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Health Brief: Surprise billing gets a new House fight
Plus: A new path emerges for peptides
Physician Organizations Oppose Legislation That Gives Health Insurers Unilateral Control Over Out-of-Network Payments
The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and American College of Radiology (ACR) today expressed strong opposition to the Lower Premiums, Faster Payments Act, legislation introduced by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) that would eliminate the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process established under the No Surprises Act (NSA) and replace it with payment rates calculated by health insurance companies.
Commanders Release Talented 2026 Draft Pick in ‘Surprise’ Move
The Washington Commanders made a surprise move and released 2026 draft pick ahead of Week 5. The post Commanders Release Talented 2026 Draft Pick in ‘Surprise’ Move appeared first on HEAVY.
A Cult Indie Hit From 17 Years Ago Just Announced A Surprise Sequel
Amanita Design has announced Machinarium 2, a follow-up to the adorable 2009 robot adventure
Early NBA preseason surprises, standout rookie performances + KOC Show mailbag
Best Buy Announces Midnight Opening for Ocarina of Time Launch, Zelda Switch 2 Consoles Also Up for Grabs
Best Buy is opening select stores at midnight on Nov. 5 for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time launch day, featuring surprise restocks of the limited-edition Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2.
New Legislation Would Close Loopholes in No Surprises Act, Alleviate Pressure on Health Premiums
This solution is urgently needed for payers and for the public that rank health care costs as their top concern.
Trump surprised to hear about tropical storm threatening Gulf Coast
Analysis | The October Surprise isn’t what it used to be
The idea of one news story remaking an entire election in the final weeks of the campaign might be from a bygone era.
Premier League Gameweek 5 Review: Biggest Talking Points and Takeaways
Gameweek 5 of the English Premier League season delivered another weekend full of talking points, with several results catching the attention of fans across the country. There were big wins, surprise results and some disappointing performances as teams continued to find their rhythm early in the season. Arsenal suffered a heavy defeat away to Brighton […]
Asked & Answered with Texas Business Court Judge Andrea Bouressa: On Joining a New Court
In this edition of Asked & Answered, Texas Business Court Judge Andrea Bouressa discusses her favorite day on the bench and what has surprised her about serving. She also shares what she hopes will come next for the court as it continues to grow.
Raiders named 'most pleasant surprise' of early 2026 season
The Athletic gave out some early season superlatives and the Raiders made the list as the most pleasant surprise.
Sharing moments of exceptional care from nurse turned patient at Intermountain Health St. Vincent Regional Hospital
“Can I be your nurse today?” Those words came as a comforting surprise to Jen Paulson as she awaited one of the most uncertain days of her life. As a nurse for 22 years at Intermountain Health St. Vincent Regional Hospital, she knows the role well. That morning she was preparing for a double mastectomy surgery after an unexpected breast c...
“DWTS” contestants ‘gasped’ backstage when Ciara Miller and Brandon Armstrong were eliminated
Some of the remaining stars react to the surprise goodbye while speaking with EW.
Red Bulls visit clubs in the region
Karim Konate, Frans Krätzig & Co surprise youth teamsWe are always where football is lived and breathed - even over the international break! As part of our FC Red Bull Salzburg at Your Club series, o...
Anne Hathaway Surprises D23’s Entertainment Showcase By Giving An Update On Princess Diaries 3
Carson Daly returning for huge 'TRL' reunion special with surprises in store — and it’s not for MTV
Carson Daly returning for huge 'TRL' reunion special with surprises in store — and it’s not for MTV
How Thomas Tuchel 'surprised' Jordan Pickford after breaking England record
Jordan Pickford playing for England and Thomas Tuchel looking concentrated
Dani Carvajal set to remain in Madrid
Dani Carvajal is still a free agent and could soon make a surprise decision, according to the Spanish press. The right-back is expected to stay in the capital, although not at the club where he made ...
Austin Simmons Headlines Missouri's Biggest Offensive Threats to Texas A&M
Austin Simmons leads a Missouri offense that has emerged as one of the SEC's biggest early surprises, but Texas A&M will have to account for three other playmakers as well.
Keeping up with the Bolsonaros: Flávio’s surprise first-round election win heralds rise of a political dynasty
Four members of disgraced ex-president Jair Bolsonaro’s family have been elected to office, most notably his wife and son Flávio, who won the first round of voting to be Brazil’s new president
Why So Many Social Science Claims Are False
One of the most urgent questions facing society today is the potential impact of AI on education and labor markets. So it’s no surprise that two scientists attempted to provide
Carson Daly returning for huge “TRL” reunion special with surprises in store — and it’s not for MTV (exclusive)
EW has exclusively learned that Daly will return to reunite with major “TRL” personalities and music stars in the original Times Square studio.
Carson Daly returning for ‘TRL’ reunion special — but it’s not on MTV (exclusive)
Carson Daly will return for a ‘TRL’ reunion special recorded at the MTV Times Square studio where ‘Total Request Live’ used to air. Major surprises are in store for the Roku special.
Chargers' Omarion Hampton numbers may shock you after four weeks
These Chargers running back Omarion Hampton's stats may surprise you over the first four weeks of the season.
Pokémon GO Halloween 2026: Part One
Pokémon GO’s Halloween 2026 Part One event runs from October 27 at 10:00 a.m. to November 1 at 10:00 a.m. local time, bringing three new costume Pokémon: Pikachu wearing a hat and capelet, Zubat wearing a top hat, and Sinistea wearing a bow! Expect spooky wild encounters, costume raids, and trick-or-treat surprises that can reward […]
Mary McNamara: As David Ellison names his new empire Skydance, the message is clear: He owns Hollywood
LOS ANGELES — What a surprise. David Ellison has decided to name the Frankenstudio media company created by the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery simply Skydance. And
Two More Games Revealed For Xbox Game Pass In 2026, Including A Surprise Shadow Drop
It's coming home
Golden Knights hang on to continue dominance over Canucks
VANCOUVER—It should be no surprise that the Vegas Golden Knights have displayed dominance over some of their Pacific Division foes, due to how long they have remained at the top.
Dark Sheik Walked Out On GCW Over Drake Wuertz - Fightful | WWE News, AEW News, Pro Wrestling Backstage News
At GCW Homecoming in August, Drake Wuertz made a surprise appearance, helping Joseph Sawyer win the GCW Title.
How Americans’ Financial Health Is Faring In The “K-Shaped” Economy
Hey all, Jason here. Money20/20 is still two weeks away, but I’ve already started packing (not procrastinating for once!). My calendar is already filling up with various sessions I want to catch, meetings, and of course happy hours, dinners, and other side events. If you’ll be in Vegas and want to catch up, let me know by replying to this email, and we can try to find a time amidst the chaos of the Venetian. A big if not totally unexpected piece of news dropped on Friday: the Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade group that represents smaller U.S. banks, filed a lawsuit against the OCC and Comptroller Jonathan Gould, arguing that the regulator’s move to grant trust bank charters to firms seeking to use them to conduct substantial non-fiduciary activities exceeds the authorities granted to the OCC by Congress. I haven’t had time to fully digest the legal filing or speak to folks in my network about it, but you can expect to see coverage and analysis on it in next week’s newsletter. Subscribe or Support by Upgrading The NerdCon agenda just dropped. It’s stacked. Partner content: Nubank built an AI-first bank. Chime built its own banking core. Figure and Valon are rebuilding the mortgage stack. At NerdCon, you’ll hear from the people behind those bets: what they chose, what they learned, and what they’re still figuring out. The agenda is live, with leaders from Nubank, Chime, OpenAI, Remitly, Mercury, Figure, Valon and more. Follow the mainstage conversations, bring the problem your team is wrestling with to a hands-on workshop, or pull up a chair at a roundtable. Pick your quests. Meet us in San Diego, November 18–20. Fintech Business Weekly readers save 20% with code FBW20. Explore the Agenda Things To Know & Other Good Reads Federal Reserve Board finalizes changes to enhance the transparency and public accountability of its stress test and reduce volatility in its stress test-related capital requirements (Federal Reserve Board of Governors) FDIC Announces Conclusion of Independent Monitorship (FDIC) Modernizing Financial Regulation: Initial Observations from eSLR (Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman) The Data Version of Godzilla versus Kong: FRED Takes on AI (Fed Governor Christopher Waller) Financing the AI buildout (Brookings) Q3’26: Rules for Banks but Not for Crypto (Fintech Takes Banking) The Inevitability of Local Stablecoins (Lombard Notes) Delusions of AI Governance: The Human-in-the-Loop Comfort Blanket (Fintech Snark Tank) Stripe agrees to acquire Parafin to expand revenue opportunities for platforms and help small businesses grow (Stripe) Listen: Fighting Fraud in the Age of AI, with SEON’s Tamas Kadar (Fintech Business Weekly) How Americans’ Financial Health Is Faring In The “K-Shaped” Economy If there is one overarching theme across the economy and politics in the U.S. at the moment, it’s “affordability.” The term is vague enough to encompass a panoply of factors shaping Americans’ day-to-day lives: rising costs for the hallmarks of being “middle class,” including healthcare, housing, childcare, and education, inflation and rising interest rates, and a job market with the specter of AI hovering over it. At the same time, policy shifts under the Trump administration have resulted in reduced subsidies to those who get health insurance under the Affordable Care Act and new restrictions on qualifying for Medicaid and SNAP, the impacts of which have yet to be fully felt. These factors are contributing to declining consumer confidence and general dissatisfaction with the economy, despite continuing GDP growth and stock market records. This divergence is encapsulated in the idea of the “K-shaped” economy, in which a small proportion of Americans have seen their wealth balloon, while the majority of American households struggle to preserve the lifestyle they have. Perhaps the greatest determinant of which branch of the “K” a household is on is whether their wealth and income are primarily derived from employment vs. from assets. Nearly two decades of low interest rates and, more recently, elevated rates of inflation have benefited asset owners, while those whose income is primarily or solely derived from labor have largely seen real purchasing power stagnate or decline. This is reflected in recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing that labor share of U.S. GDP — the fraction of economic output that accrues to workers as compensation in exchange for their labor — dropped to just 52.8% in Q2 2026, the lowest since the BLS began keeping records. In 1947, approximately 2/3rds of economic output accrued to workers; even as recently as 2001, labor’s share of GDP was 64.1%. Against this backdrop, we’ve seen the rise of more credit and credit-like products: cash advance apps, “no-fee” overdraft, earned wage access, and buy now pay later, which are often used as small-dollar short-term borrowing mechanisms to meet immediate consumption needs or pay other bills (eg utilities, cell phone, other debt payments). With the markers of a middle class existence and, increasingly, basic financial stability seemingly out of reach for many, it should be no surprise there’s been an increase in “financial nihilism,” something industry peers like Alex Johnson and Frank Rotman have discussed and analyzed the roots of. The explosion of gambling and gambling-adjacent products and services — often marketed under the guise of being an “investment” — is inextricably intertwined with the rise of financial nihilism. Crypto, sports betting, and, more recently, prediction markets offer an escape or even hope of sorts, like a contemporary, digital version of a scratch-off lottery ticket, while leaving the overwhelming number of people who use such products worse off. Share of Households That Are Financially “Vulnerable” Ticks Up The Financial Health Network’s 2026 Financial Health Pulse® report adds context on how American households are faring. (I linked to this report in last week’s newsletter, but wanted to take time to further unpack the data in the report this week.) The Financial Health Network publishes the report annually, providing insight into how Americans’ financial circumstances are changing over time. The 2026 report is derived from a survey fielded in April and May 2026. The report leverages survey responses to assess indicators of financial health across spending, saving, borrowing, and planning/protecting and to determine a zero to 100 “FinHealth” score. Those with scores between 0 and 39 are considered “Financially Vulnerable,” consumers with scores ranging between 40 and 79 are defined as “Financially Coping,” and those with scores of 80 to 100 are “Financially Healthy.” The report found that moderate improvements in 2025 were reversed, with the share of respondents considered financially “vulnerable” rebounding to 17%. The longitudinal data reflect the impact of pandemic-era programs, like expanded unemployment, cash stimulus payments, and pauses of federal student loan payments. The positive impacts of those programs, as reflected in the Financial Health Pulse reports, had largely disappeared by 2023. While pandemic-era inflation — to be fair, in part caused by the various support and stimulus measures — had come down from as high as 9% in 2022, it has rebounded since the start of Trump’s second term, with tariffs and energy market disruptions owing to the war in Iran pushing prices back up. Specific indicators in the survey that deteriorated from 2025 to 2026 include the share of respondents spending less than their income over the past 12 months, the share paying all bills on time over the past 12 months, the share that have a manageable amount or no debt, the share that are “moderately” or “very” confident their insurance is adequate to cover them in an emergency, and the share that “somewhat” or “strongly” agree that their household plans ahead financially. Unsurprisingly, lower- and moderate-income households are more likely to struggle to pay their bills on time and have any funds leftover to save. The share of low-income households whose income exceeded their spending dropped from 35% in 2025 to 31% in 2026, while the share of upper-income households whose income exceeded expenses remained unchanged at 63%. Households with student loans or revolving credit card debt reported having “a bit more” or “far more” debt than was manageable at rates far higher than those not carrying these types of debts. The share of those with student loan debt indicating their debt load was too high to manage increased from 50% in 2025 to 55% in 2026, while the share of those with revolving credit card debt saying the same ticked up from 51% in 2025 to 54% in 2026. Households that had student loans were markedly more likely to be financially “coping” or “vulnerable” vs. those without student loans. In 2026, 27% of households with student loans were considered financially vulnerable, a jump of 6% points vs. 2025. Households without student loans saw just a 1% point increase (not statistically significant) in those considered financially vulnerable. Households’ perception of the affordability of categories of goods and services paints a stark picture, with less than one-fourth considering higher education affordable, about a third deeming childcare affordable, and less than half viewing healthcare as affordable. Fintech Business Weekly is made possible by the generous support of paying subscribers — bringing you independent analysis of banking, fintech, and crypto without fear or favor. You can support my work by becoming a paying subscriber if you aren’t already. Paying subscribers enjoy: access to the entire archive of nearly six years of newsletters extended versions of the weekly newsletter, with additional content and analysis and (for founding member tier) quarterly personal 1:1 fintech Q&A / strategy calls with me, tapping into my unparalleled knowledge of the intersection of banking and fintech and experience working in the sector, including helping to launch Goldman Sachs’ retail bank Marcus Support Fintech Business Weekly You can also support Fintech Business Weekly by sponsoring a newsletter or podcast, putting you in front of 93,000+ of the most influential decision makers in banking, fintech, and crypto. Learn more about sponsor opportunities or request a media kit by dropping me an email. Democratic Senate Report Highlights How Iran Uses Tether to Evade U.S. Sanctions Iran uses stablecoins, specifically Tether, to evade sanctions, fund regional proxies, and to purchase military drones, a report released last week by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations says. The report was authored by committee ranking member Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and the minority staff. Crypto and stablecoin proponents will often push back on criticism that criminals make use of these assets by arguing that, on an absolute dollar basis, far more illicit funds flow through traditional banking systems and payment rails than via crypto and stablecoins. And while that is likely true, it elides the reality presented in news story after news story: whether state actors — Russia, Iran, North Korea — or criminal groups, those looking to engage in illicit transactions increasingly favor stablecoins and, specifically, Tether (USDT). The report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released last week adds context to how Iran uses Tether has a lynchpin in its shadow banking system. The report analyzed 846 wallets that have been sanctioned or targeted for seizure, finding that 84% of them transacted exclusively or primarily in Tether. The ability to create near limitless, anonymous wallets and to move funds effectively instantaneously and irreversibly have made crypto a favored financial mechanism for bad actors. Stablecoins solved key drawbacks of bitcoin, namely, the original cryptocurrency’s highly volatile value in dollars. And while Tether (the company) has the technical ability to “freeze” or destroy funds, the company is often limited and reactive in its approach to doing so, the Senate report argues. Tether, which is nominally based in crypto-friendly El Salvador, “has stated that its compliance with OFAC sanctions is ‘voluntary’ and that it follows ‘OFAC guidelines,’” the Senate report says. Owing to these favorable attributes, Tether “became a primary cryptocurrency for Iran, Hamas, Hizballah, and the Houthis beginning in 2023 and has expanded in scale since,” according to the report. Tether’s role in Iran’s shadow banking system, the report says, is enhanced by crypto exchanges like Bybit, Kyrrex, OKX, Gate, and Binance, and through “over the counter” exchanges and hawala networks. The consequences of these financial flows aren’t hypothetical. The Senate report links Tether as a funds transfer mechanism to Iranian proxies in the region, including Hizballah, the Houthis, and Hamas. Tether has also been used to make payments to secure components necessary to manufacture drones, the report says. The report concludes by arguing that “[s]tablecoin issuers with a significant nexus to the United States, particularly those that offer dollar-denominated stablecoins, should be subject to American sanctions law rather than being allowed to hide behind foreign jurisdictions.” Stablecoin issuers like Tether must be held accountable for repeated failures to prevent illicit finance and sanctions violations by law enforcement, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and OFAC, the report argues. [Paying Subscriber Exclusive] OUSD Goes Live, Make Your Own Neobank, U.S. Sanctions Russia’s A7 Network As “Transnational Criminal Organization” OpenUSD, the stablecoin issued by the Open Standard consortium that includes Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, core providers, crypto firms, and numerous banks, went live last week. Social commerce platform Whop raised eyebrows in fintech by offering creators on its platform the ability to launch their own neobanks, which the company describes as “great businesses that are easy to run,” in just 15 minutes. And OFAC and FinCEN target Russia’s “shadow banking” A7 Network — more on these stories after the paywall.
Updated Big Ten football standings after Week 5
Indiana and Ohio State are off to good starts in Big Ten play, as expected. But there are some early surprises in the Big Ten football standings
Why you should think about getting your flu shot right now
Flu is surging unusually early in some parts of the western United States, catching doctors by surprise.
Trump, campaigning in Ohio, says the midterms will bring a ‘big surprise’
The president rallied Saturday for Sen. Jon Husted, who faces a tough race against Democrat Sherrod Brown, and for Vivek Ramaswamy, the state’s GOP candidate for governor.
A forgotten 30-year forest experiment just delivered a huge surprise
A 30-year forestry experiment in Australia found that heavily thinned mountain ash forests grew unusually large trees while recovering enough carbon to match or exceed untouched areas. The results suggest carefully managed thinning could support timber production, wildlife habitat, and carbon storage at the same time.
TST Best Bets: October 3, 2026
Mississippi State gets a chance to show how far it has come Saturday, welcoming No. 7 Alabama to Starkville for a matchup of unbeaten SEC teams. Kamario Taylor has helped turn the No. 16 Bulldogs into an early surprise, but keeping up with the Crimson Tide will be their biggest test yet.Over in the Big Ten, No. 14 Iowa returns home after its dramatic win at Michigan to face No. 6 Ohio State. The Hawkeyes will lean on their defense again, this time trying to slow down Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Sm
US Speaker Mike Johnson attends Calvary football game
Speaker Mike Johnson surprised fans at a Louisiana high school football game to watch Calvary Baptist play.
Caleb Williams ruled out for Week 4
It is no surprise that Caleb Williams is missing Week 4.
Cardinals reportedly take stance on Marvin Harrison Jr. trade rumors
This stance from the Cardinals should not be a surprise.
Yankees news: Anatomy of an offensive explosion
Surprise offensive outburst keys sweep; Judge still taking BP; Rasmussen poses problems; Extra bench bats pay off
Alejandro G. Iñárritu says Digger ‘transcends politics’ and weighs in on Trump watching the film
Alejandro G. Iñárritu opens up about Digger, what surprised him most about Tom Cruise and why he believes humor can unite people in a divided world.
'Worrying signs but not a crisis yet'
Paul: League form is not representative of actual form - the Champions League exit is still having an impact. Yes, European results have been bad but that is no surprise and nothing new. Patrick: Out of the Champions League and out of the League Cup, lost twice to Rangers in a week and seemingly have no consistent starting line-up.
Brown: Trump’s $15 billion Iowa surprise roils Minnesota politics, but merits skepticism
"On Monday, President Donald Trump welcomed Iowa officials and the Minnesota iron mining company Mesabi Metallics to the Oval Office for an announcement. The news he revealed was stunning," columnist Aaron Brown writes.
Riley’s Blast Proves Phillies’ Game 1 Loss Was No Surprise
Austin Riley's three-run homer off Jhoan Duran sealed a 5-3 loss. The Phillies' bullpen issues made this heartbreaker inevitable, not shocking.
Surprise Connor Storrie, Hudson Williams appearance supports ‘Heated Rivalry’-inspired charity
Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams make a surprise appearance to support a ‘Heated Rivalry’-inspired charity.
These 10 surprise teams at the start of the season 🤩
Can they keep it up?The first international break of the season means it’s time for the first league roundup.Germany, France, England, Italy and even the Netherlands: here are the ten surprise teams...
Can politicians escape their party’s brand?
Discover how voters perceive the ideological distance between political parties and their own senators. The results might surprise you.
Revealed: Roma were also interested in Da Cunha
One of the biggest surprises in this year’s Serie A is Como’s Lucas Da Cunha.Roma reportedly made an attempt this summer for Da Cunha. They weren’t the only Italian team to make an attempt: Napo...
O'Neill has made rod for his own back as daunting run looms
Just when I thought not much else could surprise me in Scottish football, Martin O'Neill casually threw in his post-match press conference quip about whether it's time for him to "wrap things up" at Celtic. If it comes at Fir Park a week on Sunday, Celtic will have lost four in a row and may well cede Premiership top spot.
'Dancing with the Stars' Yacht Rock Night ends in surprise elimination
"Dancing with the Stars" continued its star-studded 35th season Tuesday with a surprise elimination.
The Witcher 3 Remastered Crushes GPUs With Path Tracing, but Free Mod Claws Back Up to 30% Performance
Following its surprise announcement during this year's gamescom Opening Night Live, The Witcher 3 Remastered is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2. While the number of improvements to gameplay is staggering and well thought out, what most were looking forward to was the visual uplift, which includes very demanding path tracing support on PC. Thankfully, a mod has already come to the rescue, as it did after the launch of the Next-Gen update, optimizing both ray tracing and path tracing for better performance with minimal loss of quality. "Faster RT/PT in The Witcher […]
Manzambi's rapid rise a surprise to former coaches
Johan Manzambi is already in the discussion with fellow nominees Lamine Yamal of Barcelona, Real Madrid's Yan Diomande and new Manchester City midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi for the best young player in the world award. It is a rapid rise for a player who used to return to Freiburg's academy to do his washing.
Big Ten power rankings: Upsets and surprises reshape conference hierarchy
There's a new No. 1 this week.
In more than a dozen Minnesota House races, no GOP candidate is running
In 17 Minnesota House races, the Minnesota GOP does not have a candidate on the ballot. That absence is a surprise to some, but it also shows a strategy of shifting resources to more winnable districts.
Carlo Ancelotti Labels Jair Cunha a 'Positive Surprise' for Brazil
Jair Cunha has taken another leap, and was praised by Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti after his first involvements for the senior Brazil squad.
What will be classed as a successful season under Glasner?
Will: What do you think represents success for Glasner this season? If we trend as we are into Christmas, do you think the owner will look to replace him, or will Glasner be given the full season regardless, assuming we're not close to relegation? Nick: After last season, Forest desperately need stability, and it would be a huge surprise to see the manager leave, unless it is an irretrievable situation.
SU Catering failed county health inspection during ‘Citrus in the City’
SU Catering failed a surprise inspection at SU’s August 2026 “Citrus in the City” event, for improperly stored food and other violations.
SU Catering failed county health inspection during ‘Citrus in the City’
SU Catering failed a surprise inspection at SU’s August 2026 “Citrus in the City” event, for improperly stored food and other violations.
The ‘War Games’ problem: Computer science has long understood what it takes to keep AI under control
A hit 1983 movie illustrates what computer scientists have long known: If you give an AI agent a goal but don’t control what it can and can’t do, you shouldn’t be surprised by what it does.
Manchester City respond to Premier League’s seismic ruling of guilt over majority of 115 charges
The club said it was ‘disappointed and surprised’ by the independent commission’s verdict
New iPhone buyers demand refunds after $1,199 gizmo changes color just weeks after purchase
Color them surprised.
Surprise! You Have Two Brains.
At least, sort of. Scientists found that brains are actually made up of two organs instead of one, upending our basic understanding of our command center.
‘Live’ Fans Send Support to Mark Consuelos After His Health Update
Mark Consuelos underwent foot surgery in late September, and he surprised fans by returning to 'Live With Kelly and Mark' a few days later. See how fans supported him.
The 795 HP Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC Is The Diabolical Reincarnation Of The Shelby GT500, But It Wasn't The Power That Surprised Me
The 795 HP Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC is the most ridiculous, most powerful car I've driven. Yet, the insane horsepower is not the crazy part
Nothing’s new flagship Headphone 1 Pro put you in the studio
Nothing’s new flagship headphones surprised me.
The Giants successfully recreated the 2014 season
Will it surprise you to learn that everything old is new again, even in baseball?
Spooky Science Nights
Science gets spooky this October at Spooky Science Nights, where we’ll give science a playful Halloween twist! Kids and families will enjoy Halloween-themed STEM activities, creative crafts, and a kid-friendly dance party. Get ready for an unforgettable evening filled with spooky fun and scientific surprises for all ages at these not-too-scary events! Activities include: Dive into hands-on
Bobby Kotick’s lawyers sent me a bad email (and later apologized)
The message I had received was unsettling—for a moment. Then it was just really confusing. Back on January 20 of this year, at 5:15pm ET, I received an email with the subject line “Legal Correspondence re Bobby Kotick.” It was from the law firm Clare Locke, a firm I’d heard had been emailing reporters in recent years about their coverage of Kotick, the former, longtime CEO of Activision Blizzard. The letter was threatening. A lawyer from the firm introduced themselves as “defamation counsel to Bobby Kotick.” They issued a “demand” that I “correct” a Game File article I’d published a week prior. The article that had irked them had been a scoop of sorts. I’d written about a a 2022 lawsuit brought by a Swedish pension fund, AP7, over Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard. The suit wasn’t news, but I was first to review and report about Kotick’s extensive pushback to the fund’s claims. The pension fund’s core contention was that the sale had been rushed by Kotick to avoid the consequences of sexual misconduct scandals swirling around the company in 2021. (He’d not been accused of misconduct himself in those suits, to be clear.) As I wrote at the time, Kotick had denied the allegations of the rushed sale. Beyond that, Kotick used a December 2025 reply to the Swedish fund’s lawsuit to assign blame for those workplace scandals, the bad press and even for the AP7 lawsuit. I’d found Kotick’s arguments novel and newsworthy. Across nearly 3,000 words, I explained Kotick’s take: that a Swedish gaming company was behind the Swedish fund’s lawsuit (the Embracer group; they denied it); that the Microsoft-Activision deal was not rushed and was secured at what Kotick felt history had proven to be an optimal price for shareholders; that he believed a conspiracy of people at unions government agencies, PR firms and the media had spun up claims of widespread workplace misconduct at Activision Blizzard in 2021. The article gave context for all of this, letting readers assess the claims and weigh their credibility. As I’d later write to Kotick’s lawyers: I would be surprised if you could point to any news article about Bobby Kotick in the last five years that has spent more of its wordcount articulating his point of view. He is welcome to do an interview with Game File any time. Nonetheless, there they were in my inbox that Tuesday evening: Clare Locke, the law firm that secured a $787.5 million settlement from Fox News over false statements about voting machines. They were emailing me, threatening that failure to comply with their demand could support a claim of “actual malice,” a legal standard for libel. Unless… Unless, they said, I added a key paragraph to my article. This was a paragraph that I already knew Kotick’s lawyers had been emailing reporters about for at least a year, and it was a paragraph that was already in my article. The paragraph they wanted is from a 2023 settlement that California’s Civil Rights Department struck with Activision Blizzard. The settlement had closed a two-year-old lawsuit over alleged sexual discrimination at the game maker. The paragraph basically said that claims of systemic or widespread sexual harassment—or of execs like Kotick tolerating such behavior—had never been proven. I’d already seen proof that Kotick’s lawyers had pushed for the settlement’s language to be added to reports about 2021 sexual discrimination and misconduct lawsuits brought against Activision Blizzard by California and, separately, by the U.S. federal government (both suits were since settled). I knew that Kotick and his lawyers felt that the California settlement language should be mentioned in the same breath as references to an article he hated and denied, a November 2021 Wall Street Journal article claiming Kotick knew “for years” of sexual misconduct at Activision Blizzard. So, in the Game File article that Clare Locke emailed me about, in the interest of ensuring I was being fair and balanced regarding the person I was covering, I had already included the following excerpt from the California settlement [emphasis added in bold]: (Kotick has repeatedly pushed back against that November article in the Wall Street Journal, citing among other things, language from a court-approved consent decree as part of Activision’s 2023 $54 million settlement over the California suit. It states: “no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations that: there has been systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard [or] that Activision Blizzard senior executives ignored, condoned, or tolerated a culture of systemic harassment, retaliation, or discrimination.”) On the evening of January 20, I was incredulous. How do you write a four page legal threat about a week-old article and miss this? While scrambling to also make my kids dinner, I wrote a lengthy reply to Clare Locke’s lawyers, basically asking them to cool it with the threats and to start making sense. In part, I wrote: I hope you can understand why I am having trouble understanding what you’re asking for, when the statement you’re demanding to see in Game File’s article already appears in Game File’s article. Actual malice, as you know, refers to a reckless disregard for the truth. I’m not sure what your argument is when my article already states your client’s position. Here is where I should remind you, the reader, that I am an independent journalist. I publish on Substack, and have availed myself of the Substack Defender program that provides writers on the platform with legal support. But I’m no Wall Street Journal or New York Times, nor even IGN or GameSpot when it comes to such things as, well, having a legal department. There are more fun things for me to do as an independent journalist than writing back to a powerful law firm representing a very rich person. On the evening of January 20th, I was just trying to cook some pasta, broccoli and chicken nuggets for hungry twins. Nevertheless, I wrote back to them. Two hours later, I got a reply. Summarizing: A lawyer for Clare Locke said they’d “reviewed an incomplete version” of my article and they “apologize for the confusion.” (My guess: Someone didn’t read past the piece’s paywall, even though they’d had a full week to scrounge up the funds to do so. What I’d published above the paywall was balanced, as was what came after.)1 That was almost that, but something about the situation bothered me. The letter had been marked “confidential.” I hadn’t agreed to that, and I disliked the idea that powerful people on the beat that I cover would act like they could unilaterally control what I might tell my readers about. On the morning of the 21st, having already gotten the powerful law firm to back off, I oh-so-wisely re-approached them with just one more thing. I thanked them for clearing things up the night before but noted that I’d never agreed to keep their letter confidential. I’m all for agreeing with a source to keep things off the record, but that’s the thing. We have to agree. You can’t just declare it. I’m not bound by that. I wrote to Clare Locke’s lawyer and said, in part: I trust the matter is resolved. It was disappointing to have to spend less time with my kids last night in order to address your legal letter. Family time’s precious. I will add, for clarity’s sake, that, while your letter stipulated that it was confidential, I did not agree to those terms. In the future, should you wish to communicate with me confidentially, I am happy to agree to classifying our communication as “off the record” prior to the actual communication—as is standard with any professional journalist. The firm’s lawyer replied, not directly addressing the confidentiality issue but asserting that the matter was resolved. Why I didn’t write about this until now In May, I told this story on an episode of Simon Parkin’s podcast My Perfect Console, but I held off on sharing it directly with Game File readers. I held off to avoid stepping on the toes of another reporter, the journalist Mikhail Klimentov. He’d interviewed me in the spring of 2025 about an investigation he was working on regarding Bobby Kotick lawyers pressing the media to add the California settlement language to stories referencing the 2021 lawsuits. And about how some outlets had changed their stories and how some simply deleted them. Initially, I was a third-party source for Klimentov’s reporting, providing on-the-record context about the state of the games media. I’d heard about the letters but hadn’t put the time into pursuing the story. I thought it was interesting, and I was glad he was covering it. When the outlet that Klimentov was going to run his reporting in dropped the story, I began talking to him about potentially publishing his reporting on Game File. This was tentative. Then, in January, when I got my own Clare Locke letter, I told Klimentov that I didn’t think it would make sense for me to publish him, not with me now being part of the story. I had my own version of this situation to tell. But I wished him well and said I’d refrain from telling my tale until he could get his reporting out there. Last Friday, Klimentov finally ran his investigation, in a nearly 48-minute video report for People Make Games. It covers various Clare Locke letters, how media outlets reacted to them and what to make of all this. His video weighs the merits of Kotick’s request and looks at some of the articles that were changed (one of which had a glaring error). I highly recommend watching it: (Note, I did some editorial consulting for a People Make Games video last year but nothing to do with this report.) While many outlets haven’t left any public evidence that they updated their Kotick coverage at Kotick’s counsel’s request, at least one has. Back in October 2025, the mainstream outlet Reuters applied the most transparent article update I’ve seen. On the 3rd of the month, they published an article about the state of the Swedish pension fund’s lawsuit. Days later, they added this: In an October 7 letter sent after publication of this article, Kotick’s defamation counsel disputed claims of widespread harassment at Activision. “Not a single investigation, court finding, verdict, or ruling ever concluded that there was any merit” to the allegations of widespread harassment at Activision, Tom Clare and Nick Brechbill of Clare Locke wrote. I’ve never added a statement to my article on Game File, because none was needed. Not for fairness’ sake, nor to meet any demands of Kotick’s lawyers. I’ve nevertheless wanted to be transparent with Game File readers. If someone powerful is questioning my reporting, is threatening a lawsuit over it… if that threat is part of a pattern involving other games media outlets and if, in my case, the whole thing ran into a ridiculous ditch, I want you to know about it. I also share this as a real example of how I handle threats to Game File. I stand up for my own reporting, even when it’s not comfortable to do so. (In that same category of standing up for the work I do, I’ll point to an incident in late August. Asocial media post I published to X/Twitter regarding reporting I did about Take Two and GTA VI was hit by bogus copyright claim by a firm working for the publisher. I pushed back and got it reversed; even while a bigger games media outlet let themselves be censored. This is the other reason I’m sharing this story: To emphasize that dealing with threats from powerful people is one of the costs of covering the video game industry independently and as fearlessly as possible. This is where you come in. Your support, through free and paid subscriptions (sign up here!), can help me keep doing that. It can ensure that I’ve got the back-up I need. And it can help make fiascoes like this even less of a worry, so I can spend my evenings dealing with more important things, such as making sure I steam the kids’ broccoli just right. 1 That pension fund lawsuit I wrote about in January has all but gone away. In May, the fund and Activision Blizzard owner Microsoft agreed to settle. Lawyers for the fund brokered a $250 million settlement for former Activision Blizzard shareholders. In the settlement, the fund’s lawyers changed their rhetoric. Where once they’d questioned the meaning of the California settlement language, they adopted a version of it for themselves. Several weeks ago, while seeking to get a court to sign off on the terms of the settlement, they proposed their fee for their work in the case: $60 million.
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