Category: News

Basking in the luxury of all-inclusive resorts, indulging in Michelin-starred restaurants, and flying first class all sound great — downright fantastic, even — but the reality is that luxury travel is not always accessible to the masses. Most of us are, sadly, doing our balling on a budget. While The White Lotus-worthy hotels may not be the location of your next big trip, that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on valuable travel opportunities.

In fact, some of the most memorable adventures require the least amount of money. Just ask all the travel writers out there who started in the industry by bumming around in vans and sleeping at hostels.

Fortunately, there are a variety of ways to save a buck while on the road. So we turned to our own team of travel writers and influencers to get their take on the best ways to travel on a budget. Read on for their best money-saving hacks, from cost-friendly meals to unexpected hotel tips.

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CHLOE CALDWELL (@chloeicaldwell) — TRAVEL IN THE OFF-SEASON

One of my favorite budget hacks is traveling to a destination during its off-season. Hotels and flights are usually more affordable in the shoulder season (just before or after high season), so you can get better deals on your whole trip. I personally like traveling during this time anyway. While you may not have perfect weather throughout your stay, there are often fewer crowds of tourists and therefore more opportunities to experience the local offerings, reserve the best restaurants in town, and get those vacation snapshots without people in the background of your photos.

BONUS: The locals are much friendlier when they’re not inundated with guests.

STEVE BRAMUCCI — (@steve_bramucci) — “CAMP” AT THE HOSTEL

Back when I was really a full-on budget backpacker, I used to always travel with my tent. And while I’ve camped in plenty of open fields and along roads, the best setup was often camping at a hostel. It was always a situation where whoever was behind the desk had seen it done a few times — so they knew it was okay — but the hostels never really knew what to charge.

I remember camping on the roof of a hostel in Jerusalem’s Old City for $3. I had access to their wifi, bathrooms, shared spaces, and woke up to some of the best sunrises of my entire life. The week before I’d been reviewing a 5-Star hotel that I could see from my “campsite” and I promise: I liked the latter scenario better.

BONUS: Your innovative situation will make it fun and easy to meet other travelers.

EMILY HART (@emilyventures) — MAKE A CAR SLEEPING PLATFORM

Social media has romanticized van life as a way to travel the country in a simple and free manner. But with converted sprinter vans regularly costing upwards of 100k, the “simple” life isn’t quite budget friendly for most of us. So when I decided to travel the west on my own I decided to convert my SUV instead. A simple sleeping platform in an SUV can cost just around $100 for supplies –- a few YouTube videos later and you have your own adventure mobile.

With my own sleeping platform, I was able to travel thousands of miles without worrying about where I would sleep for the night or if I had the energy to pitch a tent. I made window covers with inexpensive sun shades and velcro and added some mattress pads and storage under the platform –- creating an incredibly budget-friendly way to explore.

BONUS: You don’t have the constant “what if my $100K van gets broken into” fear that so many van lifers grapple with.

ALI WUNDERMAN (@aliwunderman) — BOOK A PRIVATE ROOM AT A HOSTEL

My favorite budget travel hack is booking a private room at a hostel. You get the perk of privacy, space, and most of all a quiet(er) atmosphere, with all the benefits of a hostel. You can enjoy a communal kitchen, connect with fellow adventurers, and spend minimal bucks on a place to stay all without having to pretend no one is having sex in a bunk above you.

That’s why I always stay at Old House Hostel in San Ignacio, Belize!

BONUS: You’re hanging with the cool kids but you have space to spread out.

ZACH JOHNSTON (@ztpwhiskey) — EAT FALAFEL

The falafel is the best budget meal for every traveler. It’s always under $5. It’s plant-based, filling, and a one-hander. Falafel is almost everywhere budget travelers go. Plus, it’s good for a “recovery” meal.

BONUS: Street food is generally the cleanest, safest food you can get in a city. The food under warmers at tourist traps is far more likely to be bacteria-ridden.

JANICE WILLIAMS (@browngirl_drinkswine) — PACK YOUR WINE

If you’ve ever visited wine country anywhere, then you know that the best bottles aren’t at duty-free shops. Sure, you’ll find the Ouzo you couldn’t stop drinking in Mykonos at the Athens airport, but those bottles of Assyrtiko and Xinomavro you enjoyed at that cute little taverna in Santorini won’t be found there. So how do you get those delicious wines home? Simple: stow the bottles away in your checked bag by rolling them up in your jeans. Denim is an incredibly durable fabric and can make for heavy-duty wrapping paper when transporting your favorite wines back home. The sturdy material keeps bottles from moving around and ruining the sweet juice inside while also acting as a barrier between everything else that may clash in your bag during travel. Just don’t do this with sparkling wine. Even denim can’t protect your suitcase from the explosive aftermath of bubbles interacting with air pressure.

BONUS: Feeling bold? Roll that carry-on up to the desk without divulging that you have wine (liquid) inside. Then say you have no bags to check “unless you want to check my carryon for free to save cabin space.” In my experience, people will agree to this 9/10 times.

MIKALA LUGAN (@miklugen) — BRING YOUR OWN SNACK

If you’re a snacker like me, then food is everything while traveling. While we all know you can’t bring drinks through TSA, many people don’t know that you can bring your own snacks. I always bring a couple of small bags of chips, candy, and protein bars, anything non-perishable through security with me. You’ll often pay twice or three times as much for snacks in the airport, so this saves you quite a bit of money to combat those hungry feelings on your flight.

BONUS: If those snacks are from your most recent destination and supported a street vendor or local while giving you one more chance to savor food from the place you visited… well, that’s really next level.

The 1975 is currently on tour in London after a run of US shows that found frontman Matty Healy keeping the band’s shows weird with antics like getting tattoos and devouring raw meat onstage. The tour has also seen its fair share of surprise guests, which included Phoebe Bridgers and Jack Antonoff. But they apparently saved one of the biggest surprises for the European phase of their tour, where Antonoff’s frequent collaborator Taylor Swift joined them onstage at the O2 Arena, singing an acoustic version of the band’s 2012 Facedown EP single “The City.”

She kicked things up a notch by singing one of her own hit songs live for the first time: Midnights standout “Anti-Hero,” which brought a rousing singalong from the crowd.

Swift’s only other live performance of any music from Midnights was in October 2022, when she also joined Bon Iver onstage — again in London, albeit this time at the OVO Arena Wembley — to sing “Exile,” their collaboration from 2020’s Folklore. At the time, Justin Vernon gushed that she is “the most talented person in the world,” a compliment she was quick to return.

Throughout late 2022, it was rumored that Swift had collaborated with The 1975 on Midnights — rumors that Healy himself shot down before later confirming that their collaboration had been vaulted. Meanwhile, her appearance at their concert will likely only fuel fan fervor for the unheard collaboration. Until they decide to release that, though, you can check out fan videos of Taylor at O2 Arena above.

Rick and Morty co-creator and star Justin Roiland appeared on Thursday in an Orange County court for a hearing related to two felony charges, which are based upon an alleged January 2020 incident. Roiland has pleaded not guilty to both charges, including domestic battery and false imprisonment, and he awaits a separate pre-trial hearing with further trial details pending.

As Variety reports, a Jane Doe, who wishes to remain anonymous, had been dating Roiland at the time of the alleged incident, and NBC News follows up with word that this case has already passed through at least a dozen hearings with Roiland continuing (since October 2020) to plead not guilty. In particular, the false imprisonment charge carries “menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit” language with most of the case’s court records maintaining a sealed status, but NBC News brings the available details:

[T]he available public documents seen by NBC News say Roiland was charged in May 2020. Roiland was arrested and released on a $50,000 bond in August 2020 and arraigned in October 2020.

A protective order filed in October 2020 and documented in the court minutes said Roiland is not to harass, threaten or surveil the person named in the protective order, who is not known to NBC News. Roiland cannot go within 100 feet of the person, according to the order, which also ordered Roiland to turn in any firearms he owned or possessed. The order lasts until October 2023.

As NBC News notes, representatives for Warner Bros. Discovery (owner of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, which ordered up 70 more episodes of Rick and Morty back in 2018) has “declined to comment” on the charges against Roiland. He’s been ordered back to court on April 27 for the next pre-trial hearing.

(Via Variety & NBC News)

This article originally appeared on 07.28.15

“Vocal Fry” is a term for the glottal, creaking sound of lower-register speech oscillation.

You know, like that raspy Zooey-Deschanel-type thing where your voice has that little “GuUuUuUuUuUuUuUh” crackle, instead of the smooth, consistent “Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.”

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That really didn’t help at all, huh?

OK, it’s this:

We’ve noticed women using “vocal fry” for a while now…

A scientific study was reported in a 2011 issue of Science magazine that’s generally credited with adding the phrase “vocal fry” into the popular lexicon. Before this point, according to the magazine, apparently vocal fry did not exist, although Britney Spears anachronistically employed it in the first line of her debut single, “Baby One More Time” all the way back in 1998. And she wasn’t the only pop star to do so.

The study from Science purported that women are often different than men (groundbreaking!), and thus, women talked less good with their mouth-sounds. (I’m paraphrasing, but that was the gist.) (Please excuse my rolling eyes.)

Specifically, vocal fry was said to be a trend among college-aged women of a certain social standing. “Young students tend to use it when they get together. Maybe this is a social link between members of a group,” noted one female researcher.

…but recently it’s been recognized that us dudes have been getting in on the action for a while too.

All right, guys! We’re finally getting closer to true gender parity! But the question remains: How come no one noticed that men have been using vocal fry for years?

“This American Life” host Ira Glass recently admitted that he uses vocal fry. But in a conversation with Chana Jaffe-Walt (who is not a dude), Glass also admitted that no one notices his vocal fry. And it’s not that no one notices — women are criticized for using vocal fry while men have been getting away with it for years.

“I get criticized for a lot of things in the emails to the show,” Glass said. “No one has ever pointed this out.”

Noted academic and anarcho-syndicalist advocate Noam Chomsky has also been known to employ vocal fry (presumably as a means of dismantling capitalism). Chomsky certainly has his detractors, but none of them seem to take issue with his vocal quality either. And even The Hairpin noted over 6 years ago that male vocal fry has become “a thing.”

In reality, associating the vocal fry trend only with women — both in practice and in naming — is a really just another way of trying to define gender roles.

It’s certainly interesting to observe the trends in human social interactions in the same way we observe a pack of wild capuchin monkeys. But the way that vocal fry gained traction in popular culture was, well, kind of weird.

After that Science magazine article came out, women were suddenly being judged for the supposedly abrasive way in which they spoke when they used vocal fry, even though both women and men had probably been talking that way since well before 2011.

There are many legitimate reasons — beyond gender — for why a person might develop vocal fry.

The simple truth is that vocal fry is just one way that people talk, regardless of their gender. Some people employ it as a means of being heard, as differentiating their voices from the rest of the masses. Other people really do just talk that way!

And it’s another example of the way we treat women like Goldilocks (“This one’s too sexy, and this one’s too prude, and…”). If a woman uses a higher register to speak, then it’s classified as ditzy, valley-girl uptalk. If a woman uses her lower register, it’s vocal fry. If she speaks in the middle (modal range), her words often get lost entirely.

Maybe, just maybe, we should all try to worry less about the way people speak (or dress or…) and instead try to actually listen to and hear what they’re saying.

So vocal fry? Don’t vocal fry? Do what you want! Because if our crappy earbud headphones have taught us anything, it’s that content matters more than the quality of delivery.

This article originally appeared on 4.4.13

This is short, but it definitely packs a punch.

Be sure to pay close attention from 1:34 to 2:06; it’s like equal parts “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and “Econ 101.”

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And nearly 10 years after it first premiered, the message remains as powerful as when we first shared it.

Watch the full video below:

This article originally appeared on 05.22.15

This is not news: America does pretty badly when it goes up against other countries academically.

This is true even if we take it one state at a time—no single state, no matter how wealthy or small, matches the top scoring countries. And yet, the U.S. spends more per student than many other countries in the world.

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In the image at the top, each state is mapped to a country that had similar scores on the Program for International Student Assessment, an international test of mathematical reasoning given to 15-year-olds. The top 15 countries are in purple. No, there isn’t any purple on this map.

Reporter Amanda Ripley wanted to figure out why U.S. education outcomes are so mediocre.

She started asking random people what they thought and she followed up on their ideas. The same theories came up over and over: People blamed poverty and diversity for the difference between U.S. students and students everywhere else. But when Ripley dug into the numbers, she discovered that, while those are factors, they don’t fully explain the difference.

No adult could give her a satisfactory answer, so she went to the experts: kids.

Kids spend more time in school than anyone. They’ve got strong opinions about school. They have opinions on what is working.

She talked to the only students who could have firsthand knowledge of the differences between schools in top-performing countries and those in the U.S.: American kids who were exchange students in those countries.

She surveyed hundreds of exchange students and found three major points that they all agreed on.

The students all said that in their host countries:

1. School is harder. There’s less homework but the material is more rigorous. People take education more seriously, from selecting the content to selecting the teachers.
2. Sports are just a hobby. In the U.S., sports are a huge distraction from the business of school, but that’s not the case in other countries.
3. Kids believe there’s something in it for them. The students in other countries deeply believe that what they are doing in school affects how interesting their lives were going to be. Even if they don’t like a class, they see their education as a stepping stone to their future.

To hear more from these amazing kids (and a great story about how an education reporter managed to take an international standardized test), check out the video from PopTech below:

Since Vince McMahon’s shock return to the WWE last week to help lead the sale of the worldwide leader in sports entertainment, potential suitors rumored to be interested have ranged from Disney, to Amazon, to Saudi Arabia, to even The Rock. The latest potential buyer is a doozy, with Shad and Tony Khan — owners of WWE’s primary rival, All Elite Wrestling — said to be among those interested in the company according to Barron’s.

The news comes less than a week following a report from the Wall Street Journal that “unless (Vince McMahon) has direct involvement as executive chairman from the outset of a strategic review, he won’t support or approve any media-rights deal or sale.” The move essentially holds WWE from negotiating television deals for its flagship programs, Raw or Smackdown, as well as his apparent goal of selling the company unless he is directly involved.

That led to Vince’s official return to WWE’s board of directors and Stephanie McMahon’s nearly immediate resignation from the company. In the days that followed, rumors swirled that Saudi Arabia was finalizing a deal to acquire WWE, but those reports were premature. Barron’s reports that an offer from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, which backs the golf league LIV, is “more likely” than a purchase by the Khans considering WWE’s presence in the country and its ongoing 10-year deal for premium live events.

Over the years, only a select few evil inanimate companions have really made a name for themselves. We’ve got Chucky, your classic, run-of-the-mill evil soul trapped in some polyester overalls. He’s got a knife, which is fun, and he ruled that specific niche horror subgenre for a good twenty-thirty years.

But then Annabelle entered the mix, with her elegant nightgown and cute braids that were much too large for her little possessed head. And for years, this is how society functioned: the two dolls living in harmony. Whenever one got too much of a big head, they would be humbled by another subpar spinoff. They would never really interact, only sometimes referencing each other from a distance. And that’s how it was supposed to be! Things were quiet, nice even….until M3gan came along this year.

If Chucky and Annabelle were the Snapchat starlets, M3gan is the Instagram social media influencer of your haunted doll dreams. She gossips, sings, murders in cold blood, and even has a dance routine that has been replicated all over the world (it’s been a slow week). And she knows it! To celebrate her continued success, M3gan decided to do a Reddit AMA. Not to be mean, but Chucky has not done one of those yet, which is probably for the best.

Most of the questions revolved around the haunted dolls that came before her, which M3gan is not a fan of. She, after all, is a robot, not a doll, so she has the power of computers on her side. She might even be a descendant of R2D2, we will never really know. But one thing is for sure: she does not want to be associated with those other guys.

When asked about her thoughts on Chucky, M3gan, seemingly with no media training whatsoever, called out the little guy:

like many middle aged white males whose souls are stuck in the body of an 80s toy, chucky has trouble accepting that technology has come a long way and i’ve been created to rid the waste of anyone who gets in the way or is a threat to my besties

When Gen Z robots don’t use capitalization, that’s how you know they are serious!

M3gan also doesn’t really think that Annabelle should get a pass either, even though she doesn’t really move or do stuff besides look scary. According to M3gan: “Annabelle never moves, so i wouldn’t have to really lift a finger against her and chucky is old, so i’d just go right for his pacemaker.”

As for who she does like, M3gan has a soft spot for chaotic women: “Lydia tár’s beautiful, talented and completely unhinged. what’s not to like?” It’s so nice seeing women celebrate each other instead of tearing each other down. THIS IS CINEMA!!

While the wait for Saweetie‘s debut album Pretty Bitch Music drags on, she keeps expanding the other parts of her portfolio. After wrapping up a recurring role on Freeform’s Grown-ish, she’s adding another acting credit to her resume, making a cameo appearance in the upcoming second season of Peacock’s dramatic Fresh Prince reboot, Bel Air, according to Variety. She’ll appear as herself on the show, although the report doesn’t state in what capacity she’ll be crossing paths with Jabari Banks ’ Will Smith, Olly  Sholotan‘s Carlton Banks, or Coco Jones’ Hilary Banks (fingers crossed for a star-crossed romance with Jordan L. Jones ’ Jazz).

Although Saweetie has delayed the release of her album numerous times, there have been a few hints that it could be dropping this year. During a recent live stream with fans, the Bay Area rapper previewed a new song with single potential, “Icy Girl, Icy World,” which is based on Aqua’s 1997 hit “Barbie Girl.” And although her EP The Single Life supposedly underperformed — which is hard to tell without knowing what it was expected to sell in the first place — it definitely generated some buzz thanks to its coincidental release in close proximity to Quavo’s “Messy” verse seemingly referencing their relationship and her rumored connection to Lil Baby. While she denied that her single “Don’t Say Nothin’” was a response, the possibility that she might address those rumors on PBM keeps it firmly in the running for one of 2023’s most anticipated albums.

LeBron James will pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the top spot on the NBA’s all-time scoring list later this season, as he is 422 points shy at the moment. Given that James is averaging 29.1 points per game, he should break the record in the next 14-17 games (meaning right after the All-Star break).

Once LeBron passes Kareem, he figures to tack a bunch more onto that total given his stated goal is to play at least one season alongside his son, Bronny. That likely means he pushes close to or beyond 40,000 career points, setting what was once considered an unbreakable record even further out of reach. However, given the offensive explosion in the NBA and the prevalence of the three-point shot and 30-plus point scoring nights, it’s possible someone tracks down James if they can match his incredible longevity.

That is the part of the equation that’s going to be most difficult to manage, which is why Kareem’s record stood as long as it did. Playing into your late 30s or 40s at that level is unheard of for a variety of reasons. Some challengers to the scoring record, like, say, Kevin Durant — currently just under 12,000 points behind Abdul-Jabbar — have missed such substantial time with injuries that, even as he goes into his mid-30s as a 30-point per game scorer, he just has too much ground to make up.

Others simply don’t want to play that long. When looking at younger players that could challenge James’ record, Luka Doncic stands out because of how quickly he’s established himself as one of the NBA’s elite scorers, already piling up over 8,000 points in just over four seasons. However, don’t expect Luka to stick around nearly as long as James, as he has his eyes set on early retirement on a farm in Slovenia, as he told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

“If you’re saying me, there’s no way,” Doncic said before the question was even asked, “because I’m not playing that much.”

…

“I don’t know about 20 years,” Doncic said after a 32-point, nine-rebound, nine-assist performance in a home win over James’ Lakers that afternoon. “That’s a long time to play basketball. I’d rather go back to my farm in Slovenia.”

It’s a tremendous quote from Doncic, and a friendly reminder that not everyone wants to play the game forever. Doncic might change his tune as he starts to approach his mid-30s, but he also could just walk away from the game. He’ll have made a fortune playing basketball by the time he’s been in the league for 12 years, much less 15-plus, and if he wants he can happily shut it down and enjoy some solitude on the farm rather than continuing to get his body ready for the NBA schedule.