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Amazon's Big Spring Sale is just two days away, but the mega-retailer isn't waiting to share its beauty deals.
Already, deals on the Shark FlexStyle, Therabody's TheraFace line, and one of the best Dyson Supersonic dupes, the Laifen Swift, are live ahead of the weeklong sale's kick off on March 25.
As Mashable's beauty expert, I combed the available markdowns to choose nine of the best deals live so far — but I'm anticipating we'll see more deals on beauty tech, skincare, and haircare as we head into the sale, so to be sure to check back.
Best beauty deal Shark FlexStyle $299.99 at AmazonIt's not that I'm a Dyson Airwrap hater, it's just that I know you can get essentially the same experience for less than half the price with the Shark FlexStyle. Though options for multi-stylers and Airwrap alternatives have expanded over the past few years, Shark remains one of the best, offering a great selection of attachments, versatility (especially with the twistable base), and innovation. This Black Cherry model is still $50 away from its record low pricing of $249.99, but it doesn't go on sale often, making this still a great price to nab it at.
More beauty dealsSkincare tech
Therabody TheraFace Depuffing Wand — $129.99 $169.99 (save $40)
TheraFace Therabody Mask Glo — $299.99 $379.99 (save $80)
Hair tech
BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium flat iron — $76.99 $109.99 (save $33)
BaByliss Pro Porcelain Ceramic Carrera hair dryer — $80.49 $114.99 (save $34.50)
BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium hair dryer — $99.99 $199.99 (save $100)
Laifen Swift hair dryer — $110 $139.99 (save $29.99)
BaByliss Pro StyleSwitch — $124.99 $249.99 (save $125)
Shark Glossi — $129 $179 (save $50)
Reddit has a real bot problem on its hands.
And, in order to deal with this problem, Reddit is considering turning to the latest go-to solution for the tech industry: ID verification.
On the tech show TBPN, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman spoke about how AI has caused issues for the platform and discussed potential solutions.
Hoffman explained how the solutions would look to answer the question "Is there actually a human using Reddit right now?"
"Reddit is for humans," Hoffman said, before discussing various verification processes that the company is looking at.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed."The most lightweight way is something like face ID or touch ID or broadly the family of technology that's called passkeys," Hoffman continued. "Every platform wants to know 'is this is a person?' Now Reddit's version is 'is this a person but we don't want to know which person this is.'"
That's a pretty important distinction for Reddit, which has based its platform on users' ability to maintain anonymity. Hoffman explained that there are "heavier versions" of ID verification, like "ID checking services," which the company already complies with where required by government regulations. However, it doesn't sound like they are looking to implement something like this more broadly to fight the platform's bot problem.
Alexis Ohanian, a co-founder of Reddit who resigned from the company's board in 2020, posted a message of support for trying to solve the bot problem, but also pointed out how tricky it will be to do so without alienating Reddit users.
"RDDT requiring Face ID was not something I had on my bingo card but something has got to be done about all the fake / botted content — I just don't know how to sell face-scanning to redditors or even lurkers," Ohanian said.
In his TBPN interview, Hoffman expressed support for real AI use cases on the site, such as auto-translation bots. However, Hoffman said that even with good AI bots on the platform, the company needs to be sure a real human is behind the bot.
Reddit has long had issues with automated accounts and content farms submitting posts and gaming the upvote system. However, with the rise in AI, Reddit has become inundated with AI bots attempting to mimic real users and replying to real user posts and comments with spam.
Since 2024, Google has drastically increased Reddit's visibility in search results. As a result, spammers have flocked to Reddit as a search engine optimization (SEO) technique.
It'll be interesting to see which ID verification method is chosen by Reddit. Regardless of what it is, it'll very likely receive blowback from the platform's very opinionated and privacy-oriented user base.
The long-awaited foldable iPhone — rumored to be called the iPhone Fold — should arrive in 2026. So far, Apple has kept a very tight lid on its first-ever foldable phone, but all signs point to a fall or winter 2026 release.
Early adopters already love foldables — and they have plenty of options — but Apple's been notably absent from the genre. However, don't count Apple out. The company has a history of showing up late to the party and then absolutely cornering the market, as the AirPods and iPhone did with MP3 players and smartphones.
So, as we await official details, here's everything we know about the future addition to the iPhone lineup, including the latest rumors, possible specifications, release date, and pricing information.
When will the iPhone Fold be released?We initially thought that the iPhone Fold would be coming in fall 2026 alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. Numerous rumors pointed to this over the last year. However, while Apple traditionally releases all of its new iPhones in September, the Fold might not be ready by then.
A tech analyst named Tim Long recently claimed that shipments of the iPhone Fold will begin in December of this year, not September, so it might be a winter device instead of a fall one. Of course, Apple could still announce it in September, but it may not be available right away like the iPhone 18 lineup.
For now, Long is the only one reporting that the iPhone Fold (or is it the iFold?) will come after September, so it could still be on store shelves sooner. Given the global memory shortage, last-minute delays are also possible, so we'll have to wait and see.
SEE ALSO: Apple's iPhone Fold is on track, but it might be pricier than we thought How much will the iPhone Fold cost, and will people buy it? A hypothetical rendering of the rumored iPhone Fold. Credit: Zain bin Awais / MashableThe iPhone Fold is likely to be expensive. An early estimate from research analyst Arthur Liao suggested the price tag for the Fold — gulp — could come in around $2,399. That's in line with expectations in a new report from International Data Corporation (IDC). Last year, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the iPhone Fold is likely to retail between $2,000 and $2,500.
Despite the sizable cost (the flagship Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is priced at $1,999.99), sales expectations remain high. The IDC report estimated Apple would siphon one-third of the spending in the foldable market in 2026.
"But the real game-changer for the category comes at year-end when Apple enters the foldable space, projected to capture over 22% unit share and a staggering 34% of the foldables market value in its first year, thanks to an expected average price point of $2,400,” read the report.
In March, Mark Gurman claimed that Apple could classify the iPhone Fold as an "Ultra" product, putting it in a higher price tier than other devices in its portfolio alongside other high-end machines like the Apple Watch Ultra. If the phone ends up costing at least $2,000 as expected, this would make sense.
The latest iPhone Fold leaks The most recent leaks point to two rear cameras, not three. Credit: Zain bin Awais / MashableIn December 2025, we saw lots of alleged iPhone Fold renders circulating on social media, which all share a similar design. We'd take these with a grain of salt, of course.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.In February, a leaker known as Instant Digital posted some alleged renders of the iPhone to the Chinese social media site Weibo. Like most leaks, especially the ones pertaining to Apple, we can't confirm their authenticity. However, they line up with earlier reports of the overall look of the phone.
More recently, Apple leaker Sonny Dickson shared another potential iPhone Fold render in March 2026.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Instant Digital makes some interesting claims. Most notably, the report says the iPhone Fold will have the largest-ever iPhone battery. (For reference, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is estimated to have a roughly 5,088 mAh battery.)
"The volume buttons are not on the left side," reads a translation of the post. "Instead, they are placed directly on the top of the right-side frame (similar to the volume button layout on the top of the iPad mini). This may take some getting used to for users’ typical phone habits."
The post also stated, "The rear dual camera + right-side microphone + flash are arranged horizontally. The camera module appears to be fully black and does not match the body color. Currently, the only confirmed color is white, but it is expected that Apple will launch two color options."
Beyond physical design, another recent report suggested you'll be able to run multiple apps side-by-side when the phone is unfolded, sort of like multitasking on iPadOS 26. However, by all accounts, this device will run iOS, not iPadOS, so you won't exactly get a full iPad experience from the iPhone Fold. (Apps that are designed to run natively in iPadOS, for example, would not be compatible.)
What will the iPhone Fold specs look like? What would you want to see in a foldable iPhone design? Let us know in the comments. Credit: Zain bin Awais / MashableThe iPhone Fold remains a mystery to some extent, of course, but we do have a very rough idea of what it could offer. Based on all the rumors, the iPhone Fold could look something like this:
Displays: 7.8-inch inner OLED display, 5.5-inch outer OLED display
Thickness: 9.5mm unfolded, 4.5mm when folded
Security: Touch ID
Processor: A20 processor
Cameras: Dual rear cameras (48MP), dual inner/outer front cameras
Price: $2,399
Battery: At least 5,088 mAh
A report from Chinese news outlet United Daily News noted the iPhone Fold could be creaseless, which means you wouldn't see that awkward line when it's folded open.
Since then, we've seen several reports claiming that Apple is committed to making the iPhone Fold's display the best it can possibly be. It should be very durable, super thin, and yes, without a visible crease. Samsung Display is reportedly producing the OLED displays for the iPhone Fold, as Samsung's got the best flexible display tech in the game. There's a reason Samsung released the Galaxy TriFold while the world is still waiting on the first foldable iPhone.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also posted several reports on the iPhone Fold recently, including laying out the basic specs for the device. He said that the foldable iPhone would be a book-style foldable with four cameras — two on the back, one on the inside, and one front selfie camera. Gurman also predicted it would use Touch ID like the iPad Air and Pro, even though iPhones typically use Face ID.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported earlier this year that the iPhone Fold would have a 7.8-inch inner display, a 5.5-inch outer display, and measure in at just 9 to 9.5mm of thickness. We heard another rumor in September 2025, which claimed the iPhone Fold would look like two iPhone Airs put together, with a similar thickness of 5.6mm. Why the discrepancy between the two reports? It could be the difference between the device's thickness when folded and unfolded.
SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy Z Trifold vs Apple foldable iPhone: Specs and rumorsThere's also talk about Apple using innovative tech to make the iPhone Fold lighter and more durable than most foldables. These rumors include a report that the company is using liquid metal for the phone's hinge, which should improve durability.
Mashable's Alex Perry also compared the potential specs of the iPhone Fold with the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold, which we know a lot more about. Obviously, the Samsung trifold will be larger and thicker than the iPhone Fold. Otherwise, we're still waiting on official details. But if recent rumors prove true, the wait shouldn't be too much longer.
Finally, even though the iPhone Fold is still in the realm of fantasy, there are already rumors about a follow-up, clamshell-style foldable from Apple, potentially called the iPhone Flip. That one probably isn't coming until next year, though.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Amazon's Big Spring Sale is quickly approaching. The seasonal sale runs March 25 through 31, marking down everything you need to get ready for warmer weather. If you're planning on heading out on some spring and summer adventures, but still trying to hit your reading goals, it's time to get an e-reader.
With Amazon's sale, the retailers very own Kindles are already on sale. The savings aren't quite plentiful yet. Going into the Big Spring Sale, there are only two Kindle devices on sale, the Kindle Colorsoft and the Kindle Colorsoft Kids. But nonethless, we're still seeing the lowest price ever on the Kindle Colorsoft.
So if you're ready for a color e-reader that can fit thousands of books on it and is waterproof for your beach and poolside reading, there are the best Kindle deals to shop ahead of the Amazon Big Spring Sale.
Best Kindle Deals Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Kindle Colorsoft $169.99 at AmazonUsually, the Kindle Colorsoft is way too expensive for our liking, but once it goes on sale, all is forgiven. Ahead of Amazon's Big Spring Sale, the Kindle Colorsoft is already marked down. Right now, you can grab the Kindle Colorsoft for just $169.99. That saves you $80 off its $249.99 list price. That means right now, it's cheaper than even the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition.
The big draw of the Kindle Colorsoft is its color displays. The e-reader has a color resolution of 150 ppi and a black and white resolution of 300 ppi. Even with the addition of color to the Kindle Colorsoft, it remains a speedy device. Plus, it comes with no ads. Temper your expectations around color with the Colorsoft, the hues tend to be more muted than what you get on a TV or tablet. Plus, it should be mentioned the Kindle Colorsoft is waterproof, so you can take it to the pool or beach. If you're looking for a color e-reader, this is a deal to snatch up ahead of Amazon's Big Spring Sale.
More Kindle dealsKids Kindles
Amazon Kindle Colorsoft Kids — $189.99 $269.99 (save $80)
Kindle Bundles
Amazon Essentials Bundle — $132.97 $161.97 (save $29)
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Bundle — $166.97 $216.97 (save $50)
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition Bundle — $206.97 $281.97 (save $75)
Paradise Season 2 has committed itself to breaking my brain with all its insinuations of time travel and quantum shenanigans.
SEE ALSO: 'Paradise' Season 2 review: Great things lie beyond the bunkerSeason 2, episode 7, titled "The Final Countdown," is no different, dropping the biggest bombshell of the season so far. Somehow, Link (Thomas Doherty) is Samantha "Sinatra" Redmond's (Julianne Nicholson) late son Dylan.
How do we know this, and more importantly, how is this possible? Let's break it down.
A key Star Wars reference hints that Link is Sinatra's son.In "The Final Countdown," Link negotiates with Sinatra about what his massive band of survivors wants with the bunker. Their showdown takes place on Air Force One, and as Link enters the plane, he marvels at the situation.
"This is like Star Wars, huh?" he tells Sinatra. "All these people and troops and pomp and circumstance. But, I mean, you know, it all comes down to Luke and Vader in the end."
SEE ALSO: Wait, is 'Paradise' Season 2 doing time travel?Link likens Sinatra to Darth Vader because they're both "evil." However, there's more to Luke and Vader's relationship than the fight between good and evil. They're also possibly the most iconic parent-child duo in film history. Paradise wouldn't make that connection lightly, suggesting that it might have an "I am your mother" reveal up its sleeve.
Link's real name is Dylan, just like Sinatra's son.Sinatra and Link reach an impasse over the survivors' desire to take control of Alex, Sinatra's top secret project. As she and Link share one last tense exchange at the exit to the bunker, his companion Geiger (Michael McGrady) calls out to him that they need to leave. Only he doesn't call him by his code name, Link. He calls him by his real name, Dylan.
The name immediately sets off alarm bells in Sinatra's head. That's the same name as her young son who passed away in a Season 1 flashback, and whose death motivated her entire quest to save her family from any potential apocalypse. Knowing Paradise, nothing is coincidence, not even the extremely common name "Dylan." Plus, Link/Dylan appears to have the same birthday as Sinatra's son, and he seems to be as old as Dylan would be had he lived.
How is Dylan alive in Paradise?All these clues suggest that Link is, in fact, Sinatra's son Dylan. But how in the world is that possible?
It all comes back to Alex, Sinatra's mysterious side quest that still hasn't been fully revealed. Based on flashbacks in the third episode, we know that Sinatra's project involves the use of technology developed by late quantum mechanics professor Henry Miller (Patrick Fischler) and his protégé, Link. We also know that the project has to do with buying more time for Earth, as it's the one resource Sinatra doesn't have enough of.
Because of this need for more time, it's possible that Henry's technology — likely nicknamed Alex after Henry's late wife (Gwen Holloway) — could have ties to time travel, the multiverse, or some combination of the two. Perhaps while testing Alex out, Sinatra tried to see if she could save Dylan in the past. Or maybe Link is another universe's version of Dylan. Whatever the truth, Sinatra and Link's final interaction cues nosebleeds for both of them, this season's portent of strange, Alex-related activity.
Sinatra is also incredibly happy after crossing paths with Link/Dylan, cryptically telling her husband Tim (Tuc Watkins) upon returning from negotiations that "it worked." "It" likely being Alex, right? Because those negotiations certainly did not work.
Tim goes on to ask Sinatra if she's okay, and she says yes. She also says, "I can't explain it, but I think Dylan is too."
That's yet another confirmation that Link is Sinatra's son, and that his presence is tied to Sinatra's secret project. But to both Paradise and Sinatra, I'm going to need a concrete explanation of this whole thing by the end of next week's finale!
Paradise is now streaming on Hulu, with new episodes every Monday.
Leonid Radvinsky, the owner of adult creator platform OnlyFans, has died at the age of 43.
Radvinsky, a Ukrainian-American billionaire, acquired the company that owns and operates OnlyFans, Fenix International Limited, in 2018, the company told Mashable. He was a director and majority shareholder of Fenix.
SEE ALSO: OnlyFans 'baits and switches' customers with false promises, lawsuit claims"We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Leo Radvinsky. Leo passed away peacefully after a long battle with cancer," an OnlyFans spokesperson told Mashable. "His family have requested privacy at this difficult time."
In Jan., Mashable reported that OnlyFans was in talks to sell the majority of the company to a San Francisco-based investment firm, Architect Capital, with the platform's evaluation at $5.5 billion. This came months after the New York Post reported that Radvinsky wanted to sell OnlyFans but couldn't find a buyer.
SEE ALSO: Adult Friend Finder app: Where to download the AFF app and how secure is it?As Reuters reported, it's now unclear who will own OnlyFans.
It's gonna be a great week if you like deals. Starting on Wednesday, Amazon is hosting the first major sale event of 2026. The Amazon Big Spring Sale kicks off at as soon as the clock ticks over to Wednesday on the West Coast and spans almost the entire week, ending Tuesday, March 31.
Like all Amazon sales, deals are rolling in early, and that's especially true if you're searching for items that fall into the category of under $50. Maybe you're searching for the perfect birthday gift, thinking ahead to Mother's Day (May 10 this year, FYI), or simply don't want to spend a ton, an under $50 budget allows for plenty of buying power, even before the sale has begun.
We've compiled a list of our favorite deals under $50 to shop ahead Amazon's Big Spring Sale. Check back as we continue to update this article throughout the week.
Best Amazon device deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Echo Spot $49.99 at AmazonAmazon sales are notoriously one of the best opportunities to snag Amazon devices. From Kindles to Fire TV sticks, Amazon loves to put its own products on huge discounts. If you could use a new bedroom smart speaker and clock, the Amazon Echo Spot is already seeing a sale price of $49.99, down from the standard price of $79.99. With a quick glance, you'll be able to check the time, weather, and more without having to check your phone. Plus, you can set it to play your favorite wake-up playlist each morning.
More Amazon devices on saleAmazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max — $29.99 $59.99 (save $30 with code FTV4KMAX)
Amazon Echo Dot Kids — $39.99 $59.99 (save $20)
Kasa Smart Dimmer Switch (3 pack) — $46.99 $55.99 (save $9)
Star Wars TIE Fighter Stand for Amazon Echo Dot — $49.99 $59.99 (save $10)
The Soundcore by Anker Space A40 earbuds usually come with a price of $79.99, but as long as you're cool with navy, black, or white, they can be yours for only $49.99. The Space A40 earbuds are designed to reduce noise by up to 98% and they come with a massive 50 hours of playback time with the included case. Amazon's Big Spring Sale could be the best opportunity to replace earbuds before we head into the summer.
More earbuds dealsJBL Vibe Beam Earbuds — $29.95 $49.95 (save $20)
Soundcore P30i Earbuds — $29.99 $49.99 (save $20)
JLab JBuds Mini Earbuds — $33.99 $39.99 (save $6)
OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro — $39.99 $59.99 (save $20)
Soundcore C50i by Anker Open Ear Earbuds — $39.99 $69.99 (save $30)
It's about to get hot. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but soon enough, we'll be back in sweltering season. This year, head into the warmth with the Dreo TurboPoly Table Fan. Not only does it look great, it has four speeds, an 8-hour timer, and big oscillation power. Dreo says the fan is powerful enough to blow air up to 60 feet, so it'll be ideal for a bedroom or office. Plus, it's a quiet 28 decibels so there's no issue with sleeping with the fan on.
More home dealsLevoit 160 Top-Fill Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier — $27.94 $39.99 (save $12.50)
Lodge Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet (12 inches) — $29.49 $34.90 (save $5.41)
Philips 12-Cup Water Filter Pitcher — $38.24 $44.99 (save $6.75)
Zojirushi 3 Cup Rice Cooker/Steamer — $43.99 $54.99 (save $11)
Conair Handheld Garment Steamer — $49.97 $69.99 (save $20.02)
Black+Decker AdvancedClean Handheld Vacuum — $49.99 $59.99 (save $10)
Renpho Eye Massager — $49.99 $69.99 (save $20)
If you've spent any time consuming dating content lately, you've almost certainly encountered the vocabulary: high value, alpha, body count, Chad. Terms that, not long ago, were esoterically confined to misogynistic, racist incel ("involuntarily celibate") forums and have now migrated wholesale into mainstream culture — repackaged as self-improvement content, dating advice, and meme language for Twitter-poisoned 20-somethings. The far right "manosphere," as we've reported multiple times before, is no longer a fringe phenomenon. It's in your For You Page.
Incel communities first took root in the early 2000s on 4chan and Reddit, largely invisible to anyone outside their orbit. They gained their first brush of mainstream notoriety in the mid-2010s — when Reddit banned r/incels in 2017, and a string of high-profile domestic terror attacks carried out by self-identified incels forced the broader public to reckon with what had been quietly festering online. When "incel" entered the popular lexicon, its accompanying vocabulary was considered icky at best and flatly dehumanizing at worst.
SEE ALSO: Who is Clavicular, and why is he everywhere right now?But the language never went away. Chad, alpha male, high-value man, Stacy — these terms didn't disappear when the subreddits got banned. They dispersed, seeping into fitness content, dating advice, meme pages, and self-help guides.
Studies from the University of Portsmouth and reporting from The Guardian show how gaming and social media content focused on dating advice, hustle culture, and gym tips can often serve as a gateway to exposing young boys to incel and right-wing content.
So, just like our Looksmaxxing glossary, consider this your field guide to the terms, communities, and ideologies infiltrating the way a generation talks about dating — and themselves.
80/20 ruleIn the context of dating, incels believe that 80 percent of women are only romantically available to the top 20 percent of men — leaving the remaining 80 percent of men to compete for whatever's left.
The theory is borrowed from the Pareto Principle, a power law originally used in business management, which states that roughly 80 percent of outcomes stem from 20 percent of causes.
Alpha MaleA domineering, aggressive man who is perceived to sit atop the male social hierarchy. The concept draws on animal behavioral science — specifically, studies of captive wolf packs — as a framework for understanding male dominance. The term is borrowed from the Greek alphabet, where alpha (α) denotes the first and highest rank.
The researchers behind that original work have long since walked it back, calling it an oversimplification that doesn't hold up to scrutiny, let alone translate cleanly to human behavior.
AWALT ("All Women Are Like That")An acronym for "All Women Are Like That." The assumption that "all women" are driven by the same hypergamous, self-serving instincts.
In red pill and incel spaces, AWALT is a thought-terminating cliché to preemptively dismiss any evidence that complicates their worldview, and that any woman who appears otherwise is either an exception to the rule (like moms or sisters) or simply hasn't been tested yet.
BeckyThe general population of women who are below the status of Stacy's — highly attractive, hyperfeminine women who have sex with Chads. Whereas a Stacy is seen as unattainable to an incel, the community feels owed sex and attention from Becky's for their perceived lower status in the SMV (see below).
Beta MaleUnremarkable men who are subservient to alphas. Believed to lack the physical presence, charisma, and confidence of the Alpha male.
Beta OrbiterA man who circles a woman he's attracted to — attending to her emotionally, defending her online, laughing at all her jokes — in the hopes of getting into a romantic relationship. Incels use the term as a pejorative to describe a man so deep in the "friendzone" that he's essentially providing all the benefits of a relationship for none of the rewards.
BetabuxA derogatory term for men in relationships with women who have settled and seek financial stability. Also known as a "beta provider," the term expresses the belief that women have their fun with Chads in their prime, and now that she's hit "the Wall" (see below), she's traded down to a financially stable but romantically unexciting beta to foot the bill.
The term itself is 4chan leetspeak (internet slang originating in early hacker and gaming communities that substitutes numbers and symbols for letters) — a compression of "beta" and "bucks," distilled from the phrase "alpha fux, beta bux." Meaning women sleep with Chads and spend a beta's money.
Black PillBlackpilling is a nihilistic offshoot of incel ideology and the manosphere that believes that, in the heterosexual dating market, physical attractiveness is the only thing that matters.
This worldview is propped up by pseudoscientific frameworks and cherry-picked data. It's the ideological bedrock from which practices like looksmaxxing grow. To "take the black pill" is to accept this as truth.
Blue PillA willful refusal to acknowledge what incels believe is the observable reality — that modern society is structurally rigged against men. Borrowed from the famous choice in The Matrix, "swallowing the blue pill" means choosing comfortable ignorance over the hard truth.
Body CountA person's total number of sexual partners. Incels use this as a measure of a woman's long-term relationship viability — the higher the number, the lower her perceived value.
Briffault's LawCredited to French surgeon and social anthropologist Robert Briffault, it states: "The female, not the male, determines all the conditions of the animal family. Where the female can derive no benefit from association with the male, no such association takes place."
In the view of incels, they use Briffault's Law to assert that women are selfish and only use men for their own personal gain.
ChadIncel slang for typically white, physically attractive, and sexually successful men. Chads represent the top 1 percent of men that women seek in the dating marketplace. Chads are often depicted in memes as a strong-jawed, blonde Übermensch. Incels have racist variations of Chad, including Tyrone (Black), Chaddam (Arab), Chang (East Asian), and Chadpreet (Indian).
Chadlite is used to describe men who are above average in looks, but not to the level of a Chad.
CuckIn incel spaces, a cuck is any man perceived to have surrendered his masculine authority. It's a shortening of cuckold — historically, a man who derives sexual pleasure from watching his partner sleep with someone else.
ELO ScoreA ranking algorithm developed for competitive chess to measure and compare player skill levels. Dating apps like Tinder have used a variation of it in the past to do essentially the same thing.
FemcelA portmanteau of "female" and "incel" — women who claim to experience involuntary celibacy on the same terms as their male counterparts. The male-dominated incel community is largely dismissive of the category altogether.
FemoidA portmanteau of "female" and "humanoid" (or "female humanoid organism," according to the UN), this is one of many pejorative terms incels use to refer to women. Sometimes shortened to Foid.
FriendzoneA metaphorical relationship purgatory in which a man pursues romantic interest in a woman who wants to keep things strictly platonic.
The concept broke into mainstream culture largely through shows like Friends and has since become a fixture of how people talk about unrequited attraction. For incels, the term expresses the belief that women are exploiting emotionally available men for attention while reserving genuine interest exclusively for Chads.
GameA term for techniques used by Pick Up Artists to hit on women. These techniques include negging (backhanded compliments to undermine a woman's confidence), peacocking (dressing loudly to invite attention), and push-pull (alternating interest and withdrawal to manufacture tension).
High Value ManA man deemed desirable by society at large and, more specifically, by women. These values range from some combination of wealth, status, physical dominance, and social clout.
High Value WomanThe female counterpart to the High Value Man (see above), though the criteria are considerably narrower. Where a man's value is assessed across wealth, status, physique, and social clout, a woman's value in manosphere spaces is evaluated almost exclusively on physical attractiveness, hyperfemininity, youth, and sexual history.
HypergamyThe belief that women are hardwired to date and marry up — gravitating toward men of higher status, wealth, and physical dominance than themselves.
IncelShort for "involuntarily celibate," the incel community has its origins in a niche blog created in the late 1990s. Alana's Involuntary Celibacy Project began as a genuine support group for people of all genders struggling to find romantic connections.
Over time, the male incel community grew more extreme, placing the blame for their struggles squarely on women. These groups migrated to 4chan and Reddit — first to r/incels, then to r/Braincels after the former was banned in 2017. In the 2020s, the ideology was associated with various terror attacks carried out by self-described incels.
LooksmatchTo date someone at a perceived level of equal attractiveness.
ManletA pejorative for a short man — typically any male under 5'10", though the cutoff shifts depending on who you ask.
ManosphereA loosely connected ecosystem of online communities, forums, podcasts, blogs, and influencers united by a shared pro-male, anti-feminist, and misogynistic ideology. The through line is a belief that men are the aggrieved party in modern society, and that feminism, dating culture, and mainstream institutions have been rigged against them.
MRAShort for Men's Rights Activists. A subset of the manosphere focused on advocating for issues they believe disproportionately harm men, like custody battles, military conscription, and male suicide rates. MRA spaces frequently devolve into anti-feminist grievance politics, treating any advancement of women's rights as a direct attack on men.
Nice GuyNice Guy or "Nice Guy Syndrome" is a label for a man who believes basic acts of kindness and decency entitle him to a romantic partner.
NormieAverage-looking, boring person. One who doesn't participate in the incel community or interact with the manosphere.
NPCShort for Non-Player Character. Used in the context of video games to refer to background characters encountered in the game that are not controlled by the player.
Used by incels to describe someone who is devoid of any original thought or individuality. The term is now popular as Gen Z/Alpha internet slang to refer to inoffensive, mindless trend followers.
Pink and Blue rolesThe association of pink and blue with traditional heteronormative gender roles in a relationship. Pink for domestic and emotionally supportive roles like cooking, cleaning, and childcare. Blue for provider roles like financial support, physical protection, and household maintenance.
Proximity principleA psychological theory suggesting that people in close physical proximity are more likely to form interpersonal relationships. The principle has a more cynical standing in incel circles as it's reframed as relationships made out of convenience.
PSL ratingA pseudoscientific attractiveness ranking system built by the looksmaxxing community to put an empirical number on your face. The acronym is an amalgamation of three defunct incel forums — PUAhate, SlutHate, and Lookism.
The scale runs from 0.25 to 8 (some versions go from 1 to 8), though in practice, no one actually scores an 8. It measures facial features like eye shape, canthal tilt ("the angle or slant of the outer corners of the eyes"), nose angles, jaw size, and lip thickness. Proponents of the scale can be found on sites like Looksmax.org and on Reddit, in r/rateme and r/truerateme.
PUA"Pick Up Artist." The ecosystem and community of grifters and self-appointed coaches who sell self-help content to sexually inexperienced young men. Originally, the term was a self-applied label for members who treated seducing women as a learnable skill set.
At its peak in the mid-2000s, the PUA community built a cottage industry of boot camps, forums, and bestselling books.
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Purple PillUsed derogatorily by incels for those who have a neutral stance towards "the truth" of gender relations.
r/MGTOWMGTOW stands for "Men Going Their Own Way." r/MGTOW is a now-banned subreddit and broader online subsection of the manosphere built around the philosophy of male self-prioritization in what its members view as an inherently "gynocentric" — the belief that society is structurally organized around female interests at the direct expense of men. In practice, that philosophy manifests as a deliberate withdrawal from romantic relationships, marriage, and fatherhood altogether.
Red PillThe central ideological pillar of the manosphere. To "swallow the red pill" is to reject the mainstream social narrative and accept that modern society is structurally discriminatory toward men.
RoastieA derogatory term for sexually active women.
Sexual Market ValueAn individual's measure of sexual attractiveness is scored on a decile scale of 1 to 10. The formula shifts depending on gender. For women, SMV is almost entirely physical. For men, the calculus is broader: physique, income, career status, social clout, and personality can all push the number up or down.
SigmaIntroverted, solitary alpha males. The term borrows from the lowercase Greek letter σ, used in mathematics and statistics to denote standard deviation — a measure of how far something falls outside the norm.
The concept is taken seriously in some corners of the manosphere, though it has been so thoroughly absorbed by meme culture that it's become nearly impossible to deploy without irony.
SimpA man who performs excessive deference toward a woman in hopes of romantic return. In incel spaces, any visible effort is enough to earn the label.
SoyboyA pejorative for men perceived as soft, effeminate, or insufficiently masculine. Typically applied to liberal, progressive, or emotionally expressive men. The "soy" refers to a debunked theory that soy products lower testosterone levels.
StacyThe female equivalent of a Chad (i.e., physically attractive, sexually successful men). A Stacy is hyperfeminine, attractive, socially popular, and — crucially, to the incels — sexually active.
The term carries an implicit resentment: Stacy's represent everything incels want and, by their own logic, everything they'll never have access to.
The WallThe age (usually 25 to 27) at which a woman's physical attractiveness is believed to peak and then begin to decline. In incel spaces, hitting the Wall is when women supposedly lose access to high-value men and begin settling for betabux (see above).
Trad WifeShort for traditional wife. A woman who embraces conventional domestic gender roles — homemaking, childcare, deference to a male partner — either by personal conviction or ideological alignment with the manosphere's preferred social order.
SEE ALSO: 'We're all sinners': the Conservative tradwife who does OnlyFans White KnightingThe act of defending a woman (or women's rights) online or in-person typically attributed to ulterior romantic motives rather than genuine principle. Viewed by incels as simps in armor.
SNL UK pulled out all the stops for its first ever episode, with Tina Fey as guest host (supported in her monologue by a few household names) and a cold open that somehow managed to get shared by Donald Trump.
In the first ever Weekend Update feature above, anchors Ania Magliano and Paddy Young run through a big headlines — with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor being an inevitable target.
"Renovations to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's new home, Marsh Farm, have been taking place for the past month, including the installation of Sky TV," says Magliano. "So, if you're watching Andrew: Hello! You're not going to like this next bit. Also, I'm older than I look."
Elsewhere there's also an entertainingly silly joke about helium.
Elon Musk announced plans to build Terafab, the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility ever.
A joint venture between Tesla, SpaceX and xAI, Terafab was announced via a livestream on Saturday as "the next step towards becoming a galactic civilization." Yes, Musk's plans for this one extend beyond Earth, and it will cost $20 to $25 billion to build.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Initially, the Terafab will be a massive chip manufacturing plant located next to Tesla's Giga Texas in Austin. Musk said they will be able to make a chip, test it, improve it, and keep iterating like that in a single building, something which "does not exist anywhere else in the world." There's lot of ramping up to do, but the goal (per Musk's comments at the Tesla shareholder meeting in November last year) is for Terafab to eventually be capable of producing 1 million chip wafers per month using a 2-nanometer process tech.
For reference, the largest semiconductor manufacturing company in the world right now is Taiwan's TSMC, and that company plans to reach a monthly output of 140,000 2-nanometer chip wafers per month by the end of 2026.
In terms of actual chips, Musk expects Terafab to produce between 100 and 200 billion AI and memory chips per year, which will mostly be used by Tesla itself, powering its cars and robots. According to Musk, Tesla needs the chips, and its current suppliers, including Samsung, TSMC, Micron, and others, have "a maximum rate at which they’re comfortable expanding."
SEE ALSO: Elon Musk's X teases new dislike button on replies"That rate is much less than we would like. And so, we either build the Terafab, or we don't have the chips,” he said during the presentation.
It's a lofty goal for a company (well, three companies) that never manufactured semiconductors before, but it gets even more ambitious.
View this post on InstagramAt full capacity, it will produce an annual 100 to 200 gigawatts of computing power on Earth, as well as 1 terawatt of computing power in Space (this means that the chips produced at Terafab will ultimately draw that much power when deployed).
For reference, Musk said that the U.S. electricity demand is 0.5 terawatts. This is why, Musk argued, 80% of Terafab's compute output will actually reside in space, on SpaceX's solar-powered AI satellites. Solar irradiance (the amount of power received from the Sun per unit area) is 5x higher in space than on Earth, while the heat rejection in the vacuum in space makes it easier to cool all those chips.
Again, for reference, the amount of compute running in Earth's low orbit right now is negligible, and is mainly limited to onboard processing on satellites.
What Musk is describing does exist, with China's "Three-Body Computing Constellation" being the most prominent example. It's a 12-satellite constellation running AI models via chips capable of total computing capacity of 5 peta operations per second (POPS), with plans to expand to 2,800 satellites capable of 1,000 POPS. While I couldn't find the total power consumption for that particular project, it is likely in the kilowatts – orders of magnitude lower than what Musk is planning.
Even for Musk's standards, these goals are incredibly ambitious. TSMC is the primary reason why there's so much political strife around Taiwan; if it were easy to build advanced foundries that produce chip wafers at the scale TSMC does, the U.S. wouldn't be so worried about China controlling Taiwan. Building a massive data center in space is an equally complex problem, though here SpaceX is uniquely positioned as the most advanced aerospace company in the world.
It doesn't end there, as Musk ultimately plans to one day build an "incredibly epic" "mass driver" on the moon which will push compute output from terawatts to petawatts, though details on how this happens are incredibly vague at this point.
SEE ALSO: Elon Musk found liable for defrauding Twitter investorsMusk's timeline for all and any this is unclear. The company's next-gen AI chip, the AI5, should reach volume production in 2027, but that certainly won't be built at the Terafab, which will likely take years to build. For a reality check, it's worth recalling Musk's ambitious goals promises at Tesla Battery Day in 2020, almost none of which are true now, long after the original timelines have passed.
Going into Project Hail Mary, I was expecting Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) to be many things: a dorky middle school teacher, an astute biologist, a reluctant astronaut. But nothing could have prepared me for who Grace truly is at heart, which is a fashion icon.
SEE ALSO: Ryan Gosling improvised one of 'Project Hail Mary's best momentsBetween his nerdy graphic tees, a Cats shirt, and a fabulous fox sweater, Grace brings a unique sense of style to the farthest reaches of the universe. In a series of video interviews, Gosling, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and screenwriter Drew Goddard broke down Grace's style inspirations, beginning with those science-themed t-shirts.
"A lot of the silly science tees are based on t-shirts that my son, a science nerd, wears on a daily basis," Miller said. "So he took pictures of his t-shirt collection and sent them to the costume department."
These shirts included the "I wear this shirt periodically" tee, which comes with an image of the periodic table, as well as the t-shirt that labels "Ah!" as "the element of surprise."
"The scientific t-shirts remind me so much of scientists I grew up with, because there always is this sort of scientific humor that delights me," Goddard said.
Another standout from the Ryland Grace spring collection? A knit sweater with two foxes on the front, inspired by a vintage sweater sporting a similar wolf pattern.
Gosling and stylist Mark Avery repurposed that design with foxes. "The fox thing was a little Easter egg for my kids," Gosling said.
On top of being delightful to take in, Grace's tees are also plot-relevant. He has amnesia upon waking from his coma in space, so any reminder of his past life, including clothing, is useful to him.
"He was trying to glean a sense of his own personality, but just always being thrown curveballs," Gosling said. "Like, I love Cats. I guess that's who I am. I'm the guy who loves Cats and 'I had potential' shirts."
TL;DR: The 49-inch Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 gaming monitor is down to $799.99 at Amazon, matching the lowest price we’ve seen and saving you $500 on the list price.
Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung 49-inch Odyssey OLED G9 Curved Gaming Monitor $799.99 at AmazonOLED gaming monitors still have a bad habit of costing as much as a full PC build, especially once you get into the giant ultrawide category. That is exactly why this Samsung deal feels worth considering, since Amazon has dropped the Odyssey OLED G9 back under $800 for a limited time.
As of March 23, the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 (G91SD) is available for $799.99 at Amazon, down from $1,299.99. That puts this massive curved display back at the same low price we saw earlier in the year, returning ahead of the Amazon Spring Sale.
Mashable Deals Be the first to know! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Loading... Sign Me Up By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Thanks for signing up!To put its sheer scale down to specifics, you’re getting a 49-inch curved QD-OLED panel with Dual QHD resolution at 5120 x 1440, which is basically the same concept as having two 27-inch QHD monitors side by side without a bezel cutting through the center. That makes it great for playing shooters like Fortnite or MOBAs like League of Legends — with space for monitoring a stream on Twitch or handling other admin tasks.
Samsung also backs that huge screen up with VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400, a 144Hz refresh rate, and a near-instant 0.03ms response time, so it is not just big for the sake of being big. On top of that, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, G-Sync compatibility, Picture-in-Picture multitasking, an ergonomic stand, and a three-year warranty help round out the package.
For an even lower price tag, you can also get the Samsung 27-inch Odyssey OLED G6 series gaming monitor at $200 off on Amazon. From other brands, you can grab the 32-inch 4K LG UltraGear gaming monitor for under $800.
SAVE $300: As of March 23, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is on sale for $499 at Amazon. That's a 38% discount on the list price.
Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Watch Ultra 2 $499 at AmazonAmazon's Big Spring Sale kicks off this week (March 25), but for the eager shoppers among us, there are already some early deals dropping.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is down to its best-ever price. As of March 23, this impressive smartwatch is down from $799 to $499, giving you a saving of $300 on list price. This deal is for the 49mm watch that has both cellular and GPS connectivity.
Mashable Deals Be the first to know! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Loading... Sign Me Up By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Thanks for signing up!This watch is truly designed for endurance sports, combining all the great lifestyle features of the Apple Watch with impressive stats for fitness tracking. It can track a range of activities including running, cycling, swimming, hiking, and diving. And for each, you'll get advanced workout metrics like heart rate zones and training load. There's even sport-specific features like running form analysis, cycling metrics with Bluetooth accessory support, and offline maps for hiking.
This watch also features water resistance up to 100 meters, so it'll support swim tracking with stats like stroke detection and lap count. You'll also get dive capabilities, including depth and temperature sensing (we weren't kidding when we said it was advanced).
It also comes with cellular connectivity, so it can handle calls, texts, and even music streaming without needing to have your phone nearby.
Amazon's Big Spring Sale kicks off later this week, but you can find this deal at Amazon right now.
SNL UK kicked off with its first ever episode on Saturday, hosted by SNL veteran Tina Fey herself — but some people, including Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan, had questions about why an American was hosting.
"That is a valid question," says Fey in the monologue above. "Why an American host? And the way it was explained to me was that, for this first episode anyway, how do I put this politely: none of you fuckers would do it."
Coughlan isn't the only audience member to chime in, either. There's also Michael Cera and Graham Norton, with the latter joining Fey on stage to ask her a few cue card questions.
"Let me help you," whispers Norton. "I have a gift for making American celebrities likeable to a British audience."
Elsewhere, you can also watch the first ever cold open mocking UK prime minister Keir Starmer — which was later shared by Donald Trump.
The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.
With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.
So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: How to play Pips, the newest NYT gameHere are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Monday, March 23, 2026:
AcrossOften-skipped parts of podcastsThe answer is Ads.
The answer is Hague.
The answer is Awoke.
The answer is Honey.
The answer is Alysa.
The answer is Agony.
The answer is Dukes.
The answer is See Ya.
The answer is Haha.
The answer is Awol.
If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.
Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Mini Crossword.
SAVE $300: As of March 23, the Apple Watch Series 10 is on sale for $499 at Amazon. That's a 38% discount on the list price.
Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Watch Series 10 $499 at AmazonAmazon's upcoming Big Spring Sale is a great way to save big on Apple products. And the good news is there's already some impressive early deals showing up, so you don't need to wait until it officially goes live.
The sale kicks off on March 25, but deals like this one on the Apple Watch Series 10 are already impressing. Down from $799 to $499, this smartwatch is currently at its lowest-ever price. This price is for the 42mm watch with both cellular and GPS connectivity, and it comes in the gold titanium case with the gold milanese loop.
Mashable Deals Be the first to know! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Loading... Sign Me Up By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Thanks for signing up!The Apple Watch Series 10 is a perfect all-rounder smartwatch: it's a great fitness tracker, has lifestyle stats, and can even monitor safety. As a fitness tracker, it covers a variety of activities from running to swimming, giving you advanced workout metrics and training load. For swimming, it has added support stats like depth and water temperature.
Safety features are an added bonus, and include Fall Detection, Crash Detection, Emergency SOS, and Check In notifications. And it doesn't end there, this watch also has a whole range of health tracking features, including ECG, blood oxygen monitoring, heart rate notifications, sleep tracking, as well as menstrual cycle tracking.
This deal is available at Amazon now for its best-ever price.
SAVE $600: As of March 23, the EcoVacs Deebot X11 robot vacuum is on sale for $899 at Amazon. That's a 40% discount on the list price.
Opens in a new window Credit: EcoVacs EcoVacs Deebot X11 Robot Vacuum $899 at AmazonThe Big Spring Sale kicks off at Amazon this week, running from March 25-31. During this week, the retail giant will be dropping huge discounts on all kinds of products, including iPads, drones, and even robot vacuums. But as always, some deals have started to drop early.
The EcoVacs Deebot X11 robot vacuum is down by $600 on list price, two days before the sale officially gets underway. If you're eager to upgrade your floor cleaning, you can find this robot vacuum for just $899 at Amazon, down from $1,499.99. That's the lowest-ever price for this impressive model.]
Mashable Deals Be the first to know! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Loading... Sign Me Up By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Thanks for signing up!This is a robot vacuum you won't regret purchasing. It's a vacuum and mop combo designed to make floor cleaning an absolute breeze. It has an OZMO Roller 2.0 system with TruEdge 3.0 that helps to improve mopping performance and edge coverage alongside BLAST 19,500Pa suction that leaves no dirt behind. It also has built-in anti-tangle brushes to help handle pet hair.
The navigation and movement on this device is next level thanks to the TruePass four-wheel system which allows it to cross thresholds, gaps, and steps with ease. The triple lift system adjusts automatically between wet and dry cleaning by lifting the mop on carpets and raising brushes when needed. AI-powered navigation (LiDAR and AIVI 3D) helps it to learn your floor layouts, so there's never any work for you to do.
Get this robot vacuum deal online at Amazon now.
SAVE $210: As of March 23, the Dyson V8 Plus is on sale for $329.99 at Amazon. That's a 39% discount on the list price.
Opens in a new window Credit: Dyson Dyson V8 Plus $329.99 at AmazonAmazon's Big Spring Sale is just days away and the deals are already looking really strong. Popular products like TVs and robot vacuums are already seeing big discounts. If you're looking for a great deal on a cordless vacuum, the Dyson V8 Plus is discounted by over $200 right now. As of March 23, it's down from $539.99 to $329.99, but only for a limited time.
This model is a great choice if you're looking for a seriously powerful clean. It has a Motorbar cleaner head that's designed to deep clean all floor types and even detangle long hair and pet hair. It gives you up to 40 minutes of full powered suction, with two power modes to choose from: a standard mode for everyday cleaning and a Max mode for more intensive tasks.
Mashable Deals Be the first to know! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Loading... Sign Me Up By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Thanks for signing up!It can easily be converted into a handheld vacuum for cleaning cars, stairs, and upholstery — it's not just designed for floors. It also includes three attachments for different cleaning needs, along with a wall dock and charger, and a hair screw tool with an anti-tangle conical brush bar.
Get this vacuum deal at Amazon now.
There's a moment in BTS: The Return when the question shifts from finishing the album to defining it.
By that point, BTS already have a body of work, more than a dozen tracks they feel confident in. What they don’t have is a clear sense of what those songs mean together, or what they're meant to say about this next version of the group. This isn't just a comeback; it's a recalibration of what it means to be BTS now, after everything they've already built.
That question carries weight for a reason. Over the past decade, BTS have reshaped the boundaries of global pop, expanding what a Korean group can sound like, where they can reach, and how they can connect. Their legacy isn't hypothetical. It already exists. The challenge is how to move within it.
In a meeting with HYBE executives, that uncertainty is given language. Executive creative director Boyoung Lee frames legacy as something to be actively sustained, while Bang Si-hyuk, the group’s longtime producer and chairman of HYBE, pushes the idea further. He asks the members to consider how they are building toward that legacy as they work, and what it means to evaluate it in the process of making something new. The reference point becomes "Arirang," a traditional Korean folk song rooted in longing and collective memory, a lineage that stretches far beyond the scale of a singular pop album — and one they are now being asked to reinterpret for themselves.
It’s an ambitious proposition. Maybe too ambitious. "Are we really worthy enough to ask ourselves this question?" leader RM wonders aloud, laughing to soften the hesitation underneath.
From that point on, The Return is no longer about completing an album. It's about whether BTS — RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook — can define what they've already become and who they are still becoming.
Credit: Netflix A documentary about process, not performanceDirected by Bao Nguyen, BTS: The Return begins in August 2025, weeks into BTS's two-month stay in Los Angeles, where they have been working to complete their first full-group project in four years. By the time Jin arrives, exhausted after finishing a solo tour the night before, the process is already underway. The members are living together in a rented house, moving between the intimacy of shared domestic space and the iterative, often circular rhythms of the studio.
Nguyen's camera isn't interested in spectacle. It lingers instead on repetition, on the slow accumulation of attempts, revisions, and near-decisions that define creative work. Days pass in cycles: listening to demos, recording vocals, revisiting ideas that never quite settle. There is a looseness to how time is structured, but not to what is at stake.
Credit: NetflixOn paper, the album is close to finished. In practice, it feels suspended. The members, particularly RM and Suga, aren't entirely satisfied. They have songs in the bank but nothing that feels definitive. What they're stuck on isn't production, but decision-making. What to keep, what to change, and what those choices ultimately say about the group's future.
It's a creative rut, but not an entirely unproductive one. The work continues without settling into anything final. Ideas are tested, revised, and set aside as quickly as they come together. "We're doing a lot of experiments trying to figure out what makes us special and what makes up BTS," RM says.
The urgency never fully disappears. Once they leave the warm glow of Los Angeles, the process shifts to Seoul, where the album will be finalized and locked in. That looming endpoint adds a particular tension to their time in California. It's both a space to experiment — an "amusement park" of ideas, as V describes it — and a countdown. "I want to enjoy making music freely," J-Hope says over dinner with the members, pushing against the feeling of working in something closer to a factory than a studio. But that openness never quite resolves into clarity. As Suga puts it, what's missing isn't effort, but direction. That unifying idea that can hold everything together.
Credit: Netflix What it takes to be understood by everyoneThat tension surfaces most clearly in the studio, where the act of making music is stripped of its polish and presented as labor.
Nguyen lets these sequences run longer than expected, resisting the urge to condense them into clean progress. Instead, we sit with the repetition: lines recorded and re-recorded, phrasing adjusted mid-take, producers offering notes that are at once technical and directional. The conversation keeps returning to the same question from different angles — how this album should sound, and who it needs to reach.
At one point, that question is made more explicit. A HYBE executive points to earlier tracks like "On" and "Black Swan," suggesting that, while ambitious, they weren't always easily relatable for broader audiences. The implication is that something more legible is needed. That line of thinking begins to shape the group's direction in real time, nudging them toward a lead single like "Swim," which feels designed to land more instinctively.
Part of that question is also linguistic. At various points, the group is encouraged to think about the album's global accessibility, about how certain lines will land for listeners outside Korea. English becomes part of that equation. The push toward a more global sound isn't abstract. It's articulated directly by an executive from HYBE.
The members don't resist the idea outright, but they do question what it requires. Suga feels like there's already too much English in the lyrics, particularly in the rap verses, while RM returns to the question of authenticity. For this album, he insists, that authenticity matters.
Credit: NetflixThe camera lingers as they work through English lines that don't quite sit naturally, repeating words, adjusting phrasing, worrying over pronunciation. "This is too hard," Jimin says at one point. V admits the frustration more bluntly: "It's killing me." Even Jin questions the verbosity of the English phrasing, wondering whether all those words can fit into a single lyric.
Time only heightens the pressure. There isn't space to fully settle into the language, to make it feel effortless. In one writing session for "Normal," RM turns to a collaborator for reassurance, asking whether a melody sounds awkward, acknowledging the limits of his own fluency. Even for the member most comfortable navigating that boundary, the process is not instinctive. It has to be worked through, line by line.
Credit: NetflixIf English expands the music outward, Korean anchors it in something more specific. The space between the two becomes something the group has to actively parse, take by take. What The Return makes clear is that "global" isn't a neutral goal. It's a process of constant adjustment, one that happens in the body as much as in the music.
SEE ALSO: BTS fans, Spotify has a quiz for you Arirang, and the weight of what BTS carry forwardThat search for direction begins to take shape in the idea of "Arirang."
The film's most conceptually dense sequence unfolds around the introduction of the popular Korean folk song and the seven young Korean men who first brought it to the United States in 1896. The conversations slow, the tone becomes more deliberate, and the stakes expand beyond the album itself.
The idea originates in a meeting with HYBE's executive creative director, but it follows them back into the studio, where it becomes something they have to actually work through. Bang wants to sample "Arirang" in the album. What is being proposed isn't just a sonic reference, but a framework. It's a way of situating BTS within a longer cultural lineage, one that carries its own expectations and histories. What that looks like, in actuality, is far less resolved than the concept suggests.
The longer they sit with the idea, the less stable it becomes. This is where Pdogg, their trusted in-house producer, comes into focus. He doesn't push the group toward a solution so much as keep them moving through the uncertainty, reframing what might otherwise feel like stagnation. At the end of one long day in the studio, when the conversation has circled without resolution, and the members seem to be slowly losing focus after hours of trying and failing to bring this idea to life, his assessment is simple: "We failed just enough."
Credit: NetflixIt's a small moment, but it reframes everything that comes before it. The point isn't to arrive at a perfect articulation of "Arirang," or even to resolve what it means for BTS to carry it forward. It's to stay inside the process long enough for something to take shape, even if that shape remains incomplete.
Eventually, "Arirang" is folded into the track "Body To Body." A debate emerges over how much of "Arirang" should be present in the track, whether it should be foregrounded or folded into the production, and how it might be interpreted depending on who is listening. Would using the song be too overt for Korean listeners? They worry it might feel too traditional, too heavy-handed, even uncomfortably patriotic. The hesitation comes from within, from a shared understanding of how "Arirang" functions culturally, and how easily it could tip from meaningful into something that feels imposed.
Credit: NetflixAt the same time, they are thinking about a global audience that might respond very differently. What risks feeling excessive or overly symbolic to Korean listeners could register as striking or resonant elsewhere. The question isn't just how much of the sample to use, but what that choice signals depending on where it's heard.
In the studio, those tensions play out in real-time. Bang pushes for a more direct use of the "Arirang" sample, at times advocating keeping it uninterrupted, while the members weigh how far they're willing to go. J-Hope, animated in his conviction, argues for what he feels instinctively works, embodying the push and pull that defines these conversations with the label. That tension carries into a later meeting in Seoul, where the members listen to a new version of "Body To Body" with a more prominent "Arirang" sample — noteably, the one that makes the final cut on the album. RM's reaction lands lightly, but pointedly: "It feels like I'm eating kimchi fried rice in Paris Baguette."
The film lingers on these exchanges, offering a rare look at how those decisions are negotiated — the kind of access fans rarely get to see.
Credit: NetflixThere are technical questions to iron out — tempo, arrangement, placement — but they quickly give way to something more layered. How do you use something this culturally loaded without letting it overwhelm the song? How do you make it feel impactful rather than performative? What emerges isn't a clear answer, but a sharper sense of how differently the same choice can land. What resonates in one context might feel excessive in another. What reads as homage could just as easily be interpreted as obligation.
Intimacy by designIf the studio sequences are defined by pressure, the film's emotional center lies in the spaces Nguyen builds around them.
The decision to introduce handheld camcorders switches the film's visual language in a subtle but meaningful way. Perspective becomes fragmented, subjective. The members are no longer just being observed; they are observing each other and the spaces around them, shaping how their time together is documented. V takes to the camera most naturally, moving through the house with an ease that makes the footage feel less like documentation and more like memory.
Credit: NetflixThat allows Nguyen to linger on moments that might otherwise be cut: eating samgyeopsal together, pouring drinks, sitting around a table as conversations drift in and out. Outside, they pass time just as loosely — tossing a ball back and forth in the yard, slipping into the pool, moving between activity and stillness without clear structure. In one scene, RM picks up a saxophone and the others singing along without prompting, the moment unfolding without pretense.
These scenes aren't framed as relief from the work, but as part of it. These are the conditions that make the work possible. The time spent together, unstructured and unproductive on its surface, becomes a different kind of creative foundation.
The effect is cumulative. By the time the film moves away from Los Angeles, that shared space feels essential to how BTS function — not just as collaborators, but as something closer to a family.
What remains when they're not trying to define itThat sense of proximity becomes more fragile once the group returns to Seoul.
Nguyen doesn't dramatize the change so much as let it register through contrast in the absence of the collective energy that defined their time in Los Angeles. What once felt continuous now feels dispersed, each member moving through his own space again.
In one of the film's most intimate moments, Jimin sits alone, describing a life that has grown smaller, more contained in the aftermath of fame. The scene is unadorned: a meal, a screen, the low hum of routine. The camera holds on him just long enough for the weight of that admission to settle, not as a revelation, but as something quietly lived. It reframes what came before.
Credit: NetflixIn retrospect, the Los Angeles sessions begin to feel less like a production period and more like a rare alignment — a stretch of time defined not just by work, but by closeness. By the simple, increasingly uncommon experience of being together in the same place, moving through the same days.
RM gestures toward this in his philosophical reflections on time, drawing a distinction between what can be measured and what can be felt. The steady passage of days gives way, in those shared moments, to something more elastic, shaped by presence rather than schedule.
Nguyen doesn't underline the point. He doesn't need to. It's already embedded in the film's pulse, in what it lingers on, in what it refuses to resolve.
By the time BTS leave Los Angeles, the album remains unfinished. The questions that shaped it are still open. But what the film reveals, almost in spite of itself, is that the time they spent together was never just a means to an end.
It was the thing they were trying to hold onto.
Amazon gift cards usually come with the starting balance printed on the physical card or mentioned in the email if you receive an eGift card. But what if you want to check the balance on a gift card that you previously redeemed to see if you have enough left over to splurge during Amazon's Big Spring Sale (which officially runs March 25-31 in 2026)? Or maybe you want to reload a gift card you've already used up to keep you on budget? Check the state of your gift cards before your shopping spree this spring by following the simple steps below. Happy shopping!
How to check your Amazon gift card balance on your desktopFollow these quick steps to check or reload your Amazon gift card balance from your computer browser:
Total TimeStep 1: Navigate to Amazon
Open the Amazon website.
Step 2: Accounts & Lists
Click on Accounts & Lists in the top right corner of the screen.
Credit: Screenshot: Amazon websiteStep 3: Select Gift cards
A new menu page will open on the website. Select Gift cards.
Credit: Screenshot: Amazon websiteStep 4: Redeem or reload gift card
Once you click, you'll be able to see the existing balance on your gift card. If you are checking the balance on an unredeemed gift card and wish to redeem it, you can click on Redeem a Gift card. You can also opt to Reload your card in this menu or check your transaction history, which is listed below the gift card balance.
Credit: Screenshot: Amazon website How to check your Amazon gift card balance in the appFollow these simple steps to check or reload your Amazon gift card balance from your phone or tablet:
Total TimeStep 1: Go to Account
Open the app and click on the account icon at the bottom of the landing page (the little person illustration). Then choose Account at the top of the landing page.
Credit: Screenshot: AmazonStep 2: Navigate to Payments
Scroll down until you see the Payments section.
Step 3: Manage gift card balance
In the Payments section, click on Manage gift card balance.
Credit: Screenshot: AmazonStep 4: Check balance or reload
Use the new menu that opens to check your gift card balance, reload your gift card, or check past activity.
Credit: Screenshot: Amazon
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