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It’s September, and many among us are dealing with back to school, and anticipating the colder weather that’s on its way (at least, if you live in the northern climes). This, plus a somewhat fraught political atmosphere, means that you might be looking for reliable, affordable ways to escape the doldrums. You don’t need us to tell you that a way to do that is by watching some movies and TV shows. Through September 18th, Paramount is offering a doozy of a deal on both tiers of its Plus streaming service. You can save 50 percent on an annual subscription…

If you listen to music the way a lot of people do these days - with a pair of wireless earbuds, from a Bluetooth speaker, or just blaring directly out of your phone - you will never notice a difference between Spotify's high-quality 320Kbps streams and its lossless audio. But, if you usually listen with wired headphones while working at your desk, or have a quality speaker from the likes of Bose that supports Spotify Connect, there actually is something to be gained here. Comparing Spotify's normal quality streams (96Kbps) with the new 24-bit / 44.1kHz lossless FLAC files feels…

Imagine if George Cukor's The Women was a modern, Spanish-language telenovela set in Ecuador rather than a 1939 dramedy about the lives of wealthy Manhattanites. Now imagine if the series was directed by Pedro Almodóvar and its characters were brought to life with stop-motion animation instead of being portrayed by Hollywood heavyweights like Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer. Now, think about how transgressive that show would be if it treated queerness as the norm and told a politically charged story about the relationship between colonialism and capitalism. That show would be a lot like Adult Swim's Women Wearing Shoulder Pads.…

Few video game adaptations understand their source material quite like the Exit 8 film. It takes the rules and structure of the game - which strands players inside of a looping hallway in a Tokyo subway station - and then builds on them with actual characters and a story. And according to director Genki Kawamura, one of the reasons that the movie feels so fresh could be because of how he approached it. "I wasn't necessarily thinking about a film adaptation of a video game," he tells The Verge. "I was thinking about how to create a new cinematic experience…

While interviewing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman this week, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson brought up his belief in a conspiracy theory that former OpenAI researcher Suchir Balaji was “definitely murdered.” The researcher’s death in November 2024, which was ruled a suicide by the San Francisco police, followed his release of statements online and in a New York Times article calling out OpenAI’s tech for alleged copyright violations.  In their back-and-forth about a half-hour into the chat, Carlson bluntly explains his reasons for believing the theory, and that “[Balji’s] mother claims he was murdered on your orders.” Altman brings up…

Elon Musk is pressing Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to look into Blizzard employees who criticized Charlie Kirk after his death. Musk’s post quotes an X thread listing names and screenshots of the developers. “What’s going on here, @satyanadella?” Musk said. “These are Microsoft employees,” he added in another post. What’s going on here, @satyanadella? https://t.co/acO5poJMm8 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 12, 2025 Musk’s direct question to Nadella follows a broader censorship crackdown from Republicans targeting individuals celebrating Kirk’s death or criticizing him. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) said he would use “Congressional authority and every influence with big tech platforms to…

Rupert Murdoch’s fortress. | Photo: Getty Images While I generally respect The Wall Street Journal, every once in a while it sees fit to remind me that it is, in fact, owned by Rupert Murdoch. This time, it printed something dangerously close to anti-trans blood libel in the wake of Charlie Kirk's shooting. In its live-update blog yesterday, the Journal wrote, "Ammunition engraved with transgender and antifascist ideology was found inside the rifle authorities believe was used in Kirk's shooting, according to an internal law enforcement bulletin and a source familiar with the investigation." That language was echoed in social…

In wake of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s public killing, around two dozen Republican lawmakers are pushing for House leadership to create a new select committee that would investigate “The money, influence, and power behind the radical left’s assault on America and the rule of law.” The letter amounts to a request for subpoena power to dig into political opponents in the media and funding ecosystem that the right deems unduly hostile.  In a letter led by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), the lawmakers urge House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Oversight Committee Chair James Comer…

Discord denies that the suspect accused of killing Charlie Kirk used the messaging platform to discuss his crime, following the service getting mentioned by law enforcement in a press conference — and after accusations that it helped radicalize the alleged shooter, Tyler Robinson. In a statement to The Verge, Jud Hoffman, Discord’s vice president of trust and safety, said the company has “found no evidence that the suspect planned this incident or promoted violence on Discord.” During a press briefing on Friday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said investigators spoke with Robinson’s roommate, and that the roommate “stated that his roommate, referring…

Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella (L), speaks with OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman, who joined by video during the Microsoft Build 2025, conference in Seattle, Washington on May 19, 2025. As OpenAI attempts to restructure itself and eventually go public, a hurdle for the startup, recently valued at $500 billion, is its increasingly complicated partnership with Microsoft.  On Thursday afternoon, the two companies released this joint statement about an agreement they’ve reached. Microsoft & OpenAI: Microsoft and OpenAI have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the next phase of our partnership. We are actively…