Technology

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Saturday, June 14, 2025:

AcrossResearch org. that once employed Dr. Fauci

• The answer is NIH.

Conflict ended on 11/11/1918, for short

• The answer is WWI.

Garment with an underwire

• The answer is Bra.

___ Solo of "Star Wars"

• The answer is Han.

Verify the truth of

• The answer is Confirm.

Student's request while preparing for a test

• The answer is Quiz me.

Music player at a '50s-style diner

• The answer is Jukebox.

"All good to go!"

• The answer is A OK.

Prefix meaning "bird" or "flight"

• The answer is Avi.

By way of

• The answer is Via.

Actor Cage, to fans

• The answer is Nic.

Flecks from a campfire

• The answer is Ash.

Nat ___ (TV channel)

• The answer is Geo.

Down"Saturday Night Live" network

• The answer is NBC.

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, by another name

• The answer is Iroquois.

Eight-day Jewish holiday

• The answer is Hanukkah.

Sensationally successful, in older slang

• The answer is Whiz bang.

"Full Metal Jacket" or "Saving Private Ryan"

• The answer is War movie.

Where Baja California is, as opposed to California

• The answer is In Mexico.

"Fee, ___, foe, fum"

• The answer is Fie.

Coding language with a coffee cup logo

• The answer is Java.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to the latest Mini Crossword.

Don't risk it: You need a surge protector to save your electronics from power surges. The right surge protector can take a beating and will protect your gadgets even after it fails. We'll help you pick the best ones for your situation.

Smartphones can do as much as traditional PCs, and they're even better for people who had a difficult time with computers before. Yet smartphone innovation isn't limited to phones. Their design revolution has also bled over onto our desktops and laptops.

On your Android phone, you can make an emergency button that sends your current location to your chosen contact. This lets you get the help you need in an emergency situation. I’ll show you how to make that shortcut.

Last month, I finally took the time to move all my web domains to a new registrar, saving me a lot of money in the process. If you’ve accumulated some web domains over the years, it might be time to shop around for a better deal.

Are you intimidated by Arch Linux's reputation for being difficult and hard to use? Do you want an accessible way to get the benefits of Arch without the headaches? Well, here are five Arch-based distros for anyone looking for something powerful but not too technical.

As premium phones continue to go up in cost, the CMF Phone 2 Pro shows that buying one is largely unnecessary. It has its shortcomings, but for the price, they are far fewer than you'd expect.

How to watch 'A Minecraft Movie' at home: BEST NON-STREAMING OPTION Buy or rent 'A Minecraft Movie' on Prime Video $19.99 or $9.99 Get Deal BEST FOR MOST PEOPLE Max (With Ads) annual subscription $99.99/year (save $19.89) Get Deal BEST NO-ADS PLAN Max Standard annual subscription $169.99/year (save $33.89) Get Deal GET MAX FOR FREE Max Basic With Ads for Cricket customers Free for Cricket customers on the $60/month unlimited plan (save $9.99/month) Get Deal GET MAX FOR FREE Max Basic With Ads Free for DashPass annual plan subscribers (save $9.99 per month) Get Deal BEST FOR STUDENTS Max Student $4.99 per month for 12 months (save 50%) Get Deal BEST BUNDLE DEAL Disney+, Hulu, and Max $16.99 per month (with ads), $29.99 per month (no ads) (save up to 38%) Get Deal

The video game with the cult-following among Gen Z and Alpha took over the box office this past spring. The blockbuster film adapted from the game, A Minecraft Movie, will be available to stream soon in households everywhere — provided you have the right streaming service. A Minecraft Movie is officially set to make its streaming debut on June 20 on Max. Sadly, we still don't have a date for the switchover from Max to HBO Max.

From creepers and piglins to villages and the Nether, the film is full of staples from Mojang's crafting game. But that doesn't mean you need to have played the game before to see it (although a primer wouldn't hurt). It stars Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, and Sebastian Hansen and is directed by Jared Hess — the man known for Napoleon Dynamite, the kookiest film of the 2000s. In other words, you know you're in for a dang good time whether you know anything about Minecraft or not.

Here's everything you need to know about how to watch A Minecraft Movie at home — and what your best options are to save money.

What is A Minecraft Movie about?

A Minecraft Movie follows four misfits (Momoa, Brooks, Myers, and Hansen) as they get sucked into the Overworld of Minecraft, a realm where everything is made of cubes (yes, everything — even the living creatures). While it seems like an imaginative playground, it's also under siege from a dire threat. To get back home, they'll have to team up with expert crafter and resident Steve (Black) to keep the Overworld safe.

"'This place makes no sense,' Natalie (Myers) says at one point with a tinge of exasperation, and she is speaking for all of us uninitiated. While it is largely coherent, A Minecraft Movie is all over the place. But no one in the audience is here for the plot. They’re either watching A Minecraft Movie for their love of the Minecraft world or because they love someone who loves it and isn’t old enough to drive themselves to the movie theater. As far as video game adaptations and children’s films go, A Minecraft Movie is so much better than it needs to be," Mashable reviewer Kimber Myers writes.

Check out the official trailer for a better glimpse into the world of Minecraft:

Is A Minecraft Movie worth watching?

We weren't expecting A Minecraft Movie to win awards or anything — it's a kids' movie about a video game mostly unbeknownst to adults. So, the 48 percent critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes is hardly a shock. But audiences, kids and kid-at-heart adults, are largely loving it. It currently holds an 85 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

A Minecraft Movie is also the box office champion of 2025 thus far — and by a considerable amount. The video game adaptation tops the list of highest-grossing movies of the year at $410 million domestically and $911 million worldwide.

"It’s fun and funny, fully engaged with the spirit of the game, in which creativity and imagination rule. It doesn’t feel like it’s pandering to kids, but, as evidenced by the giggles at my screening, they were enjoying it," Mashable's reviewer writes.

Read our full review of A Minecraft Movie.

How to watch A Minecraft Movie at home Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

There are a few different ways to watch A Minecraft Movie at home currently: purchasing via digital video-on-demand, renting via digital video-on-demand, or streaming it on HBO Max starting June 20. Here's a breakdown of costs, deals, and details.

Buy or rent A Minecraft Movie on digital

A Minecraft Movie made its theatrical debut on April 4, 2025, then became available to watch at home a little over a month later via digital video-on-demand platforms like Prime Video and Apple TV. You can purchase the film for your digital collection or rent it for 30 days for $19.99 or $9.99, respectively. If you choose to rent, just take note that you'll have 30 days to watch, but just 48 hours to finish once you begin.

You can purchase and rent the film at the following retailers:

• Prime Video — buy for $19.99, rent for $9.99

• Apple TV — buy for $19.99, rent for $9.99

• Fandango at Home (Vudu) — buy for $19.99, rent for $9.99

• Google Play — buy for $19.99, rent for as low as $9.99

Opens in a new window Credit: Prime Video Rent or buy 'A Minecraft Movie' at Prime Video $9.99 or $19.99 Get Deal Stream A Minecraft Movie on HBO Max

The wait is over, Minecraft fans. As a Warner Bros. Pictures film, A Minecraft Movie will officially make its streaming debut on Max (soon to be called HBO Max once again) — the Warner Bros.-owned streaming service on June 20. That's right on target with the typical theatrical-to-streaming trajectory for a Warner Bros. film.

Max subscriptions start at $9.99 per month, but there are a few different ways to save some money on your plan. Peep the best Max streaming deals below.

The best HBO Max streaming dealsBest for most people: Save 16% on Max Basic with ads annual subscription Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max Basic with ads yearly subscription $99.99 per year (save $19.89) Get Deal

While the cheapest monthly Max subscription (Basic with ads) goes for $9.99, an annual subscription brings that cost down to just $8.33 per month. You'll have to pay $99.99 up front for the year, but that will ultimately save you about 16% compared to a monthly plan.

Best Max deal with no ads: Save up to 16% on a Max Standard annual subscription Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max Standard annual subscription $169.99 per year (save $33.89) Get Deal

You can also save 16% by committing to a yearly Max ad-free plan — now dubbed Max Standard and Max Premium. The standard tier costs either $16.99 per month or $169.99 per year (about $14.16 per month), while the Premium tier costs either $20.99 per month or $209.99 per year (about $17.50 per month).

Note: Both tiers offer an ad-free viewing experience, but the Premium tier comes with 4K Ultra HD video quality, Dolby Atmos immersive audio, and the ability to download more offline content.

Best Max deal for Cricket customers: Free Max with ads for customers on the $60/month unlimited plan Opens in a new window Credit: Cricket / Max Max (with ads) Free for Cricket customers on the $60/month plan Get Deal

Cricket customers with the $60 per month unlimited plan get HBO Max with ads for free. When logging into Max, select Cricket as your provider, then enter your credentials to log in. That's it, y'all.

Best Max deal for DoorDash users: Free Max with ads with DashPass annual plan Opens in a new window Credit: DoorDash / Max Max (with ads) Free with DashPass annual plan ($8/month) Get Deal

Get Max for free in 2025 by signing up for DoorDash's annual DashPass plan for $96 per year ($8 per month). A DashPass membership gets you $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees on eligible DoorDash orders all year long. You'll just have to activate your Max subscription through your DoorDash account to get started. If you'd rather watch ad-free, you can choose to upgrade for a discounted rate as well.

Best Max deal for students: Save 50% on Max with ads Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max Student $4.99 per month for 12 months Get Deal

College students can enjoy the massive Max library for an entire year with ads for half price. Just verify your student status with UNiDAYS, retrieve the unique discount code, and watch the price drop from $9.99 to $4.99 per month.

Best bundle deal: Get Max, Disney+, and Hulu for up to 38% off Opens in a new window Credit: Disney / Hulu / Max Disney+, Hulu, and Max $16.99 per month (with ads), $29.99 per month (no ads) Get Deal

If you're looking to consolidate your spending, the Disney+ bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu, and Max, will only cost you $16.99 per month with ads. That lineup of streaming services with ads would usually run you $25.97 per month, so you'll save about $9 monthly. If you'd rather go ad-free, it'll cost you $29.99 per month as opposed to $48.97. That's up to 38% in savings for access to all three streaming libraries.

UPDATE: Jun. 13, 2025, 12:55 p.m. EDT This article has been updated to include the official streaming date for Warner Bros. "A Minecraft Movie," as well as updated pricing for digital purchases and rentals.

TL;DR: Unblock Pornhub from Kansas with a VPN. The best service for unblocking porn sites is ExpressVPN.

More than a third of U.S. states still have restrictions in place for online adult content after the introduction of age verification laws, meaning millions of potential users are locked out of sites like Pornhub and YouPorn. Fortunately, the workaround is straightforward.

If you want to unblock porn sites like Pornhub for free from Kansas, we have all the information you need.

How to unblock Pornhub for free in Kansas

VPNs are useful tools that can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other locations. This straightforward process bypasses geo-restrictions so you can access sites like Pornhub from anywhere in the world.

Unblock Pornhub by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in a location that supports access to Pornhub

4. Visit Pornhub

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (2-Year Subscription + 4 Months Free) $139 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for unblocking porn sites are not free, but most do offer free-trial peiods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can unblock porn sites like Pornhub without actually spending anything. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does give you the opportunity to temporarily retain access to Pornhub before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to sites like Pornhub, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for bypassing content restrictions is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for Pornhub?

ExpressVPN is the top choice for unblocking porn sites like Pornhub, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast streaming speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $139 and includes an extra four months for free — 61% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Unblock Pornhub for free in Kansas with ExpressVPN.

Buying a new television can break your brain more than it breaks your budget. If you're not a picky cinephile or longtime gamer, TV specs are one of those Michael Scott "Explain it to me like I'm five" things. (So are laptop specs.)

Lengthy product titles on Amazon TVs definitely aren't helping the confusion. A cluster of nebulous descriptors like "Omni Mini-LED, QLED 4K UHD, Dolby Vision IQ, 144hz, Ambient Experience" isn't exactly accessible to the average person — it's pure chaos.

SEE ALSO: Our favorite expert-tested TV brands include LG, TCL, Hisense, and Samsung

So I'm simplifying that mess in this straightforward TV buyers guide, breaking down specs like QLED and OLED lighting, 4K resolution, brightness, and refresh rate. Recommendations for the best TVs to buy in 2025 are at the bottom of this guide, thanks to intel from CNET's Ty Pendlebury. (CNET and Mashable are both owned by publisher Ziff Davis.)

Lighting explained: LED vs. QLED vs. OLED

The main thing to know: 4K and LED are not talking about the same thing. 4K refers to resolution, and terms containing -LED refer to lighting.

Contrary to the TV-related queries that fill Google's "People also asked" section, you don't have to choose between, say, 4K or QLED. For example, a TV can have 4K resolution with LED, QLED, or OLED lighting. The order listed there also reflects their escalating price points: LED TVs are the most affordable of the types of TV lighting, QLED TVs can be entry-level and affordable or high-end and expensive, and OLED TVs are the most expensive type of TV because their lighting system is the most advanced. You're much more likely to find cheap QLED TVs than you are to find cheap OLED TVs.

What is QLED?

Technical translation: QLED stands for Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diode.

Quantum dots are tiny nanocrystals that can convert the basic spectrum of light into billions of vibrant colors. Measuring no more than 10 nanometers in size, a quantum dot beside even a single piece of human hair would look as small as Earth looks beside massive stars in those 'scale of the universe' videos. Existential dread incoming.

Because they're so small, millions (sometimes billions) of quantum dots can be packed into a quantum dot display. Each has the ability to receive and reflect the light coming from the backlight panel layered behind them. The color of the light reflected depends on the size of each particle.

The color of the light reflected in a quantum dot depends on the size of each particle. Credit: Samsung

The more quantum dots that can be packed into a display, the more vibrant the range of colors and brightness the TV can produce. Color gamut is the official term you'll see denoting the range of colors a TV can produce. A wide color gamut simply means more saturated colors, regardless of where they fall on the rainbow.

Brightness, simply the amount of light that the TV screen produces, is measured in nits. Traditional LED TVs typically hit around 500 nits, while even the cheapest QLEDs out there nowadays will clear 1,000 nits. Nit count continues to ante up as the TVs get more premium — the best TVs of 2025 easily hit 2,000 nits at peak brightness.

SEE ALSO: Thank goodness: Max is changing its name back to HBO Max What is mini LED?

Technical translation: Mini LED is a type of TV lighting that uses more, tinier-than-usual LED bulbs in a TV's LCD panel.

QLED is not synonymous with mini LED — QLED has to do with the nanocrystals that reflect light from bulbs in the panel, while mini LED has to do with the bulbs themselves.

Smaller, more jam-packed LED bulbs across the screen allow for more precise brightness control within small zones (called dimming zones) of the screen. These clusters of bulbs can be dimmed or turned off together to achieve more detailed contrast without muddying things up for the parts of the scene that need to be bright and colorful.

The more local dimming zones a screen has, the more opportunities to fine-tune color and contrast across each inch of each scene, ultimately leading to a sharper, more realistic image on the screen. Budget-friendly mini LED TVs probably won't have more than 200 dimming zones, while solid mid-range picks might up the count to 500. The best mini LED TVs have 1,000+ dimming zones and will get the closest to the OLED experience in terms of contrast (more on that later).

SEE ALSO: Best 55-inch and under TVs for your bedroom, the kids' room, or your apartment

When QLED does its best work: The main advantage of QLED is brightness, which is inherently better at handling glare and reflections in bright rooms. QLED TVs are ideal for people whose TV usage happens mostly in the daytime, especially watching sports. Less than 1,000 nits of brightness, like the low numbers produced by a more basic LED TV, just isn't bright enough for comfortable visibility when it's competing with direct sunlight.

Ideally, QLED technology will be paired with mini LED technology to create the most well-rounded picture — this is what Samsung's Neo QLED TVs do.

When QLED isn't great: The main disadvantage of QLED TVs is dulled contrast, especially when it comes to black levels. QLEDs simply have a hard time reaching as deep of a black tone as OLED pixels do. The combination of these muted black levels with the brightness of light colors can sometimes backfire with what's commonly called blooming or haloing: a ring-shaped glow around bright objects on the screen. The halo effect can mess with the legibility of details on the screen, like captions written in white letters.

What is OLED?

Technical translation: OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode.

The one-letter shift between QLED and OLED doesn't accurately represent how starkly different these two lighting technologies are. While QLED pixels are merely casting light coming from behind them (but making it juicier), OLED pixels emit their own light. These self-lighting pixels can individually turn themselves on and off, which is how light/dark scenes show up.

The OLED TV on the right has one less layer — no backlight. Credit: Samsung Display

When OLED does its best work: The main advantages of OLED TVs are contrast and deep black levels. OLED TVs are ideal for people who do most of their TV watching or gaming in the dark, or watch a lot of dimly-lit content that gets muddied on more basic TVs.

SEE ALSO: How to watch 'Sinners': See the smash horror hit at home

The main disadvantage of OLED is the eventual likelihood of "burn-in," or permanently dimmed OLED pixels that show up as little black dots on the screen. OLED burn-in happens over a span of several years — not quickly enough that it stops many TV experts from generally preferring OLED TVs over QLED, anyway. Most newer OLED screens have built-in protective features that can prolong burn-in, like pixel refresh to shake up a static screen. You can also mitigate burn-in by simply not leaving your TV on all day, every day.

Resolution explained: FHD vs. 4K vs. 8K

Technical translation: Resolution refers to the number of pixels(p) that make up the picture on the screen.

The most common TV resolutions in 2025 are FHD, 4K, and 8K. Resolution technically measures the pixel count horizontally and vertically, but is sometimes shortened to just the vertical number. (For example, FHD is 1920x1080p, but is often represented as just "1080p".) A higher pixel count allows for more details, leading to clearer picture quality.

SEE ALSO: The best Netflix movies of 2025 now streaming

You've probably stumbled across 4K the most, which is a much more self-explanatory term than you may think: 4K is literally just four times the resolution of FHD. (4K measures 3840 x 2160, which is double the horizontal and double the vertical resolution of FHD's 1920 x 1080.) For most consumer buying purposes, 4K and UHD are essentially interchangeable.

For most intents and purposes, 4K and UHD are interchangeable. Credit: LG

The math gets more intense with the switch to 8K: At 7680 x 4320, 8K is four times the resolution of 4K and 16 times the resolution of FHD. But honestly, you probably don't have to worry about 8K right now. While it's the sharpest TV resolution one can get on paper, there's not enough content that can even be watched in 8K right now to make buying an 8K TV worthwhile.

HDR explained

Technical translation: HDR stands for high-dynamic range.

In the most lucid sense, HDR allows certain content to get brighter and more contrasted — as close to seeing the image IRL as possible. HDR is a technology that has the capacity to "understand" color and contrast data about what was originally shot through the camera lens that more basic technology, like SDR (standard dynamic range), just can't translate.

HDR "understands" color and contrast data better than SDR. Credit: LG

Not all TVs can get bright enough to fully take advantage of HDR's brightening capabilities, even if they claim to technically support the technology. Remember that conversation about brightness and nits we had earlier? Any TV toeing 1,000 nits probably won't be able to give you the optimal HDR experience.

On the flip side, a really good TV can't magically turn everything into HDR content — the movie, show, or video game has to be HDR compatible in the first place. For example, Hulu supports HDR for some titles and devices, but not others. Depending on your TV, calibrating HDR could be relatively simple or a pain in the ass, and is often trickier to nail with video games and monitors than with streamed content on a TV.

SEE ALSO: 10 Nintendo Switch 2 launch titles I can't wait to play (besides 'Mario Kart World')

There are a few main types of HDR formats: HDR10 (the most common "generic" one), Dolby Vision (the next most common one), and HDR10+ (Samsung's own version of HDR10). Most streaming services support at least the first two. The main difference between the HDR formats involves some heavy jargon that the average TV buyer probably doesn't need to dissect — but if you're really interested in the comparison between HDR10's use of static metadata versus Dolby Vision and HDR10+'s use of dynamic metadata, CNET breaks down the HDR formats well.

Refresh rate explained

Technical translation: Measured in hertz (Hz), refresh rate refers to the number of times a display refreshes its image per second.

The higher the refresh rate, the smoother and more lifelike the motion on the screen will be. But if your TV watching doesn't really exceed casual streaming service perusing, don't focus too much on refresh rate in your shopping. You'll probably be perfectly fine with 60Hz, which is what's found on most budget 4K TVs, like Amazon's 4-Series Fire TV.

Serious film watchers might find 60Hz too laggy, though, and might consider upping the ante to 120Hz. If you want to play the Switch 2 in all of its glory, a TV that supports at least 120Hz is crucial.

SEE ALSO: What Wes Anderson thinks of social media imitations of his aesthetic

Refresh rate plays the most influential role in video games, especially games that rely heavily on on-screen responsiveness. For gamers, anything under 144Hz will probably just be frustrating. This is the number that separates the good TVs from the best gaming TVs. For instance, LG's B4 OLED is a great midrange OLED option unless you're a hardcore gamer who wants to play at 144 fps — in that case, you'd need to upgrade to the LG C4 OLED, which supports 144Hz.

Final thoughts: How to choose a TV

Visualizing the differences between TV specs based solely on descriptions is hard. I thought my 2019 4K LED looked fine until I tested a high-end Samsung QLED in my apartment on the same TV stand in the same bright living room sunlight. Then I understood the hype.

My point? If you can, go to a store that has a TV aisle and see for yourself in person. Ideally, the TVs lined up in your local Best Buy or Target will be playing the same thing for easy side-by-side comparison of big features like picture quality, brightness, and color accuracy that can't quite be explained.

If you need a starting point for the TVs to hunt down IRL, check out some recommendations for the best televisions of 2025 below. There's a budget-friendly option, a mid-range mini LED option, and a top-of-their-class pick for both QLED and OLED. There's a high chance that one or two of them will be on sale whenever you're reading this — most of them were at the time this story was written.

Opens in a new window Credit: TCL TCL QM6K QLED Mini LED 4K TV Between $799.99 (55-inch) and $2,999.99 (98-inch) Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: Hisense Hisense U6 Mini LED QLED 4K TV Between $529.99 (65-inch) and $999.99 (85-inch) Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: LG LG C4 OLED 4K TV Between $999.99 (42-inch) and $3,499.99 (83-inch) Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony Bravia 9 QLED Mini LED 4K TV Between $2,999.99 (65-inch) and $4,799.99 (85-inch) Shop Now

Mario Kart World, the lone original flagship launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2, is as much defined by what it is as what it is not. 

What it is is a tremendously fun Mario Kart game that hones the franchise’s trademark fun to a hilarious, borderline sadistic, and nearly scientifically perfect degree. What it’s not is a revolutionary open-world epic on par with the Switch 1’s biggest launch title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, or even other open-world racers like Burnout Paradise and Forza Horizon. 

Do not create a game in your head that doesn’t exist; this is a kick-ass Mario Kart game that happens to have an open world in it. Whether that’s enough for you to want to buy a Switch 2 at launch or not is your business, not mine. While Mario Kart World doesn’t necessarily live up to the seemingly infinite potential of an open-world Mario Kart game, it lives up to my expectations as a longtime fan of the series who really, really enjoys playing it online, which in turn makes it a great showcase for what makes the Switch 2 awesome.

You can get Mario Kart World for $79 at Walmart (and $79.99 at Nintendo), or you can try to find the Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundle.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundle Check prices at Walmart Shop Now

You can also read my full hands-on deep dive on the Switch 2, but in the meantime, let's get into my Mario Kart World review.

Mario Kart World may not be what you expect Knockout Tour is the real highlight here. Credit: Nintendo

Back in April, when Nintendo first detailed Mario Kart World to the masses, plenty of folks (myself included) became wide-eyed with awe in thinking about what an open-world Mario Kart game could be. Mario Kart World is not quite that.

To be clear, after a week of extensive play, I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but it is disappointing, especially if you tuned out the later marketing that made it explicitly clear that the free roam feature is a goofy little side mode and not the main attraction. It’s an easy way to unlock new costumes for characters, and it’s full of little bespoke challenges to complete, but their rewards pretty much only come in the form of stickers, which don’t actually do anything meaningful. Those challenges are only worth doing for the love of the game, in other words.

Mario Kart World’s biggest surprise, then, is how much that doesn’t really bother me. Once the final game was in my hands, I realized the open world exists to justify the modes you just pick from a menu. Grand prix races ask players to race between tracks, for instance. The new Knockout Tour mode, which is the game’s biggest highlight, takes players on a Cannonball Run-esque (that’s a reference the kids will get) cross-country race, in which those at the back of the pack are gradually eliminated from contention over time. 

There are several Knockout Tour stretches available. Credit: Nintendo SEE ALSO: Switch 2 smashes Nintendo's own record, selling 3.5 million consoles

It’s tempting to call the open world “tacked-on,” but I would argue that's not really appropriate. The idea that all of these tracks are physically connected to one another is baked into the design of the major modes; Knockout Tour wouldn’t exist without the open world, therefore, the existence of the open world is justified. That said, since this is a Mario Kart World review, it’s worth noting that most tracks can be turned into regular three-lap circuits during multiplayer races, if you prefer that.

Still, I don’t want to let Nintendo entirely off the hook here. Free roam should be more rewarding than it is. Stickers are not a good enough incentive to complete P-switch challenges, many of which are genuinely pretty difficult. That being said, Mario Kart World is a ton of fun on its own merits, regardless of what you may or may not wish it was instead.

But the part where it’s Mario Kart might be better than ever The races are great. Credit: Nintendo

Once you process and get over the fact that this isn’t Burnout Paradise with blue shells, Mario Kart World rocks. The sorcerers over at Nintendo have found a bunch of ways to make the races more frenetic, chaotic, and arguably fun than ever.

For starters, there are now 24 competitors per race, rather than the traditional 12. That means the beginning portion of every race is kind of a nightmare, in a great way. There’s just a mass of humanity (and cows, and dolphins, and Goombas, and anything else that’s ever been in a Mario game) all trying to knock each other out. If you’re inclined to get mad at the part of Mario Kart where sometimes you get hit by a shell that you couldn’t do anything about, get ready for twice as much of that.

I’m not inclined to get mad about that because I think it makes Mario Kart more interesting than many other racing games. If I wanted to play a game where mere driving prowess was enough to win on its own, I would play almost any other racing game. I find comfort in the idea that sometimes you can be perfect, and it’s still not good enough because of some nonsense that was out of your control. That’s just life, man. 

Crucially, it’s also very funny to go from first to 20th in about three seconds. Learning to laugh at yourself is key to enjoying Mario Kart.

Donkey Kong rocks. Credit: Nintendo

With that in mind, though, the driving mechanics here are maybe my favorite in any Mario Kart. It still works roughly the same on the surface as it did in Mario Kart 8, in that drifting in order to build up boost is the main thing you have to worry about when you aren’t dodging items. There’s also a new charge jump mechanic on top of that, which enables the player to grind on rails or even ride along walls, two things that also build up boost if you do them right.

I haven’t even really scratched the surface of the kinds of shortcut opportunities that surely exist if you get good enough at those moves, but just knowing that there’s more depth here than before is enough for me. Pulling off a sick wallride feels great, if nothing else. 

All of this works in concert with the true greatness of the Knockout Tour mode to create something I’m going to casually play online for many, many dozens of hours. It’s truly exciting to win a Knockout Tour in a way it’s never been to win in Mario Kart before. Every time I finish in first place in an online Knockout Tour, I feel like I can take on God.

Mario Kart World is an excellent Switch 2 showcase The water is gorgeous. Credit: Nintendo

One very important aspect of Mario Kart World that maybe doesn’t come through until you see it running on a 4K TV with HDR turned on is that it’s one of the best-looking games of 2025 so far. The Switch 2’s big boost in horsepower over its predecessor, combined with Nintendo’s excellent-as-usual art direction, make it an absolute delight to look at pretty much at all times.

Mario Kart World is vibrant, colorful, and full of fun little details. Karts and racers bend and contort in cartoonish ways when they take hits, explosions now have comic book-esque “KABOOM!” text callouts on top of them, and the water, oh my god, the water. I think Mario Kart World might have the best-looking water I’ve seen in a video game. It needs to be seen to be believed.

Aside from World’s prowess as a technical showcase, it’s also a great demonstrator of the Switch 2’s neat online social features. I’ve had a ton of fun doing online races and Knockout Tours against friends while we casually hang out and talk about whatever is happening in our lives via GameChat. World is an incredible hangout game, if nothing else.

But there are some gaps in the online feature set Also gorgeous. Credit: Nintendo

Unfortunately, the online features could be a bit more fleshed out in a couple of ways.

First, free roaming around the open world with friends appears to be limited to driving around while waiting for races or Knockout Tours to start. The P-switch challenges are removed from the open world when playing this way, turning it into a glorified lobby rather than a true, cooperative open world. I wish there was more to do in the open world in general, but I think this sentiment is especially true of the online version of it.

Secondly, I wish you could queue up for online Knockout Tour races against random strangers while partied up with your friends. Instead, to do an online Knockout Tour with friends, you either need to find 23 other people (unlikely) or accept that some of the slots will be filled with NPC characters. I think this is a fantastic online game in many ways, but it’s not always ideal.

Is Mario Kart World worth it?

Look, everyone has their own idea of what a dollar is worth, or in this case, 80 of them. I think Mario Kart World is a great game and I would pay $80 for it if I had to, but I’m also comically irresponsible with money.

Moving past the value proposition of it all, World is just a ton of fun. It’s fun to look at, fun to win at, and even fun to lose at, if your mindset is properly attuned to it.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Mario Kart World - U.S. Version $79 at Walmart
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If you can't figure out why you're dead exhausted upon waking or want to track how your body handles the stress of daily life, a smart ring will deliver answers. And my favorite smart ring, the famous Oura ring, starts providing answers quickly. Almost the second I slipped on the ring, I got data on my heart rate, skin temperature, and blood oxygen levels. And within days, the Oura app was collecting and reporting trends on my health biometrics. But for some data, users have to be patient.

The Oura app has three tabs: Today, Vitals, and My Health. 'Today' and 'Vitals' provide data you can immediately access — quick snapshots of your real-time health data. But 'My Health' is a home base for data that takes some time to calculate. And this isn't just one or two weeks of processing; one calculation requires months of patience.

Credit: Oura App / Mashable Photo Composite

'My Health' has three reports: Resilience, Heart Health, and Sleep Health. After about 28 days, data populates in both Resilience and Heart Health, but Sleep Health takes longer. I had to wait three months for my sleep chronotype to calculate. So, after 90 days of daily use, I finally got my chronotype, and it was well worth the wait.

What is a chronotype?

The terms early bird and night owl are more than just an idiom. They refer to chronotypes, aka your natural sleep cycle. Chronotypes were popularized by Dr. Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist specializing in sleep medicine. Dr. Breus described sleepers as either a lion, bear, wolf, or dolphin, adding a couple more animals to the traditional sleep cycle menagerie.

Oura breaks down users into six chronotypes: early morning, morning, late morning, early evening, evening, and late evening. With each chronotype comes a suggested sleep and wake time that works with your natural circadian rhythm, helping you get the best quality of sleep. Plus, it helps you realize when you're most productive so you can stop scheduling early morning meetings when you're most focused and productive in the afternoon or evening anyway.

How does Oura calculate chronotype? Any other 'early evening types' in the crowd? Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Oura rings track an impressive amount of biometrics to calculate your chronotype (hence the months-long wait). Through sleep tracking, activity tracking, and body temperature, Oura coalesces the data to conclude what chronotype category you fall into. And Oura isn't just taking a snapshot of data. Through three months of data collection, it can paint a fuller picture of your habits than you'd get after just 28 days, which might contain an off week or two and sway the data.

Why does Chronotype matter?

If you're trying to follow doctor's orders and get those recommended seven to eight hours of sleep a night, choosing the right sleep and wake times is crucial. If you're working backward, planning your sleep time around when you need to be awake, you may find that your bedtime still doesn't feel right. If you're having a hard time falling asleep or waking up way before your alarm, you might not be embracing your natural circadian rhythm.

Your chronotype gives you the insight to know when your body wants to wake and rest, as well as when it's most productive. While most people don't have the luxury to create their work hours around their sleep schedule, you can still get useful data for optimizing your life.

Why I love Oura's Chronotype feature According to Oura, evening types are innovative (not to brag). Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

My sleep schedule has been a problem since I was a kid. I'd stay up past my bedtime and oversleep early wake times for school. While I once saw this as a discipline problem, the irresponsibility of youth prompting me to stay up late, I've since learned this is just my natural sleep cadence. It's no surprise that I thrived while working restaurant hours post-grad.

Now that I'm working a 9-to-5, working from home, those late nights need to be cut short. For a while, I tried going to sleep at the same time as my partner, who goes to bed early and wakes at dawn, I just ended up tossing and turning in bed, frustrated that I couldn't fall asleep.

After wearing my Oura ring for three months, I finally got some answers. Oura assigned me the chronotype of 'early evening'. While I'm not an extreme night owl, my schedule does stray toward the later side. When Oura provided the suggested bedtime of 12:30 a.m. with an 8:30 a.m. wake time, I realized that was what my body wanted. When I was trying to be an early riser, I was fighting against my chronotype. I've since adjusted my schedule to embrace this routine and found that I fall asleep more easily and wake fully rested.

Oura isn't the only fitness tracker to provide this type of data. Whoop also does a good job at suggesting sleep and wake times; however, Whoop doesn't offer chronotype profiles.

There's a lot of vital information you can get from your Oura ring, but chronotype is my favorite feature. It's given me tangible info that genuinely improved my quality of sleep.

I know that an Oura ring is an expensive investment, and if you're going to splurge, it's reassuring to know you'll receive data that's actually useful.

Who can access chronotypes?

You can access the chronotype feature with the newer Oura Ring 4 and the older Oura Ring Gen3, but you'll need an Oura membership. The Oura app membership costs $5.99 a month or $69.99 a year.

Opens in a new window Credit: Oura Oura Ring 4 $349 at Amazon
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Pride Month is here, and The Film Library: A Kanopy Podcast is celebrating with an episode that embraces some of the best LGBTQ+ movies now streaming on Kanopy.

With over 30,000 titles to choose from, Kanopy offers a terrific array of movies, TV shows, documentaries, and shorts. The Film Library's co-hosts, Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko and internet film critic Jeff Rauseo, make finding must-watch movies and TV shows even easier by highlighting the best of the batch.

Mashable offers watch guides for plenty of subscription streaming services, from Hulu to Netflix, and more, including the 75 best LGBTQ films to stream right now. But if you're looking for what you can stream with no fee, all you need for Kanopy access is your library card.

On this episode of The Film Library, Kristy and Jeff made their Pride picks, which include a groundbreaking drama, period romance, clever comedies, celebrated indies, and Oscar–nominated classics. Plus, Kristy gets personal with her appreciation of Frank Oz's 1997 comedy In & Out.

The Film Library: A Kanopy Podcast delivers new episodes twice per month, bringing new recommendations of hit films, hidden gems, misunderstood movies, and much, much more. Kanopy's catalog includes titles from BBC, Criterion, NEON, Samuel Goldwyn, HISTORY, A&E, The Great Courses, Kino Lorber, A24, and IFC Films. So, there's plenty to pick from whenever you log in!

How to watch: The Film Library: A Kanopy Podcast is available on Kanopy, YouTube, and wherever you download podcasts.

Following days of protest decrying the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and militarized federal forces in Los Angeles, downtown L.A. residents remained under curfew this week while California governor Gavin Newsom went toe-to-toe with President Trump, who sent Marines into the area. Memes, and viral misinformation, were abundant. 

Meanwhile, the "No Kings" organizing coalition has planned thousands more peaceful demonstrations this weekend, specifically orchestrated to overlap with Trump's planned military parade. While the organizations behind the events are gearing up for what they've said will be the "largest single-day, peaceful protest" in the country's history, some worry they may be met with an equal show of state-sanctioned violence — and attempts to undermine news coverage via viral falsehoods. 

SEE ALSO: U.S. government climate website axes staff, may shut down

Peter Adams, senior vice president of research and design for the News Literacy Project, explained that mass demonstrations are rife for online misinformation, patterns which can be spotted before protesters even touch ground. Adams runs the organization's online misinformation newsletter RumorGuard, which collates viral fact-checks and critical literacy tips. 

"Protests generally only happen around events that are highly polarizing and controversial," said Adams. "The more polarizing something is, the more people's political identities are activated and invoked. We know that these identities play a very strong role in how people react to information online. As polarization has increased in American society, this is even more at play."

News and misinformation debunking organizations, such as bipartisan NewsGuard, have reputed dozens of false posts, including those made by conservative commentators alleging Newsom had posted an outdated or AI-generated photo of national guard troops as he criticized Trump's militarized protest response. Such posts were propelled by X chatbot Grok, which told some users that the photos, first published by the San Francisco Chronicle, were outdated — ChatGPT users got similarly confusing responses. 

Others, including representatives of the Trump administration, fanned the flames with misattributed or outrightly false quotes from federal and international leaders, including California congresswoman Maxine Waters and Mexican president Claudia Scheinbaum. Viral posts from partisan voices on both sides of the conflict have attempted to sway, or overtly manipulate, public perception and recast reality in terms that are more favorable to their side, Adams explains. 

"Viral misinformation expresses patterns over time, and we can learn how to recognize those patterns and inoculate ourselves to a whole swath of viral rumors," explained Adams.  

As protests continue, here's what to look out for:

AI chatbot errors and hallucinations

"Chatbots often generate outdated or inaccurate details, and that can be especially true during fast-moving events," explained Adams and other News Literacy Project experts. While users are turning to built-in chatbots to fact-check on platforms that have removed internal fact-checking programs, AI-powered assistants are increasingly unreliable sources for news. 

Despite its convenience, "AI is really prone to making big errors, and to integrating details from low quality sources alongside high quality sources, sanitizing them and presenting falsehoods alongside facts that makes it harder for people to parse," said Adams. "Don't turn to generative AI to ask whether something is true and take it at its word."

The paid protestor myth

Nearly every mass demonstration is met with accusations that at least some of its participants were hired to be on the ground, according to the News Literacy Project. On June 10, for example, a fake Craigslist ad circulated on social media claiming to seek “the toughest badasses in the city” for a $6,500 to $12,500 payout to attend the L.A. demonstrations.

Online pranks or "troll" behavior may exacerbate the spread of such rumors. It's easier than ever to fake a screenshot from a user or official accounts, said Adams, and the fact that many public officials and agencies have started to lean into ironic posting only exacerbates public confusion about which posts are authentic. 

Featured Video For You How to blur people's faces in protest photos to protect their identities Bricks and other objects used for 'violent' protest

Allegations that protestors have staged piles of bricks or other objects ahead of time to help violent protestors is a "recurring hoax" surrounding mass demonstrations, the organization explains. 

During last week's protests, which led to combative encounters with police and the destruction of property, some online alleged the effort was organized, including placing bricks in strategic areas; the posts misleadingly included images from construction projects in New Jersey and Malaysia.

Recycled footage of looting, arson, or previous protests

Coverage of mass protests is also frequently drowned out by unrelated footage circulated online for virality or to inflame a specific response to the events (the same is often true during severe weather disasters). Videos from the wave of protests following the 2020 murder of George Floyd, for example, made the rounds following the Los Angeles demonstrations on June 8. 

"Sharing out-of-context footage is one of the most common tricks used to spread falsehoods," said the organization.

Video game or movie clips passed off as the real thing 

More recently, hyperrealistic footage from video games have been shared as real world events and news. Generative AI may also complicate an individual's ability to discern reality from fiction.

Individuals may fall victim to fake or ironic posts mistakenly shared as real news, or what Adams calls a "stolen satire" phenomenon, as brands and online trolls take advantage of a confusing information environment. Generally, the rise of news influencers, live streamers, and people claiming to be "citizen journalists"— now more frequently on the ground at protests — feed into ongoing partisan attempts to discredit the intent and veracity of standards-based news sources, says Adams. 

"We get into a territory where no one can agree what is real, and that is an environment in which democracy cannot flourish," he said. "Be aware of your emotions. Be wary of user-generated content and unknown sources. Always stop and verify you're not amplifying anything you're not confident is true."

SAVE $25.01: As of June 13, you can get the Renpho Smart Scale for $39.98 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $64.99. That's a discount of 38%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Renpho Smart Scale $39.98 at Amazon
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For better or worse, we've never had more metrics for tracking our health and weight. And with wearables like the Apple Watch and Oura Ring, we can even get real-time feedback on our health 24/7. One thing these fitness trackers can't do? Tell you your weight, which is why so many people invest in a smart scale that can sync with apps like Apple Health, Samsung Health, and MyFitnessPal. The Renpho Smart Scale can do that, and a lot more too.

As of June 13, get the Renpho Smart Scale for $39.98, down from its usual price of $64.99. That's $25.01 off and a discount of 38%.

This smart scale can offer 7 key body metrics, including body mass, bone mass, body fat, weight, water percentage, muscle mass, and metabolic age, all from its larger screen. All you have to do is step on it to get these measurements, which you can also track with the Renpho Health App. Add your body metrics from there to other connected apps from Apple, Samsung, and even MyFitnessPal.

You can create unlimited user profiles to track yourself as well as other members of the household, so you can all keep an eye on your health without having to track data manually or write down who's who when using it.

It can support up to 400 pounds, and it's a sleek, lightweight scale that's easy to pick up and put down if you need to move it. Plus, its compact profile means you can stash it in the bathroom or another small space and it won't be in the way since you'll likely be using it on a regular basis.

If you're ready to transform the way you take care of the information you receive about your body, a smart scale could be for you. And now's the time to pounce so you can get a quality one for a discount.

A spacecraft just got the first look at the bottom of the sun, and what it saw was a hot mess — literally. 

Our host star, about 93 million miles away in space, is in utter turmoil right now, having just reached peak chaos in its solar cycle. Similar to storm seasons on Earth, the sun experiences a weather pattern that repeats every 11 years. At the beginning and end of this stretch, flares and sunspots calm down. But solar activity rises before it falls, and when it climaxes, the sun roils with giant eruptions.

The Solar Orbiter, a collaborative mission between the European Space Agency and NASA, captured detailed images of the sun’s southern region in March, something no other probe has done at close range. While previous spacecraft have taken pictures around the sun's middle, the Solar Orbiter tilted to get the unprecedented southern view. 

What its instruments observed wasn't unexpected, though it remains mysterious: The poles had flipped. While a normal magnet has clear north and south poles, both of the sun's poles occupy the bottom now. This happens only for a short period during "solar maximum" before a single polarity eventually takes over, and the entire magnetic field reorders itself in the reversed configuration.

"How exactly this build-up occurs is still not fully understood," said Sami Solanki, leader of one of the orbiter instrument teams from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, in a statement, "so Solar Orbiter has reached high latitudes at just the right time to follow the whole process from its unique and advantageous perspective."

SEE ALSO: A spacecraft ‘touched’ the sun. Here’s how it survived.

The spacecraft, launched in 2020, used a gravity assist from Venus in February to swing out of the sun’s equatorial plane. That change in trajectory gave its cameras the fresh angle to see the southern region. One previous spacecraft — NASA and ESA's now-defunct Ulysses mission that began in the 1990s — flew over the sun's poles but did not have the ability to take pictures.

The orbiter comes equipped with several instruments that have different purposes. One images the sun in optical light, and another captures ultraviolet light. Two others map the sun's surface magnetic field and capture light from different temperatures of charged gas above the sun's surface.

Though the basis of the solar cycle — our star's internal clock — remains unclear, scientists think the key to understanding it lies at the poles. One of the primary mission objectives for the orbiter is to try to figure it out. Its findings may also improve predictions for space weather events that can disrupt power grids, satellites, and navigation systems.

In the March images, the orbiter viewed the sun from an angle of 17 degrees below the solar equator. Over the coming years, the spacecraft will tilt even farther. In December 2026, the orbit will change to a steeper 23 degrees. By 2029, it may reach 33 degrees to fully map both poles.

This article contains spoilers for Materialists.

When the internet discovered that Tinder was testing a height preference, it reignited a long-discussed matter: the importance of height, particularly men's height, in dating. The new film Materialists touches on height and romance as well, and now it's the topic du jour once again.

Focusing on appearance seems to be a plague on modern society; see the obsession with plastic surgery broadly and the meme about wanting a "man in finance, trust fund, 6'5", blue eyes" from last year. Yet height has been an issue with partners meeting each other for much longer. The Journal of Social Psychology published an article about height in mate selection back in 1954! The introduction states: "Undoubtedly, body height plays a role in the process of forming an attachment. The norm in our culture is that among lovers and married couples the man is taller than the woman."

SEE ALSO: Logging off helped me orgasm for the first time

Height shouldn't matter. How tall someone is doesn't reflect how thoughtful someone is, how good in bed they are, how they treat their family, or any number of deeper questions one might have when picking a life partner. So why does it matter?

Why height matters in dating

A more recent article (from 2015) published in Evolutionary Psychology presents a few possibilities about why women want taller men: perceived safety (a taller man is seen as more masculine and tougher), potential reproductive benefits (taller kids), and societal norms. Women may even think taller men have a better socioeconomic status than shorter men. 

Beyond evolutionary theory, it's not that surprising to me that it's in vogue to care so much about height right now. Conservative ideals have spread online in the past few years (just look at who's president in the U.S.). The manosphere, a cluster of far-right, misogynistic creators like Andrew Tate, has soared in its influence, especially on men and boys. They present an idea that men need to be dominant and women submissive. 

This movement is coupled with the rise of tradwives, who are anti-feminist and perpetuate the notion that a woman's place is in the home. 

These right-wing influencers promote gender essentialism, the idea that men and women have inherent biological traits and features. Many are also anti-LGBTQ, particularly anti-trans. Their content promotes heterosexual relationships — "traditional" kinds, where the man is the head of the household and the woman follows. 

As such, in the conservative ideal, a man should be bigger than a woman and take up more space. Like I mentioned in an interview on AirTalk about Tinder's height feature, women are taught to be small, especially smaller than their partners. Like the societal ideal of a large penis, this idea stems in patriarchy — and patriarchy hurts men, too. Men are supposed to be bigger and stronger. But what about men who aren't?

Some men are trying to buck genetics, thanks to expensive and painful elective surgery to lengthen their legs. As NBC News reported, the surgery requires cutting into leg bones and inserting rods. Recovery involves intensive physical therapy and eventually removing the rods. 

Materialists takes on this controversial surgery in the context of modern dating.

Height and dating in Materialists

Harry (Pedro Pascal) is a rich, intelligent, and single man who falls for matchmaker Lucy (Dakota Johnson) after meeting at a wedding. In Lucy's work, women are looking for a tall man with a taller salary, while men typically look for thin, attractive, and young women. Lucy herself only cares about a man being rich, though slowly over the course of the film, she realizes her broke ex John (Chris Evans) is the one for her.

Still, before then, Lucy falls for Harry's money and physical attributes. She calls him a 10/10 because he is not only rich and from a rich family but also tall. They start seeing each other, usually at Harry's $12 million home in Manhattan. 

But the relationship doesn't last long. There's a moment in the movie when Lucy discovers scars on Harry's legs. At first, she lets it go, but eventually she must ask: Did you get the surgery?

Yes, it turns out. Harry not only paid hundreds of thousands to have himself surgically made taller, but he apparently added as many inches on him as possible (six). He said he wouldn't have the courage to hit on Lucy at that wedding otherwise. 

When I watched Materialists at its New York premiere, the audience howled at this moment. The scene is meant for laughs, with strategic pauses from the actors, but it highlights a deep-rooted superficiality in our society. 

Lucy breaks up with Harry in this scene — apparently not because he was disingenuous about his height, but simply because she's not in love with him and neither is he in love with her.

SEE ALSO: Social media use may cause depression among young people, new study finds

As a bisexual person, I have a different perspective on height than straight women: I don't get it. I do get it from an internalized patriarchal way of wanting to be smaller than one's partner. Of wanting to be the "damsel," maybe, and a big, strong person coming to your rescue.

But height is something out of one's control, and — in my opinion — not what makes someone attractive. Beyond someone's physical traits, what makes someone hot is their personality, their interests, their empathy and care for others, and so much more.

Beyond someone's physical traits, what makes someone hot is their personality, their interests, their empathy and care for others, and so much more.

Materialists accurately scalps daters' obsession with looks and superficial traits, hence the title. When Harry tries to win Lucy over, he says he's not interested in material assets. Unfortunately, he might be in the minority. But at a time when people are desperate to get off dating apps, they can't seem to overcome the shallowness they perpetuate. This is undoubtedly also a result of social media penetrating every aspect of our lives. We see people who look nothing like the actual human beings in our orbit, having relationships that seem perfect from the 60-second clips they post online. Worse, some of these influencers push misogynistic and archaic ideas about relationships. 

In order to have real connections (and be less lonely as a result), it's time to shed what social media and influencers say we should have and focus on what matters, because someone tall may ultimately come up short.

Materialists is now in theaters.

TL;DR: Secure 20TB of cloud storage for life with Internxt Cloud Storage, now only $399.99 (reg. $4,900) with code STORAGE20 through July 20.

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Cloud storage subscriptions really add up — just ask anyone paying $30 a month for 6TB of storage from Apple. If you’re looking to end those monthly fees, Internxt Cloud Storage is a great option. This deal provides 20TB of storage, which is enough to hold more than 6.5 million photos, 5 million documents, or thousands of hours of HD video.

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Who says a MacBook Pro has to break the bank?

See what all the hype is about with this MacBook Pro that doesn’t break the bank. It’s ready to get you through a busy summer, hectic fall, and beyond, with its powerful 3.1GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost Technology that boosts speeds up to 3.5GHz.

Weighing in at just 3.02 pounds, this MacBook Pro can tag along anywhere you need it to. Its 13.3-inch Retina display is always ready with a resolution of 2560×1600 pixels and 500 nits brightness.

This model comes with the versatile Apple Touch Bar feature, which gives you quick shortcuts and allows for customization depending on your apps and workflows. There’s also a Force Touch trackpad and a backlit keyboard for precise cursor control and a convenient typing experience.

You’ll enjoy 10 hours of battery life on a single charge. You can also save your important files directly on the device, thanks to the 512GB of flash storage.

You’re saving big because this model has a grade A refurbished rating. That means it will arrive in near-mint condition, with virtually no signs of prior use, while you score the major discount.

Bring home a MacBook Pro for only $329.97 (reg. $1,499) through July 20.

StackSocial prices subject to change.