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Parents of transgender kids say California is ‘unprepared’ as feds cut off their healthcare
Parents of transgender kids warned California for months. State officials are rushing to find money before the Oct. 13 deadline.
California's political battle over key environmental law brews on two fronts
Legislators this week and voters this November will weigh in on measures to curtail some of CEQA's vexing construction project restrictions.
Richardson resident: Drone delivery is alienating communities
Amazon and Walmart are pouring capital into last-mile drone delivery systems that remain tiny in scale, lose money and alienate communities they serve.
California justices seem skeptical of Sheriff Chad Bianco’s defense in ballot seizure case
California’s Supreme Court questioned whether Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco was within his legal rights when he seized the ballots
Erin Rae has the latest in consumer and entertainment headlines
Walmart and Sam's Club finally adds tap to pay, plus Angel Reese is making WNBA history. Keep up with Erin on V-103 weekends from 10 til 2
Gap Inc. taps Walmart alum in ‘fashiontainment’ push
Justin Breton is joining the retailer as vice president of development and will report to entertainment chief Pam Kaufman.
A Platner write-in candidacy would be about people, not politics
Standing back up after the hits he's taken shows he’s a fighter who won’t just roll over when the Democratic Party bosses tell him to disappear.
Prep sports: Friday's Scores
The Associated Press PREP FOOTBALL= Abbotsford 21, Markesan 8 Algoma 44, Newman Catholic 6 Alma-Pepin 49, Plum City/Elmwood 6 Aquinas 24, Prairie du Chien
California nearly achieved universal healthcare. Now, millions are losing coverage
California's uninsured rate could nearly double by 2030, with the sharpest losses hitting Black, Asian and Latino residents in Southern California.
Beyond the Business Card: Networking to Drive Growth
J. Michael Fischer Jr. discusses networking strategies to grow your career and achieve dealmaking success
Proposition 44 wrongly squeezes politics between California patients and their healthcare
Community clinics in California do not meet the arbitrary standards Proposition 44 would create, jeopardizing healthcare services statewide.
California's clashes over business regulation rage on as legislative session nears end
Unions, consumer groups, personal injury lawyers and environmentalists are battling business groups over surveillance pricing and anti-monopoly bills.
Proposition 44 wrongly squeezes politics between California patients and their healthcare
Community clinics in California do not meet the arbitrary standards Proposition 44 would create, jeopardizing healthcare services statewide.
Science meets art in unique Woodside artist residency
Annual Leonardo@Djerassi program fosters interdisciplinary inspiration and collaboration at famed mountain ranch, where everything from the fog to the forests can play a role in artists' works.
Walmart slows down: what the retail giant’s earnings say about consumer spending
Walmart Inc.’s quarterly sales fell short of expectations, a rare miss that’s likely to stoke concern about the leading big-box retailer decelerating alongside a slow-growing US economy.
Walmart CFO on Q2 earnings beat: Our business is strong, it was a good quarter for us
Walmart CFO John David Rainey joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss the company's Q2 earnings, what drove overall U.S. sales growth, and more.
Walmart Posts Slowest Sales Growth in Years as Americans Tighten Wallets
Walmart and other big U.S. retailers have warned that consumers were being cautious, even if household balance sheets seemed healthy.
Xavier Becerra gets to play it safe in the race for governor, and he isn't making promises
The Democratic frontrunner is exceedingly cautious, preferring to study policy and avoid making promises he might not be able to keep
Walmart gets $2.9 billion in tariff refunds
Walmart posted strong sales and profits in the latest quarter helped by a massive $2.9 billion in tariff refunds.
Walmart says it will use billions in tariff refunds to keep prices low
Walmart said it received nearly $2.9 billion in tariff refunds and plans to use some of the benefit to support lower prices for shoppers, while the refunds also provided a significant boost to quarterly operating income.
Salma Hayek Pinault stars in fiery trailer for Angelina Jolie’s ‘Without Blood’: ‘How can God forgive you?’
Oscar-nominated actors Salma Hayek Pinault and Demián Bichir crackle opposite each other in the new look at the war drama ‘Without Blood’ from writer-director Angelina Jolie.
Anya Taylor-Joy abducts Chris Evans’ movie star in first look at Netflix’s provocative thriller ‘Sacrifice’ (exclusive)
See the debut images of Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Evans, Salma Hayek Pinault, John Malkovich, and Charli XCX in the new film from acclaimed music video director Romain Gavras.
ICE gives detention centers high marks for health under Trump even as deaths climb, report finds
Immigrant detention centers are receiving high marks for health and safety under the Trump administration, according to a new investigation by the Project on Government Oversight.
How California's midterm election could shape national political conflicts
In some congressional races and key battles over ballot issues, California Democrats' left-leaning wing and its more centrist forces are clashing.
Gardiner police, Maine gambling unit conduct search at Lisbon business
The Gardiner Police Department was informed of a possibly illegally operated gambling machine at an establishment in Gardiner in January.
Politics and the Limits of Language
Ben Rhodes's new book makes an earnest case for the political power of words. But the degradation of our public life can’t be reversed by rhetoric alone.
Europe strengthens its network of social sports schools and surpasses 2,000 beneficiaries
The Real Madrid Foundation developed 34 social sports projects in eight European countries during the 2025-26 season, reaching 2,053 children and...
‘There is nothing else’: Californians face eviction as insurer cancels assisted living benefit
Thousands of California families are facing abrupt cancellations of coverage for assisted living as insurer Health Net adjusts the benefits it provides.
Maker of ice cream sold at grocery stores nationwide files for bankruptcy as it appeals $23.8M judgment
Rebel Creamery reported $13.78 million in assets and $23.85 million in liabilities as it appeals a $23.785 million Van Leeuwen judgment.
Walmart and Target are about to reveal the health of the U.S. consumer
Earnings reports from the two major retailers will show how shoppers are holding up in an era of persistent inflation.
Small Businesses Despise Trump’s Tariffs
Mere hours after the Trump administration's latest tariff scheme launched on July 24, the government was sued again by the same small businesses that had already defeated prior White House tariff shenanigans, most notably at the Supreme Court. As Bloomberg Law reported, these companies are part of an “increasingly vocal cohort of business owners who emerged as the face of mom-and-pop tariff resistance.” What about Walmart Inc., Ford Motor Co. and the other titans of corporate America paying many
Bengals news: Joe Burrow reacts to Jayden Daniels-LSU fiasco
Bengals star Joe Burrow, who also hails from LSU, was asked about his thoughts on Jayden Daniels' legal battle with their alma mater.
Walmart just made a major business move — and surprisingly, it has nothing to do with groceries
Walmart is expanding its reach beyond groceries and retail into a new market. Here's what's behind the move.
How San Francisco's ridiculous housing prices are defining the race to replace Pelosi
As San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan and Sen. Scott Wiener fight to succeed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, their track records on affordable housing could be decisive in the tight race for Congress.
Meet three new FAS faculty members
This new video highlights three scholars — cosmochemist Damanveer Grewal, Victoria Almansa-Villatoro, and data scientist Johan Ugander — who joined Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences in the Fall of 2025.
How California's primary election reflects the perils facing the national Democratic Party
Low turnout among young and non-white voters in California signals that Democrats should focus on organizing to beat Republicans nationally.
Saber's newest game trailer takes a shot at Gearbox's CEO, if you look closely
The first hint that something might be up with the recent debut trailer for Saber Interactive’s Rideshare Stimulator is an unusual choice of words—aside from that second one in the game’s title. “Don’t take your passengers too seriously,” the trailer’s narrator says, as he describes this upcoming game. It a car game about the gig work of driving eccentric people to their destinations, a riff on Crazy Taxi. And then, he says: “When I think I’ve met the randiest of passengers, someone even stranger gets in.” “Randiest”? That suggests “randy,” which usually means having strong sexual desire. Yet none of the oddball backseat occupants featured in the trailer seem particularly lustful. One is an old man who considers his grandson a failure, another shares the theory that birds might control traffic lights, another says he’s banned from an aquarium. A little later, there’s a license plate, shown 63 seconds into the trailer, on the front of an SUV: USB DRV It’s a Texas plate. The symbol between those letters is a cog wheel. If you know, you know. That’s a reference to Texas-based Borderlands game development studio Gearbox Software (their logo features a cog wheel). More specifically, it’s a reference to Gearbox’s CEO Randy Pitchford, who in 2018 found himself explaining the nature of video he’d saved on a USB drive that was found at a Medieval Times restaurant before being returned to the studio: “It was ‘barely legal’ porn. This girl’s handle was ‘Only 18.’” The “girl” in the video had committed a solo sex act that Pitchford, an avid practitioner of magic, found remarkable. “I realized, this is not a sex worker…This is a fucking magician.” Back then, the USB drive was central to competing lawsuits against Gearbox by the studio’s former lawyer and by Gearbox against him. A settlement in late 2019 “exonerated” Pitchford, per the Hollywood Reporter. The USB story has resurfaced at times, now in a trailer from a company that not long ago was corporate brethren with Gearbox. Saber vs. Gearbox The head of Saber told Game File that the reference is payback. “The dig is because Randy took shots at Embracer in Borderlands 4,” Saber CEO Matt Karch told me when I asked him about the license plate. “Without Embracer, Randy is performing magic tricks at birthday parties for a living.” Having interviewed Karch during a cross-country flight in late 2024, I can confirm that Karch was unimpressed with Pitchford during their time both working in the Embracer group. I’d approached him not out of surprise that there was animosity but that it was manifesting publicly now. Gearbox was founded in 1999, worked on a port of Halo early on, and developed hit series such as the loot-based sci-fi shooter Borderlands before it was purchased by The Embracer Group in early 2021 for $363 million (with a possible earn-out of over $1 billion, if certain targets were hit by 2027). Saber was founded in 2001, worked on a remaster of Halo early on, had a big hit with zombie shooter World War Z and was purchased by Embracer in early 2020 for $150 million, with a potential earn-out of up to $375 million. For a few years, the Embracer group was a voracious acquirer of game studios. Then, as investment dried up, it choked. In March 2024, Embracer sold Saber to an investment company controlled by Saber CEO Matt Karch, and it sold Gearbox in an all-stock deal to long-time Borderlands publisher Take Two Interactive. Other studios were shut down. Hundreds of developers were laid off. Gearbox didn’t say much about their Embracer experience, nothing too direct, at least. In the summer 2024, Pitchford told reporter and occasional Game File contributor Nicole Carpenter that Borderlands 4’s story was in some way thematically connected to Gearbox’s experience at Embracer: “There’s this cultural and emotional shift in me, personally, and at the studio. What does it mean to trade some autonomy for organization?” When Borderlands 4 came out, there was something stranger: the matter of “Embracer’s Bluff,” a location in the game featuring an AI-powered toilet and a large trash dump, according to a detailed Kotaku account of the place. Gearbox never commented on it; Take Two never got back to me about it when I asked them last year. By contrast, since Saber exited Embracer, Karch has been one of Embracer’s biggest defenders, casting their management as well-meaning and supportive despite the layoffs and studio closures that resulted from their excessive expansion. Like others, Saber’s Karch saw Embracer’s as a shot. With Rideshare Stimulator’s trailer, he’s returned fire. “It’s amazing to me how fast people forget those who went above and beyond for them,” Karch told Game File. A rep for Gearbox did not comment by press time. Game File is a reader-supported publication. Your backing makes my reporting—including any coverage of trailer-based beefs—possible. Good news! I’m currently running Game File’s first big sale of 2026. You can get a one-year subscription for 23% off. Click here to take advantage of the limited-time offer. And thank you for your support! Item 2: In brief… 🚫 Wal-Mart has laid off the staff of Restart, a games media outlet launched in 2024, Aftermath reports. 🟥 A GTA VI preview is on the way, at last, via an “extended look” that will premiere, unusually, on Netflix at 3pm ET on August 27, then officially go live elsewhere six hours later. Last week, Game File noted that Take Two label Rockstar Games is overdue for showing off GTA VI, based on the timing of the initial hands-off previews of GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2. During a call with investors, Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said pre-orders for GTA VI were “unprecedented and astonishing,” but added the company can’t predict how many of those pre-orders represent bonus sales vs. sales that otherwise would have been made at launch. During the same call, Zelnick was noticeably bullish on the future of playing games over streaming cloud connections (predicting wider adoption in three or so years). He sounded unbothered by Sony’s plans to stop making discs for new games (he said the business is 90% digital already and predicted that there could still be limited edition physical editions of games “in the same way there’s still vinyl in the recorded music business.”) 👀 Take Two wrote off $43 million in their spring quarter after deciding “not to proceed with further development of an unannounced title in its pipeline from a third-party developer.” 🤔 Some rare age-demographics from a big publisher: Capcom recently told investors that “users in their 20s account for approximately half of the users of both Pragamata and Resident Evil Requiem.” Item 3: The week ahead Tuesday, August 11 Game releases: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered (Switch 2; already out for PC, PS5, Xbox) continues the Bethesda strategy of putting Elder Scrolls games on everything; Royalty Free-For-All is a Smash Bros.-style fighting game featuring public domain characters such as Mother Goose brawling with Oliver Twist in a stage based on the original Little Shop of Horrors movie. Wednesday, August 12 Game release: Pro Jank Footy (PC, console) is an arcade-style Australian Rules Football game with increasingly ridiculous rules, the more you play (I enjoyed the Steam demo) Thursday, August 13 Game release: Super Mario Sunshine (Switch 2, originally released in 2002 on the GameCube) is released for Switch 2’s Nintendo Switch Online service. This game is the black sheep of 3D Mario games. It’s the successor to the breakthrough Super Mario 64 and the rare Mario game built around a single (vacation resort) theme. Mario’s got a water-spraying backpack, a Yoshi pal and a lot of blue coins to collect.
Dallas-Fort Worth Business Datebook: CIOs gather and discounted lunch
This week’s Dallas-Fort Worth business datebook features earnings from Walmart, a gathering of tech leaders and more.
Island businesses hit by ferry disruption to share £3m support package
CalMac's west coast ferry network was badly disrupted by breakdowns earlier this year.
Walmart has a $200 Android tablet that’s perfect for back-to-school season for 56% off
Shoppers say it's a "sleek, portable powerhouse."
Medicaid cuts stand to hit everyone (yes, even you). Here’s why
Even privately insured Californians could see longer ER waits and rising premiums as hospitals absorb Medi-Cal cuts.
The layoffs list of 2026: Meta, Amazon, Walmart, and Visa
Layoffs have hit over 35 companies in 2026, including Meta, Walmart, and Visa, as AI and economic conditions reshape the business landscape.
Why truckers always seem to be on the phone while they drive
Social media is linked to feelings of isolation, but less so for truckers. They benefit from long phone calls and connections on apps like FaceTime and WhatsApp.
Why truckers always seem to be on the phone while they drive on the highway
What's the best way for truckers to maintain friendships while they're isolated in their cabs? For many of them the answer is a very long phone call.
As AI 'therapists' dish out advice, California lawmakers try to set some limits
A new bill would stop companies from marketing chatbots as therapy and force stricter oversight of AI in mental health care — as a labor union wages a parallel fight against Kaiser Permanente.
Johnston & Engels can't leave before play-off
John Collins says Celtic must not cash in on key duo Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels until after their Champions League play-off. Martin O'Neill's side face LASK in Europe later this month, having failed at the same stage against Kazakh side Kairat Almaty last term. Canada right-back Johnston is wanted by Everton, while Celtic have turned down a bid from West Ham for Belgium midfielder Engels.
California Republicans tried to cut him off. Then he beat them from the right
The conservative group Reform California promotes candidates to the right of the California GOP. They won in several key primary races
California Democrats defy Newsom, back billionaire tax
The state’s Democratic Party voted to support California’s billionaire tax, siding with a growing populist movement seeking accountability for the rich
LA County says a program meant to help people with serious mental illness is gaining traction
Gov. Gavin Newsom's mental health court is gaining more participants in Los Angeles County. CARE Court treats people with serious mental health conditions.
CA is dismantling its healthcare system
In a new documentary, CalMatters goes inside a Los Angeles clinic to examine how Californians are being forced to choose between medicine and food.
Which version of Gavin Newsom will voters see if he runs for president?
Gavin Newsom has been trying to adjust his national image, but that can be tricky in an era of political volatility.
California nearly achieved universal healthcare. Now, millions are losing coverage
State and federal cuts could push California's uninsured rate to nearly 15% by 2030 — hitting immigrants and low-income families hardest. Watch the new CalMatters documentary.
Superheated magma may power towering lava fountains
Scientists studying magma from the 2021 Tajogaite eruption on La Palma have discovered that extreme heat can dramatically change how an eruption unfolds. When magma becomes superheated, it can dissolve the tiny crystal seeds that normally trigger crystallization, allowing the molten rock to remain fluid far longer as it rises.
A voters guide to democratic socialism: It isn’t what most people think
Despite what conservatives say, democratic socialism is not anti-capitalist and is certainly not communism, writes Kalman Hettleman, but is squarely within the politics of most left-of-center Democrats. It's only scary because we let Republicans paint it that way.
The IAC and California-based Predictive Science Inc Predict the Solar Corona for the August 12 Eclipse Using the La Palma Supercomputer
Ahead of the upcoming solar eclipse on August 12, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), in collaboration with the research group Predictive Science Inc. (PSI, San Diego, California), has successfully simulated in high detail the structure of the solar corona that will be visible during totality along the path of totality, including Palencia, where the IAC will gather more than 40 spanish, moroccan, and american astronomers.
New court docs reveal how MrBeast pitches brands like Slack, Walmart
We dug through court documents to reveal MrBeast's ad rates and details of his pitches to Walmart, Slack, and Sony.
This Week in Jacksonville - Business Edition: Experts urge tighter HOA oversight after $11 million fraud
Kent Justice tackles a question a lot of HOA homeowners are asking after the “Hammocks” case in South Florida: could HOA fraud happen here — and would anyone catch it in time? Kent’s guest is Marc Rodriguez, EVP of Market Operations at RealManage, who breaks down how financial oversight can fail inside volunteer-run boards, what practical controls can stop fraud before it starts, and how technology can add real transparency for both board members and homeowners.
Google TV is reportedly the #3 streaming OS in the US
According to new data, Google TV is apparently the #3 streaming platform in the US market, barely behind Fire TV.
In Oregon, big grocery, retail companies have highest number of employees on Medicaid
Multi-billion-dollar grocers and retailers such as Walmart and Amazon were among the most listed employers on Oregonians’ applications for publicly-funded health insurance last year, according to a Capital Chronicle analysis of Oregon Health Authority data.
Healthcare costs are surging. Taxing billionaires will help Californians keep their coverage
Funding cuts have put a healthcare crisis on California's doorstep. With a one-time tax on billionaires, Californians will see relief, a nurse argues.
Kaiser used an algorithm — not clinicians — to triage mental health patients, a union alleges
A therapists' union alleges Kaiser's e-visit tool screens mental health patients and issues care recommendations without real-time clinician review, which the union says violates state law.
MLB Trade Deadline Predictions For Skubal And Other Top Targets
Let's make some predictions on where the top trade candidates will land before the Aug. 3 deadline.
The Real Madrid Foundation's social sports school in Batangas celebrates its first end-of-course tournament
The social sports school run by the Real Madrid Foundation in collaboration with the NGO Share in the province of Batangas (Philippines) held its...
Asia's rich swap sponsorships for stakes in sports as dealmaking hits record
Asian wealthy families and fund managers are increasingly moving beyond sponsorships and charity-linked sporting events to invest directly in sports assets, betting that growing audiences and rising media-rights fees will drive longer term returns.
An Aggie CEO comes full circle to help shape the future of AI and business
Sean Kelly ’05, a CEO in the AI and energy industry, returns to his alma mater to share expertise and insights with Mays Business School students.
Newsom's populist act: Oppose state billionaire tax, embrace federal one
Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes the California wealth tax measure and supports one nationally. But there’s another tax-the-rich measure on the state ballot.
Most California lawmakers never buck their party. These few do
In California's lockstep Legislature, breaking party ranks is rare. Meet the handful of mavericks who do it anyway
Tina Charles Builds Business With Huskies, Connecticut Sun in Mind
The ex-UConn great and retired WNBA star has gotten into the beer business, and pays tribute to her alma mater at the same time.
I went on Walmart's World Cup tour. It was peak America.
International World Cup fans fell in love with Walmart. I attended one of the tours the company organized to seize on the attention.
So you want to buy a sports franchise? Why entering sports ownership gives the rich a ‘very elite and exclusive club’ with great tax benefits
Increasingly, the founders and heads of companies like Home Depot, Walmart and LVMH are entering the sports world. There's a good reason for that.
Walmart names Kinnard to replace departing US COO Shanahan, memo shows
Kieran Shanahan, chief operating officer of Walmart's U.S. operations, is leaving the retailer and will be replaced by the company's international division COO, Kyle Kinnard, an internal memo showed on Friday, amid a major management rejig under CEO John Furner.
Exclusive | Walmart Further Shuffles Top Executives
Kieran Shanahan, chief operating officer for Walmart U.S., will leave this week.
We must return to decency and civility in politics
Enough swearing, enough insulting others.
These California Republicans have one advantage in the race for Congress: Money
Republicans have more cash than Democrats in California swing races. Could that help them foil Democrats’ Prop. 50 plan of gaining five seats?
SUD Industry Optimistic Despite Reimbursement Woes
This is an exclusive BHB+ article. A few months ago, I was moderating a panel on M&A in behavioral health, and a theme emerged: savvy buyers could get
Daniel Ek's body-scanning startup Neko Health raises another $700M
Neko Health has developed proprietary body-scanning technology, which it couples with bloodwork, to assess a person's health.
Walmart Cuts Prices Again. Small Businesses Should Do The Opposite
Small businesses can't win a price war with Walmart. These proven plays from bundling value to building loyalty help owners compete without cutting prices
30 Most Important Bears of 2026: Garrett Bradbury (No. 16)
Our Most Important Bears of 2026 series continues with Garrett Bradbury, who was acquired to fill the shoes of the retired Drew Dalman.
From Brooklyn to the Biggest Names in Sports and Entertainment: Mitch Gould's Quintessential American Success Story
The creator of the Evolution of Distribution® who built Amazon's sports nutrition category from ground zero and placed brands with America's largest retailers, including Walmart, Costco, CVS, and Walgreens. BOCA RATON, FL / ACCESS Newswire / July ...
Veteran Entertainment Executive and Industry Dealmaker Ron Bension Joins VENU as Strategic Advisor to CEO
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 13, 2026--
Is Anti-Vaxx Really Anti-Science?
It’s easy to blame vaccine skepticism on ignorance or scientific misinformation. But what if we took time to listen to some Americans’ since fears about vaccines?
Shopping for same groceries at Walmart, Kroger, Amazon: Winner, prices
I brought the same shopping list to Walmart, Kroger, and Amazon to see which has the best grocery prices, especially amid Walmart's rollbacks.
Therapy in a tent: The healthcare many homeless Californians need but aren’t getting
Homeless Californians suffer from depression, anxiety and PTSD at high rates; street therapy can be life changing, but access is limited.
How crime and the politics of crime rise and fall in California
Over two decades, political pressure forced California lawmakers to toughen criminal penalties. Now that crime is down, what's next?
Roundup: Walmart pricing / Recovery from Arthur / Turner Industries
Value-focused strategy: Walmart is lowering prices on thousands of items, including beef, Coca-Cola, produce and household goods, to help shoppers facing high food costs. The retailer says the cuts are part of its value-focused strategy, especially as grocery inflation remains a concern. President Donald Trump praised the move, though Walmart did not say the price […]
Tech devices in California's new cars create thorny political issues
Devices that record vehicle operational data for state air quality regulators could also violate privacy and be used to tax drivers by the mile.
Abortion pills could come to California community college health centers
A California bill would require community colleges with health centers to provide access to medication abortion.
Who is Steve Hilton? Here’s how he has rebranded himself multiple times
The GOP nominee for California governor wants to deregulate businesses and overturn environmental rules. He’s also praised liberal workplace policies and once made the British Conservative Party more green.
Suwayda in Parliament: The Politics of Appointments Amid a Crisis of Trust
At the beginning of July, Syria's Higher Committee for Elections announced the names of the 70 members of parliament appointed directly
Calmatters: Top Science Research Jobs Lack Diversity. A California College Program Aims To Curb That
CalMatters
Long Reads for the Long Weekend
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) Happy Fourth of July weekend! As has been a tradition of mine going back to the beginning of the EntStrategyGuy website, I’m sharing my favorite long reads of the last year, like I did in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025. Let’s dive right in! Subscribe “Different Prices for the Same Ride: How Uber and Lyft Use AI to Get More Money Out of You“ by Derek Kravitz in Consumer Reports I don’t think surveillance pricing, like the kind described in this brilliant Consumer Reports article, is long for the world—it’s toxically unpopular—but we’ll see if either party takes on this issue. If I ran a political party focused on affordability, I would focus on a few pro-consumer and pro-market policies: Banning non-compete agreements. Ending surveillance pricing Eliminating junk fees (read more here...) Ensuring “right to repair” for consumer (and military!) products Capping excessive app store fees Stopping digital/algorithmic price-fixing tools. Preventing automatic subscription price increases. And more. If you want to fight inflation, there are a lot of great ways to do it quickly. Speaking of higher prices... “Secret Documents Show Pepsi and Walmart Colluded to Raise Food Prices Across the Economy“ by Matt Stoller in BIG Again, I think a political party should focus on lowering prices for consumers. And deals like this—Walmart making a deal/forcing Pepsi to offer the lowest prices at its stores and nowhere else—hypothetically lower prices at Walmart...but raise them everywhere else. “15 DUIs, still driving: California’s failure to take repeat drunk drivers off the road“ by Robert Lewis and Lauren Hepler in CalMatters CalMatters does terrific reporting in California, something the Golden State desperately needs more of, and this article is a great example of that. “PugLips: The next insanely popular thing you’ve never heard of…” by Simon Carless in Game Discover Co I thought that this parody article (and yes, it’s a parody, but I was definitely unsure at first) was hilarious and totally nailed how much tech/business journalism feels these days. Actually, three of my favorite articles this year were on hype in the video game industry, including Georg Zoller’s “The Video Game Industries Very Dark Night”—which I linked to recently and wrote a follow-up here—and Owen Mahoney’s “Derek Zoolander, Videogame Exec”. In particular, I like Mahoney’s focus on user experience as a guide to what trends will actually grab hold of customers. “The Matrix Lies“ by Evan Shapiro in Media War & Peace Evan Shapiro’s first person account of his experience with AI was hilarious. I think LLMs capabilities have significantly grown from last summer, and yet...my editor/researcher just had an abysmal experience using an LLM to do a quite basic task (which our LLM normally does each week) and the LLM made a mistake on every single data entry...along with seven different mistakes affecting twelve of the twenty or so entries, including mistakes that are explicitly spelled out in the prompt. That’s a brutal failure rate. Again, if you use AI/LLM for data collection, you need to take a lot of extra steps to verify and check the data. “Ghosts in the Balcony: A Cross-Country Trip to 58 Theaters Fighting to Survive“ by Matthew Frank in The Ankler I thought Matthew Frank’s pitch to head across America to visit theaters sounded insane aggressive at the time—at least it felt that way to someone a decade older than him; man, to be in your twenties again, am I right?—but I knew the result would be great. And it was, a terrific feature by a great young writer. Also, I loved Matthew’s recent article on who’s getting the precious few entry level jobs in Hollywood. (Hint: nepotism.) “Disney erased FiveThirtyEight“ and “Did Las Vegas get too greedy?” by Nate Silver in Silver Bulletin I love media history and analysis, and there’s no one better to get the history of FiveThirtyEight than from Nate Silver, who wrote about his personal experience in one of my favorite pieces from this year. I also loved Nate’s breakdown of what’s causing Vegas’ woes, but I’ll offer one criticism, summarized as “Might I suggest antitrust?” Many centrists/center-right/libertarian thinkers (Nate is self-described as the latter) often don’t consider consolidation or antitrust as factors in policy issues like housing, America’s military readiness, or, in this case, Las Vegas. Even if libertarians want to debunk antitrust/consolidation concerns, I’d love to read that debunking. In this case, Vegas is incredibly consolidated (though it also has been for a long time) and I’d have loved to read Nate at least contending with this factor, since he addresses almost every other potential factor for Vegas’ decline. “Why Microsoft’s Carbon Removal Pullback Is Such a Big Deal“ by Robinson Meyer in Heatmap News I’m a big supporter of carbon removal efforts, but this nascent industry faces a lot of headwinds, including this big move most recently. I think it’s clear that solar panels and batteries should be able to get the world to its carbon footprint goals, but effective carbon renewal remains necessary to prevent the worst impacts of global warming. “AI is killing the cheap smartphone“ by David Oks LLMs and AI will impact the world in ways we’re not ready for, and already, third world countries are seeing the prices of cheap cellphones skyrocket due to the cost of chips skyrocketing. This article by David Oks is a terrific breakdown. “100 Days of Madness: Netflix, Paramount, Warner and the Future of Hollywood“ by Wade Major at Hollywood Heretic Wade Major dove deep into Hollywood/streaming’s financials in this must read piece. Not that I agree with everything in this article (read my take on Warner Bros./Paramount here) but the analysis is top notch. I think many people discount how quality thinking, regardless of the argument/conclusion, will make you a better thinker. “Erased by the UFC: Frank Shamrock, The MMA GOAT of the 20th Century“ by Nate Wilcox in The MMA Draw Newsletter Growing up playing the UFC fighting game on the Dreamcast, Frank Shamrock was my favorite MMA fighter, and this history/tribute to him was great. Other Fun Reads “The Hardest Part Of History To Tell Is How It Felt“ by Craig Fehrman at Defector “Unmasking the Sea Star Killer“ by Craig Welch at bioGraphic “What Could Save the Industry? Fin-Syn“ by Richard Rushfield in The Ankler Alex Rollins Berg in Underexposed on movie bumpers, pillow shots, Disney trash cinema, cult films, and Casablanca. David H. Montgomery in YouGov’s The Surveyor on punctuation marks, condiments, dinosaurs, and comic strips and kids media. “How Medium finally pivoted its way to profitability“ and “Why the best journalists on YouTube are all former Vox employees“ by Simon Owens in Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter “It’s Not Just You, Netflix Shows Have Gotten Slightly Shorter: Here’s What the Data Says“ by Kasey Moore at What’s on Netflix “Numlock Awards: How Diane Warren became the biggest loser in Oscar history“ by Nathaniel Rakich and “Numlock Awards: The Oscar Bait era is over. The Oscar Chum era is here.” by Walt Hickey & Michael Domanico at Numlock Awards
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