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Watch CNBC's full interview with President's Council of Advisors on Science & Technology's Sacks
David Sacks, President's Council of Advisors on Science & Technology co-chair, joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss AI regulation and growth.
Sports Editor for The Wall Street Journal Joshua Robinson joins 'GMFB'
Joshua Robinson, Sports Editor of the Wall Street Journal, joins "Good Morning Football" for an exclusive interview.
gamescom 2026’s Steam wishlist winners
gamescom wrapped up last weekend, and it was bloody fantastic. It really felt like the industry had a spring in its step again. The show itself was BUZZING, with 368K attendees (+3% over last year), maxed-out exhibit space, and Opening Night Live pulling over 78M online views (+7.5%). Let’s have a look at the games at the event that brought in the most new Steam wishlists between August 23 and 30. One quick thing before we start, and stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but wishlists are NOT a barometer for launch sales (they’re bookmarks, not baskets is what we always say over here at Alinea). With that aside, wishlists are a nice gauge of hype, so let’s dive in. Witche(r)s and Warlocks take the top two spots The biggest game of the event (by new wishlists, anyways) wasn’t a game at all. It was an expansion. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s upcoming expansion, Songs of the Past, nabbed 451K Steam wishlists by the end of the weekend. It’s a big example of something we bang on about constantly: proven IP with built-in fandom is the most powerful force in this market. But said IP can also ripple into other external success stories (more on that later!). Anyway, Songs of the Past debuted at Opening Night Live, and it’s the first Witcher 3 expansion in over a decade, landing next year after a full Witcher 3 remaster (free for existing owners!) arrives next month. The Witcher 3 has sold around 66M copies, and I’ll be one of those owners jumping back in to refresh myself on the core game (like there isn’t enough to play!), then play the expansion next year. This is all part of CDPR’s plan. The studio is clearly whetting everyone’s appetite for The Witcher 4 in 2028 via a classic bridge strategy. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Releasing a free 4K remaster next month – followed by a proper expansion in 2027 – keeps IP top-of-mind across a huge gap between content (games-wise, anyway). It kind of echoes Capcom’s evergreen catalogue strategy. And outsourcing co-development to Fool’s Theory (a studio led by trusted Witcher 3 veterans) keeps CDPR’s internal headcount focused on The Witcher 4. #2 by wishlists between Aug 23 and 30 went to another giant IP: Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, published by Wizards of the Coast and developed by Invoke Studios (a team of ex-Far Cry, Watch Dogs, and Splinter Cell devs). It’s due to launch in 2027, and it looks brilliant so far. It’s a dark-fantasy open world with third-person spell-slinging. It’s a very Witcher-ish aesthetic. As you might expect, 48% of Warlock’s Steam wishlisters have played Baldur’s Gate 3, and 46% have played The Witcher 3. One to watch. For sure! Mash-ups: Anime GTA (!?) and a city-builder for kids (and adults) Ananta took #3 with 302K new wishlists. It’s an open-world game that looks like GTA and Persona had a baby. It was published by NetEase, developed by Naked Rain, and got a trailer at Opening Night Live. I got hands-on at the show, and it wears its influences openly; there’s literal web-slinging (very Spider-Man) and a LOAD of mini-games (Like a Dragon). It’s free-to-play and out in January. For Ananta, Naked Rain is taking the free-to-play, cosmetics-only route. That’s certainly a choice for a single-player open-world game. Without gacha mechanics driving high ARPU, Ananta is betting purely on top-of-funnel reach and long-term retention. This puts pressure on skin appeal when there’s no multiplayer lobby to flex in (although, co-op is reportedly coming later). Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Then there’s Lego Skylines (273K wishlists between Aug 23 and 30), which does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a cosy Lego twist on the city-builder genre, as shallow or as deep as you fancy (five min quick sesh or ten-hour no-lifer session; latter for me). There’s some family-friendly stuff in there like couch co-op, which is only really viable on console. Iceflake Studios, which Paradox acquired back in 2020 is developing this one. So Paradox is probably looking for a family-friendly onramp to its rad Cities: Skylines games. The overlap there is plain, with 33% of Lego Skylines wishlisters having played Cities: Skylines and 16% Skylines II. There’s no doubt plenty of parents here (and uncles, ahem) planning to indoctrinate the next gen of city-builders. I’ll definitely be playing with my youngest nephew. This one could be big and educational. I’m very curious to see more. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Mature IP, new and old, rounds out the list As for the rest of the list of gamescom games by new wishlists between Aug 23 and 30: Heroes of Might & Magic III Remake got 189K new wishlists. It remakes the iconic 1999 turn-based-strategy classic in full 3D and 4K. It follows this year’s Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era (~1.8M copies sold, as per our estimates), and around a quarter of the III Remake wishlisters have played Olden Era, including 7% of them this month. Wardogs – a $40 PvP shooter – added another 146K to an already massive pile (nearly 1.6M total). It’s published by Team17 and made by Bulkhead. It plays somewhere between the tactical squad stuff of … Squad and the all-out-chaos battlefield of … Battlefield. It’s up to 100 players, and it’s out in about 10 days. It’s already pre-sold over 500K copies on Steam ($16.6M), boosted by a pre-order-only beta. It sold another 70K copies during gamescom, too. Afterworld managed 121K new wishlists. It’s a Paradox-made post-apocalyptic grand-strategy game, and it was announced at the show. It’s a departure from Paradox’s usual historical stuff, and the studio’s first new setting in over a decade. The Paradox purists are into it, with over half its wishlisters having played Hearts of Iron IV (19% this month) and 41% Crusader Kings III (17% this month). Metro 2039 got 110K during the show, tunnelling its total past 1.3M. Nearly 40% of wishlisters have played 2020’s Metro Exodus, the previous mainline title in the series. The Metro novels are Russian, dev 4A Games is Ukrainian, and it’s set in Moscow, so it’s unsurprising that – after the US (17.3% of wishlisters) – the next two countries are Russia (12.7%) and Ukraine (10.0%). The Blood of the Dawnwalker drew in (the blood of) 108K new wishlisters, now totalling an impressive 1.7M (at a $70 price point, though). It’s an open-world dark-fantasy action-RPG set in 14th-century Europe (with vampires!), made by some former Witcher devs at Rebel Wolves. Again, it shows. Over half of Blood of the Dawnwalker’s wishlisters have played The Witcher 3, and its #2 market is Poland, home of Rebel Wolves. That’s that hometown-hero effect we keep banging on about again! And Blood of the Dawnwalker plays very well, by the way. While it looks like a Witcher clone on the surface, it actually brings a lot to the table mechanics-wise. I love the whole time-as-a-currency spin on RPG gameplay. It gives the game a different, refreshing pace. Essentially, you start Blood of the Dawnwalker with a pool of 480 action points spread across 30 days and 30 nights. As for how the game performs, we’ll be posting some numbers next week, so hit subscribe below to get that in your inbox when it’s ready. Subscribe The Witcher’s legacy ripples Make no mistake: on a high level, this was The Witcher‘s gamescom. The #1 game by wishlisters was a Witcher 3 DLC. Warlock is clearly Witcher-inspired – as is Blood of the Dawnwalker, which was made by ex-Witcher devs. There was a lot of other cool stuff on the floor that we’ll no doubt be covering in subsequent newsletters, though! As always, wishlists went through the roof for sequels, remakes, DLC, and licensed IP. As always, though, these wishlists will likely convert to about 5% to 10% of launch-day buyers, with the probable exception of The Witcher DLC – the exception that proves the rule. Either way, we’ve got a nice, diverse list here – one that is very Witcher-y, Paradox-y, and – if you’re a fan of great games on Steam – a bloody good list. We even got a bunch of new IP to get excited for. Great gamescom! Even if we are still processing that unfathomable number of mini Kölsch beers! One more thing: GTA 6 broke the internet (again) Move aside, Spider-Man and The Odyssey (I love you both, really). But the decade’s defining entertainment zeitgeist is round the corner. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Rockstar dropped an extended look at GTA 6 last week. It was INSANE, the most impressed I’ve ever been by a showcase like this. You can see the budget seeping through every second of the extended look, and this level of game is unobtainable for any other publisher. Everyone’s going nuts, and rightly so. GTA 6 is out in holiday 2026, and it’ll be the biggest entertainment release ever, full stop. For those without a PS5 or Xbox Series console, a $500-$900 console is a big ask in this economy, but GTA will pull a lot of last-generation-console fence sitters over the current-gen fence either way: The autumn timing puts GTA 6 on (digital) shelves for the holidays, meaning a PS5 or Xbox (let’s be honest, mostly the former) will be on many a Christmas and Hanukkah list. Demand will outweigh the struggling supply, though, and PS5 Pros are already sold out and being sold at a markup via scalpers. Every console that isn’t on a shelf is a sale deferred or lost, and worse, it hands scalpers the margin. GTA has cultural clout that reaches everyone. It’s been a mainstream fixture since 2001’s GTA III and its clout has only grown exponentially since then. There’s a touchpoint for every generation alive. The FOMO-word-of-mouth double punch does the rest. Loading... It’ll reactivate the lockdown cohort, the millions who picked up gaming in 2020-21 and churned. GTA 6 will bring them back. Remember when College Football 25 brought a bunch of US gamers to current-gen consoles? GTA will do that globally. Once they’re back (or upgraded), and all GTA’d out, the fresh current-gen-console folks will check out the rest of the current-gen catalogue they missed. GTA Online, if not free to play, will also lead to a boost for PS+ and Xbox Game Pass, another boost for the ecosystem players. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Even some of the smug PCMR 60FPS crew won’t be able to resist their FOMO and will bite the bullet on a console to play this one early (then double dip). The consoles cost the same as a decent stick of RAM these days anyway lmao… Don’t get me wrong, though. GTA 6 is no silver bullet for the mature console market, but it does prime the current gen for a couple of strong swan-song years. And it’ll also give the consoles more users from which to maximise ARPU. ‘’We are in the latter half of the lifetime cycle of [the PS5],’’ said Sony President and CEO Hiroki Totoki in a Wall Street Journal interview. ‘’That means we do not need to aggressively sell the console today; rather than that, we are focusing on the current revenue from the current user base.’’ The biggest, best premium games always arrive late in a console cycle, so getting more players aboard now, ahead of that content storm (the new current-gen-only Call of Duty included), is a clear win for the platforms. On the Netflix thing, though: let’s all chill out a bit, like. Half my LinkedIn feed was going bonkers treating the reveal debuting on Netflix like it’s the future of entertainment. It wasn’t. It was a six-hour head start, and Netflix left that detail out of the “first-of-its-kind partnership” press release. The extended look hit Netflix at 3pm ET on 27 August, then went up on YouTube and Rockstar’s site for everyone six hours later. And it was all over social immediately, anyways. This reveal was going to reach an untold number of people whether it debuted on Netflix, YouTube, a Times Square screen, or a group chat. The last trailer did nearly half a billion views in a day with no gatekeeper at all. Netflix just stood next to that audience for six hours, borrowing it. It’s was a tidy deal for Netflix, sure. But every outlet on earth was breaking the thing down frame by frame by the evening anyway. Anyway. I’m hype. And we’ll be covering some GTA numbers on the newsletter soon. So hit subscribe below to get that in your inbox when it’s ready! Subscribe The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]
Sanford Health, North Memorial Health complete partnership
The combined health system will keep essential services at Robbinsdale Hospital while building stronger rural-urban care across Minnesota.
Ex-NFL star Colin Kaepernick’s unfinished business
In an exclusive interview with NBC News, the former quarterback opens up about the NFL, racism, politics and the 10 years since he took a knee.
Andrew Garfield says he still believes in a gay Spider-Man: ‘Anyone can be in that suit’
Andrew Garfield wanted to see a gay Spider-Man in 2013, and he wants to see a gay Spider-Man in 2026. The actor revisits his viral EW interview from 2013 in which he wondered why Spidey can’t ‘be into boys?’
‘Most’ of Star Wars Zero Company studio Bit Reactor was furloughed ahead of launch
Last week was meant to be a moment of triumph for Bit Reactor, the Maryland-based game studio founded in 2021 with ambitions to create a great new tactical combat game. On Thursday, August 27, Bit Reactor’s debut title, Star Wars Zero Company, released to stellar reviews. And, from the Gamescom show in Cologne, Germany, studio co-founder Greg Foertsch was giving interviews discussing what the studio’s next game may be. But for many developers on the game, launch has been bittersweet. Fans love it. Critics prefer it to most recent Star Wars games. Zero Company, which is out for PS5, Xbox Series consoles and PC, is the top-selling game on Steam. Much of the team that made it, however, is currently going without pay. They were furloughed, just weeks ahead of the game’s launch. A rep for Bit Reactor confirmed to Game File today that the studio had furloughed many of its workers prior to the game’s release. They said it was a difficult decision and one that had been made before it was clear how launch would go. The rep emphasized that the call to do this was Bit Reactor’s alone (meaning not from publisher EA nor Star Wars license holder Disney). While the rep declined to comment on the scale of the furloughs, a previously unreported lawsuit brought by studio co-founder Alison Kelly in 2024 noted in a filing from August 12 of this year that Bit Reactor “has furloughed most of its employees and terminated contractors…” One source told Game File the furloughs impacted 80% of the team; another referred to there only being a skeleton crew left on Bit Reactor’s active payroll, ready to address any of Zero Company’s post-launch bugs. The issue is that Bit Reactor, a studio formed in 2021, had run out of most of its money just ahead of the launch of its first game. Over the weekend, Zachariah Scott, a senior technical artist who worked at Bit Reactor from early 2023 until an acrimonious exit this past May, said on LinkedIn that the studio was “concealing the fact that the team was Furloughed weeks ago.” Reached by phone today, Scott told Game File that he spoke to nearly a dozen Bit Reactor workers over the weekend. “Everybody has essentially the same story, which is, ‘Yeah, I got furloughed three weeks ago.” The Bit Reactor rep told Game File that the studio hoped to bring furloughed workers back, suggesting that a successful launch of the game could be impactful. Scott told Game File that workers he spoke to were less confident that even if there were returns, that all who were furloughed would get their old jobs again. A heated dispute Bit Reactor’s mid-2026 was almost even more tumultuous. The lawsuit by co-founder Alison Kelly that first revealed the furloughs was initially slated to go to trial in June. The suit is a she-said/he-said about whether Kelly, until 2024 the chief operating officer of Bit Reactor, was a co-owner of the studio or whether it was solely owned by Greg Foertsch. In July 2024, Kelly sued, saying she was pushed out by Foertsch. She first sued in federal court and later refiled in Maryland’s Baltimore County, alleging breach of contract and that Foertsch had unjustly enriched himself. Kelly cited damages of over $20 million, on the basis of Bit Reactor allegedly being worth more than double that. Foertsch’s side has said Kelly was never a co-owner and has countered with claims about her job performance (which she has denied). The June trial was postponed until early 2027, as both sides have been deposing witnesses and filing more claims and denials along the way. Amid all of that, filings in the lawsuit reviewed by Game File paint a picture about Bit Reactor’s origins, early aspirations around tactics games, the team’s breakthrough in drawing the attention of Electronic Arts with the help of a pitch tied to one of EA’s non-Star Wars franchises, and early fractures among its co-founders. The real story about the company behind Zero Company
Abdul El-Sayed responds to JD Vance
After being called ‘evil’ by Vice President JD Vance, Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee responds in an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Fable Leans Hard on "Limitless" Life Sim and RPG Gameplay
The upcoming release of the Fable reboot has generated quite a bit of hype, with the studio behind the game recently revealing some impressively forgiving minimum hardware requirements for PC gamers. Following that reveal, Polygon published an interview with Xbox about Fable and its content,...
- Gary W. Rollins College of Business
Trey White, a 2004 Rollins College of Business accounting graduate, shares how UTC, a defining EY interview, and a mentor shaped his path to CFO.
Live updates: U.S. and Iran trade strikes after monthlong lull
Live updates and the latest news as the U.S. and Iran trade strikes after monthlong lull and Trump voters express frustrations with the administration in interviews with NBC News.
Probabilities Archive: Gene Wolfe (1931-2019), Science Fiction Grandmaster, 1982
The acclaimed science fiction/fantasy writer Gene Wolfe died in 2019 at the age of 87. In this interview recorded in 1982, he discusses his interest in science fiction, as well as the writing of his early novels. He’s interviewed by Richard A. Lupoff, Lawrence Davidson & Richard Wolinsky. Digitizing, remastering & re-editing by Richard Wolinsky in 2019. (photo from 2014, wikimedia)
How to Watch the CBS Special ‘Remembering Dolly: A Rhinestone Life’
The Entertainment Tonight special airs on CBS, with new tributes to Dolly Parton and archival interviews
Fiona Ma explains why she should be California's next Lieutenant Governor
Fiona Ma, California’s state treasurer, is running for lieutenant governor and shared her vision for addressing economic challenges, housing shortages, and regulatory issues across the state in an interview on California Politics 360.
Fable Will Officially Be 20 Hours Long, Xbox Confirms In New Interview
But you can 'literally play it forever' if you want
Trump says 'Meet the Press' host Kristen Welker will be reported to FCC
President Donald Trump sharply criticized Kristen Welker, the moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press," after abruptly exiting an interview with her earlier this year.
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: Visit O’Hare Williams studio
The following is an interview with Patti O’Hare Williams, artist and owner of O’Hare Williams, conducted by Discover Marblehead. O’Hare Williams is a Marblehead-based artist and creative studio known for fine art, graphic design and visual storytelling. Patti creates expressive still lifes and landscapes inspired by New England’s coastal beauty, combining color, graphic lines and
Pharr EDC’s Global Business Hub Positions Region as Binational Trade Powerhouse
An interview with Pharr Economic Development Corporation President Victor Perez.
Interview with the Enemy: Dallas Cowboys
David Halprin joins us for Week 3 of IWTE: Preseason Edition.
In AP interview, Attorney General Todd Blanche defends his record as political pressure mounts
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Attorney General Todd Blanche’s fidelity to President Donald Trump nearly cost him his confirmation. Now comes Blanche’s real test.
In AP Interview, Attorney General Todd Blanche Defends His Record as Political Pressure Mounts
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Attorney General Todd Blanche’s fidelity to President Donald Trump nearly cost him his confirmation. Now comes Blanche’s real test. Trump’s former personal attorney has stepped into the commanding role facing a challenge that other leaders of the Republican president’s ...
Pakistan lodge complaint with Sky Sports over interview with Imran Khan’s sons
The interview was conducted on Wednesday at Lord's and broadcast during the lunch break on the first day of the second Test
Dolly’s generosity to Vanderbilt Health highlighted; reading test results before your doctor has a chance; staying healthy this fall; plus other stories with Vanderbilt Health sources
Dolly Parton’s generosity to Vanderbilt Health was mentioned in many of her obituaries. A sampling: The New York Times, the BBC, NPR, NBC News, The Guardian, and Scripps News. Vanderbilt Health News posted a tribute to her, as well, and Mark Denison, MD, Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics and former director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, spoke to NewsNation for a story about her impact on his research. Everyday Health interviewed Trent Rosenbloom, MD, MPH, Professor of Biomedical Informatics, for a story about a new JAMA study that found two-thirds of patients read test results before connecting with a doctor. Comprehension of test results varied: 6.6 percent said they had a poor understanding, 26.8 percent understood the results fairly well, 31.7 percent understood them well, and 34.9 percent understood the results very well. William Schaffner, MD, Professor of Preventive Medicine, was quoted by several news outlets about public health issues, including: Healthline (cyclosporiasis cases now in 47 states); “The Naked Scientists” podcast (salmonella outbreak sickens hundreds); Medscape (the lighter-than-usual just-completed Australian flu season); and People (how to stay healthy this fall). Scripps News interviewed Jessica Young, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, about Vanderbilt researchers launching a study to determine if GLP-1 drugs can help people with opioid use disorder. WSMV Channel 4 News reporter Diana Rocco interviewed Kashish Goel, MBBS, Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of Transcatheter Heart Valve Interventions, for a story about patient Dixie Watt and her minimally invasive valve replacement with the M3 device, the first Food and Drug Administration-approved transseptal transcatheter mitral valve replacement. Fogarty International Center writer/editor Susan Scutti interviewed John Koethe, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, for a profile article for their newsletter, Global Health Matters. The article presents him as an example of a Fogarty Fellow success story and focus on his past and present research, including the HIV/AIDS research he conducted for his Fogarty project at the Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Zambia in 2008 and 2009.
Fed's Hammack tells Fox Business inflation likely to ease slowly
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said Thursday the U.S. central bank is unlikely to get price pressures back to target even by next year, in an interview that also saw her reiterate her belief a rate hike is needed to quell high inflation.
Jake Reiner gives first interview after parents Rob and Michele’s murders, Nick’s arrest
Rob and Michele Reiner’s eldest son, Jake Reiner, spoke about their deaths in his first sit-down interview and declines to answer questions about his brother Nick Reiner’s arrest.
Greenland research institutions halt new US collaborations citing mistrust
Although US President Donald Trump still harbours ambitions to take over Greenland, for US researchers his actions seem to have had the opposite effect. Over the summer, Greenland’s two largest research institutions, the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and the University of Greenland, both announced policies of not starting new research projects with US researchers.Both institutions cite a mistrust of the US as a motivation for the decision. At the University of Greenland, the change of policy has already led to the rejection of specific proposals for new collaborations, rector Mari Kleist told Science|Business. “The reason is the changed political situation between the US and Kalaallit Nunaat [Greenland], and the uncertainty that the American interest in Kalaallit Nunaat has created,” she said.For the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, a partially state-funded environmental research institution, the decision was also prompted by a lack of trust in US intentions. In a July interview with local broadcaster KNR, director Josephine Nymand cited concerns about data ownership, US “influence operatives” and social media monitoring of researchers entering the US.The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources has long collaborated with the US National Science Foundation (NSF). The policy change will not affect these existing partnerships but will apply to collaborations with new, “unknown” partners, Nymand said. At the University of Greenland, the policy is the same.The changes come amid proposals of severe cuts to the NSF, which would likely also see the US research presence in Greenland reduced. In spite of this, when asked about the Greenlandic policy change, the NSF remained optimistic of its continued presence in Greenland.“We are grateful to our partners in Greenland for their collaboration in advancing scientific knowledge and training the next generation of researchers. NSF remains committed to the long-term collaborations with Greenland that enable scientific research near communities and on Greenland’s ice sheet,” an NSF spokesperson told Science|Business.Fewer US researchers in GreenlandMost research published on Greenland is on natural science topics such as the cryosphere, ice dynamics, permafrost and climate change. In recent years, US researchers have been the most prolific publishers on Greenland.The US research presence in Greenland goes far beyond the capital of Nuuk, where the two research institutions are located. It includes the Pituffik Space Base in northwest Greenland, various projects in settlements and research stations along the coast, as well as research stations on the Greenland ice sheet itself.The largest of these sites, Summit Station, is located at the highest point of the Greenland ice sheet, about 3,200 metres above sea level, and since the 1980s it has been used for drilling cores out of the ice sheet. These ice cores provide valuable information on the global climate going back at least 100,000 years. About 30 kilometres from Summit Station, the Danish-led Greenland Ice-core Project (Grip), funded by the European Research Council, is also drilling ice cores. Although they initially competed, the relationship between the two research teams has “long been amiable,” Jørgen Peder Steffensen, a Danish researcher who has been part of Grip for more than 40 years, told Science|Business.However, since Trump took office in early 2025, Steffensen has noticed a reduction in US research in the country. “Several of our American partners did not make it into the field this year. Their field seasons were cancelled because they lacked the budget,” he said.He ascribed part of the reduction in US researchers to a renovation of Summit Station. “A very large share of NSF funding has gone into renewing the station. Money has been taken from research and allocated to rebuilding it,” he said.A report published in August by Arctic Hub confirms Steffensen's observations of fewer US researchers. It shows that US research publications on Greenland took a dip towards the end of the period spanning 2015 to 2024. In 2024, before Trump took office, the number of publications had fallen from an average of about 250 articles a year, to just 164, second behind Canada at 169.Data from the NSF logistics provider Battelle also shows a reduction in US research presence in Greenland in recent years. In 2023, Battelle counted 48 projects across 78 locations, but in 2025 that number had fallen to 40 projects across 38 locations. And while relations with US personnel in Greenland have remained strong, some tensions have arisen since Trump took office. “On a personal level, there is nothing. But it’s hanging in the air. It hangs unspoken,” Steffensen said.Cutting ties with US researchers entirely would come at a higher cost for the ice core researchers than the Nuuk-based institutions. To get cargo to and from their bases, both Grip and Summit Station rely on unique, ski-equipped Hercules LC-130 aircraft operated by the New York Air National Guard. Without these, maintaining a research base on the Greenland ice sheet would not be viable on current budgets, Steffensen said. “[If the Hercules planes were not available], we would have to think outside of the box. We would have to use smaller planes, and we would have to build a base closer to the coast. But staying in our current location would be too expensive and it would create a huge carbon footprint,” he said.Suspicious people in NuukIn her explanation of the severed US ties, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources director Josephine Nymand compared the decision to past situations when the institute had to cut ties with China and Russia, the latter due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. And although the current situation is less severe, the comparison reflects the seriousness with which Nuuk sees the US threats. “From Greenland’s perspective, the US may not look so different from Russia right now: a much larger neighbouring power threatening to invade,” Lin Alexandra Mortensgaard, a researcher of international politics in the Arctic at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told Science|Business. “From a European perspective, it is not a comparable situation, because we are entangled with the US on all possible fronts and do not want to destroy more than is absolutely necessary. But from Greenland’s side, there may well be a need to send a clear signal to the US,” she went on. Suspicions have been fuelled by instances of Trump-affiliated people in Greenland trying to persuade Greenlandic citizens to support a US takeover. The most prolific among them is Tom Dans, a former venture capitalist and pecan farmer who was appointed by Trump as the chair of the United States Arctic Research Commission. Observers fear that he is now using research to achieve a US takeover.“Greenland is a small society with a small population, so when Americans with unclear affiliations wander around, trying to be good friends with people, and you don't know what they want, that creates mistrust. This probably played into the research institutions taking these drastic steps,” Mortensgaard said.Related articles:The US ‘golden age’ science strategy: what Europeans need to knowEU polar research melts into the backgroundAnchor Greenlanders in Arctic climate research, experts tell EU ahead of policy updateAnd although Greenland’s population is small at just 57,000, for Mortensgaard, it serves as a microcosm for the geopolitical situation as a whole: global powers fighting for their interests to the detriment of the common interest. Arctic research already suffered when collaborations with Russia broke down in 2022, she said, so a split with the US would be a serious hit to climate science.“The Arctic climate system does not respect borders or geopolitical divides. When collaboration across those lines suddenly becomes impossible, it is a huge problem for knowledge production,” she said. European alternatives?The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources is funded partly by research grants from external sources like the NSF. To replace the US funding, the institute will have to look for alternative revenue sources, and Nymand said that she is looking to Europe for those. Aside from Denmark, of which Greenland is formally a part, she also noted increased interest in research collaborations from the UK, France and Switzerland. Kleist of the University of Greenland told Science|Business that it was too early to say if the severed US ties would lead to more collaborations with Europe. Meanwhile, Mortensgaard believed that the tensions in Arctic research could well leave room for closer European partnerships, or stronger links with Canada. “I spoke to Canadian researchers who had long-standing relationships with American colleagues and who collaborated with the US Navy, but who had gotten worried that their data on sea ice could be used if Trump suddenly decided to follow through on his threats of invading,” she said. “Like Canada, I think Greenland is considering creating closer ties to Europe and I think European capitals will be open to this,” she said.
What We Know About Dolly Parton Final Weeks, Health Struggles
As the world remembers Dolly Parton, People’s general manager and editor-in-chief, Charlotte Triggs, joins TODAY to discuss Dolly’s final magazine cover story and in-depth interview. Triggs also talks about “The Queen of Country’s” legacy, and shares details about her final weeks. “She was working right up until the very end,” Triggs says.
"The Science of Artemis": An Interview with David Kring on This Week in Space
Washington, D.C.--August 26, 2026. Dr. David Kring, Principal Scientist at Universities Space Research Association’s Lunar and Planetary Institute recently spoke on the “Science of Artemis” on This Week in Space . Attached is a video of his interview. https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space/episodes/224?autostart=false
Morning interview: new help for people with mental health, developmental problems
A new program aims to keep people with mental health and developmental disability challenges in the community.
Metro 2039 Developers on Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: "Quite a Lot of Our Plans Changed Overnight"
After finishing the four-or-so-hour preview build of Metro 2039, the upcoming first-person shooter sequel from Ukrainian developer 4A Games and falling completely in love with it, I reached out to the team to ask some questions about how they've approached the latest entry in their post-apocalyptic franchise – both in terms of the game itself, but also because their real lives have changed so much since Russia's invasion of their country in 2022.
Trump admin pauses visa appointments worldwide amid heightened screening for applicants
The State Department paused all visa interviews at embassies and consulates worldwide as officers undergo training on new public charge guidance.
Dolly Parton didn’t talk much about politics. It was by choice.
'I am not political, and I refuse to get caught up in political things,' Parton said in a 2020 interview with USA TODAY.
Josh Harris Talks Landing LeBron on ‘Sportico Sports Business’
Josh Harris admits that even though he’s the owner of the 76ers, he’s not LeBron James’ boss. “LeBron doesn’t have a boss,” Harris said in an interview for the latest episode of Sportico Sports Business Presented by Endava, airing Tuesday night on YES Network. “I’m totally comfortable with it. I think that LeBron—or any athlete who’s …
Josh Harris Talks Landing LeBron on ‘Sportico Sports Business’
Josh Harris admits that even though he’s the owner of the 76ers, he’s not LeBron James’ boss. “LeBron doesn’t have a boss,” Harris said in an interview for the latest episode of Sportico Sports Business Presented by Endava, airing Tuesday night on YES Network. “I’m totally comfortable with it. I think that LeBron—or any athlete who’s …
Dolly Parton opened up about ‘hard times’ with her health in final interview days before she died
Country music legend Dolly Parton opened up about “hard times” with her health days before she died.
In a 2023 interview, Trump’s FDA new pick laid out a vision for "conservative-based" science
In a 2023 podcast interview, Heidi Overton called for the creation of "alternative systems" for publishing research that backed conservative policy
The living world is forcing scientists to rethink purpose
Purpose is not only a question of meaning. For philosopher Alan Love, it is also a question of life, agency, function, and scientific method.
LI Music and Entertainment Hall sets doc lineup on Billy Joel, more
Billy Joel's rare 1971 interview plus films on Kenny Loggins and Ann Wilson are set for Sept. 25-27 in Stony Brook.
El-Sayed confronted about culture wars on Fox News
The Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, clashed with Fox News host Jesse Waters during a heated interview. Laura’s panelists debate the top issues from the segment on everything from culture wars to affordability.
Clarence Thomas rejects idea that race determines politics
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recently joined Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to discuss race and politics in a rare interview. (Credit: Verdict with Ted Cruz via Youtube)
Clarence Thomas scorches racial litmus tests policing thought: ‘Stay Black and die’
Clarence Thomas compared restrictions on Black conservatives' viewpoints to racial segregation in a wide-ranging interview with Sen. Ted Cruz.
Chaka Khan resists ‘straight icon’ label: ‘How do you know what the f--- I am?’
Chaka Khan pushed back against being labeled a ‘straight icon’ in a new interview: ‘How do you know what the f--- I am?’ she asked, adding, ‘I don’t ever share that part of my life.’
Politics Now: August 22, 2026
This week on Politics Now with host John Langeler– A federal court says acting U.S. Attorney for Nevada Sigal Chattah isn’t serving legally. We interview Republican Assemblywoman Lisa C…
Patriots Executive Breaks Silence on Christian Gonzalez’s Contract Standoff
The New England Patriots have had a summer of trying to find common ground with Christian Gonzalez.With the regular season approaching and no extension in place, one of the Patriots’ top decision-makers gave a fresh perspective on the stalemate.Executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf addressed Gonzalez’s contract situation during his halftime interview with […] The post Patriots Executive Breaks Silence on Christian Gonzalez’s Contract Standoff appeared first on HEAVY.
Gamescom Is Officially the Biggest Gaming Event in the World. So What’s Next?
Is it coming to North America?
In first TV interview, California State Auditor Grant Parks talks about the state's high-risk issues
State Auditor Grant Parks discussed ongoing financial issues in the state's government, the growing demands on his office, and his effort to fight wasteful spending in California in his first ever TV interview on California Politics 360.
Eleni Kounalakis explains why she should be California's next state treasurer
In a wide-ranging interview on California Politics 360, Kounalakis highlighted her background in housing, finance, and public service as key qualifications for the role.
Full interview: Leader of California Energy Commission defends new tire rules
The leader of the California Energy Commission defended new tire rules the commission approved that are facing backlash and criticism for their potential impact on the cost of living in this state.
Tim Scott calls support for Darline Graham an ‘easy choice’ despite her debate flub
In an interview with “Meet the Press,” Scott defended Graham after her recent debate blunder raised questions about her qualifications.
Full interview: Sen. Markey on primary, age in politics and more
Here’s the full @Issue interview with Sen. Ed Markey ahead of his primary election against challenger Rep. Seth Moulton. Markey and Matt Prichard discuss his priorities for another term in office, his response to criticism over aging members of Congress staying in power, Republicans’ criticisms of socialism going back to Social Security and Medicare.
Capcom talks Onimusha: Way of the Sword for Nintendo Switch 2, says you may not feel a difference compared to PS5
Nintendo Switch 2 players don’t have anything to fear when it comes to the upcoming Onimusha: Way of the Sword, as Capcom has indicated that it’ll be pretty much like the PS5 version. Based on some of the publisher’s other recent games like Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata, this isn’t overly surprising. The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Onimusha: Way...
Byron Donalds details affordability plans, defends Trump economy in interview
He said he would also revisit property tax cuts if Florida voters reject Amendment 3 in November.
She’s a Trump acolyte. He’s a ‘gringo Sandinista.’ Meet the Harps.
Trump aide Natalie Harp is estranged from her brother, Preston, who has used social media and recent interviews to criticize her and highlight his own left-wing politics.
Lionel Martellini (EDHEC Quantum Institute): Why business leaders need quantum awareness, not quantum washing
Yuval Boger interviews Lionel Martellini, finance professor at the EDHEC and founding director of the EDHEC Quantum Institute.
Stars and Stripes editor, reporter fired for insubordination after doing CBS interview
The Pentagon on Friday fired the editor-in-chief of Stars and Stripes and a top reporter for insubordination after they spoke publicly against any interference by the Defense Department in the military news outlet that has a long history of editorial independence.
Sources: Investigators probing Trump foes seek interviews on Mar-a-Lago search
The requests were for voluntary interviews and not made through subpoenas the sources said
Trump appears on former fixer-turned-enemy Michael Cohen's radio show
The interview lacked fireworks, but it marked a stunning public reunion between the two men
Trump appears on former fixer-turned-enemy Michael Cohen's radio show
The interview lacked fireworks, but it marked a stunning public reunion between the two men
Q&A: Taylor Goldenstein on the Unique Politics of Data Centers in Texas
Editor’s Note: This interview first appeared in Path Finders, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each week, Path Finders features a Q&A with a
Watch: Mark Cuban Says You Can’t Fix Healthcare Until Every Price Is Known
With his online pharmacy, Mark Cuban changed how generic drugs are sold — and he has thoughts about how to fix the healthcare system. The billionaire businessman talks to KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to answer the question: “How Would You Fix It?”
4th person arrested in connection with Evadale business burglary
Bryston Brenier, 17, was taken into custody by the Silsbee Police Department for an interview, where he confessed to his involvement, the sheriff’s office said. He was taken to the Jasper County Jail.
The Big Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Interview — Infinity Ward on the Beta, Matchmaking, and Much More
IGN interviews Infinity Ward on all things Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 ahead of the beta.
FromSoftware's Miyazaki Interview – "The Duskbloods Is A Game I Want To See Exist"
We talked to FromSoftware president and The Duskbloods director Hidetaka Miyazaki after a hands-on preview and shared many of the ideas behind his games and where the team goes from here.
The Worldfolio: How Sun-Star Stationery Is Driving Global Growth Through Entertainment, Innovation and Japanese Design
Sun-Star Stationery is expanding globally by combining Japanese craftsmanship, functional innovation and entertainment. Through idea stationery, character collaborations and direct consumer engagement, the company creates products that solve everyday problems while delivering emotional value, with growing opportunities across Asia, North America and Europe.
INTERVIEW: Yale Health dietician gives parents tips for healthy lunches ahead of the school year
With the new school year quickly approaching, many parents are looking for simple, nutritious lunch ideas that will keep their kids energized and focused throughout the school day.
US airman arrested at Capitol after calling for Trump’s impeachment is detained again
Jason Watson, the US service member who was arrested on the steps of the US Capitol last month after calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, has been detained once again — just days after he criticized the president in an exclusive CNN interview.
How One CEO Stepped Up to Save a Family Business
When Nubia Perez stepped into leadership in a time of uncertainty, she brought structure, vision and renewed growth to her family’s manufacturing business.
Uli Hoeneß on Musiala health scare: "I go to bed thinking of him"
In an interview with RTL/ntv, Bayern chief Uli Hoeneß revealed that he was “shocked” when Musiala suffered another collapsing incident just days apart. "I was speechless. I go to bed thinking of...
From Textile Waste to Breakthrough Innovation: The OSOMTEX Story
An inside look at how Patricia Ermecheo created OSOMTEX, pioneered textile recycling technology and rebuilt her business after burnout and loss.
The Big Interview With The Developers Of Big Walk
Three members of House House joined me for a stroll to talk about Big Walk’s development, puzzles, sounds, and its emotional ending.
Mike McCarthy Opens Up on Final Chapter with Aaron Rodgers
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy waxed poetic about his 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers during a recent interview with Ralph […] The post Mike McCarthy Opens Up on Final Chapter with Aaron Rodgers appeared first on Steelers Now.
Hayden Panettiere reflected on childhood friendship with Michelle Trachtenberg before her own death
In a 2025 interview with EW, Hayden Panettiere detailed a surprising childhood connection to her ‘Ice Princess’ costar Michelle Trachtenberg: ‘I’m very grateful that I have the memories that I have with her.’
QED Science: Interview With VP Of Product Guy Ronen About Validating Scientific Research With AI
QED Science provides an AI validity engine that breaks manuscripts and grant proposals into individual claims, tests each against the published literature, and scores them for originality and validity. The company also publishes The 1%, a blind ranking of the strongest new preprints in life science. Pulse 2.0 interviewed QED Science VP of Product Guy Ronen to learn more.
Elvis Presley asked Barbara Eden for marriage advice
Elvis Presley asked Barbara Eden for marriage advice, the ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ star recalled in an exclusive interview.
Ronaldo: This is probably my last year of football
Football icon Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, has given his strongest hint yet of when he will retire. "This is probably my last year of football, and I want to leave a spectacular legacy," the Al-Nassr striker told Vogue magazine in an interview on Sunday to mark his wedding to Georgina Rodríguez.
Bruin to Bruin: Internationally renowned health economist, global health reform leader and UCLA Associate of the Chancellor Dr. Felicia Marie Knaul
Listen to health economist and global health leader Dr. Felicia Marie Knaul sit down with Editorial Board member and Podcasts Editor Megan Vahdat to discuss her work advancing health equity, shaping health systems around the world and drawing on personal experience to drive meaningful change.
Morgan McGarvey calls for reversal of change to asylum process
McGarvey wants the Trump administration to reverse the change, which allows officers to refer certain asylum applications to a judge without first conducting an interview
Tri Ta, Paula Swift, and the superficial state of California politics
That Tri Ta and Paula Swift hold superficial positions on housing policy was unsurprising given how the rest of their interviews went.
The X-Files creator Chris Carter on Scully, science and the truth that’s still out there
The creator of The X-Files discusses the Frankenstein elements in the newly released director’s cut of "The X-Files: I Want to Believe," and how Mary Shelley’s classic influenced the story.
Interview with the Enemy: Jacksonville Jaguars
Gus Logue joins us for first IWTE of the 2026 NFL season.
Google's new Pixel 11 chip might not be 2nm, after all
Rumors seemed almost certain that the Tensor G6 would be a 2nm chip, but a new interview claims Google went with 3nm again.
Why Trust, Not Tech, Will Determine AI Adoption In Business Travel
Trust will drive AI adoption. In this interview AMEX GBT exec talks about how trust impacts usage.
Women’s sports media outlet backs trans athletes, then avoids questions from reporter who disagrees
The GIST pitched an interview about WNBA growing pains, then backed away when questions about its transgender athlete stance seemed likely to come.
Unearthed interview exposes Dem senator's past support for reparations: 'There is a debt unpaid'
Jon Ossoff said in 2019 he would support reparations legislation, calling slavery a "debt unpaid." His resurfaced comments now raise questions.
Sara Ito Talks Believing in Herself and Living as a Dancer in L.A.: Billboard Japan Women In Music Interview
The performer spoke to Billboard Japan online from Los Angeles about the beliefs that carried her across the ocean.
In Good Health: Why Measles Numbers Are On The Rise
Nationwide, students, teachers, and parents are gearing up for the school year.And measles is spreading. The U.S. has already logged more cases this year than in all of 2025. It’s the highest count in 35 years. That’s in large part because measles vaccination rates have slipped below 95 percent – the threshold public health experts say is needed to stop community spread. Last week on CNN, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said children should be vaccinated for measles after being pressed on-camera, even as he used the same interview to push a debunked claim about respiratory syncytial virus. And on Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at upending the childhood vaccine schedule, including changes to the measles vaccine and others. But what will actually change at the doctor’s office?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
‘The Traitors: New Blood’ first ever all-civilian cast revealed (exclusive)
‘The Traitors: New Blood’ first ever all-civilian cast is revealed with photos, bios, and interviews with the 22 new Faithfuls and Traitors.
Fact check: How Tim Scott and a Republican attack ad misleadingly snipped key context from El-Sayed’s ‘dangerous’ speech
The leader of Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, Sen. Tim Scott, said in a Sunday interview on CNN that people should believe something Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed supposedly said about himself. But Scott took El-Sayed’s quote out of context. So did an attack ad released last week by the group Scott chairs.
UK PM Burnham promises business help within 'difficult' financial outlook
Britain's government will do what it can to help lower costs for business but against the backdrop of a "difficult financial outlook", Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in an interview on Wednesday.
Trump declines to rule out declaring a national security emergency to control the 2026 election
President Donald Trump in a new interview declined to rule out declaring a national security emergency as a means to try to assert more control over the 2026 midterm elections.
Hunter Biden’s viral interviews fuel speculation about possible political future
Hunter Biden has returned to the public eye with a string of high-profile and viral interviews, fueling renewed speculation about a political future.
Dodge's CEO Says The Best Is Yet To Come: 'We're Going To Go Faster'
Matt McAlear discusses the 600-hp Charger Super Bee, the upcoming GLH, and what’s next for the SRT brand.
John Hinckley Jr. shares a message for Jodie Foster in rare interview (exclusive)
What John Hinckley Jr. wants to say to Jodie Foster, more than 40 years after he attempted to assassinate President Reagan.
The U.S. Healthcare System is Already Mostly Socialized
Now that Abdul El-Sayed is the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s open Senate seat, the outcome of this crucial race will depend mainly on two things: Whether Republicans succeed in demonizing El-Sayed because he’s brown and a Muslim, and whether they succeed in demonizing him as a left-wing radical. I will defer for the now the question of whether bigotry will be effective this year, although I will address it another day. What I want to address instead is El-Sayed’s signature issue — healthcare. Yes, El-Sayed advocates Medicare for All, a position the usual suspects denounce as “socialism.” I will get to the politics of his stance soon. Today, however, I want to talk about the substance. We should be clear that El-Sayed doesn’t even call himself a socialist. On the contrary, he explicitly disavows the label, saying “I’m a capitalist who just knows about capitalism”. In fact, as I explained in a previous post, the policies that El-Sayed advocates qualify him as a social democrat, not a socialist. Still, El-Sayed advocates a system under which the government would pay almost all medical expenses. Isn’t that socialism? Well, if that is the criterion then much of U.S. healthcare is already socialist. In fact, the government’s role is so large that U.S. healthcare is better described as partially privatized socialism than as anything resembling a free market. Let’s start with the raw numbers on health insurance, which pays the bulk of Americans’ medical expenses. Americans receive health insurance either from private companies or from public programs, overwhelmingly Medicare and Medicaid. Here’s what the breakdown of coverage and spending between private and public looked like in 2024: While a majority of Americans with health insurance get it from private companies, well over 100 million of us are covered by government programs instead. And these government programs pay more total dollars for medical bills than the private insurers do. Why do government programs that cover a minority of the population account for a majority of health insurers’ outlays? Mainly because Medicare covers seniors, and we’re expensive. Also, while Medicaid covers many younger Americans, disabled and elderly beneficiaries account for most of its spending. Even by the raw numbers, then, U.S. health insurance looks as much public as private. But that understates the government’s role: Private health insurance in the U.S. is both highly regulated and heavily subsidized. This is obviously true for the insurance coverage purchased by tens of millions of Americans through the exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act. But employment-based health insurance, which covers 161 million Americans, is far more of a government creation than most people realize. For employment-based insurance exists largely because of huge implicit government subsidies that come with major strings attached. Here’s how that works. If your employer pays you $10,000, that’s taxable income. But if your employer pays $10,000 toward a company health insurance plan that meets certain criteria, it isn’t taxable. That’s a huge effective subsidy, running at more than $300 billion a year. Take that subsidy into account, along with the more than $100 billion per year spent subsidizing policies purchased under the ACA, as well as the outlays on Medicare and Medicaid, and net effect is that the government pays for more than two-thirds of Americans’ health insurance. Granted, there are strings attached. Roughly speaking, employment-based health plans can’t discriminate based on medical history — that is, they can’t deny coverage to employees with pre-existing conditions — and they also can’t offer the plans only to highly compensated employees — a health plan that is only for the C-suite is considered taxable income. So given the restrictions of the federal tax code, employer-based health insurance is a lot like Obamacare, which also prohibits discrimination based on medical history and provides subsidies to make insurance affordable to lower-paid workers. The fact is that virtually all of private healthcare insurance is already well under some form of government control through regulation and tax subsidies. How should we think about this system? First of all, is Medicare socialist? Don’t tell anyone, but the way Medicare operates — it covers every senior’s medical expenses, whatever they turn out to be, while being funded by taxes that depend on one’s income — could be summarized by the old Marxist slogan “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” And back in 1961, when Ronald Reagan was the face of a last-ditch effort by the American Medical Association to block the creation of Medicare, he denounced Medicare as “socialized medicine” and warned that it would destroy our freedom. In reality, American freedom survived until Jan. 20, 2025, while Medicare is immensely popular, with an 82 percent favorable rating in the most recent KFF survey. Medicaid, government health insurance for lower-income Americans, comes in at 73 percent. This is in sharp contrast to public views about private insurers, who are widely disliked if not hated and accused of denying essential care. Furthermore, if Medicare is socialism, then the whole U.S. health insurance system, with the government paying most of the bills and placing conditions on private insurers, is almost equally socialist. If you insist on calling any program the government pays for and regulates socialist, then U.S. healthcare would best be described as a partially privatized form of socialism. And one must ask, what is the point of the part that is privatized? Do private insurers add anything positive? Or are they simply parasites, skimming off money that could have been paying for care? The case for viewing insurers as parasites is strong. Many Medicare benefits are now delivered via Medicare Advantage, that is, plans paid for by the government but run through insurance companies. MedPAC, an independent advisory commission, estimates that last year Medicare Advantage plans were overpaid by $84 billion, thanks to practices such as “upcoding,” in which patients’ health problems are overstated to get larger sums from Medicare. Assessing the waste from employer-based insurance is harder, but most evidence suggests that private insurers have substantially higher administrative costs than Medicare does. Furthermore, the complexity of private insurance, with multiple payers all trying to deny care when they can, is a huge burden both on providers — doctors, nurses, and hospitals — and on patients. What do private insurers offer to compensate for these costs? One must go through intellectual contortions to avoid the conclusion that they are, in fact, parasites. Which brings me back to El-Sayed. In supporting Medicare for All, he’s basically calling for an end to the partial, parasitic privatization of a healthcare system that is already hugely dependent on public funding. When one looks at it that way, it’s not at all a radical proposal. Admittedly, the political lift requires overcoming the opposition to higher taxes to pay for Medicare for All. Political realism rather than economics was the reason I and many other progressives supported Obamacare, with all its complexities, rather than demanding an immediate move to Medicare for All. But the political calculus may very well have shifted since the 2000s, as Americans are fed up with a system of unaffordable premiums, rampant claim denials, and byzantine claim administration. Moreover, funding healthcare insurance through taxation would allow for a much more progressive distribution of the cost. That is, compared to the present system, middle-income households would pay less as high-income households would pay more. And the U.S. would stop wasting large sums on pointless administrative costs. So let’s be clear: El-Sayed’s healthcare platform is perfectly reasonable on the merits of cost, fairness and health efficacy. And with private insurers never more hated, while millions of Americans are losing their health insurance, 2026 may be its time. MUSICAL CODA
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.
Brad Pitt no longer sober, talks feeling 'suicidal' amid family drama
Brad Pitt opened up about his mental health journey amid his legal troubles with ex-wife Angelina Jolie in a new interview with Esquire.
Chad reacts to his interview with Dean Phillips, talks about Iran, and laments the worst of politics today
Chad reacts to his interview with Dean Phillips, talks about the quagmire of Iran, and laments the worst of what we see in politics today. | 830 WCCO
Ocasio-Cortez says she's freezing her eggs as she considers her political career
The 36-year-old Ocasio-Cortez announced her decision on social media before explaining in an ABC "This Week" interview Sunday she has not ruled out running for president or for U.S. Senate.
UNCW Business School Students Travel to Prague for Real-Life Consulting Experience by David Glew
This article was contributed by Kestrel Smoot, International Programs Coordinator for UNCW’s Cameron School of Business. During the most recent spring semester, 33 upper-level finance and marketing students from the UNCW’s Cameron School of Business traveled to Prague, Czechia, to participate in an intensive international consulting project. Unlike traditional study-abroad programs, the Prague consultancy project focuses on real client engagement. Each year’s project is entirely new, designed through collaboration between faculty and industry partners to identify a current business challenge that students will address. This year, students worked with MAMS-Champi, a Czech non-alcoholic beverage company that is seeking to expand into other global markets. Throughout the first half of the semester, students attend class at UNCW and prepare for their time abroad by conducting preliminary research, developing analytical frameworks, and organizing themselves into specialized teams responsible for tasks such as marketing strategy, industry analysis, consumer segmentation, and competitive evaluation. The course emphasizes independence and teamwork, requiring students to take ownership of their work, manage deadlines, and collaborate across functional groups. Additionally, faculty serve as advisors, allowing students to navigate the complexities of the project much as they would in a professional consulting environment. Once in Prague, students met with company leadership, toured facilities, and refined their recommendations based on real-time feedback. The in-person component is widely regarded as the most transformative aspect of the program because students must synthesize weeks of work into a cohesive presentation and deliver it to the client, demonstrating professionalism, strategic thinking, and adaptability. Beyond the consulting work, students participated in cultural and educational activities that broadened their understanding of global business environments. They explored Prague’s historic districts, learned about Czech culture, and engaged with local professionals. These experiences helped students understand how economic, regulatory, and social factors shape market opportunities. The Prague consultancy project stands as a defining example of the Cameron School of Business’s commitment to experiential learning, consistently strengthening students’ confidence, enhancing their resumes, and serving as a focal point in job interviews. Employers recognize the value of the hands-on experience and transferable skills students gain, underscoring the program’s role in preparing industry-ready graduates for today’s fast-moving business landscape.