington.
Why you should wash new clothes before wearing; signs that you are aging well; effective leadership in health care; plus other stories with Vanderbilt Health sources
Jami Miller, MD, Professor of Clinical Dermatology, and David Gaston, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, are quoted in a Southern Living piece about the importance of washing new clothes before wearing them. Dyes, chemicals, mold and bacteria are all potential troublemakers lurking around your new duds. Parul Goyal, MBBS, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, was quoted in a Huff Post story outlining signs that you are aging well. Tae Kon Kim, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, was interviewed by Healio for a story headlined, “Effective leadership in health care ‘starts with listening.’” AAMC News reporter Patrick Boyle interviewed Wes Ely, MD, Professor of Medicine and Critical Care, for a story about ICU delirium. PharmaVoice reporter Kelly Bilodeau interviewed Romney Humphries, PhD, Vice Chair and Executive Medical Director, Clinical Services, for a story about the CDC’s new data that shows an alarming increase in the prevalence of a gene that can make “nightmare bacteria” significantly harder to treat. American Community Media interviewed William Schaffner, MD, Professor of Preventive Medicine, for a piece about Ebola that was reused by several media outlets around the U.S., including The Mississippi Link. Stacie Dusetzina, PhD, Professor of Health Policy, was quoted by The Independent in a story about how Medicare will soon cover weight-loss drugs. Courtney Schadt, MD, Associate Professor of Dermatology, was interviewed by Tennessean reporter Beth Warren, about tanning safety and tanning fads circulating social media. WKRN News 2 interviewed Amanda Peltier, MD, Professor of Neurology, about the correlation between head trauma and ALS following the diagnosis of former Titans running back Chris Johnson.
Mitch McConnell’s Goons Cornered on Truth About His Health
After a CPR bombshell, the Republican lawmaker’s team has gone silent.
Two different parties, two strikingly similar immigrant stories. Lawmakers from both parties share what being American means
SEE IT: Pennsylvania Democrats boot GOP lawmaker from House floor over patriotic America 250 suit
Republican lawmaker Eric Davanzo says he was ejected from the Pennsylvania State House floor for wearing a patriotic suit celebrating America 250.
NJ lawmakers approve extra mental health support for schools
New Jersey lawmakers approved a plan to expand school-based mental health services over the coming years, a priority for Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who is expected to sign the bill.
Donors were misled by Trump-backed Freedom 250, House Democrats allege
The lawmakers’ report alleges that Trump allies worked to divert funds away from America250, a bipartisan effort to mark the nation’s semiquincentennial.
NC lawmakers consider changes to vehicle child seat laws
A child passenger restraint systems bill that would put more emphasis on a child’s height is moving slowly through state Senate committees.
Too Big? Jones Explains Poatan’s ‘Perfect Storm’
Jon Jones has a bit of experience with moving up to Heavyweight. “Bones” ruled the 205-pound roost for many, many years before finally making the leap in 2023. He teased a Heavyweight jump for much of that span, but Jones has always been a careful decision-maker in regards to his MMA career and (nearly) undefeated […]
Jessica Tarlov: Even if this is just politics, do better
‘The Five’ co-hosts discuss lawmakers clashing during a sanctuary city hearing.
A GOP lawmaker who owns a fireworks business urged followers to defy Utah Gov. Cox’s pyro restrictions
As Utah Gov. Spencer Cox orders statewide firework restrictions to prevent new wildfires, a GOP lawmaker — who co-owns a firework business — encouraged Utahns to go ahead with pyrotechnic celebrations anyway.
NC lawmakers send bills targeting gangs, mental health evaluations to Stein
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed two bills targeting criminal suspects: one would change where they are evaluated for mental illness while the other would give prosecutors stronger tools to crack down on gang activity.
The moment Anthropic convinced me it’s serious about science
AI Prognosis: The release of Claude Science suggests big model makers are getting serious about real science, and not just flashy problems.
Lawmakers takes another crack at easing privatization of youth sports
House bipartisan committee addresses private equity’s "vertical integration" that has youth sports costs soaring. What might come out of the hearing?
Sony will cease production of discs for new PlayStation games in 2028
New games sold for PlayStation consoles will only be available digitally and won’t be sold on discs effective January 2028, Sony has announced. The move applies to all PlayStation games released from that point on, including those made by Sony and those released by third parties. The PlayStation group calls the change “a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,” according to a PlayStation blog post reviewed by Game File in advance of its publication. As movies, TV and music have shifted from physical media to an age of downloads and streaming, Sony’s move could speed the demise of physical media in a gaming. The industry has offered consumers games via cartridges, cassettes, floppy discs, CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays across a 50-year stretch. Sony has been reporting to investors in recent years that PlayStation games have been increasingly purchased as downloads, not as discs. The most recent figures show nearly four in five purchases of full games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 were purchased digitally in the past year. Stats like that may cause today’s news to carry an air of the inevitable. But Sony’s declaration for 2028 is still likely to produce a shock, as the biggest gaming platform on the planet that uses game discs leaves them behind. Discs going away, but the fate of game boxes is unknown Sony is committing to still selling games in physical retailers even after they drop discs in 2028. Just how those games will be sold—in boxes with codes inside, as cards marked with digital redemption codes—is unclear. Digital games will also continue to be sold in the online PlayStation Store. New games released for PlayStation consoles prior to January 2028 will be unaffected by the policy change, Sony says. That means the PS5 games of 2027, be they a new Madden, a new God of War, a new Call of Duty, a new Sly Cooper (one can dream?), would still potentially be offered on disc. PlayStation 6 implications Sony’s timeline for a transition to a no-disc era will also spin up more speculation about the timing and configuration of Sony’s next-generation console, the probable PlayStation 6. “This pretty much guarantees that PS6 won’t arrive until 2028 at the earliest,” Piers Harding-Rolls, senior games research analyst at Ampere Analysis tells Game File. Harding-Rolls also concludes from today’s news that “the base version of a PS6 will not include a physical media drive,” as Sony looks to keep costs down on the device. Sony itself is saying nothing about the PS6 today: not its timing, nor how it might or might not support internal or external disc drives in order to run disc-based PS4 and PS5 games, should the console be backwards compatible. The many signs this was coming Industry support for games being released on physical media has been waning. As has consumer interest in them. PC games effectively went all-digital years ago, thanks to the popularity of playing games through Steam and other digital storefronts. The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that kept much of the global population home helped shift shopping patterns toward downloads. Sony’s own data shows PlayStation game downloads being an uncommon consumer choice a decade ago and now becoming the norm. On consoles, physical media has been in such decline that Sony and Microsoft both launched their current gen Xbox Series and PS5 consoles in 2020 with cheaper versions that lacked disc drives. In early 2024, Phil Spencer, then head of Xbox, told me that ““[w]e ship games physically and digitally, and we’re really just following what the customers are doing.” He added that the game industry had become an outlier in still supporting disc-based entertainment, even as movies and TV have bailed on discs in favor of downloads and steaming: “Gaming consoles themselves have kind of become the last consumer electronic device that has a drive. And this is a real issue, just in terms of the number of manufacturers that are actually building drives and the cost associated with those. And when you think about cogs that we’re going to go put in a console—and as you have fewer suppliers and fewer buyers—the cost of the drive does have an impact.” Last year, the Nintendo’s Switch 2, which uses cartridges rather than discs, introduced the concept of game-key cards, which are physical media that contain no game, just a prompt for a download. Even disc-based games aren’t what they once were, now frequently containing just stubs of games rather than the whole thing. The website Does It Play has tested over 3000 games and found that, for example, that the disc version of this year’s hit 007: First Light, only contained the game’s first mission, with the rest needing to be downloaded. Beyond all that, last week brought the news that Grand Theft Auto VI, likely the biggest game launch this decade, will debut for PS5 and Xbox Series without a disc-based version. Today’s big news comes to you for free. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and ensure more of my work is possible, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Discs helped define PlayStation However the trends in entertainment may be going, it is still remarkable to see PlayStation ditch discs given their importance in PlayStation history: In the late 1990s, the first PlayStation’s support for games on relatively cheap CD-ROMs instead of traditional game cartridges allowed the upstart console to outmaneuver cartridge-based systems from Nintendo and Sega, as it drove down game prices down in the process. (The cheaper disc format even prompted Final Fantasy VII maker Square to taunt Nintendo in a magazine ad, saying that if the game was “available on cartridge, it’d retail for around $1200.”) PlayStation devices often doubled as machines for watching movies and TV on the latest disc-based formats. In the late 2000s, for example, Sony’s pricy PS3 gained traction as a go-to device for playing then-novel Blu-Ray discs. In 2013, Sony effectively roasted the digital game-sharing restrictions proposed by rival Microsoft for its upcoming Xbox One console by showing how games could be shared for the then-upcoming PS4. In a 21-second clip that has over 20 million views on YouTube, one PlayStation executive simply handed a game box—presumably with disc inside—to another, who said “thanks.” Sony’s possible motivations The PlayStation announcement today cites “consumer preferences” and a shift away from discs among “the broader entertainment industry,” but does not delve into the decision-making process that brought Sony to this point. Sony is not discussing the economics of this move (I asked!), but there are a number of potential factors: Abandoning discs will spare Sony the cost of manufacturing and shipping them, which analysts and industry veterans I spoke to said could account for $1 or so of a game’s retail price. For first-party games, that’s direct savings for Sony, though the amount is limited by the winnowing percentage of people who were even buying the disc-based versions. For third-party games, Sony could pass the savings on to partners or just retain the better profit margin for themselves. As the 2024 comments from Phil Spencer alluded to, leaving discs behind could mean leaving disc-drives behind, allowing Sony to produce consoles more cheaply. Switching to digital-only for games could diminish the risks of copies of new games leaking. It would also seemingly make second-hand sales of used games impossible, pushing more people to buy their own copies of games. These economic benefits for Sony could be boons for the games industry overall, Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls tells Game File. Among other things, it could free publishers and retailers from having to worry about securing an inventory of game discs when trying to sell games, he noted. “If there is a way to streamline the business of games retail, I generally think it’s a good thing for the industry as it removes unnecessary costs,” Harding-Rolls said. “This will help offset pressure on margins from other directions – development and staffing costs for example.” Should the industry shift from game boxes that contain discs to smaller, cheaper game cards, Harding-Rolls said, that reduces pressure on publishers and retailers. “The advantage of everything going digital for the industry is that sales can be tracked much more easily and there is less commercial risk for publishers wanting to continue selling via retail,” he said. The shift to no discs will also likely impact game development timelines, as developers will no longer face the same urgency to have a build ready to submit to PlayStation for the production of a disc, as industry experts noted around GTA VI’s no-disc news last week. Instead, projects may gain weeks of development time, in the event delivery deadlines for platform approval move closer to release date. Preservationists’ likely worries While millions of gamers have shifted to digital, there are still people who associate game discs—and only game discs—with actual ownership of PlayStation games. That portion of the gaming community spoke up last week about wanting to buy a version of GTA VI that they could hold in their hands, could lend to a friend and could potentially pop into a well-preserved PS5 console three decades from now and still see it run. Such gamers didn’t want to worry that they’d merely purchased a digital copy that could lose access to the game if, say, the company behind the game someday turns of the servers that transmit downloadable copies. Digital copies of games are inherently less long-lasting, because consumers aren’t actually buying a game (on a disc), just buying access to the game. The fine print in online gaming shops notes this, as does a recent law that went on the books in California in 2025. That lasw requires game publishers doing business in the state to refrain from words like “sell” when offering digital copies of games, unless they explicitly tell consumers that what’s being sold isn’t the game itself but a potentially revocable license to access it. A Sony spokesperson noted to Game File that “[w]ith all digital content, including games, movies, and music, players are purchasing a personal license for non-commercial use.” Regarding the fears of PlayStation games being lost to time in an all-digital era, the rep also noted that Sony remains “committed to delivering experiences from past generations to the new platforms our players are using.” They noted that PlayStation has used emulation and remasters to keep offering its classic games to modern gamers. It’s true that many consumers have become accustomed to not having physical copies of new music albums or movies, but the relative precariousness of digital copies of games is in fact being highlighted today by…. Sony’s other big announcement: the upcoming closure of the PS3 and PS Vita online stores Sony said today that it will be closing the online marketplaces for its PlayStation 3 console and PS Vita handheld in most countries in July 2027 (sooner elsewhere: August 2026 for the PS3 store Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua; late 2026 for PS3 in other Latin American countries and the Middle East). “We know this news may be disappointing to PS3 and PS Vita players who hold a special place in their hearts for this generation of gaming,” Sony said in its announcement, saying the move “was not an easy decision for us to make.” Sony said that PS3 and Vita marketplaces “are no longer able” to support modern commerce systems, prompting a “need” to close the shops and focus on more modern PlayStation platform stores. The news may spark some deja vu. Sony announced back in March 2021 that it planned to take the PS3, Vita and PlayStation Portable marketplaces offline that summer. The move would have caused some 2,000 digital-only games to become unavailable for new purchasers, according to a VGC analysis at the time. Fans complained loudly. By April 2021, Sony walked back the PS3 and Vita shop closures, with then PlayStation boss Jim Ryan saying “it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here.” This time around, Sony is giving a longer notice period in most regions. The closure of those stores is still likely to cut off access to new purchases of digital-only PS3 and Vita games. The current PlayStation 5 marketplace sells PS5 and PS4 games, as well as a selection of PS1 and PS2 games. It does not sell PS3 games, because games for that platform can’t run on the system (some are offered via a PlayStation Plus streaming option). Vita games also aren’t sold via PS5. Sony says digitally purchased PS3 and Vita games will be downloadable after the stores’ shutdowns “for the foreseeable future.” Sony’s move contrasts with Microsoft’s Xbox platform, which continues to sell and support games from all four Xbox console generations. But it puts it in line with Nintendo, which disabled purchases in the marketplace for its Wii console (a contemporary of the PS3) in 2019. Nintendo discontinued purchases in the online shop for its 3DS portable (a contemporary of the Vita) in 2023. The big questions about Sony’s 2028 post-disc era Will Microsoft follow suit, ending support for new disc-based games on Xbox platforms and therefore all game consoles, too? Whether Microsoft does or not, will third-parties that can no longer release games on discs for PlayStation, simply ditch the disc options across the board? Given the GTA VI no-disc experiment launching this November, will more game publishers decide to forgo disc-based offerings even in 2027? How will no-disc PS5/6 games be packaged and sold in brick-and-mortar retail stores? What becomes of game sharing in an all-digital era? Will Sony modify its current set-up, which currently allows some sharing of digital games across a pair of consoles, to allow more casual lending? (See for example, Nintendo’s year-old system of letting players lend a digital game to another player in a “family group” for up to 14 days.) Will there be a version of a PS6 with a disc drive? Or will a drive be offered as an add-on? And how will gamers who want to retain access to PS4/PS5 disc-based games react to whichever configurations Sony chooses to offer? What will the final disc-based PlayStation game be?
Lawmakers must put women’s health, dignity and lives ahead of politics
Each year since the fall of Roe, the Louisiana Legislature has advanced increasingly aggressive versions of the state's abortion ban, often under the guise of targeting bad actors.
Lawmakers must put women’s health, dignity and lives ahead of politics
Each year since the fall of Roe, the Louisiana Legislature has advanced increasingly aggressive versions of the state's abortion ban, often under the guise of targeting bad actors.
Corona maker Constellation Brands tops forecasts as beer business drives earnings growth
Strong beer performance lifts quarterly resultsConstellation Brands Inc Class A (NYSE:STZ) reported first-quarter results ahead of Wall Street expectations, supported by continued strength in its beer division. Adjusted earnings came in at $3.
MD lawmaker's historic journey unfolds in book that's part autobiography, part political memoir
Maryland lawmaker, Lily Qi, writes about her journey from China to the US and into state politics in a book that's part autobiography, part political memoir
Rockstar accused of ignoring pay inequity and mandating crunch
Multiple current Rockstar employees and union members based in the UK claim the Grand Theft Auto maker is failing its workforce.
WATCH: Angel mom turns tables on sanctuary politicians with basic question about their priorities
Jessica Gorman told lawmakers her daughter Sheridan “was not a talking point" as she accused sanctuary city leaders of failing to protect American citizens.
Anthropic unveils drug discovery plans alongside Claude Science, an AI tool for drugmakers
At an event on Tuesday, the AI heavyweight said it plans to target "neglected" diseases.
House backs Massie's push to release taxpayer-funded sexual harassment settlement records
Rep. Thomas Massie forced a vote on a resolution requiring public disclosure of taxpayer-funded sexual harassment settlements involving House lawmakers.
Lawmakers Criticize Private Equity’s Influence in Youth Sports
A House hearing Tuesday probed private equity’s role in the rising cost of youth sports.
Anthropic launches AI drug discovery program, joining tech giants in betting on healthcare
Anthropic will start an internal drug discovery program, part of a new push to sell artificial intelligence tools to drugmakers.
Anthropic launches AI drug discovery program, joining tech giants in betting on healthcare
Anthropic will start an internal drug discovery program, part of a new push to sell artificial intelligence tools to drugmakers.
Trans Sports Ruling Puts Pressure on States Without Bans
Almost half of states do not prohibit trans girls and women from competing. The Supreme Court ruling doesn’t force them to, but lawmakers and voters could change that.
Politics: High Cost Of Healthcare And The Political Fallout
Americans are grappling with a rising cost in healthcare. For the first time in five years, fewer than half of Americans can consistently afford healthcare. That’s according to the latest data from Gallup. The cost of healthcare in the US remains higher than any other large, wealthy country. According to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services, five million fewer people are enrolled in marketplace plans for 2026, compared to last year. That’s as average premium costs rose about 58%.With health care costs increasingly becoming a stress for Americans, voters are now making the issue a top priority at the ballot box. And it’s an issue that crosses party and geographic lines. According to new polling from The Century Foundation, 71% of Democrats, 66% of Republicans and 75% of rural voters agree that reigning in hospital costs should be a top priority for lawmakers. While new polling from Ipsos and Axios suggests that a majority of Americans say they’re more likely to vote for candidates in November who will lower their health costs.How will the issue of healthcare shape the midterms? And how are Americans grappling with the cost of their health?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
Politics: High Cost Of Healthcare And The Political Fallout
Americans are grappling with a rising cost in healthcare. For the first time in five years, fewer than half of Americans can consistently afford healthcare. That’s according to the latest data from Gallup. The cost of healthcare in the US remains higher than any other large, wealthy country. According to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services, five million fewer people are enrolled in marketplace plans for 2026, compared to last year. That’s as average premium costs rose about 58%.With health care costs increasingly becoming a stress for Americans, voters are now making the issue a top priority at the ballot box. And it’s an issue that crosses party and geographic lines. According to new polling from The Century Foundation, 71% of Democrats, 66% of Republicans and 75% of rural voters agree that reigning in hospital costs should be a top priority for lawmakers. While new polling from Ipsos and Axios suggests that a majority of Americans say they’re more likely to vote for candidates in November who will lower their health costs.How will the issue of healthcare shape the midterms? And how are Americans grappling with the cost of their health?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
Bailey campaign embraces artificial intelligence in new era of politics
State lawmakers consider requiring campaigns to disclose AI-generated ads
Xbox Pulls Out of ‘Project Fantasy’ Video Game From IO Interactive
The ‘007: First Light’ makers had teamed up with Xbox for the new video game
Will NC lawmakers oppose Trump’s funding ask without Helene money?
A number of North Carolina Republicans say they will oppose the White House's funding request because it doesn't include money for Helene recovery.
My MAHA Monday at the Great American State Fair | WSJ Politics Newsletter for June 30
Plus, the Supreme Court tells President Trump he can’t fire Lisa Cook, and why Jamie Dimon wants to finance missile makers
Cowboys news: Depth at WR could be the difference maker
All the Cowboys news that’s fit to print.
Wauwatosa business calls for lawmakers to save hemp
In November, most hemp in Wisconsin will be illegal. Wisconsin's estimated $700 million-dollar industry will shut down.
Georgia lawmakers give businesses a boost in court battles
A year after overhauling court rules to help companies avoid massive jury verdicts, Georgia legislators have made legal battles easier, shorter and cheaper for businesses.
Florida lawmakers help bring KIDS Act across House finish line
The online safety package boosts privacy protections for minors and still allows states to impose further restrictions.
'Clarkson's Farm' Producer Expectation Hires Katrina Grant
'Clarkson's Farm' maker Expectation has hired Katina Grant as Director of Development, Entertainment.
Opinion | Protect the workers who protect our health
Massachusetts lawmakers should pass bipartisan workplace violence reforms before the legislative session ends.
ERISA’s Important but Limited Role in Health Care Cost Containment
Executive Summary Rising health care costs have brought renewed attention to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) as policymakers and advocates look for new ways to address increasingly expensive employer-sponsored coverage. Leveraging requirements under ERISA appears attractive because other cost-containment efforts have had limited success, making the statute seem like a potential […]
Dbrand Forced To Pull Steam Machine Companion Cube
Mere after the reveal of the Valve Steam Machine, accessory maker Dbrand announced that it was releasing the "Companion Cube," a Steam Machine accessory that was modelled after the Portal weighted companion cube storage box. Following massive interest in the Companion Cube in the week since its anno...
Star-maker Clive Davis honored at funeral that draws Bruce Springsteen, Dionne Warwick and others
Kenny G played a mournful sax solo to kick off the funeral for music legend Clive Davis. Pop music royalty, including Bruce Springsteen, Barry Manilow, Stevie Wonder and Dionne Warwick,
America @ 250: Alex Wysocki asks, ‘Are short-term political gains worth giving up the big picture?’
Alex Wysocki is a television producer, filmmaker, husband and father of three. He and his wife Abigail moved to Champaign during the COVID-19 pandemic and are raising their family here.
Star-maker Clive Davis to be honored at funeral. Here's how to watch
Clive Davis, the legendary record executive, will be honored at his funeral
2027 NFL Draft Summer Report: Drew Mesetmaker, QB, Oklahoma State
Is Drew Mesetmaker the wild card in the 2027 NFL Draft? Read his summer scouting report to learn more.
Govee's smart nugget ice maker makes every iced drink feel like a luxury
For some people, the ice in a beverage is almost as important as the drink itself. That's the audience Govee had in mind when designing its latest ice
Former McCarthy aide details Trump’s expletive-laden attacks on lawmakers and the wild fight to put McCarthy in office
Mel Brooks turns 100: His 5 essential movies
As the legendary comedian and filmmaker marks his centennial, here's how to watch his best movies.
Democrats wrestle with race, populism and ideology in clashes with lawmakers of color
The Democratic Party is confronting its long-standing dilemmas over identity and ideology as it wrestles with populist challengers in communities of color.
Democrats Wrestle With Race, Populism and Ideology in Clashes With Lawmakers of Color
WASHINGTON (AP) — After democratic socialist Claire Valdez defeated an establishment-backed candidate in New York's congressional primary last week, her elated supporters quickly turned their attention to a new target. “You're next!” they chanted when an image of House Democratic leader Hakeem ...
Patients can save thousands with drug coupons, but only if insurers honor them
Patients who rely on co-pay assistance from drugmakers are typically heavy users of health care for whom delays in treatment or worsening conditions can lead to higher costs, according to patient advocates.
Andy Burnham distanced himself from UK Prime Minister Starmer, but may be stuck with his policies
Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester who was sworn into Parliament hours after Starmer announced his resignation on Monday, will be constrained by the platform the center-left Labour Party was elected on that decisively ended 14 years of Conservative rule in 2024.
If a Lyme disease vaccine gets approved, how would it go over? We asked hunters
Drugmakers are working on a potential new shot to prevent the tick-borne illness. How might it fare in the era of vaccine skepticism?
Key Colts Playmaker Set to Boost Value in Free Agency?
Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs' value could increase greatly between now and next offseason.
California health insurance tax hike: Will your premiums increase?
A balance act: To help fund the safety net, lawmakers have voted through a health tax extension that could increase premium costs for Californians with private insurance.
Politics Unplugged Podcast: Headlines with Stacy Pearson and Marcus Dell’Artino
The Politics Unplugged panel breaks down a possible Arizona special session tied to ESA vouchers, union protections and ballot measures. The discussion centers on whether lawmakers could unwind late-night legislation that angered teachers, police and firefighters. They also examine Gov. Katie Hobbs’ political leverage and why both parties may have reasons to cut a deal. Later, the podcast turns to Trump tax cuts, Democratic Socialists, the White House reflecting pool controversy and the World Cup.
Lawmakers say White House demolition debris at East Potomac Park poses health risk
Democratic lawmakers are urging the Trump administration to remove demolition debris from East Potomac Park Golf Course, citing health concerns, while the administration says the site poses no public health risk.
Congress Revives SAFE Banking Bill For Cannabis Businesses
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has renewed the push to let banks serve state-legal cannabis businesses without fear of federal penalties.
An Unexpected Vocation: Jaibir Nihal Singh’s Journey from Film Student to Business Executive
Though trained as a filmmaker at Pepperdine University’s Seaver College, Jaibir Nihal Singh found a way to leverage his creative skills into a career as a successful innovator. Now, as a member of Forbes 30 under 30, Singh credits his education as the launchpad for his vocation, even if he never saw it coming.
Evoke Entertainment Signs Tribeca-Honored Filmmaker Elisee Junior St. Preux
EXCLUSIVE: Evoke Entertainment has signed Haitian American filmmaker Elisee Junior St. Preux, whose debut feature The Tropic Sun and His Eyes world premiered in Tribeca’s Viewpoints section and earned...
Elisee Junior St. Preux Signs With Evoke Entertainment (EXCLUSIVE)
Filmmaker Elisee Junior St. Preux has inked with Evoke Entertainment for management, Deadline can report exclusively.
Charles to join Circle Cinema Walk of Fame
Cherokee filmmaker Jeremy Charles will soon have his name set in concrete outside a storied movie theater with three other Oklahomans honored by the Circle Cinema for work in film
Cannes Lions Entertainment Awards: Adidas Takes Home Grand Prix for Oasis ‘Original Forever’ Collaboration
The 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity recognized the best creative campaigns across entertainment, design and craft categories. Sports apparel and footwear maker Adidas’ tie-up wi...
Cannes Lions Entertainment Awards: Adidas' Oasis Collab Wins Grand Prix
The 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity winners across entertainment, design and craft categories were announced. Sports apparel and footwear maker Adidas' tie-up with English band Oasis winning the top prize in the Entertainment Lions category.
Volkswagen reportedly planning to axe 100,000 jobs
Volkswagen, one of the world’s largest automakers, is reportedly planning to axe as many as 100,000 jobs over the next few years, representing 15% of its global workforce.
Bungie layoffs revealed to have affected nearly 300 jobs at Destiny 2 maker
Sony said this week it had cut nearly the entire Destiny 2 development team…
Happy birthday, 2000 Year Old Man. Mel Brooks is turning 100
The 2000 Year Old Man is turning 100. Mel Brooks on Sunday will celebrate his centennial birthday. The comedian and filmmaker has been awaiting the milestone. Earlier this year, Judd
SpaceX employees get rich off IPO while Blue Origin workers miss out
Three ex-employees of Jeff Bezos' rocket maker said Blue Origin's approach to equity left them with stock options that are essentially worthless.
WATCH: House Democratic leaders hold hearing on fair elections and voting rights
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic lawmakers held a hearing Thursday on defending fair elections and voting rights.
Business Council deliberations continue with four bill drafts
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Making Our Own Luck
We are cross-posting a piece that former NIH official Kris Willis wrote for Macroscience. Kris is now the President and Founder of the Woodley Park Institute, for which I’m a board member. Picking winners or hedging bets? Federal science agencies have long wrestled with the question of how to ensure their billions of dollars of grants and contracts result in maximum benefits for Americans. On the surface, it might seem that a goal-oriented, interventionist style of management would be the best policy: prioritize our most pressing problems and distribute funding accordingly.This top-down strategy creates a unique hazard, though: bad choices can send resources in the wrong direction, resulting in slow progress that impedes the delivery of tangible benefits to citizens. Moreover, if decision makers pursue an applied advance when the underlying scientific principles remain poorly understood, they risk costly failures and a loss of support for the research enterprise at large. Examples include Nixon’s 1971 War on Cancer, undertaken on the premise that a cure could be achieved in less than a decade, the drive to build an operational commercial fusion plant by the mid-1990s, and the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, which failed to produce the effective treatments and prevention strategies promised by 2025. The contrasting laissez-faire approach is to hedge your bets. If the path to an advance is impossible to predict, then the wisest choice might be to distribute funding to as widely as possible. The main risk of this strategy is that spreading funding thinly may limit the resources available to the most promising research, resulting in the same negative outcomes as the interventionist approach: limited support for the most promising topics, slow progress, and delayed returns. In reality, at science agencies like the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, program managers navigate between these two extremes, setting some funds aside to target high-priority areas and using the rest to cover the widest possible range of meritorious proposals. This middle path seems like the most rational way to proceed, but it still requires making choices. How much should be set aside for high priority topics? What should those topics be? How should we define merit? Expert opinion can provide a helpful guide, but leading experts can have remarkably different opinions about what matters and what should be prioritized. Moreover, experts and administrators alike can be risk averse, giving an edge to high-profile, well-established concepts. What’s really needed is a data-driven framework to help guide decision-making, one that doesn’t simply repackage prestige or incumbency. Recognizing breakthroughs years in advance Many breakthroughs fail to attract funding or recognition at the earliest stages of development. Katalin Karikó, for example, spent years struggling to win grants for work on mRNA that would eventually win her and Drew Weissman a Nobel Prize. Similar stories can be told about Jim Allison’s groundbreaking studies leading to the development of cancer immunotherapy, Stan Pruisner’s demonstration that prions can self-replicate without DNA, or Robin Warren and Barry Marshall’s proof that Helicobacter pylori, not stress, causes ulcers. Yet at some point, the scientific community recognizes and responds to transformative breakthroughs like these. How does that change happen? And what if science funders could identify the areas that are on the cusp of a breakthrough? Those questions led my collaborators and me to study how scientists responded to past breakthroughs. Based on patterns in that data, we developed a means of predicting future breakthroughs, using biomedicine as a proof of concept. It’s worth taking a moment to describe how our approach works. Briefly, our prediction process begins by grouping the 18 million or so peer-reviewed papers in PubMed, the authoritative database of biomedical research, into roughly 50,000 unique topics. A small subset of these topics are so widely acclaimed as breakthroughs that they have been recognized with a major prize like a Nobel or a Lasker Award. We theorized that studying the development of these outliers over time, especially before they gained acclaim, was the key to identifying future instances of them. After defining topics, we chose 21 representative breakthroughs and asked what they looked like before they won prestigious prizes. To answer that question, we re-ran our topic-mapping algorithm repeatedly, winding back the clock one year each time, stringing together the years to follow the progress of each field as it grew and advanced. We found that in each case, the years leading up to a discovery followed a pattern: a burst of papers on a new, rapidly evolving topic, many of which quickly became influential. These characteristics—the percent of papers that are new, the percentage of papers that are brought in from other topics, and the influence of each individual paper—can all be measured separately for any given topic. Together, they act as a predictive signal that is detectable an average of five years before a transformative discovery is made, and up to thirty years before the discovery receives a major prize. Scanning the current research landscape for topics that display this signal allows us to predict what work will likely produce a future breakthrough. Each year we analyzed includes four or five signals, a number that appears to have remained constant across a twenty year time frame. In their classic work on the sociology of science, Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar established that the desire to participate in a major discovery is an important motivator for scientists as they consider whether they should take up (or abandon) a research problem. Although further work is needed, the simplest explanation for our results is that this behavior is widespread enough to detect at scale. A foundational advance, or something like it, draws the attention of scientists and causes them to change the direction of their research. They vote with their feet, staking their own reputation and careers by publishing on and citing the new idea. That upswell of interest is the foundation of our breakthrough signal. What kind of research does our model identify as a breakthrough? After building a model based on the patterns in our 21 preselected breakthroughs, we tested it by identifying all early signals of discovery from 1994 through 1997. Of the 18 signals we found in that time period, 17 can be traced forward in time to a breakthrough. Examples include super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (see the image above), the directed evolution of proteins and enzymes (Chemistry Nobel, 2018), and sequencing the human genome (National Medal of Science, 2008). The discovery of the role of leptin signaling in obesity is a particularly interesting case study. Around 1950, scientists noticed the existence of a type of lab mouse that suffered from a unique inherited form of obesity. When given the freedom to choose their own diet, these mice ate more than normal and preferred food that was high in fat. Researchers had few clues as to why the animals overate; early experiments pointed to the existence of a soluble ob factor found circulating in the bloodstream that regulated appetite, but its identity was unknown. In 1994, Jeffrey Friedman and colleagues identified and sequenced the ob gene, noting that the protein it encoded appeared to fit the profile of a circulating factor. A year later, a trio of high-profile publications demonstrated that ob was a hormone that regulated body weight and fat deposition by regulating appetite. One of these was co-authored by Friedman, who christened it leptin from the ancient Greek word for thin. Using our model, the data from 1996 make it clear this advance would become a breakthrough. Scientists had flocked to study the biology of the new hormone, generating the flurry of new papers and citations required to produce a signal. One of these demonstrated that serum leptin concentrations reflected the amount of adipose tissue in the human body, providing clinical validation of the earlier mouse studies. Before the identification of leptin, scientists were unable to point to a specific molecule that controlled appetite and adiposity, so that it was impossible to rule out non-physiological causes of obesity; its characterization fundamentally changed our concept of weight gain. In 2010, Friedman and fellow pioneer Douglas Coleman were awarded a Lasker for the discovery. Our work also identifies breakthroughs in clinical practice and behavioral and social sciences, even though these areas are less likely to draw the attention of major prize committees. One example that falls into this category is the introduction of endovascular aneurysm repair, a minimally invasive surgical procedure for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm, a leading cause of death among Americans over the age of 65. Relative to the previous standard of care, it reduces in-hospital mortality by almost four-fold. In 2017, Timothy Chuter received the American College of Surgeons’ prestigious Jacobsen Innovation award for his multiple refinements to the technique. Another under-recognized breakthrough identified by our model is the development of standardized survey instruments to assess the quality of life for HIV+ patients. The antiretroviral cocktails introduced in the mid-1990s reduced AIDS mortality, but treatment came with serious side effects. The new evaluations showed that patients whose disease progressed had worse physical functioning than Americans with other chronic diseases, while those who were asymptomatic maintained a health-related quality of life on par with the overall US population. This evidence made it possible for patients and activists to argue that even in the absence of a total cure, and in spite of the side effects, alleviation of symptoms was a worthwhile priority for clinicians. My colleagues and I have failed to identify any significant recognition for the physicians and health policy experts who pioneered this advance, although in 2016, researchers called for the World Health Organization to set targets for good health-related quality of life as part of its framework to end the AIDS pandemic. From forecasting to funding How should science funders use our predictions? Any serious discussion of what we should do with this new capability needs to begin with an understanding of its limitations. We can’t (and shouldn’t) invest all of our resources in the small number of topics predicted to produce breakthroughs. Innovative new fields are born from existing ones; they rarely arise de novo. If funders don’t maintain a diverse portfolio, the breakthroughs of tomorrow will have no antecedents. Think of this as eating the seed corn, or killing the goose that lays the golden egg. There are also multiple goals of funding beyond basic scientific discovery, including translating discoveries into clinical practice, developing new technologies, supporting economic development, and training new scientists. The investments needed to accomplish these goals are likely different from those required to support emerging breakthroughs. Finally, we must be aware that we may not capture every instance of a breakthrough. The concept is fuzzy, and not every significant discovery is recognized with a major award. Further, breakthroughs are rare, meaning that our dataset is, by necessity, small. This makes formal estimates of accuracy challenging. Although our overall success rate appears to be high, any one signal may turn out to be a false positive. We found one apparent example: the development of the third generation COX-2 inhibitors, Vioxx and Celebrex, which were much celebrated in the early 2000s as effective but non-addictive pain relievers, meets all the algorithmic criteria of a breakthrough. Five years after it received FDA approval, researchers demonstrated that Vioxx was associated with serious cardiovascular complications, and the manufacturer voluntarily pulled the drug from the market. Celebrex remains available, although like other NSAIDs, it carries an FDA warning for increased cardiovascular risk. Decision makers who were overly focused on the breakthrough potential of this research might have wasted substantial resources nurturing an area that ultimately proved to be a failure—but so would those who relied on expert opinion at the time. That said, the potential benefits of funding the next mRNA vaccine or cancer immunotherapy years earlier than we might have are large. When we can’t assume the outcome of an action, it’s worth conducting an experiment. Can targeted support for areas that are poised to produce a breakthrough increase the return on scientific investment without cannibalizing future advances? With the necessary administrative infrastructure in place, conducting this experiment would be straightforward. First, identify all the breakthrough signals between 2018 and 2023, select half at random, and commit to a decade of investment. For biomedicine, a six year window should yield about 30 topics with the potential to produce a breakthrough. Providing strong support to half of these might be accomplished for $300 million a year. That’s roughly half of the recent annual budget of the NIH Common Fund or around 20% of the fiscal year 2025 budget for ARPA-H. After five years, then again at ten, compare to see which group — the one that was actively managed, or the control — produced more breakthroughs, and on what timescale. Although we used biomedicine as an example, the same experiment could just as well be run for physics, materials science, or any other discipline. Any attempt to undertake such an experiment should keep three points top of mind. First, we can predict the topic of future breakthroughs, but the people and vision for how to move the work forward are still important. In practice, this means success requires active program managers with the expertise to develop the science and the authority to do so, including by recruiting investigators. Second, we would be wise to learn from the failures of past attempts to fund transformative research. High among these are funding modestly repackaged work, confusing the genuinely novel with the merely unfamiliar, and relying too much on incumbent investigators. All of these risks can be mitigated by thoroughly and intelligently integrating high quality data into portfolio management. Finally, we need to have patience. Even with strong funding support, producing a breakthrough takes time. If supporting breakthroughs is the best way to nurture the birth of new fields, we also need to accurately describe and properly manage the other two stages, so that we invest wisely throughout the productive lifetime of ideas and divest once they reach the point of diminishing returns. We would benefit from more study of all of these phases, especially the transition from one to another. More research could answer questions like: When does a breakthrough become an established field? How do the availability of funding, the size and characteristics of the available workforce, and the accumulation of evidence that disagrees with prevailing models affect a field’s decline? Exactly how do old ideas give birth to new ones, and can we speed up the process? The more we understand about the dynamics of scientific progress, the better we can maximize the odds that our curiosity leads to results. I’d call that finding a way to make our own luck.
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