The Observer The North Korean leader’s surprise freeze of his nuclear programme is less a genuine move than a diplomatic manoeuvre,...
The "Jolene" singer expressed her desires to have Cyrus play the role of her rival in Heartstrings. However, Julianne Hough was cast. Read more...
More about Entertainment, Mashable Video, Miley Cyrus, Dolly Parton, and Tv Shows
The rapper and producer said in an interview with "Rolling Stone" that God would have to "put in [his] heart" before he could work with another artist. Read more...
More about Entertainment, Music, Mashable Video, Rolling Stone, and Diddy
Designed by Steel Drake, the Keeback is a digital backpack for your on-the-go needs. Read more...
More about Tech, Mashable Video, Innovations, Backpack, and Keeback
Halloween means a couple of different things. One thing in particular? Jack-o'-lanterns. And luckily for you jack-o'-lantern fans, we have a couple of them in tribute to your favorite real life Jacks! Read more...
More about Halloween, Mashable Video, Culture, Jack O Lantern, and Jack O Lantern
The celebs are out in full force costuming it up for Halloween 2019, and boy, they did not come to play.
Some are dressing as other celebs, and some are legitimately trying to give us the spooks. From pop stars to sports legends to actors, celebrities are out here giving it their all. And why shouldn't they? If you're going to have a ridiculous amount of money, you better slay us with your Halloween costume. Sorry, we didn't make the rules.
Here are 17 celebs serving spooky season realness this season.
Jay & Beypic.twitter.com/hSpu1ckwTs
— Ciara (@ciara) October 30, 2019 Read more...
Global News subsidiary Global Calgary had a guest meteorologist on their show this week, and he was pretty otherworldly.
Ferdinand, the mythical unicorn, jumped around set while the show's anchors goggled at his magical ensemble. The tight white shorts, the metallic hooves, and flowing hot pink mane threw the crew over the edge, and nobody could stop laughing as he tried to report the weather.
"I didn't even bother shaving, I thought maybe it would add to the whole thing," Ferdinand, aka Global Calgary meteorologist Jordan Witzel, said towards the end of the clip.
"Sure, sure, that's where the focus is," another anchor responded, referencing his, uh, bulge. Read more...
More about News, Funny, Bloopers, Unicorn, and Weatherman
As if it needed reinforcing that we are living in the dumbest, darkest timeline, NBC News reports that Rudy Giuliani needed help at an Apple Store after locking himself out of his iPhone.
Adding to the sheer stupidity of the incident was the fact that it happened in February 2017, less than a month after President Donald Trump named Rudy as his cybersecurity adviser.
Per NBC's report, Rudy hit up the Apple Genius Bar at one of San Francisco's Apple stores on Feb. 7, 2017 because "he had forgotten the passcode and entered the wrong one at least 10 times" and was, thus, locked out of his phone. Read more...
More about Iphone, Apple Store, Rudy Giuliani, Tech, and Smartphones
TL;DR: Four Le Creuset cookware sets are on sale on Amazon for up to 45% off.
Smart shopping often comes down to good timing — and according to the consumer companion site FreeShipping.org, you're most likely to find great deals on cookware in April/May and December. (That's when retailers typically run specials for college grads/newlyweds and holiday shoppers, respectively.)
So, does that mean you're completely SOL if you volunteered to cook Thanksgiving dinner without realizing you're in dire need of some new pots and pans? Not if Amazon has anything to do with it: The site just slashed the prices of four high-end Le Creuset cookware sets, giving them gigantic discounts of up to 45% ahead of Turkey Day. Whether you need a whole kitchen's worth of equipment or just a couple of skillets, we think it's safe to say that now's a stellar time to buy. Read more...
More about Cooking, Mashable Shopping, Cookware, Le Creuset, and Cookware Sets
Nick Offerman's appearance on Hot Ones is as delightful as you'd expect.
The comedian, who's best known for playing Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation, is full of insights on consumer culture, masculinity, and the merits of building your own furniture, even if it's ugly. There are also plenty of fun anecdotes in this episode, from Offerman's attempt to land a role in Lord of the Rings to the time he met Mr. T.
Refreshingly, Offerman seems to be cool with the perhaps-too-long second life his iconic character has enjoyed online.
"I'm always grateful, knowing how the internet operates, that no one makes a huge ass out of me, that people are generally kind to me or use me to get a laugh," he says. "I was just glad to get a good acting job, so the fact that it has life beyond that... is good free advertising." Read more...
More about Nick Offerman, Hot Ones, Culture, Celebrities, and Web Culture
TL;DR: Buy a versatile refurbished Vitamix 5300 blender for the low price of $249.95 at Amazon. While it's a renewed product, don't expect to find a brand new model for anywhere near the same price, even during Black Friday.
It's soup season, so crank up your space heater and get to work on the perfect bowl of butternut squash soup. With a quality blender, you won't need a stove top to get that creamy soup you need for your Hallmark Christmas movie binge. But some of the best blenders are certainly pricey, and your soup can't wait until Black Friday. So take the time to consider a refurbished model that can fit any budget. Read more...
More about Mashable Shopping, Vitamix Blenders, Amazon Deals, Blenders, and Tech
On Friday, Apple launches Apple TV+. Less than two weeks later, Disney will launch Disney+. NBCUniversal's Peacock arrives less than six months after that, in April 2020 — followed weeks later by HBO Max, in May 2020.
That's on top of all the streaming services that already exist, including Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, alongside more specialized platforms like Mubi, Shudder, and DC Universe. It's enough to make you go broke, or go batty trying to figure out what precise combination of streaming services might spark the most joy for your dollar.
Or, you know, you could go with a third option: Just don't. Read more...
More about Peacock, Disney Plus, Apple Tv Plus, Hbo Max, and Entertainment
The first full-length trailer for The Witcher dropped on Thursday and every part of it looks surprisingly great.
With Henry Cavill as the near-emotionless witcher Geralt of Rivia, this trailer shows a lot of promise for the series that began its rise in popularity in the West over 10 years ago with the release of the first Witcher video game.
In the trailer, we get flashes of all the things that make The Witcher so special — political squabbles mixed with interstate conflicts, plenty of sexual tension, terrifying monsters, and a little bit of magic. The trailer also shows Geralt soaking in a bathtub, which is just iconic Witcher stuff. Read more...
More about Television, Netflix, The Witcher, Entertainment, and Streaming Services
Witty Halloween costumes can be difficult to come up with, but Mitt Romney's grandson had it easy this year.
Earlier in October, Slate's Ashley Feinberg revealed that the Republican senator of Utah was managing a secret Twitter account under the alias, Pierre Delecto.
Romney's second account was found after he dropped a few hints in an interview with the Atlantic's McKay Coppins. After the suspected account was revealed, Romney confirmed it was his by telling Coppins, "C'est moi."
For Halloween, Romney's grandson Thomas put on a black beret, a pair of sunglasses, and a mustache dressed as none other than the fictional Pierre Delecto. Read more...
More about Halloween, Mitt Romney, Culture, Politics, and Web Culture
TL;DR: The dramatic Hisense 43-inch 4K UHD HDR Smart TV is on sale for £249 on Amazon, saving you 38% on list price.
The popularity of 4K TVs does not seem to be waning, and we're expecting an avalanche of deals over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
You're likely to be able to make a big saving if you wait until the end of November to shop for a 4K TV, but we would be very surprised if you manage to get anything better than what's on offer right now on Amazon.
You can pick up a Hisense 43-inch 4K UHD HDR Smart TV for just £249 on Amazon. This is discounted by a massive 38% on list price, saving you £150. This deal even includes a two-year manufacturer warranty, for extra peace of mind. Read more...
More about 4k Tv, Mashable Shopping, Shopping Uk, Uk Deals, and Hisense
TL;DR: Purchase three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for £32.92 on Amazon, and get another three months for free.
Everything is better when it's free. There is something mysterious that happens at a cellular level within humans when things are procured without any money involved. Science cannot explain how free food tastes sweeter, free drinks are stronger, and free experiences are more fun.
This strange phenomenon extends to the world of deals, because there is something special about getting something for nothing.
SEE ALSO: Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2019: When is it and what are the best deals in the UK? Read more...
Heads up, Costco members: The warehouse club's Black Friday 2019 ad just hit the web, tipping big savings on TVs, Apple devices, laptops, smartphones, smart home gadgets, gaming gear, and a lot more this holiday shopping season.
Costco's holiday savings event will run from Nov. 7 through Dec. 2, according to the leaked ad, posted Wednesday by BestBlackFriday.com. "Several of the prices mimic the same kind of savings we saw last year, with many electronics and gadgets discounted by only a minor percentage," the site says.
Costco stores will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, but the company will offer many deals online during the holiday, including the 13.3-inch Apple MacBook Pro for $999.99 ($250 off), HP Omen Gaming Desktop for $749.99 ($250 off), and Bose SoundSport Pulse wireless headphones for $99.99 ($30 off). Costco's in-store savings event kicks off at 9 a.m. on Black Friday, Nov. 29. Read more...
More about Black Friday, Tech, and Consumer Tech
“Do you spook easily?”
This is the question a man who’s just sold me the biggest blueberry muffin I’ve ever seen has asked me. I’m standing in one of the most haunted hotels in the United States and my answer would’ve been completely different had this man asked just a few days ago. At the time he’s asking though, I’m two days into driving one of the most haunted road trips in North America and I am what I would describe as “genuinely a bit spooked.”
Two days earlier, I set off with a map that would take me from Brooklyn to Pennsylvania, stopping off at four haunted destinations where visitors have claimed to see all manner of spooky goings-on. These aren’t your typically ghoulish locations — anyone can stop off at an old cemetery or abandoned hospital and be like “oooooh, this place gives me the willies." But that’s not for meThese creep-filled locations are a bit more off the beaten track. And so, armed with what I’m told is “the best ghost detector currently available in the app store” I set off for my first destination. Read more...
More about Halloween, Road Trip, Haunted House, Haunted, and Culture
Facebook might offer encrypted video and audio chats to its users soon.
App researcher Jane Manchun Wong found evidence of the feature being tested as part of Facebook's Secret Conversation Messenger feature.
Secret Conversations was added to Messenger in 2016, offering users an end-to-end encrypted chat experience. To activate it, tap the "New message" icon in Messenger's top right corner and then tap "Secret."
Facebook Messenger is testing Video/Audio calls over Secret Conversation pic.twitter.com/aNgnvtzsBf
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) October 31, 2019
Right now, it will probably look very similar to a regular Chat in Messenger, but the audio and video call icons (top corner) will be missing. In Wong's screenshot, though, they're there. Read more...
More about Facebook, Encryption, Messenger, Tech, and Social Media Companies
TL;DR: The handy NuWave Oven Pro Plus can roast, air fry, bake, steam, and more without needing to preheat, and it's on sale for $99.95 — a $40 savings.
Thanksgiving is an easy-peasy, chill holiday when you're not the person cooking. You get to chill with family, drink wine at 12 p.m., and a perfectly-roasted turkey simply appears on the table.
But eventually, the year will come where you're the person in charge of food. November starts tomorrow, and you have less than a month to figure out how TF to cook a turkey.
Newbies, you can skip the advanced oven techniques and try the NuWave Oven Pro Plus instead. This unique appliance combines traditional convection heat, conduction heat, and infrared heat to save you half the time using a traditional oven would take. It's regularly $135.99 on NuWave's site, but you can get it for $99.95 at Walmart. Read more...
More about Thanksgiving, Cooking, Kitchen, Mashable Shopping, and Air Fryer
Don't shed a single tear for him, but Mark Zuckerberg continues to be assailed for his very bad decisions about political speech on Facebook.
This time, it's Aaron Sorkin, the man behind The Social Network, the movie about Facebook's controversial and convoluted beginnings that Zuckerberg really, really, really wished had never been made. Sorkin laid out his argument in the opinion pages of the New York Times.
UPDATE: Oct. 31, 2019, 4:54 p.m. EDT Not only did Times have to issue an editor's note over several inaccuracies in Sorkin's letter, Zuckerberg hit back by quoting one of Sorkin's movies, which you can read about here. Read more...
More about Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Aaron Sorkin, Tech, and Social Media Companies
TL;DR: Clean up those Halloween messes with ease with the eufy robot vacuum — now over $110 off on Amazon.
If you have kids — or just trick-or-treaters coming to your door en masse tonight — chances are that you’re going to have a mess to clean up after it’s all over. Tossed candy wrappers, uneaten Mounds bars (why the hell are you giving anyone Mounds?), and large piles of candy corn (which are good, by the way) are sure to be littering your home. And who wants to sweep that up?
Couldn’t be us. Nope. Never.
And with a robot vacuum, you’ll have nothing to worry about — like this eufy robo-vac that’s on sale for over $110 off on Amazon today, for instance. Read more...
More about Robot Vacuums, Mashable Shopping, Eufy, Culture, and Consumer Tech
Goodbye Lizzie McGuire, hello fabulous Lizzie McGuire reboot.
One of our favorite early 2000s Disney Channel teens — Hilary Duff, of course — is returning to her roots and reprising her beloved role as Lizzie McGuire. At the D23 Expo in August, Disney announced that a Lizzie McGuire sequel series will air exclusively on Disney+ and series creator Terri Minsky is onboard, in addition to Duff.
The original show about a teen and her friends navigating the challenges of middle school aired from 2001 to 2004, and the iconic Lizzie McGuire Movie — which showed Lizzie casually becoming a famous pop singer on a class trip to Rome, as one does — came out in 2003. Read more...
More about Hilary Duff, Reboot, Disney Plus, Lizzie Mcguire, and Entertainment
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“The ayes have it” on an impeachment inquiry resolution; Iraq’s prime minister will step down if a replacement is named.
Vox Sentences is your daily digest for what’s happening in the world. Sign up for the Vox Sentences newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday, or view the Vox Sentences archive for past editions.
“His relatives were subjected to harsh treatment by ISIS and he no longer believed in the future of ISIS. He wanted to take revenge on ISIS and al-Baghdadi himself.” [Commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces Gen. Mazloum Abdi giving the reason for why the mole inside ISIS decide to give up al Baghdadi]
Turkey is invading Syria with specific goals in mind. [YouTube / Sam Ellis and Danush Parvaneh]
Edward Snowden says Facebook is just as untrustworthy as the NSA
You may not have to pay anything — for now — to see new shows on Apple TV+ and elsewhere
Witches and monsters and ghosts, oh, my! Seven audio dramas with a touch of magic.
Georgetown University plans to raise $400,000 a year for slavery reparations
Amazon’s top spokesperson walks back controversial comments for the second time in a month
TL;DR: These specially-treated roses from Rosephoria last up to a year and are up to 40% off. Save $134.99 on the round or square two-dozen boxes or $34.99 on an everlasting rose.
A fresh bouquet of flowers is an easy, yet thoughtful way to shower someone you love with love. But, you've gotta admit, it's also hella wasteful. Roses wither within a week (tops) and they definitely don't come cheap. Some people opt out of buying flowers all together because they're just going to die anyway.
But there's a smart new trend that's completely changing the way flowers can be gifted. Remember the Enchanted Rose from Beauty and the Beast? Thanks to Rosephoria, it's basically a real thing now. Read more...
More about Dating, Gift Ideas, Mashable Shopping, Roses, and Entertainment
It's a common misconception that only a blessed few can draw — like it's either you have the innate talent to sketch or you don't. But that couldn't be more wrong. Learning how to wield a pencil isn't quite synonymous with forcing yourself to learn how to carry a tune. While not everyone can achieve the greatness of, say, Van Gogh or Picasso, anyone who has the desire to transform a blank piece of paper into a work of art can absolutely do so, but only if they have the willingness to learn.
See, drawing is a skill that can be acquired. Much like grasping the laws of physics or coming to terms with the intricacies of a foreign language, you can also assimilate to putting a pencil to paper if you have the proper learning material. Whether you want to move on from your usual stick figures or wish to elevate your already intermediate sketching skills, we have some resources to help take your drawing skills to the next level. Take your pick from these courses, all of which are *drum roll* on sale: Read more...
More about Art, Learning, Work Life, Mashable Shopping, and Entertainment
RED's Hydrogen project is no more.
Founder Jim Jannard said so on the company's forum (via The Verge), saying he'll be "shutting down the HYDROGEN project, ending a career that has included Oakley, RED Digital Cinema and HYDROGEN."
He also announced his retirement due to "a few health issues."
Jannard said that the Hydrogen One phone — the only smartphone the company has launched — will "continue to be supported in the future."
The move isn't particularly surprising due to the extremely poor reviews Hydrogen One has gotten, and the company's own admission in July that finishing the phone's feature and fixing its issues was "impossible," allegedly due to poor performance of RED's manufacturing partner in China. Read more...
More about Red, Hydrogen, Hydrogen One, Tech, and Consumer Tech
With the new Pixelbook Go laptop, Google presented me with a legitimate quandary: How good does a laptop have to be for me to get over the restrictions of ChromeOS? Read more...
More about Google, Chromebooks, Chrome Os, Pixelbook, and Pixelbook Go
Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel have finally teamed up to help clarify matters for the many people who have difficulty telling the Jimmys apart.
Fallon joined Kimmel on Thursday's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! to state that, though both are white brunette American men who host late night talk shows, they are in fact two completely different people.
"We understand why people get us confused," said Fallon. "The names. We both wear suits. We both have shows."
"Both have dark hair," continued Kimmel. "We're both white guys — which is not as exciting as it used to be."
However, though they insisted they were entirely separate individuals, the Jimmys were soon rustled when they discovered their similarities ran deeper than they realized – down to matching DNA tests declaring both to be 100 percent that bitch. Read more...
More about Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Entertainment, and Celebrities
On Thursday, Late Night with Seth Meyers' A Closer Look segment once again turned the host's critical eye towards — what else? — Donald Trump lying about his own screwups.
Examining the reactions of both Kurds in Syria and Trump's own Republican supporters, Meyers pointed out that, despite the US Commander in Chief's assertions, few people aside from Trump himself seem to think anything he's done lately has resulted in "a great outcome."
In fact, Republicans have been struggling to mount credible defenses around the president on everything from Syria to the alleged quid pro quo with Ukraine, futilely building pillow forts in a hurricane. Read more...
More about Donald Trump, Seth Meyers, Late Night With Seth Meyers, Trump Presidency, and Culture
A former top Apple lawyer whose responsibilities included preventing insider trading has now been indicted for, uh, that.
Gene Levoff, Apple's former corporate secretary and director of corporate law, is accused of using insider knowledge to trade Apple stock between February 2011 and April 2016 — the exact behavior he was entrusted to prevent.
Illegal insider trading gives people with access to nonpublic company information an unfair advantage over everyone else, a bit like using secret cheat codes in a multiplayer game. Only instead of leaderboards and kill streaks, it's hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. Read more...
More about Apple, Crime, Insider Trading, Tech, and Big Tech Companies
The iPhone is king of smartphone cameras again.
At first, I was skeptical. When I got my iPhone 11 Pro Max a few weeks ago, the camera was buggy, slowish, and — at first glance — appeared to be no match to Huawei's excellent cameraphone in several key departments, such as zoom and low-lit photography.
With an unprecedented onslaught of software updates, Apple slowly but surely fixed the bugs on the iPhone camera. It got faster, it stopped blacking out, and it gained Apple's secretive new Deep Fusion tech, though only in iOS beta at that point.
Since I found the Huawei P30 Pro to have the most versatile and overall best camera around, I decided it was time for a side-by-side comparison to see whether Apple was able to catch up with Huawei's camera. And while a TL;DR will never do justice to this type of text, the short answer is yes. The camera on the iPhone 11 Pro Max is better, in many important aspects, than the one on the Huawei P30 Pro. Read more...
More about Tech, Tech, and Consumer Tech
Jack Dorsey has some thoughts on Libra. Namely, it's bullshit.
Speaking at today's Twitter News Summit in New York City, the pro-Bitcoin CEO took Facebook's so-called cryptocurrency project to task for being, essentially, a gimmick. He insisted that Libra isn't even a real cryptocurrency, and that his company will have nothing to do with it.
Dorsey's comments, in response to the question if Twitter would ever join Libra, were captured by CNN media (and ex-Mashable) reporter Kerry Flynn.
"Hell no," said Dorsey. "Nothing within Libra had to be a cryptocurrency to do what they want to do. They use that label liberally. It’s completely incorrect." Read more...
More about Facebook, Jack Dorsey, Libra, Cryptocurrency, and Tech
A congressman, responsible for leading the lawmaking process and representing the interests of the American people, has a comically weak phone passcode.
An eagle-eyed viewer spotted Lance Gooden, a Republican representative from Texas, typing in his phone's passcode on camera on Wednesday during Mark Zuckerberg testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. Although Gooden can easily be targeted as a weak link in national security, his passcode appears to be a simple 777777.
The GIF has over 146,000 views on Gfycat at the time of writing, and also hit the Frontpage of Reddit on Thursday. Read more...
More about Security, Passwords, Culture, and Web Culture
Mochi teaches your kids about coding, without ever using a screen. Read more...
More about Mashable Video, Coding, Coding Toys, Strictly Robots, and Tech
The idea of first aid training and emergency response makes some people squeamish, and that’s understandable. Maybe you can’t stand the sight of blood, or think you’re not good in a crisis. But in case you haven’t noticed, the world is a dangerous place and there’s never a bad time to train up.
Not everyone is cut out to be a paramedic or an ER nurse. We can all play a role though, and first aid training is the best way to make sure that you’re not standing around helplessly waiting for the pros to arrive.
It’s no secret that hospitals and emergency staff are overloaded, and there is no denying that paramedics are struggling with the increased workload. The potential for low-frequency, high-risk emergencies is greater than before, and now is the right time for all of us to play a role in ensuring the health and safety of those around us Read more...
More about Supported, Medical, First Aid, Brand X, and Lifestyle
Posting to his blog on Wednesday, A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin has declared he won't write for newly announced Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon until he finishes Winds of Winter — even though he really wants to. It's a bit like when you promise yourself delicious chocolate cake if you finish your 5K run.
"I expect to be involved in [the production of House of the Dragon] to some extent… and, who knows, if things work out, I may even be able to script a few episodes, as I did for the first four seasons of Game Of Thrones," wrote Martin in his post.
"But… let me make this perfectly clear… I am not taking on any scripts until I have finished and delivered Winds Of Winter. Winter is still coming, and Winds remains my priority, as much as I’d love to write an episodes of House" (emphasis Martin's). Read more...
More about Game Of Thrones, A Song Of Ice And Fire, George R.R. Martin, Winds Of Winter, and House Of The Dragon
Jack Dorsey took a swing at Mark Zuckerberg, and politicians took note.
On Wednesday the Twitter CEO announced a new policy governing political advertisements — namely, that in contrast to Facebook, his company would no longer accept them. In doing so, he specifically alluded to Zuckerberg's defense of allowing political figures to pay to spread misinformation. Elected officials, both past and present, seized the opportunity to pile on.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that Twitter's move was a "good call," before adding that "Not allowing for paid disinformation is one of the most basic, ethical decisions a company can make." Read more...
More about Facebook, Twitter, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez
Barack Obama visiting Mark Zuckerberg in 2011, when the conversation around tech was very different. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Tickets to the event cost as much as $355,000.
Barack Obama is returning to the campaign trail for his first open event of the 2020 cycle, dropping in to Silicon Valley to raise money for the Democratic Party.
Obama will headline a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee in Los Altos Hills, California, on November 21, according to an invitation obtained by Recode. Ticket prices to the event run to as high as $355,000 to “chair” the event and as (relatively) low as $10,000 to simply attend the afternoon reception.
The event will be hosted at the home of Karla Jurvetson, a psychiatrist and ascendant Democratic fundraiser in Silicon Valley who gave almost $7 million to Democratic groups last cycle.
Obama’s return is likely to be celebrated by leading Democrats who have itched for the former president to play a more active role in helping the party push back against Donald Trump. Sources say the fundraiser is expected to collect at least $2 million for the DNC, which has struggled to keep up with the fundraising prowess of the Republican National Committee. The DNC argued to Recode that Democrats have outraised the Republicans in 2019 when you include the money raised by the party’s presidential candidates.
The former president has yet to appear at an open-press political event since last year’s midterms. He has spoken at a few nonpolitical events— including at a tech conference in San Francisco last month — but his remarks next month will likely be his most political since the Democratic primary began this year. Obama will visit Los Altos Hills alongside DNC chairman Tom Perez.
Obama is not expected to begin pressing the case for Democrats in earnest until next year. He has committed himself to remaining neutral in the presidential primary, at least for now, a decision that some have interpreted as a snub of his former vice president, Joe Biden.
The DNC fundraiser is likely to draw heavy interest from high-powered donors from across the tech industry, many of whom revered Obama and supported his previous White House runs. But much has changed in the Democratic Party since the Obama years. Some Democratic Party frontrunners are calling for tough new regulations on tech companies, including a possible breakup proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders have been the two major candidates to snub Silicon Valley fundraising, with Warren going so far as to say that she will no longer accept major donations from Big Tech executives. But other aspirants, such as Pete Buttigieg and Cory Booker, have waged more traditional campaigns, visiting the Bay Area almost monthly to collect big-dollar checks. That tech money, though, could eventually become a political liability.
It will be telling to see if Obama nods to how his party has ideologically distanced itself from tech since he left office. Obama last raised money in Silicon Valley in October of 2018, raising $2.5 million for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at an event hosted by Mark Heising and Liz Simons, an heiress to the Simons hedge fund fortune.
Earlier this month, Obama headlined a fundraiser for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a group led by former Attorney General Eric Holder, in New York City. Obama is positioning himself to play a unifying role and to help fill the party’s coffers while the dozen-plus candidates running for the nomination battle it out and raise money for their own campaigns.
Earlier this year, Obama announced the ‘Democratic Unity Fund’ that will back the party’s eventual nominee.
“The Democratic Unity Fund is a promise that whoever earns our nomination, he or she will have a strong, united, and well-organized DNC ready to spring into action the moment the general election starts,” Obama said this May, “a DNC that’s ready to lift us all to victory in November.”
Javier Zarracina/Vox
National reading scores decline; Congress recognizes the Armenian genocide.
Vox Sentences is your daily digest for what’s happening in the world. Sign up for the Vox Sentences newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday, or view the Vox Sentences archive for past editions.
“What we need is for our politicians and the people in power [to] start to listen to the current, best available science.” [Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg statement on why she turned down the Nordic Council’s 2019 Environmental Award]
This Halloween, you might see a ghost, but that doesn’t mean they actually exist. [YouTube / Dean Peterson]
More than 50,000 people are set to get a basic income in a Brazilian city
The weird world of whiskey collecting, explained
Trump quietly cut legal immigration by up to 65%
Lebanon’s prime minister submits his resignation amid mass protests
The double standard at play in Katie Hill’s resignation
In Mashable’s series Wasted, we dig into the myriad ways we’re trashing our planet. Because it’s time to sober up.
A global problem requires a global solution. A little bit of collaborative fun thrown in the mix doesn't hurt, either.
Say hello to Litterati, a free app that both encourages users to pick up litter and to share their efforts with likeminded individuals. But the app does more than just provide a nudge to tidy up. Behind the profile pics, photo galleries, and cheery campaigns announcing participants' intention to clean up their neighborhoods lies a secret weapon: crowdsourced data. Read more...
More about Apps, Instagram, Environmentalism, Wasted, and Tech
Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert go way back.
Both alumni of Chicago comedy icon Second City, the pair landed jobs at The Daily Show based on one brilliant sketch created for The Dana Carvey Show.
Colbert came up with "Waiters who are nauseated by food," based on his hungover days waiting tables, while Carell spun "Podiatrists who are nauseated by feet," without either of them knowing about the other's bit. And it got them both hired.
On The Late Show Thursday, the comedy stars took a trip down memory lane to this defining moment in their careers, and around 3:30 in the clip above, they re-enacted the best elements of the sketch. Read more...
More about Comedy, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and Sketch Comedy
Keegan-Michael Key is one of the most versatile actors in the game, so naturally, he absolutely obliterated Jimmy Fallon's "Wheel of Musical Impressions" game on Thursday.
Whether it's nailing a Bob Marley impression to "Hush, Little Baby," or doing a weirdly accurate R.E.M. version of "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain," he's on fire.
Then, behold, his Frank Sinatra version of "Itsy Bitsy Spider." Take a bow. Read more...
More about The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Fallon, Impressions, Keegan Michael Key, and Entertainment