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On Nov. 3, left-leaning Americans felt something that had lain dormant for a long time: hope.

The U.S. midterm elections resulted in historic wins, including Democrats flipping seats in several states. After the gut-punch of Trump's second win in 2024, and the subsequent human rights abuses and skyrocketing costs in the last two years, the "blue wave" (or bluenami, bluke, however you'd like to refer to it) swept over many of us like a calming balm. 

SEE ALSO: Midterms deliver clear message: 'The AI reckoning is here'

The election results haven't just caused democratic optimism (or millennial optimism). For some women who date men, it has also bubbled over into romantic optimism.

"I'm hopeful that with a shift in politics and culture, the values of individuals and groups will start to shift too," Bailey Cummings, a 27-year-old communications and marketing specialist based in Nashville, told Mashable over Instagram DM. 

Is heteropessimism fading?

The past few years have been less than stellar for heterosexuals. In 2019, writer and researcher Asa Seresin coined "heteropessimism," or feelings of shame, regret, and hopelessness when it comes to straight romance. The feeling seems to have only gotten worse since then, paving the way for 2025's "heterofatalism." The novelty of dating apps has long worn off, the debate over whether to engage in casual sex rages on, and having a boyfriend is embarrassing.

It doesn't help that young men and women have, at least in the past decade, held diverging ideological views. Men were becoming more conservative in the U.S. and elsewhere, and women more liberal. Politics are more polarized than ever, and the polarization carries over into our love lives.

"I'm on Hinge primarily, and if it says 'not political' or 'moderate' or 'conservative' in anyone's profile, regardless of their gender, I'm not gonna meet up with that person," said Ellie Rudy, a bisexual 27-year-old freelance journalist in Brooklyn.

Men under 30 had a 23-point shift to the right in the 2024 presidential election. But last Tuesday, they swung back nearly 40 points to the Democrats, the New York Times reported.

"After being told that men were basically a lost generation and that they'd been eaten up by the manosphere and Andrew Tate and were impossible to capture, we saw the opposite happen," journalist and author Liz Plank told Mashable.

Writer Magdalene J. Taylor proposed "hetero-optimism" in a New York Times op-ed back in May, but it's looking more relevant than ever.

That being said, Plank noted that while the results were uplifting, there's still a big divide between men and women.

The political gender divide

A 2024 Financial Times article argues that the #MeToo movement, which peaked in 2017 and 2018, was the trigger for the gender divide among Gen Z. In the years since, differences of opinion have expanded beyond the issue of sexual violence and into politics (like immigration), marriage, and children. 

Meanwhile, manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate sold a gender essentialist, traditional worldview to young men in which they are victims of feminism. Men, to Tate and others, should dominate women and be "alphas." 

These misogynistic talking points align with the online incel (involuntary celibate) community, which rose from a fringe movement into the mainstream consciousness, especially since 2020. Incel forums fostered the looksmaxxing trend and its totem, the influencer Clavicular, who was recently charged with rape. As Mashable's deputy digital culture editor Olivia Tauber wrote in Sept., Clavicular built a following by humiliating women.

Far-right influencers aligned themselves with Donald Trump, and it's easy to see why women reject this outlook.

"What we've seen lately is this dominant political model of, 'This is what it means to be a man, and you have to behave this way, and we don't necessarily believe that women have the same rights or the same freedom to different roles,'" Sarah Ketay, a social and health psychologist at the University of Hartford, told Mashable. "My personal take is that a lot of women don't appreciate that."

And, regardless of age, the Pew Research Center found in a 2024 report that men are more likely than women to associate with the Republican Party.

But despite whatever far-right influencers spew, men and women aren't actually that different, Ketay argued.

"What we found in social psychology is that men and women often want exactly the same thing. They want partners who are kind to each other, who pay attention to them, who care about them," Ketay said. 

The issues lie in how men are socialized, she continued. Generally, men are socialized to suppress their emotions except anger, and they're not taught to pay attention to how other people feel. This doesn't help heterosexual relationships. And these aren't inherent differences, Ketay said, but instead differences in how men and women are raised.

"Heterosexual relationships are actually at a disadvantage, not because of anything like biological, but because of how we're socialized," she said.

But there is good news: Positive qualities, like communication and awareness of other people's feelings, can be learned. And they don't have to be learned to be ready for a relationship, Ketay said; they can be learned while you're in one. 

"I hope people can be a little bit more optimistic," she said, and some are.

A cautious optimism

Rudy told Mashable that she's cautiously optimistic. While she is disappointed in men she personally interacts with and men as a larger group, she feels hopeful. Though, she did point out that she's encountered leftist men who vote Democrat but act misogynistic and homophobic behind closed doors.

"There's something that's particularly frightening about liberal men who initially can make women feel safe, and then once you get to know them better, you realize it's all just a facade," she said. She's also dating more women than men right now.

Another bi woman, 31-year-old New Jersey resident Kaitlyn Porter, told Mashable over DM she doesn't feel more hopeful, because this is just the beginning. "We are leaps and bounds before men treat women as equals. I think it's nice to see them voting for the collective, but there's so much more that needs to be done," said Porter, a State Judiciary staff member.

Plank said there's a pessimistic view of the election that men thought gas prices were too high and decided to vote left, and it's not an ideological shift. But there's also a more optimistic view: That white men have realized that what Black women and other women have been organizing for decades to achieve can benefit them as well (as Plank wrote on her Substack).

A bluer America is better for daters

While Plank believes men and women are in very different places, elections can give us a different understanding of a demographic we thought was unchangeable, or dynamics believed to be set in stone.

The 2026 midterms were a single election, and we don't know how it will impact us. But, given the policy platforms of the winners, there might be truth behind the "baby boom in 9 months" jokes.

"I think single straight women should feel more hopeful about all this!" Steffi Cao, a 28-year-old dating advice columnist and culture writer in New York City, told Mashable over Instagram DM.

Cao believes that the political divide between young, straight men and women is fueled by limited access to resources. These developments give her hope that change is possible. "Think about how the happiest countries are ones with strong social programs, and there's a correlation between marriage satisfaction and healthcare access," she said. Some Democrats, especially Michigan's Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, campaigned on Medicare for All this election cycle.

"I'm not saying that things will change overnight," she said, "but I am more hopeful that with these incoming structural changes, culture has more potential to shift as young men can realize it was never immigrants or women or trans athletes that were preventing them from their own success, but rather [the] system that promised them things and never delivered."

Ketay also mentioned that politicians and their social programs can help improve relationships and families. She cited New York City's free babysitting program, which provides childcare for a "parents' night out."

In recent years, singles have said that the rising cost of living is just another reason dating is harder. They can't afford dinner and drinks, let alone move out of their parents' home and buy their own. 

But maybe politicians who want to get money out of politics, provide free healthcare, and tax billionaires could balance the economic scales somewhat and make every aspect of American life — including finding a partner — that much easier. 

An old video game can look just the way it did years ago, right up until a door that used to open won't budge, a character stops responding when you try to talk to them, or the game freezes every time you load a saved level. That's one way to run into what programmers call "code rot." The game itself may have stayed the same while the platform it runs on keeps getting updates. Over time, parts of the game stop working altogether.

On Gen Z TikTok, anything can be "code rotted," from a report card full of failing grades to a slushie machine that won’t dispense the goods. The joke is that real life is starting to break down like an old Roblox game, especially when something that's supposed to go right just doesn't.

Creators write text overlays in the voice of someone who's just confirmed a long-held suspicion: A baffling homework assignment? "Yup yup yup i f*cking knew it this assignment is definitely code rotted." Can't log into your Google account? "google is coderotted. it's coderot." Puppy acting up? It's code-rotted, too.

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The phrase first gained traction on Roblox, specifically when some players revisited games they grew up with. In May, TikToker @planetaryequinox posted a clip of the apartments in Royale High, a school role-playing game, glitching in a loop. The game's developers said in an X post they'd received more bug reports from older areas and had already released several patches.

Later that month, another TikToker @forgottenfuture1 started a series revisiting older Roblox games, beginning with Greenwood Town, one of the first games they remembered playing. Users also found "code rot" in other games, like Fortnite and Genshin Impact.

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By October, a Despicable Me 4 TikTok filter had brought the "code rot" joke beyond Roblox. The filter is a mini-game where players steer Gru toward gates marked with different characters' faces. But in an Oct. 13 TikTok from @diaryofawimpykidfan01, Gru barrels straight through every gate as if the choices don’t matter. The creator called the filter "code-rotted," and the clip's eerie, slowed-down soundtrack made a glitch in a Gru mini-game feel like the opening of a horror movie.

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The joke borrows from something that really does happen online. The internet can feel permanent right up until an old bookmark leads to a 404, or an old forum thread still exists but the photos that made it useful have disappeared. That’s link rot, and it adds up. In a 2024 study, Pew Research Center found that 38 percent of the webpages it sampled from 2013 were inaccessible a decade later.

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There's a visual version of that decay, too, with a similar name. "Pixel rot" is used to describe images breaking down into visible blocks and smears. A familiar version is the meme that's been saved and reposted so many times that the text is barely legible. Each round of compression can strip away a little more detail, so a picture can stay in circulation long after it stops looking like the original. For more of a visual, see PetaPixel's 2020 experiment with repeated Instagram uploads.

"Code rot" joins a growing vocabulary among Gen Z and Gen Alpha slang for describing real life as though it were a video game. An "NPC" is a "non-playable character," or someone who’s acting like a background character in someone else’s story. And "XP" measures experience in a game, which is why streamer Sykkuno once joked that his XP bar was low when talking about his dating life.

SEE ALSO: 'Larper' is the internet's new favorite insult. Here's what it means.

For generations that grew up learning, playing, and making friends online, it makes sense that the internet would shape the words they use to understand the world around them. We'll see which gaming term makes its way into the group chat next.

From YouTubers and TikTok stars to streamers and podcasters, Mashable talks to creators about how they built their platforms, the gear they swear by, and the trends they see coming next. Read more of our creator coverage, sign up for our Trending Now and Top Stories newsletters or get Mashable push alerts to discover the internet's most exciting voices. 

In today’s fast-paced world, who still carries cash? Let me tell you a secret: I do. I love having a few notes in my wallet instead of carrying a bunch of cards. It's comforting to know I have cash on hand whenever I need it.

Anthropic dropped two new frontier AI models on Monday, Claude Fable 5.2 and Mythos 5.2. 

According to the AI company, Fable 5.2 and Mythos 5.2 were designed to "tackle the most daunting technical challenges" and present "improvements in areas like coding, reasoning, and vision."

New frontier models from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Meta have been released at a rapid clip in recent months, and the two new Anthropic models closely follow the release of Google Gemini 4 Carbon, Meta Muse Wonder, and OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra. On launch day, Claude Fable 5.2 claimed the top spot on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence leaderboard, previously held by Gemini 4 Carbon.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. SEE ALSO: Jensen Huang Nvidia affair scandal: What we know, what we don’t

Anthropic said that in pre-release testing, the models "designed three working electronic devices from scratch, solved two open problems in the physics of black holes...and formalized the proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem in 30 hours."

Fable 5.2 and Mythos 5.2 also generate these outputs 30 percent faster than their 5.1 predecessors and "communicate more clearly" than previous models, Anthropic said.

Pricing for the new models is also lower than their predecessors at $8 per million input tokens and $40 per million output tokens.

Fable 5.2 launches today for all Claude users. The company said that Fable 5.2 has "strong cybersecurity and biology safeguards to guard against misuse," which is why it's available to all users. Mythos 5.2, however, is only available for verified organizations working on cybersecurity or biomedical research.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters or get Mashable push alerts today. 

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.

More people are trying Linux distros these days. Modern desktop environments make Linux easier to use than ever, while offering the freedom and flexibility that Windows users often crave. But there's still one thing that intimidates newcomers: the terminal.

My oldest and my newest eReaders both have something in common: physical page-turn buttons. They may have been released more than a decade apart, but both have buttons built into the device that you can press to turn pages forward and backward. After using my wife's 2024 Kindle, I realized how much I'd miss these buttons if they were gone.

The holiday season is fast approaching, and many of us will be traveling to visit our loved ones. You can make your journeys more fun and less stressful with the right travel accessories.

By the time TikTok creator @wetsloppyswollen got to day eight of Skims' $148 advent calendar, she'd already opened a teddy bear keychain, hair ties, satin scrunchies, and a little foam toy with the Skims logo on it. Day eight was bobby pins, which would have been more of a surprise if day four hadn’t also been bobby pins. As one commenter put it, the whole thing was like a "box of pranks."

SEE ALSO: My favorite Advent calendars for 2026: Shop top picks from Papier, Red Bull, Lego, and more

The Nov. 6 video racked up 65 million views in just three days, and prompted many more shoppers to post their own unboxings. "Terrible!" beauty creator Kayla Ryan cried out to her 1.6 million followers. Some creators are also showing off other brands' advent calendars, like P. Louise and H&M's, to compare.

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By Nov. 8, Kim Kardashian's loungewear and lingerie brand was offering refunds.

"We understand that the calendar didn't meet expectations," a Skims representative told Entertainment Weekly on Nov. 9, adding that the company had contacted everyone who bought the box. Customers can return it for a full refund or keep it and take store credit. Despite the backlash, the advent calendar appears to be sold out — the demand is there. As it always is for Kim.

Though a surprise to many (well, most) purchasers, when Skims first released the box as part of its Holiday Shop on Oct. 29, under the "Fit & Fabric" dropdown page, shoppers could see exactly what was behind each door. Seven of the 12 days were devoted to hair accessories, including two packs of satin scrunchies, two packs of bobby pins, and a pair of headbands made from bra elastic. Four more doors held keychains, including one with a comb and another with a fuzzy compact mirror, and the last item in the mix was the Skims squishy. The original product URL now redirects to the brand's accessories page.

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Nevertheless, disclosure isn't exactly the issue here. On social media, people posted mock unboxings and compared the contents to what they might find under their couch cushions or on the floor of their car. "Not the SHEIN advent calendar being better than skims," wrote one TikTok commenter. Some online are replacing the word "SKIMS" with "SKAMS."

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Some fans and customers defended Kim: Beauty creator Glamzilla argued that the calendar was for "fans of SKIMS" who’d get a kick out of opening a little something from the brand each day. One X user wrote, "Tbh I was mad about it until I saw it’s literally labeled as an accessories advent calendar. They made it very obvious there would be no clothes (all advent calendars are scams imo though)."

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But something that might go over well with a Skims superfan can play very differently on social media, where anyone can watch all 12 doors open and decide for themselves whether the box was worth $148.

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As brands get better at making products people want to unbox on TikTok, they still owe the people who actually buy them a little respect. In this case, that means giving even the most devoted Skims fans something worth getting excited about.

From YouTubers and TikTok stars to streamers and podcasters, Mashable talks to creators about how they built their platforms, the gear they swear by, and the trends they see coming next. Read more of our creator coverage, sign up for our Trending Now and Top Stories newsletters or get Mashable push alerts to discover the internet's most exciting voices. 

Whether you're a longtime Samsung owner or just bought your first Galaxy, you know they're some of the best phones around. That said, they're also packed with bloatware and pre-installed apps that take up storage space, slow things down, and make the app tray a mess. Here are the apps I always uninstall within minutes of unboxing any new Galaxy phone.

On Sunday, chipmaker Nvidia posted an odd press release from its founder and CEO Jensen Huang on its website's newsroom page.

The press release, titled "A Message to Our Company," was also emailed to the company's employees. "I owe my family and all of you an apology. I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry."

Why did Huang, who leads one of the most valuable companies in the world, share this personal information through official corporate communications? It's because the woman he had an affair with has been accused of working as a spy for China, according to reports from the New York Times and the Financial Times.

And this goes beyond just a public relations scandal. With Huang being a leading figure in the AI industry, Nvidia being the major supplier of computing power for the AI boom, and the AI arms race between the U.S. and China, Huang's affair is also an issue of national security.

What we know

The New York Times and the Financial Times reported over the weekend that Jensen Huang had an affair with Alice Huang (no relation), a Chinese citizen and top executive at the Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed, a major purchaser of Nvidia's chips.

According to the outlets, U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Alice Huang had been recruited by China's Ministry of State Security as a spy.

U.S. surveillance of Alice Huang found that she had been in regular communication with an American citizen, who was later identified as Jensen Huang, the founder and CEO of Nvidia, according to the New York Times. The Megaspeed executive reportedly wanted the Nvidia CEO to lobby the Trump administration to loosen chip export controls. Huang reportedly did exactly that.

This discovery was treated as such a high-level national security risk that Secretary of State Marco Rubio himself helped draft a classified memo this spring warning the Trump administration of Huang's relationship with a spy working for China’s top intelligence agency, the New York Times reported.

The company said it has "no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised," per a statement from the company's board of directors posted to the Nvidia website on Sunday. The board also said that it had opened its own independent investigation into the relationship and what did and didn't occur.

The Associated Press reported today that China has denied that Alice Huang works for its government as a spy, calling the accusations a "smear campaign."

What we don't know

Aside from the affair being confirmed by Huang himself, and U.S. intelligence reportedly believing that Alice Huang is a spy for the Chinese government, there's a lot that we don't know.

We still don't know what Jensen Huang knew about Alice Huang, or to what degree he was or was not influenced. We don't know what Nvidia's CEO may have told Alice Huang and what information, if any, was compromised. If information was exchanged, we don't know what was passed to the Chinese government.

In addition, Alice Huang's current whereabouts are completely unknown, according to the Wall Street Journal. She was last confirmed to have been in China in 2024, right around the time U.S. intelligence agencies began investigating her. Pictures from 2025 of the two together surfaced recently, according to the Wall Street Journal.

It's unclear how wide the potential fallout of this international incident will be. Will Jensen Huang be indicted? Will he be forced to step down as CEO of Nvidia? If so, who is next in line to lead the California-based company, which has a current market cap of over $4.2 trillion?

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

So you've won the lottery, and the first thing you do is buy a shiny new graphics card, but what do you do with the old one? Common sense says you should sell it and defray the cost of the new card. However, what if I told you that your old GPU could keep providing value to you, worth more than any money you could get for it?

Save $30: The Nintendo Switch 2 is available for $469 at Woot as of Nov. 9. This deal is scheduled to last through Nov. 30 or until sold out. The console rarely goes on sale and is available for $499 at its full price, making this a 6% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Nintendo Switch 2 $469 at Woot!
$499 Save $30   Get Deal at Woot!

Struggling to get your hands on the Zelda edition of the Switch 2? How about grabbing a discounted Switch 2 instead, weeks ahead of Black Friday?

Yes, you read that right. Nintendo's console rarely goes on sale — and even less so since its $50 price hike in September — yet Woot is offering the Nintendo Switch 2 brand new and on sale for $469. That's a $30 price drop from the usual $499, putting it a bit closer to its former $449 list price. Admittedly, it's not a huge discount, but again, it's also not a very common one. According to the price tracker camelcamelcamel, the console dropped in price a grand total of zero times since its price hike.

For comparison, at the time of writing, the Switch 2 is holding firm at $499 at Amazon and Best Buy.

Going into my fifth year covering Black Friday at Mashable, I can confidently say that gaming console deals can be a tricky one during the shopping holiday. A lot of folks wait until sales kick off to grab deals, meaning if there is an impressive price drop, it sells out fast. I would expect that song and dance to be even more competitive during the year of RAMaggedon.

In other words, sneaking in and grabbing some savings ahead of time on a truly excellent console is a great way to go this holiday season. Just make sure to grab it while supplies last, or before Nov. 30 when the deal expires if stock is still available.

The year may be coming to a close, but that doesn't mean your Netflix watch list has to go through a drought of exciting titles. This November, the streaming platform's release schedule is packed with thrillers, classics, and more, offering variety before the holidays hit.

It’s no secret that the iPhone Duo launch has been plagued with issues. However, a nasty screen defect is far from the only reason why people are unhappy with Apple’s first foldable phone. The complaints go beyond the surface.

Get your Kohl's Cash ready: the Black Friday Kohl's ad scan is here.

Here's what you need to know: Kohl's savings event starts Nov. 22 both in stores and online, five days before the actual day of Black Friday on Nov. 27. While the sale runs through Monday, Nov. 30, shoppers can save up to 50% off, plus an extra 20% off with coupons. And because it's Kohl's, shoppers are also able to earn $15 of Kohl's Cash for every $50 spent.

SEE ALSO: Everything to know about Black Friday 2026: Best deals, sale dates, how to shop smart, and more

Across their catalog, there will be deals on apparel, electronics, kitchen appliances, toys and games, beauty products, and even vacuums. Looking for a preview on what to shop? We have you covered.

Note: Kohl's hasn't confirmed specifically what will be on sale in some categories. Products with a 🔍 emoji are ones we hope to see go on sale (or receive a better deal than it has currently) within confirmed product categories. All other products have been announced officially as deals.

Best beauty deal Opens in a new window Credit: Shark Shark CryoGlow 🔍 $349.99 at Kohl's
  Get Deal at Kohl's Why we like it

The Shark CryoGlow is Mashable's favorite red light mask, period. While pricey (as a red light mask is wont to be), it is one of the more accessible options in a product category that can easily run into the $450 plus category. Still, we recommend picking it up on Black Friday because it doesn't go on sale often, so this it is one of the best times to buy it. Treat yourself or a loved one with a mask that can emit blue, red, and infrared light, work on well as acne as it does anti-aging, offer a soothing under eye experience with the chilling pads, and generally be extremely easy to use.

More beauty deals

Shark Beauty will be available for up to 30% on select styles. Coupons will not apply.

• Shark Depuffi — $199.99 🔍

• Shark SilkiPro Wet to Dry hair straightener — $249.99 🔍

• Shark FlexStyle — $299.99 🔍

• Shark FacialPro Glow — $399.99 🔍

Best kitchen deal Opens in a new window Credit: Ninja Ninja Slushi XL $299.99 at Kohl's
$349.99 Save $50   Get Deal at Kohl's Why we like it

Easy frosé year round? Cola slushies on-demand? Say less. We tested the original Ninja Slushi, and it can deliver on slush-ifying nearly any drink (as long as it contains sugar). This XL version isn't on sale until Black Friday, but the $50 price cut it's slated to receive makes it an easy get for any frozen drink fiends, whether it be for a gift or for adding a little extra something to your holiday gatherings. The deal doesn't stop there, either – in addition to the price cut, a purchase of the Ninja Slushi XL comes with $75 of Kohl's Cash.

More kitchen and home deals

Select kitchen appliances will be up to 50% off, plus an additional 20% off with coupon.

• Bissell Little Green mini cordless vacuum — $69.99 $129.99 (save $60)

• Cuisinart Hot and Iced Brew Coffee Center 2-in-1 coffeemaker — $99.99 $229.99 (save $130, plus additional 20% off with coupon, and earn $15 Kohl's Cash)

• Ninja Crispi — $159.99 $179.99 (save $20) 🔍

• KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer (5 quart) — $349.99 $499.99 (save $150) 🔍

Best tech deal Opens in a new window Credit: Beats Beats Pill $129.99 at Kohl's
$149.99 Save $20   Get Deal at Kohl's Why we like it

The Beats Pill is Mashable's favorite Bluetooth speaker to grab on sale, and though it's $20 off at the time of writing, we suggest waiting until Kohl's Black Friday deals properly arrive. Why? Well, this speaker is almost never at its full price, so the $129 sale price is the more accurate list price. We're betting on the Black Friday savings to bring it more down to below $110 or even $100. The speaker itself has a sleek look, great room filling sound, and actually works well to make calls on thanks to the built-in mic.

More tech deals

Select electronics will be on sale for up to 50% for online products only.

• JBL Clip 5 — $79.99 🔍

• Victrola Re-Spin suitcase record player — $99.99 🔍

• Beats Studio Pro — $249.99 $399.99 (save $50) 🔍

• Garmin vívoactive 6 Smartwatch — $299.99 🔍

Toy and games deals

• Tonies Playtime Puppy Toniebox 2 starter set — $99.99 $149.99 (save $50)

• Save up to 40% on select Lego sets

Raanan Hershberg is a comic’s comic, known for sharp, long-form premises, ruthless self-awareness, and a distinct refusal to bend entirely to the internet’s whims. Over years grinding through the New York stand-up scene, making specials like Brave and Jokes from the Underground, and co-hosting Your Favorite Movie Sucks, he has built a reputation for comedy that digs into the messy, uncomfortable gray areas of modern life.

In this in-depth conversation, Hershberg sits down to discuss the development of his latest hour, Did You Like Me?, the modern reality of social media virality, and why protecting your artistic integrity matters more than ever.

In this episode, Hershberg takes a sobering look back at early 2000s "punching-down" material, the guilt of edgy comedy, and turning domestic arguments into sharper, honest material.

Hershberg then dives into the illusion of truth in stand-up, why audiences naturally suspend disbelief, how breaking the fourth wall creates bigger laughs, and the art of admitting when a joke is a lie.

Hershberg also addresses the dreaded algorithm trap: why chasing short viral clips compromises a comic’s voice, the line between smart promotion and writing for social media, and why virality often comes from people completely misunderstanding the joke.

Catch Raanan Hershberg performing his hour Did You Like Me? live at the 2026 New York Comedy Festival and watch his specials—including his award-winning short film Memory Room—available now on YouTube.

Follow Raanan Hershberg:

• Instagram: @raanancomedy

• Tickets & Tour Dates: punchup.live/raanan/tickets

• Podcast: Your Favorite Movie Sucks

I spend a good chunk of my day in a browser, jumping between research, source-checking, writing in a CMS, and keeping up with emails. Chrome has been my home base for years, so switching browsers wasn't exactly something I was looking to do.

After a record-breaking theatrical run over the summer, The Odyssey will finally be available to watch at home this month. You'll still have to wait a bit to stream it, but dedicated fans can purchase the film at digital on-demand retailers soon.

How to watch 'The Odyssey' at a glance: Watch on Nov. 17 Preorder The Odyssey' on Prime Video $19.99 Shop Now Watch on Nov. 17 Preorder 'The Odyssey' at Apple TV $19.99 Shop Now Watch on Nov. 17 Preorder 'The Odyssey' on Fandango $19.99 Shop Now Watch later Peacock Premium yearly subscription $129.99/year (save $25.89) Get Deal Watch later Peacock Premium for Students and Young Adults $6.99/month for 12 months (save $6/month) Get Deal Watch later Peacock Premium for First Responders and Medical Professionals $7.99/month (save $5/month) Get Deal Watch later Peacock Premium for Active Military and Veterans $7.99/month (save $5/month) Get Deal Watch later Peacock Premium for Teachers $7.99/month (save $5/month) Get Deal Watch later Instacart+ (includes Peacock Premium for free) $99.99/year (save $129.99/year) Get Deal Watch later Walmart+ (includes Peacock Premium for free) $98/year (save $129.99/year) Get Deal

Raking in $626 million domestically and $1.8 billion globally, Christopher Nolan's adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic poem became his highest-grossing film of all time, as well as Universal Pictures'. Mashable Entertainment Reporter Belen Edwards called it "nothing short of masterful" in her review. Other critics and audiences alike have raved about it (it currently holds a 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes). I can't say I'm surprised, though. With an all-star cast that features Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, John Lenguizamo, and Charlize Theron, it was bound to be a cinematic phenomenon.

Check out the official trailer below.

The beloved adaptation is set to return to IMAX screens in December for those who want to experience it again in its full glory, but if you don't want to wait, you can catch it from your couch starting Nov. 17. Here are all the streaming details you need to know to watch The Odyssey.

How to watch The Odyssey at home Credit: Universal Pictures

The Odyssey will be available to watch at home this month. You can preorder at Amazon, Fandango, or Apple TV. If you can wait a little longer, it will also be streaming. See all the details below.

Buy or rent it on digital

The Odyssey is set to make its digital debut on Nov. 17, 2026. This means you can buy the movie from on-demand retailers for $19.99 (or likely rent it for around $14.99).

Here are some quick links to preorder the film on digital. Note that these prices will likely drop a few weeks after its digital debut.

• Apple TV — preorder for $19.99

• Fandango — preorder for $19.99

• Prime Video — preorder for $19.99

When and where is The Odyssey streaming?

While no specific streaming date has officially been announced, we can make an educated guess that The Odyssey will make its streaming debut on Peacock in February. We'll update this story with the latest information once it's revealed.

Christopher Nolan’s last film, the Oscar-winning Oppenheimer, debuted on digital exactly four months after its theatrical release. The Odyssey has followed its exact same timeline so far. If it follows a similar streaming schedule as well, the director's latest epic will hit Peacock in early February 2027.

The best Peacock streaming deals

Peacock subscriptions start at $8.99, but the cheapest tier won't grant you access to theatrical releases. Instead, you'll need at least Peacock Premium to watch The Odyssey when it's released. A Premium subscription will run you $12.99 per month. Fortunately, there are a few different ways you can save some money on a subscription, which we've rounded up below.

Best Peacock deal: Save up to $39 on an annual subscription Opens in a new window Credit: Peacock Peacock Premium annual subscription $129.99 per year or $199.99 per year (save 17%) Get Deal

The best way to save money on a streaming subscription on any given day is by opting for the annual plan instead of the monthly plan. Paying for a year of Peacock Premium or Premium Plus up front saves you up to $39.89 per year.

Peacock Premium (with ads) costs $12.99 monthly, which adds up to $155.88 for 12 months. If you pay for the annual plan, however, it'll only cost you $129.99 — a savings of $25.89. Likewise, the Premium Plus plan costs $19.99 per month, which adds up to $239.88. The annual plan, on the other hand, costs just $199.99 — a savings of $39.89. You'll essentially be getting two months of streaming for free by opting for an annual subscription.

Best Peacock deal for Xfinity customers: Free Peacock Premium for eligible accounts Opens in a new window Credit: Peacock / Xfinity Peacock Premium Free for select Xfinity customers Learn More

Free is our favorite price. If you're an Xfinity customer and have yet to check if you get Peacock for free, I highly recommend heading to Xfinity.com for more details. Here's a brief breakdown:

• Xfinity Internet customers who are Diamond or Platinum Xfinity Rewards members can get Peacock Premium for free by redeeming a reward for it. Sign in at xfinity.com/rewards and choose Peacock as a reward. Then, wait for your email (it may take a few hours) with instructions on activating the offer.

• NOW TV customers can also receive Peacock Premium as part of their service.

• New customers with Xfinity Internet and an X1 TV Box, Flex streaming TV Box, or a Xumo Stream Box from Xfinity can get Peacock Premium for free for six months.

Best Peacock deal for students and young adults: Save $6/month Opens in a new window Credit: Peacock Peacock Premium for Students $6.99/month (save $6/month) Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: Peacock Peacock Premium for young adults $6.99/month for 12 months (save $6/month) Get Deal

Both students and young adults (ages 18 to 24) can slash $6 per month off a Peacock Premium subscription all year long. Verify your student status or age through SheerID and generate a unique promo code to knock the price down to just $6.99 instead of $12.99. You can renew the offer yearly if you still meet the criteria, but you may have to prove verify your student status or age each time.

Best for first responders, medical professionals, military, and teachers: Save $5/month Opens in a new window Credit: Peacock Peacock Premium for First Responders and Medical Professionals $7.99 per month (save $5 per month) Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: Peacock Peacock Premium for Military $7.99 per month (save $5 per month) Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: Peacock Peacock Premium for Teachers $7.99/month (save $5 per month) Get Deal

First responders, medical professionals, teachers, and military personnel can all unlock Peacock Premium subscriptions (with ads) for a discounted rate of $7.99 per month by verifying professional status through SheerID. If you continue to meet the verification qualifications, then you can renew your subscription at a discounted rate each year. Prices are subject to change.

Best for Instacart users: Free Peacock Premium with Instacart+ subscription Opens in a new window Credit: Instacart / Peacock Peacock Premium annual subscription Free for Instacart+ subscribers (save $129.99/year) Get Deal

An Instacart+ membership ($99 per year) unlocks a free Peacock Premium subscription ($129.99 per year value) on top of free grocery delivery, lower fees, and credit back on eligible pickup orders. You'll even get a free two-week trial to kick things off. The cost of Instacart+ is already a better deal than Peacock Premium for the year.

Pro tip: Sign up for your trial of Instacart+ when The Odyssey debuts on Peacock so you can watch it for free. Just be sure to cancel before you're charged the full amount. Setting a calendar alert is highly recommended.

Best for Walmart shoppers: Free Peacock Premium for Walmart+ members Opens in a new window Credit: Walmart Walmart+ $98 per year Get Deal

A Walmart+ membership is one of the best ways to score streaming services for free. A $98 Walmart+ subscription unlocks either Peacock Premium or Paramount+ Essential as a free perk — and you can switch every few months. Since Peacock Premium is a $129.99 value, the $98 Walmart+ membership is already a better deal than paying for Peacock on its own. With Walmart+, you'll also get free shipping with no order minimums, fuel discounts, a Scan & Go checkout tool, and early access to deals during Walmart's major shopping events.

My husband and I can’t seem to agree on one thing whenever we’re in the car: the infotainment interface. He’s firmly on Team CarPlay, while I prefer Android Auto and keep finding reasons to defend it. I use it for Google Maps and Spotify on almost every drive, so I notice even the small things that could improve the experience. I’ve often wished Google would refresh the interface instead of making us stick with the same familiar layout.

Nintendo appears to have made the right call in remaking The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Switch 2, at least from a hearts-and-minds perspective.

The visually resplendent remake, which hit store shelves last week, has already set two records on Metacritic in just a few days. For starters, it has the highest aggregate score (96 out of 100) of any game to be released in 2026 so far. That was established when reviews went up a week ago, though, so it's not necessarily news at this point. However, as Forbes noted, Ocarina for Switch 2 has achieved another gaudy Metacritic milestone: It's now the highest-rated game by user scores in the site's history, with an all-time record score of 9.6 out of 10.

SEE ALSO: 6 good, bad, and weird changes in 'The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time' for Switch 2

For reference, the original Ocarina of Time for Nintendo 64 is the highest-rated game by critics in the history of Metacritic, with a score of 99 out of 100, a record it's held for a long time.

More than 8,750 users have submitted scores for Ocarina on Metacritic, so that score isn't necessarily being affected by a small sample size. It should absolutely be noted and emphasized that Metacritic does not require a verification of purchase for a user to submit a review score, so it's theoretically possible that some people are adding numbers to the mix in either direction without having played the game.

The Ocarina remake has also only been in the general public's hands for a little more than four days at the time of publication, so these takes are coming in piping hot, and people could change their minds over time.

We also would be remiss not to mention that Grand Theft Auto VI launches on Nov. 19, so there's a chance (albeit a small one) that Ocarina doesn't sit atop the user review throne for very long.

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