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Science Films Can Inspire Mindful Observation That Grounds Audiences in Local Nature
Surveys show science films help audiences comprehend new concepts through visual narratives. During Climate Week NYC 2025 last September, more than 100 people gathered on Governors Island for a screening of OBSERVER, a documentary film from the Science Communication Lab. The New York Climate Exchange, Stony Brook University and Science Communication Lab/Wonder Collaborative partnered to
“Political Disaster for Donald Trump”: Jeremy Scahill on Stalled U.S.-Iran Talks
Negotiations between the United States and Iran to end the war are at an impasse as the conflict enters its third month. The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday that Trump has told aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iranian ports to ramp up the pressure on Tehran. Iran is saying it will enter into direct talks with the U.S. “when President Trump lifts what Iran considers to be the illegal military naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz,” says Drop Site News co-founder Jeremy Scahill. “Iran has maintained that it’s not shut down the strait, but that it’s just shut it down for any vessels that are linked to the U.S. war in any way.” Scahill says a disorganized Trump administration is pushing a “total propaganda narrative” that it has the upper hand in negotiations, while Iran believes it has the “three M’s” on its side: munitions, markets and the midterms.
How The Golden Entertainment (GDEN) Investment Story Is Shifting With Mixed Analyst Sentiment
The fair value price target for Golden Entertainment is now set at US$30.0, effectively unchanged from the prior US$30 level and signaling a steady headline anchor for the story. This static target comes as bullish and bearish analysts weigh steadier execution potential against more cautious expectations and a downgrade in research commentary. As you read on, you will see how to track these shifting views and what they may mean for following the evolving narrative around the stock. Analyst...
EPIC Entertainment Group
A US-wide rollout of immersive experiences responds to growing demand for narrative-driven visitor experiences
The Lancet Global Health: Untangling the complex relationship between HIV-exposure and TB in children: A narrative review
A review examined existing literature on TB prevention, prevalence, and outcomes in CHEU, identifying key knowledge gaps to guide future research.
Why The Narrative Around Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSGE) Is Shifting With New Street Signals
Recent Street research around Madison Square Garden Entertainment has produced several price target moves, including individual increases of between US$2 and US$6, while the consolidated target shift sits at about US$2. Bullish initiations and fresh coverage from major firms such as JPMorgan highlight growing attention, even as the removal from Goldman Sachs' US Conviction List and more cautious targets show that opinions are still split. In the sections ahead, you will see how these...
PENN Entertainment (PENN) Near Breakeven Q1 Loss Tests Bullish Profitability Narratives
PENN Entertainment (PENN) opened Q1 2026 with revenue of US$1.8b and a basic EPS loss of US$0.02, alongside net income excluding extraordinary items of a US$2.3m loss. The company’s quarterly revenue moved from US$1.7b in Q1 2025 to US$1.8b in Q1 2026, while EPS shifted from a profit of US$0.73 to a small loss in the latest quarter, creating a mixed picture of topline scale against continued pressure on profitability and margins. See our full analysis for PENN Entertainment. With the headline...
The fiery effects of political memes
Despite their simplicity, memes can both inspire new political voices and reinforce false narratives and are affecting online discourse around the globe.
Mara Brock Akil And Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove Share How Storytelling Shapes Black Maternal Health
On Saturday, April 18, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda brought together elected officials, TV and film writers, creators, and community leaders for a powerful conversation unpacking how media narratives can impact policy.
‘Outlander’: 3 Reasons ‘Evidence of Things Not Seen’ Parallels ‘Faith’
How Fergus's death makes narrative sense in the TV world of 'Outlander.'
Politicians are using low teen birth rates to further restrict access to birth control, abortion
“Both narratives — that teen birth rates are too high or too low — problematize teen pregnancy and childbearing,” writes Riley J. Steiner.
Why The Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) Story Is Shifting As Valuation And Views Reset
Tencent Music Entertainment Group has seen its fair value estimate reset from about US$26.92 to about US$17.98, a sizable shift that points to a more restrained view of potential upside at current levels. This change lines up with mixed analyst commentary, where a cluster of downgrades focused on competition and earnings visibility sits alongside at least one upgrade highlighting possible upside if current headwinds ease. Read on to see what is driving this evolving narrative and how you can...
BAFTA Pulls Game From Showcase Due To Depiction Of Child Abuse
The Quiet Things is an autobiographical narrative game about childhood trauma
What is the femosphere?
A growing number of influencers are encouraging women to ditch the egalitarian narrative of liberal feminism and take a more cynical approach to the opposite sex
Memory Wars: Facts, Disinformation, and the Politics of Remembrance
The 14th European Remembrance Symposium in Bratislava, Slovakia, on 27–29 May 2026, will explore how collective memory is shaped and weaponized in today’s geopolitical climate. Bringing together an illustrious line-up of experts, the event examines disinformation, identity, and the role of historical narratives in modern political conflict.
Trump’s Portrayal of the War in Iran Collides With Reality
President Trump is confronting a crisis that is not bending to his narrative of a “pretty reasonable” new regime in Iran and all-but-assured victory for the United States.
Why I’m embracing the latest uncool thing in gaming
‘Unc’ is meant to disparage older players who favour slow-paced shooters and epic narrative games, but the industry should make games for all generations
How Ardent Health (ARDT) Narrative Is Shifting As Valuation Resets And Operations Steady
Ardent Health is back in focus after analysts trimmed their fair value estimate from $12.73 to $12.44, a small reset that still reflects largely unchanged assumptions on the core business. The shift comes alongside Street commentary that balances slightly lower targets with improving Q4 execution, steadier payer denials, solid patient volumes, and views that the current share price may look undemanding to some. Read on to see how to track these evolving signals and what they could mean for...
'Industrial' clickbait disinformation targets Australian politics
From anti-transgender narratives about Olympic swimmers to
'Industrial' clickbait disinformation targets Australian politics
From anti-transgender narratives about Olympic swimmers to
How Golden Entertainment (GDEN) Narratives Are Shifting As Analysts Recut Targets And Takeover Nears
Golden Entertainment’s fair value estimate has been nudged from US$30.50 to US$30.00 per share, a small adjustment that still keeps the story focused around a US$30 mark. Some analysts view this US$0.50 trim as an incremental shift that reflects updated valuation inputs rather than a major change in the underlying outlook, while more cautious voices see it as a signal of reduced conviction at recent prices. As you read on, you will see how this updated target fits into the evolving analyst...
Let the state’s narrative-laundering season begin
Politics is a game of narrative. Whoever controls the narrative wins. Sure, the truth is interesting. But truth doesn’t sell. It takes time to uncover, assuming people care enough to go digging for it. Narratives are easier. They’re simple, comforting and come pre-approved by the crowd. Groupthink isn’t just easy. It’s safe. The truth, on […]
How The Narrative Is Shifting For Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) After Guidance Reset And Target Cuts
Flutter Entertainment’s fair value estimate has been reduced from US$207.44 to US$197.35, lowering the modeled upside by about 4.9%. That change aligns with more cautious research following weaker Q4 results and lower 2026 guidance. At the same time, analysts continue to discuss long term execution and valuation questions from both bullish and bearish perspectives. Read on to see how these revised targets fit into the evolving story and what to watch as new data emerges. Stay updated as the...
The Lift adds PS5 and Xbox Series versions, delayed to 2027
First-person, narrative-driven, supernatural handyman simulator The Lift for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam in 2027, publisher tinyBuild and developer Fantastic Signals announced. The…
Horse Tracks: AFC West offseason expectations
The AFC West is changing this offseason, but the media narratives are all staying the same.
Remigration and the New Far-Right Politics of Mass Deportation
Panelists will explore the various interpretations and adaptations of a remigration agenda to fit local political and social contexts in Europe, the UK, and the US, offering regional perspectives on this growing transnational narrative and its implications for democratic governance, civil rights, and the future of immigration policy.
Hollywood's narrative on UFOs and ETs reaches back many decades
Hollywood has driven how Americans envision little green men with big eyes and bigger heads. But fiction soon could be separated from — or revealed as — fact if government agencies release...
Hollywood's narrative on UFOs and ETs reaches back many decades
l a e n scifi-and-fantasy politics media-and-entertainment-industry movies entertainment lifestyle u-s-news general-news | KCBS All News 106.9FM and 740AM
Hollywood\'s narrative on UFOs and ETs reaches back many decades
Hollywood has driven how Americans envision little green men with big eyes and bigger heads. But fiction soon could be separated from — or revealed as — fact if government
How The PENN Entertainment (PENN) Turnaround Story Is Shifting With New Targets And ESPN Progress
PENN Entertainment's fair value estimate has shifted from US$18.44 to US$19.11 per share, putting it closer to a cluster of recent Street targets in the mid to high teens and low US$20s. This revision aligns with analyst commentary that combines optimism around the interactive segment and free cash flow with lingering doubts about management credibility and the turnaround story. Read on to see how to track these changing targets and keep up with the evolving narrative around PENN. Analyst...
What a Clunker! Braves 17, Dbacks 2
Unfortunately, the Diamondbacks fell victim to an early-season clunker in the series opener, thanks to an explosive eight-run fifth inning from the visiting Atlanta Braves. Getting bitten by the big inning is quickly becoming an unwelcome narrative for this young Arizona club. In a game that offered few positives, one standout moment provided a bright […]
Poetry review: 'Universal Corner' shares a different Black coming-of-age experience
In "Universal Corner," Mitchell Douglas complicates the familiar monolithic narrative of Black coming-of-age by testifying at the altar of punk music and of a present Black father with a PhD.
MacBook Neo’s early sales numbers mean Google has a massive battle on its hands
Since the introduction of Chromebook Plus, the narrative has been pretty simple: if you wanted a fantastic laptop experience for under $600, just buy a Chromebook Plus. Apple simply didn't play in...
How The Investment Story For Privia Health Group (PRVA) Is Quietly Shifting After Q4
Privia Health Group’s fair value estimate has been fine tuned to US$31.95 from US$31.85, keeping the modeled price target firmly in the low US$30s range. That small adjustment sits within a broader set of Street targets clustered around the low to mid US$30s, reflecting a mix of constructive views on recent Q4 results and more cautious takes around valuation and claims timing. As you read on, you will see how these shifting targets fit into the evolving analyst narrative and how to track it...
Steven Fulop on Fighting for Business Interests in Zohran Mamdani's New York
Steven Fulop, the new President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, the city’s leading big business advocacy group, spoke with The New York Editorial Board on the morning of March 19, 2026. Fulop recently began in the role after 12 years as mayor of Jersey City and a 2025 run for governor of New Jersey. He replaced longtime Partnership President/CEO Kathryn Wylde. (photo by Liena Žagare) Participating journalists: Nicole Gelinas, Josh Greenman, Alyssa Katz, Ben Max, Akash Mehta, Harry Siegel, Ben Smith, Liena Žagare Full Transcript **Ben Max**Good morning. Thanks for being here. So start us off: The people who hired you for this role, what did they make clear were their top priorities for you coming into it, and for the Partnership, and what did you sort-of pitch as the direction you thought things could go? Give us a little of that bifurcation of where the minds met in terms of the priorities and the leadership for the new era. **Steven Fulop**Let me explain to you how I ended up in the job, OK? That’s probably a good starting point, because I don’t think anybody initially thought that I was the pick that they coveted or thought that would be an ideal fit for this position. I’d run for [New Jersey] governor, as you guys know, and I was very deliberate in the lane that I was taking as a candidate for governor. The same candidate when I ran for mayor and city council — it was outside the establishment. It was building on issues, single-issue voters — very, very concentrated on detailed policy. And I thought that if I could build an organization, outside of the typical political organization, of single-issue voters, you could become viable because they’re passionate people generally, OK? And one is mayor, outside the establishment doing that. You won two races in the country that Obama actually engaged in as president. Rahm Emanuel and Jeremiah Healy, my predecessor, was a ten-year incumbent. So we won based on this structure. Run for governor, kind of in that same model. And I thought at the time that 550,000 people would turn out in the election. That was based on history in a similar election, when Chris Christie left and it was Trump’s first-year primary, you know, changeover in governor. There was five hundred or four eighty-seven [thousand]. So I thought five-fifty was a bump up. Same numbers Sherrill had, Ras Baraka had. I thought five hundred and fifty thousand people in the election, six candidates running that are viable — two congresspeople, two mayors, senate president, and the teachers’ union president — that if I got to a hundred and thirty thousand votes, single-issue passionate voters, I would get in through the primary with twenty, twenty-five percent, and then put it back together even though I was kind of the outside establishment guy. I think I did everything perfect during that election, OK? With the exception of winning. Which is the big deal. But I miscalculated one thing. And I don’t know in hindsight how I could have changed anything. But I miscalculated that the turnout ended up spiking to eight-fifty, OK? So I said five-fifty. We all said five-fifty. Going into Election Day on Tuesday, and I’m a pretty pragmatic person. Going into Election Day on Tuesday, if you said, Steve, are you gonna win? I would have told you, we caught them and we’re gonna win, OK? We have more volunteers. I mean, to give you perspective on it: Uber, which is a data company, like, the week before, they wrote a million-dollar check to my super PAC, five hundred [thousand] to Sherrill, five hundred [thousand] to Ciattarelli. Election Day, the New York Times embedded one reporter, photographer for most of the day with only one of us, me. CNN, the day before, me, right? The trend was there. I miscalculated that there was an additional 300,000 people that came out. I saw, similar to here [in New York City], the voter numbers surging early, and I just thought it was a displaced Election-Day voter. I thought you were so excited to vote that you were voting early. I never imagined that there were 300,000 additional people voting. And if you tuned in late, then you would have ultimately– I had the wrong message. My message was, Trenton was broken, these are the things we would fix. And Sherrill, for example, was: I’m a helicopter pilot to fight Trump, right? Her message was better for that. It was over in five minutes. So why do I tell you that? I was shell-shocked, didn’t really know what happened, and the way this business works is when you lose, your phone goes dead. Nobody calls. It’s just, that’s it. Silence. And so, I’m trying to think about what happened and two weeks after the fact, I get a phone call by this guy. His name is Jim Simpson. He was Christie’s DOT chair, OK? Commissioner. And he worked on the widening of the Pulaski Skyway with me as the mayor of Jersey City. And Christie went after me with Bridgegate, and I was a government witness during Bridgegate. But even when nobody in the Christie administration could talk to me, Jim Simpson was always like, I have this major project going through Hudson County, predominantly Jersey City. I’m gonna deal with the guy. And he would tell you that Steve was a professional, good guy to deal with. I think that’s what Jim Simpson would say. I didn’t talk to Jim Simpson for 12 years. I lose the election. Two weeks after, I get a phone call. He leaves a voicemail. Hey, Steve, it’s Jim Simpson. Can you give me a call back? And I was kind of like fuck the world at that point. I didn’t want to call anybody back. And I called Jim Simpson back, and I was like, Hey, Jim. How’s it going? And he says to me, he says, Look, I’m very thankful you remember who I am, blah, blah, blah, blah. He said, Look, I had an issue in a warehouse I own in Jersey City. Didn’t know really how to navigate the building department. I figured it out, right? But thanks for calling me back. That was the conversation, OK? And I’m like, OK, great. You know? Whatever. So the conversation ended. He says, You know, I moved to Pennsylvania, but I’m sometimes up in New York. If I’m up there again, why don’t we just get together? I said Sure. I got nothing but time, right? And so he calls again about a week-and-a-half later, says, I’m gonna be in New York tomorrow. Wanna grab breakfast? Sure. So we meet for breakfast, and he knew nothing about me. When I got there, he was googling me, OK? Like, he knew nothing about my deeds. He’s like, Oh, you were in the military. That’s amazing. Like, it was a weird conversation. And, you know, towards the end of the conversation, he says, What are you gonna do next? And I said, I honestly don’t know. You know, I think maybe this, maybe that. And he says, You know who you should call? I said, No idea. Who, Jim? And he says, I don’t get along with her, he said. I used to be a Rockefeller fellow. I do not get along with her. We do not see eye to eye, but you should call this woman named Kathy Wylde. And I said, I met Kathy, ten years ago once. I don’t know if I would call her, and I don’t…That’s a weird conversation, just to call a stranger and ask for help with a job, right? And he says, No, you should figure out how to call her. We’re gonna figure out how to get you in touch with her again. I gotta think about it. I said, OK. We left. I never thought anything of it. He calls me four days later, and he says, I was giving it some thought. I was googling and I saw she’s leaving [as President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City]. You should apply for the job. And I said, I don’t know anybody. It’s a weird dynamic. And he said, We gotta figure it out. You know? Good guy. A couple weeks later, I was going to a conference in Montana, and three years earlier, I had met Rob Speyer at the conference. Spoke to Rob probably twice in my life since then, OK? But, we had a night we sat next to each other at a dinner, had a nice conversation. So I texted him. I said, Are you going to this conference by chance, in a couple weeks? He said, I am going, right? I said, Oh, can I grab you when you’re there for a couple minutes? He said, Sure. I go with my wife. He comes over, says hello. He knew my wife from a couple years ago, pleasantries. I said, Hey, Rob. you know, I texted you, if I could speak to you. He said, Yeah, yeah. What’s up? And I was, like, nervous at this point. I’m, like, sweating. Like, I’m gonna give a pitch. I said, I see you’re very involved with the Partnership. I think I’d be killer at that job. And he says, Why? And I gave him a pitch, which I’ll tell you in a second. And he said, Honestly, he said, Steve, there’s 12 people in the search committee. He says, I couldn’t even help you if I wanted to, nor would I. But what I can do when people ask me is just get in touch with Heidrick & Struggles and, go through the process. I said, That’s all I could ask. It’s fine. So I send him a text two days later with my resume, and I said I was serious about this. Can you connect me to the person? He says, Sure. Heidrick & Struggles would tell you that they did the interview as a courtesy. And that they thought that it was going nowhere, largely because when the search committee, which is a who’s who of business, outlined who they wanted, they said they wanted somebody from New York City, and they wanted somebody who was not in elected office. So here I am. I would go through these interviews, and I would outline what I thought the Partnership was doing wrong, and how politics has changed, and where I thought the potential was. Largely that the model of shuttle diplomacy, of relationships in the way that it worked 20, 30 years ago, doesn’t work anymore. And today you see, both with Mamdani and Trump— The assets that they [Partnership member companies] have are that they have 800,000 employees. They have the ability to communicate at scale, and they have a general centrist message, and none of those things are leveraged in any meaningful way, is what I would outline. And I really believe, and I continue to believe, that if the Partnership is perceived as a voice of very wealthy people and the CEOs, it will no longer exist in five or ten years. And the reason I say that is because one of the assets that people value is this convening component. And it’s a convening component because you have everybody from, you know, the CEO of JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs towards mid-level to low-level CEOs, and they want to be in the room with the next person in that food chain, so to speak. And when people view it as not good use of their time, because it’s not effective, you start seeing deterioration and you no longer get that involvement. And I would explain this to them, and I would say, This is how we’re going to organize employees, and I think is the most effective way to do it. It’s something that I did as a [mayor] or a candidate when I was running these campaigns, so it’s something I know. And they would ask a lot of questions, and we would go through this model in detail, and they would ask, and they would just move me along in the campaign in, in this situation. And then at the end, probably ten interviews in, the woman from, you know, Heidrick says, You know, I think, you know, as crazy it is, you might land this plane. And I said I knew I was going to land the plane. But— **Josh Greenman**Can I ask? So you mentioned— **Steven Fulop**Sorry to take so much time on that, but— **Josh Greenman**Three hundred thousand, or I forget the number. **Steven Fulop**Eight hundred thousand. **Josh Greenman**Eight hundred thousand employees. And correct me if any of the assumptions embedded in the question are wrong. But you’re a membership organization, you’re supposed to be speaking for the large employers. **Steven Fulop**Yes. Large employees. Employers and employees. **Josh Greenman**Employers and employees. But you don’t canvas them every time an issue comes up. You described it as centrist. OK. An issue comes up. First of all, how do you, as the head of the Partnership, decide whether to get engaged and involved in that particular issue? And second of all, how do you decide what the posture of the Partnership is, if it’s not predefined? How much of it is your instinct? How much of it is, Let me take the temperature of the employees and the employers first? **Steven Fulop**The honest answer is I think it’s a hybrid. At the last board meeting, I spoke about being more narrow in the things that we’re going to be involved in. I think it’s very important we’re very deliberate and specific on issues that we care about and being less involved in kind of broad things that don’t necessarily touch 250 of the different companies. **Josh Greenman**Even though you made a statement about antisemitism. **Steven Fulop**I made a statement on antisemitism because it touches a lot of our companies, if not all of them, because they have Jewish employees, and they’re all very invested here. **Ben Smith**What’s something that you think the Partnership should get out of? **Steven Fulop**We had a lot of time last year in the fashion industry. I think the fashion industry is important. I don’t know who reads that report ultimately or how you move the needle ultimately on the fashion industry. We did some work very publicly on short-term rentals. Not really sure that that’s the best place to be spending a lot of time, because I don’t think it pertains to every single person here. I think that there are things that do pertain, quality-of-life issues that touch everybody. How do those things come to light? So I spoke broadly at the executive board meeting about things that I thought were important. They had lots of questions, Why this, that, and I outlined things both in a framework of government and politics: This is what I think. This is where the opportunity is. This is where the vulnerability is, et cetera, and we went through some of that stuff. When we’re working, for example, now, I gotta review it. We’ve been going back and forth on a blueprint of things to change for New York City that I think, or our team thinks, are meaningful, practical, and tangible things that you could change that would impact the budget in a meaningful way. And a normal person would say, You’re probably right about that. And the politics could be tough for those. So put a litany of, let’s say, 330 of them together. A lot of it’s our team’s ideas. Some of them are a little bit maybe venturing into a place that the Partnership historically has felt maybe uncomfortable. Those are broader conversations because I don’t yet have 20 years of trust with those people. So I say, Here’s what I’m looking to do. Here’s the reasons why. And we have those conversations with the executive board. **Liena Žagare**Does universal childcare fit into that? **Steven Fulop**Universal childcare is a part of it ‘cause— universal childcare is a part of it. It’s definitely in there. And I’ll tell you this. We polled our employee base because we were curious. It’s something again that touches, I believe, the affordability crisis. I think Mamdani and Hochul are right on this. It touches everybody who lives here in some way or another. Roughly two-thirds of our employers provide some sort of childcare today. Some is on-site, some is off-site, some is subsidies for low-income, some is subsidies for everybody, some is using a tax credit. And I’ve said this to the mayor before, that our knowledge of this space is vast because we have experience, practical experience on this sort of thing that others don’t have. They may have abstract experience or be ideological in a certain way. We experience it. We can tell you what works and what doesn’t work in the Building Department, what the challenges are in the bureaucracy, what the issues are in accomplishing this in a different way, because a lot of us have tried to provide that, right? So how do we communicate that publicly in a way that makes sense from our objective, which is improving New York, and at the same time in a way that’s value-added to the mayor or the administration, is kind of where we are. But it’s a hundred-percent part of that blueprint. There is a section on this. **Akash Mehta**It’s interesting to hear you emphasize that you represent the employees, not just the employers. Are there formal structures that put that into practice? Are there elected board positions from the employee base, or anything like that? **Steven Fulop**What we’re starting to do now— So it’s a shift, OK? And what we’re doing now, the short answer is no. What we’re doing now is starting a lot of these town hall-type conversations with the CEOs and me. It is an April, May, June, two, three-year initiative, where we’re talking about civic involvement, the importance of New York, and people can opt to sign up for information from us. So we’re communicating in that way. People will opt in, and then we’ll have the ability to better communicate with the employee base with regards to what we’re doing. You know, there’s no secrets to what I’m saying. I mean— **Ben Smith**But you think the opportunity is to mobilize employees? **Steven Fulop**The opportunity is to better communicate because I think there’s a disconnect between a lot of the things that happen, and how and when we communicate to employees things that may impact them. Because you have all sorts of legalities, and general counsels, obviously, that put obstacles in place on this stuff. And we need to figure out a way, because people are invested here in a meaningful way, so they should have knowledge of this. I don’t believe– Of course, our employee base is different than working for the Hotel Trade Council or Carpenters [union] or whatever, right? They’re monolithic, told to do something, they’re gonna do it. Employee bases aren’t that. I think that’s an asset. Having a generally college-educated employee base, if you lay out an issue in a reasonable way, they could make an informed decision whether that works for them or doesn’t work for them. The— **Akash Mehta**Wait, the carpenters can’t make an informed decision? **Steven Fulop**I didn’t say they can’t make an informed decision. I’m gonna say they’re more monolithic in what they do, and it’s driven by the decision of a leader, specifically in the Carpenters. The Carpenters would say from their executive board, maybe in Washington, maybe in New York, maybe in New Jersey, say, Directionally, we are supporting Ben. And then we support Ben. We don’t have that luxury. That’s not the way we’re structured. **Akash Mehta**What does that have to do with them being college-educated? **Steven Fulop**Well, it doesn’t have to. I mean, I think that you don’t have to necessarily be college-educated, it’s a fair question, to weigh something. But I think generally somebody that’s gone through some sort of rigorous education and training on pragmatic thinking has a better chance because they’ve been educated to think that way. I don’t think it’s a referendum on, you only could understand an issue if you’re college-educated. **Alyssa Katz**But I want to dig in a little more to that when you’re talking about pragmatic thinking, because it’s not an elephant exactly, but the sort-of power in the room is the mayor, who’s elected with actually a lot of college-educated support. And also based on a sort of different way of looking at pretty much everything in some ways, right? Like around– OK, we’re gonna start with principles, we’ll figure out the practicalities later. And also around mobilizing large numbers of people who have interests potentially at odds with capitalism, right? Tenants, people who generally think that money and politics and billionaires are the core problem, or a core problem to address, and on and on. So I’m interested in your efforts to mobilize people in that light. I mean, are you looking to build a counterforce? How does that factor in? **Steven Fulop**I don’t use a “counter force.” I don’t think people are generally sympathetic or upset with capitalism or sympathetic to socialism. I view it more as a couple of things were true in the November election. A, you had an alternative to Mamdani that was tremendously flawed. So they had a ceiling. It was an exact situation that happened in Jersey City, where you had a former governor who resigned in disgrace running for mayor, my old seat, same exact outcome. So it wasn’t, it wasn’t a reflection of, everybody’s sympathetic to socialism. I think elections are choices ultimately, and these are the four choices that you ultimately had. Do I think that people are frustrated and more fiscally liberal than they’ve ever been before? Yeah, absolutely. I think that when people say that I, people say, a twenty-year model ago would say, I am, you know, fiscally conservative and socially liberal, that model has flipped really. People are fiscally liberal because what’s going on today isn’t working for them. They’re not necessarily sympathetic to socialism, but they’re open to trying things because there’s an acknowledgement that what’s happening isn’t working. And we see that too. We’re not blind to that. So do I think that you can organize a counterweight, was the question? Is that what it is? I don’t know if I would frame it as a counterweight. I think that you need to organize something that has a voice that is relevant in the political atmosphere, definitely. **Josh Greenman**Can you just explain both the number and percentage of people the Partnership represents of employees, versus the employment base of the city as a whole? **Steven Fulop**Yeah, I don’t know the— **Josh Greenman**What’s happened to that over time? I’m curious, like, is it— **Steven Fulop**I can get that to you. I don’t know. I don’t know that— **Josh Greenman**And then the other is inside the Partnership. What are the constituent companies and groups, and…Are there a couple of companies that have a highly disproportionate share of Partnership members? **Steven Fulop**No. **Josh Greenman**So how broad-based is it? Can you just describe it? **Steven Fulop**I mean, there’s 350 companies. They range in size from– I mean, they would be significant companies, maybe 50 employees, OK, to several thousand employees. But on the executive board, you can see from the site and the broader board, they vary in size and background. Most of the companies you would have some familiarity with. But, they vary in size. **Josh Greenman**How is it determined whether you’re part of the Partnership as a company in New York City? **Steven Fulop**As part of the Partnership, is generally we go through a process of meetings. I meet with them initially, provide them some information. They express that they’re interested, I express that we’re interested. I take it to the board to make sure that we’re moving in that direction, and then the board validates that. This year we’ve had, I mean, a bunch more have joined, and we’ve restructured some things so some have left intentionally. It’s not intentionally, but I guess– **Nicole Gelinas**You’re running pretty hard against the two income-tax hike proposals that the mayor ran for office and won on. Do you see the employee base as part of the battle against those tax increases? Would Partnership company employees go up to Albany to make their point known against that? **Steven Fulop**Yeah. But I don’t think you’re gonna have that same sort of advocacy group that the DSA does. It’s a totally different type of person that would engage, number one. Do I think that a lot of the employees would be opposed to an increased tax structure in New York? I think without clear parameters on what that tax structure looks like, I think the answer is yes. And it’s not only the income taxes that we’re concerned about. So we’ll go into that, too. The reality on this is, if you look at it from a reasonable point of view, if you added the income tax, the payroll, the PTET tax, which is one that we care a lot about and we’re concerned about, the corporate tax, the estate tax, and the property taxes: You put all of those together, right? And you said, OK, we’re gonna do them all. And without some structural changes to the budget, you will be at the trough again in three years. And I think a reasonable person who’s even supportive of, maybe, the highest earners paying more would say, Does it make sense to do this every two or three years, and at what point is there a tripwire? So I think, yeah, the people would be sympathetic. It depends how and what information you provide and how those taxes are. But we don’t have that structure in place yet. I just got started. So we’re just building that stuff out, which I’ve told you, but it’s new days on this. **Nicole Gelinas**So there’s, there’s a reasonable person, and then there’s Albany. Now that the budget is— **Steven Fulop**No, I gotta be careful ‘cause I gotta work with people. So I can’t say they’re unreasonable. **Nicole Gelinas**Now that the budget is just a week-and-a-half away, what do you see as your prospects for stopping those tax hikes? And if you don’t stop them, does that hurt your power early on? **Steven Fulop**No. I don’t think any reasonable person would say that there’s a structure in place today, after two months of me being there, that is gonna push back against everything in Albany from a political standpoint. I don’t think that’s a fair thing to say. I don’t think the Partnership leadership think of it that way, and I think that most people wouldn’t think of it that way. I think the governor has been very strong [against tax increases], so that’s good. That pass-through tax that was put in place when the SALT reduction was eliminated, and now there’s a proposal to eliminate that, that would be an income tax increase on not only the wealthiest people, it would be an income tax increase on business owners throughout the city. And that is one that we’re keeping track of right now that I think doesn’t get the scrutiny that it deserves. Everybody focuses on the income tax and the corporate tax, which the governor is fairly clear, at least now, that she’s not supportive of, but we’ll see. **Josh Greenman**On the corporate tax, Mamdani has repeatedly said it shouldn’t harm the climate here in New York City because it applies to anyone who does business in the state, not if you’re headquartered here, so it shouldn’t lead to corporate flight of any kind. Is that how you see it? **Steven Fulop**No. So first of all, it’s challenging when it’s depicted as corporate flight, because then it becomes a conversation around, Well, you didn’t leave. You didn’t leave. So I know what I did is OK because you didn’t leave. The reality of how this works is that it’s attrition over time, and decisions on where to scale outside of New York. That’s generally how this works. And because the immediacy isn’t there, people don’t view it as, Well, I made this decision, and tomorrow you left. And that’s a challenge for us, because the argument we lose, even though what we’re saying happens to be true, that people constantly are making decisions to scale [businesses] elsewhere. You see it. You see it. So I think that his argument is flawed, although it’s a political argument ultimately is what he’s making, and I understand that. But if you do change the tax rate as he proposes, you will be one hundred percent higher than New Jersey, right, which is at 11 percent, and you would be at 22 percent, according to the CBC, when you layer in all these other things. So at that point, you start saying, Well, I have the same talent pool that I’m pulling from here in the New York system. I’m no longer making the decision to go to Texas or Florida or Tennessee, where it’s a geographic total distance, but at a hundred percent premium to be in New York City, is that worth it, and should I be elsewhere? Your competition is elsewhere at that point in proximity. That’s the dangerous thing to what he’s saying. **Ben Smith**Do you think even more broadly, there is just this sense among— ’cause I think you’re right. You talk to business leaders, and most of the really big businesses in New York don’t care about New York anymore. They’re not New York businesses. They’re global businesses that happen to be here, and New York taxes are a diminishing share of the thing they worry about. Because they’re so global now, they don’t have the kind of commitment they did when David Rockefeller was running the Partnership. And I think a lot of them and a lot of people just think, long-term, New York is cooked. There’s a flight not to Jersey, but to the Sun Belt — to Houston, to Dallas, to Atlanta, to Miami — that’s kind of unstoppable at this point. And you see just the growth of those cities demographically. You see it in terms of their businesses. You know, maybe that’s not this year or next, but I think if you just literally look at the lines on paper of New York, Philadelphia, Boston…these northeastern cities, versus the Sun Belt. Just feels like an irreversible trend: these places are in decline, these places are rising. This is probably beyond our professional careers even, we’ll be fine. But do you think long-term that it’s true, that New York is just sort of irreversibly declining? **Steven Fulop**I think it’s fragile. There’s a lot of indicators and pressure to push people away, and there isn’t an easy solution to it. First, let’s just talk about last week. Regardless of what you say about the corporate tax conversation, we could disagree or agree, regardless. You know, your job isn’t to agree or disagree. But using the estate tax that was proposed last week, OK, or two weeks ago, nobody above the age of 60 would live in New York City if that happened to be approved. Period. End of story. You would see flight, because no sane person would do that? Because the tax rates, that you’re not talking about the one percent, you’re talking about somebody who has a $750,000 home or apartment, OK? You know who that is. So you have pressure because of the dialogue that’s happening there for sure. You definitely have gradual attrition and people moving jobs elsewhere because they’re more portable. There’s no question about that. You have pressure at the bottom because it is very hard for entry-level people to find jobs, and at the same time to find housing. It’s a true thing here in New York, the pressure. So you have a lot of difficult situations going on and absence of a tough political solution, meaning willing to make decisions that are not popular, you won’t be able to change the trajectory. And that is only one that the mayor can actually drive, OK? So the property tax reform stuff that de Blasio and Adams both tried to do, it’s necessary. It’s really necessary, but it’s gotta be driven by the mayor leaning into it, making that a number one priority. Use things like FHEPS, OK? You guys have all written about that. **Ben Smith**I don’t know what that is, sorry. **Steven Fulop**It’s the rental assistance program, OK? It’s growing at four percent per month. It’s a billion-dollar-plus program. Four percent per month! It’s not sustainable. And if the mayor was sitting here, he would say, Well, I didn’t approve the expansion of the program. That’s what he would say. Because I had a conversation with one of his people last night on this, and I said, Yeah, but the expansion would have made it worse. The existing program is four percent per month, right? We need to solve for that. How do you solve for that? That program is a byproduct of the de Blasio administration when Cuomo got rid of the rental assistance program at the state, and so the city inherited that. There isn’t another city in the country that has a similar entitlement program. It’s not sustainable. That program belongs at the state or at the federal government, but it is a politically tough thing to do. So you gotta be able to make decisions like the property tax reform, that. Those are not easy things to do. But outside of that, your trajectory for the city is very, very dangerous. It’s a fact, you know? [Note: After this interview occurred but before it was published, the Mamdani administration continued the appeal of a court ruling requiring the city to expand the FHEPS program as dictated in a law passed by the City Council, while the two sides of City Hall negotiate a potential settlement.] **Akash Mehta**Do you broadly agree with Mamdani’s analysis that Cuomo shafted New York City — that Albany shafted New York City under Cuomo? **Steven Fulop**Honestly, it predates me, so it’s hard for me to kind of give you a fair assessment on that. I would tell you that I was mayor for 12 years in Jersey City, economic backbone for New Jersey. We drive jobs, we drive the statewide economy, we drive every number. It’s disproportionately housing growth. Everything is Jersey City. And I used to say, We don’t get what we put in. We don’t get that back. It’s true, OK. I know New Jersey and New York both say to the federal government, you know, they both pay much more to the federal government than what they get back. I mean, this is a narrative that people say. It’s probably true. Does it get corrected? I don’t know. You know, it’s on the governor’s situation. I have no idea, is the short answer, ‘cause I’m not in the weeds on that. **Akash Mehta**One quick question on the tax battle. The Partnership has a [501] C4 that was seeded with $10 million. What are your plans for the group? Are you planning to spend that money on this battle? **Steven Fulop**Um…unclear. And, conversations this week on that. You know— **Josh Greenman**Do you run the C4? **Steven Fulop**We hired an executive director this week. There is a willingness, we had a call this week and there is a willingness to spend real money to make sure that New York City stays competitive. So this was literally this week. There was a call. I would tell you that there is a serious appetite there. It’s literally a ripe conversation that’s happening in the last 24 hours. Good question, though. **Nicole Gelinas**Large donors proved last year that they’re very good at spending a lot of money — but it didn’t work. In fact, it may have worked against them. Are you confident that beyond the money, you understand local and state politics well enough that some of these people are actually listening? I mean, is [State Assembly Speaker] Carl Heastie, is [State Senate Majority Leader] Andrea Stewart-Cousins listening to these arguments and saying, We didn’t realize that the potential for attrition in the corporate side was this great. Because the money hasn’t worked before. **Steven Fulop**The short answer is, I’ve been there two months. I doubt at this stage, we don’t have that relationship. I mean, I’ve met everybody. I doubt that I have the standing or credibility with them to make, or the structure in place to make that argument today more compelling than it was made six months ago. It’s just the reality of the situation. I think that you have two types of people that exist in any political sphere. You have ideologues and opportunistic people, OK, that just think about their next election. Those are the two types only. And absent somebody that has an alternative, the opportunistic person will only always be sympathetic to the ideologue, because they view that as their best route to get reelected because that’s where the gravity of energy is. **Josh Greenman**What were you? **Steven Fulop**It’s a good question. I was a hybrid. **Josh Greenman**Oh, the only one. **Steven Fulop**[Laughing] That’s right. I was unique. I think that when you look at Albany, you have a growing DSA base for sure. The question that I would have as I get into it is how much of those— the rest of the people that aren’t pure ideologues are there because there’s not an alternative that they see, can be supportive, and helpful to a pragmatic view. So I don’t know what they’ll listen to — Carl and Andrea — in the next week-and-a-half. I mean, who knows? **Josh Greenman**Should we charge more for street parking? **Steven Fulop**It’s a good question. I happen to be a supporter of some of those proposals on street safety and better streets. I don’t think it’s a broader position that the Partnership has taken, and I don’t think it’s something, going back to what I said earlier, narrowing view and going back to your question earlier on how we approve things. I’ll tell you that, as I wrote out this idea of a blueprint of things that, pragmatically, that are politically difficult to change that I believe are the right things to do, I included it in there. And going back to what you said and questioned earlier in how we get these things approved, because the nature of what we wrote, you know, once we get it to a place, I will circulate that a little bit more to the executive board and get some more feedback on whether we wanna go down this road at this point or not, or not at this time. So there’s a process on this stuff. **Ben Max**What are a few other examples? So property tax reform, some streetscape stuff, universal childcare, what else? **Steven Fulop**If you can wait till next week, it’ll be better. OK. Like– **Josh Greenman**Are you fast enough for the political world? What I’m saying is, if you’ve got to go through that process, and these conversations are happening, the budget’s gonna be cooked in ten days, are you gonna be behind the curve? **Steven Fulop**I am obsessed with the political world. I mean, I, I lived in this— Ben MaxHe means the Partnership. **Josh Greenman**The Partnership. Is the Partnership behind the curve if it’s got to deliberate on all this? **Steven Fulop**Look, I think the answer is yes. The short answer is, I don’t know, right? Like, I don’t know. I’ve not been in long enough to have a gauge on all of this. But my gut tells me yes, because the leadership there is hyper-engaged in New York City and the Partnership, it’s not something where they just kind of parachute in once every three months and think about, kind of the Partnership and what’s happening in Albany and happening in New York City. They happen to be very engaged here on a regular basis. So I think the short answer is yes. They will be able to turn stuff around relatively quickly, and I feel pretty good about that. It’s not where I think about obstacles. **Ben Max**So big picture, I’m still trying to figure out right now: What does the Partnership care about, big picture. I know you’re working on a blueprint. I know you’re rethinking some of this, but is it first and foremost, the business climate and economic growth? **Steven Fulop**Right now, I wouldn’t say this is in perpetuity. I mean, obviously, in this moment in time, it’s competitiveness and the business climate. But when the C4 was launched initially last year, they spent money on one initiative, OK? Spent a couple million dollars on the discovery bill. It had nothing to do with finances, taxes. It had to do with public safety and what they viewed as in the best interest of quality of life. So their interests aren’t necessarily only about taxes. We happen just to be in this fire drill at this moment that I got thrown into, where there’s a new tax proposal every other day. So trying to deal with that is where we are right now. I think broadly speaking, the place of the Partnership is really wanting to have a relationship where we’re kind of helping bridge the gap between the public and private sector, and helping find solutions. We have a venture fund, a $200 million venture fund, which I don’t think gets the recognition it deserves. It’s been involved in creating 37,000 jobs, seeding very early-stage New York companies that do a lot of good here. We have a tech lab that partners with DOT, with the Port Authority, with New Jersey Transit, experimenting on technologies to make government more efficient. It is a collaboration that has happened for 15 or 20 years. A lot of companies are a part of that, new companies helping on that on-ramp. It is a unique and special thing. We actually, I think, at the end of this month, have kind of that shark tank at our office where everybody comes in and pitches, and the board of that is like a who’s who. So, I mean, there’s a lot of things beyond what you guys see on the C4 and the advocacy and the lobbying sort-of side. **Nicole Gelinas**So on the Transit Tech Lab, some of the ideas that have come out of there have been very good ideas. But more broadly, for the MTA or the state and local government to actually save enough money so that we don’t have what you described with them coming back for new revenue every couple years, you have to confront the unions on some big issues, whether it’s work rules on the construction side, whether it’s two people on every single subway train, whether it’s Department of Education rules that mean they can’t be as flexible as charter schools. Do you see the Partnership taking on the unions in any sense? **Steven Fulop**Going back to the pragmatic that you said, I would use the word pragmatic and then you asked me about kind of a little bit more about that. You brought up the conductors on the trains and the proposals on that. It is very expensive. There isn’t a city in the country that has that structure. If you outline that to an employee of XYZ Corporation, and you said to them, Here’s the landscape, OK, We need help with XYZ, I would venture to say that they would be sympathetic to our point of view. That’s what I was getting at, just to give that to you earlier. You know, the New York Post called me the day that Mamdani entered into the— he said at the end of a press conference, I wasn’t there, obviously, but he mentioned that he wasn’t gonna do the sweeps of the homeless encampment. And it was probably my second or third day on the job. And the Post called and said, Do you want to comment on this? And I said, Yeah. And I said something critical of him at the time. Prior to doing that, because it was like my second or third day, I did say to some of the people on the team, going back to how nimble the organization is, I said, Hey, I would like to comment on this, OK? Because I think it’s wrong, his approach, and I think he’s gonna have to move off of where he is, ultimately. And some people said, Well, is that really the hill you wanna climb? Is that really that important to us? And I said, It absolutely is. Because, A, he’s wrong on the issue, and B, it’s a quality-of-life issue. Going back to the fact that it ended up being right, he ended up moving on, and you could see it from, like, far away, just based on being a legislator versus an executive and accountability. But I think our job is to call balls and strikes and just be fair about it. So do I think– Let me say it this way better. If you are gonna grow housing, OK, ‘cause he says it’s a priority. During his election, when he was a candidate, he would tell you if he was sitting here, he would tell you, you look at his CBS, the debates, he would talk about Jersey City and Tokyo, Jersey City and Tokyo as housing growth models. He would tell you that if he was sitting here — he said it on TV multiple times. Now, he followed that about what we did in Jersey City ‘cause we grew a lot. How are we able to grow? OK, A, you had layers of government here that we do not have there, so you need to clean that up. We upzoned, of course, more aggressively than the City of Yes around transit centers, which you have to do here for sure. And then the third part about it is that if you mandate affordable housing, community givebacks, the union labor, et cetera, et cetera, the projects financially cannot handle that. They don’t pencil out. So what we would generally do is that, on the union labor front, because the people that get squeezed the most were the ones that pressure the building trades better, because their jobs are usually the ones that get–are most competitive, are the less skilled parts of the building trades. So when you build a high-rise building, the electricians, the plumbers, the operating engineers, the ironworkers are generally gonna be union, because it’s a more complicated thing. Carpenters, laborers, painters generally are the ones that have competition from non-union, and that’s really where it is ultimately. And we would say in Jersey City, on the projects that are important to us, if they were coming to the city for some sort of subsidies or big zoning changes, and it was an important project, we would work with the developer to give the unions a last look to be competitive with the open-shop bid, and some sort of grace between five and ten percent to be competitive. Now, absent that, there is no way to get it built in union labor. So if the mayor continues to be strident that everything is gonna be a hundred percent building trades, you’re never gonna meet the objective of whatever he has a hundred, two hundred thousand units. So I think that our voice is gonna be that you need some practical reforms to these incentives, and practical reforms means that you cannot pay a 30 percent premium for the carpenters. **Nicole Gelinas**So something very simple on that, though. Two people on a train. Would you see yourself making a statement similar to the encampments that, you know, Hey, intuitively, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to leave people in encampments. Intuitively, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to mandate two people on a train. Would you just call up the Post and say that, or that’s a different— **Steven Fulop**I don’t think that— I think if you called me and you said to me, What do you think? I’d probably just answer you, that I think it’s not something that any other city does, and in a financial crisis, you probably gotta be reasonable about that. **Ben Max**This is what you got hired in part for, right? To be out there more and to be a voice pushing back. **Steven Fulop**I think that it’s just my personality. I don’t know if it’s necessarily, it’s just like this is— You’d ask me, and I would say it. I wouldn’t go call up the Post and say, Let me-- Carl [Campanile], let me comment on this, right? I wouldn’t do that. Like, that’s not how I would think about it, right? I’d be going with my day, and then Carl would say, Do you care to comment on this? Or he would call, and I would just be like, Yeah, I think so and so. And he would say, Is that on the record? And generally, I’m not gonna say, This is off the record, on anything. I generally just talk. OK? So— **Josh Greenman**You talked about incentives, government incentives. I want to talk about literal government incentives, like, Amazon, right? Remember how many years ago, half of Amazon’s HQ2 was gonna be here. **Steven Fulop**Yeah, I remember. We tried to pitch it too. **Josh Greenman**It didn’t happen. You tried to pitch it, too. What do you think of the state’s current corporate incentives? Do they make sense as currently structured? To try to attract businesses to New York State, to try and attract businesses to New York City, there are various programs. There’s been a lot of talk about restructuring those programs to make them more rational, and there’s a larger question of, should we have this environment in which cities chase corporations by throwing money at them or tax abatements at them, or should there be some kind of compact where cities agree that they don’t do this to each other? **Steven Fulop**Yeah. I generally think — putting on my mayor’s hat — that the structure exists today is a race to zero, and it’s not healthy from the public side. But you cannot unilaterally disarm, is the unfortunate part of the conversation. And so absent governors getting together and having some sort of détente where they’re no longer doing that, I do not see how a state doesn’t participate in this. That said, I think that the competitiveness conversation in New York and New York City is more complicated than just incentives. I think that, you think about other places in the country, where people have mobility to get to, and there’s opportunity, there’s more of a deliberate effort to attract beyond just the incentives. Texas reordered their entire court system to replicate Delaware, to make it more friendly for corporations. They’re having a Texas stock exchange to have better access to capital markets. It’s more of a deliberate strategy than just saying, Hey, we’re gonna give incentives. Now, it is not helpful– you know, people, absent certainty on communication, they try to interpret a lot of what somebody means or what they say. So, governor or mayor says X, Y, Z in a statement, they try to interpret, what does that ultimately mean? How should I envision that to manifest itself for what I’m trying to do? And the thing that we are trying to calibrate for, and I say this publicly and privately, is that a lot of the rhetoric out of City Hall, which is consistent tax, tax, tax on any front that’s possible, whether you make $500,000, whether you have a house that’s $750,000, whether it’s a pass-through and you have a small business, it creates a very volatile environment. And that’s the problem ultimately. So I think you need certainty on that. **Josh Greenman**I have one other topic that we haven’t talked about that I just wanna make sure we discuss, which is AI. You represent a lot of employees. And AI is going to be increasingly a large employer, in theory in the city, but it’s also coming for some of those employees’ jobs, maybe many of those employees’ jobs. **Ben Smith**And the employers are very excited about it. **Josh Greenman**And some of the employers, the CEOs, are excited about being able to save dollars and innovate in various ways. **Steven Fulop**Well, they don’t communicate that with me, but just go ahead. **Josh Greenman**So how do you, how do you balance those tensions, which are very, very real, among employees who might be excited and employers who might be excited about AI, and those who might say, Holy shit, my job is gonna be gone in 10 years, or five? **Steven Fulop**I think that that is— I said this, maybe I touched on it a little bit earlier, I think that young people not being able to find jobs and the housing crisis was pressure from the bottom that is one of the most at-risk situations for New York. AI is part of that conversation, potentially — so you have macro environment, why people aren’t hiring, and then AI might be part of that too. You know, though they don’t clarify that with me. They don’t say, Here’s the reason I’m doing this or doing that. I do think that one of the biggest risks over the next 12 or 18 months is the AI impact on jobs. I agree. And I don’t think anybody has a good solution, both in the Partnership or in City Hall, yet on that. And in order to kind of figure out how to do that and solve for that, I think that you need to have some sort of broader conversation on implications. I will tell you that one of the things that we outlined in kind of what we were talking about on this blueprint was that, I do think that part of the procurement process for city government services needs to factor in who is training and who is factoring in the AI conversation, and those scores should be appropriately weighted, beneficial for companies that are thinking about training or have a training program as part of it. So we’re trying to think of ways to kinda think about training people and getting people into another space and using the leverage of City Hall to do that. I don’t think there’s a broad enough plan yet to solve for it. It is the biggest risk for New York, because New York City relies on white-collar jobs disproportionately for its budget. And where AI is coming is directly at the white-collar jobs as opposed to the blue-collar jobs. And so New York City is poised to get hit in a different sort-of way than anybody else. Short answer is, I don’t think anybody has a clear-eyed solution on that. Some of that’s gotta be set by the mayor, you know, that’s the truth too. I said earlier in the conversation, we had a roundtable on childcare in December with the mayor. And the mayor, at the end of it, I said to his staff, I said, You know, we outlined some of the inefficiencies and bureaucracies to getting these childcare centers open, which we’re familiar with. I told you earlier. We can help you with that from a technology standpoint, okay? And this goes back to making tough decisions. You’ve seen employee headcount since COVID skyrocket at City Hall. Whole, another conversation. I mean, that’s a fair thing to say. We said we’d help you with some efficiencies on that from a technology standpoint. And they were nice in their response but there was really no follow-up on that. And, and my point on that is we can only do so much from the Partnership. You need a dance partner in order to dance, right? Like, that’s really the reality of this. So, I do not know the solution, and I push back. People aren’t— They don’t, at least they don’t express to me they’re happy about, you know, not hiring jobs. You know, maybe to you, Ben. But, and AI displacement, I think people are very concerned about it in the Partnership too. **Harry Siegel**You said maybe without some changes, the Partnership won’t be there in five to ten years. We just did have a big turnout election, that led to an avowedly socialist mayor. Can you just step back and say— **Steven Fulop**No, I think the Partnership— I think I clarified that on the, that current trajectory of how it positions itself needed to change. So I think that’s part of the reason we’re here, to make sure it’s relevant for the next ten years, but— **Harry Siegel**But the business community seems increasingly less relevant to the political direction of the city. The Partnership seems less relevant. This is a bit of an inside conversation. For people who maybe vaguely know what it is or just spot its name in headlines or whatever, what is the point of the Partnership? And frankly, what is the good and utility that the business community brings to the city, if you just want to explain that? **Steven Fulop**What does the Partnership add to the city? **Harry Siegel**Sure. **Steven Fulop**Or the politics shifting left. **Harry Siegel**However you want to take it. **Steven Fulop**I think, forget about the Partnership as an organization for a second. I think the big corporations add a disproportionate amount of philanthropy, revenue, budget help, employee help to the ecosystem here in New York City. If those larger corporations migrate out, you would have a massive budget problem, you would have significant more unemployment, and the amount of philanthropy, which is tens of millions of dollars a year across, which sometimes is underreported or undershared, is a good thing ultimately, helps private institutions or public institutions, culture and arts institutions disproportionately, hospitals disproportionately. So I think that the business community here has a huge impact. The Partnership acts as a conduit from them to the public sector, and has multiple layers to it as I touched on earlier, where we help incubate early companies, facilitate connection to New York City, help advocate for policy change, et cetera, et cetera. **Harry Siegel**Outside of real estate, the business community, as you and Ben [Smith] were talking about, is less and less rooted here, and the problem is sort of a slow trickle to other regions, as opposed to people just pushing out and moving. Lots more people are voting. They seem less interested in the priorities of the business community. You’re talking about employees as a sort of base for the organization, 800,000 of them. I’m just trying to understand how business makes itself more relevant. **Steven Fulop**That’s a little bit of a process that I touched on earlier, a little bit of the transition that I touched on earlier on why we’re here. I think that people, as you saw in this last election, are struggling, an affordability crisis is real. There’s a lot of pressure, whether it’s jobs or housing. I think that’s all real. And I think that people have become, as I said earlier, fiscally more liberal because what’s working for them today and not working today has shifted from 10 years ago. So in order to be relevant, we need to be cognizant of that. **Alyssa Katz**People mentioned earlier that antisemitism is a priority for you, fighting it, and you know, I know you— **Steven Fulop**It’s a priority for us, yeah. **Alyssa Katz**Yeah, and we had a couple incidents that may have coincided with right when you arrived at the Partnership, right? The most visible one was, you know, this Israeli drone company. **Steven Fulop**Oh, the Israeli drone company, Easy Aerial? Yeah. OK. **Alyssa Katz**Yeah. What’s the other one? **Steven Fulop**It was the Park East Synagogue situation. **Alyssa Katz**Oh, right. Well, listen, but I’m talking purely on the business side. We can talk about it more broadly. But you know, there’s a company that was in a city-owned property. The city says it was a lease issue but it had been the target of a campaign saying, Well, you’re providing drones to the Israeli military, and we need you out of here. And then sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. And I’m just kind of curious about how you are approaching that kind of pressure on Israeli individuals and their businesses to get out of town, basically. How do you address that? **Steven Fulop**I think it’s a new conversation, obviously. We do think that antisemitism is rising, and it’s a significant concern. The BDS conversation and singling out one country to different standards than other countries that the U.S. or the public agrees with or disagrees with, or that has human rights violations or doesn’t have human rights violations, is a totally different conversation that we don’t agree with — singling out a single country. And the reality is that that BDS conversation, building on that, is not acceptable to us. And as you see elected officials more vocal in this space, unfortunately, if that ends up being, I think that is a place you’d definitely see us spend money. **Liena Žagare**Do you think Mayor Mamdani is doing a good job, and where would you— **Steven Fulop**Doing a good job? **Liena Žagare**Yeah. Doing a good job in the city and— **Steven Fulop**I think— Yeah, look, I think— **Liena Žagare**Where should he be more careful? **Steven Fulop**I think, I think there is— The short answer is, it’s been two-and-a-half months, so it’s hard to tell. I think that there’s a lot of mixed signals between things he says sometimes in smaller meetings versus what he says publicly. I think that, there’s been some missteps along the way, like for example the real estate tax proposal I thought was a misstep. I think that there’s been some really encouraging things. How he’s handled the president has been terrific. And I think that the city is in a better place than anybody would have thought post-election with regards to the president as a result of his communication there. I think that he has shown some willingness to move away from an extreme left position that he came in. That transition from a legislator to an executive is a transition, and from being a backbench Assemblyperson to a prominent front and center mayor, that transition is always complicated. Homeless encampments, the library funding, the FHEPS situation, he’s moderated some of those views, which are good. And at the same time, I think sometimes going back to how we interpret things that he puts out there, sometimes he’ll put something out that we’ll interpret in a way that I – ‘cause you have no choice but to interpret this stuff – you’re concerned about. You know, like, and I’ve said to them, Look, when American Express announced their headquarters, right? It’s a big deal. You know, a big American brand establishing a significant presence again here, recommitting. It’s good for his narrative ultimately, right? You know, that was in the works for some time. Or the Bank of America situation. If you look at the kind of statements that came out as a result of that, they never acknowledged the corporate side. They talked about the building trades. And that signals to us, A, questions about the housing conversation, right? And B, whether you understand the ecosystem that American Express employs thousands of people here, and they’re hugely involved philanthropically and committed to the city, and what that means. So I would say it’s mixed. **Nicole Gelinas**One thing that’s been missing from the ecosystem is a person like Dick Ravitch, who passed a...
How The Golden Entertainment (GDEN) Narrative Is Shifting As Analysts Recalibrate Valuation Assumptions
Golden Entertainment’s fair value estimate is set at US$30.50, with no change to the overall target level in the latest update. Analysts are split on what this steady US$30.50 figure means, with bullish voices seeing it as a sign of underlying confidence and bearish voices framing it as a reset that better reflects current risks. Read on to see how this evolving narrative could matter for how you track and interpret Golden Entertainment’s next moves. Stay updated as the Fair Value for Golden...
How Jaxson Dart's presence has changed everything for NY Giants
A year ago, the Giants were in the middle of a desperate search for their franchise QB. Jaxson Dart has completely altered the narrative.
Vance Wins CPAC Straw Poll, but Rubio Gains Steam Among MAGA Faithful
Conference organizers presented the poll results as a rebuttal to narratives that Republicans were split over the Iran war and support for Israel.
Private Equity firm says
Thoma Bravo's Holden Spaht said the popular narrative around AI and software is incorrect, and not all software makers are equally exposed to disruption.
Good Morning, Nashville! Talking Immigration Data Politics at Vanderbilt University
After a busy day on Capitol Hill yesterday, I landed in Nashville, Tennessee, last night for an exciting two days on campus at Vanderbilt University. Carwil Bjork-James, an anthropologist whose creative use of database construction to support critical scholarship resonates strongly with my own work, generously invited me to give a talk today about the politics of immigration data and to join a Wikipedia edit-a-thon tomorrow on the topic of immigrant detention. I encourage you to check out Carwil’s database project “Ultimate Consequences” about political deaths in Bolivia after 1982, and his book The Sovereign Street: Making Revolution in Urban Bolivia. My talk today is titled “Untangling the Messy Politics of Immigrant Detention Data.” I’ll focus on how immigrant detention data (not just detention centers themselves) become sites of controversy—from the collection and classification choices that shape what we can know, to the strategic withholding and distortion of data for political ends. Drawing on research spanning multiple administrations, I’ll trace how current data controversies in the second Trump administration connect to long-standing tensions in how we measure, interpret, and communicate about immigration. My goal is to move beyond simple partisan narratives and offer a practical guide for anyone working with immigration data to explore both the pitfalls to avoid and the creative opportunities for more transparent, rigorous public communication about immigration realities. If you are on campus, please stop by. Tomorrow I will join Carwil and Vanderbilt students for a Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon to edit and update Wikipedia entries related to immigrant detention with the latest robust information and data. This event is designed to orient participants into how to edit on Wikipedia, provide them with data-driven starter templates on detention facilities, and allow each person to produce an initial article on one element of the network of ICE facilities or one death in custody this year. The workshop is also a demonstration of how to use open data sources to build public knowledge—something I am deeply passionate about. Thank you to Vanderbilt University, the Spatial Histories series, and Carwil for hosting me. I would love to be a part of conversations and workshops related to immigration data on your campus. Students are really eager these days to have informed, critical, and data-driven explorations of our current immigration system. Reach out anytime if you want to discuss the possibility of bringing me to your campus. Subscribe
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2 review: Balancing the scales of justice
Season 2, which premieres Tuesday on Disney+, is a greatly entertaining blend of crunchy action and compelling narrative, writes our reviewer.
Language and the Politics of Power
Increasingly in our society and politics, the value of life has been subordinated to the aims and narratives of manipulative discourse. The Holy Father is right to warn us of this danger.
Marathon has sold 1.2M copies across Steam, PS5, and Xbox
Alinea Analytics estimates show that Marathon has generated gross revenues of $55M via 1.2M copies sold on Steam, PS5, and Xbox: Looking at the split between Steam, PS5, and Xbox, Steam is clearly the main platform for Marathon, accounting for a little under 70% of the audience (800K copies sold). Meanwhile, PS5 takes about 19% (217K) and Xbox (including console, PC, and cloud) accounts for a bit over 11% or 133K. Marathon is technically a first-party Sony title, so seeing the home console struggle to break 20% of the volume is a notable data point for the ongoing platform-agnostic debate. PlayStation Studios online games will almost certainly continue being multiplatform (despite Sony reportedly pulling back on PC releases). Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe As for Marathon, the consensus among hardcore players who pushed through the awkward onboarding phase – myself included – is that it’s fantastic. The gunplay, aesthetic, and presentation are among the best in the shooter genre. A great game doesn’t always equal an immediate hit, though, as shown by our estimates. Things are looking lukewarm right now. But this might be one of those marathon-not-a-sprint situations. Had to, didn’t I? Why wasn’t Marathon a hit on the same level as Arc Raiders? One topic that came up in a lot of conversations at GDC this year was why Marathon hasn’t hit the same stratosphere as Arc Raiders. On paper, they’re both extraction shooters, and Marathon has the Bungie pedigree – the house that built the gold standard for gunplay in Halo and Destiny. Marathon’s neon-futuristic aesthetic also distinguishes itself from the gritty realism of Tarkov or the post-apocalyptic hope of ARC Raiders. But vibes can only get you so far for first impressions if the onboarding feels like a brick wall. Marathon is a sweaty PvP-focused experience with a first-time user experience and UI that I can only describe as dreadful. Players are dropped into a complex ecosystem where the UI, though visually striking, is functionally uninformative, forcing users to manually hover over nondescript, identical icons just to identify basic gear or weapon mods. This lack of clarity is compounded by punishing mechanics like a severe heat gauge for movement and a scarcity of vital resources, all without a clear tutorial or a low-stakes mode to learn the ropes. Most people – even top streamers and veteran shooter players – have no idea what’s going on in Marathon at first. Arc is on the complete other end of the spectrum. As we covered here and here, Arc Raiders offers a more collaborative, approachable loop where players often work together toward shared goals. And the objectives are instantly clear. To many players, this contrast only emphasised Marathon’s issues, especially during the testing period. Players understand the Arc Raiders loop within 30 minutes, while Marathon acts as a massive filter, chewing up newcomers and spitting them out before they can experience the depth of Bungie’s signature gunplay. What I’m getting at here is that the poor first-time user experience of Marathon’s Server Slam likely stifled launch sales, while the opposite was true for Arc. Let’s look at the pre-launch copies sold for each game during their respective Server Slams (launch-aligned) : Looking at the trajectory: Arc Raiders saw a massive 80% jump in copies sold during its three-day Server Slam (day -13 to -11). Players jumped in, realised the water was fine, and immediately opened their wallets. Marathon, meanwhile, saw a 49% increase in the four days following its Slam (Day -7 to -3). At the time of each game’s respective launch, Arc Raiders had nearly double the Steam footprint of Marathon – and word of mouth only continued to grow. Bungie could have had more time to fix the onboarding process had the beta happened earlier. But Marathon launched three days after the beta finished. These factors limited the launch sales quite a bit, I reckon. Marathon has found a niche audience, though Despite the friction-heavy start, the data suggests that those who survived Marathon’s onboarding are loving life. We’ve been tracking cross-platform DAUs, and while there’s the expected post-launch leakage, many players are sticking with it. After peaking at 478K total DAUs on its first Saturday, Marathon has settled into a respectable rhythm, holding 345K DAUs as of yesterday and averaging 380K DAUs across the weekend. Steam continues to do the heavy lifting here, consistently accounting for the lion’s share of the daily players. Players have been putting in the hours, too: On Steam, Marathon’s average playtime has climbed to 27.8 hours, significantly outpacing the console averages on PS5 (16.5h) and Xbox (17.3h). Even more telling than the averages: 22% of the Steam audience has surged past the 50-hour mark, and nearly 7% have already logged over 100 hours. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe This data suggests that once the Bungie magic clicks, it hooks players deeper than the average extraction shooter. There’s also started to be a shift in the game’s discourse. Marathon launched as one of those games that’s cool to hate. But as Marathon’s 100-hour club grows, we’re seeing conversations around its mechanical merit outweigh the negativity. Several high-profile creators, who were initially vocal critics, have spent the last week coming around on the mechanical depth of the endgame. It’s a subtle but positive signal; the hate train is losing steam, and a new narrative about the game is emerging. Bungie faithfuls unite Another interesting metric in Marathon’s first few weeks is who, exactly, is playing. Bungie leans heavily on its prestige as the “makers of Halo and Destiny,” in its marketing, and that message has clearly hit the mark. On Steam, the gravity (hammer) of Bungie’s previous work is unavoidable. A staggering 78.2% of Marathon players also played Destiny 2. The trend carries across other platforms, with 74.2% of PS5 players and 82.7% of Xbox players also having played Destiny 2. The Halo legacy lives on, it seems. More on that in a bit. While Destiny 2 went free to play, these numbers still represent a high-intent migration of a fanbase that trusts Bungie’s specific brand of kinetic gunplay and cryptic world-building. The Xbox data adds another layer of legacy. About 85.7% of Marathon players on Xbox have played Halo Infinite, while over half of the Steam audience has spent time in Halo Infinite and 36.1% in the Master Chief Collection (a paid collection of the old Bungie-made legacy games). Interestingly, we see a 55.9% overlap with ARC Raiders on Steam. Overlap is even higher there on PlayStation (60.5%) and Xbox (66.5%). And there’s also significant crossover with Helldivers 2 on all platforms, too. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe Bungie has found some of its fans with Marathon, and the challenge now is keeping this engaged in a high-stakes PvP environment when they’ve spent the last decade primarily enjoying the power fantasies of PvE. On that note… Go the full 26 miles? Or cut and run? Time for some could’ve, should’ve, would’ve. These things would have improved Marathon’s performance at launch: A more robust onboarding process, perhaps in the form of a short single-player/PvE campaign. We know Bungie fans love this stuff. A traditional arena-based mode akin to Destiny’s Crucible could have been a bridge for the cautious players who’d have been otherwise deterred by the Server Slam. It’s also a great palate cleanser after getting merked. Introducing a dedicated PvE environment would have similarly diversified the conversation and lowered the barrier for the Bungie faithful who found the pure PvP extraction loop too abrasive. PvE is safer than PvP these days. There’s an argument that a thin PvE mode would have just felt like a budget Destiny, potentially hurting the brand more. But given how dire the FTUE is, I think it would have been a net positive. Any kind of tutorialised loop that demystifies the stakes, really. While there is merit in a studio sticking firmly to a singular creative vision, and going all in on the hardcore extraction loop. Less forgiving is the technical reality is that the user interface and first-time user experience (FTUE) were not at a commercial standard for launch. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe In a landscape where player time is oversaturated and the most contested currency, a flawed FTUE is a critical failure point. But it’s not all doom and gloom, as Marathon has an incredible, unique gameplay loop, suggesting that financial success is still attainable if Bungie can pivot effectively. Bungie and PlayStation now face a difficult strategic crossroads, though – one within a challenging games market. They could: Double down on Marathon with a long-term Rainbow Six Siege- or No Man’s Sky-style recovery plan, which is something I heard Last Stand Media’s Chris Maldonado mention last week. While this could be a sunk-cost fallacy in action, it could eventually yield the audience the game’s mechanical depth deserves. Shift focus toward the inevitable Destiny 3 or another project, mitigating the escalating opportunity cost and cutting their losses, so to speak. Doing both is an expensive proposition, given the high overhead and burn rate of operating out of Bellevue, Washington. With Sony recently demonstrating a lower threshold for underperforming studios and projects, the margin for error has vanished. Whatever happens, the next six months will determine whether Marathon becomes a cornerstone of Sony’s live-service portfolio or a cautionary tale of vision exceeding accessibility. I’m hoping it’s the former, because Marathon rocks. As always, hit subscribe to get updates on Marathon and other relevant games. Subscribe Want to get your hands on our data for yourself – for free? We’re offering a free trial of our platform for games companies. Send us a message here, or reply to this email, and we’ll set you up. 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!]
‘They’ve Stolen the Narrative’: Black Business Leaders on the DEI Backlash
Bloomberg Businessweek convened five prominent Black executives to candidly discuss navigating the White House, rollbacks in access and the current American mood.
Tottenham Hotspur have chance to turn relegation narrative around against Nottingham Forest
Both sides are barely hovering above the relegation zone, Spurs boasting one point over 18th-place West Ham while Nottingham are only above the drop zone on goal differential
Giants Ace Logan Webb on Negative Team USA Narrative: 'It's B---S---'
San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb made his opinion on the negative narrative surrounding Team USA clear: "It's b---s---."
Trump faces legacy-defining dilemmas in Iran
The question is no longer whether President Donald Trump has lost control of the narrative of his new war in Iran. It’s whether he’s lost control of the war itself.
Markiplier to Microdramas: The Ankler x NAB Show’s Future of Entertainment
Share Subscribe Vegas, baby! The Ankler is heading back to NAB Show for a second year in a row — and doubling down on conversations with the smartest people in the industry. From April 18–22, we’re partnering again with the industry’s biggest media and tech gathering to break down the Business of Media and Entertainment as it’s actually evolving: faster, riskier and increasingly driven by new formats, new audiences and new power players. This curated series will bring together top creators, executives and innovators to tackle the forces reshaping the industry — from the AI disruption of Hollywood’s creative ecosystem to the rise of the creator economy, shifting audience behavior and the changing economics of production. We’ll be rolling out more programming in the coming weeks — including top speakers from leading AI studios, prediction markets and beyond — so keep an eye on the Business of Media and Entertainment hub. But first up, we’re announcing two panels about what’s actually working in Hollywood: The Scary-Smart Business of Horror A good scare has become one of the entertainment economy’s most reliable engines. With disciplined budgets, built-in fandoms and global box office upside, horror consistently outperforms. From theatrical releases to streaming-first originals and creator-driven IP, the genre is artistically flexible and financially durable — and one of the last truly communal experiences for Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences. Join YouTube creator Mark Fischbach, aka Markiplier, whose independent feature Iron Lung earned more than $50 million at the global box office, Atomic Monster president Michael Clear and screenwriter Akela Cooper (M3GAN, Malignant) for a conversation moderated by Like & Subscribe’s Natalie Jarvey about why horror travels so effectively across platforms and borders, how studios and independents are building sustainable genre pipelines and why the next wave of breakout franchises may emerge from unexpected sources. Inside the Microdrama Boom Short-form serialized storytelling is having a major moment. Microdramas, social-native series and creator-led narratives are capturing massive audiences with low-cost, rapid production cycles and direct-to-fan distribution. What was once dismissed as niche or experimental is now attracting major platform investment. Moderated by Jarvey, this panel of microdrama creators and executives — including one of the format’s top stars and producers, Kasey Esser, and Dhar Mann Studios’ head of vertical content, Erin McFarlane — examines how format innovation, fandom dynamics and algorithmic discovery are reshaping the economics of scripted storytelling and what traditional studios can learn from these agile models. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Lynne@theankler.com Share
Casagrande: What if college sports aren’t as broken as they say?
Sometimes you have to take a step back and ask yourself who is controlling the narrative and what do they have to gain?
What the blame narrative on chronic disease gets wrong
The nation’s health crisis is a design flaw, not a lack of personal responsibility.
AMD Sees Agent Computers as the Next Step in AI PCs
AMD has published a guide for running OpenClaw locally on Windows through two distinct hardware paths it calls "RyzenClaw" and "RadeonClaw," both built around its own silicon and designed to keep AI agent workloads off the cloud entirely. The push is part of AMD's broader "Agent Computer" narrative,...
How Golden Entertainment (GDEN) Narrative Is Shifting As Analysts Reassess Risk And Reward
Golden Entertainment’s latest analyst update keeps the fair value target steady at $30.50, even as assumptions behind that figure shift. Bullish and bearish voices are now reading the same unchanged headline number in very different ways, with some seeing headroom for upside and others treating it as a signal that the risk or reward balance has cooled. As you read on, you will see how these views are forming and how you can track the story as it continues to evolve. Analyst Price Targets...
How The HCA Healthcare (HCA) Narrative Is Shifting Around AI, Medicaid Support And Valuation
HCA Healthcare’s modeled fair value has been nudged higher from about US$541.52 to about US$543.05, signaling only a very modest adjustment to the price target range. Behind that small move, recent analyst commentary has focused on potential earnings support from Georgia’s Medicaid SDP approval and ongoing AI and efficiency efforts, while also flagging reimbursement and legislative risks that could limit how far targets stretch. As you read on, you will see how these moving pieces shape the...
Did Oscar’s Reaffirmed 2026 Outlook and Reinsurance Strategy Just Shift Oscar Health's (OSCR) Investment Narrative?
Oscar Health recently presented at the 47th Annual Raymond James Institutional Investor Conference in Orlando, where management reaffirmed its 2026 financial outlook, addressed concerns about the expiration of ACA subsidies, and discussed open enrollment outcomes. A key insight from the presentation was Oscar’s emphasis on its reinsurance capital strategy, with partners covering 55% of required capital, which management highlighted as a way to support stability while the company manages...
How The Investment Story Is Shifting For Phibro Animal Health (PAHC) After Fresh Analyst Targets
Analysts have lifted their price target on Phibro Animal Health by $4, while the model fair value remains at $48.50. That gap reflects a refreshed research view, with some seeing a more attractive balance between risk and reward and others still highlighting execution and valuation sensitivity as key watchpoints. As you read on, you will see how this evolving narrative might shape your own thinking on the stock over time. Stay updated as the Fair Value for Phibro Animal Health shifts by...
How The Caesars Entertainment (CZR) Narrative Is Shifting On Cash Flow And Las Vegas Risks
The latest update trims Caesars Entertainment’s model fair value from $32.11 to $31.28, a modest adjustment that tightens the implied upside from current estimates. This shift lines up with Street research that clusters around a lower but still generally supportive valuation range, with targets running from the mid 20s to the mid 40s and ratings mostly in the Equal Weight to Overweight or Buy camp. As you read on, you will see how these price target moves fit into the broader bullish and...
Colorado Democrats, Republicans fight over ballot fiscal information
Republicans and Democrats clashed anew over legislation that would require identifying which programs would see a funding reduction if a ballot measure passed, with the former saying it’s yet another way for the government to control the campaign narrative and the latter insisting it provides transparency to voters. House Bill 1084, sponsored by Denver Democratic […]
Did Strong Q4 EPS Gains Just Shift National HealthCare's (NHC) Investment Narrative?
National HealthCare Corporation reported past fourth-quarter 2025 results with revenue of US$386.51 million and net income of US$24.85 million, and full-year 2025 revenue of US$1.52 billion with net income of US$120.02 million. The sharp year-over-year increase in quarterly earnings per share from continuing operations, from US$0.39 basic to US$1.60, underscores meaningful efficiency and profitability gains. Next, we’ll examine how this earnings-driven improvement in profitability shapes...
Korean startup wrtn is on track to pass $100M in annual recurring revenue, riding a loneliness epidemic-fueled boom in AI entertainment
Chief product officer Dong-jae Lee uses the analogy of a dungeon master for a tabletop RPG: the AI constructs a narrative in response to user choices.
Google Pixel 10a review: Better than you’ve heard
Trying to review the Pixel 10a feels like trying to bridge two completely separate narratives into one cohesive story. The...
Native-led health research company bridges medical gaps
Missouri Breaks Industries Research is changing the narrative on reservations in South Dakota and North Dakota.
Why The Narrative Around Accel Entertainment (ACEL) Is Shifting As Valuation Holds And Leadership Evolves
The fair value estimate for Accel Entertainment holds steady at $15.17, with no change to the target level in the latest update. Bullish and bearish analysts are reading this unchanged target differently, with some highlighting it as support for the current thesis and others pointing out that it leaves limited room if execution does not fully match expectations. As you read on, you will see how this stable $15.17 target fits into the evolving narrative around leadership changes, risk inputs,...
How The Encompass Health (EHC) Story Is Shifting With New Targets And Assumptions
The latest update around Encompass Health centers on a US$3 lift in the price target, with the fair value figure holding at US$142.73 per share. Analysts linking this change to refreshed thinking on discount rates, growth assumptions, margins and future P/E views see the new target as better aligned with their current models. Others flag the reliance on those same inputs as a key risk. As you read on, you will see how this evolving analyst narrative might shape the way you track Encompass...
AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) Posts Q4 Loss That Challenges Bullish Margin Narratives
AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) just posted its FY 2025 numbers with Q4 revenue of US$1,288.3 million, a basic EPS loss of US$0.25, and net income excluding extra items showing a loss of US$127.4 million, while trailing 12 month figures sit at US$4.8 billion of revenue, a basic EPS loss of US$1.34, and a net loss of US$632.4 million. Over recent quarters, the company has seen quarterly revenue move from US$862.5 million in Q1 2025 to between roughly US$1.3 billion and US$1.4 billion through...
Feeling healthy, Carter determined to change the narrative
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- There are two things that Evan Carter would like to stop talking about soon enough: his ongoing health and his ability to hit left-handed pitching. He understands why the topics persist. But it’s up to him to change the narrative.
Browns' Shedeur Sanders facing unfair QB hotseat narrative in 2026
Sanders will have it all to do this offseason.
Explainer: How the State of the Union became a stage for political confrontation
What began as a spare presidential report to the U.S. Congress has hardened into a prime-time pressure chamber shaped by an era of fierce polarization, with the State of the Union speech now unfolding as a long night of choreographed tension and open confrontation - a moment for presidents to wrest narrative from turmoil and craft the defining images of their time in power.
Analysis: GDP growth, trade deficit figures blow a hole in Trump’s rosy narrative
Two new pieces of economic data, one released Thursday and one released Friday, blew another hole in President Donald Trump’s triumphant narrative about the effects of his tariffs.
Daniel Miller
Daniel Miller is a reporter at POLITICO covering the intersection of entertainment, media, sports, technology and politics.Part of POLITICO’s California team since 2026, he examines how Hollywood and Southern California function as engines of political power. Daniel also covers the rainmakers, dealmakers and cultural figures who shape policy debates, elections and public life far beyond the state’s borders.Daniel previously spent 13 years at the Los Angeles Times, most recently as an enterprise reporter in the newspaper’s Metro department, where he worked on investigations and features. He wrote about allegations of sexual misconduct at L.A.’s Magic Castle, chronicled the cratering ventures of a celebrity vegan chef and detailed themystery of a missing million-dollar pocket watch once owned by J.P. Morgan. In 2019, he wrote, reported and hosted "Larger Than Life," an award-winning podcast about the life of an enigmatic L.A. street racer.He previously covered the business of entertainment for The Times, examining the fraught political ties between the Walt Disney Co. and the city of Anaheim, probing the world of second-tier talent agents operating on Hollywood’s fringes and uncovering allegations involving several #MeToo figures.Daniel was named Journalist of the Year at the 2015 National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards and, a year later, received the L.A. Press Club’s Entertainment Journalist of the Year award. He was also a finalist for the 2016 Loeb Awards for "Selling Stardom," a series on unscrupulous Hollywood operators. His narrative reporting has been honored by organizations including the Society for Features Journalism, the National Association of Black Journalists and the Motor Press Guild.Daniel began his career reporting in Southern California, writing for the Ventura County Star, the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Hollywood Reporter. He attended Beverly Hills High School and UCLA. He lives in Los Angeles.
UAE president met U.S. senator Lindsay Graham in Abu Dhabi after health concerns
Graham, writing on X, said he met the UAE president for an hour and a half and dismissed those “perpetuating false narratives against the United Arab Emirates and President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.”
Bill Self rejects narratives he's seen on Darryn Peterson's health
Kansas basketball once again had to play without Darryn Peterson on Monday, during a game against Arizona. Here’s what Bill Self said on Thursday.
Monster Hunter Stories 3 Preview: Me and My Pet Rathalos
I spent half a dozen hours with Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection by that point, and got a feel for what it was shaping up to be: a gorgeous RPG that combines the traditional elements of Monster Hunter with a turn-based RPG and a surprisingly compelling cast and narrative that invited me to befriend and train monsters, not just hunt them.
Until Dawn Developer Announces Release Date for Long-Awaited Sci-Fi Horror Directive 8020
Supermassive Games has finally nailed down when we'll get to play Directive 8020, its next slice of narrative horror.
As Helldivers 2 sends players in to destroy the Cyborg menace, Arrowhead details its plans for the future of the game
Helldivers 2 is sending us to the Cyborg world of Cyberstan, and game director Mikael Eriksson has discussed how Arrowhead approaches the ongoing narrative.
How Recent Developments Are Reframing The Story For Accel Entertainment (ACEL)
Accel Entertainment’s latest research update keeps the fair value target anchored at US$15.17 per share, even as the underlying model inputs around discount rate and long term revenue growth are refreshed. Bullish and cautious analysts alike are treating this steady target as a test of how closely the company’s actual execution will track the assumptions behind that US$15.17 figure. If you want to keep on top of how this narrative evolves from here, stay tuned for ways to follow the key...
Record-Breaking One-Off Bugatti Brouillard Could Become the Most Expensive Bugatti Ever
A one-off aimed at a historic record Bugatti’s latest one-off, the Brouillard, steps onto the hypercar stage with the quiet confidence of a record-breaker. The brand’s tradition of bespoke excellence meets a bold new aesthetic, positioning this unique commission to potentially become the marque’s most expensive creation. Built on the proven underpinnings of the Chiron/Mistral architecture, yet transformed by distinctive craft, the Brouillard is both homage and innovation. A name born from equestrian legend More than a century ago, a striking white horse captivated Ettore Bugatti in Molsheim. That equine myth now informs the car’s name and its sensory identity. The result is an automotive portrait of athletic grace—surfaces that read like muscle, curves that suggest motion, and details that quietly speak of discipline and heritage. Embroidered horse motifs on door panels and seat backs echo the story, while a miniature glass sculpture of the steed crowns the shifter. Sculptural design with purpose The Brouillard’s silhouette favors sinuous surfaces over hard creases, allowing light to glide over its form like a tendon under skin. Aerodynamics inform elegance: an integrated ducktail replaces a deployable wing, cleansing the airflow and boosting stability at speed. Its stance is athletic, its volumes taut, and its visual language unmistakably Bugatti. “Sculptural, organic forms—like a tendon beneath the skin—hide immense power behind noble simplicity,” said design chief Frank Heyl, capturing the car’s philosophy in a single stroke. Craft elevated to an art The cabin embraces craftsmanship at an uncommon level. Custom-woven textiles from Paris introduce a discreet tartan pattern, while green-tinted carbon fiber nods to the exterior’s hue. A glazed roof creates a cathedral atmosphere, bathing the cockpit in natural light. A central spine appears to flow from exterior to interior, emphasizing continuity and structure. Highlights include: Custom textiles with subtle tartan motifs Green-tinted carbon fiber matched to the exterior finish A “cathedral” glass roof that elevates cabin ambience A sculptural centerline linking outside to inside Bespoke embroidery and glass equine detail W16 power at its absolute apex Under the sculpted skin, the final evolution of Bugatti’s 8.0‑liter, quad‑turbo W16 delivers a thunderous 1,600 hp at 7,050 rpm and 1,600 Nm of torque. This represents the pinnacle of nearly two decades of Bugatti engineering, honed to an ultimate state. The lightweight monocoque blends carbon fiber with aluminum, holding mass to around 1,900 kg for poise and control. Experts suggest the Brouillard could surpass the 282 mph (454 km/h) achieved by the Mistral, aided by more aerodynamic bodywork and the fixed ducktail. Whether or not it sets a new benchmark, its intent is clear: relentless speed paired with refinement. Exclusivity with an exacting timeline The commissioning process is intensive, with roughly 18 months of development leading to a 2027 delivery. Bugatti’s program limits itself to no more than two creations per year, ensuring focus and rarity. Each example leaves the atelier as a singular vision, shaped to the client’s collection and the brand’s ethos. An unveiling is planned for Monterey Car Week 2025, placing the Brouillard amid the world’s most discerning enthusiasts. Its patron is a European collector deeply invested in the Bugatti universe, from historic and modern cars to Carlo Bugatti furniture and Rembrandt Bugatti bronzes. A valuation poised to make history While Bugatti has not disclosed an official price, informed estimates place the Brouillard between €10 million and €30 million. Context matters: a series Mistral begins near €5 million, while the Brouillard adds profound personalization, sculptural changes, and a pace of production that keeps scarcity front and center. In an arena where uniqueness drives value, the path to a brand record is unmistakably open. What it signals for the marque The Brouillard crystallizes Bugatti’s dual identity: traditional savoir‑faire intertwined with boundary-pushing performance. It exhibits a narrative soul—the white horse of Molsheim—woven into modern materials and world-class aerodynamics. As a rolling statement, it reaffirms that the Bugatti idea is larger than speed alone; it is about story, craft, and the courage to pursue an ideal to its logical limit.
Milan Cortina Olympics open with a ceremonial attempt at harmony
MILAN — Four locations, one Olympic heartbeat. For the first time in Olympic Games history, Friday’s opening ceremony unfolded across multiple locations, all in northern Italy, the culmination of more than 700 hours of rehearsal and 1,200 performers from ages 10 to 70 officially enshrining a month-long sports festival that will capture worldwide attention. In the San Siro Stadium in Milan as well as the town center in Cortina d’Ampezzo, the snowboard and freestyle skiing venue in Livigno and the ski jumping stadium in Predazzo, Italy celebrated “Armonia,” a narrative designed to...
Experts Warn: The Dangerous Blur Between Science and Wellness in Mental Health Bestsellers
A marketplace where labels blur In many bookstores, titles rooted in clinical science sit inches from glossy self-help guides promising instant serenity. That proximity can make rigorous research look interchangeable with lifestyle advice, especially when everything shares the same bright displays. Readers encounter a single aisle labeled “psychology,” even when the content ranges from peer-reviewed evidence to spiritual rituals. The result is a subtle but pervasive blur, turning a complex health landscape into a grab-bag of mixed claims. Why the shelves can mislead Retail categories are built for convenience, not for methodological clarity or clinical accuracy. When “development personal” or “wellness” becomes the default bin, evidence-based psychology competes with coaching manifestos and mystical manuals. The visual language of covers—calming color palettes, confident subtitles, glowing endorsements—flattens the distinction between randomized trials and anecdotal wisdom. In that aesthetic harmony, a guide on cognitive behavioral therapy may appear no more “serious” than a book on moon manifestation. The stakes for readers and patients Confusion carries real risks, including delayed care when people self-treat serious symptoms with untested routines. Vulnerable readers—facing depression, trauma, or anxiety—may be swayed by charismatic voices over careful data. Some messages frame recovery as pure willpower, which can amplify shame when symptoms persist despite effort. Others overpromise universal solutions, ignoring cultural context, diagnostic nuance, and comorbidity. “Shelving is not neutral; it shapes beliefs, expectations, and choices.” What professionals and retailers are asking Clinicians and public-health experts argue for clear, readable signage that separates science-based mental health from broader wellness. Books by licensed psychiatrists or psychologists that cite peer-reviewed studies could be grouped under “Evidence-Based Mental Health.” Adjacent space might host reflective memoirs, coaching workbooks, or contemplative philosophy—valuable in their way, but clearly labeled as non-clinical guidance. Booksellers emphasize their dual role as cultural curators and commercial actors, noting they respond to demand while striving for quality standards. How clarity could look and feel The goal is not to police ideas, but to help readers navigate with confidence. Transparent categorization respects reader autonomy while lifting the signal of credible practice. Clear tags—such as “scientific references,” “clinical overview,” or “personal narrative”—can work like map legends, turning a maze into a route. And when a book blends modes, hybrid labels can acknowledge both insight and limitation. A practical checklist for choosing wisely Check the author’s credentials: clinical license, academic affiliation, or relevant training. Scan the references: citations to peer-reviewed journals or reputable guidelines. Look for scope limits: clear statements about who the book is and isn’t for, and when to seek care. Seek methods, not miracles: approaches tested across diverse groups, with measurable outcomes. Watch the language: be wary of absolute claims, stigmatizing tones, or one-size-fits-all promises. Cross-verify with trusted bodies: national psychology associations or public-health agencies. The publisher’s responsibility Publishers can raise the bar by standardizing disclosure on methods, sample sizes, and limitations. Editorial policies could require conflict-of-interest statements, transparent citations, and plain-language summaries of evidence. Marketing should avoid medicalized framing for books that lack clinical validation, even when sales incentives press for bold claims. When a manuscript mixes reflection with research, honest jacket copy can prevent false equivalence. Coexisting without confusion Wellness writing can offer genuine comfort, perspective, and daily habits that support well-being. Scientific texts can provide structured tools, validated therapies, and realistic expectations for progress. The aim is to let these strands coexist, while giving readers the navigational cues to tell them apart. With clearer shelves, informed labels, and modest design tweaks, we can protect reader trust—and keep the aisle both inviting and intelligent.
DRAGO Entertainment announces a new upcoming title
Billed as a narrative prelude to DRAGO Entertainment's two-million-selling 'Gas Station Simulator', and now available to wishlist on Steam.
What Catalysts Are Reframing The Narrative For First Business Financial Services (FBIZ)
First Business Financial Services has seen its modeled fair value move from $58.20 to $67.25, with a slightly lower discount rate and more measured revenue growth assumptions sitting alongside a higher view of earnings efficiency. Supportive analysts argue this updated target lines up better with what they view as solid earnings quality and more consistent performance expectations, while more cautious voices see less room for error if those assumptions are not met. As you read on, you will...
Next Narrative Africa Fund Partners With Parrot Analytics On First-Of-Its Kind African Entertainment Landscape Study
The Next Narrative Africa Fund (NNAF) has announced it is working with Parrot Analytics on a first-of-its-kind African entertainment landscape study ahead of deciding its inaugural grantees. Launched in late 2024, the Next Narrative Africa Fund (NNAF) is a $40 million commercial content fund paired with a $10M from non-profit Venture Studio and focused on …
Overwatch Spotlight: The Reign of Talon Begins
Welcome to a new era. Follow the first fully-connected narrative arc in Overwatch history, play five new Heroes in Season 1, and enjoy expansive gameplay updates when Vendetta’s reign begins on Feb. 10.
Overwatch 2 Is Ditching the '2' Amid Launch of 'New, Story-Driven Era' With 10 New Heroes
Overwatch 2 is officially ditching the "2" from its name. It's all just Overwatch now as the game enters a "new, story-driven era" with a year-long narrative, 10 new heroes, and a major overhaul.
Bill affirming St. Johns as Black History Museum site, creating Board, sent to Senate floor
Several public speakers urged safeguards to ensure historians and community voices, not politics, guide the museum’s narrative.
19 Winter Olympic storylines we're watching (they're not just about sports)
The Winter Olympics promise plenty of high adrenaline, fierce competition, historic firsts and emotional moments over 2 1/2 weeks. Here are some of the names and narratives to keep an eye on.
What if we didn't devolve into partisan blame after every tragedy?
Americans should be cautious about how these hyperpolarized narratives warp how they view the people involved.
Patriots Defender Squashes ‘Crazy’ Drake Maye Playoff Narrative
Despite stringing together three dominant postseason outings, the New England Patriots defense doesn’t want to hear about carrying Drake Maye to Super Bowl LX. Maye led New England to a 14-3 season and AFC East championship by accounting for 35 touchdowns with a league-leading 72.0 completion percentage. The MVP finalist hasn’t lived up to those […]
Dispatch censored on Switch and Switch 2
AdHoc Studio says despite censorship being toggled on by default, "the core narrative and gameplay remains identical to the original release"
Your Halo Story
I’m obsessed with stories. This comes as a shock to many of you, I know. These days when we hear the term, the immediate association is likely with penwoven narratives underpinning myriad entertainment properties and creative content. Or perhaps some variation of a bite-sized window of life viewed through the lens of a social platform. […]
Bengals player shoots down silly Joe Burrow narratives
A Bengals player had something to say about all the Joe Burrow rumors.
Code Vein II Review - Bloodsucking The Fun Away
Remove Code Vein II's inspirations, and what remains is an unremarkable and forgettable experience.
Axios House: Trust presents the biggest challenge in health care AI, industry leaders say
Leaders in the health care and tech space said transparency, feedback and narrative play a crucial role in building provider and patient trust in AI
For Trump, the Truth in Minneapolis Is What He Says It Is
The Trump team has advanced one-sided narratives to justify each of the killings, even when bystander video shows something else entirely.
Will PENN Entertainment's (PENN) Leadership and Tech Shake-Up Redefine Its Integrated Gaming Narrative?
PENN Entertainment recently announced an overhaul of its corporate leadership and technology structure, aiming to cut overheads, streamline decision-making, and more tightly integrate its digital wagering and brick‑and‑mortar casino operations. The company’s focus on eliminating duplicative executive roles and tightening cost controls highlights management’s attempt to address efficiency concerns amid mixed earnings expectations and industry views. Next, we’ll examine how PENN...
LAND O'LAKES, INC. AND IMAGINE ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE COLLABORATION TO REDEFINE STORYTELLING AND NARRATIVES OF RURAL AMERICA
Ahead of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, Land O'Lakes, Inc., has collaborated with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment to develop a toolkit for storytellers aimed at changing the way rural America is depicted across film and television.
Did PENN Entertainment's (PENN) Tech and Digital Shake-Up Just Reshape Its Omnichannel Investment Narrative?
PENN Entertainment, Inc. recently implemented a new corporate organizational structure that realigns its Interactive division around Canadian digital assets and its Hollywood iCasino product in the US, eliminates two senior executive roles, and consolidates enterprise technology and digital operations under Chief Technology Officer and Head of Interactive Aaron LaBerge. This reshaping of leadership and responsibilities is intended to more tightly connect PENN’s retail casinos with its...
Earnings Show Banks Turning Transaction Banking Into a Platform Business
Some of the world’s largest banks posted their final earnings for the 2025 fiscal year this week. The most surprising narrative from firms like Citigroup,
Trump Presses GOP to Move Health Plan as Premium Hikes Loom
President Donald Trump urged Republican lawmakers to quickly move on a White House healthcare plan, seeking to shift the narrative on an issue that threatens his party’s hold on Congress with millions of Americans facing premium hikes or the risk of lost coverage.
‘Working without a net’: Remembering Bill Livingston’s fiery legacy in Cleveland sports
Former Plain Dealer columnist Bill Livingston, who passed away at 77, leaves behind decades of passionate, opinionated coverage that helped define Cleveland’s sports narrative.
Why The Narrative Around Dave & Buster's Entertainment (PLAY) Is Shifting As Execution Takes Center Stage
Why the Fair Value Estimate Just Shifted Dave & Buster's just saw its fair value estimate trimmed slightly from US$26.50 to US$25.75, a small move that still carries an important message about how expectations are being reset. The modest change lines up with fresh research that puts more weight on near term execution, reflecting softer same store sales and traffic on one side and new leadership efforts and initiatives on the other. Stay tuned to see how you can keep on top of these ongoing...