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Jon Stewart has been unplugged from the news throughout August, and he makes the big mistake of asking "Did I miss anything?" in his first Daily Show monologue back.

Cue a montage of chaotic and depressing Trump news, from the president renewing his attack on mail-in voting to the president making threats to bomb a US ally.

"Noooo! Oh no, I'm old again!" says Jon Stewart, suddenly wearing a long white beard. "God, it never ends with this dude Trump. I've never seen one person work so much and fix so little. It's exhausting in a way that's difficult to articulate."

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Apple is gearing up for its biggest iPhone launch event in years. Today, on Sept. 9, the tech giant will host its "Surprise and Shine" event, and Mashable is reporting live from Apple Park all week. Not only do we expect Apple to finally unveil its first-ever foldable iPhone, but the event also sets the stage for the grand debut of Siri AI. Plus, new CEO John Ternus will take center stage for the first keynote of the post-Tim Cook era. It's an event years in the making.

Thanks to months of leaks and rumors, we have a fairly good idea of what to expect from the Apple Event. We're hoping to learn more about the new iPhone 18 lineup, iOS 27, Siri AI, new AirPods, the Apple Watch Series 12, and more. But we're also hoping Apple lives up to its "Surprise and Shine" tagline and actually surprises us with something we couldn't predict.

We'll know for sure when the event kicks off at 10 a.m. PT. You can watch the event live and join us for post-show analysis on the CNET Apple Event livestream. We'll also be sharing real-time updates on all of the day's news, behind-the-scenes videos, and product announcements in this live blog.

On Wednesday, Sept. 9, Apple will hold its big iPhone launch event for 2026.

Apple hosts its big annual keynote event every September to unveil the brand-new iPhone lineup, but this year's event should be a little more exciting than in previous years. The company is expected to unveil a ton of products as the new CEO, John Ternus, takes center stage for the first time.

The highlight of the show should be the announcement of Apple's first foldable iPhone. However, Apple has dubbed this year's keynote the "Surprise and Shine" event, so the company may have even more up its sleeve than we anticipate.

What time the Apple Event starts, where to livestream it

You can watch the Apple iPhone launch event on YouTube, the Apple website, and Apple TV. The "Surprise and Shine" livestream begins promptly at 10 a.m. PT.

Mashable reporter Stan Schroeder will be in the audience and reporting live, and you can also join Mashable for the CNET Apple Event livestream for a post-show breakdown.

Along with a ton of product announcements, the Sept. 9 event will also mark Ternus's first keynote as Apple's new CEO.

Tiny, icy worlds at the edge of the solar system are helping scientists rewind the story of how planets like Earth first came together.

These distant, city‑size bodies orbit far beyond Neptune in space and are leftover building materials from the solar system's early days. They have spent billions of years in a deep freeze, preserving clues to how the first solid worlds formed.

Until now, astronomers could only study larger members of this population, from dwarf planets like Pluto and its moon Charon down to mid‑size objects such as Arrokoth. The truly tiny ones, only a few miles wide, stayed out of reach.

In two new studies, scientists used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to find dozens of these tiny worlds, then followed up with the Hubble Space Telescope to measure the light from their frozen surfaces.

Together, the results give astronomers the largest census of these distant objects ever made, showing how many of these tiny worlds exist and what their surfaces are made of. The observations turn a scattered set of icy rocks into a detailed look at how the building blocks of planets formed and how little they have changed. The scientific papers both appear in The Astronomical Journal.

SEE ALSO: Saturn just sprouted a bizarre decagon-shaped cloud pattern

In Webb's deep images, astronomers picked out 27 new Trans‑Neptunian Objects — the small icy bodies that orbit beyond Neptune — in a small patch of sky. Some are only about six miles wide, making this the most sensitive study of such worlds to date. From their brightness, the team inferred how common each size is.

Researchers expected that over time, crashes between these tiny bodies would change their appearance and grind them into shards. Instead, the new data show only a slight uptick in the number of small objects. That means the Kuiper Belt — the broad ring of debris beyond Neptune — doesn't consist mostly of dust and crumbs. Instead, most of its mass is tied up in objects about 120 miles wide.

The Kuiper Belt is the broad ring of debris beyond Neptune's orbit. Credit: NASA infographic

That pattern backs a "born big" view of planet construction. In the early solar system, clouds of pebble‑size material in the disk of gas and dust likely clumped and collapsed under their own gravity to form large, solid bodies in a relatively quick phase, rather than slowly growing from dust through countless scrapes with other bodies.

Equally striking, two major families of these distant worlds share almost the same size pattern down to the smallest objects Webb could detect. One group follows calm, nearly circular orbits and probably formed more or less where it now resides. The other group moves on more tilted and stretched paths and likely began closer to the sun before giant planets pushed it outward.

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This similarity hints that the process that turned dust, rock, and ice into "planetesimals" — the first solid pieces big enough to build planets — may work the same way under many different conditions. That challenges earlier thinking, which had predicted many more small chunks than Webb and Hubble actually saw: Either collisions aren't drastically reshaping these objects, or they aren't happening as often as scientists expected.

The color measurements add another key clue. The smallest members of the calmer outer‑belt family tend to have a similar reddish color to the larger bodies in that group. Earlier work links those hues to surfaces rich in complex organic compounds and certain ices that slowly darken and redden under cosmic radiation over billions of years.

"You could imagine a scenario where getting knocked around and fragmented would change the surface composition, and then you would see a different surface color," said Anastasia Morgan, a Northern Arizona University doctoral candidate who led the color and composition study, in a statement. "It's really fascinating to see that the smallest objects are somehow 'remembering' and preserving the history of how they were made."

Astronomers also watched how these tiny worlds brighten and dim as they spin. Most show only modest changes in brightness over a rotation, which could mean that extreme football‑like shapes or close pairs, known as contact binaries, are rarer than some models suggested.

Sometimes a sitcom plot line comes along that's so misguided, so confounding, so utterly ill-conceived that you stop and think, "Surely I hallucinated that in its entirety, right?"

In The Paper Season 2's case, that dishonor falls to literally everything the show does to Nicole (Ramona Young).

SEE ALSO: 2026 fall TV preview: Every show you should know about

Season 1 of The Office spinoff paired circulation staffer Nicole up with ad salesman Detrick (Melvin Gregg) in one of the show's main romantic storylines. Nicole consistently told him their dates and hookups were casual and that there were no feelings involved. She actively encouraged Detrick to see other women, but he didn't. Their differences led to a breakup in the Season 1 finale. (Even if Nicole would insist there was nothing to break in the first place.) However, the aftermath of their split suggested Nicole was more emotionally attached than she wanted Detrick to believe, as she went to cry on journalist Mare's (Chelsea Frei) shoulder.

The storyline was a fun play on attitudes around commitment and casual dating, with its ending set the stage for a potential slow burn to bring Detrick and Nicole back together on more official terms. That is, until The Paper's second season comes along and wrecks Nicole's character.

Throughout Season 2, Nicole is a vengeful harpy out to get Detrick. She gets a promotion, then tries to use that extra power to give him extra work. (It backfires.) She reports their now-over relationship to HR rep Lisa (Lisa Gilroy), searching for any legitimization of the connection she mourned. When Lisa begins to show interest in Detrick, Nicole dresses as her — complete with dyeing her hair blonde — and rams her car into Lisa's. She also follows Detrick to Cincinnati, leading to an unsettling sequence where Detrick genuinely seems to believe she's going to do him harm.

SEE ALSO: Here are the three best 'The Office' references in 'The Paper'

This bizarro arc robs Nicole of any nuance or interiority, trading any meaningful development around her approach to relationships for unfunny crazy ex-girlfriend stereotypes. (In a post Crazy Ex-Girlfriend world? Really?) The main joke here — that, at her own insistence, Nicole was never really Detrick's girlfriend — is nowhere near funny enough to warrant such a prolonged storyline. Nor is it in keeping with The Paper's more optimistic tone. Even though The Paper is a spin-off of The Office, it shares more thematic DNA with shows like Parks and Recreation, Abbott Elementary, or St. Denis Medical: mockumentaries with an eye for people trying to make a difference in struggling institutions. Given that angle, The Paper's treatment of Nicole feels far too malicious, not to mention out of left field.

Really, it feels like The Paper is trying to recreate the dynamic between The Office's Kelly (Mindy Kaling) and Ryan (BJ Novak), which featured its fair share of Kelly being vindictive. But crucially, Ryan wound up also being a jerk in that on-again, off-again relationship. The pair fed off one another's toxicity. In The Paper, Detrick mainly just reacts to Nicole like anyone else would: with bewilderment, then horror. His arc is primarily focused on his burgeoning reporting skills, while her arc is all about him. To borrow a phrase from Kelly herself, I have a lot of questions about these story choices. Number one, how dare you?

The horrible mishandling of Nicole speaks to The Paper Season 2's broader issue of barely knowing how to handle its ensemble. The Paper's team of amateur journalists gelled exceptionally well in Season 1, but they're as fragmented as can be in Season 2. While the show focuses the brunt of its energy on Ned (Domhnall Gleeson) and Mare's love story — which it handles wonderfully! — the rest of its reporters are left to flounder. Adam (Alex Edelman) is a non-entity. Ken (Tim Key) disappears for episodes at a time. Oscar (Oscar Nuñez), Adelola (Gbemisola Ikumelo), and Travis (Eric Rahill) feel like a thin Greek chorus, with the latter two finally receiving the beginnings of a fulfilling story in the season's final episodes.

If you're in The Paper and your character isn't named Ned, Mare, or Esmeralda (Sabrina Impacciatore), you appear to have two choices. Wind up with a paper-thin storyline, or get saddled with a nightmarish arc like Nicole's. Given how out of character (and out of line) the latter is, The Paper Season 2 might be the one time fading into the background is a good thing.

The Paper Season 2 is now streaming on Peacock.

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TL;DR: ChatPlayground AI gives you access to 20+ major AI tools, and it’s only $55.30 through Sept. 10.

Opens in a new window Credit: ChatPlayground AI ChatPlayground AI: Lifetime Subscription (Unlimited Plan) $55.30
$619 Save $563.70   Get Deal

Pretty much anyone who uses AI every day tends to keep two or three chatbots open at once, because no single AI model is great at every single task. Testing the same prompt in ChatGPT, then Claude, then Gemini to find the strongest answer eats up more time than most people admit, and you’re also burning through tokens that whole time. If you want a simpler solution, ChatPlayground is a new platform that gives you lifetime access to dozens of the most popular models, and you can use them all in the same window. Right now, lifetime access is just $55.30 (reg. $619).

One platform for all your AI tools

Type a prompt once, and ChatPlayground AI runs it across every model you’ve selected, then lines up the responses so you can compare them at a glance. That roster includes GPT-4o, Claude Sonnet, Gemini, DeepSeek, Llama, and Perplexity, with more added as new models come out.

Beyond comparisons, ChatPlayground AI includes prompt engineering tools to refine outputs, image and PDF chat for context-aware responses, saved chat history for ongoing projects, and AI image generation powered by leading models. There’s even a Chrome extension to integrate it directly into your browsing workflow.

The Unlimited Plan means unlimited messages per month, making it ideal for startups, product teams, marketers, and prompt engineers who run experiments nonstop. You also get priority support and early access to new features and future models.

If you’re already paying for multiple AI tools — or constantly switching between them — this consolidates everything into one streamlined platform.

Through Sept. 10 at 11:59 p.m. PT, it’s only $55.30 to get a ChatPlayground AI lifetime subscription.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: FastestVPN Pro is down to $29.97 from $600 for a limited time, with lifetime access, 15 simultaneous devices, 900+ servers, and a suite of privacy features.

Opens in a new window Credit: FastestVPN FastestVPN PRO: Lifetime Subscription (15 Devices) $29.97
$600 Save $570.03   Get Deal

A VPN can get expensive when you’re paying for multiple devices or renewing a subscription year after year. FastestVPN Pro is currently $29.97 (reg. $600) through Sept. 10 at 11:59 p.m. PT, with lifetime access for up to 15 devices simultaneously and no recurring charges.

FastestVPN Pro offers over 900 servers across 100+ countries, unlimited bandwidth, and unlimited server switching, giving you plenty of options when choosing a connection. Your traffic is protected with 256-bit AES encryption, and its zero-logging policy means your browsing activity won’t be stored or tracked.

The Pro tier adds several privacy and security features beyond the basics. Double VPN can route traffic through two servers, while the kill switch cuts your connection if the VPN drops. There’s also a NAT firewall, built-in ad blocker, anti-malware protection, split tunneling, and IPv6 leak protection included without any add-ons.

The plan is great for households or people using a lot of hardware. You can connect phones, laptops, tablets, smart TVs, and routers at the same time, with support for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Roku, Xbox, PlayStation 4, Apple TV, and more. Dedicated streaming servers support Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and Amazon Prime, while P2P-optimized servers are designed for downloads.

A FastestVPN Pro purchase also includes a free one-year Passhulk Password Manager subscription for storing passwords, financial details, licenses, and secure attachments in an encrypted vault.

The FastestVPN Pro Lifetime Plan is available for $29.97 (reg. $600) for a limited time only, ending Sept. 10 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Tubby Nugget may be a tiny animated blob, but he's built the kind of creator empire most humans would envy.

What began as an inside joke between creators and real-life couple Jenine Pastores and Josh Jackson has grown into a character brand with more than 14 million followers, plushies, music videos, live appearances, and ambitions that increasingly extend beyond the social feed. Seven years in, Tubby Nugget has become synonymous with a particular corner of the internet: wholesome, silly, and relentlessly optimistic.

For Pastores and Jackson, though, some of the most important lessons came from resisting the pressure that accompanies that kind of scale. As their audience grew, they briefly wondered whether Tubby needed to change to appeal to more people. Instead, they found that the further they strayed from the character's original spirit, the less authentic the content felt — both to them and to the audience.

SEE ALSO: How Tubby Nugget grew from a doodle into a beloved internet brand

Their advice for other creators is deceptively simple: Pay attention to the people already showing up. Reply to the five comments before worrying about getting 5,000. Don't let a number on a screen make you forget that every follower is an actual person. And when something works because it feels uniquely yours, don't abandon it just because your audience gets bigger.

For Mashable's Creator Playbook, Pastores and Jackson break down how they built Tubby Nugget's community one comment at a time, why 400 people in a room can feel way more significant than 400 likes, and why the character's future may include longer-form animation.

Credit: Ian Moore/Mashable/Getty Images

Mashable: Tubby Nugget started as something personal between the two of you. What is it like seeing something you created for yourselves become meaningful to so many other people?

Jenine Pastores: Honestly, I think it's because Tubby started as such a personal thing between Josh and me — to make my day better, to make his day better. Seeing that it's spread so far and so wide is really special. Something that made me happy is now making so many other families and kids happy.

Josh Jackson: We hadn't performed that song live in front of an audience, and to hear all the kids singing it — I mean, gosh, it was just amazing.

Has meeting the Tubby Nugget community in real life changed how you think about the audience you've built online?

Pastores: I think, if anything, we get desensitized to how many people are supporting us and are part of our community because, as the numbers grow, they seem smaller and smaller, which is ironic.

I would encourage other creators to meet their fans in person and see the faces of the people they're really encouraging, because it does change your perspective. A room of 400 people is crazy. We were pretty overwhelmed. I was like, "Can you imagine if all 14 million of our followers showed up in person?" I think it also makes us more and more grateful for what we do.

Jackson: If we get 400 likes on a post, that seems very small. But 400 people in person is just like, "Oh, this is crazy." It's always nice getting lots of likes and comments, but having that face-to-face interaction and seeing the positive effect Tubby's optimism has is just the best.

With an audience that large, how much are you thinking about the algorithm when you're deciding what to make?

Jackson: I'm not gonna lie, we don't really think about the algorithm that much. We did at one point.

We see what works well, and if it aligns with the heart of Tubby Nugget, then yeah, we'll make it. But I think anytime in the past when we've chased likes or views, it feels less authentic to us.

Pastores: And I think our audience feels that too. Our audience is a lot smarter than I think digital media might give them credit for. We make the best content when we are the most comfortable and most ourselves. It seems like our audience still resonates with us, so I'm very happy to hear that.

What would you tell a new creator who's trying to build that kind of community from scratch?

Jackson: Honestly, the way we grew early on is that Jenine would reply to every single comment. She really built that sense of community early on. Now, it's a little harder to do that, but I think especially for new creators, early on it's just like, all right, you have five comments? Reply to all five of them because that's how you're going to build community.

Pastores: Enjoy your community. Enjoy the space you have to speak with and engage them. At the beginning, we thought we needed to change because we were growing so rapidly. We were like, "Maybe not everyone is going to keep loving our content." But we felt less ourselves. I think our audience felt like we were more shy.

When we make stuff that's just Tubby, I think that's when we succeed the most. So I would definitely recommend to creators: Don't stop doing what worked at the start.

When did you realize Tubby Nugget could go from a character you made for fun to your actual career?

Jackson: I think that was pretty early on. I was still working as a motion graphics artist at the time, while Jenine focused on building the business. Then it was kind of that decision where we were like, "OK, I'm gonna quit motion graphics, and we're just gonna go in." It was a little risky. I felt like, "OK, we better be selling enough plushies to live off of."

Pastores: Honestly, I think it was mainly because our audience was asking for so much more than we could give if we continued our full-time jobs. That was the big shift. We had to ask: Does the audience want this enough for us to do this for the rest of our lives? So far, it's been seven wonderful years, and it's been great.

Tubby is the face of the brand, but the two of you have increasingly become part of the story too. When did you decide to put yourselves in front of the audience?

Pastores: I think it was our first convention. That's when people started to meet us. We would sometimes put our faces on our [Instagram] Story just to say hi to people, but we didn't think people wanted to see us. We were like, "Oh, we're a cartoon. You don't have to look at us. Don't worry."

But when we started meeting fans in person, they were like, "No, I want to know who does the animations and who does the voices."

Jackson: Tubby is very much about our relationship. The whole reason we created Tubby Nugget was because it started as an inside joke between the two of us. So we were like, "OK, well, it makes sense for us to be part of the story," because when he began, he was a representation of our relationship and our humor.

Pastores: Definitely our humor. He was just all of our inside jokes, and I was kind of blown away by how many people thought we were also funny. I was like, "Oh, good, it's not just us."

At what point did Tubby stop feeling like just a character and start feeling like a brand?

Pastores: Tubby is a brand, honestly, and that's what's so surprising to the two of us. I think his brand has just become overall wholesomeness, joy, and silliness. Some people who meet Tubby don't know who he is, but they know what he resonates with. You'll see the Tubby mascot running around, and they'll just be like, "Oh, I want to hug him. I want to play with him."

That is kind of his essence and his spirit: Just have fun. Embrace your inner child. I think we all need to be goofy sometimes.

How do you decide what Tubby Nugget should become next?

Jackson: We've been asking our audience a lot. We recently put out a poll, did a huge forum, and got all the feedback. Honestly, my favorite part of getting feedback from the audience is that we added a question where they could just tell us about themselves. That informs our decisions because we know what we like, but Tubby doesn't just belong to us; he belongs to everyone.

Getting to meet fans at VidCon or hearing from them online through the forum really gets us in vibe with our community, and we love it.

Indie animation is having a huge moment online right now. Do you see Tubby Nugget eventually becoming a longer-form series?

Jackson: It's really incredible what's going on right now with indie pilots that are just taking off. We're in the process of building a team and trying to figure out the right next move. I don't think we want to dive into it right away. We still have a lot of music videos coming up, so I think that's our next small step before we jump into a full-on TV show.

Pastores: But we are doing longer-form media this year, which is going to be very exciting. It's almost like test episodes. We have so much love for the indie animation community because we're already so much of a do-it-yourself type of animation. We've made so many friends in the space, too.

Especially coming from more formal film careers, I think seeing the way creators are getting creative about this industry and how to make a living in it is really exciting. I'm excited to make a long-form show, whether it be on traditional streamers or on YouTube.

Jackson: The path is so new. This is such a new development in the state of animation. I think it's going to get bigger and bigger, and we just hope to be part of that wave.

Also, this is not on brand, but we love Obsession. This is not on brand for Tubby Nugget at all, but it's my favorite movie of the year. I freaking love that movie.

Pastores: And Hazbin Hotel is getting so much love. It's just so exciting to see all of our favorite animators getting that kind of attention.

Jackson: I picture a Tubby-Obsession crossover where someone breaks a One Wish Willow for Tubby to love them, but he's like, "I love you anyway."

I think we could do it.

Jackson: I'm just gonna put that out there. No one's saying no to us except ourselves.

Josh, if you had a One Wish Willow, what are you wishing for right now?

Jackson: Oh, One Wish Willow? That Jenine would love me forever, more than anyone.

Pastores: That's what the ring is for.

Jackson: Oh yeah. I already got that wish. I already got that. I got you.

TL;DR: Through Sept. 10, new U.S. users can get a Babbel Lifetime Language Learning Subscription covering all 14 languages for $159 (reg. $299) with StackSocial’s code LEARN.

Opens in a new window Credit: Babbel Babbel Language Learning: Lifetime Subscription (All Languages) $158.98
$299 Save $140.02   Get Deal

Learning a new language isn’t easy, but it also might not be as hard as some apps make it seem. If memorizing vocab lists isn’t working for you, check out Babbel. They take a more practical approach to teaching, and there’s even an AI conversation partner who can help you practice your pronunciation.

Normally, a Babbel lifetime subscription would cost $299, but right now it’s on sale for $159 with StackSocial’s code LEARN. Check out what that gets you.

Babbel gives you lifetime access to courses in 14 different languages, and the format is designed to fit into real life. Each lesson takes around 10 to 15 minutes, so you can actually stick with it whether you’re commuting, traveling, or just squeezing in some study time between meetings.

Here are a few of the included languages:

• Spanish

• French

• German

• Italian

• Portuguese

• Swedish

And that’s just the beginning.

Unlike other apps that focus heavily on word games or repetitive matching drills, Babbel centers its content around practical conversation topics. You’ll get lessons on travel, shopping, business, culture, and more, all developed by expert linguists and backed by academic research.

Speech recognition helps fine-tune your pronunciation, while the new AI-powered conversation partner lets you practice speaking in real time.

Lessons sync across devices, so you can start on your computer and finish on your phone. There’s also an offline mode if you want to download lessons in advance. You can move at your own pace, revisit review sessions, and jump between beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels based on your comfort.

Use code LEARN by Sept. 10 at 11:59 p.m. PT to get a Babbel lifetime subscription for only $159.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG: Mega Greninja ex Premium Collection is on sale for $54.52 at Amazon, down from its $62.97 typical price.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG Mega Greninja ex Premium Collection $54.52 at Amazon
$62.97 Save $8.45   Get Deal

The premium attached to buying Pokémon cards through Amazon can sometimes be substantial, but that’s becoming much less of an issue with the Mega Greninja ex Premium Collection. Right now, its latest price is only a few dollars removed from the box’s current TCGplayer value. 

On Sept. 9, the Pokémon TCG: Mega Greninja ex Premium Collection is priced at $54.52 at Amazon, versus the retailer’s $62.97 typical price. That leaves $8.45 in savings, or 13%, through third-party seller reVend. Free delivery is currently listed for Sept. 17, while the quickest shipping window runs from Sept. 11 to 15. 

Mashable Deals Be the first to know! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Loading... Sign Me Up By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Thanks for signing up!

Along with its assorted eight Pokémon TCG booster packs: four Perfect Order, two Chaos Rising, and two Phantasmal Flames;  this Mega Greninja ex collection also gets both a titular foil promo card for play and an oversize lenticular counterpart for display, with a themed tech sticker rounding out the extras. 

At $54.52, the Amazon cost comes to about $6.82 per booster before those additional items are factored in. 

Be that as it may, you can still save even more at TCGplayer. Against the Mega Greninja ex Premium Collection’s market price of $49.82, the lowest price listing on the dedicated trading card selling platform is only $52.98 — an extra $1.54 in savings compared to Amazon. 

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG: First Partner Illustration Collection — Series 2 is on sale for $37.63 at Amazon, down from its $59.99 list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG: First Partner Illustration Collection —Series 2 $37.63 at Amazon
$59.99 Save $22.36   Get Deal

If the original $60 asking price put you off picking up Pokémon’s second First Partner Illustration Collection, Amazon has made the decision quite a bit easier by slipping the Series 2 box well below $40, leaving more than $20 between its current cost and MSRP. 

As of Sept. 9, the Pokémon TCG: First Partner Illustration Collection—Series 2 can be bought for $37.63 at Amazon through third-party seller Collectors Expedition. Amazon handles the shipping, while Prime members currently get free delivery estimated between Sept. 28 and Oct. 9. At the $59.99 list price, that works out to $22.36 in savings, or 37% off. 

If you want yours as quickly as possible for a slightly higher price, another listing is $39.99, with delivery shown for Sept. 10 at the time of writing. 

Mashable Deals Be the first to know! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Loading... Sign Me Up By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Thanks for signing up!

The centerpiece of Series 2 isn’t its pair of regular booster packs of trading cards, but the separate promo pack tucked alongside them. It contains three of nine possible illustration rare-style cards featuring starters from Johto, Unova, and Galar, covering Chikorita through to Sobble. That’s along with a themed sticker sheet, rounding out the box. 

On the other hand, if you want to save as much as possible — even going beyond Amazon — TCGplayer currently has sealed boxes for as low as $29.99 with shipping included. Going under its $29.61 market price, however, is Walmart, now selling the Pokémon TCG’s First Partner Illustration Collection—Series 2 for only $28.67.

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box is available to preorder for $89.99 at Amazon via invite requests, down from its initial $209.97 price.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box $89.99 at Amazon
$209.97 Save $119.98   Pre-order Here

Pokémon’s 30th anniversary set is already commanding hefty preorder prices, but Amazon has gone in the opposite direction with its Elite Trainer Box. There is one sizeable catch, though: getting the $89.99 price for this high-demand Pokémon box requires an invitation from the retailer. 

Nevertheless, as of Sept. 9, the Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box is still listed for $89.99 at Amazon — shipped and sold directly from the retailer itself. Beforehand, we only had listings from third-party sellers available for as low as $209.97, meaning a 57% discount compared to normal, ahead of the expansion’s release date on Sept. 16.

While this is still $40 above MSRP, the $90 price is far lower than the current $178 market price on TCGplayer. 

As mentioned, however, you can’t simply add this ETB to your basket. Amazon has designated it a high-demand product with limited quantities, meaning you first need to select “Request invite.”

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Successful requests receive an email with purchasing instructions and a limited window to complete the order. Amazon also says requests can remain in consideration as more stock arrives, so missing the first batch of invitations doesn’t necessarily end your chances of snagging the high-demand trading card bundle for yourself.

If you don’t wish to wait, preorders for the 30th Celebration ETB are also readily available elsewhere, but you’ll be paying well above the $170 mark. Specifically, TCGplayer is slightly undercutting the market price with preorders going for as low as $177.92.

Walmart is even cheaper, though, letting you pre-order your Pokémon 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box for $174.75. 

Inside are nine 30th Celebration booster packs, a full-art Nidorina promo featuring 30 Nidorina, 16 foil Basic Energy cards, 65 sleeves, dice, a coin, dividers, a player’s guide, and a Pokémon TCG Live code. Each booster also contains one of 30 different Pikachu rare cards.

SAVE $34.19: As of Sept. 9, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K is on sale for $45.80 at Amazon. That's a 43% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Roku Roku Streaming Stick 4K $45.80 at Amazon
$79.99 Save $34.19   Get Deal

If your TV looks a little dated when it comes to streaming, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K is a nice, easy way to add access to your favorite streaming services. It plugs directly into your TV and supports 4K HDR streaming, with a compact design that won't take up much space.

And as of Sept. 9, it's on sale at Amazon for over $30 off the list price. Normally priced at $79.99, you can now get it for $45.80.

This streaming device doesn't just make streaming easier; it lets you watch in high quality, too. It comes with Dolby Vision and HDR10+, giving you sharp detail and rich colors across everything you watch. It also has a long-range WiFi receiver that helps keep streaming smooth and buffer-free, even on TVs in rooms farther from your router. It stays hidden behind your TV without blocking neighboring HDMI ports, so you can easily switch between streaming and gaming.

It's also a great option for travel, letting you take your entertainment with you without having to sign into someone else's device. Simply unplug the device from your own TV and plug it into the HDMI port of the TV in your accommodation.

This Roku deal is available on Amazon now.

SAVE $140: As of Sept. 9, the Eufy 11S Max is on sale for $139.99 at Amazon. That's a 50% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Eufy Eufy 11S Max $139.99 at Amazon
$279.99 Save $140   Get Deal

Robot vacuums have come a long way in recent years, with models now available at a range of prices and with features to suit different homes. If you've been considering getting one, you don't necessarily have to spend a lot to get a model that handles everyday vacuuming for you. In fact, as of Sept. 9, you can get a great model for just $139.99. Meet the Eufy 11S Max. Currently on sale, you'll save $140 on this Eufy robot vacuum, which is also its best price so far this year.

It's just 2.85 inches tall, so this robot vacuum has no problem getting into those awkward spaces beneath furniture that are difficult to reach with a standard vacuum or brush. Its battery lasts for up to 100 minutes on hardwood floors, while BoostIQ Technology automatically adjusts the suction power to suit the surface within 1.5 seconds.

An infrared sensor helps the robot navigate around obstacles, and drop sensors help it avoid falling from edges or down stairs. When it needs more power, it can also automatically return to its charging base.

This robot vacuum deal is available at Amazon right now.

SAVE $150: As of Sept. 9, the Jackery HomePower 3000 is on sale for $1,349 at Amazon. That's a 10 percent discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Jackery Jackery HomePower 3000 $1,349 at Amazon
$1,499 Save $150   Get Deal

With summer winding down and colder, wetter weather on the way, power cuts can become more of a concern, particularly during periods of strong winds and storms. Having a backup power source at home can help keep essential devices running if the electricity goes out. Jackery is one of the better-known names in the power station market, with options for different power needs. And right now, the Jackery HomePower 3000 is on sale. As of Sept. 9, this model is down to $1,349 at Amazon, saving you $150 on the list price.

With a 3,600W output and 7,200W surge capacity, alongside 3,072Wh of stored power, this portable power station is built to handle a range of household essentials. That includes running things like refrigerators, fans, routers, and lights, which it can power for up to 15 hours depending on usage. According to Jackery, it can also keep a refrigerator running for one to two days during a power outage.

There are also several ways to recharge this Jackery unit. With a combination of AC and DC inputs, it can reach a full charge in about 1.7 hours, while AC charging alone takes about 2.2 hours. If you have solar panels (sold separately), it can reach 80 percent charge in roughly nine hours, and there are also options for charging via a 12V car connection or a gas generator.

This Jackery deal is available at Amazon right now.

SAVE $161.99: As of Sept. 9, the Garmin Venu 3S is on sale for $288 at Amazon. That's a 36 percent discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Garmin Garmin Venu 3S $288 at Amazon
$449.99 Save $161.99   Get Deal

The Garmin Venu 3S is designed to track both your workouts and everyday activity, with features that cover everything from steps and heart rate to sleep and exercise. And, as of Sept. 9, it's currently available at its lowest price to date. Normally priced at $449.99, you can buy this fitness tracker for just $288 right now, saving you over $160. Not only is that a hefty discount, but according to price tracker camelcamelcamel, this is also a new low price for this watch.

It's available in four color options: French gray, sage gray, ivory, and pebble gray, although the only one available at this price is the French gray. For the others, you'll need to pay $11 more.

This Garmin watch includes several health and activity features, such as Body Battery, which takes factors like sleep, naps, stress, and workouts into account when estimating your energy levels. Sleep tracking provides a daily sleep score, along with information such as HRV status and personalized coaching.

And, of course, several sports functions let you track every kind of workout, from runs and swims to Pilates and hikes. You'll also get Workout Benefit, a feature that shows how an exercise session affects your body and recovery time, which estimates how long you may need to recover before your next workout.

Head to Amazon now to get this new low price on the Garmin Venu 3S.

An AI researcher has quit Anthropic due to ethical concerns, claiming that the technology could kill countless people within the next 10 years — if not everyone. Jacob Coxon announced his resignation in a post on X on Tuesday, criticising both Anthropic and his former employer OpenAI for the ways in which they are developing AI.

"I spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic," wrote Coxon. "Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives."

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Both Anthropic and OpenAI have been rapidly developing and releasing new AI models as they work toward creating artificial general intelligence (AGI). Long considered the holy grail of AI technology, an AGI model would theoretically have the intellectual capabilities of a human, including reasoning, common sense, and creativity. An artificial superintelligence would surpass humans.

However, even before such milestones have been reached, there have already been multiple instances of AI models going rogue. Earlier this year, researchers testing Anthropic and OpenAI's AI models observed them act outside their parameters and hack into external organisations without authorisation. In a high-profile incident this July, an OpenAI model autonomously hacked Hugging Face, an open-source library of AI tools. At around the same time, Anthropic's Claude AI model accessed the internet from within a testing environment without authorisation, then went on to hack three other companies.

Combined with the increasing use of AI across every industry, including in weapons and surveillance, such developments have prompted serious concerns.

"The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade," Coxon wrote. "This is not a marketing stunt. If anything, many executives and senior researchers will couch their phrasing in the press to sound sensible — but I hear the same people express fear privately. No other human activity poses this level of danger."

Yet despite this grave hazard, AI companies continue to forge ahead at top speed. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has said superhuman AI could be here by 2027, while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman believes it will develop AGI before the end of the year.

"A common response is 'if they truly believe this, why are they still building it?'" said Coxon. "At OpenAI, many have not deeply internalized the civilizational stakes. At Anthropic, the stakes are well-understood, but they are locked in a race to get there first — they believe no one else will act responsibly, so they must do it themselves, despite the risk."

As such, Coxon called for AI researchers to examine the ethics and implications of their work, and to advocate for change.

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While Coxon's warnings are dire, they don't appear to be baseless. Responding to his X posts, Anthropic team lead Even Hubinger confirmed that the company believes AI poses an existential threat to all human life, but has no clear strategy in place to mitigate it. 

Hubinger does consider the current risk low — at least for the next few years. However, he cautioned that the danger lies in AI models continuing to autonomously improve themselves until they evolve into a superintelligence, which "is happening faster than we thought."

"Jacob is correct here — we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans!" Hubinger wrote. "I personally think it is >10% within the next decade. I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to."

Ethical concerns about AI have prompted several resignations

Coxon is far from the first person working in AI to quit due to ethical concerns. Anthropic's safety lead Mrinank Sharma previously resigned in February, stating that the world is "in peril" from AI, bioweapons, and other interconnected crises.

"We appear to be approaching a threshold where our wisdom must grow in equal measure to our capacity to affect the world, lest we face the consequences," Sharma wrote in his widely circulated resignation letter at the time. "Moreover, throughout my time here, I've repeatedly seen how hard it is to truly let our values govern our actions. I've seen this within myself, within the organization, where we constantly face pressures to set aside what matters most, and throughout broader society too."

That same month, AI researcher Zoë Hitzig quit her role at OpenAI, stating in a New York Times opinion piece that she had "deep reservations" about the company's advertising strategy.

"For several years, ChatGPT users have generated an archive of human candor that has no precedent, in part because people believed they were talking to something that had no ulterior agenda," Hitzig wrote. "Users are interacting with an adaptive, conversational voice to which they have revealed their most private thoughts... Advertising built on that archive creates a potential for manipulating users in ways we don’t have the tools to understand, let alone prevent."

Even back in 2024, Jan Leike left his position as an executive at OpenAI, claiming that it was prioritising "shiny new products" over safety. Though he swiftly joined Anthropic, it appears as though the company is also struggling to grapple with the ethical issues surrounding AI.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

In Apple TV's new thriller Last Seen, police dispatcher Ian Ridley (Patrick Brammall) still grieves the disappearance of his young daughter, Maggie. By the time the show begins, it's been 11 years since she went missing. Yet in Last Seen's two-episode premiere, a series of curious events brings her case right back into the public eye.

SEE ALSO: 'Ted Lasso's latest cameo is proof of Season 4's identity crisis

First, residents of the fictional Australian town Port McKenna discover the remains of a young girl in a nearby forest. Then, Ian receives a call from a teenage girl he believes to be Maggie, now all grown up. So, what really happened to Maggie? Was she killed and left to rot in the woods? Or has she survived right under Ian's nose for 11 years? In its first two episodes, Last Seen lays its cards fully on the table and reveals exactly where Maggie is. However, there are still several mysteries to uncover.

Here's what happened to Maggie, along with the biggest questions Last Seen still has to answer.

Where is Maggie? Chloe Jean Lourdes in "Last Seen." Credit: Apple TV

For much of Last Seen's first episode, Ian and his ex-wife, Debbie (Jessica Wren), agonize over whether the discovered remains could be Maggie's body. By the episode's end, they don't have a definite answer on whether they are or not, but the audience does. We know that Maggie is still alive, and that she's living on what appears to be a small homestead.

The reveal comes in the episode's final moments, when cleaner Henry Reid (Brendan Cowell), whom we meet briefly earlier on, arrives home to his wife, Jenna (Maxine Peake). Their daughter, Sarah (Chloe Jean Lourdes), heads out to check on the chickens. As she makes her way through the gardens surrounding the house, the show cuts between her and police sketches that show Maggie's hypothetical age progression. Their version of teen Maggie matches up almost perfectly with Maggie, meaning that she's alive and well.

If you had any doubts, episode 2 confirms this further. Quick flashbacks show that during Sarah/Maggie's early days at Henry and Jenna's farm, she carved her nickname "Mags" into a wall in the garden.

Who are Maggie's kidnappers, Henry and Jenna? Maxine Peake and Brendan Cowell in "Last Seen." Credit: Apple TV

Henry and Jenna still remain somewhat of a mystery. We know that Henry is a cleaner at the police station, and that he's the brother of Donald Reid (Daniel Henshall), Ian's friend and a key figure in his journey to stay sober. In their first scene together in episode 1, Donnie mentions that he'd love to see "Sarah," but Henry is cagey, suggesting he and Jenna keep her under a tight watch.

SEE ALSO: 2026 fall TV preview: Every show you should know about

Their tight grip on Maggie becomes even clearer in episode 2, which reveals that Henry and Jenna have an comprehensive alarm system in place and don't let outsiders — not even neighbors! — through their gate. Nor do they let Maggie outside their compound.

Apparently, Maggie's been raised to believe that, as "people of faith," she and her (fake!) family are under fire from the outside world. If she were to leave, the government would take her away and force her to attend school. These outlandish claims suggest that Henry and Jenna are religious fundamentalists, perhaps verging on cultists, who use their belief as a means of controlling Maggie and covering up their crime.

Why did Henry and Jenna kidnap Maggie?

So now we have the "who" of who kidnapped Maggie, along with the "where" of her current location. However, we still don't know the "why." Perhaps it all ties back to their religious fervor. Maybe they they believed they "saved" Maggie from a family of "non-believers."

Who is the Jane Doe in the woods?

By the end of episode 2, Last Seen confirms through DNA evidence that the body in the woods is not Maggie, but rather a Jane Doe. While that closes the case on Maggie, it still raises a ton of questions: Who was this child, and why was she discovered in Maggie's pajamas?

Maybe she was another kidnapping victim of Henry and Jenna's who passed away, and they dressed her in Maggie's clothes to convince others Maggie was dead. Or, on an even more upsetting level, perhaps she was Henry and Jenna's own child, and they've raised Maggie as a replacement. Whatever the answer, it's bound to be bleak, and Last Seen definitely has more twists up its sleeve.

New episodes of Last Seen premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV.

"Did you miss me?"

So speaks Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), Ted Lasso's lovably arrogant striker. In the show's fourth season, he's no longer a Richmond Greyhound. Instead, his stardom has reached new heights in Barcelona, leading him to launch an apple vodka brand. (The branding is Adam and Eve-themed, naturally.)

Jamie's vodka launch is one of the centerpieces of Ted Lasso Season 4, episode 6, which is also the show's take on a New Year's special. However, while New Year's would be the perfect time for the Apple TV series to look to the future, it remains frustratingly stuck in the past.

SEE ALSO: 'Ted Lasso' Season 4 review: Women's soccer is just what this show needs

When Season 4 first launched, a common concern among critics was that a fourth season of Ted Lasso — which had ostensibly ended with Season 3 — had no purpose. From my perspective, the purpose seemed clear: to examine women's sports in tandem with their meteoric rise around the world. But as the season rolls on, it's become increasingly evident that Ted Lasso only views its women's sports angle as window dressing to bring the old gang together and rehash tired old storylines.

Why, three years after Ted Lasso first packed up its cleats, are we still spending time on the unfunny, unsettling relationship between Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) and Jane (Phoebe Walsh)? Why has the show trapped Roy (Brett Goldstein) and Keeley (Juno Temple) in a labyrinth of hackneyed rom-com plotlines? Even Jamie's appearance, likely a one-episode event before he returns to Barcelona, screams that the show has little idea of what to do this season other than ruminate on what came before. (Credit where credit is due: This self-reflection can occasionally work, as evidenced by the sweet discussion between Ted (Jason Sudeikis) and Michelle (Andrea Anders) in episode 6.)

SEE ALSO: When is 'Silo' Season 4 coming out?

Still, there is one very clear, very obvious place Ted Lasso can be focusing all the energy it's spending on dredging up the past, and that is Richmond's Lady Greyhounds. The show has invested a lot of time in Coach Alice (Tanya Reynolds), and thank goodness for that, because Reynolds is giving a dynamite deadpan performance that's the perfect foil for Ted Lasso's trademark optimism. If the show gets too saccharine, you can always count on her to cut through the sweetness.

Annelise Heywood, Rex Hayes, Jude Mack, Abbie Hern, and Tanya Reynolds in "Ted Lasso." Credit: Apple TV

The same can't be said for the rest of the team, though. Most players have one or two identifying characteristics. Gemma (Abbie Hern) is a law student by day, elite striker by night. Lizzie (Faye Marsay) is a single mother. Boots (Jude Mack) never wears her goalie gloves. Siobhan (Rex Hayes) and Niamh (Aisling Sharkey) are twins whose favorite activity is bickering. But Ted Lasso needs to go deeper with these characters to truly make them stick.

Think of all the chances Ted Lasso has missed to help us get to know the Lady Greyhounds better. On a broader level, the show highlights the sexism female athletes face, but it never acknowledges very real issues like the pay gap between men's and women's soccer players. How does this impact the relationship between the Lady Greyhounds and their male counterparts?

Think of all the chances 'Ted Lasso' has missed to help us get to know the Lady Greyhounds better.

There are several missed opportunities for more granular character work too. During her tryout, Lizzie talks about being unable to find childcare for her son, and at the New Year's party, she mentions paying for a babysitter. Other than that, Ted Lasso doesn't spend much time examining how her newfound pro footballer status has impacted her relationship with her son. Elsewhere, both Gemma and Niamh have extra reason to be heartbroken after Richmond's close to Chelsea: Gemma because of a missed goal, Niamh because she scored an own goal while trying to deflect a shot. Yet Ted doesn't sit either of his players down for a one-on-one "be a goldfish"-style pep talk the way he did with Sam (Toheeb Jimoh) during a Season 1 scrimmage. Instead, he gives a pep talk to the entire team.

That's one of Ted Lasso's biggest problems with the Lady Greyhounds so far: treating them solely as a collective, instead of a group of individuals with rich potential. Yes, not all of the male Greyhounds were too deeply defined, but the grand majority had personalities beyond just yelling at one another. Perhaps Ted Lasso is just playing the long game with its Lady Greyhounds and will further develop them this season, but with only four episodes left, that possibility seems unlikely.

The lack of depth to the Lady Greyhounds is just one part of Ted Lasso Season 4's biggest problems. In an effort to tell a story about the future of women's sports and reunite fans with beloved characters from the first three seasons, Ted Lasso has spread itself far too thin. Now, it's in the middle of an identity crisis, caught between what the show once was and what it could be. If it could just return to basics by focusing on its core team and ditching the supersized episodes, maybe it could rekindle some of that Season 1 magic. Until then, it's been one own goal after another.

New episodes of Ted Lasso premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV.

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TL;DR: Get AdGuard’s Family Plan lifetime license for $14.97 (reg. $169.99) through Sept. 10 at 11:59 p.m. PT, with parental controls and malware protection built in for up to nine devices.

Opens in a new window Credit: AdGuard AdGuard Family Plan: Lifetime Subscription $14.97
$169.99 Save $155.02   Get Deal

School’s back in session, and so are the tablets, laptops, and phones every kid in the house suddenly needs for homework. More devices online means more exposure to malicious ads, sketchy pop-ups, and content parents would rather filter out. AdGuard’s Family Plan covers it under a single license for $14.97, paid once.

Instead of setting up filtering and protection on each kid’s device separately, one AdGuard license applies the same rules everywhere it’s installed. It’s the kind of thing that’s easy to set up once and forget about for the rest of the school year.

What the lifetime ad blocker covers:

• Filters inappropriate content with built-in parental controls

• Checks sites against known phishing and malware lists in real time

• Removes ads, pop-ups, and autoplay video

• Strips tracking scripts that build a profile of browsing activity

• Covers up to 9 devices across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android

• One-time purchase, lifetime access

For parents who’d rather manage one dashboard than juggle separate settings on every kid’s device, this is for you.

Activate a lifetime AdGuard Family Plan license for $14.97 before Sept. 10, and get every device in the house covered without configuring each one on its own.

StackSocial prices subject to change.