Author: Jawdah Hannad Basara

There is a subtle change in the fast food industry every September. The drinks turn amber, the signage becomes warmer-toned, and people are posting pictures of cardboard sleeves on social media. McDonald’s has been playing this game for years, but this fall it’s taking a slightly different approach, and the response has been genuinely fascinating to observe. The McDonald’s Pumpkin & Crème Pie has returned. No big campaign, no press conference. It first appeared in Brooklyn, then Dallas, then Los Angeles, and finally in sporadic Midwest Ohio locations, posting on Facebook as if nothing out of the ordinary was going…

Many people stopped mid-scroll when Valerie Bertinelli shared a picture of herself in her bra and underwear in front of a bathroom mirror in late 2024. It was because of the caption, not because it was scandalous. She wrote that “every lump, bump, wrinkle, and saggy part” of her body is something she loves and accepts. It was a different kind of statement for a woman who was publicly scrutinized every time the scale moved, lost almost fifty pounds on national television, and served as a Jenny Craig spokesperson for decades. Silent. Individual. A bit rebellious. How did Valerie Bertinelli…

It began on Fat Tuesday, of all places. JD Vance mentioned to his wife, Usha, that he was considering giving up sugar for Lent during a quiet domestic conversation that doesn’t typically make it into a White House press briefing. He has previously stated that he takes his Christian faith seriously and that Lent is not a symbolic act for him. It’s a real self-denial exercise. In search of a helpful hint, he picked up the phone and called Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Instead, he received something far more intense: “Bobby Kennedy says,…

One picture of Thor, the God of Thunder, sitting in a darkened Viking-style longhouse with his gut hanging over his waistband, beer in hand, hair matted, and eyes glazed went viral almost immediately after Avengers: Endgame debuted in theaters in April 2019. It was an amazing sight. Millions of people naturally wanted to know if Chris Hemsworth gained weight for Endgame or if there was another reason. It turns out that the response is far more intriguing than a straightforward yes or no. Hemsworth didn’t put on any weight for the part. It wasn’t real at all. What viewers were…

Fans of soap operas are a specific type of loyal viewer. They take note of everything, including the way a favorite actress appears different from six months ago due to a lighting setup, the haircut that varies between Tuesday and Thursday, and the wardrobe change that seems a little strange. It was therefore not wholly unexpected when fans of The Young and the Restless started whispering about Sharon Case’s appearance in 2026 in Reddit threads and Facebook fan groups. Perhaps the most unexpected thing was how quickly a bit of idle conjecture became a searchable topic that attracted real online…

A food recall involving a product that most people think is naturally healthy has a subtle unsettling quality. In the kitchen, olive oil—especially the extra virgin variety, which is used to fold into salads or drizzle over bread—occupies a sort of sacred space. For decades, health writers have advocated for this. Therefore, many people were taken aback when the FDA declared on August 31, 2026, that Cincinnati-based LMSI LLC, doing business as Kofinas Olive Oil, was voluntarily removing its Garlic Mediterranean Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil from stores. The company’s own announcement put it plainly: the flavored oil was made…

It’s difficult to explain the silence that descends upon a factory floor once the final machine has stopped unless you’ve been there. On September 3, 2026, after 88 continuous years of production, the last box of Kellogg’s cereal came off the line at Trafford Park in Greater Manchester, bringing with it that silence. Knowing that it wouldn’t be the same type of walk-in tomorrow, 360 people, many from families who had contributed to this site for several generations, left. Although the actual building will stay open until the end of the year while the winding-down process is finished, production at…

Not particularly concerning—recalls occur frequently, and the majority of people are unaware of them. Occasionally, however, a group of them appear all at once, involving the stores where almost everyone shops, making it more difficult to turn away. One of those times was this week. Citing risks ranging from metal ingestion and choking to chemical poisoning and tip-over entrapment, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a series of recalls for six products sold by Amazon, Walmart, and Target. Baby toys, grill brushes, tattoo-numbing wipes, teething rattles, and dressers are just a few of the many products that are similar in…

In medicine, there is a certain kind of moment when a medication that people were already familiar with takes on new significance. Mounjaro had already emerged as one of the most talked-about drugs in years, first for the treatment of diabetes and later for weight loss, competing with Ozempic for popularity. Mounjaro was approved by the FDA on August 28 to lower the risk of major cardiovascular events, such as heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death, in adults with type 2 diabetes who are at elevated cardiac risk. It’s a significant expansion, and it’s difficult to ignore how drastically the…

A common joke in Hollywood at the moment is that everyone is getting smaller and on Ozempic. Former body-positive celebrities now subtly attribute their success to “lifestyle changes.” Nowadays, very few people question it, making it a sort of open secret. And then there’s Judd Apatow, who takes the maximum dosage of Ozempic, is aware that everyone is aware of it, discusses it candidly, and has managed to gain 15 pounds in just four years. It’s really difficult to decide whether to think that’s amazing or ridiculous. Perhaps both. Apatow’s wife of almost thirty years, Leslie Mann, made an appearance…