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SF blockchain tycoon drops $500,000 on D10 race

Candidate Theo Ellington has also raiseed the most money by far.

Oct 1 • 7:00 AM EDT • Politics • sfexaminer.com

Global Health & WASH: October 2026 Funding Opportunities (26 new opportunities)

41 opportunities on the Global Health & WASH page this cycle, 26 of them new. The health money on this page is mostly research money, and much of it is aimed at people early in their careers. Funder after funder, from the TANGO2 Research Foundation’s Research Pathways grants to the South African Medical Research Council’s Early Investigators Programme to the National Ataxia Foundation and Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, is funding early-career investigators and the institutions that host them, with a clear tilt toward researchers based in or from the Global South, from AMBSO in Uganda to Kenya’s CONNECT-VAX network to Ersilia’s AI Incubator for African drug discovery. The money is organized by disease as much as by need: narrow foundations, the Parkinson’s Foundation, NTAP for neurofibromatosis, the RUNX1 Research Program for an inherited blood disorder, each run their own grant, so the question for an applicant is less which health problem you work on than which foundation owns your disease. The largest European cheques go to consortia only, with the European Innovation Council putting up to EUR €4 million behind a single healthy-ageing project and UNITE up to EUR €1 million behind each cross-border digital health team. Water sits apart, almost entirely in applied utility research: the Water Research Foundation’s cluster of USD $250,000 to $500,000 projects, each built around a utility problem from sewer laterals to reuse treatment. And the biggest single pot is public: HRSA is renewing community health center service areas with awards of up to USD $10 million each. This post is for paid subscribers. This helps support the time and effort it takes to curate and organize these opportunities. Subscribe To keep this accessible to everyone who needs it, we’re happy to offer pay what you can rates. You can find more details here. Open Opportunities 2027 Building the Field of Health Advocacy Grant, Georgia Health Initiative. *New!* *Closing soon!* Georgia Health Initiative, a nonprofit private foundation focused on health equity, is opening its 2027 Building the Field of Health Advocacy Grant to strengthen the organizations that push for healthier systems across the state. The Initiative treats advocacy as infrastructure, backing one-year projects that range from urgent responses to shifting federal policy to longer arc campaigns on housing, behavioral health, care access, and food security. It wants coalitions that elevate community voice, apply an equity lens, and arrive ready to deploy concrete strategies, and it deliberately seeks variety in issues, communities, and organizational size. The optional webinar and required lobbying training signal a funder investing in a durable field, not one grant cycle. The strongest fits are Georgia nonprofits and public agencies ready to turn advocacy readiness into systems change. Geographies: United States. Who can apply: Tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charities, state or local government agencies, or coalitions/collaboratives using a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, that work in Georgia on behalf of Georgians and align with the mission, vision, and values of Georgia Health Initiative. Only one application per organization, though an organization may be listed as a partner or subcontractor on multiple applications. Funding amount: Organizations can apply for up to USD $80,000 per project; the Initiative anticipates investing a total of USD $1.36 million. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Governance, Policy & Advocacy · SDG3; SDG10. Deadline: October 2, 2026. Learn more and apply here. TDD Research Pathways Grant, TANGO2 Research Foundation. *New!* *Closing soon!* The TANGO2 Research Foundation, working with a founding gift from Tango2UK, is opening its TDD Research Pathways Grant to fund early-career investigators anywhere in the world who study TANGO2 Deficiency Disorder. The foundation is using this money to seed pilot work and to build a research community around a rare disorder that few labs currently study. It wants to back emerging scientists, clinicians, and trainees who will stay with this field, not one-off projects, which is why it requires a committed mentor and real institutional support and asks each applicant for a plan for future contributions. The design rewards promise and persistence over track record. The strongest fits are students, residents, postdoctoral fellows, and new investigators ready to commit to TANGO2 research. Geographies: Global. Who can apply: Early-career investigators worldwide, including undergraduate, graduate, and medical trainees, postdoctoral fellows, residents, and clinical or research fellows. Early-career investigators must hold a PhD, MD, or equivalent doctoral degree and be within 10 years of that degree or within 5 years of initiating rare disease research, engaged in postdoctoral research at an academic institution, teaching hospital, or nonprofit research institute. Currently enrolled trainees and transitional PhD candidates beginning a postdoctoral appointment at a nonprofit institution by July 1, 2026 are also eligible. All applicants must identify a qualified mentor with relevant TDD or rare disease research experience and demonstrate institutional support. Funding amount: Up to USD $15,000. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation, Science & Technology. Deadline: October 2, 2026. Learn more and apply here. Call for Expression of Interest (EOI): AMBSO Impact Research Initiative, Africa Medical and Behavioral Sciences Organization (AMBSO). *Closing soon!* The Africa Medical and Behavioral Sciences Organization is inviting expressions of interest for its Impact Research Initiative, which funds early-stage pilot studies and proof of concept work on priority health challenges. AMBSO is a Ugandan research organization backing bold ideas that can grow into larger studies, and its tracks span antimicrobial resistance, epidemic preparedness, artificial intelligence for diagnostics, HIV prevention, climate and health, cancer, maternal and child health, and non-communicable diseases. The small award size and direct-cost-only rule point to a funder that wants evidence rather than overhead, and that favors projects able to attract follow-on money or use AMBSO’s own research infrastructure. Eligibility runs worldwide, welcoming researchers and institutions inside and outside Africa. The strongest fits are researchers with a feasible pilot that generates policy-ready evidence. Geographies: Global. Who can apply: Open worldwide to researchers, academic institutions, and research organizations whose work aligns with generating high-impact health evidence. Independent researchers are eligible if affiliated with an academic or research institution. Doctoral students are encouraged to apply as part of a research team led by a faculty Principal Investigator. Community-based organizations and other eligible entities may apply. Projects may be implemented inside or outside Uganda. Funding amount: Up to USD $10,000 per project, with no minimum funding threshold. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: SDG3. Deadline: October 2, 2026. Learn more and apply here. Entrepreneurs for Resilience 2027 (E4R27), Swiss Re Foundation. *Closing soon!* Swiss Re Foundation is opening the tenth edition of Entrepreneurs for Resilience, which backs healthcare social enterprises expanding affordable, quality primary care for low-income communities across low- and middle-income countries. The Foundation is using catalytic, blended funding plus multi-year advisory to take risk out of scaling, helping proven models reach more people sustainably rather than stay stuck at pilot size. It looks to back brick-and-click enterprises that pair physical care with digital tools and build affordability through savings, payments, or microinsurance, ideally integrated with public health systems. Requiring earned revenue, real customer scale, and gender-inclusive teams signals that this is growth capital for commercially serious ventures, not seed money. The strongest fits are established, revenue-generating healthcare enterprises ready to scale access for underserved populations. Geographies: Global. Who can apply: For-profit and hybrid healthcare social enterprises serving low-income and underserved populations in low- and middle-income countries, using combined physical and digital (brick-and-click) healthcare delivery models. Applicants must demonstrate measurable social impact, generate at least 50% of income through earned revenue, have been established no later than December 2023, already serve at least 50,000 people with potential to scale, and have at least 30% low-income customers. Preference for gender-inclusive enterprises with at least one female founder or at least 30% women in management. Funding amount: Pilot funding of up to USD $45,000 for the 6-8 shortlisted social enterprises; up to USD $1 million in blended funding (up to USD $600,000 unconditional plus up to USD $400,000 conditional) shared among 3-4 finalists over a two-year implementation period; total programme funding approximately USD $1.3 million. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation, Science & Technology · SDG3; SDG5. Deadline: October 4, 2026. Learn more and apply here. Horizon HealthTech 2026, IIITD Innovation & Incubation Center. *Closing soon!* IIITD Innovation and Incubation Center is opening Horizon HealthTech 2026, a nine-month MedTech incubation cohort run under the aegis of BIRAC EDGE for founders building medical devices, diagnostics, surgical and interventional tools, or remote monitoring. The center is backing teams that already hold a validated proof of concept and want to reach a tested prototype, pairing each founder with a named expert and clinical validation through a hospital partner. What they seek to back is Indian health technology that can survive real clinical scrutiny and regulatory review, not slideware. The structure, with lab access, CDSCO guidance, IP support, and investor connects, signals a program built to make startups ready for follow-on capital. The strongest fits are early-stage MedTech teams with defensible IP and a working path from bench to bedside. Geographies: India. Who can apply: Early-stage teams/startups with a validated idea/proof of concept (TRL 3 onwards) working on medical devices, diagnostics, surgical/interventional technologies, or remote monitoring, holding IP or with potential to generate IP. Funding amount: No cash award amount is stated on the official program page. Benefits are in-kind: prototyping lab and equipment access, clinical/hospital validation (Max Healthcare), expert mentorship, CDSCO regulatory guidance, IP filing support, workspace, cloud credits and tools, and investor connects. Run under the aegis of BIRAC EDGE and builds a path to follow-on Government/VC/Angel funding. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation, Science & Technology · SDG3; SDG9. Deadline: October 5, 2026. Learn more and apply here. OpenAI AI and Teen Development Research Grant Program, OpenAI. *New!* *Closing soon!* OpenAI is opening its AI and Teen Development Research Grant Program to fund independent studies of how generative AI shapes the lives of young people ages 13 to 17. OpenAI wants a stronger evidence base on how teens actually use these tools and what that use does to their social and emotional development, so that product teams, policymakers, and regulators can act on findings rather than assumptions. It seeks work on emotion regulation, relationships, belonging, and the safeguards that keep teens safer, welcoming interdisciplinary teams and any methodology. That it will fund research whose conclusions may not favor AI providers, and prioritizes studies touching ChatGPT, signals a genuine appetite for credible outside scrutiny. The strongest fits are research groups grounded in adolescent development, well-being, and AI safety. Geographies: Global. Who can apply: Researchers aged 18 or older who are affiliated with a research institution or organization, and/or have significant experience relevant to child or adolescent development, well-being, human-computer interaction, AI impacts, or a closely related field. Multiple institutions may collaborate. OpenAI is seeking to fund research rather than for-profit initiatives and will not prioritize for-profit organizations. Funding amount: Individual research grants up to USD $1 million, totaling up to USD $5 million; maximum 10% of each grant for overhead or indirect costs. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Social Inclusion & Community Wellbeing; Innovation, Science & Technology. Deadline: October 6, 2026. Learn more and apply here.

Oct 1 • 6:29 AM EDT • Health • impactfunding.substack.com

September Monthly Review: Health MCP Guy?

For all the time I spend talking about APIs and data exchange, this newsletter has had embarrassingly little interoperability of its own. It’s old-school SaaS, baby - UI or bust. Not all of that is my fault! Substack, for all its popularity, is (as mentioned before) really frustrating as my system of record. The primary user it optimizes towards is the reader, whose attention feeds the app, the Notes feed, and the recommendation network that Substack is actually selling. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe They’re falling into the same trap that Medium once sprinted into, albeit at a much more glacial speed. Younger generations may not remember (or never knew) it, but Medium once lured publications like The Ringer and Signal v. Noise onto its platform, only to lose them as it rebuilt itself around a paywall and an algorithmic feed. Substack’s original pitch circa 2020 was the antidote (you own your list), but every new feed feature chips away at it. I get it: writers are generic supply in the eyes of the Substack product team. Generic supply follows demand, so the consistent pressure on the PMs is to generate demand, which leads to every product cycle going toward discovery (Notes, recommendations, the app, live video). The end result lackluster author tools (laggy and broken analytics are truly crippling) all despite the premium price point. The archive is where it crosses from authorial gripes to actual reader impact, though. Across Substack and LinkedIn, I’ve published 1,218 posts and nearly 900,000 words since 2018. Substack’s native search can see only the 464 posts that live on Substack, and even there it’s woefully inadequate at surfacing relevant content (even for the guy who wrote it)! Readers have the same problem, writ large. Ask the Archive Fixing search (for both my readers and my own use) turned out to be extremely non-trivial, unfortunately: There’s no public API for readers to access content RSS exists for new content notification, but it only carries the 20 most recent posts and cuts paid ones off at the preview The only Substack MCP is an admin tool for analytics The export exists for authors, but it’s painfully awkward and slow. So I built something to work around that: the Health API Guy MCP. It’s a private MCP server holding the full text of everything I’ve written across Substack and LinkedIn. Add it to Claude or ChatGPT as a connector and you can ask things like: It pairs keyword search (for acronyms and case names, of which we have many) with semantic search. Every post is also labeled by topic, form, and court case, so you can pull a lawsuit’s (or multiple cases’) entire docket across Substack and LinkedIn in one query: Hail, Healthapiguyhydra This is also a bit of me eating my own cooking. I’ve spent the year arguing that headless healthcare is arriving and that developers want primitives over abstractions. Last week in Hail, Benihydra, I watched Salesforce plug its platform into Claude and bet that the records underneath outlive whatever interface sits on top: Salesforce must believe that the Hydra’s immortal head is the records, permissions, and business logic (in that they will survive whatever happens to the interface). It felt a bit hypocritical to keep my own archive behind a Substack search bar. The archive is the body. Substack is one head, and now whatever tool you might use is another. Will the EHRs follow my lead? Probably not imminently, but one can hope! Why Founding Members Only The MCP is available to Founding Member subscribers. A few reasons: It costs money and time to run. Hosting, the database, Clerk usage and AI compute for search and labeling are significant operational costs (that increase with usage). Substack gives me no way to automate access. There’s no API to check whether someone is a paid subscriber, so every user is manual operations for now. It’s a beta. We’ll need to improve things and parts will break. I’d rather they break for a small group of dedicated readers who will tell me about it. The Founding tier deserved a real benefit. Until now it was mostly a generous tip. Now it comes with something. If you’re already a Founding Member, reply to this email with the address you’d like provisioned. If you’re not and want in, upgrade here. Larger teams (such as companies) can get access too: group subscriptions at the Founding tier come with the group discount. The admin for the subscription can reply with the list of addresses to provision. Get 20% off a group subscription Pricing Founding membership is now a flat $200 a year, replacing the old suggested $150 that readers could adjust. Existing Founding Members will have access grandfathered in at their previous rate. Month in Review Articles Published Make Networks Dumb Again (Sep 11): AI is making old analog networks cheaper to use and flooding them with machine traffic in the process. A plea for agent-native rails with the intelligence at the endpoints, and for Washington to drag them to ubiquity. Interoperability, Unbuttoned (Sep 29): Interoperability is a series of workflows in a trenchcoat, and this post finally takes the trenchcoat off. A color-coded map shows which provider workflows went digital, which are fragmented, and which still run on fax. Video Content Antitrust’s System of Record Problem (Sep 3): The FTC’s investigation into Epic prompted a ninety-minute webinar, now posted with chapters and a smoothed transcript. We get into why market definition, missing B2B share data, and the SSNIP test leave antitrust poorly suited to systems of record, plus why information blocking may be doing more than any pending lawsuit. The Information Exchange: Cerner Milking Edition (Sep 18): This was so fucking fun. Ryan Tucker, Ryan Brickner, Brad Thorson, and I try an Around the Horn format, complete with points, penalties, and a mute button. We debate whether Oracle Health is dead, who would actually buy Cerner (IBM enters the chat), p(Doom), and why the front desk still hands you a clipboard. Regulatory Ask Not What Your Network Can Do (Sep 23): CDC’s RFI on public health data intermediaries lists use cases already served, unevenly, by eCR, lab reporting, IZ Gateway, and syndromic surveillance. The real opportunity sits in one question about AI: a network that can handle the next emergency without another interface project. Court cases Particle v. Epic: The Naughty Schoolteacher (Sep 4): After a summer-long vigil, the answer on Epic’s early summary judgment bid is two paragraphs and a remedial assignment. Particle advances to the next grade, and market definition gets another year of discovery. The Epic Discovery Files (Sep 8): Texas’s motions to compel arrive with a 251-page appendix of requests, objections, and meet-and-confer letters with Cravath. Inside: Epic using generative AI for document review, denied interoperability requests in scope, and Noerr-Pennington raised against lobbying discovery. Epic v. Health Gorilla: “Working as Designed” (Sep 9): Epic wants nothing to do with the data breach MDL, and explaining why puts fresh discovery on the public docket. The spiciest allegation: Health Gorilla told GuardDog to scrub its law firm business from its website instead of cutting off access. Veeva v. Epic: Legal Bypass Surgery (Sep 15): Veeva asks the Wisconsin Supreme Court to skip the Court of Appeals, while law professors and three policy groups line up as amici. Meanwhile, Epic’s lawyers apologize for another round of citation errors, including a quote that never existed. Texas v. Epic: Behind the Black Bars (Sep 17): The court portal served up Epic’s unredacted filings, revealing a $5 million document review budget and the AI workflow behind it. Also inside: the 200-plus company names Texas wants searched, and one very expensive Zoom invitation. OpenEvidence v. Doximity: Consequences Will Follow (Sep 25): OpenEvidence tells the court it will not comply with a discovery order, and its own lawyers at Quinn Emanuel say they won’t defend the choice. Add years of Slack reported unrecoverable, and Rule 37 sanctions come into view. Health Tech Keeps Choosing Violence (Sep 28): Doximity moves to end OpenEvidence’s case, Epic asks Texas to show its work, and a sleepy Audacious Inquiry patent fight sprouts antitrust and information blocking counterclaims. The main event is a long-sealed Cognizant v. Infosys ruling that hints where system of record antitrust claims can survive. EHRs One Verb for Oracle Health (Sep 14): Oracle’s earnings call quantifies every data center to the decimal point, while Oracle Health gets a single verb: “accelerate.” Panning the few healthcare mentions turns up an agentic care management system, a research-to-care ledger play, and the question of whether healthcare gets Larry’s patience. Epic’s Forretress Under Siege (Sep 30): Judy Faulkner tells a panel Epic paused hundreds of projects to harden its software and calls it a “shame,” while a spokesperson insists the roadmap hasn’t changed. Project Glasswing, a Pokémon-branded QAN sprint, and a trove of Jodel grievances reconcile the two Epics and preview the Jevons paradox coming for all software. Industry Analysis Scanning for a Network (Sep 1): Scan.com raises $220M to build the imaging network labs never got, speedrunning Zocdoc’s consumer-to-B2B pivot. Its wedge to network density may be the most American one available: personal injury litigation. The Front Desk Wants the Damn Whole Building (Sep 16): Hello Patient buys Converse Health, pushing its AI front desk into referrals, chart work, and prior auth. The copilot categories keep blurring, and your distribution partner is still your final boss. Cross-industry Comparisons A Different Patchwork Quilt (Sep 10): Healthcare loves to envy open banking, but the US version has no mandate, a toll booth at Chase, and data quality problems of its own. The grass isn’t greener; it’s another American patchwork quilt, and perhaps a worse one. Hail, Benihydra (Sep 21): Salesforce brings its platform into Claude, Slack, and its own agent, inviting the interfaces that might replace it. Cut off one head and more grow back, so long as the records underneath stay put. Living on A Trade Secret Prayer (Sep 22): Six credit unions are suing Fiserv, the Epic of core banking, by claiming their own member records as trade secrets. Banking has no Cures Act, so its lawyers reach for legal alchemy that healthcare has already tried. Other News None this month External Media Nabla Accelerate NYC: I kicked off fall conference season at Nabla’s Accelerate event in New York, where Delphine Groll opened by asking the room to picture the company it wants to become and the one it doesn’t. I liked her framework of bureaucracy, fear, and ego as the blockers. I also love vendor conferences/events in general - different vibe than industry biggies. Healthcare 101 with Nikhil Krishnan: I briefly guest lectured Out-Of-Pocket’s Healthcare 101 class. Appreciated Nikhil’s takeaways cover whether AI doctors can query HIEs, why healthcare’s data-liberation rules beat most industries’, and the hi-res graphic is in the comments. HCN: Epic Probed by the FTC: I joined the HCN guys to talk through the FTC’s investigation into Epic. Cedric’s new hairdo was an unexpected plot twist. The episode also covers MFN drug pricing, healthcare M&A and Eli Lilly’s acquisition streak. Fall Conferences: At eHealth Exchange’s Annual Meeting in Austin on Oct 27, I’ll moderate a panel on the tensions between AI, HIEs, and timely patient access with Jean Ross (Primary Record), Therasa Bell (Kno2), Byron Crowe (Doctronic), and Michael Marchant (Freenome). Here’s the rest of my schedule if you want to meet up: CommonWell (Redwood Shores, CA): Oct 13-14 Will be participating in a fun Jeopardy event Open@Epic (Madison, WI): Oct 20-23 Will be enjoying Verona, Willy Street, and other local adventures eHealth Exchange and Sequoia Project (Austin, TX): Oct 27-29 Yeehaw HLTH (Vegas): Nov 15-18 Groundhog Day, Venetian Edition RSNA (Chicago): Nov 30-Dec 2 See me at “Governing AI in Breast Imaging: What Health Systems Are Actually Doing” Digital Health Counsel 2026 AI Summit (Seattle): December 2-3 Will likely be speaking to a bunch of lawyers about information blocking Posts I Liked ChatGPT’s Epic integration: game changer or nothing burger?: Joshua Liu, MD offers five thoughts on OpenAI’s Epic launch, starting from the point that it rides the same open APIs available to anyone. He argues read-only access leaves ordering to Art and the ambient startups, and asks why HCA is piloting it alongside Commure. He’s sorta a must-follow at this point - consistently excellent, thought-provoking takes. Epic, Lilly, and the Discovery pass: Seth Chaney reads Epic’s first major Discovery deal (with Eli Lilly), as well as its revised developer terms on commercial displays, as the pipe finally opening between EHRs and pharma. Life sciences and health continue to collide. Scott Rossignol on EHR payer platforms and ePA fees: Scott argues the top ambulatory EHR vendors are turning the prior auth mandate into a per-member-per-year toll on payers, for an API whose operating cost has nothing to do with covered lives. His fix is two lines of regulatory text: put the CRD/DTR/PAS certification criteria in the Base EHR definition, and bring payer-facing ePA connectivity under § 170.404’s cost-based fee rules. It’s a good solution. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

Oct 1 • 4:36 AM EDT • Health • healthapiguy.substack.com

Commentary: The tech threat to women’s privacy

In late August, Texas and Florida became the latest states to limit the use of Flock cameras, an artificial intelligence-powered network of automated traffic surveillance devices, in response to growing

Oct 1 • 4:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • thederrick.com

Without playoff baseball, Pioneer Square businesses adapt as MLB lockout looms

Oct 1 • 1:19 AM EDT • Business • king5.com

Senate leaves town until after the midterms as final bills founder

Democrats block several pieces of legislation pushed by Republicans looking for victories ahead of Election Day.

Sep 30 • 11:41 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com

Damian Lillard Just Put Portland’s New Backcourt on the Clock

Damian Lillard and Ja Morant form a high-octane partnership, forcing Portland to balance two elite playmakers. Success depends on Morant’s pace unlocking Lillard’s lethal off-ball shooting potential.

Sep 30 • 9:21 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

How Scientists Finally Cracked RAS in Pancreatic Cancer

How a half century of basic science, public funding, and human persistence unlocked a way to target one of cancer’s most elusive drivers — and treat one of its deadliest cancers.

Sep 30 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • medscape.com

The Return of Fred VanVleet Will Unlock the Rockets' Offense

The Houston Rockets will be welcoming back their starting point guard. How will he improve the teams offense?

Sep 30 • 7:32 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Evans rips Dems for blocking data center bill foes say ‘has no teeth’

Rep. Gabe Evans blasted Senate Democrats after they blocked his Ratepayer Protection Act, setting off a dispute with Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper over data centers and electricity costs.

Sep 30 • 7:12 PM EDT • Politics • coloradopolitics.com

Keshaun Singleton Is Becoming More Than Auburn's Leading Receiver

Keshaun Singleton is becoming Auburn football's most trusted playmaker under Alex Golesh. With 22 catches for 268 yards through four games, the Tigers receiver is making clutch catches, delivering key blocks and emerging as one of the SEC's most complete weapons.

Sep 30 • 7:06 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Looking at the Ugly Side of the Paramount-Skydance Merger...And How I’d Fix It

A Message from Our Sponsor Certified Fresh with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, FX’s Adults is an ensemble comedy series about a group of twenty-somethings in New York leaning on each other to navigate love, work, friendship and family. Don’t sleep on “The Sitcom of the Moment” - Awards Buzz All Episodes now streaming on Hulu on Disney+. Watch The Teaser Trailer... (Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industr(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Before we dive in, I wanted to congratulate Broadcast Now for being the first to report that Netflix’s How to Get to Heaven from Belfast has been cancelled. (I saw this in a write-up by Kasey Moore of Whats-On-Netflix.) More importantly, I wanted to note that, as of yesterday, none of the other trades had reported the news yet. I have half a guess that eventually one of them will report this. Anyways, it’s time to take a break from my deluge of streaming ratings reports to continue my analysis of the Paramount Skydance Warner Bros. Discovery (PSWbD) saga. As I noted last week, a lot of times when folks use the (sometimes cliched) “the good, the bad and the ugly” framing for an article, “the ugly” section is just more bad. Or very, very bad. In this case, yeah, I do think it’s ugly. In more than one way. Unfortunately, we’re only going to have time to tackle one of those ways today: the ugly pile of debt to finance this deal. (In a future article, I may cover the entire process for how it went down, which was very, very ugly.) Last issue, I explained why I liked this deal in a vacuum. Unfortunately, “vacuums” don’t exist outside of space. Let’s dive in. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - The Ugliness of the Paramount/Warner Bros. Merger More than one person sent me a note speculating that the big problem with Paramount Skydance buying Warner Bros. Discovery is the “Warner Bros.” portion of the deal. In fact, that’s a take I read a lot about Warner Bros., ever since they caught Netflix’s, and then Paramount-Skydance’s, eye. In short, multiple companies (Time, AOL, AT&T, Discovery) have bought and then regretted buying Warner Bros. Since it’s nearing Halloween, you could almost say it’s like the folks think WB is cursed! It’s a haunted studio—like the town of Derry in movie studio form—and whoever takes possession of it will fall into misery! Yet...I just don’t like that story, because it doesn’t explain the “why” behind why those deals fell through. Especially when Warner Bros. has continued to succeed as a TV and film studio in the intervening two decades. Lord of the Rings? Harry Potter? Game of Thrones? Everything HBO? Considering it never fully owned a broadcast TV channel, this media company has done pretty well. So what went wrong? Well, in recent years, companies bought Warner Bros. instead of the other, smarter option. Explaining POCD (And Applying It to Mergers & Acquisitions) As I explained last issue, one of my favorite frameworks is the POCD tool for evaluating venture capital investments: People Opportunity Context Deal The bar to invest as a VC is high. (Or I might say “was” since cheap interest rates made life easier last decade.) You review a thousand prospectuses, get pitched by a hundred, and invest in the ten best, with the hopes that one of those ten would pay for the rest. That means every element of a deal needed to pay off: you needed the right people running the companies, who could capitalize on the right opportunity, in the context of an industry that was ripe for disruption. If you could then not overpay, you could make some money in a smart deal. The analogy isn’t perfect here, but close enough. For a merger or acquisition to work, you need the combined company (which is the opportunity) to make more than the price you need to pay (which is the deal). Note: the people and context still matter, but with M&A, it’s a little more straightforward: does the opportunity exceed the cost? And usually with Warner Bros., it hasn’t. If you want to find out the single biggest mistake made by the Warner Bros. suitors over the last few years (and my simple fix) become a paid subscriber. I’ll also touch on who I think Paramount-Skydance could (shockingly) consider buying next, TBD, and more. Sign up here.

Sep 30 • 6:41 PM EDT • Entertainment • entertainment.substack.com

Senate blocks data center, stock trading bills ahead of November midterms

Battleground Republicans were hoping to campaign on the bills, but Democrats blocked both measures, saying they don’t go far enough

Sep 30 • 4:57 PM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com

AI Agents Are Moving into the Small Business Mainstream - Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

By Karen Kerrigan – Artificial intelligence is entering another important phase for small businesses. Over the past several years, entrepreneurs have rapidly embraced generative AI to write content, conduct research, create images, analyze data, improve customer service and perform dozens of other tasks. Now, AI is moving from simply helping business owners do the work […]

Sep 30 • 4:51 PM EDT • Business • sbecouncil.org

GOP senator blocks resolution that criticized Trump’s taxpayer-funded ads

A GOP senator blocked a resolution on Tuesday that criticized the Trump administration’s recent taxpayer-funded ads promoting President Donald Trump.

Sep 30 • 4:07 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Dems kill Republican's chances of lowering Americans' electricity bills in key election flashpoint

Senate Democrats blocked the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill aimed at making AI data centers bear rising electricity costs that Jon Husted championed.

Sep 30 • 1:45 PM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com

Democrats block data centers bill, derailing Senate GOP bid to act on affordability ahead of midterms

Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked a GOP-led bill to combat rising energy costs driven by the data center boom, thwarting a last-ditch effort by Republicans to show they are taking voter concerns about affordability seriously.

Sep 30 • 1:41 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Democrats Block Stock-Trading Bill, Denying the G.O.P. a Pre-Midterm Win

A Republican measure to limit, but not bar, congressional stock trading faltered in the Senate as Democrats thwarted a G.O.P. bid to show progress on an issue that has rankled voters.

Sep 30 • 1:38 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Movie review: 'Verity' cracks the code of adapting Colleen Hoover's work

Did director Michael Showalter just nail the Colleen Hoover adaptation? The third major movie version of the blockbuster author’s work hits the big screen with “Verity,” and things are starting

Sep 30 • 1:25 PM EDT • Entertainment • recorderonline.com

Eduardo Valencia’s 2027 Rookie Status Is Not a Lock

Eduardo Valencia hit .341 in 42 games, but 47 roster days may cost him 2027 rookie status. #Tigers

Sep 30 • 1:00 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Congress Set to Leave Washington for the Midterms With No A.I. Progress

Senate Democrats were expected on Wednesday to block a measure that would encourage, but not require, states to protect consumers from power rate hikes as a result of data center growth.

Sep 30 • 12:55 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Congress Set to Leave Washington for the Midterms With No A.I. Progress

Senate Democrats blocked a measure that would encourage, but not require, states to protect consumers from power rate hikes tied to data center growth, and had no limits on A.I. use or deployment.

Sep 30 • 12:55 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Senate Democrats block bill to restrict lawmaker stock trading

Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked a bill to restrict lawmaker stock trading over objections to new voter ID requirements that Republicans added to the legislation.

Sep 30 • 12:53 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Here’s our locks for week five of college football

With Ole Miss on a bye, its time for a perfect week of picks

Sep 30 • 12:06 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

NASA Checks Roman Guidance System, Takes First Coronagraph Observation

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s fine-guidance system, which allows the observatory to lock very steadily onto its targets during observations,

Sep 30 • 11:51 AM EDT • Science • science.nasa.gov

Comic Fans Flock to Ninth Annual IV Entertainment Convention

Heroes and villains came to life at the ninth annual Imperial Valley Entertainment Convention, as attendees got the chance to meet artists and voice actors and have fun dressing up like their favorite fictional characters.

Sep 30 • 10:42 AM EDT • Entertainment • calexicochronicle.com

‘Deadlock’ Shatters Playercount Records After ‘City Never Sleeps’ Update

'Deadlock' just released its City Never Sleeps update and it has broken every playercount record the game has ever had.

Sep 30 • 10:21 AM EDT • Technology • forbes.com

How Are Corn Growers Protecting Their Yields From Bird Damage?

Every spring, corn growers face a threat that rarely shows up in a budget until it’s too late: flocks of birds pulling freshly planted seed out of the ground before it can sprout. The resulting stand loss can quietly erase thousands of dollars in expected revenue per field, which raises a practical question for growers […]

Sep 30 • 9:32 AM EDT • Business • businessfocusmagazine.com

Senate blocks measure requiring report on Israeli violence in West Bank

Nearly all Senate Democrats voted to require the State Department to report on Israeli settler violence in the West Bank.

Sep 30 • 8:45 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com

Xbox Disc-To-Digital Program Now Available For All Players

You can now use your physical game discs to unlock and play their digital counterparts. - Game Informer

Sep 30 • 8:00 AM EDT • Technology • gameinformer.com

Deloitte and Thrive Global Form Strategic Relationship to Advance Health, Well-being and Human Potential

/PRNewswire/ -- Deloitte and Thrive Global today announced a strategic relationship designed to help organizations support health and well-being and unlock...

Sep 30 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • prnewswire.com

Who decides what time it is? The politics behind contested clocks

Despite contentious local debates about time zones and seasonal shifts, University of Queensland research shows there is no official global time zone system.

Sep 30 • 7:40 AM EDT • Politics • phys.org

Fraud, compromise, and groupthink. How warped research incentives undermine science

Science is supposed to correct its own errors. In practice, distorted academic incentives often block that quality control. Universities produce far more PhDs than faculty jobs, then judge survival by grants—especially federal awards that benefit the schools themselves. Researchers who stray from funders’ preferred questions face stalled careers. The unfortunate result is groupthink that often hinders scientific progress.

Sep 30 • 7:00 AM EDT • Science • acsh.org

3 low-cost investments to help global populations age well

Promoting healthy ageing doesn't have to be expensive. Small preventive interventions in health and mobility can unlock massive global economic dividends.

Sep 30 • 5:55 AM EDT • Health • weforum.org

Huge Deadlock Update Propels Valve's MOBA Hero Shooter to the Top of the Steam Charts, Smashes Peak Concurrent Player Record

Valve has issued a huge update to its in-development MOBA hero shooter Deadlock, propelling it to the top of Steam’s most-played games chart.

Sep 30 • 4:49 AM EDT • Technology • ign.com

Romanian parliament to vote on third PM pick amid political deadlock

The Romanian parliament was due on Wednesday to vote on a third nominee for prime minister, although analysts said chances of him being confirmed appear slim, bringing closer...

Sep 30 • 1:50 AM EDT • Politics • afp.com

Navy contracts boost Hampton Roads submarine industry

Navy awards $76.6 billion in contracts, with $25 billion for Newport News Shipbuilding, boosting Hampton Roads economy and shipbuilding industry.

Sep 29 • 11:55 PM EDT • Business • virginiabusiness.com

Maple Leafs Trade Gets Strong Reaction From Prominent Personality

On Monday, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets got together on a multi-player blockbuster move, with the principal pieces moving being Kirill Marchenko and Matthew Knies.Marchenko is on his way to Toronto and now has a six-year contract extension beyond this campaign, which was the final year of his deal. Meanwhile, Knies, who […] The post Maple Leafs Trade Gets Strong Reaction From Prominent Personality appeared first on HEAVY.

Sep 29 • 9:21 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Maple Leafs Announce Big Kirill Marchenko News Before Season Opener

The Toronto Maple Leafs play their 2026-27 season opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.This comes just one day after they made a blockbuster trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets to acquire star winger Kirill Marchenko.Now, as the Maple Leafs prepare for their season opener against the Canadiens, they have announced some notable news regarding […] The post Maple Leafs Announce Big Kirill Marchenko News Before Season Opener appeared first on HEAVY.

Sep 29 • 6:19 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Republican blocks Senate resolution criticizing Trump’s taxpayer-funded ads

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) argued that past presidents in both parties have aired similar announcements.

Sep 29 • 5:50 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com

Pompeii Is Helping Scientists Sharpen the Clocks Used to Date Earth’s History

An ancient catastrophe is helping geologists tell time across billions of years.

Sep 29 • 3:39 PM EDT • Science • zmescience.com

Block pushes a two-way governor’s race, but Guckian says he’s not leaving

Early voting in Rhode Island starts Oct. 20

Sep 29 • 2:44 PM EDT • Politics • oceanstatemedia.org

Lone GOP senator blocks bipartisan effort to prevent Trump from demolishing Kennedy Center

A bipartisan effort aimed at protecting the Kennedy Center from demolition was blocked on the Senate floor Monday night by a lone Republican senator.

Sep 29 • 2:37 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma Shares 'First Look' At Unlocking The Mythic In Gears Of War: E-Day

Here's what'll happen when you complete all 55 achievements

Sep 29 • 2:23 PM EDT • Technology • purexbox.com

Andy Burnham pledges pension triple lock changes to fund care reforms

The PM was at times emotional during his conference speech in which he outlined his long-term plan for the UK.

Sep 29 • 1:39 PM EDT • Politics • bbc.com

Week 4 fantasy wide receiver rankings: Top WR streamers, starts

The return of QB Michael Penix Jr. may be just the thing that unlocks Drake London's fantasy potential the rest of the way. Where's he rank this week?

Sep 29 • 1:09 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

How Steelers simplified line calls to unlock Aaron Rodgers

Simplified protection calls and O-line tweaks gave Aaron Rodgers clean pockets and time to throw in the Pittsburgh Steelers' win.

Sep 29 • 1:05 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Mike Lee blocks effort to prevent Trump from tearing down memorials

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) on Monday night blocked a bipartisan effort to prevent the Trump administration from demolishing the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts without congressional approval. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) attempted to pass the Protecting Presidential Memorials Act, a bill he co-led with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), by unanimous consent. The […]

Sep 29 • 1:03 PM EDT • Politics • coloradopolitics.com

Triple lock move is significant, but it's a gamble

I had expected him to try to forge a political consensus on this thorny issue at this stage, but he has gone further than that.

Sep 29 • 12:43 PM EDT • Politics • bbc.com

Trendiana: New businesses in historic buildings

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Sep 29 • 11:22 AM EDT • Business • insideindianabusiness.com

New PlayStation 5 Console Jailbreak Released for PS5 & PS5 Pro

A new PS5 jailbreak has dropped, which applies to both PS5 and PS5 Pro consoles and unlocks new (illegal) capabilities.

Sep 29 • 9:06 AM EDT • Technology • insider-gaming.com

It’s all up to Michael Penix Jr. now

The talented young quarterback is healthy and has his opportunity to lock up Atlanta’s starting job for the long haul.

Sep 29 • 8:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

GOP senator blocks bill to stop Trump from demolishing Kennedy Center

The bipartisan effort to ban the demolition of presidential memorials was thwarted in the Senate by an objection from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

Sep 29 • 7:15 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com

New Microsoft data innovations unlock what only your business knows

Every organization has knowledge that is uniquely its own: the way its business operates, the data it has built over time, the expertise of its people and the context behind thousands of everyday decisions. As powerful AI models become more widely available, that unique business intelligence matters more than ever. The difference will come from...

Sep 29 • 2:30 AM EDT • Business • blogs.microsoft.com

Landlocked Chungcheongbuk-do Welcomes First National Marine Science Museum

Landlocked Chungcheongbuk-do Welcomes First National Marine Science Museum Digital aquarium and experiential exhibits bring ocean science to inland residents after six-year development

Sep 29 • 2:02 AM EDT • Science • chosun.com

WA business owners speak on losses caused by copper wire theft

Small business owners in Seattle report significant financial losses from repeated copper thefts. At Ballard’s Lockspot Cafe, owner Alison Soike dealt with three destructive break-ins that wrecked the restaurant's refrigeration, requiring $10,000 in repairs.

Sep 28 • 8:30 PM EDT • Business • fox13seattle.com

French student protests fuel political clash ahead of Presidential vote

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon traded barbs on Monday over high school students blockading classes to demand more resources. The students cite teacher…

Sep 28 • 7:54 PM EDT • Politics • france24.com

IBM is Building a Bigger Software Business. Can Its Balance Sheet Keep Up?

On September 24, International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) announced two key capabilities designed to strengthen its digital asset infrastructure for tier-one financial institutions, governments, and regulated entities. In a new beta rollout, IBM Digital Asset Haven clients can connect to SWIFT’s blockchain-based shared ledger, linking into a cooperative network of over 12,500 financial institutions across […]

Sep 28 • 7:36 PM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com

WA business owners speak on losses caused by copper wire theft

Small business owners in Seattle report significant financial losses from repeated copper thefts. At Ballard’s Lockspot Cafe, owner Alison Soike dealt with three destructive break-ins that required $10,000 in repairs.

Sep 28 • 6:20 PM EDT • Business • fox13seattle.com

Kickstarter campaign lessons from small-business owner Emily Byrne

Emily Byrne's Kickstarter campaign for her alarm clock business helped her learn financial mistakes and get valuable customer feedback early on.

Sep 28 • 5:10 PM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

USA TODAY Sports CFB writer says Brent Venables seat 'warming up'

The Oklahoma Sooners are locked in with head coach Brent Venables but a USA TODAY Sports college football writer says Venables' seat is warming up.

Sep 28 • 5:01 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

‘You’ll be entertained’: NRL boss Peter V’landys teases grand final entertainment

Just days after the game was left with no pre-kick off entertainment, a mystery performer has been locked in.

Sep 28 • 4:36 PM EDT • Entertainment • nine.com.au

Bobby Kotick’s lawyers sent me a bad email (and later apologized)

The message I had received was unsettling—for a moment. Then it was just really confusing. Back on January 20 of this year, at 5:15pm ET, I received an email with the subject line “Legal Correspondence re Bobby Kotick.” It was from the law firm Clare Locke, a firm I’d heard had been emailing reporters in recent years about their coverage of Kotick, the former, longtime CEO of Activision Blizzard. The letter was threatening. A lawyer from the firm introduced themselves as “defamation counsel to Bobby Kotick.” They issued a “demand” that I “correct” a Game File article I’d published a week prior. The article that had irked them had been a scoop of sorts. I’d written about a a 2022 lawsuit brought by a Swedish pension fund, AP7, over Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard. The suit wasn’t news, but I was first to review and report about Kotick’s extensive pushback to the fund’s claims. The pension fund’s core contention was that the sale had been rushed by Kotick to avoid the consequences of sexual misconduct scandals swirling around the company in 2021. (He’d not been accused of misconduct himself in those suits, to be clear.) As I wrote at the time, Kotick had denied the allegations of the rushed sale. Beyond that, Kotick used a December 2025 reply to the Swedish fund’s lawsuit to assign blame for those workplace scandals, the bad press and even for the AP7 lawsuit. I’d found Kotick’s arguments novel and newsworthy. Across nearly 3,000 words, I explained Kotick’s take: that a Swedish gaming company was behind the Swedish fund’s lawsuit (the Embracer group; they denied it); that the Microsoft-Activision deal was not rushed and was secured at what Kotick felt history had proven to be an optimal price for shareholders; that he believed a conspiracy of people at unions government agencies, PR firms and the media had spun up claims of widespread workplace misconduct at Activision Blizzard in 2021. The article gave context for all of this, letting readers assess the claims and weigh their credibility. As I’d later write to Kotick’s lawyers: I would be surprised if you could point to any news article about Bobby Kotick in the last five years that has spent more of its wordcount articulating his point of view. He is welcome to do an interview with Game File any time. Nonetheless, there they were in my inbox that Tuesday evening: Clare Locke, the law firm that secured a $787.5 million settlement from Fox News over false statements about voting machines. They were emailing me, threatening that failure to comply with their demand could support a claim of “actual malice,” a legal standard for libel. Unless… Unless, they said, I added a key paragraph to my article. This was a paragraph that I already knew Kotick’s lawyers had been emailing reporters about for at least a year, and it was a paragraph that was already in my article. The paragraph they wanted is from a 2023 settlement that California’s Civil Rights Department struck with Activision Blizzard. The settlement had closed a two-year-old lawsuit over alleged sexual discrimination at the game maker. The paragraph basically said that claims of systemic or widespread sexual harassment—or of execs like Kotick tolerating such behavior—had never been proven. I’d already seen proof that Kotick’s lawyers had pushed for the settlement’s language to be added to reports about 2021 sexual discrimination and misconduct lawsuits brought against Activision Blizzard by California and, separately, by the U.S. federal government (both suits were since settled). I knew that Kotick and his lawyers felt that the California settlement language should be mentioned in the same breath as references to an article he hated and denied, a November 2021 Wall Street Journal article claiming Kotick knew “for years” of sexual misconduct at Activision Blizzard. So, in the Game File article that Clare Locke emailed me about, in the interest of ensuring I was being fair and balanced regarding the person I was covering, I had already included the following excerpt from the California settlement [emphasis added in bold]: (Kotick has repeatedly pushed back against that November article in the Wall Street Journal, citing among other things, language from a court-approved consent decree as part of Activision’s 2023 $54 million settlement over the California suit. It states: “no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations that: there has been systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard [or] that Activision Blizzard senior executives ignored, condoned, or tolerated a culture of systemic harassment, retaliation, or discrimination.”) On the evening of January 20, I was incredulous. How do you write a four page legal threat about a week-old article and miss this? While scrambling to also make my kids dinner, I wrote a lengthy reply to Clare Locke’s lawyers, basically asking them to cool it with the threats and to start making sense. In part, I wrote: I hope you can understand why I am having trouble understanding what you’re asking for, when the statement you’re demanding to see in Game File’s article already appears in Game File’s article. Actual malice, as you know, refers to a reckless disregard for the truth. I’m not sure what your argument is when my article already states your client’s position. Here is where I should remind you, the reader, that I am an independent journalist. I publish on Substack, and have availed myself of the Substack Defender program that provides writers on the platform with legal support. But I’m no Wall Street Journal or New York Times, nor even IGN or GameSpot when it comes to such things as, well, having a legal department. There are more fun things for me to do as an independent journalist than writing back to a powerful law firm representing a very rich person. On the evening of January 20th, I was just trying to cook some pasta, broccoli and chicken nuggets for hungry twins. Nevertheless, I wrote back to them. Two hours later, I got a reply. Summarizing: A lawyer for Clare Locke said they’d “reviewed an incomplete version” of my article and they “apologize for the confusion.” (My guess: Someone didn’t read past the piece’s paywall, even though they’d had a full week to scrounge up the funds to do so. What I’d published above the paywall was balanced, as was what came after.)1 That was almost that, but something about the situation bothered me. The letter had been marked “confidential.” I hadn’t agreed to that, and I disliked the idea that powerful people on the beat that I cover would act like they could unilaterally control what I might tell my readers about. On the morning of the 21st, having already gotten the powerful law firm to back off, I oh-so-wisely re-approached them with just one more thing. I thanked them for clearing things up the night before but noted that I’d never agreed to keep their letter confidential. I’m all for agreeing with a source to keep things off the record, but that’s the thing. We have to agree. You can’t just declare it. I’m not bound by that. I wrote to Clare Locke’s lawyer and said, in part: I trust the matter is resolved. It was disappointing to have to spend less time with my kids last night in order to address your legal letter. Family time’s precious. I will add, for clarity’s sake, that, while your letter stipulated that it was confidential, I did not agree to those terms. In the future, should you wish to communicate with me confidentially, I am happy to agree to classifying our communication as “off the record” prior to the actual communication—as is standard with any professional journalist. The firm’s lawyer replied, not directly addressing the confidentiality issue but asserting that the matter was resolved. Why I didn’t write about this until now In May, I told this story on an episode of Simon Parkin’s podcast My Perfect Console, but I held off on sharing it directly with Game File readers. I held off to avoid stepping on the toes of another reporter, the journalist Mikhail Klimentov. He’d interviewed me in the spring of 2025 about an investigation he was working on regarding Bobby Kotick lawyers pressing the media to add the California settlement language to stories referencing the 2021 lawsuits. And about how some outlets had changed their stories and how some simply deleted them. Initially, I was a third-party source for Klimentov’s reporting, providing on-the-record context about the state of the games media. I’d heard about the letters but hadn’t put the time into pursuing the story. I thought it was interesting, and I was glad he was covering it. When the outlet that Klimentov was going to run his reporting in dropped the story, I began talking to him about potentially publishing his reporting on Game File. This was tentative. Then, in January, when I got my own Clare Locke letter, I told Klimentov that I didn’t think it would make sense for me to publish him, not with me now being part of the story. I had my own version of this situation to tell. But I wished him well and said I’d refrain from telling my tale until he could get his reporting out there. Last Friday, Klimentov finally ran his investigation, in a nearly 48-minute video report for People Make Games. It covers various Clare Locke letters, how media outlets reacted to them and what to make of all this. His video weighs the merits of Kotick’s request and looks at some of the articles that were changed (one of which had a glaring error). I highly recommend watching it: (Note, I did some editorial consulting for a People Make Games video last year but nothing to do with this report.) While many outlets haven’t left any public evidence that they updated their Kotick coverage at Kotick’s counsel’s request, at least one has. Back in October 2025, the mainstream outlet Reuters applied the most transparent article update I’ve seen. On the 3rd of the month, they published an article about the state of the Swedish pension fund’s lawsuit. Days later, they added this: In an October 7 letter sent after publication of this article, Kotick’s defamation counsel disputed claims of widespread harassment at Activision. “Not a single investigation, court finding, verdict, or ruling ever concluded that there was any merit” to the allegations of widespread harassment at Activision, Tom Clare and Nick Brechbill of Clare Locke wrote. I’ve never added a statement to my article on Game File, because none was needed. Not for fairness’ sake, nor to meet any demands of Kotick’s lawyers. I’ve nevertheless wanted to be transparent with Game File readers. If someone powerful is questioning my reporting, is threatening a lawsuit over it… if that threat is part of a pattern involving other games media outlets and if, in my case, the whole thing ran into a ridiculous ditch, I want you to know about it. I also share this as a real example of how I handle threats to Game File. I stand up for my own reporting, even when it’s not comfortable to do so. (In that same category of standing up for the work I do, I’ll point to an incident in late August. Asocial media post I published to X/Twitter regarding reporting I did about Take Two and GTA VI was hit by bogus copyright claim by a firm working for the publisher. I pushed back and got it reversed; even while a bigger games media outlet let themselves be censored. This is the other reason I’m sharing this story: To emphasize that dealing with threats from powerful people is one of the costs of covering the video game industry independently and as fearlessly as possible. This is where you come in. Your support, through free and paid subscriptions (sign up here!), can help me keep doing that. It can ensure that I’ve got the back-up I need. And it can help make fiascoes like this even less of a worry, so I can spend my evenings dealing with more important things, such as making sure I steam the kids’ broccoli just right. 1 That pension fund lawsuit I wrote about in January has all but gone away. In May, the fund and Activision Blizzard owner Microsoft agreed to settle. Lawyers for the fund brokered a $250 million settlement for former Activision Blizzard shareholders. In the settlement, the fund’s lawyers changed their rhetoric. Where once they’d questioned the meaning of the California settlement language, they adopted a version of it for themselves. Several weeks ago, while seeking to get a court to sign off on the terms of the settlement, they proposed their fee for their work in the case: $60 million.

Sep 28 • 4:13 PM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news

Late Night Fun with Evolution and Oppenheimer

Bats by the millions would be falling from the roofs of caves if that ankle-locking design, an all-or-nothing proposition, had not come about all at once

Sep 28 • 3:12 PM EDT • Science • scienceandculture.com

NinjaTech AI Launches Enterprise AI Workforce Platform Using Open-Weight Models

Built to end runaway per-token AI costs, the platform deploys into the customer’s own cloud and data centers, so data never leaves their control PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 28, 2026 — NinjaTech AI today launched SuperNinja Enterprise, an AI workforce platform that puts AI employees to work around the clock inside the customer’s own cloud, on […]

Sep 28 • 1:29 PM EDT • Science • hpcwire.com

Apple Releases iOS 27.0.1 With Face ID Bug Fix

Apple today released iOS 27.0.1, the first update for the iOS 27 update that came out two weeks ago. iOS 27.0.1 can be downloaded over the air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes, iOS 27.0.1 addresses an issue that could cause Face ID not to work properly on the iPhone 18 Pro. Some iPhone 18 Pro users have complained that authentication can fail to work for things like unlocking a locked app.

Sep 28 • 1:09 PM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

French presidential campaign heats up as student protests fuel political clashes

PARIS (AP) — French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu clashed with far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon on Monday over the actions of high school students who are blockading classes and pushing for a nationwide spread of their fledgling protest movement for more resources.

Sep 28 • 12:58 PM EDT • Politics • wral.com

Blumenthal, Lamont: Trump blocking CT grants for political reasons

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Gov. Ned Lamont complained Friday that the Trump administration has yet to release federal energy grants terminated a year ago on the basis of whether the recipients were in states won by Kamala Harris in 2024 and are represented by Democratic senators.

Sep 28 • 12:50 PM EDT • Politics • ctpublic.org

Trump paying for political ads with taxpayer money?

Taxpayers shouldn’t be paying for the president to win over voters, promote his agenda, and make a last-ditch push to win the midterms.

Sep 28 • 12:27 PM EDT • Politics • thehill.com

Dawg Sports on the Radio

There’s a lot to talk about regarding Georgia’s 41-13 win over Oklahoma. It should be a pretty fun conversation. That’s why I’ll be listening to the glockenspiel player from MaconDawg’s favorite U2 cover band (UAndYourMama2) on WFOY in St. Augustine(102.1 FM/1240 AM) this evening around 6:45 pm Eastern to talk Georgia Bulldog football on SportsNow with […]

Sep 28 • 11:44 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

At NASA, AI is helping scientists unlock discoveries hidden in decades of data

NASA is using AI to make its vast stores of scientific and mission data more accessible, helping uncover new discoveries.

Sep 28 • 10:59 AM EDT • Science • news.microsoft.com

Suspect wanted for burglary, NOPD says

NOPD look for man suspected of business burglary in 600 block of Loyola Avenue

Sep 28 • 9:45 AM EDT • Business • fox8live.com

T-Mobile Fees Increasing on Your Bill for 2nd Time This Year

Your T-Mobile bill is about to become more expensive even if your plan isn’t changing and you think you are a part of some sort of price lock. T-Mobile, once it stopped including fees within its plan prices, opened itself up to a world where they can increase prices at will through those same fees...

Sep 28 • 9:37 AM EDT • Technology • droid-life.com

As clock ticks on Jameis Winston, Giants’ reality is obvious

What will the Giants do at quarterback?

Sep 28 • 8:54 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Democrats keep coming to South Carolina to stump for midterm candidates. It's all about 2028

Democrats are flocking to South Carolina to campaign for midterm candidates, even though Republicans dominate state politics.

Sep 28 • 8:29 AM EDT • Politics • news4jax.com

Diaper maker grows jobs, investment in Rockingham County

Belgium-based Drylock Technologies has exceeded its investment and job creation promises in Reidsville in Rockingham County. The hygiene products manufacturer promised in February 2024 to invest $26.9 million to create 113 jobs at its first U.S. factory for baby care products. Since then, Drylock has invested more than $31 million and has 212 workers who […]

Sep 28 • 8:23 AM EDT • Business • businessnc.com

Flock cameras are creepy. They might still be worth it.

We probably shouldn’t de-Flock the police.

Sep 28 • 7:30 AM EDT • Politics • vox.com

Blumenthal, Lamont: Trump blocking CT grants for political reasons

Blumenthal and Lamont say $53 million in Connecticut energy grants remains withheld after court rulings found the terminations were illegal.

Sep 28 • 7:12 AM EDT • Politics • hartfordbusiness.com

Growing AI energy demands, the search for subatomic particles and the hottest amoeba

From the smallest building blocks of life to prehistoric vomit and a newly discovered amoeba that can really take the heat.

Sep 28 • 6:00 AM EDT • Science • scientificamerican.com

Block worker was laid off after feeling that team grew too big

Sneh Hira saw her team at Block grow bigger than she felt it needed to be. Then she was laid off, and struggled with a difficult job hunt.

Sep 28 • 5:15 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

Sweden faces political deadlock as center-left bloc fails to form government

Swedish Social Democratic Party leader Magdalena Andersson has abandoned efforts to form a four-party government. Deep divisions within the election-winning bloc have left Sweden in political deadlock.

Sep 28 • 5:13 AM EDT • Politics • dw.com

Health Tech Keeps Choosing Violence

Last week was an absolute dump of health tech litigation mayhem, with enough new filings to make my wife seriously question my bedtime reading. Here’s what’s inside: OpenEvidence v. Doximity: Doximity didn’t wait for the deadline. It wants OpenEvidence’s case thrown out entirely, and its motion adds some awkward details about vanished Slack data and borrowed NPIs. Plus, Epic v. Apple offers a look at what a normal discovery fight looks like. Texas v. Epic: Epic took another shot at the State’s antitrust pleadings, asking the court to make Texas spell out how its employment restrictions harm competition and why Texas law reaches a Wisconsin company’s noncompetes. Veeva v. Epic: The two Wisconsin law professors finally weighed in on whether a would-be employer can challenge someone else’s noncompete. Audacious Inquiry v. CRISP: Our sleepy patent case just evolved into a much more interesting form, with CRISP firing back with attempted monopolization and information blocking counterclaims. Cognizant v. Infosys: After weeks of emails and phone calls, I finally have Judge Starr’s sealed ruling on Infosys’s antitrust counterclaims. Some survived, offering clues about where the Epic (and other system of record) antitrust cases stand their best chance OpenEvidence v. Doximity

Sep 28 • 5:05 AM EDT • Health • healthapiguy.substack.com

The Deadlock Between Beyoncé And Taylor Swift Is Officially Over

Sunday’s ceremony marked the introduction of the MTV Video Music Awards’ Artist Director Honors.

Sep 27 • 9:51 PM EDT • Entertainment • huffpost.com

Todd Blanche backs decision to block CNN from Air Force One

"This wasn't a one-time denial of CNN," Blanche told "This Week." "There's all kinds of times when certain reporters are not flying or are flying."

Sep 27 • 8:13 PM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com

Blocking and tackling: Claims still needs the human touch

Why investing in innovation to empower claims professionals is the true the key to unlocking Success

Sep 27 • 8:00 PM EDT • Business • insurancebusinessmag.com

Steelers may have unlocked their offense with a heavy dose of Jaylen Warren

Coach Mike McCarthy's bold decision to start Max Iheanachor and Brock Hoffman on the right side of the offensive line contributed to the running back's huge day.

Sep 27 • 6:33 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Nations League: Greece upset Germany, Portugal sink Norway

The Greek feat!That wraps up the first evening of Matchday 2 in the 2026-2027 Nations League.League A - Group 4: Portugal’s big resultThe evening’s blockbuster clash between Norway and Portugal we...

Sep 27 • 4:46 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

8,000-Mile 2001 Porsche 911 GT2 Clubsport For Sale And You're Too Chicken To Actually Drive It

With low miles on the clock and in excellent condition, this rare Porsche 911 GT2 Clubsport is going to be an expensive buy for the final bidder.

Sep 27 • 4:05 PM EDT • Technology • jalopnik.com

2026 Vanderbilt Football Mailbag #5: Call For Submissions

Post VANDERBILT Football and/or SEC Football questions in the comments here. The offense put us in position to get punt-blocked. …and Curtis lost his first SEC game in the Land of A Million Mascots. …and I’m sure you all have questions. Here are the rules of the mail bag: …and that’s it.

Sep 27 • 12:18 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

‘All of Us’ Block Party brings health care, resources directly to local residents

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Nearly 70 organizations brought health care and other resources directly to Columbus’ Near East Side Saturday as part of the second annual “All of Us” Block Part…

Sep 27 • 12:00 PM EDT • Health • nbc4i.com

I almost deleted Google Keep for lacking passwords until I found this hidden Android feature

Private Space fixed the major security flaw in Keep

Sep 27 • 11:30 AM EDT • Technology • androidpolice.com

'Discovery of the century': Experts have found secret DNA that could unlock a cancer vaccine

Mysterious sequences buried in our genetic code are being found to have unexpected effects

Sep 27 • 10:14 AM EDT • Science • sciencefocus.com

Swiss voters reject bid to lock neutrality into Constitution

The country is known for neutrality, but Russia's war in Ukraine reopened questions over its non-engagement in foreign conflicts

Sep 27 • 8:25 AM EDT • Politics • euractiv.com

Vikings Offensive Solution Identified for Matching Productive Defense

With the running game sidelined by injuries, quarterback Kyler Murray must lean on red zone threat Jauan Jennings to finally unlock a stagnant offense against Tampa Bay.

Sep 27 • 7:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com