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I can't count the number of times I stood outside my neighborhood church and lied to myself about my smartphone usage.

Over the past decade, my daughters have often stopped to play on the church's thick grass lawn. That's when I engage in the ritual of pulling the device from my pocket to pass the time, under the guise of efficiency. The lie arrives swiftly: You need to catch up on the online grocery order. You need to respond to that unanswered text message. Don't you need to know the weekend weather forecast? 

If I did see what I was doing, justifications would follow. Hey, your parents didn't watch you every second of the day. You're not doomscrolling, you're being productive!  It was only when I cut my phone out of my life for 24 hours that I saw those justifications were deceptions as well.

SEE ALSO: Yes, you can unplug for 24 hours

After writing a story about the annual Global Day of Unplugging, I decided to try it for myself. I emerged a changed person. When I returned to the church lawn just a few days later, I couldn't recognize my former self — the one who was convinced that her smartphone served her best interests.  

Now the constant connectivity seems like torture. When I don't have my phone at my side, I no longer have the fear that something is undone or amiss. The sensation of my phone in my back or coat pocket no longer registers as convenience but as a burden.

Instead, I feel a deep and abiding sense of ease. I have successfully reset my nervous system, shifting out of constant high-alert and into the sought-after "rest and digest" state. I'm much more patient with my children. And I sleep easier than I have in years.

I've read stories like this before, always with a skeptical eye. I thought 24-hour breaks were for people who used their smartphone mindlessly. I thought I had strong tech boundaries. After all, I report on the science of digital technology and well-being. My family has a no-phone rule at dinnertime. I didn't scroll social media in bed. I turn off notifications for most apps, and use the focus mode regularly.

Nonetheless, I'd built an illusion of freedom, underneath which my mind and attention remained yoked to my smartphone. I spent my days optimizing for productivity and efficiency. I toggled between email, texts, weather, maps, shopping, and other apps. My mind generated a never-ending list of tasks to complete on a screen. 

The scene at the church lawn wasn't unique. I did this nearly everywhere, even as I occasionally challenged myself to leave the phone untouched for short bursts. 

But a day without my phone was what it took to teach me that true liberation means living in the ambiguous and imperfect present, without a device as your dictator — or your crutch. 

"Not everything needs to be known" 

The idea of a digital sabbath has been around for years. I had long discounted the impact it might have on me personally. Still, the interviews I conducted for my story on the Global Day of Unplugging awakened something. 

When I decided to participate, I set low expectations. At first I committed to a 12-hour fast, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. My husband agreed to join me. To my surprise, a few family members did as well, when I informed our group chat that I would be unavailable via text for the evening. 

And that meant, for the first time that I can recall since I became a smartphone owner in 2009, I slept with my device in a different room.

This should have been low-hanging fruit. I knew the research that suggests a smartphone in the bedroom can worsen sleep. But without a landline, I feared I'd miss an emergency call in the middle of the night from a family member. I'd grown accustomed to listening to a 10-minute meditation on my phone at bedtime. Secretly, I didn't want to lose my meditation app streak. 

For this experiment, I decided to move my phone to the kitchen overnight. I took logistical advice from Catherine Price, author of How to Break Up with Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life, who recommended putting my phone on do-not-disturb while also leaving the ringer on in case a "favorite" contact needed to reach me.

I thought I'd struggle to fall asleep, but the opposite happened: I drifted off peacefully, no meditation needed. 

SEE ALSO: Can a $250 alarm clock break my doomscrolling habit? I slept next to the Dreamie for a month to find out.

There were moments of restlessness, but I awoke in the morning feeling lighter and more refreshed. I could've looked at my phone then; I'd hit the 12-hour mark. Whether it was the curious journalist or competitive athlete in me — or a combination of both — I decided I wanted to go further. Maybe I could make it 24 hours. A family caregiver would be spending the day with our kids, as my husband and I ventured out into the world without phones.

The preplanned date made sticking to a 24-hour fast trickier than it might have otherwise been. Our phones came with us, but they traveled in a zippered pouch in a backpack instead of our pockets.

First, we ran an errand that had been on our calendar for weeks. We discovered upon arriving that we were a half hour early, a product of not checking our phones habitually to confirm the details in advance. We decided to walk to a pizzeria for a quick slice. I knew from experience that it was a five to seven-minute walk.

Any other day I would've pulled up the location in my maps app to confirm the distance and walking time. Not this time. As we strolled, a phrase came to mind: not everything needs to be known. 

Freedom from the impulse to check

The impulse to check my phone arose multiple times early on that day, just as Price had warned. 

"The moment you put your phone down your brain is going to protest by coming up with all of these things you need to check or look up or buy or do," she told me. "It really is kind of fascinating how panicked your brain will get." 

Price recommended carrying a notebook to guard against the checking reflex, which I did. Yet a curious pattern emerged each time my brain wanted to consult the phone: None of the tasks were really that urgent or necessary. 

I didn't need to know the exact temperature; it was as unseasonably warm as our digital home thermometer said it would be. Still, my mind continued to search for things to do. Wouldn't it be nice to visit Lake Tahoe this summer? Maybe I should check the going rental rates. 

I heard the refrain again: Not everything needs to be known. 

After the errand, my husband and I decided to spend the summer-like spring day at the beach. Without checking a maps app, we concluded that traffic jams and packed parking lots would make the trip unpleasant. We opted for public transit instead, taking our chances on a ferry without checking the schedule. 

Once in the car, we realized neither of us knew how to get to the closest freeway entrance. We could've stopped and asked a stranger for directions, but for the video game-like maze of freeway entrances and the lack of places to park. Instead I summoned my phone's voice assistant — from the trunk — for brief directions, via the car's console. Once on the freeway, I exited the maps app on the console because I knew my way. 

This, I realized, is what it actually feels like to use your phone as a tool. 

No selfies, no problems

More than a hundred people stood in line at the ferry terminal, trying to shield themselves from the sun. Our phones remained stashed in the pouch. We didn't want them to rescue us from the uncertainty of the next boat's arrival.

The ferry came into view quickly, and we managed to shuffle slowly on board before the boat reached capacity. I contemplated a selfie with my husband, the wind whipping our hair as the ferry sped across the bay, faster than I've ever experienced. Normally I would've documented the moment and texted the image to a family thread as evidence of our adventure, awaiting their digital-heart responses.

But I didn't need the selfie or those affirmations today. The phone stayed stowed away.

Once in the city, I remembered which train would take us the eight-plus miles to the beach. On the train we counted each stop — more than two dozen of them between us and the Pacific Ocean, which crashed onto the beach before us an hour later.

The sound of waves usually calms my nervous system. This time, though, I arrived feeling relaxed. I hadn't battled traffic to this gorgeous destination, that was part of it. But I could also feel the equanimity of a peaceful existence start to override the impulse to check something — anything! — on my phone.

"I feel free," I told my husband, as we looked towards the thin blue horizon line. 

An adventure from before smartphones

Dinnertime approached. We walked to a restaurant we'd seen from the train. The fusion taco menu was a nice surprise; we hadn't checked what the restaurant served, or its reviews. The food took a while. We people-watched and bantered about the restaurant's early 2000s SoCal surf soundtrack instead of disappearing into devices. 

The food delay made our trip home more complicated than we expected. As the minutes ticked away, so did our ability to make the right ferry back home (I'd written down the schedule in my notebook). So we decided to take a ride-share car to a commuter train, which would deposit us as close to the ferry terminal where we parked as possible.

Once it helped in hailing the car, the phone stayed in its pouch. Again, it played the part of a useful tool instead of a distraction to mask our stress about getting back to our kids. 

SEE ALSO: Why I meditate while driving

Arriving at the train stop close to the ferry terminal, we looked for buses to take us the rest of the way. None were expected to come soon. So we opted to walk through the city without the aid of the maps app. We trusted our knowledge of the neighborhood's layout from years of driving through it.

I still don't know how long we walked. I never checked. We marveled during the stroll about how the day's adventure felt like something we would've done ages ago, before smartphones. 

'So you were like a kid?'

I later recounted the story to my older tween daughter, who does not have a smartphone but is surrounded by peers who do. I told her we'd spent the day navigating without directions or any clear timeline.

"So you were like a kid, then?" she asked me. I couldn't think of a more bittersweet response.

A few days later, thinking back on it, I felt a surge of anger. My 24-hour fast had reframed so much of my tech use as a waste of time, when I believed it to be productive and useful. This angry feeling is apparently common amongst those who unplug, according to the experts I've interviewed. Now I understand why everyone who has the phone-free epiphany proselytizes about it. 

As I write this, I'm three days out from my 24-hour fast. I'm learning to navigate the workweek without making my phone central to it. The transition isn't easy. I missed an important call and feel the urge to be available to friends and family via text. I've certainly thought twice about texting someone who's turned on do-not-disturb; I don't want to suddenly feel unreachable.

But I also don't want my attention split into meaningless fragments. And it took coming back to that church lawn to remind me.

That evening I was walking the dog with my younger daughter. She just lost her first tooth, often joyously hop-skips, and likes to collect tiny flower bouquets for me. Choral practice was underway inside the church; she was intrigued by the voices singing in harmony. She peered through the window, on tip toes, to take in the scene. I encouraged her to walk through the open front door and peek inside. She reported back: "They're singing!"

I grew up attending Catholic mass and have always been moved by hymnal singing. This time, tears gathered as I stood still and listened, while watching my daughter dart between blooming bushes, gathering scattered fallen flowers for me.

My phone was in my pocket. I had no urge to reach for it. I could not have cared less about my shopping list, unanswered texts, or the weather forecast. I was content in the moment, as the sky slowly darkened around us and voices in unison gave praise to God. 

YouTube still hasn't solved its AI problem. Digitally faked content is still seeping through the cracks, as users are inundated with AI-generated brainrot and AI-powered misinformation.

But Google, YouTube's parent company, believes it can at least assuage the worries of concerned parents — with even more AI.

SEE ALSO: Viral hit 'Your AI Slop Bores Me' is more than a joke YouTube bets on AI-powered kids media

On March 4, the tech giant announced it was investing $1 million into the AI-powered children's entertainment company Animaj, the first kids media business backed by Google’s AI Future Funds accelerator, Bloomberg reported. Under the deal, Animaj will also get exclusive access to its generative AI tools, like Veo and Imagine.

Behind the scenes, AI slop — particularly AI slop created for babies — has become one of the easiest ways to make a killing online. And YouTube is particularly rife ground, as the video viewing platform attracts the youngest demographic of child viewers.

Google has acknowledged its AI slop problem before, and even made efforts to demonetize accounts that post "low quality clutter." But studies show that children are still regularly recommended AI slop by YouTube's algorithms. A New York Times analysis published in February found thousands of examples of AI slop targeting young viewers, including ones that violate YouTube's child safety policies. In addition, YouTube does not require AI labelling on animated videos, the Times reported.

"It's not unlike Google to try to deflect attention from the real issue: AI slop is rampant on YouTube and YouTube kids, which puts developing children at risk of harm," said Rachel Franz, director of Fairplay for Kids' Young Children Thrive Offline program. Fairplay is a child safety nonprofit that researches the impact of screen time and commercial advertising on early childhood. "If 'managing AI slop' was really YouTube's top priority this year," said Franz, "they would have already taken down the millions of AI-generated 'Made for Kids' videos that are designed to entrance young children, leading to more screen time and displacing the activities they need to thrive offline."

View this post on Instagram What is Animaj?

Animaj is an AI content studio geared toward children's media. A 2026 show reel highlighting the company's flagship brands shows Animaji's particular emphasis on popular kids' IP, including Pocoyo and Ubisoft's Rabbids. "Animaj is a next-generation media company building the future of kids’ entertainment," the video description reads. "We acquire and grow iconic children’s IPs such as Pocoyo and Maya the Bee into global franchises through a digital-first, multi-platform strategy powered by AI-driven creativity."

Animaj scales existing IP using its proprietary AI tools, with the goal of bringing content "wherever kids are, whenever they want it." The company's co-founder Sixte de Vauplane has said he sees Animaj as proof of concept for high-quality, feature-length films powered by AI.

The company is affiliated with several kid-centric YouTube channels too, including the infant channel Hey Kids, a brand with more than 4 million subscribers. Bloomberg reported that the company's affiliated channels accumulated more than 22 billion views in 2025.

The problem isn't just AI

"These videos are pretty typical AI-generated videos that attract families because they are nursery rhymes and feature kid-friendly characters. But the videos are more about mesmerizing than anything else," said Franz.

Child safety advocates and education experts warn against content aimed at "mesmerizing" children with stimulating visuals and music, instead steering families toward evidence-based educational content with a slower pace and frequent interaction, like call-and-response queues. The American Academy of Pediatrics warns parents against AI-generated content and encourages them to choose longer-form videos over short-form content.

They need to fix their platform. Until that happens, no child is truly going to benefit.

Content that mesmerizes children — of which there is plenty on the platform — "displaces the time they need to spend playing, socializing, and using all their senses" during a period in which infants are still "wiring" their brains, said Franz. While this is a particular problem with AI-generated video, it also goes for human-created content, like the popular CocoMelon YouTube channel and even well-intentioned children's social media entertainers. "Now we have this layer of AI that has the potential to have unprecedented effects on our kids," she explains.

Replacing "low quality" slop with "high quality" kids content isn't a solution either, Franz argues, pointing at a body of research showing any screen time has adverse affects on children under the age of two. "Yet, Animaj's YouTube Channels are rife with videos for babies," said Franz. "If Google invests in [channels like] Hey Kids via Animaj, it means that it is investing in harming babies."

And even if you solve for content and age, there still a looming problem: The platform itself. Experts like Franz warn that the YouTube's very design is developmentally inappropriate for most children. Franz notes features like endless scrolling on reels, algorithm-based suggested videos, and the inability to turn off automatic playing as adverse to healthy development recommendations.

With it's focus on existing IP, Animaj may not be in the business of generating the kind of surreal, often obscene, brain rot peddled by hundreds of other YouTube creators. Nonetheless, Franz worries that the normalization of AI and its generative tools may supercharge an industry that is doing the opposite of what early childhood researchers recommend.

In a LinkedIn post last week, AI Futures Fund director Jon Silber said that Animaj is presenting a "blueprint for the future." He wrote that "getting this right for the next generation is a huge priority" for Google.

"If YouTube wants to try to make good content, fine. But they need to fix their platform. Until that happens, no child is truly going to benefit," said Franz.

When I started building my smart home, I was still figuring things out and making mistakes. But one thing I’m glad I got right from the start was the decision to use a mesh network, rather than just relying on Wi-Fi for everything.

Is it possible to have an even-tempered conversation about AI right now? It feels like there are two camps on the artificial intelligence debate, with one side promising that AI will save humanity from disease and labor, while the other warns AI will bring about the abrupt eradication of all mankind. Are you panicked yet? 

Join the club. AI is being developed so fast and furiously that it's already spread into our home lives, professional lives, love lives, playtime, politics, and art. It feels inescapable, and that can be pretty damn scary. Because for better or worse, the world around us is changing at a pace few of us truly understand. It's that mounting terror that inspired Canadian documentarian Daniel Roher to chart his journey in understanding AI by interviewing experts, engineers, and CEOs. 

The resulting film, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, compiles a mountain of big ideas, opposing theories, and talking head interviews. But it does so within a personal framing that keeps this discussion deeply human. 

Roher won't feign a stoic objectivity. He'll share his fears, not just about AI, but also about becoming a parent in this time of indisputable change. He'll freak out, not just in his questions, but in his reflections with his wife, who serves as the film's narrator and occasionally the voice of reason. And he'll ultimately craft a journey that feels like a panic attack in real time. In the end, you may not feel better about mankind's chances against the rise of AI. But you'll likely feel less helpless in the future before us all. 

The AI Doc has a tender and thoughtful approach.  Daniel Roher considers the future in "The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist." Credit: Focus Features

It all began with Roher realizing that AI was finding its way into screenwriting tools. Like many a writer, this struck him with a pang of existential dread. If machines are going to be creating art, what does that mean for those of us who have dedicated our lives to craftsmanship, only to have AI aggregate our work and every other collectible bit of writing across human history to use to regurgitate its approximation of art? 

From there, Roher's look at the future was soaked in panic. The joyful news of his wife's pregnancy with their first child became a new path for his fears of the future and AI. To present this internal struggle in a visual space, Roher brings in hand-drawn animation of himself and his wife. Reenactments or conversations become a twee flipbook, where the two exchange worried glances across torn pages. His desire to understand AI becomes not a metaphorical mountain to climb, but an animation of crumpled paper, building a mountain within his humble shed. 

By contrast, the area where Roher and his co-director Charlie Tyrell will interview subjects is a precise and simple setup: a dark charcoal backdrop, a plain white chair, a banal brown table. Whether they are interviewing top CEOs of AI companies, like Open AI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic co-founders Daniela Amodei and Dario Amodei, and DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis, or reporters, activists, historians, and game theorists, the setting is the same. The audience won't be swayed by some cool Silicon Valley backdrop or a cluttered office. The focus is on these people, who are shot talking straight to camera. The effect is that they are talking directly to us in the audience. And it's very effective. 

By making himself a part of the narrative, and then sitting us down as if we are in his seat, staring directly into the eyes of his interviewees, Roher puts the audience in his shoes, in his perspective. As a result, I felt so invested — so a part of this conversation — that I couldn't stop myself from talking back. Not trying to join in or talking over the movie; don't mistake me. But I kept hearing myself clucking along with little sounds of agreement, or dismay, or confusion. I realized my brain was so engaged in the back-and-forth between the interviewer and interviewee that I was subconsciously responding as if I were in that room in that moment. 

Between the handmade animations and the direct-address approach of the interviews, The AI Doc reminds us constantly that we are human and that we are a part of this conversation, even if we aren't in the rooms where the big decisions are being made. 

The AI Doc is terrifying and a must-see.  Animation in the future in "The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist." Credit: Focus Features

The first leg of Roher's journey is absolutely frightening. As teased in the documentary, he speaks to AI Risk experts who don't hold back about the risks of employing AI in military operations, drone strikes, or war. Then, beyond asking these people about some vague future, he asks them if they'd consider having kids, knowing what they know. Roher's quest to be a good father repeatedly grounds this film, pulling it away from the hypothetical to the constant demand of caring for a child in a world you cannot control. 

After so much "what could go wrong" talk, his wife pleads he consider what could go right. So begins a new chapter of the doc, that plays with radiant, colorful animations of the idyllic future imagined by the optimists, who believe AI could eradicate disease and give rise to a new freedom from labor, allowing Roher's son a romantic life as a poet living abroad. As enchanting an answer as this is, it's the next swell of emotion. First comes the panic, then the attempt at battling back with hope. Then comes the tricky bit of picking through what we know — not just what we feel or fear — and what could truly be. This rationalizing is where politics, cultural values, and corporate greed come into play as factors, muddying the paths of the detractors and the optimists. Then, like the A-lister cameo popping up in the third act of a Marvel movie, Roher brings in the biggest names in AI. It's tempting to buy the same sales pitch that they've given governments and investors to great success. But Roher won't give them the last word. That's for us, because even in the face of so much fear and uncertainty, Roher calls for us to become apocaloptimists. 

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A portmanteau that combines "apocalypse" and optimist," the film's title not only calls us to understand the big, scary terrain of AI now, but to recognize it and choose hope and action. The film gives closure to Roher's personal journey in becoming a dad, but doesn't cop out as if parenthood is the only and best means to becoming a better person. (Looking at you, Marty Supreme.) Instead, the film shares some ways its audience can more actively be apart of the conversation, and provides a link to the film's website for engagement that meets us where we are. Which, if you're anything like me, means way too online. 

Incredibly, The AI Doc: Or How I became an Apocaloptimist clocks in at under two hours, and yet provides a wealth of information about AI within a framework that prevents our heads from exploding. While there were parts that made me want to switch off, maybe even run, Roher and Tyrell have a masterful understanding of their audience. So the film has an almost roller-coaster ride flow. It begins with cranking things up, creating context, and ratcheting up the fears over AI. Then, a release, not with a scream but a space where sci-fi utopias are imagined in charming illustration. Then, again the cranking, this time making us take in all we've heard, our brains the grinding gears. Finally, a message of cautious optimism and activism, and in that rush, we are released back into the world. Now, what will we do with it?

The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist was reviewed out SXSW 2026. The film will open in theaters on March 27.

Forget brat summer — Charli XCX is working on film star fall. Following hot on the heels of playing herself in the Gen Z comedy series Overcompensating, the British pop star hit the Venice film festival with 100 Nights of Hero, a fashion-forward fantasy romance from Julia Jackman. Then came the Toronto International Film Festival, where she appears in two more provocative films, Romain Gavras' eco-politics satire Sacrifice and Pete Ohs' Warsaw-set sapphic romance Erupcja. 

The dynamic party girl seems to be aiming her incredible energy at movie stardom. Yet Erupcja proves a shrewd choice in this quest, as it's a slimly plotted character drama with few characters and nothing in the way of flashy spectacle. 

SEE ALSO: 'The Moment' review: Charli XCX reveals the hardships of pop stardom through a fake documentary

Essentially, there's nowhere for Charli to hide. Co-starring with Polish American actress Lena Góra, the pop star must not only create a stirring onscreen chemistry, but also a shoulder a story of romance that is electric and reckless. 

Props to Charli. She nails it. 

Erupcja offers an intriguing love triangle. 

In modern Warsaw, a British tourist named Bethany (XCX) and her boyfriend Rob (Will Madden) arrive for a romantic getaway. You see, Bethany claims Warsaw is more romantic than Paris. But while Rob is eager to plot a course of swoon-worthy activities leading to a proposal, Bethany seems distracted. Unbeknownst to her beau, Bethany's been here before. Several times, actually, and in each of them she got ensnared with a local florist named Nel (Góra). 

Before she even knows Bethany is back, Nel seems to sense a change in the air. Who they are to each other will spill out over a fitful few days of stolen hours, hard drugs, and smirky sapphic longing. However, voiceover from an omniscient narrator (Jacek Zubiel), who is frank and nonjudgmental about these mixed-up lovers, gives sharper context of how these two collide and repel like magnets being flipped over.

As they bounce from nightclubs to house parties to Nel's apartment, they collide with other free spirits, like American painter Claude (Jeremy O. Harris). Meanwhile, poor Rob is repeatedly left in the dust, bewildered. 

Charli XCX is mesmerizing in Erupcja. 

Ohs, who last helmed the wry dark comedy The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick, builds a romance that is surreal and earthy, in the way of the French New Wave. His lovers are not glamorous or falling into dynamic or dreamy sex scenes. They're bumping around Warsaw with passion but little direction, fitting for the way his films are made. 

Once he's chosen a location, Ohs casts actors who will become collaborators in building the story scene by scene. He's got an outline, and then he, his crew, and the cast build while shooting. In this case, this makes for scenes that are clumsy but intimate, as if we're voyeurs, spying on a couple with more to say than either would ever dare. Góra and XCX create characters who share a wild streak, but have very different style and energy. 

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Guarded, Nel projects a gives-no-fucks attitude, but is quick to expose her soft heart when love comes up. She believes in second chances — and third chances and even fifth chances. And Bethany will take them all.

In unremarkable baggy T-shirts and shorts, Bethany has a cool confidence, but it quavers when a smiling, oblivious Rob proposes one agenda after another. Through the narrative voiceover that helps give subtle scenes of little dialogue more shape, one thing becomes very clear: Bethany is not in Warsaw for Nel as much as she's there to run away from Rob. 

Erupcja relishes those romances not made to last. 

The Polish-language title translates to "eruption," reflecting the strange phenomenon that helps Nel and Bethany's relationship burst forth again and again. Every time they get together, a volcano erupts. It's a bizarre joke between them that allows to escape their boring routines and everyday choices and be wild, reckless, and free. 

While Rob begins as an almost comically clueless boyfriend, Ohs and his ensemble give space for him to be a fleshed-out figure, whose heartbreak hits as Nel and Bethany reconnect. In that, both women have a chance for self-reflection. Is what they have fated? Is it a series of flings? Is it romantic? Toxic? Both? 

Shot with the kinetic yet poised cool of the French New Wave, this Polish production feels timeless. Its scenes playing out with enough specificity for audiences to hook in, but enough ambiguity that they can feel like a dream. There's a touch of fairy tale to that. Ohs keeps his characters curious and fluid, refusing to shove them into easy-to-define roles of hero and villain. Instead, Erupcja embraces the feral nature of love, messy and wondrous. 

In the end, Erupcja is a thundering rumble of drama and romance, leaving its audience excited and rattled. 

UPDATE: Mar. 10, 2026, 2:29 p.m. Erupjca was reviewed out of the World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. It is now playing the SXSW Film and Television Festival.

Taylor Sheridan's latest Paramount+ show, The Madison, is scheduled to premiere on Saturday, March 14, 2026. Written and created by Sheridan, the star-studded drama series is headlined by Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell.

TL;DR: Live stream France vs. England in the 2026 Six Nations for free on ITVX. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The 2026 Six Nations has been entertaining, unpredictable, and packed with real drama this year. It's all coming to a head this weekend as the final round of games decide where the trophy ends up. It was looking like France were heading to a Grand Slam victory until Scotland produced an incredible performance to overcome Les Blues at Murrayfield Stadium.

Now France need to beat England with a try bonus point to guarantee the Six Nations crown. England aren't exactly on top form right now, but they've upset the odds against France before. They couldn't do it again, could they?

If you want to watch France vs. England in the 2026 Six Nations for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is France vs. England?

France vs. England in the 2026 Six Nations starts at 8:10 p.m. GMT on March 14. This fixture takes place at the Stade de France.

How to watch France vs. England for free

France vs. England in the 2026 Six Nations is available to live stream for free on ITVX.

ITVX is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can unblock ITVX from anywhere in the world.

Live stream France vs. England from anywhere in the world by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly 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 the UK

4. Visit ITVX

5. Live stream France vs. England for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch France vs. England without committing with your cash. This isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream most of the 2026 Six Nations before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming services from anywhere in the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for streaming live sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for the 2026 Six Nations?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including the UK

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Live stream France vs. England in the 2026 Six Nations for free with ExpressVPN.

Download any dubious games from Steam over the past few years? You very well could've downloaded malware onto your computer — and now FBI wants to know about it.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Seattle division is currently seeking out potential victims of games sold on Steam with hidden malware. The agency has set up a form that gamers can fill out here.

According to the agency, threat actors targeted Steam users between May 2024 and January 2026. The FBI has already identified a number of Steam games that turned out to have malware embedded: BlockBlasters, Chemia, Dashverse/DashFPS, Lampy, Lunara, PirateFi, and Tokenova.

The FBI's form asks for some basic information from anyone who thinks they've been targeted: their Steam username, what games they downloaded, and when.

The next questions allude to what the threat actors were doing once the malware was installed on a target's computer. Did someone contact you about downloading the game, or reached out unsolicited after the game was downloaded?

The FBI also wants to know if potential victims suffered any losses — whether in their bank accounts, their cryptocurrency stashes, their Steam inventory items, or other digital accounts.

The games infected with malware included shooters and platformers. Some were early releases, some pre-existing games — which were fine until an update included the malware.

Once the malware was on a target's computer, its programmers could steal a user's information or ruin their computer's functionality. The infected games were removed from the Steam platform as soon as they were discovered to contain malware.

While many of the games weren't very popular, at least one title, BlockBlasters, was reportedly responsible for $150,000 in crypto being stolen from a user's infected computer.

There are plenty of ways you can repurpose old tech to give it a new life. Sometimes, however, devices are so old as to be virtually useless for modern purposes, and if devices won't even turn on anymore, there's not much you can do with them. You may be able to sell old and broken devices for more than you think.

The internet has spent weeks debating Timothée Chalamet's now-viral comments about ballet and opera. The latest voice to enter the discourse: Steven Spielberg.

During a live podcast conversation at SXSW on March 13, the legendary director was reflecting on the communal power of moviegoing when he suddenly shouted out two of the oldest performing arts institutions. "It happens in movies. It happens in concerts. It happens in ballet and opera!" Spielberg said, prompting cheers and whoops from the audience.

Spielberg was describing what he sees as the uniquely communal experience of the arts — the feeling of gathering together with strangers in a dark room and emerging united after the story ends.

SEE ALSO: 17 SXSW movies you need to know about right now

"The real experience comes when we can influence a community to congregate in a strange, dark place," he told Sean Fennessey, host of The Big Picture podcast. "At the end of a really good movie experience, we are all united… There’s nothing like that."

The moment immediately echoed the online controversy surrounding Chalamet, who sparked backlash earlier this year after dismissing ballet and opera in a recent interview.

While promoting Marty Supreme at a February town hall hosted by Variety and CNN alongside Matthew McConaughey, Chalamet joked about the challenge of keeping movie theaters alive in a changing entertainment landscape.

"I don't want to be working in ballet or opera, or things where it's like, 'Hey, keep this thing alive,' even though it's like, no one cares about this anymore," Chalamet said at the event, before adding, "All respect to the ballet and opera people out there."

The comments quickly went viral and drew pushback from across the performing arts world. New York City Ballet principal dancer Tiler Peck wrote on Instagram that the idea "no one cares about ballet or opera anymore" couldn’t be further from the truth, highlighting the artists, musicians, and stage crews who dedicate their lives to the craft.

Ballet star Misty Copeland also weighed in, noting that while opera and ballet may not dominate pop culture in the same way films do, their cultural impact has endured for centuries. "There’s a reason that the opera and ballet have been around for over 400 years," she said.

So when Spielberg praised those same art forms during his SXSW keynote conversation — and the crowd erupted in approval — the moment landed as more than just a passing comment. In the context of the internet's ongoing Chalamet saga, it felt like a gentle correction.

The weekend is here, finally, and that means downtime and maybe watching something great on TV. HBO Max is no stranger to premium TV, but there's so much to choose from that finding the right show can still feel like a part-time job.

The shift from local-only user accounts in Windows to Microsoft accounts wasn’t great for many reasons, and one of them is that your home folder would always have the same name as your email address. Now, that’s finally changing.

During a jam-packed SXSW panel about his career, director Steven Spielberg talked everything from Disclosure Day to aliens to President Barack Obama. And yes, all these topics are related.

Disclosure Day follows a cybersecurity administrator (Josh O'Connor) who decides to expose a massive secret: that humans aren't alone in the universe. It marks Spielberg's return to UFOs and aliens, subject matter he's already well-versed in thanks to films like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

SEE ALSO: 'Disclosure Day' trailer: Steven Spielberg and aliens remain a match made in heaven

The film's story of a government cover-up of alien activity comes at a pertinent time, as President Obama recently discussed his own belief in aliens on Brian Tyler Cohen's No Lie podcast.

"They're real, but I haven't seen them," Obama said in a speed round portion of the interview, before clarifying the aliens are "not being kept in Area 51."

As Spielberg told panel host Sean Fennessey, "When President Obama made that comment, I thought, 'Oh my God, this is so great for Disclosure Day."

Days later, Obama walked back the comments in an Instagram post, writing: "Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!"

For Spielberg, that's the exact same belief he's held since childhood.

"[Obama] said what he believed in was life in the cosmos, which, of course, everybody should believe in, because no one should ever think that we are the only intelligent civilization in the entire universe," Spielberg said at the SXSW panel. "I've always believed, even as a kid, that we were not alone, so that just goes without saying."

Spielberg was "reinvigorated" to return to the world of UFOs by a 2017 New York Times article by Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal, and Leslie Kean about the Pentagon's UFO program and the possibility of a government coverup.

"I have a very strong sneaking suspicion that we are not alone here on Earth right now," Spielberg said.

However, he lamented, he himself has never had an extra-terrestrial experience.

"Half my friends have seen UFOs, now called UAPs," Spielberg said. "I haven't. I made a movie called Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I haven't even had a close encounter of the first or second kind. Where's the justice of that?"

Disclosure Day hits theaters June 12.

Kristy Puchko contributed to this reporting on the ground at SXSW.

With the excitement and fanfare of the Oscars weekend here, you might find yourself craving a dose of acclaimed films. With Netflix, you can explore a large collection of both award winners and nominees across decades.

Techie people love to say things like, “You know phones are just computers, right?” This has never been truer than it is today. Your broken Samsung Galaxy phone doesn't need to be discarded—it can quite literally be the brains powering a mini PC setup with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

So you've scored a good deal on a dedicated NAS, but it didn't come with any drives. No problem, you happen to have some old desktop PC drives lying around that fit perfectly. The NAS powers on, the drives work, and you feel pretty good about yourself.

In the '80s and early '90s, powerful Unix workstations dominated technical tasks like science and 3D animation. Let's find out where they went and where you can still find them today.

TL;DR: Live stream Wales vs. Italy in the 2026 Six Nations for free on BBC iPlayer. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The 2026 Six Nations has been incredibly entertaining this year. It's always special, but this edition has been on another level.

Everything is still undecided going into the last round of games. Italy are looking to end this campaign with a positive record. They've already beaten Scotland and England this year, so they'll be going into this fixture against bottom-placed Wales with a lot of confidence. Wales are yet to win a game, but this feels like an opportunity to end on a high. It's going to be a fascinating contest at the Millennium Stadium.

If you want to watch Wales vs. Italy in the 2026 Six Nations for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Wales vs. Italy?

Wales vs. Italy in the 2026 Six Nations starts at 4:40 p.m. GMT on March 14. This fixture takes place at the Millennium Stadium.

How to watch Wales vs. Italy for free

Wales vs. Italy in the 2026 Six Nations is available to live stream for free on BBC iPlayer.

BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can unblock BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Wales vs. Italy from anywhere in the world by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly 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 the UK

4. Visit BBC iPlayer

5. Live stream Wales vs. Italy for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Wales vs. Italy without committing with your cash. This isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream most of the 2026 Six Nations before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming services from anywhere in the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for streaming live sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for the 2026 Six Nations?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including the UK

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Live stream Wales vs. Italy in the 2026 Six Nations for free with ExpressVPN.

No one is making movies like Boots Riley. The audacious American filmmaker who had critics raving about his mind-bending 2018 directorial debut Sorry to Bother You is back with I Love Boosters, an unreservedly anti-capitalist satire with a deluge of bonkers spectacle and fierce fashion. 

While filmmakers out of February's Berlin Film Festival aimed to avoid politics in promoting their work, SXSW kicked off with an opening night film that uses car chases, teleportation, stop-motion animated monsters, and a sprawling story about shoplifters to raise a big, bedazzled middle finger in protest to a capitalist society that treats workers' rights and self-expression like a luxury item. 

With a dynamic cast that includes Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Eiza González, Will Poulter, Demi Moore, Don Cheadle, and LaKeith Stanfield, Riley delivers a sophomore effort that's outrageous, provocative, and really fucking fun. 

What's I Love Boosters all about?  Credit: SXSW

Written and directed by Boots Riley, I Love Boosters centers on a trio of "boosters," known as the Velvet Gang, who shoplift designer clothing from chic stores and resell them at discount prices. But each of these boosters has their own motivations for this risky version of entrepreneurship. For single-mom Sade (Ackie), it's all about the money, be it through boosting or a pyramid scheme called Friends Being Friendly. She's determined to buy her kids a better life, whatever the cost. 

Meanwhile, chipper Mariah (Paige) sees their group as "fashion-forward filanthropists [sic]" who give back to their community by making awesome gear affordable. (Yes, she knows philanthropy isn't spelled with an "f" — but "branding, though.") Then there's Corvette (Palmer), a fashionista who dreams of being a top designer like her idol, Christie Smith (Moore). This cunty-bobbed executive owns a series of shops that only sell one color of clothing per month, which creates an eye-popping production design of violently hued shops that early on give I Love Boosters a cartoonish impishness. 

Irate over the boosters hitting her stores, Smith declares war on the shoplifters that she calls "low-class urban bitches — all due respect to urban bitches." From there, the Velvet Gang steps up their game with the help of some new allies, who are less interested in reselling designer duds than in kick-starting a workers' rights movement against Smith's sweatshop industry. 

Along the way, they'll fold in not only a dizzying barrage of eye-popping outfits and fabulous wigs, but also an ultra sci-fi device that can deconstruct, transform, or teleport anything from clothes to people with a sloppy splurt of glimmering goo. And without spoilers, I can say that if you thought horse people in the climax of Sorry to Bother You were a weird treat, you'll be pleased with how supporting players like Don Cheadle, Jermaine Fowler, and Jason Ritter come into play in the chaotic climax. 

Keke Palmer is a shining star in I Love Boosters. 

Don't get it twisted. Palmer's had a storied career with scads of terrific performances that display her irresistible charisma and kinetic screen presence. But often in movies, she's the love interest (Good Fortune, The Pickup) or half of a double act (Nope, One Them Days). While I Love Boosters is about the Velvet Gang, there's no question Corvette is its protagonist, and Palmer is its star. 

Riley gives this dynamo room to move. From the opening frames, cinematographer Natasha Braier follows Corvette as she swans across a dance floor, cool and confident. Braier frames her close for shots of longing, like when Corvette crosses paths with a mystery man (Stanfield) who's so hot that his POV close-up from Corvette's perspective rattles in the frame. It's as if we can see her brain short-circuit as she takes in the Prince-like curls dangling down his face to his sexy, smudged eyeliner, his husky voice, and the smoldering expression that make this man a dangerous distraction to her booster mission.

But comedy lives in the wide shot. So in scenes of goofy physical stunts — like when Corvette tries to sneak out of Christie's penthouse, where the floor is at a 45-degree angle — Palmer full-body commits to the bit. Whether she's prat-falling on her face, running like a cartoon roadrunner, or escaping a boosting trip with a velvet tracksuit so stuffed with stolen goods it makes her look like a pink Stay Puft marshmallow man, she's giving comedy on the level of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, landing the physical business without a wink to the camera.

From there, costume designer Shirley Kurata builds Corvette's ambition to be a fashion designer through every single look. Palmer is alternatively wrapped in turquoise vinyl, Harajuku streetwear, '90s club kid gear, and highlighter yellow menswear. Some actors might be swallowed by so much look, but Palmer wears it all with ease, expressing Corvette's passion in each step. 

And it might go without saying, but no one hits a punchline like Palmer. It's not just that her take on Riley's wacky dialogue gets laughs. A one-liner in the film's final sequence earned roars of laughter that erupted into cheers and scattered applause. It's thrilling to see a movie give Palmer such a well-earned showcase — especially one that pits her onscreen against Moore, whose own weirdo showcase The Substance became a surprise award season contender. Could I Love Boosters have a similar rise? I'd like to live in that world. 

I Love Boosters is stuffed with laughs, twists, and a killer supporting cast. 

Palmer drives this wild ride, but every actor around her is fully on board for Riley's radical vision. Ackie has been on a tear of late, playing everything from an earnest cop (The Thursday Murder Club) to a kinky soldier (Mickey 17) to a caring best friend (Sorry, Baby) to a vengeance-seeking party girl (Blink Twice). Here, she's the tough love in the Velvet Gang, bringing intensity and determination that crackles opposite Palmer's dreaminess and Paige's comically consistent awe. Watching Paige playfully pluck at plush nipples on a big fluffy nude suit while the rest of the crew gets into a heated argument is a lesson in low-key comedy brilliance. 

A kinetic Poppy Liu gets in on the fun with a side quest full of color, real-world horror, and high-energy action. Eiza González seethes and sizzles as a union-minded shop girl, while Will Poulter is a pitch-perfect bastard as her posh, merciless manager. Stanfield thrives as the sultry eye candy, but he's at his best when that subplot gets utterly devilish. Then there's Moore, who gives a scathingly hilarious portrait of American wealth and entitlement. 

Moore spits monologues about art over commerce with such conviction that you might be tempted to believe Christie Smith's sales pitch. But Moore also delivers snarls that send a shiver. And numerous scenes in her preposterously slanted penthouse (perhaps inspired by actual ultra-expensive high rises that aren't on the level) expose her fashion exec as ridiculous. 

There are similarly sharp visual critiques of wage-gap politics, like Corvette and Sade prepping for their insanely short lunch break by placing their feet in starter's blocks, ready to literally race for sustenance. And with each over-the-top sight gag, Riley whips his audience into an elated surprise. He presents our world with its worst and best bits exaggerated — just like a certain MacGuffin in this movie. And through that, he urges us to reflect not only on the absurdities of our own society, but also on how we might dream up something better and bolder. 

I Love Boosters plays like a fever dream. Its narrative veers into tangents, with subplots buried under sensational set pieces and big ideas. It's undeniably messy, tossing in new characters, weird conspiracies, and an astonishing avalanche of unhinged imagery. But I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Riley isn't just rejecting the status quo of American capitalism with his films. He's rejecting the tidy boxes filmmakers are urged to put their stories into to make them more marketable, be they boxes of form or genre. Like the fashion in the film, Riley blends whatever fits his vision without apology. By delivering something this messy and marvelous, Riley makes a statement about the glory to be found outside the box. And make no mistake: I Love Boosters is glorious.

I Love Boosters was reviewed at SXSW. The film opens in theaters May 22.