Former President Donald Trump admitted “the economy is good” just days before the election — then took credit for it — then returned to slamming the economy all in the space of a minute.

The closing weeks of the campaign have seen a slew of positive economic indicators that Vice President Kamala Harris and her allies have tried to capitalize on, and polls show it’s working. The latest New York Times/Siena College poll suggests Harris has cut Trump’s lead on the issue in half — and then some.

Trump held a press event at Mar-a-Lago this week that consisted of a lengthy speech to reporters and supporters, during which he took no questions from reporters.

And while Trump has boasted about his ability to “weave” through various topics in lengthy rants that others mistake for “rambling,” he managed to pack a bunch of concepts into a mere 52 seconds.

In turn, Trump called the economy miserable, destroyed, fake, and then good, but only because of him, before going back to describing it as a disaster:

Kamala has also caused untold misery through her destruction of our economy. Our economy is not– this is is just–. It’s like a fake economy?

Yeah, some of the best–. Some of the best people on Wall Street are saying the economy is only good because they think– I don’t want to say this because other people have said it. It’s not me saying it, but they think Trump is going to get elected. That’s the only reason our economy is good. (APPLAUSE).

That’s the only reason the stock market is up.

Scott is here, I think, someplace. And he’s one of the most respected people on Wall Street. He’s been, he’s actually made a very big point of it, that the stock market is only doing well because of the fact that they think Trump is going to win the election. So.

Watch above via Pool.

Welcome to “Cookbook of the Week.” This is a series where I highlight cookbooks that are unique, easy to use, or just special to me. While finding a particular recipe online serves a quick purpose, flipping through a truly excellent cookbook has a magic all its own. 

There are only a couple celebrity chefs that I can say with certainty inspired me to pursue a career in food, and only one whose unchained pleasure in the act of cooking and eating I've marveled at since I was a teen. It was a feeling I fully related to but quieted to be polite. This queen of indulgence is Nigella Lawson, and this week, I’ve chosen to spotlight her cookbook, Cook, Eat, Repeat.

One of the first things I noticed after watching episode after episode of Nigella’s shows was her unmatched skill for description. I specifically remember her calling pomegranate seeds “ruby gems” once. This was not the ordinary cooking show. She was showing her admiration of ingredients, demonstrating how to love the food you’re cooking from every roast down to the smallest seed. After all, you’re nourishing yourself or the people you care about. Cooking is an act of nurture and simultaneously completely hedonistic. It was from watching her shows and listening to her descriptions that I realized this wonderful chef was rather a writer at heart.

A bit about the book

Cook, Eat, Repeat shares a title with one of her BBC shows, and is the latest cookbook of Lawson’s, though it was published in 2020 during some of the grimmest days of lockdown. While there is undoubtedly reference to the state of the world at the time, and certainly we were all doing a lot of what the title demands, the cookbook spans far more than that. There are stories where she considers a particular ingredient, like rhubarb for example, and retells her development of a particular recipe—at which point she’ll interrupt herself, with full awareness, and give you that recipe in steps. Afterward, she’ll complete her reflection and the chapter of recipes will begin. 

This cookbook doesn’t structure sections in the expected breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or other typical categorizing of foods. Rather, each chapter feels like it was written because it is a passionate topic that she needed to get off her chest. You’ll see titles like “A is for Anchovy,” “Pleasures,” and “Much Depends on Dinner.” You’ll be happy to find a wide assortment of recipes in this cookbook, including all the courses of a full day, recipes for one serving, vegan sweets, and gluten free recipes.

A great cookbook for the ravenous reader

Pun intended. A large part of Nigella’s charm is how she communicates her feelings about ingredients, their roles in developing flavor, and the recipes that resulted. She’s truly an expert at crafting prose and you really must be a reader to fully appreciate every word. 

But not just a reader. Not even just a nonfiction reader, but one who comes to life reading a chapter about anchovies bringing out the sweetness in meats, someone who is thrilled by a chapter about rhubarb and its unflappable tartness, and fortified by a section defending stews and other slow cooked brown foods that aren’t social media “pretty.”

You must be okay with fewer pictures. While there are tempting photographs of food frequently peeking through the chapters, they aren’t demanding the spotlight. You’ll know from some of my past cookbook reviews that I do love food photography. And even though I like a bit of eye candy, I’ve been happy to exchange that space for Lawson’s recipe insights and good sense of humor. 

The recipes you can expect 

You can expect a pleasant balance of hearty soups, easy breads, colorful salads, silky dips, and indulgent desserts. Nigella has a knack for keeping meals interesting without needlessly complicated preparations or overwhelming ingredient lists. In fact, it’s not the typical formula of recipe + glossy photo after the next in this cookbook, which is the expectation of most lately. What’s special about this cookbook is that it’s chock-full of personal stories, musings, and food experimentation. But of course, there are recipes. There are even recipes hidden inside of recipes in these pages.

As I mentioned, I appreciate the reasonably sized ingredient lists, and the instructions are just as manageable and clear. Where you can make a substitution, she’ll let you know. Where you cannot, she will insist you do not. I’d like to acknowledge that you may, on occasion, run into a British-ism—a word that we don’t typically use in American English. That, along with her creative word choices, may take a moment to figure out, but it’s nothing that context and Google can’t figure out. If you watch Bake-Off or any British TV—I’m partial to watching their murder mysteries and the maestro of gardening himself, Monty Don—you’ll be just fine. 

Something I don’t always come across in cookbooks is a clear log on how to store leftovers. In the back of Cook, Eat, Repeat, before the glossary, she includes a section that details how to make ahead, freeze, or store each applicable recipe in the book. It’s incredibly helpful for large batch recipes, or rich and filling ones.

The dish I made this week

No matter the book, whether old or new, I always choose a recipe from it to give me some perspective through my tastebuds. This week I made Nigella’s Beet and Chickpea Dip. I admit, I really wanted to make her chocolate peanut butter layer cake, but I featured a cake from a baking cookbook last week, Milk Street Bakes, and one must take a break from cake, I guess. 

Well, I’m glad I did because the beet and chickpea dip was fabulous. It’s what you'd imagine a beet hummus to be (a blend of cooked beets, chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and salt), and she says as much in the lead up to the recipe. I chose this one because I had those ingredients already and the instructions were simple enough—and isn’t that exactly how we choose recipes to cook? It’s a testament to how Lawson keeps the average home cook in mind. 

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

I followed the recipe as written, for the most part. I did a terrible thing and went against one of her warnings. She insists that the beets be freshly roasted, and warned against using packaged cooked beets. Well, your girl here loves Trader Joe’s steamed beets so that’s what I used. Nigella, if you’re reading this, I’m happy to report that your recipe still turns out wonderfully. The dip is light but hearty, bright and balanced with savory notes from the garlic and chickpeas and sweetness from the beets. 

I ate it in the afternoon with crackers and again for dinner as a sauce with my roasted chicken. This recipe is the flexible sort you could make just for yourself to snack on over the course of a few days, and also perfect for a dinner party. The flavors are nuanced but familiar, and the vivacious pink hue is absolutely presentation worthy. 

I already mentioned the cake (sounds like a plan for Saturday), but I’m very much looking forward to tearing through more of the recipes in this book. Unlike any other cookbook I’ve ever owned, with this one I expect I’ll prepare the meal, sit down with it and open the book once more to read about the dish as I enjoy it. 

How to buy it

You can order this gem on the internet of course, but if you’re the type who enjoys a hardcover cookbook, you probably love roaming the aisles of a real-life bookstore. Check out your local store, and if they don't have it in stock, see if they can order it for you. You can likely buy it at Barnes and Noble, which seems to have copies near me even though the book is four years old, or just place an order through them.

Cook, Eat, Repeat: Ingredients, Recipes, and Stories

$16.74 at Amazon

$31.99 Save $15.25

Shop Now

Shop Now

$16.74 at Amazon

$31.99 Save $15.25

Social media host Leigh McGowan cut off pro-Trump CNN analyst Scott Jennings mid-sentence as he slammed Vice President Kamala Harris, telling him “You’re just lying!”

The 10pm hour on CNN has become something of an intermittent fireworks factory fire, most spectacularly with the permanent banning of a guest who made a literally explosive joke about Mehdi Hasan.

On Tuesday night’s edition of CNN NewsNight, things were cracking again as McGowan scolded Jennings in one segment over his “smug” look and defense of former President Donald Trump.

Seconds later, McGowan jumped all over Jennings again to accuse him of lying:

PHILLIP: Let me play a little bit more from — I’ll let you jump back in Scott, don’t worry. I just want — so people understand what we’re talking about here. I mean, this is when we talk about the contrast. This is the contrast that the Harris campaign was pretty much actively playing on. Let’s play Trump today in Palm Beach, Harris also today in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It’s a campaign of hate, a campaign of absolute hate. And, you know, I said yesterday that she’s a vessel. She is a vessel.

They’re vicious and they’re perhaps even trying to destroy our country.

HARRIS: These United States of America, we are not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators. The United States of America is the greatest idea humanity ever devised.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: I mean, what do you make of that, Scott?

JENNINGS: Well, look, she’s simultaneously trying to argue that only she can save the country. They’ve obviously put all their chips in on this idea that there are just enough people who hate Donald Trump and you just have to accept me as I am. I was trying to articulate earlier before I was interrupted that I don’t think the policy argument she’s making is going to be fully persuasive about that.

People don’t necessarily just have to look at the president and say, well, as long as you’re not Donald Trump, that’s good enough. It’s not good enough for a lot of people. She said on immigration, politicians need to start taking this issue seriously. Well, the building over your shoulder is where you work. Were you taking it seriously for the first three and a half years again? She also —

MCGOWAN: Excuse me, Scott, I’m going to interrupt you again. Because you’re just lying to people!

So, it’s nuts to say that she’s not running on any policies, she’s only running on anti-Donald Trump. That’s crazy.

JENNINGS: She also said that she–

PHILLIP: I’ll let you finish, Scott, we’ll get into–

JENNINGS:–would never disrespect our military men and women. And she attacked Donald Trump on that.

Watch above via CNN NewsNight.

Not everyone can afford an OLED TV (even when they're discounted), and that's okay. But you don't necessarily need to sacrifice quality when opting for a cheaper option. The Sony BRAVIA 7 is a mini-LED TV that is cheaper than OLEDs but still excels in many aspects, especially if you plan to use it for gaming.

Right now, all the sizes of this set, ranging from 55 to 85 inches, have hit their lowest prices yet according to price-checking tools. Over on Amazon, the 55-inch Sony BRAVIA 7 starts at $1,298 (originally $1,699.99), or you can get the 65-inch for just $100 more (and $600 off the retail price of $1,999.99, though that discounted price might not show until you add it to your cart). The largest 85-inch model is marked down $800, to $2,498.

Smart Google TV with Dolby Vision HDR and Exclusive Features for PlayStation®5 (K-55XR70) 2024 Model

Sony 55 Inch Mini LED QLED 4K Ultra HD TV BRAVIA 7

$1,298.00 at Amazon

$1,699.99 Save $401.99

Get Deal

Get Deal

$1,298.00 at Amazon

$1,699.99 Save $401.99

4k Ultra HD with Mini LED Brightness and Contrast, Real-World Colors, Powerful Processing.

Sony BRAVIA 7 65 Inch QLED LCD TV

$2,299.99 at Amazon

Get Deal

Get Deal

$2,299.99 at Amazon

Smart Google TV with Dolby Vision HDR and Exclusive Features for PlayStation®5 (K-75XR70) 2024 Model

Sony 75 Inch Mini LED QLED 4K Ultra HD TV BRAVIA 7

$1,798.00 at Amazon

$2,198.00 Save $400.00

Get Deal

Get Deal

$1,798.00 at Amazon

$2,198.00 Save $400.00

4k Ultra HD QLED LCD TV Mini LED Brightness and Contrast, Billions of Real-World Colors.

Sony BRAVIA 7 85 Inch TV

$2,498.00 at Amazon

$3,299.99 Save $801.99

Get Deal

Get Deal

$2,498.00 at Amazon

$3,299.99 Save $801.99

SEE 1 MORE

Whatever the size, this TV excels in offering a pleasing picture with bright, punchy contrast. It supports 4k resolution at 120Hz. It also comes with Google TV as its smart operating system in high-bitrate 4K content, which means you can use voice commands to control it through Google Assistant, but it's also compatible with Apple products through AirPlay 2, according to IGN's 8/10 review.

If you're a gamer and play on PlayStation, this TV gives you access to PlayStation Remote Play. It also has Auto HDR Tone Mapping and Auto Genre Picture Mode, which adjusts the settings to optimize your gaming or movie experience. There's also a dedicated Game Menu with all of the relevant settings in one place.

The biggest drawback, as with other LED TVs, is a somewhat restricted viewing angle compared to OLED sets. If you're looking to get this as a main focal point in a large living room, you'll need to go with a bigger size to avoid viewing angle issues. If you're getting for gaming, however, it won't be nearly as big of an issue, since you're likely to be sitting right in front of the screen.

Former President Donald Trump denied knowing Tony Hinchcliffe amid fallout from the comedian’s controversial joke about Puerto Rico during the GOP presidential nominee’s Madison Square Garden event.

Hinchcliffe, who hosts a podcast called Kill Tony centered entirely around roasting, referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage,” a comment critics have called racist and inappropriate for a political rally.

“I don’t know him, someone put him up there. I don’t know who he is,” Trump told ABC News’ Rachel Scott on Tuesday.

Scott spoke to Trump shortly before he gave a press conference.

The former president also claimed he did not hear any of Hinchcliffe’s comments. His campaign was quick to distance itself from Hinchcliffe.

“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior campaign adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.

Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the joke and Trump’s rally, accusing him of feeding into divisions.

“He is focused and actually fixated on his grievances, on himself and on dividing our country. And it is not in any way something that will strengthen the American family, the American worker,” she said.

Hinchcliffe defended himself against condemnations from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz by accusing them of having no sense of humor.

“These people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his “busy schedule” to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist,” he wrote on X. “I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a comedian Tim…might be time to change your tampon.”

Scary movies are a must for spooky season, but as Halloween approaches, it's important to really narrow your focus. If, like me, you have a highly compulsive need to organize your movie watching more deliberately, that might mean setting aside movies that are just scary in favor of ones that explicitly celebrate the season by being set on Halloween itself.

Halloween (which I'll of course get to) has nailed down many a holiday viewing by virtue of being, yes, a great slasher...but also by being called Halloween, and by taking place on Halloween. But it's not the only one: Here are 13 spooky (or spooky-adjacent) movies that take place either solely (or just mostly) on Halloween.

Hell House LLC (2015)

A spooky, enjoyable entry in the canon of found footage horror, Hell House presents itself as a documentary examining the deaths of 15 people on Halloween night 2009 at the opening of the titular hunted house attraction. The setting for the pop-up event, Hotel Abaddon, was already rumored to be haunted, but the group producing the event is all in, and an obnoxious CEO has no intention of letting a few early mishaps and mysterious injuries deter him from opening on schedule. It adds a bit of zip to Halloween haunted house attractions by suggesting that the scares might not all be fake. It's a solid premise well executed, with several decent sequels if you find yourself invested.

Where to stream: Prime Video, Shudder, Tubi

Late Night with the Devil (2023)

Late Night has a lot of fun recreating the feel and aesthetic of the 1970s in its recreation of a sub-Johnny Carson talk show called Night Owls With Jack Delroy (who is played with engaging hubris by the always reliable David Dastmalchian). It's 1977, and the show is hosting a Halloween spectacular with guests including a psychic, a skeptic, and a parapsychologist. With the typical corny schtick, it's all in good fun—until it isn't. Turns out Delroy has some secrets in his past and a dead wife who might not be resting all that peacefully.

Where to stream: Hulu, AMC+, Shudder

Terrifier (2016)

After debuting his scary clown in a couple of shorts, writer/director Damien Leone gave him a proper introduction here. In the years since, Art the Clown has become an unlikely pop culture icon, starring in three films, each more popular and successful than the last. This first entry, which cost almost nothing to make, takes us to Halloween night, 2017, and finds Art stalking a couple of young women, and murdering anyone who gets in his way. It all started on Halloween night, and his reign of terror has no end in sight.

Where to stream: Prime Video, Peacock, Tubi

Halloween (1978)

Halloween more than earns its title by celebrating not one, but two, Halloween nights, 15 years apart but connected by the murderous impulses of one Michael Myers. The iconic opening sequence finds us in Haddonfield, Illinois, where a harmless-looking 6-year-old butchers his older sister before being rather quickly apprehended and sent off to a mental institution, where he is placed in the care of the stern Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence). Then it's on to 1978, when Jamie Lee Curtis' resourceful teen Laurie Strode (who may or may not be Michael's sister, depending on your own personal sequel canon) finds herself hunted by the recent escapee. The lesser, but still entertaining, first sequel picks up immediately after this movie's end, and takes place on the same night.

Where to stream: Shudder, AMC+, digital rental

Night of the Demons (1988)

It's 1988 in America, and where better to host a Halloween party than in an abandoned funeral home—especially one with a particularly grisly past? Goth kid Angela Franklin (Amelia Kinkade) certainly figures that it's a good idea, and that they might as well hold a séance while they're there, just for laughs. As you might have guessed from the title, the mortuary isn't quite abandoned, and demons rise to possess and murder the kids in gruesome ways. The most indelible image is of a demonic possession as a seductive dance set to a Bauhaus song. The first sequel and the 2009 remake are likewise set on Halloween.

Where to stream: Prime Video, Peacock, Tubi, Shudder, AMC+

Ghostwatch (1992)

Ghostwatch descended upon an unsuspecting British public way back in 1992, presenting itself as a live Halloween TV special filmed at the site of an allegedly haunted house (based on the "true" story of the Enfield Poltergeist, which was also the subject of the second Conjuring movie). Real-life TV presenter Sarah Greene is on hand, as is comedian and Red Dwarf star Craig Charles, each playing themselves for what looks like it's going to be a night of spooky fun. That's before our presence, only ever referred as "Pipes," makes itself known, and all hell breaks loose (almost literally). It's all so convincingly presented as a goofy holiday TV special that you'll almost believe it's legit, as some of its alarmed original viewers did.

Where to stream: Shudder, Tubi, AMC+, digital rental

The Houses October Built (2014)

A reasonably good double-feature with Hell House, LLC, October (released a year earlier) takes on a similar set of fears (this haunted house attraction is actually going to kill me) from a different perspective. Here, the threat isn't supernatural, but far more human and down-to-earth. Having grown board with more mundane scares, a group of friends from Ohio set out on a road trip to find the most extreme haunted houses possible. Good news: they find what they're looking for! Bad news:They find what they're looking for.

Where to stream: Hoopla, digital rental

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

Pretty much all of the Halloween movies take place on the titular holiday (obviously), but I'm calling out Season of the Witch only because it's the one sequel in the long-running series that has absolutely nothing to do with any of the others, not even the original. The notion was to turn Halloween into a horror anthology franchise, but everyone involved gave up on that idea pretty much immediately and went back to making movies about Michael Myers. But this one, has a premise that's every bit as grisly, but far goofier—in a fun way. It involves a plot by the maker of Halloween masks to murder children by the millions (the ploy involves using a bit of Stonehenge as part of an ancient ritual). If your kid is wearing a Silver Shamrock mask and they find themselves in front of the TV when that jangly earworm of a jingle comes on, it's already too late.

Where to stream: Peacock, AMC+, digital rental

Scream VI (2023)

The sixth Scream movie (and the second of what would have been a trilogy, except that the studio laid off a lead cast member for dumb reasons) heads off to Manhattan during the Halloween season. The latest iteration of the Ghostface killer uses the hustle and bustle of New York to cover for, and escape from, their various murders. In memorably meta style, we're trapped on a subway train full of revelers dressed up as Ghostface, star of the series-within-a-series Stab films, alongside horror icons from movies like Hellraiser, Ready or Not, and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Where to stream: Paramount+, digital rental

Hocus Pocus (1993)

Exploring a haunted house on Halloween, three teenagers in Salem, Massachusetts, accidentally set loose a trio of evil witches from the 1600s: the Sanderson sisters (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy). Critics in 1993 dismissed it as hokey nonsense, but it quickly became a goofy cult classic, and one of Halloween's most popular family watches. The witchy sisters returned decades later for a sequel, with another reportedly on the way. Normally I'm not a fan of narratives that present Salem witches as actually deserving of being punished, but this one's all in good fun.

Where to stream: Disney+, digital rental

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)

Taken from the 1980s-era book trilogy, Scary Stories is a solid entry-level horror movie for preteens, blending tried-and-true genre elements with real visual flair. On Halloween, 1968, a bunch of kids swipe a book from an allegedly haunted house, one filled with stories written by a young woman who'd been accused of witchcraft and tormented a century earlier. The five teens find that the book is still being written, with new stories leaping off the pages to menace them. Elements of classic stories from the book series, from “Harold,” to “The Big Toe,” to “The Red Spot," wind their way through the narrative. Trollhunter's André Øvredal directs, backed by producer/co-writer Guillermo del Toro, neither of them strangers to creepy subject matter.

Where to stream: Netflix, digital rental

Trick 'r Treat (2007)

A direct-to-video Halloween anthology that quickly became a seasonal favorite, Trick 'r Treat takes us lovely, charming town of Warren Valley, Ohio, where we're introduced to Sam, an adorable trick-or-treater in footie pajamas...who will slaughter you in the most brutal fashion if you don't obey the rules of Halloween, including by blowing out your jack-o'-lantern before midnight. Sam ties together the movie's four stories of seasonal murder and mayhem, with an impressive cast that includes Dylan Baker, Rochelle Aytes, Anna Paquin, and Brian Cox.

Where to stream: Max, digital rental

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

Tim Burton returns to Winter River, Connecticut after thirty years for a pretty good sequel reuniting several members of the original cast (Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, and Catherine O'Hara). Erstwhile goth girl Lydia Deetz (Ryder) returns home for her father's funeral, where she's reunited with her stepmother (O'Hara) and estranged daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega). Lydia is there with her boyfriend Rory, who's obsessed with the idea of a Halloween wedding, but has shady motivations. Astrid too meets a guy who hopes to share Halloween with her—and both events eventually coincide with the return of a certain slovenly ghost.

Where to stream: digital rental

The FBI is investigating two ballot boxes being set on fire early Monday morning, including one in a crucial swing district in Washington state.

MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell reported on Monday, “Breaking news from the Pacific Northwest. State election officials are working to determine how many ballots were destroyed overnight after two apparent arson attacks.”

“Drop-off ballot boxes were apparently targeted in Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. Police found an incendiary device, that’s their frame, inside the Portland ballot drop-off box. County elections officials say fire suppressant inside the drop box protected nearly all the ballots. Only three were damaged. But officials in Vancouver fear that hundreds of ballots could have been damaged or even destroyed. It is not clear if the two are connected. The FBI is investigating,” added Mitchell.

Cook Political’s Dave Wasserman later noted the importance of the ballots to the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives. “This is in #WA03. In 2022, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D) only beat Joe Kent (R) here by 2,629 votes. The rematch is a Toss Up,” Wasserman wrote on X.

Watch the full clip above via MSNBC.

Apple Intelligence is bringing with it some of the biggest new features for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Its functions are being released in phases, starting with today's iOS and iPadOS 18.1 update for the iPhone 15 Pro series, all iPhone 16 models, and all iPads running an A17 Pro chip and above. All Macs running an M-series chip are also getting Apple Intelligence with today's macOS Sequoia 15.1 update. Even though the new features are exciting, not everyone wants to use artificial intelligence (AI) features on their smartphones or other devices. If you're among those who are skeptical, you can turn off Apple Intelligence on your iPhone or other compatible Apple device. Alternatively, if you do want to use Apple's AI, you might actually need to join a waitlist first. Regardless of whether you want AI, here's everything you need to know about enabling Apple Intelligence.

How to enable Apple Intelligence on iPhone or iPad

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

To enable Apple Intelligence on iPhone or iPad, first update to iOS 18.1 or iPadOS 18.1. After the update, you should see instructions to enable Apple Intelligence on-screen. Just follow the outlined workflow and it'll be enabled for you. If you skipped the workflow or didn't see these instructions, you can also go to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and enable Apple Intelligence there. Despite the "& Siri" name, this toggle will also control access to other Apple Intelligence features, too.

Some people may not immediately see the option to enable Apple Intelligence. Instead, you may see an option called Join the Apple Intelligence Waitlist. Select that and wait for Apple's AI to be rolled out to your device—it should only take a couple of hours, but could be longer. Don't worry, since you'll get a notification once you're through the waitlist. Apple is doing this to manage the load on its servers.

If you're still not seeing an option to enable Apple Intelligence, ensure that your device language and Siri language are set to U.S. English, as Apple Intelligence is only available in that language for now. Find device language in Settings under Language & Region in the General tab and Siri language under the Siri tab in the same app. If you still don't see the Apple Intelligence toggle, it might not be available in your region.

How to turn off Apple Intelligence on iPhone or iPad

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Using AI raises many concerns, such as high energy usage, privacy issues, or even simply the potential for unreliability that often comes with a new, immature technology. If you decide that you'd rather not use Apple Intelligence on your iPhone or iPad, you can easily disable it, too. Go to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and toggle off Apple Intelligence. You'll see a confirmation pop-up—select Turn Off Apple Intelligence. That will remove the AI from your device.

How to enable/disable Apple Intelligence on Mac

Apple Intelligence is also available on Mac, and turning it on or off there follows a similar process as on iPhone or iPad. Just navigate to the Apple icon Menu, click System Settings, and find the Apple Intelligence toggle under Apple Intelligence & Siri. As with above, you might need to join a waitlist or change your device language (navigate to System Settings -> General -> Language & Region) or Siri language (System Settings -> Siri & Spotlight).

Vice President Kamala Harris scolded Norah O’Donnell Sunday morning after the CBS News anchor defended President Donald Trump’s ties Project 2025 during a Sunday interview.

O’Donnell interrupted Harris during an exchange about Trump’s potentially supporting a nationwide ban on abortion if elected to a second term. Harris claimed Trump would do so and cited the lengthy blueprint for an ultra-conservative agenda that Democrats have latched onto and Trump has disavowed.

Harris joined O’Donnell on CBS News Sunday Morning, where the pair discussed a number of topics related to next week’s election. In one testy exchange, O’Donnell drew a reaction from Harris when she reminded her that Trump had disavowed Project 2025.

However, O’Donnell actually cut the vice president off twice while the pair discussed the issue of abortion rights. The first exchange that drew emotion from Harris went:

O’DONNELL: So you do support restrictions after viability?

HARRIS: I support Roe v. Wade being put back into law by Congress and to restore the fundamental right of women to make decisions about their own body. It is that basic.

O’DONNELL: But, you know, there were – there are restrictions with Roe v. Wade. There were restrictions after viability.

HARRIS: We would not be debating this if Donald Trump had not hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention they would undo the protections of Roe v Wade. And what we have seen as as demonstrated last night and every day these last two years is extraordinary harm that has occurred in America, where women have died because of Trump abortion bans.

Moments later, Harris scolded O’Donnell after the CBS anchor told her Trump had distanced himself from Project 2025:

O’DONNELL: And when you argue that Donald Trump, if elected, would put forward a national abortion ban.

HARRIS: Just read Project 2025.

O’DONNELL: The former president said that’s not true. He would veto it.

HARRIS: He says everything. Come on, are we really taking his word for it? He said that women should be punished. He has been all over the place on this, but I’m too busy watching what he’s doing to see what he has said.

Watch above via CBS News.

Vice President Kamala Harris dismissed a question about her campaign’s internal number Sunday morning as she addressed reporters nine days before the election from the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

She told the media at a press conference she relies on her “instinct,” which tells her crowds are showing up for her and the wind is at her back.

Harris is statistically tied in the commonwealth with her 2024 rival, former President Donald Trump, while new polling has shown her national lead slip in recent weeks.

As she addressed the media in Philadelphia Sunday morning, the vice president portrayed the race as a binary choice between her desire to get to work versus Trump’s alleged desire to seek a reckoning.

“If it’s Donald Trump, you can see what’s going on. Look, that day is going to be – it will be him sitting at that desk stewing over his enemies list. He is full of grievance. He is full of a dark language that is about retribution and revenge,” she said. “It’s either going to be there or it’ll be me there, focused on my to-do list.”

Jeff Mason with Reuters then asked her, “Madam Vice President, can you give us a sense of your internal polling at the campaign and how that is making or influencing your decisions on what to do over the next nine days?” Harris replied:

So, to be very frank with you, my internal polling is my instinct. I let the campaign people deal with all that other stuff, and I am responding to what I’m seeing. I mean, just two nights ago, we had 30,000 people show up. I think it was actually more than 30,000 people with an incredible amount of enthusiasm. If you see the people showing up last night.

Every event that we do, and the feeling is one of energy and excitement. What I love about the folks who are showing up is it’s every walk of who we are as a country and as Americans. Every race, age, gender, from all different kinds of backgrounds, together under one roof. It’s very exciting. The number of young people, you know, have begun to really point out that first-time voters who are there is now people are actually registered. And it’s it’s very exciting and the momentum is with us.

Watch above via MSNBC.

Following former President Donald Trump’s three hour interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast, his running mate JD Vance made his way the podcast of another comedian, Tim Dillon.

The Saturday episode did not reach the marathon length of Rogan’s — it was about half — but Vance and Dillon covered plenty of topics, with Vance often in a state of laughter as Dillon sarcastically knocked Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign. One of these moments came when Vance was discussing former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz Cheney endorsing Harris, noting Liz Cheney has even campaigned for and with Harris.

“I love Dick Cheney and the whole Cheney family,” Dillon announced as Vance immediately laughed. “To me when I think about democracy I personally think about Dick Cheney. He’s a figure from my childhood that I love and respect. Some of the greatest years of my life: Iraq, Abu Ghraib, Dick Cheney. Shoutout to Dick Cheney and Liz.”

Vance joined in on the roast, adding, “If you really care about Democracy and human rights, Dick Cheney is your guy.”

“Nobody better,” Dillon said.

Vance joked he thought the comedian was saying that so a “drone” didn’t target his house.

The vice presidential nominee accused Harris of “wagging” her finger at the American people.

“They’re doing this event and Kamala Harris gives the affect of a vice president who has just called the troublesome kid into her office,” he said. “It’s like, you shouldn’t be laughing at Donald Trump, you shouldn’t think he’s funny and, man, the joy is gone when you have someone wagging their finger at the American people.”

In true comedian fashion, Dillon buttoned up the interview by circling back to his biggest laugh: Dick Cheney.

“By the way, your baseless attacks on Kamala Harris — if she doesn’t know something, I feel good as an American knowing Dick Cheney will tell her,” he joked.

Watch above via The Tim Dillon Show.

An indie singer stopped fretfully while singing the National Anthem at a political debate this week, saying, “I fucked it up,” and asking hopefully for a do-over – while the show was airing live. Now she’s seeking another do-over of the whole viral moment.

The incident took place during a 3rd party presidential candidate debate in Los Angeles that was carried live on C-SPAN. Independent artist Loomis was brought in to open forum that included Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver, Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein, and Constitution Party candidate Randall Terry.

Loomis opened the song without any apparent issues but was caught when she approached the line, “And the rockets’ red glare.”

She nervously smiled and explained to a live C-SPAN audience, “I fucked it up, I fucked it up, can I go back? Can I go back, please?”

Loomis was told she could not get a do-over, as the event was live and well underway. She finished the song but not before explaining, “I got too nervous.”

The whole thing went viral in the tradition of anthem errors. and Loomis was later by TMZ, where she talked about what went wrong – and her hope she can get a second chance on national TV. And she gave the outlet a sample of how it would sound.

Per Loomis, she started out the National Anthem strong, but was interrupted by someone in production … with them noting they weren’t ready for her and that she needed to start again.

The singer said this exchange made her think the event wasn’t live … which is why she boldly asked for a re-do during the performance.

Loomis also noted that she wasn’t thinking clearly given the state of her nerves … confessing she’s always been afraid to tackle the National Anthem.

She shared … “It’s like the scariest thing to me ever, since I was a little girl. Because, you know, everyone is standing up all serious. Everyone’s all quiet. It’s scary.”

As for the second chance, Loomis teased a possible upcoming do-over on ABC’s <em>Good Morning America, which would certainly be a bigger platform than a third-party candidate presidential debate no matter how you look at it.

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.

Fox News has been performatively outraged at Vice President Kamala Harris calling former President Donald Trump “fascist” following audio being released of General John Kelly — Trump’s former Chief of Staff — precisely explaining why he believes Trump is a fascist.

It’s been a theme on almost all Fox News shows since Harris held a press conference, a clip of which was aired in the lead-in to an Outnumbered segment hosted by former Trump Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

Viewers were shown a clip of Harris saying, “And it is clear from John Kelly’s words that Donald Trump is someone who, I quote, certainly falls into the general definition of fascist who vowed to be a dictator on day one and vowed to use the military as his personal militia to carry out his personal and political vendettas.”

What were John Kelly’s words? The former DHS Secretary and decorated Marine General told the New York Times Michael Schmidt:

Well, looking at the definition of fascism: It’s a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy. So certainly, in my experience, those are the kinds of things that he thinks would work better in terms of running America.

But McEnany instead blamed “the liberal media” for going all in, showing a raft of headlines reporting on what Kelly said. “You see it there. Check out this wave of recent headlines describing Trump as, quote, fascist, authoritarian, even Hitler loving,” she said. “Wow. And that’s just a few of them.”

Emily Compagna took a turn insulting the vice president, saying “I truly don’t think Kamala Harris could define fascism.” She then ironically offered, “I don’t think she could define the difference between disinformation or misinformation.” Speaking of misinformation…

The merits of labeling one’s political rivals a “fascist” is certainly a worthy topic for cable news programming. And the criticism of Harris using this language is a fair subject to debate. The pretense that Kamala Harris and democrats alone are solely engaged in this allegedly dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric on display in the segment above is flatly embarrassing to all involved.

Why? Because long before Vice President Harris proclaimed her belief that Trump was engaging in some level of fascism? Trump was making the same exact claim about Harris.  We know this because CNN NewsNight reminded viewers of Trump’s overheated rhetoric used against his opponents in a montage aired over a month ago:

In this segment above, CNN host Abby Phillip aired snippets of former President Trump going full anti-fascist in condemning his rivals, but not after she aired a clip of Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance chiding Democrats.

“Look, we can disagree with one another,” Vance said in September. “We can debate one another. But we cannot tell the American people that one candidate is a fascist and if he’s elected, it is gonna be the end of American democracy.”

Phillip noted one issue with Vance’s remarks. “Except here is Vance’s actual running mate saying exactly that,” she said before playing snippets of Trump at various rallies:

It’s a choice between communism and freedom.

…

This is communist, this is Marxist, this is fascist.

…

There’s a radical left, Marxist, communist, fascist.

…

She’s a Marxist. She’s a fascist.

…

Comrade Kamala Harris.

…

If comrade Kamala Harris gets four more years, you will be living [in] a full-blown banana republic ruled by an anarchy and a tyranny… They’re scum. They’re scum and they want to take down our country. They are absolute garbage.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump infamously told rally-goers in Washington, D.C. that if Congress certified Biden’s election victory that day, America as they knew would be over. While the former president did say to march to the Capitol “peacefully,” he also said, “And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” while telling the crowd, “You have to show strength.”

Watch the clips above via Fox News and CNN, respectively.

You can finally customize the Fitness app's summaries to your liking in iOS 18. Previously, opening the app would show a summary of the workouts Apple wanted to highlight, even if you don't use them. Now, you can add workouts, metrics, and cards that you actually care about, while getting rid of the ones that don't interest you. This is great news, as fitness is a deeply personal journey and the new feature allows you to only focus on the goals that matter to you. 

How to add data to the Fitness app's summary screen in iOS 18

Credit: Pranay Parab

With an iPhone running iOS 18, open the Fitness app. It'll take you to the Summary page, and at the bottom, you should see a prompt asking you to edit it. If you don't see this prompt, select the Summary icon at the bottom of the page. When you're ready to add new cards, click Edit Summary, and the page's cards will start jiggling. 

Next, tap the Add button in the top-left corner of the page. Take a couple minutes to scroll through your card options. You can tap any card to see the types of data it can display. For example, the Steps card lets you see the number of your steps and the total distance covered. Once you've selected the a card you want to add, tap Add Card.

You can add cards for the following data points:

• Steps

• Sessions (logged workouts)

• Training Load

• Trends

• Sharing (to display your friends' activity)

• Awards

• Running

• Cycling

• Swimming

• Hiking

• Walking

• Mindfulness

I've used this feature to add running time and walking time cards to my summary, since I care more about time spent than distance covered. 

How to delete cards from your Fitness summary

Credit: Pranay Parab

You can also remove unwanted cards from the Summary page in your iPhone's Fitness app. This lets you clean up the clutter and focus on the data you actually care about. To do this, scroll to the bottom of the Summary page and tap Edit Summary. When the cards are jiggling, tap the - button in the top-left corner of any card to delete it. This way, you can get rid of irrelevant stats.

How to reorder cards in iOS 18's Fitness summary

Credit: Pranay Parab

The last step to customizing the Summary page in your iPhone's Fitness app is reordering the cards to prioritize important stats. Note that you can't move or delete the Activity Rings card that's up top, but all others can be moved or deleted. To reorder these cards, scroll to the bottom of the Summary page in the Fitness app and select Edit Summary. When the icons jiggle, hold and move any card to reorder its place on the page. 

That's it! Your Fitness app's Summary page will now be tailored to your activity—you might even find yourself using it more often than before.

I've struggled to find much use for AI. It's not that I'm not motivated—it's my job to try out new technology and point out useful ways to use it—but I rarely, if ever, stumble upon something the AI can do that I can't do faster and/or better with some other tool.

Until now.

I recently took a long trip that involved multiple flights and I wanted to add those flights to my calendar. I was annoyed to discover the airline didn't offer a button for doing this, or even an iCal download—all I got was a list of the flight times. So I thought I'd try AI.

I copied the times into Claude, which is an AI tool similar to ChatGPT. I asked the bot to convert the dates into an iCal file, and it worked. All I had to do was download the text file it offered, change the file name extension to "ics", and add it to my calendar. It worked perfectly: the times were even converted to account for the time zone differences at all locations.

Now, not every AI seems to work for this. I tested using ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Claude. Gemini gave me a tutorial about how to create an iCal file, which wasn't what I wanted; ChatGPT gave me a tutorial with a partial iCal download that was missing most of the events. It's possible I could get better results by adjusting my prompt, but with Claude I didn't have to: it gave me a perfectly formatted iCal file complete with a download button. All I had to do was rename the file extension after downloading and I could open it in the Calendar app on my Mac.

This, I think, might be my ideal use for AI: taking unstructured text data and converting it into an actual file. The iCal thing works an any context where someone gives you a list of dates and times—just copy that and ask your favorite bot to create an iCal file.

This isn't just for calendar appointments: you can make most any kind of file, assuming you have the right kind of data. For example: I copied some numbers from Wikipedia and asked Claude to turn it into a CSV file—it worked.

Credit: Justin Pot

Basically, if there's data you want organized in a particular file type, Claude seems like a good solution. Now, there's a a catch here. The free version of Claude will complain if you paste in a large dataset and possibly stop partway through the conversion. If you're a paying customer, though, it should power through.

Again, I'm not really an AI guy, but this I find useful. Give Claude a try the next time you have to turn a messy assortment of text into an actual file—it just might work.