You wear extra chunky sweaters. You’ve never met a mitten you didn’t like. You may even keep a lap blanket at work.
You’re one of those people who is always cold. And you are not alone.
— (@)
Inside or outside, you just can’t seem to get warm. This characteristic of yours manifests itself in extra blankets, wild heating bills, and enough complaints that you start going hoarse.
But surely there’s a scientific reason as to why some people are always cold, right?
It can’t just be random chance that has doomed you to a life of perpetual shivers. I reached out to an expert to learn more.
Dr. Christopher Minson is a professor in the department of human physiology at the University of Oregon. One of his primary research interests is thermoregulation, that’s how the brain and body interact and adapt as we heat and cool. Plainly put, he is the perfect guy to answer a few questions from #TeamCold.
(This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.)
Upworthy (UP): So what is actually happening in the body when a person gets chilly?
Dr. Chris Minson (CM): In the simplest of terms, feeling either cold or warm means that the temperature “set point” of the body is being challenged by thermal inputs throughout the body, including in the brain, the blood, the spinal cord, our organs, our muscles, and our skin. Part of our brain collects all of those thermal inputs and essentially compares them to what body temperature it wants to hold. So if your skin temperature is lowered, even though the rest of your body is still at a comfortable set-point, you will feel cold — in some cases, cold enough to make behavioral changes like putting on a sweater.
UP: Is there a reason this seems to largely impact women?
CM: The people who feel “always cold” will typically have lower muscle mass relative to body surface area (typically, women and older people). Their actual body core temperature may not really be below normal, but they feel cold because their body is telling them to conserve heat.
There have also been limited reports that women have a higher density of blood vessels at the skin surface, which would make them more sensitive to cold. However, there hasn’t been enough good data collected on this theory to confirm or disprove it.
This also explains a frequent frustrations about women and men in relationships…
CM: A common complaint by women and men in relationships is that women’s feet are often very cold, especially in bed. That goes along with the lower body mass to surface area relationship in women. As their body works to conserve heat, it vasoconstricts blood vessels in the extremities (hands and feet) to keep the core warm. This reduced blood flow results in cold hands and feet in women more than men.
So there you have it: Your brain is simply an overworked project manager trying to keep you alive. But there are a few things you can do about it.
UP: If you are a person who is always cold, is there anything you can do to “retrain” your body, so to speak?
CM: One of the best things someone can do is to increase their fat-free mass (muscle). This will increase overall metabolic rate (although it’s not easy to do.)
Another thing a person could do is undergo cold-stresses, such as allowing themselves to be exposed to very cold temperatures for short periods of time. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s been suggested that this could decrease the sensation of feeling cold. An example is putting the shower on ‘cold’ for a short period of time in the shower. Not easy to do, and you would want to build up to a full minute each day, but in some people it can help them to decrease the feeling of being cold.
UP: There are a lot of jokes at the expense of people who are always cold, but at what point does it go from “I’m always cold, and it’s a quirky thing about me” to “I’m always cold and I should probably see my doctor”?
CM: There is the possibility that someone’s perpetual coldness could be caused by abnormally low thyroid hormone levels, and that can be verified with a blood test. That is by far the rarer condition, but taking hormone supplements if medically needed can help. If a person is quite lethargic, has low motivation, and is always cold, it might be worth having thyroid hormones evaluated.
So if you are a lap-blanket wearing member of #TeamCold, don’t fret.
You are strong. You are capable. And unless you have pain or some of the symptoms Minson mentioned, there is likely nothing wrong with you. Our bodies just require different things of us, and yours requires that you have to deal with an overly-air conditioned-society. My sincerest apologies. On behalf of #TeamHot, your next cocoa is on me.
The marketing for the MCU’s latest, Echo – in what more and more seems like a never-ending cavalcade of content – is both baffling and fascinating. Marvel is keenly aware of the criticism that their storylines are harder and harder to follow for the casual fan – now requiring an almost near Herculean effort for someone who is behind to catch up with all the threads, and a good number of them these days wind up going nowhere. (Speaking of Herculean efforts, remember when Hercules showed up in Thor: Love and Thunder?) It’s probably safe to say Marvel had a 2023 it would like to forget for multiple reasons.
Look, I am, for the most part, caught up. (I still haven’t finished Secret Invasion and at this point that is looking more and more unlikely.) But, yes, I feel it. I used to be honestly excited to watch a new MCU entry. Now it feels like work. This should not feel like work. It’s starting to feel like I watch this stuff to be a completest, and I’m not even a completest anymore. So Marvel has come up with the new “Marvel Spotlight” designation to, in theory, signal to viewers that Echo is different and doesn’t connect with the larger MCU universe. Which is kind of bizarre because that’s blatantly not true. True, there is, thankfully, no talk or explorations of multiverses here or a bunch of portals opening up in the sky (at least not through the first three episodes), but it certainly connects to the rest of the MCU as much as, say, She-Hulk did. In the first 30 minutes of the first episode, three prominent Marvel characters show up that have been in other things. Oh, also, this is a direct continuation of the Hawkeye series so I truly don’t understand the claim it has no connection to anything else. But I sort of understand why Marvel wants to make this claim because it is less reliant on the broader universe than other shows and movies have been. But if a viewer has seen literally nothing else, there will probably be a few, “Wait, who is this guy?” moments. Also, this particular criticism has more been directed at the movies than the Disney+ shows. People don’t love the idea of having to watch multiple episodes of a series just to watch The Marvels at the theater.
Oh yeah, as stated, Echo picks up where Hawkeye left off. As we saw in Hawkeye (and we see again here), Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) has shot Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), in the face – presumably killing him but we all know that wasn’t going to happen. Maya, now on the run from Kingpin’s goons, flees back to her home in Oklahoma where her family and friends don’t exactly welcome her back with open arms and are not thrilled with the danger she’s bringing back with her. Maya isn’t exactly in hiding, more, let’s say, regrouping as she enacts her plan to take over Kingpin’s empire.
What does set Echo apart from other MCU properties is Maya herself has no real supernatural powers. She does not have the ability to shoot laser beams from her body. The show does focus on her prosthetic leg and that she can’t hear, but neither of these traits limits her true power of basically a killing machine. Which, for the context of the show, earned it the first MCU “Mature Audiences” designation. Which basically means its tone (and lighting) is more similar to the Marvel Netflix shows than what we’ve seen on Disney+ to date.
Echo is a show I want to like but didn’t quite get there. As much as Echo wants to distinguish itself apart from the rest of the MCU – especially the more recent efforts that have turned off a lot of people – there’s, unfortunately, still a sense of, “here we go again.” How Maya’s Native American heritage is used, incorporating flashbacks to ancestors, is interesting. (And anytime Graham Greene shows up is a treat.) But the rest still, at least so far, feels like the typical MCU formula … only with some more violence. But over the first three episodes, just not a lot happens outside of a pretty nifty scene that I’d describe as the opposite of a train heist – Maya breaks into a New York City-bound train, not to steal, but to add a little surprise for her friends at Kinpin’s warehouse. But, again, as I write this I’ve only seen three episodes and, as you are reading this sentence, all five episodes are waiting for you on Disney+ and Hulu.
But see, maybe that’s not bad news for you. If you still like the Marvel formula with connections to other movies and series, well, here’s another. If you are truly looking for something that is not related to anything else and is truly its own thing, Echo isn’t quite that. Moon Knight comes much closer to hitting that button and, well, Moon Knight was pretty polarizing. Echo probably won’t be polarizing. Instead, Echo, at least so far, has just too much more of the same.
Donald Trump’s awfully busy these days. Not only is he crushing the GOP primary polls, but he’s running for president while juggling four separate criminal cases. No doubt throwing rallies and threatening to speak in court are taxing on anyone, but his brain seems to be checking out. Mere days after showing he knows less about magnets than Insane Clown Posse, the former president made one of his best/worst typos yet.
Per Raw Story, on Tuesday Trump dropped one his awkward, whiny videos on his rinky-dink Twitter clone. Alas, whatever he said was upstaged by a glaring error in the post, which read, “Even my Political Opponents Have Spoken Against the Ludacris Demands of NYS AG Tish James.”
Perhaps the failed blogger just a big fan of the rapper and Fast and Furious actor. Or maybe he really doesn’t know how to spell “ludicrous.” It’s not even a difficult word to spell — not like “milquetoast,” which, while attacking one of his former closest cronies, memorably spelled “milktoast.”
The right has been going after Joe Biden’s alleged senility for ages now, but the current president can still deliver a fiery speech. His likely 2024 opponent, however, can’t even get his successor right, nor does he seem to know there’s already been a World War II. The bar should be sky high for who American elect to highest office, but there should at least be a low bar, namely being able to spell words used iconically in Spaceballs.
In any case, surely Trump’s legal team is even more worried than they already were about the prospect of him speaking in court.
Lil Nas X continues to tease his new era. This Friday (January 12), the rapper and troll extraordinaire will drop “J Christ,” the lead single to his upcoming sophomore album, and the kick-off to what he’s been describing as his “Christian era.” In the days leading up to the single drop, Lil Nas X is reinforcing the idea that he is a good, Christian boy.
Today (January 9), Lil Nas X took to Instagram to share what appears to be an acceptance letter from Liberty University. The letter indicates that Lil Nas X, whose real name is Montero Hill, will enter the school’s Christian Leadership and Biblical Studies program in the fall.
“As we seek to build a campus community exemplifying strong academic achievement and an unwavering commitment to the Christian faith, our admissions committee is dedicated to selecting students of the highest caliber,” reads the letter. “We believe you are one of those students, and we are confident you will make an outstanding addition to our student body.”
Lil Nas X assured fans he is taking his studies seriously upon his evident enrollment.
“I know some of yall hate me right now but i want yall to know im literally about to go to college for biblical studies in the fall,” he said in the post’s caption. Not everything is a troll! Anyways IM A STUDENT AGAIN! LETS GOOO”
You can read the full acceptance letter below.
Dear Montero Hill,
Congratulations! You have been officially accepted to Liberty University for the Fall 2024 semester with a Dual Concentration in Christian Leadership and Biblical Studies.
As we seek to build a campus community exemplifying strong academic achievement and an unwavering commitment to the Christian faith, our admissions committee is dedicated to selecting students of the highest caliber. We believe you are one of those students, and we are confident you will make an outstanding addition to our student body.
At Liberty, we specialize in preparing students to succeed — not just as professionals in the workplace, but as citizens who glorify God in their calling and communities. During your time at Liberty, you will be monitored by faculty who bring real-world experience to the classroom and take a personal interest in the success of their students. We are committed to investing in the lives of our students and helping them realize their God-given potential.
Montero, the entire Liberty family congratulates you! Now is your time to train as a Champion for Christ.
Is it a good idea to let Donald Trump defend himself? Even his closest cronies would likely say no way. The former president is a loose cannon. Let to his druthers, he’ll spout surrealgaffes or say things like that he hopes the nation’s economy crashes before November’s election. So take this with a quarry of salt: He reportedly wants to do part of the closing argument in one of his legal cases himself.
Per ABC News, the conclusion of Trump’s New York fraud trial is set for Thursday, when his defense team will make its final statements to the jury. Sources familiar with the matter claim that the big guy himself will deliver part of that address. That could change, and there’s a chance it will. The defense’s plans are said to be “fluid,” which means someone on Trump’s legal team could beg him not to make things worse for himself.
In the New York case — one of four dogging the failed blogger — Trump and his sons Jr. and Eric are accused of running a decade-long scheme, involving “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation,” to inflate Trump’s net worth to acquire more favorable loans. The judge in the case has already issued a partial summary judgment, which wasn’t so hot for him. The rest of the trial involves determining additional actions and penalties.
The last time Trump had to speak in court, was a disaster, to put it lightly. Alas, he thought it went “very well,” meaning he wasn’t disabused of doing it again.
Jamie xx is back with some new music. Today (January 9), the instrumentalist and producer dropped “It’s So Good,” an adventurous new single which arrives as part of the latest Chanel Coco Crush campaign.
On “It’s So Good,” trippy synths and rattling percussion transports listeners to an eclectic rave, encompassing the feeling of art and fashion in song. “It’s So Good” marks Jamie’s first solo single in almost two years.
Jamie is a member of The xx, an indie-rock trio whose last proper release was 2017’s, I See You. Since then, all three members of The xx — including Jamie, Romy Madley Croft, and Oliver Sim — have released solo material of their own. But in a recent interview with NME, Croft revealed that The xx is back in the studio working on new music.
It’s been a while since they’ve made music as a trio, but Croft shared that each of them are applying what they’ve learned during their solo era.
“I think that, for me, I’m excited to pick up the guitar again and embrace that sound, but do something in a new way,” said Croft. “I think I want to keep evolving though. I think we all do. That’s why I wanted to do this project, to learn and specifically to work with other people. To learn how they work. To come back to Oliver and Jamie and think, ‘Well, I learned this stuff from these other people, and we can bring that fresh energy into things.’”
If you spent time with our 2023 Fall Travel Hot List, then you likely enjoy knowing what’s buzzing in travel the same way people love to know what’s about to pop off in music. It’s about cultivating taste and road-testing your ideas by getting offline and outdoors.
With 2024 just underway, we have a fresh year ahead of us for all-new travel adventures. A full year of reminding ourselves each day to “be here now,” gleefully settling into the present, and maximizing as many PTO and OOO days as possible.
We asked prominent travel influencers and writers for their 2024 travel trend predictions. From seeking out lesser-known “second cities” to embarking on wellness travel trips and living out Almost Famous concert dreams, our panel’s predicted travel trends might just surprise you. Or rather, they may just inspire you to plan your next trip.
Happy Travels!
EDITOR’S PICK: Steve Bramucci (@steve_bramucci): Festival Travel Hits Mainstream
I have a theory. Who wants to see one show from an artist when you can see 150 artists on the same bill at a festival?
I’ve seen Billie Eilish at Coachella twice now — I don’t feel compelled to see her on tour (as great as I’m sure that experience is!). Moreover, a good festival takes on an identity and vibe of its own. The food, the art, the design… it’s all very experiential. Which is, as you likely know, the biggest buzzword in all of travel over the past decade.
After all, “party mode” and “travel mode” are pretty similar for most people. And since both activities are expensive as f*ck, it tracks that a lot of people will tie their biggest trips of 2024 to their biggest live music moments. I know I am — heading back to Envision this year for the first time since the pandemic — hope to see some of you there!
Gabby Beckford (@packslight): Seeking Out Second-Cities
In 2024 I think we’ll continue to see people get out of the most popular cities and seek out the popular second cities nearby. Travelers will be seeking a similar and equally enjoyable city vibe with a touch more local culture, and touch less of the overwhelming crowds or exorbitant prices.
Guadalajara over Mexico City Estepona over Malaga Krakow over Warsaw Antalya over Istanbul Batumi over Tbilisi Rotterdam over Amsterdam Brisbane over Sydney Sapporo over Niseko
Whether staying at a dedicated “Wellness Retreat” or a hotel in a bustling city, wellness as a key component of travel is what I’ve seen come to the forefront this year and will continue into 2024. Options for yoga classes, aromatherapy in the room, juice bars, saunas, and cold plunges are all additions that can make any stay into a retreat. Dedicated retreats like Wild Rice Retreat in Bayfield, Wisconsin, or CIVANA in Carefree, Arizona, are great options. But even more straightforward options are including wellness activities in their daily offerings.
Travel is undoubtedly frustrating, so an experience to unwind when at your destination makes all the difference, even if the wellness activity is heart-pumping – i.e., mountain biking in Sedona at Enchantment Resort or taking part in a Barry’s Bootcamp class during your stay at Hotel Clio in Denver.
In 2024 I anticipate seeing a lot more people pursuing soft adventures outdoors. As more and more people seek to get outdoors for their wellness, various levels of outdoor adventure will become more popular — including soft adventures.
Soft Adventures are more accessible to the average outdoor adventurer thanks to their low-impact benefits and relative proximity to cities. It is becoming a huge part of the tourism industry, and cities and towns not typically known for their outdoor activities are joining the fun. From urban park trails to showstopping views, soft adventures can come in the form of camping or glamping, horseback riding, boating, day hiking, and more. It is one of my favorite ways to get outdoors and is great for beginners!
I think vacation destinations with proximity to bodies of water, panoramic views, dedicated trails, and bike lanes will see an increase in visitorship. Local businesses that accommodate those tourists will flourish, and resources like tours and porter services will become increasingly available. And if there are multiple ways to get there — like train travel instead of a plane — that’ll be amazing!
Melanie Gordon (@livinginflowco): Responsible Wildlife Tourism
MELANIE GORDON
With the mega-trend of experiential travel holding strong, I foresee wildlife tourism being a major travel trend in 2024. Whether it’s setting sail on a whale watching tour from a nearby harbor, trekking to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, diving with whale sharks in Panama, or going on Safari in South Africa; wildlife encounters offer us unparalleled connection with the local environment. As we continue to seek out meaningful experiences in the places we visit, we must also consider our responsibility in doing so sustainably. Wildlife tourism can benefit and prioritize the well-being of animals and their habitats, but it can also be done unethically.
Do not join wildlife activities that involve captive or restrained animals (like the many elephant “sanctuaries” in Thailand), and be sure snorkel and diving tours are not chumming the waters beforehand. Find a tour operator that values ethical practices that promote animal and environmental welfare. A big bonus if they invest money back into conservation and research.
With our dollars, we can help preserve these transformative encounters for years to come!
Mikala Lugen (@mikalalugen): Piggybacking Travel To Cut Costs & See More Destinations
We’re going on year four of normalizing remote work, and with that, I believe that more people are getting comfortable taking longer “piggybacked” trips to see more destinations and lower their flight costs. Why go through the hassle of jetting across the Atlantic Ocean to land in Spain for a week and go through the antagonizing 10 hours of doing so, only to do it again later in the year to head to Amsterdam or Paris? With more companies allowing people to work remotely, I predict more people will be tacking on an extra one, two, or three weeks for a trip to see more destinations grouped close together to avoid having to buy another long hour and costly flight later in the year.
I did exactly this in the fall of this year, where it made sense to group my trip to California and Alaska together. Instead of flying to California and back to North Carolina only to then fly to Alaska a week later, I strategized my trip and got myself to California and flew out of Sacramento to fly to Anchorage. This allowed me to significantly cut my costs (as flying from California to Alaska was cheaper than flying out of North Carolina) and I grouped my travel in a strategic way to see friends in California and then spend two weeks in Alaska.
Travel smarter, not harder! You won’t catch me on more than only two or three long-hauled flights this year without being gone for a decent amount of time to make up for the jetlag.
Gabrielle Nicole Pharms (@gabbynikki): Concert Tripping: Vibing Around the World
GABRIELLE NICOLE PHARMS
Traveling domestically or abroad to attend a music festival is nothing new. I took my first-ever solo trip at 18 over a decade ago, traveling from Houston to Indio, California, for Coachella – an essential rite of passage for music fanatics. Low key flex: I wouldn’t miss my chance to miss Daft Punk live stateside. However, if 2023 has taught me nothing else, I walk away confident in this fact: People are 100% willing to traverse the globe – not just for a music festival – but for a single artist they love. Let’s reflect.
When tickets were released for the U.S. leg of Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’ world tour, the Beyhive went into a frenzy. Tickets were over $1,000! But diehard fans told Ticketmaster, ‘You won’t break my soul’ (or wallet) and opted to purchase flights, book hotels, and secure tickets to Queen B’s show abroad for the total price of one concert ticket in the U.S. So, diehard fans were able to enjoy the sights of a European country while also catching the show of their dreams.
Going into 2024, music fans who double as global adventure seekers will plan trips overseas to catch a vibe and a surreal performance by their fave artist.
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. The current geopolitical climate is hot. Like deep south, Mississippi, mid-summer at high noon hot. 115° in the shade with no lemonade hot. Yes, the current Israel-Gaza conflict is currently occupying center stage and the related protests are hard to avoid no matter where you turn, but that’s not the only unrest afoot. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is still very much active with no end in sight. This year we saw fighting in Azerbaijan and Armenia, multiple war zones on the African continent from the DRC to Ethiopia and Eritrea to Burkina Faso and Mali… Even the much-lauded spiritual calm of India has seen bloodshed.
Oh, and did I forget to mention that we’re going into another election year right here in the good ol USA? Yea… Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that we’re experts at peaceful disagreements.
All this said, as I mulled over my travel prediction for 2024, one thing became crystal clear. When most of us take our precious time off and hard-earned money out to play, the general goal is to relax and reset. We don’t want another protest disrupting our lazy lunch at a sidewalk cafe. We want to get as far away from the bad news and potential thereof as we can. So, I’m placing my bets on a major uptick in travel to Central and South American destinations where the worries and wars of the western world aren’t as prevalent. I’ll lump many island nations in there as well, especially those in the Caribbean. A return to a slower pace & the soothing kiss of the elements are going to be in far higher demand than your classical European metropolises. Sure, Paris will always be Paris, but in 2024, look for me in Peru.
The use of AI technology is rising across all industries, and that includes travel. In 2024, I believe that more people will use AI tools to plan itineraries, get travel inspiration, and ask destination-specific questions. When used responsibly, AI can be a valuable tool in preparing for a trip – safety tips, recommendations, packing advice, and general guidance. I also think this might influence the way travel is presented online, considering that ChatGPT can help write social media captions and Photoshop AI can even edit photos.
Again, I think it’s crucial that we use this technology responsibly to enhance our overall travel experience, not falsify it.
I love flying, but you do lose the sense of the actual “traveling” part of travel. You get on to a crammed vessel, and before you know it you’re magically transported to a completely different part of the world, with no sense of how far you’ve come.
But traveling overland, whether it’s by train, car, bus, or boat, you get to see the world gradually change around you. The landscapes change, the culture changes, and it gives you an appreciation of just how big our world is, and also allows for plenty of unplanned adventures along the way!
This February I’m speaking at a conference in Georgia (the country, not the state), and rather than flying there from London, two friends and I are going to travel overland by any means of transport possible.
Having hosted a lot of group tours of late, I’m absolutely buzzing for this completely random journey and can’t wait to see what stories we’ll have to tell from it.
Fueled by outdoor adventure, photography, and social media, ecotourism has been booming for years. But conservation tourism puts a new twist on the allure of natural beauty by using travelers to power local initiatives aimed at improving the planet. Conservation tourism isn’t about *seeing* animals. You might or might not see what you’re looking for out there. It’s about helping animals or their habitat.
At places like Burhan Wilderness Camps in Thakudwara, Nepal, travelers can volunteer with community wildlife patrol efforts on the outskirts of Bardia National Park—a former royal hunting ground that now serves as one of the last strongholds of the endangered Bengal tiger and greater one-horned rhinoceros. While getting boots-on-the-ground experience in preventing human/wildlife conflict with tigers, elephants, rhinos, and leopards in the jungle, their funding goes towards supporting rare, wildlife-focused jobs in the region.
In places like the Okavango Delta in Botswana, groups like African Conservation Experiences are teaming up with researchers, guides, and private lodges to turn would-be safari-goers into paying members of research teams that help monitor wildlife movement patterns and interactions with humans.
Conservation tourism experiences can be more rugged than a luxury tour or safari; yet, I’ve found them to be one of the best ways to engage with the people most intimately connected to some of the planet’s most threatened species at a time in human history where every ounce of sweat and every dollar going towards saving them is desperately needed.
Per usual, Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez have the internet talking. At the 81st Golden Globe Awards, which took place this past Sunday in Beverly Hills, California, the two were seen having an interesting chat. It wasn’t long before a video of the besties chatting made its way onto the internet, nor did it take long for fans to create their own version of events.
Selena Gomez was rumored to have asked for a picture with actor Timothée Chalamet, only for his girlfriend Kylie Jenner to shut the request down. Though no audio of Swift and Gomez chatting was included in the video, fans came to their own conclusions about the topic of their conversation.
Gomez, however, has since shut those rumors down.
A TikTok shared by E! News‘ official account contained the headline “Was Selena Gomez Gossiping About Kylie Jenner And Timothée Chalamet At The Golden Globes? Here’s The Truth.”
Gomez took to the comments to share what actually went down.
Selena Gomez reveals what she was talking about with Taylor Swift at the Golden Globes, shutting down Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet speculation:
“Noooooo I told Taylor about two of my friends who hooked up. Not that that’s anyone business.” pic.twitter.com/K9dgGmjbl9
Like her former MAGA bestie Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert’s private life is a mess. Last year she possibly torched her political career by getting caught getting handsy and vapey during an all-ages regional production of the Beetlejuice musical. You know who’s also a chaos agent? Her ex-husband Jayson. Over the weekend the two got into a headline-grabbing spat at a Colorado restaurant. Jayson even called the cops on her. But according to him, he only did that because he’s still stone in love with her.
In a new chat with Westword, Jayson opened up about his side of the fight, during which he originally alleged that Lauren had punched him in the face. Though he declined to confirm whether or not he’d really been whacked, he did seem to blame himself.
“I wish this all hadn’t happened,” Jayson told Westword. “I should have handled it more responsibly.”
All Jayson would say is that the fight “escalated” into “this big deal,” when it was really, he claims, ‘just two people trying to figure out, you know, how to have peace with each other and how to move forward from here .
“She’s a good person; she didn’t deserve that,” he said. “And it just sucks when you’re kind of in the spotlight that, you know, any of your family matters are in the spotlight. Anything.”
He added, “I think I overreacted.”
At the time news of the tussle went public, an aide for Lauren alleged that Jayson was “being disrespectful,” “being an a*shole” and acting “lewd.” He’d also “made a motion” toward her “to grab her” — “an aggressive move, not romantic.” In an attempt to stop him, Lauren “put her hand in his face” and “put her hand on his nose.”
When asked if that’s what really happened, Jayson cryptically said, “That’s her story.”
Whatever happened, Jayson maintained that he’s simply lovelorn. “I was telling her I want her back,” he said. “She started bringing up some of the things that she didn’t like that I have done in our relationship.”
The second annual NFL Super Wild Card Weekend is upon us, as we will be graced with six games over three days this weekend. The expansion of Wild Card Weekend makes for a marathon of football, particularly for those of us who enjoy indulging in playoff football betting.
Every year some friends and I take a trip out to the desert for Wild Card weekend to sit in sportsbooks for the entire day and sweat out bets with our fellow degenerates. It is, in my opinion, the best football betting weekend of the year in Vegas, and really the only better sportsbook experience is the first two weekends of March Madness. With six games, there’s a lot more prep to be done than in the past, and I figured I’d write it all out here, with trends, stats, matchups to watch, and weather forecasts for each game. Let’s go ahead and dive in.
(Ed. Note: all of the odds come via BetMGM as of Tuesday afternoon and stats are via Pro Football Reference).
Cleveland Browns (-2.5, O/U 44.5) at Houston Texans, Saturday, 4:30 pm. ET (NBC)
Weather: 72 degrees, no wind (Dome)
Betting Trends: Browns (10-6-1 ATS, 11-6 to the OVER); Texans (9-8 ATS, 11-6 to the UNDER)
Breakdown/Stats to Know: Big plays are going to play a big role in this game, as these teams were No. 2 (Houston, 8.5 yards) and No. 7 (Cleveland, 8.0 yards) in average depth of target on passes this year over the 17-game season. C.J. Stroud and Joe Flacco absolutely rip it down field, and both teams are in the bottom-7 of the league in rushing yards per attempt. They are also both in the bottom half of the NFL in third down percentage on offense (Houston 37.9% and Cleveland 31.6%). That is to say, I don’t expect a ton of long, methodical drives (especially with the pressure both of these defenses can create), and if one team can hit a couple big plays in the passing game, it will likely tilt the advantage.
The last time these two teams met, Amari Cooper set a franchise record with 265 receiving yards in a 36-22 Cleveland win. I would expect Cooper to get a lot of attention from Houston this time around, and that creates an interesting scenario for the Browns. For all the talk of Kansas City’s issues with drops, it was Cleveland that tied them for the league lead with with 40 dropped passes and a drop rate of 6.7 percent. Flacco and Cooper have created an incredible connection, but the rest of the Cleveland receiving corps is not exactly the most trustworthy. Because of that, I’d look at David Njoku yardage and receptions props because I think they’ll lean on their tight end (even if he has had some drop issues of his own). He had six catches for 44 yards and a TD in that game against the Texans even as Cooper went nuts, and Houston gave up the most catches and fourth most yards to tight ends (107 catches, 1,024 yards, 5 touchdowns) this season.
On the other side, it’s hard to take much away from their matchup with Cleveland because Stroud was not playing. They did a decent job against the Cleveland pass rush (six QB hits and three sacks, with all three coming against Case Keenum before Davis Mills came in and played well). The Texans as a team have only allowed 44 hits on the QB this year, 13th best in the league, and Stroud has been very good at living to fight another down without turning it over under pressure. The Browns will put that to the test, and striking the balance of staying out of trouble while also finding the big plays they need will be tricky against this Cleveland front. Houston certainly misses Tank Dell, but Nico Collins has stepped into the big play role as shown by his Week 18 performance against the Colts. They will have their hands full against the Cleveland defense, but based on what Stroud’s done this year, I trust the rookie to avoid mistakes and hit one or two big ones down the field.
My Card: I will almost assuredly have Houston in a teaser of some kind (probably with the Rams), because I think this is a one score game and getting them to 8.5 feels pretty good in what I think is a coin flip game because so much comes down to hitting big pass plays. I also will likely have the Under 44.5 because Houston’s been a good Under team and I think there’s a chance both teams get a little conservative trying not to make mistakes, especially if the pass rushes can be as good as advertised early on. I also really like some Njoku overs once books post those because Cleveland really likes throwing the ball, they’ll want to get it out of Flacco’s hands quickly to neutralize the pass rush, the Texans are already not good against tight ends, and Houston is going to probably shade safety help to Cooper given what he did last game, leaving some space in the middle of the field.
Miami Dolphins (+4, O/U 44) at Kansas City Chiefs, Saturday, 8:15 p.m. ET (Peacock)
Weather: ~0 degrees, 10-14 mph winds
Betting Trends: Dolphins (10-7 ATS, 9-8 to the OVER); Chiefs (9-7-1 ATS, 12-5 to the UNDER)
Breakdown/Stats to Know: The Dolphins splits against playoff teams and non-playoff teams have been a topic of conversation all year. They averaged just 17.7 points per game in their six games played against teams that made the postseason and gave up 32.8 points in those games. They were held under 225 passing yards in four of those games and just generally were outclassed in most of those matchups, winning just one of them (a 22-20 battle with the Cowboys). One of those losses was against the Chiefs in Germany in which they scored 14 points and had 292 total yards of offense, finding a little life in the second half but never really finding their rhythm.
The good news for Miami is, the Chiefs also didn’t light the world on fire, as they had 267 yards of offense and won, largely, due to a wild fumble return TD to end the first half. We all also know about Kansas City’s issues offensively, as they have the second-most drops in the league, which has led to a frustrated Patrick Mahomes on a number of occasions. I think that continues this week, and I actually like a Mahomes Over 0.5 INT prop (+105). He threw 17 this year, with a lot of those being bad decisions forcing the ball into spots he shouldn’t, trying to will the passing game into working like it used to. Even with a run of injuries on their defense, Miami was second in the NFL (to KC) in pressure rate (26.2 percent) and should be able to get after Mahomes, with Jalen Ramsey and the Miami secondary looking for spots to bait him into those throws to try and steal a possession.
The weather certainly should favor a Kansas City team used to playing in the cold, while Miami has historically been bad going on the road into cold environments. Tua Tagovailoa is a rhythm passer and if footing is at all an issue after some snow and ice in KC this week, that could cause some issues in the Miami passing game with timing. The running game will be vital for both teams, and what might determine whether the Dolphins can win is Mike McDaniel being patient enough to stick with running the ball. He got away from that some against Buffalo in Week 18 after a strong start on the ground, and I think he’s going to have be willing to have a really run-heavy approach in this one, especially if Raheem Mostert is able to go. The Chiefs weren’t a great run defense this year (4.5 yards per carry) and if Miami doesn’t get antsy trying to create a big play in the passing game, I think they could actually dictate the pace of this game by controlling it on the ground.
My Card: I want nothing to do with either side in this game because I just don’t trust either team in this spot. I will probably have the Under because in this weather I think it both teams go ground heavy. I will say, the best bet might be to hope for some great script drives from both teams and take a live Under after the first two possessions, because I do think both teams are going to really try to dial up their best stuff to start the game and get on the board before it settles into a slog. Otherwise, I might just take both quarterbacks to go under on yards (Tua U246.5 and Mahomes U251.5) because of the weather and, just generally, how they’ve trended in the passing game against good opponents. I’ll also have the Mahomes INT prop because I do see a lot of potential for him to get frustrated and force something into coverage trying to make something happen.
Pittsburgh Steelers (+10, O/U 36.5) at Buffalo Bills, Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
Weather: Mid-to-High 30s, Rain and Snow, 25+ mph winds
Betting Trends: Steelers (10-7 ATS, 11-6 to the UNDER); Bills (7-10 ATS, 11-6 to the UNDER)
Breakdown/Stats to Know: Football weather, baby. This is going to be hideous, and I think that might help the Steelers? No one loves to muck up a game more than Mike Tomlin, and he would love nothing more than to get into a 3 yards per carry duel with the Bills here. There are no props up right now, but if they post a Mason Rudolph passing yards number that starts with a 2, take the under. He’s helped them open things up in the passing game and has hit big plays to George Pickens, but that’s not happening in this weather. The Bills didn’t see a lot of teams running against them this year (409 rushing attempts against was the fourth fewest in the NFL), but they did allow 4.6 yards per carry, so there could be some opportunities for Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris to ball control this thing. Pittsburgh’s entire goal in this game will be to limit possessions and try to force Josh Allen into making mistakes, and honestly it’s not a bad gameplan.
The good news for the Bills is that Allen has been tremendous down the stretch of the season and the Steelers will be without T.J. Watt. Pittsburgh has one (1) win outright without Watt and are 4-6-1 against the spread without his services. He would be their best bet at pressuring Allen into a mistake, but given the Bills have struggled at times with the interior of their line, Cam Heyward will be lurking trying to do the same from the inside. Buffalo loves pushing the ball downfield — 8.7 air yards per attempt is third in the NFL — and Allen is one of the few QBs capable of driving the ball through bad weather. The problem comes if he does that too much, but I do think there will be some opportunities to attack 1-on-1 coverage against Stefon Diggs and take advantage of Pittsburgh being a bit overly aggressive crowding the box and trying to manufacture pressure without Watt. If they can hit a couple big pass plays, I have a really hard time seeing how Pittsburgh matches that. If they can’t, or even worse, if Allen makes a couple poor decisions down the field, that is how the Steelers make things sweaty.
There are no stats you can find that will make you feel good about Pittsburgh winning, but that hasn’t stopped them before. Tomlin lives for this sort of thing and a 10-point spread in a game with a 36.5 point total is pretty wild, even if the likelihood of Pittsburgh putting up more than 14 points is extremely low. If you are a Steelers believer, I’d go ahead and coordinate +10 and the Under in a parlay. I don’t see where they score a lot, but if they’re going to cover it’s because this thing is a 17-13 slog. On the Bills side, laying 10 is really hard for me to do in this weather and I’d be much more inclined to just take the Pittsburgh team total under 15.5 (even if it’s got some wild juice).
My Card: I might just throw a small Steelers/Under parlay in just to feel alive, even if I’m not crazy confident in it, and then look at player props once they get posted. If they dare put carries props up, I’ll be all over Najee Harris’ over on carries, but I’m not holding my breath there. And then I’ll also probably take Rudolph under anything above 175.
Green Bay Packers (+7.5, O/U 50.5) at Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, 4:30 p.m. ET (FOX)
Weather: 72 degrees, no wind (Dome)
Betting Trends: Packers (9-8 ATS, 10-7 to the OVER), Cowboys (10-7 ATS, 9-8 to the OVER)
Breakdown/Stats to Know: The Cowboys were famously a dominant team at home and a mediocre team on the road this season, so unsurprisingly they get a healthy bump here on this line with it being a home game. Dallas has been carried by its passing attack with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb forming one of the most formidable QB-WR combos in the league, especially over the back half of the year when the offense really shifted towards Lamb more. On the other side, the Packers were a very successful passing offense as Jordan Love emerged as a quality starter with star upside in his first season under center, but what really sets these teams apart is the defensive side of the ball.
In a game that figures to see the ball get put up in the air a lot, one thing that could make life difficult for Green Bay is how rarely they took the ball away in the passing game compared to Dallas. The Packers had 7 INTs on the season and had an interception rate of 1.1%, both bottom three figures in the league, compared to 17 INTs and a 3.3% INT rate for the Cowboys (8th and 5th in the NFL this year, respectively). That puts a lot more pressure on Love to be precise compared to Prescott, whose struggles in big games in the past have often been caused due to turnovers. If the Packers cannot turn the Cowboys over, the margin for error gets razor slim as an underdog. The real battle figures to be at the line of scrimmage, where Green Bay was good at creating pressure (23.9% pressure rate) but Dallas was the fifth best in pressure rate allowed (16.6%). Plain and simple, if Prescott has time, the Packers are in trouble.
On the other side, Love has been really good and I think he actually will hold up his end of the bargain pretty well, but I do not think they can keep pace over 60 minutes with the defense being as mediocre as it’s been all season. I will be interested to see if Green Bay can run the ball as well as they have of late, with Aaron Jones going for 20+ carries and 111+ yards in the last three games. Dallas is also the surest tackling team in the league with a NFL-best 55 missed tackles on the season, meaning its difficult to create big plays in the run game against them. I believe they’ll certainly start with a commitment to the run game in an effort to shorten the game, but the main concern is if Dallas is able to put up points early, they might have to abandon that plan sooner than would be ideal.
My Card: My initial thought was Green Bay, but I’m just not sure this is the right spot for fading Dallas the more I look into the matchup, especially with how the Packers just do not force turnovers in the passing game. I might take a look at Dallas in a teaser with Houston or L.A., but I don’t love anything on the side or total. For props, I’ll have Jake Ferguson O40.5 yards, as he’s gone over that in 6 of the last 7 games, and will keep an eye on Aaron Jones rushing yards whenever that goes up.
Los Angeles Rams (+3, O/U 51.1) at Detroit Lions, Sunday, 8:15 p.m. ET (NBC)
Weather: 72 degrees, no wind (Dome)
Betting Trends: Rams (10-6-1 ATS, 9-8 to the OVER); Lions (12-5 ATS, 11-6 to the OVER)
Breakdown/Stats to Know: The Lions were one of the great stories of this NFL season, so it’s fitting they get the big storyline spot of Wild Card weekend with Matthew Stafford’s return to Detroit. While the quarterback play will dominate the conversation, I’m more interested in the rushing attacks on both sides. Los Angeles was 8-2 when they rushed for 100 yards for more and 2-5 when they didn’t. Those kinds of stats are always noisy, but they performed better in games where they could be balanced and were able to move the ball on the ground — which happened a lot more in the back half of the season when they got hot. Kyren Williams is the focal point of their rushing attack, and he’ll be critical against a Detroit team that was solid (3.7 yards per attempt) against the run this year. The Lions were very good at creating pressure this year (3rd in the NFL at 26% pressure rate), but if L.A. is able to run the ball, that’ll open up the play action passing game that just kills teams.
For the Lions, they finished the year fifth in rushing yards (2,311) and were tops in the league in yards per carry after contact (2.0). David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs are a dynamic combo, and L.A. is going to have stay disciplined in their gaps and not miss tackles (103 this year) to avoid letting the Lions pick up the chunk plays they thrive on. Jared Goff will need that run threat to come through, as no team relied on play action more than Detroit, which racked up the most play action passing yards in the NFL this season.
I think both of these teams profile pretty similarly, with an emphasis on the running game and hunting big plays off play action. On defense, neither is considered elite, but both are solid and this figures to come down to mistake avoidance. The Rams had the most defensive penalty yards of any team in the NFL this season, which makes trusting them a bit scary. That said, Los Angeles was also a better red zone defense (54.5% touchdown rate) than Detroit (66% touchdown rate), and with both offenses being top-4 in the NFL in red zone scoring, that’s of considerable importance.
My Card: I will have the Rams in a teaser, that’s a lock because I think this is going to be a real coin flip game. That also means I probably will sprinkle a little on Rams money line, because I think this thing’s one possession throughout and will take plus money (especially with the public pretty solidly on Detroit). On the props side, I’ll have Kyren Williams O83.5 rushing yards, as he hit that in each of the last seven games, and David Montgomery O55.5 rushing yards, as he’s hit that in 7 of his last 9 (and one of the misses was a 10 carry day in Week 18) and I think Detroit will lean on the vet they trust more in a playoff game.
Philadelphia Eagles (-3, O/U 43.5) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET (ESPN/ABC)
Weather: ~65 degrees, 7-10 mph winds, possible rain
Betting Trends: Eagles (7-8-2 ATS, 9-8 to the OVER); Bucs (11-6 ATS, 11-6 to the UNDER)
Breakdown/Stats to Know: The worst vibes game of the weekend is our Monday Night finale in Tampa. The Eagles limped to the finish line, getting blasted by the Giants in their last outing, while the Bucs final performance was a 9-0 win over the worst team in the league. Both of these teams are banged up, with AJ Brown suffering a knee injury (with his status up in the air) and Jalen Hurts injuring his middle finger against the Giants, while Baker Mayfield was not moving well for most of the day in Carolina, limping off of the field after most drives.
As such, it’s hard to have a lot of confidence in either of these teams. We know there’s a level the Eagles can reach that Tampa cannot, but we also haven’t seen Philly do that in more than a month. On defense, Philly hasn’t stopped anyone in weeks it feels like, and they have the third worst red zone touchdown percentage of any defense in the NFL (66.1%), while the Bucs have the third best (42.6%). That feels important in a game that might have limited scoring opportunities. Part of that is Tampa struggling against the pass but being quite good against the run, and if Brown can’t go, Philly’s ability to take advantage of the Bucs pass defense will be hindered considerably.
My Card: I don’t like it, but I am probably going to have Tampa. The Eagles vibes are awful and I do not trust that defense to stop anyone, even a banged up Baker Mayfield. I think the Bucs will hang around and keep this close, and I just cannot justify taking this Philly team the way they have been playing as a road favorite. There are no props up right now because no one knows who will be playing, but I’ll be looking at some Rachaad White overs as the Eagles have given up 100 yards rushing in 8 straight games and Tampa relies on him very heavily in the run game.
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(@JaredEMoskowitz) 
Guadalajara over Mexico City
Estepona over Malaga
Krakow over Warsaw
Antalya over Istanbul
Batumi over Tbilisi
Rotterdam over Amsterdam
Brisbane over Sydney
Sapporo over Niseko
