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October 29, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning. The mood is grim at the White House. And we talked with the guy who came up with the design for the Cheesecake Factory. But before that, we’ve got a tale of political intrigue from Alaska. (Also, I know we’ve had some issues with the audio narration of this newsletter for the last couple of days. It’ll be back soon!) A sample election ballot in Alaska. Haven Daley/Associated Press Stacking ballots Politics is a dirty business. The Times broke news of the latest example: a secret effort by Democratic operatives to make Alaska’s midterm election ballot tilt in favor of Mary Peltola, their candidate for Senate. It wasn’t a terrifically complicated plan. They wanted to siphon votes from the Republican incumbent, Dan S. Sullivan. One way to do so, top aides for Peltola decided, would be to scour the state for people also named Dan Sullivan, in the hopes that one of them would go on the ballot and confuse voters. A retired teacher from a tiny fishing village in the Alaska Panhandle named Dan J. Sullivan soon answered the call. He announced his candidacy for Senate this spring. He’ll be on the ballot Tuesday. Here’s Kellen Browning, who reported the story: The Peltola campaign has repeatedly denied any involvement in his candidacy. But The Times has found, based on interviews and text messages, along with documents prepared for a potential lawsuit against the campaign, that not only did Ms. Peltola’s team work with people trying to recruit Mr. Sullivan to run for Senate, but the effort was much broader. The group worked to coax other would-be spoilers into the race, to dilute the incumbent’s support and help catapult the Democrat to victory. Mary Peltola’s campaign has repeatedly denied any involvement in the other Dan Sullivan’s candidacy. Kerry Tasker/Reuters To do that, a mysterious Midwestern operative using a fake name crisscrossed the state seeking candidates. The effort involved him, campaign aides, lawyers and officials at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which directs the party’s campaign strategy in races across the country. At one point they considered spinning up a new MAGA party to further split the Republican vote. None of this is strictly illegal, although last night Alaska’s governor said he was ordering an investigation into the plan. Attempts to stack ballots have been made by both parties in Alaska. But this particular operation shows how far some Democrats will to go to win a race that could help determine which party controls the Senate. Dirty tricks It’s not just Alaska, and it’s not just now. Remember the Watergate break-in? The Willie Horton ad that hurt Michael Dukakis’s campaign for the presidency in 1988? The leak of George W. Bush’s 1976 D.U.I. arrest just five days before the presidential election? “There is always election skulduggery,” Carl Hulse, our chief Washington correspondent, told me. “In fact, machinations like this are really a more traditional way of skewing elections than the idea that thousands of noncitizens sneak in to vote.” Sham candidates show up all the time, he said, recalling a State Senate race in Florida a few years ago in which a Republican operative put up a candidate with the same last name as the incumbent, hoping to sow confusion. (Local prosecutors said he paid the sham candidate $45,000 to run. Both of them were convicted of election crimes.) Dan J. Sullivan described himself as a moderate Republican in an interview with The Times in August, and he has repeatedly maintained that he entered the race of his own volition. Christopher Miller for The New York Times On the theory that it’s easier to beat an extreme candidate in a general election, Democrats and Republicans alike have run ads to support the fringe contestant in the opposing primary. (Illinois’s governor and his allies, for instance, spent $30 million helping the Republicans nominate someone he defeated easily in 2022.) They’ll try to get third-party candidates on the ballot, in order to siphon off votes. (Republicans tried to help the Green Party’s Jill Stein get back on the presidential ballot in 2024.) They’ll run robocalls telling voters about a change in their polling place. They’ll always look for an edge. And sometimes the best one is a name. Carl reminded me that Hollywood even made a movie about that, “The Distinguished Gentleman,” in 1992. It stars Eddie Murphy as a Florida con man who assumes the name of a dead congressman in order to run for office and get rich. He wins. You should read the whole Alaskan saga. (No subscription? No problem. There’s no paywall.) And then listen to Kellen talk about it on “The Daily.” More election news Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Wes Moore of Maryland. Joseph Prezioso/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images In just a few days, the Democrats who want to run for president in 2028 can finally be honest. See who has been privately courting big-money donors. President Trump’s cabinet members are stumping for Republican candidates. Ethics experts say some are breaking the law. A judge rejected a Trump administration attempt to make California set aside ballots from people the administration suspects are “likely noncitizens.” Midterm candidates are talking about how to fix Social Security, whose retirement trust fund is expected to run dry by 2032. Some Republicans say they’d be open to raising taxes. How big could a “blue wave” be? Our chief political analyst looks at four scenarios. MORNING READS Yun Hee Kim for The New York Times Sweet tooth: Is honey any better for you than table sugar? How many Starbursts are too many? Take our sugar quiz. Parenting foul? A mom went on a five-day work trip and left her 14-year-old in charge of the three younger kids. Is that neglect? Your pick: The most clicked link in yesterday’s newsletter was about the aspiring-Christian-influencer girlfriend of Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate for Senate in Texas. Labor leader: Dolores Huerta founded what became the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez. She told The Times that he had raped her decades earlier. She died at 96. The long walk: In 1998, Karl Bushby flew from England to southern Chile and started walking home. Nearly 28 years and 31,000 miles later, he’s almost done. THE LATEST NEWS Around the World In Urda, Spain. Manu Fernandez/Associated Press A high-speed passenger train crashed into another train in Spain, killing at least 68 people and injuring dozens more, officials said. (See how the trains collided.) Flávio Bolsonaro, the Trump ally who lost the presidential election in Brazil but has declared himself the legitimate leader, landed in Miami yesterday. He had fled via Argentina as Brazil investigated his potential ties to money laundering. Benjamin Netanyahu fell short of outright victory in this week’s election in Israel. But he still has a good chance of clinging to power. Vice President JD Vance has contacted a top political and military official in Iran to propose a renewal of comprehensive peace negotiations, officials said. A rare localized peace deal announced by the first lady, Melania Trump, offered a brief respite for Kherson, Ukraine, where Russian drones and artillery have terrorized civilians. Politics A federal investigation into Representative Ilhan Omar is looking at whether she entered a sham marriage to help a man suspected of being her brother obtain a green card. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said patients could use several unapproved peptide injections promoted by online influencers. The F.D.A. had advised against the move. Other Big Stories The Alexander brothers, who used their wealth and influence to lure and sexually assault women and girls for more than a decade, were sentenced to 30 years in prison. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady even as high inflation persisted. Weil Gotshal, once one of America’s marquee law firms, plans to dissolve after an exodus of high-profile lawyers. DESIGN-MAXXING Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg/Alamy After Barack Obama joked that Trump’s vision for the White House looked like “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory,” The Times tracked down the Cheesecake Factory’s design guru. The guy wasn’t mad. His feelings weren’t hurt. “I’m not emotionally attached to the Cheesecake Factory design,” he told our Kim Severson. That’s probably a good thing. Kim pulled together some other descriptions of the restaurant that could sting. She wrote about “the eclectic décor of murals, towering columns and oversize amber light fixtures that gives each Cheesecake Factory the vibe of a postmodern suburban Versailles.” She quoted one writer who called it “the culinary embodiment of the Kardashians” and another critic who wrote, “The interior is a world of aesthetic chaos that feels like a mix between a Fry’s Electronics, an overgrown Panera and a laser tag arena.” Yeah, well. People like the place. The Cheesecake Factory reported on Tuesday that its revenue had risen to $1.03 billion, from $907.2 million a year earlier. For more, read Kim’s article. ASK THE MORNING If the Democrats retake a majority in both houses of Congress, what are their first priorities? McCaide Wooten | Calgary, Alberta Their first priorities are bills that would make life more affordable and might draw Republican support. Those include: reinstating subsidies for people who buy Obamacare insurance; reversing nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts included in the president’s domestic policy law; codifying congressional power over trade policy and tariffs; and directing Trump to end the war in Iran or seek authorization from Congress to continue it. — Annie Karni, who covers Congress OPINIONS Billionaires should pay their fair share, two economists argue, but California’s proposed wealth tax is the wrong solution. TikTok is changing American politics — perhaps for the better, Julia Angwin writes. Subscribe to New York Times Games. Get Super Duolingo for free. For a limited time, annual Games subscribers can enjoy 6 months of language learning with Super Duolingo. Subscribe now TODAY’S NUMBER Browsing at a Brooklyn store. Nina Westervelt for The New York Times 39 percent — That is how much more people have spent on horror books this year compared with last year. The market for those books is growing: 5.1 million copies were sold last year, up from 3.2 million in 2021. Are you horror-curious? SPORTS Baseball: The Milwaukee Brewers won their first World Series, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in five games. Here’s how they built a championship team. Soccer: Two Chinese companies dropped Kylian Mbappé from their partnerships after he made a comment about “a Chinese dictator.” Surfing: Sexism has plagued the sport for generations. A rape allegation has led to a reckoning. RECIPE OF THE DAY Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell. Beautiful photograph. Looks delicious. But a whole fish is intimidating, no? And, wow, the recipe has a lot of steps! I’m here to assure you: If you buy simple fillets of any lean white fish at the market, you can whiz through the preparation in 30 minutes or so. The result will be equally beautiful and equally delicious. And I bet it makes it into your regular rotation for the next couple of months. CULTURE A.I. has come for stand-up comedy, with bots stealing jokes from young, nonfamous female comics making jokes about dating or sex. The fake-os kill. “If comedy is a bellwether,” Jason Zinoman, our comedy critic, writes, “this represents a dark future in which tech players exploit human labor until the quality of the imitation is good enough that it can cut us out of the equation.” Here’s his argument. Sacha Baron Cohen brought his gonzo act back to his new movie, “Ali G: Who Iz I?” Our critic wasn’t moved: “In the age of the algorithm and A.I. slop, these shenanigans are simply what we call the internet.” It’s a nice pan. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS The famous No. 19 sandwich — pastrami, coleslaw, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing on hot, double-baked rye bread. Steph Martyniuk Eat a pastrami sandwich at Langer’s in Los Angeles — or, if you can’t, just revel in the history of the 79-year-old restaurant. The photographs alone will transport you to the delicious. Embrace the fitness mind-set. It’s key to building an effective workout habit. Accept your adulthood. Get a good ironing board. The wrinkle-free laundry attendants at Wirecutter found the very best ones. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was obliged. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Crossplay and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. See you tomorrow. — Sam Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren Deputy Editorial Director: Lauren Jackson

⚾ 1 fun thing: Brew Crew champs The Milwaukee Brewers celebrate after winning the World Series over the Tampa Bay Rays last night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images The small-ball Milwaukee Brewers — playing in the smallest market in the majors — are World Series champions for the first time in franchise history. The Brewers dominated 4-1 in Game 5 last night to complete a gentleman's sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays and set off a long-awaited celebration among thousands of Brewers fans at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. Brewers star Jacob "Miz" Misiorowski pitches last night. Photo: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images 🔮 What's next: This might have been the last Major League Baseball game for an extended period. A lockout is likely to start Dec. 2 and could threaten the 2027 season. By the numbers ... More on the game.

🚀 Cape Canaveral's new "boom cycle" A Falcon 9 rocket mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral earlier this month. Photo: Gwendolyn Kurzen/Defense Department Thomas Novelly, author of Axios Future of Defense's space edition, writes: Rocket launches from Florida's Cape Canaveral are now outpacing those of the Cold War-era space race that first made the launch site famous. Why it matters: U.S. leaders are rushing to grow the number of rocket providers at America's busiest spaceport amid a space and arms race with China. 🛰️ Behind the scenes: Cape Canaveral is busy expanding to meet President Trump's mandate for the U.S. to support 1,000 annual launches by 2030. SpaceX is expanding its footprint on the Cape for its Starship super heavy-lift launchpads. NASA is preparing for next year's Artemis III test missions and the Artemis IV voyage that aims to return astronauts to the moon by 2028. Blue Origin is rapidly rebuilding its launch complex after its New Glenn rocket exploded in May. Keep reading.

🗳️ Early voting surge Data: Axios research. Chart: Erin Davis/Axios More than 39 million Americans have cast early votes so far — with unusually strong turnout among Black, Hispanic and unaffiliated voters in several states, Axios' Josephine Walker writes. Overall turnout could rival the 2018 "blue wave," which saw the highest participation rate since 1914, University of Florida political scientist Michael McDonald says. Keep reading.

Left's dream agenda Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios House progressives are planning to use their growing power to force votes next year on their most sweeping and divisive policies, including Medicare for All, abolishing ICE and cutting aid to Israel, Axios' Andrew Solender writes. Why it matters: The ultimate goal is to get these policies on the front burner for a Democratic president in 2029, even if that means forcing House Democrats into tough decisions. 🔎 Zoom in: Here is what progressives most want to see go to a House vote in 2027, according to lawmakers, candidates and operatives who spoke to Axios: 1. Medicare for All. The Medicare for All Act introduced by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) has 118 co-sponsors — more than half the House Democratic caucus. The left wants to force the issue onto the floor and make their Democratic colleagues reckon with the policy's popularity in public opinion polls. The aim is to make support for Medicare for All a must for any 2028 presidential candidate to win the primary. 2. Abolish or defund ICE. Several progressives pointed to Rep. Delia Ramirez's (D-Ill.) "Melt ICE Act," which would cut all funding for ICE detention and monitoring of immigrants. Another bill would go even further, fully abolishing ICE and dismantling ICE's parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security. Moderate Democrats have long opposed defunding ICE. Party leadership has proposed reforms to the agency's practices rather than cutting funds. 3. Cut aid to Israel. The Block the Bombs Act, which would restrict presidents' ability to transfer offensive weaponry to Israel, is the left's marquee legislation on this issue. The left is putting external pressure on the party's pro-Israel wing, which suffered serious losses in House primaries this year. 4. AI. Progressives have been some of the earliest adopters of anti-AI rhetoric, proposing strict regulations on the technology, a moratorium on data centers and a ban on Flock cameras. 5. Affordability. Progressives are eyeing a living wage, universal child care, lifting the payroll tax cap to shore up Social Security, and repealing a cap on federally subsidized public housing.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY October 29 1998 John Glenn returns to space read more Nearly 40 years after he became the first American to orbit the Earth, Senator John Glenn is launched into space again as a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT Arts & Entertainment 1955 ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ released one month after James Dean’s death 1965 ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ is published 1971 Guitarist Duane Allman dies in motorcycle accident Asian History 2015 China announces the end of its controversial one-child policy Cold War 1956 Israel invades Egypt; Suez Crisis begins Crime 1901 President William McKinley’s assassin is executed European History 1618 Sir Walter Raleigh executed Great Depression 1929 Stock market crashes on Black Tuesday Inventions & Science 1968 First electronic message is sent via internet precursor ARPANET Natural Disasters & Environment 2012 Superstorm Sandy makes landfall in New Jersey Sports 2003 LeBron James debuts in the NBA Vietnam War 1969 “Chicago Eight” defendant Bobby Seale gagged during his trial World War I 1918 German sailors begin to mutiny

> Staffers affiliated with Alaska's Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola were reportedly directed to recruit candidates named Dan Sullivan to run in order to divert votes from incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK); the New York Times investigation challenges the Peltola campaign's claims it was not involved (More, free w/email) > Labor rights activist Dolores Huerta dies at age 96; Huerta cofounded the United Farm Workers alongside César Chávez, coined the slogan “sí se puede” (“yes we can”) before accusing Chávez of sexual assault this year (More) > At least three documents from the Justice Department's investigation into late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein indicate the files included classified information, report finds (More)

> Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady at 3.75%-4% days before Election Day; two dissenters voted to raise rates amid four-month-high inflation (More) | US stock markets close up (S&P 500 +0.3%, Dow +0.2%, Nasdaq +0.3%) > Federal Trade Commission demands responses from Uber, Walmart, Delta, and six other companies on whether and how ‌they use consumers' personal data to determine prices, wages, and job offers > Wendy's shares jump 15.2% on news Nelson Peltz’s hedge fund Trian Fund Management submitted $1.4B all-cash offer to buy fast-food chain and take it private (More) | Which quick-service restaurants do Americans rank highest? (More)

> Astronomers discover evidence of possible dwarf planet orbiting beyond Pluto; "2026 ED138" takes about 281 years to circle the sun and is roughly 370 to 930 miles wide (More) | What makes a dwarf planet different from a regular planet? (More) > Comets likely traveled too fast and at too steep an angle to deliver molecules essential to life on Earth, according to new study (More, w/theory background) > Three out of four former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 likely had chronic traumatic encephalopathy—CTE—compared with 0.6% of the general population, per updated analysis (More) | How CTE happens (More, w/video)

Will be praying for all to go well and according to Gods will to be done!!!

Brewers beat the Rays 4-1 in Game 5 to win the first World Series title in franchise history ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The small-ball Milwaukee Brewers playing in the smallest market in the majors are World Series champions for the first time. https://apnews.com/article/brewers-rays-world-series-game-5-971f9fb8cad75042fc7f9919dd91c159? ps:Congrats to the Milwaukee Brewers!! World Series Winners The Milwaukee Brewers clinched their first World Series in franchise history yesterday, defeating Tampa Bay 4-1 at the Rays’ home field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Watch the final out here (via X). Milwaukee appeared poised for a sweep through the first three matchups. In Game 3, the Brewers set a World Series record by scoring eight two-out runs in a single inning. That offensive explosion resulted in a 10-1 victory, the largest World Series run differential since 2019. But Tampa Bay clawed out a 4-3 win in 12 innings in Game 4 to avoid the sweep. Milwaukee bounced back last night, powered by starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, left fielder Jackson Chourio, infielder Cooper Pratt, and others. Brewers catcher William Contreras was named MVP after hitting .381 with four RBIs in the series. In addition to the Commissioner's Trophy, Milwaukee will get a Monet painting through a loan from St. Petersburg’s Museum of Fine Arts. The art directors of the cities’ museums wagered pieces from their collections on the Fall Classic. > Kansas City Chiefs sign former Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker to practice squad; Tucker faced accusations of sexual misconduct from 16 women last year and has not played in an NFL game since January 2025 (More) > Documentarian Ken Burns wins inaugural David M. Rubenstein Prize for the Advancement of American History (More) | Jennifer Lawrence confirms she reprises role as Katniss Everdeen in "Hunger Games" prequel next month (More) > Ernie Johnson, who has hosted highlights and analysis show "Inside the NBA" since 1990, announces this season will be his last (More) | Watch Johnson learn of his Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame induction (More via YouTube)

My eye surgerllyl lhasl been sclheduled fo November 12, 2026; tilme to be deermined. Thisa speed was nto expected, but a slot has opened kup. GM

Judge denies federal request to segregate California ballots, says it would ‘wreak havoc’ on voting LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge rejected on Wednesday a Trump administration request to stop California from processing the ballots of up to 20,000 people over allegations they are likely noncitizens, warning it would “wreak havoc” on the midterm elections. https://apnews.com/article/california-noncitizen-voting-trump-midterm-lawsuit-481bed64919ad193e80e051d28beb2c0?

Alvin K. Hellerstein, a federal judge who handled Trump, Maduro and 9/11 cases, dies at 92 Alvin K. Hellerstein, a Manhattan federal judge who presided over cases involving President Donald Trump, former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the 9/11 attacks during nearly three decades on the bench, has died. He was 92. Read More.

RFK Jr. eases access to unproven peptides despite opposition from FDA scientists The Trump administration on Wednesday acted to ease access to unproven peptide drugs favored by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Food and Drug Administration scientific staffers had little input on the decision and opposed the changes, according to six people familiar with its development. Read More.

October 28, 2026 Mike McQuade By Melissa Kirsch This weekend brings the end of daylight saving time — or as my friend Leigh calls it, “License to hunker.” May you hunker in the most glorious fashion possible. On this week’s list: 1. Rosabelle, believe 2. Color stories 3. Make your life bigger 4. Return of the iPod 5. Back-seat rock 6. Blow bubbles from anywhere 1. Rosabelle, believe Bettmann/Getty Images Before the escape artist Harry Houdini died on Halloween in 1926, he and his wife, Bess, agreed that when he would try to communicate with her from the afterlife, he’d use the phrase “Rosabelle, believe” so she’d know it was really him. (“Rosabelle” was a song from Bess’ act at the time they met as performers at Coney Island.) For 10 years after Harry’s death, Bess performed annual seances in an attempt to contact him. At the 1928 event, there were strong signs, according to a report in The Times: The widow has seen many vague faces outlined in light, has heard many sepulchral voices booming “This is Harry,” has seen manuscript messages, which indicated that he had been sent to business college in his new habitat and trained in a copperplate. Copperplate was a penmanship technique. Houdini himself was a skeptic, and devoted the final years of his life to debunking the work of Spiritualist mediums. But if there’s any chance of contact, the centennial Halloween feels like an auspicious one. There are seances planned around the country for this Saturday. If you do happen to make contact with Houdini, be sure to ask for a sample of his handwriting. 2. Color stories A selection from the Storied Colors website. The paint color Baker-Miller Pink, also known as “drunk tank pink,” was mixed at a military prison in the 1970s to calm inmates. Viridian is the green that Monet used for some of his waterlily leaves. Kakishibu is an orange dye that comes from the juice of unripe persimmons. These are among the hundreds of specimens on Storied Colors, a repository of pigments and their back stories. It was created by a guy who was working in tech and wanted to find his way back to the painting he loved as a kid. Search by hue, search by time period, search by source (e.g., mineral, insect). Or just browse and discover, as I can’t seem to stop doing: Bistre is a transparent brown wash used by Rembrandt that came from beechwood fires. Scheele’s Green was made with arsenic and may have contributed to the death of the chemist who created it. Much more interesting than the staid numbers of Pantone paint chips. 3. Make your life bigger A few years ago, my friend Lori told me she was asking herself one question when making decisions: “Does this make my life bigger?” I’ve used this as a guiding principle ever since. It’s useful when choosing between two paths, but also when you find yourself defaulting to certain behaviors or ways of thinking. The question is premised on the assumption that you want to lead a “bigger” life, which is, of course, subjective. For me, a bigger life is one of more adventure, more connection with other people, more joy, more awe. These are lofty ideas, but the litmus test works for minor decisions too. This past weekend, I was tempted to cancel my evening plans — it was so cozy in the house, couldn’t I just stay here in my sweatpants reading a book? — but Lori’s question persisted. It’s not far off from Marie Kondo’s decluttering maxim, “Does this spark joy?” While I was contemplating how useful this framework has been for me, another friend texted that she was trying to do more things solo as a way to “increase her surface area.” That seemed like another way to make one’s life bigger: Expose more of yourself to more things. 4. Return of the iPod It’s hard, in this age of streaming services and their algorithms, to really remember how exciting the iPod was in its infancy. All those songs in your pocket, a nonstop mixtape that you never had to swap out. I remember sitting on the New York City subway and looking around at everyone with their matching white earbuds, feeling uncool for still rocking a Discman with its undistinguished black headphones. Looking back, it seems quaint that everyone was listening to music, but not staring at the screen. Only one sense was engaged; people were still relatively present. The iPod turns 25 this month, and Apple has hidden an Easter egg to honor it. Instead of a 404 error when you go to a nonexistent page on Apple Music’s website, you’ll see a facsimile of the first iPod, an operable device with the old scroll wheel and black-and-white screen. You can listen to clips of songs from the era, like “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child. Or go to the About page and hold the center button for five seconds to launch the old game Brick. On the iPod, a sort of muscle memory sets in and one knows exactly the correct amount of pressure to exert to turn up the volume. The click sounds activate something in me, an excitement at the way they speed up as my finger does. It may be a stunt, but revisiting the old iPod does serve as a reminder of how miraculous streaming media once seemed, and how, a quarter-century later, the miraculous becomes part of the scenery. 5. Back-seat rock Richard E. Aaron/Redferns, via Getty Images There are certain songs from the 1970s that I think of as “back-seat rock” because I first listened to them in the back seat of my parents’ car on road trips. My dad’s arm is stretched across the back of the bench seat as he drives, tapping his hand along to “Heartache Tonight” by the Eagles or “Lido Shuffle” by Boz Scaggs. The notes and lyrics are inscribed in me as the Music of Going Somewhere, highway music that makes the whole family sit back and sing along. A cornerstone of back-seat rock, “Night Moves,” by the raspy-voiced Bob Seger, turned 50 last week. The critic Alex McLevy makes a convincing call for the album’s reappraisal in Paste Magazine. How did Seger, whose success once rivaled Bruce Springsteen’s, come to be associated with “an antiquated era of music that removed him from anything resembling contemporary relevance”? McLevy attributes it to shifting tastes away from guitar-heavy blues-rock as well as the long-running Chevrolet truck ads featuring Seger’s “Like a Rock.” “Night Moves” is one of those albums I listen to a little bashfully now, embarrassed by its sentimentality but caught in its thrall nonetheless. When Seger sings about teenagers fumbling around in the dark, “young and restless and bored,” building from acoustic guitar to full-band instrumentation, my heart soars. I’m imbued with nostalgia for an idealized past, his as well as my own, for those uncomplicated adolescent days when I was just a passenger in the family car, nodding along to songs I didn’t yet understand. 6. Blow bubbles from anywhere Mladen Antonov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images For Halloween in 2000, a couple in Florida set up a bubble machine in their backyard to bewitch trick-or-treaters. A few months later, they rigged up their machine to a computer and camera so people could operate it from the internet. Incredibly, more than two decades later, you can still go online, hit a button, and send a stream of bubbles blowing. The yard is decorated with witches on brooms who appear to be whirling and flying through the intermittent bubble bombardments. One more thing: Malcolm Flynn, a reader from Philadelphia, gets inspiration from an album that The Times called “ethereally and lustrously beautiful”: It’s around the 10-year anniversary of Bon Iver’s “22, A Million.” And the opening line of this album, repeated in a digital falsetto, cannot be forgotten: “It might be over soon.” It is a reminder for all things and all times. Is the “it” bad? Fear not — it’ll be over soon. Is the “it” good? Savor it — it might be over soon! Justin Vernon’s lyrics are often so impressionistic as to be inscrutable, hidden as they are in an ocean of electronic production. But here and there, his voice surfaces to remind you that he is one of the great poets of our time: It might be over soon! What decisions have you made that make your life bigger? Share them in the comments, or email me. And you can check out past editions of The Good List anytime. — Melissa The editor of The Good List is Jodi Rudoren. Eli Cohen handles the photos.

1 for the road: Another Sphere Rendering: Courtesy of Prince George's County The Sphere — a 6,000-seat, orb-shaped immersive entertainment venue — got final approval yesterday to be built at Maryland's National Harbor just outside D.C., Axios D.C.'s Cuneyt Dil reports. Local officials are betting that the $1.4 billion mini version of the Las Vegas Sphere will be a big draw. 🏟️ Maryland's Sphere will host immersive concerts and shows with vibrating seats, 4D effects and a 16,000-by-16,000 interior display that the creators say is the "world's highest-resolution LED screen." Go deeper.

🎢 Theme park visits slide Data: TEA Global Experience. Table: Alex Fitzpatrick/Axios Attendance at most of the country's 10 busiest theme parks fell between 2024 and 2025, per closely watched estimates. Traffic at Disney's Magic Kingdom and EPCOT in Florida fell 0.2%, while Universal Studios Hollywood visits fell by 8%, according to the annual TEA Global Experience Index. 🎡 Some theme park fans may have chosen to spend their money and time off last year at the new Universal Epic Universe, which opened in 2025 and drew 4 million visitors. TEA's report also points to a drop in Canadian visitors to the U.S. amid political tensions and a weaker Canadian dollar. 🎸 Stunning stat: Visits to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., hit 3.4 million, up a whopping 8.1%. Explore the findings.

What's next for Israel Benjamin Netanyahu addresses supporters at an election night rally. Photo: Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's electoral coalition has opened a sizable lead over Gadi Eisenkot's opposition bloc with 85% of the vote counted, Axios' Barak Ravid reports from Tel Aviv. Still, neither bloc will clear a 61-seat majority. That sets the stage for weeks of wrangling over the country's next government. 🗳️ Netanyahu will emerge from the election down but not out. His bloc is on pace to secure 53 seats — 11 fewer than he currently commands. Eisenkot's bloc trails with 48 seats, leaving both men without a clear mandate to lead the government. Eisenkot could theoretically swear in a government with the support of Arab parties — which are on track to secure a record 19 seats — yet that's highly unlikely. Gadi Eisenkot waves an Israeli flag at an election night rally. Photo: Tomer Neuberg/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images 🤳 President Trump told Axios in a brief interview today that at first he received "horror reports" about Netanyahu's prospects. But, Trump added, "he's in pretty good shape now." Trump said: "I heard my endorsement made a big difference for Bibi." Asked whether he'll get involved in efforts to form a Netanyahu-led unity government, Trump said he hadn't thought about it. He said: "I will take a look." 🪖 What's next: There are 500,000 votes left to count, from soldiers, diplomats, prisoners and others who voted outside their designated area. They could slightly shift the blocs' seat totals, or the allotment of seats within each bloc. But they are unlikely to change the overall balance of power. Keep reading.

Federal Reserve keeps rates unchanged despite elevated inflation WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve kept its key rate unchanged Wednesday at about 3.9% despite stubbornly high inflation, as Chairman Kevin Warsh suggested its policies are already showing signs of having an impact. https://apnews.com/article/inflation-warsh-interest-rates-federal-reserve-c06793b0c50641444701d5d098ccc2c8?

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Microsoft Is About to Mess With Your Most Important Keyboard Shortcut Decades of muscle memory are on the line as Microsoft weighs turning your Start menu shortcut into a streamlined search bar. https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-is-about-to-mess-with-your-most-important-keyboard-shortcut?

Dolores Huerta, influential labor leader, feminist and civil rights icon, dies at 96 https://apnews.com/article/dolores-huerta-dies-255fd49a5346475dbace4a74994b2c62?

900+ women criminally charged for their conduct during pregnancies In the first three years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion in June 2022, more than 900 women faced criminal charges for conduct related to their pregnancies, according to a new report. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/27/repub/900-women-criminally-charged-for-their-conduct-during-pregnancies/? Rhode Island is first state to sue Meta over alleged profits from scam ads A fake investment opportunity, a phony Social Security benefit or a dubious health product might seem like just another random ad on Meta’s platforms. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/10/27/repub/rhode-island-is-first-state-to-sue-meta-over-alleged-profits-from-scam-ads/?