Test your knowledge of this week’s big stories.

Ready for some wordplay? Sharpen your skills with Slate’s puzzle for April 19, 2024.

House Republicans wanted fireworks. Instead, their efforts fizzled.

This is exactly the kind of movement that could determine the election.

Shelby Susnick told Newsweek that the difference between a dog parent and an owner "comes down to empathy."

Taylor Swift surprised fans by releasing two albums on Friday, the second titled "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology."

Trump's lawyers unsuccessfully tried to have the woman removed from the jury for his hush money trial after her comments made during the jury selection process.

Ukrainian forces are on the backfoot as they wait for the resumption of much-needed American military aid.

Responsive, sensitive parenting should be a birthright. Serve-and-return interactions will shape brain development for life.

The embattled House speaker says China's Xi, Russia's Putin and Iran have formed an "axis of evil."

Here’s how to catch, clean, and cook cicadas.

It will be San Francisco’s first time hosting the beloved black-and-white bears long-term.

Japan said its Air Self-Defense Force jets were scrambled 70 times last month, mostly due to Chinese and Russian military aircraft.

Anticipation was growing at a fever pitch before Taylor Swift's latest album, "The Tortured Poets Department," dropped at midnight EDT. But it turned out it's actually a double album.

The music icon, 75, penned a moving poem that serves as a prologue on the 14-time Grammy winner's 11th studio album.

The Russian Defense Ministry has said that the long-range bomber crashed because of a "technical malfunction."

Will more stringent tactics subdue protests? Or fuel them?

He definitely earned some flyer mileage.

An artist in Ukraine considers “The Zone of Interest” and what happens when the horrors on the other side of the wall are too close to home to ignore.

Where an earlier generation complained of C.I.O. “communism,” this one warns of U.A.W. socialism.

The president didn’t start the war in the Middle East. But now it could define his campaign — and his legacy.

NBC News chief Cesar Conde's financial ties to Walmart and Pepsi are fueling questions among critics, including one insider who says it doesn't "smell right."

Above-average warmth stays at bay with a couple of cold fronts passing by in coming days.

A Utah mother is fighting for her teen daughter’s access to diabetes medicine after it was discontinued. Alison Smart, plus other parents and medical experts, discussed the risks and options.

Schavey Road Elementary School, in DeWitt, Michigan, is teaching students about using interchangeable gender pronouns in a new lesson.

Our critic saw Brian Cox, Sarah Snook, Jeremy Strong and others in London and New York to assess how they fare in three dimensions.

On the release of Swift's latest album, "The Tortured Poets Department," fans have discussed who they think the track "thanK you aIMee" is about.

The new regulations extended legal protections to L.G.B.T.Q. students and rolled back several policies set under the Trump administration.

Newsweek's H. Alan Scott speaks with 'RuPaul's Drag Race' top 3 finalists Plane Jane, Nymphia Wind and Sapphira Cristál.

China's footprint in the Caribbean nation of Antigua is growing fast and officials are being encouraged to study the thoughts of Chinese leader Xi Jinping

Taylor Swift's 11th album, one of the most highly anticipated releases this year, is likely to break various records.

The hairy tale, starring an unrecognizable Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough and featuring no human language, hits theaters April 19.

The Biden administration finalized sweeping Title IX rules barring discrimination against transgender students and ordering a new system for sexual assault claims.

Owner Bethany Hart told Newsweek she was extremely emotional when she found out why her cat frequently makes "biscuits".

William and Kate will celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary this month.

Trump has shown he is "incapable of feigning respect" in his New York criminal trial, according to a former district attorney.

Police said they will allege he stabbed the bishop, who is in stable condition in hospital, as many as six times.

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/GettyWelcome to Trail Mix, your 2024 election sanity guide. See something interesting on the trail? Email me at jake.lahut@thedailybeast.com. To get Trail Mix in your inbox, subscribe here for free.This week, we take an early look at just how much Donald Trump’s Manhattan trial is derailing his campaign. Plus, an exclusive interview with New Jersey Senate candidate Andy Kim, life after the GOP primary, and new polling on a win-win issue for President Biden.TRIAL AND ERRORRead more at The Daily Beast.

Toby Melville/GettyNot a lick has yet been tasted by the masses, but the headlines around Meghan Markle’s American Riviera Orchard strawberry jam continue unabated. Fifty pots were sent to influencers, and all the hype around it helped spike sales of King Charles’ own-brand organic strawberry preserve. Is it just a PR gimmick, or will we all taste the red stuff soon? Royalist Correspondent Tom Sykes and Senior Editor Tim Teeman discuss the impact of Meghan’s latest venture.Tom Sykes: I have to be honest, there are lots of things I don’t understand about the launch of American Riviera Orchard. For starters, it seems really strange to me to do a big social media campaign, like the one we’ve been sold over the past few days, but not have any product actually available for the punters to buy. There is not even a functioning website. When you go to the ARO website it just gets you to enter your email address for updates.Tim Teeman: Sure, it’s not user-friendly, but I can think of nothing more camp than making a launch of strawberry jam and mysterious homewares as hush-hush and mysterious as a Taylor Swift album release. It also sticks it to the media (that Meghan and Prince Harry can’t abide), who are currently, futilely trying to get hold of this jam, jars of which are presently reserved for the hands and mouths of selected friends and influencers. Isn’t it genius marketing? Create a product, create a buzz around the product, make everyone curious, and keep it out of the hands of your media tormentors for as long as possible.Read more at The Daily Beast.

Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/GettyListen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.After a week full of frightened jurors and very public concerns over witness intimidation, The New Abnormal co-hosts Danielle Moodie and Andy Levy have some advice for the judge handling former President Donald Trump’s New York City hush-money trial: Treat it exactly the same as a high-profile mob case.“I really don’t know what these judges and the media are waiting for,” Moodie says on this week’s episode. “Are they waiting for people to just start disappearing? Are they waiting for some death and grave harm to come to people to recognize the stakes at which Donald Trump is playing with right now?”Read more at The Daily Beast.

A Chinese government spokesperson said the United States was trying to gain a military advantage over China.

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Portraits by Photo by Mary Mathis for The Washington Post via Getty ImagesChappell Roan’s debut album might chart The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, but in the world of pop, she’s going nowhere but up. The Missouri-born singer-songwriter and her mop of red hair have been inescapable on pretty much every social platform. She’s been opening for (and kissing) Olivia Rodrigo on the Guts World Tour, dancing to her own music in front of Red Lobster, and got us all doing the treadmill strut. At this point, Roan is basically the chief marketing officer for gay pop. But, wait, didn’t someone else just say they wanted that job?Last week, JoJo Siwa got roasted to oblivion for saying she wanted to “start” a new music genre called “gay pop.” (Pronounced like “K-pop,” but with “gay” instead.) Folks including Betty Who and the beloved duo Tegan and Sara raised their eyebrows, prompting Siwa to walk back her statements and explain that she never meant she wanted to invent a new genre—no, no—she simply wants to “be a piece of making it bigger than it already is.” The “Karma” singer added that, although she’s “not the president [of gay pop],” she’d like to be the CMO “and use my marketing tactics whether people like it or not.”To be clear, there’s plenty of room in the pop world for all of the JoJo Siwas and Chappell Roans, especially as queer artists continue to conquer other genres including rock (see: boygenius), rap (Lil Nas X), country (Orville Peck), and R&B (Janelle Monae and Frank Ocean). What’s fascinating here is the mirror image that these two represent—one, an industry-approved star working very, very hard to leave her kiddie-music days behind by solidifying herself as an edgy, queer artist; the other, a performer whose debut album was almost a decade in the making and only came together after she’d moved to Hollywood at 17, gotten kicked off her record label a few years later, lost all her money, and moved back in with her parents while working at a drive-through coffee kiosk. Taken together, these two artists’ trajectories offer a fascinating window into the State of Gay Pop Today.Read more at The Daily Beast.

Ludo StudioThere was a wackadoo of an international incident this week.It was an event so shattering that adults around the globe were immediately reduced to tears. There is no known cure for the weeping that occurs surrounding this inciting party: a family of cartoon Australian dogs who might be moving out of their house.The animated series Bluey, which streams on Disney+ in the U.S., is a phenomenon. But this week—in which the sheer number of grown adults allegedly crying along to its season finale has made headlines across the globe—the show reached a whole new level of relevance. And, now that I’ve seen the episode myself (and sobbed silently alone while watching) I have some thoughts as to why this show has become such a big deal—and a crucial, necessary part of pop culture.Read more at The Daily Beast.

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty Images/NetflixWhen I first learned that an AI chatbot was joining The Circle for Season 6, I wasn’t exactly worried for the human players. We’ve heard plenty about how quickly this tech is progressing (too fast, some suggest), but my own occasional experiences with AI have mostly left me underwhelmed. For instance: A few weeks ago, when I wrapped up a blog post dream-casting Margot Robbie’s upcoming Sims movie, I asked ChatGPT to tell me who it would cast as Bella Goth. It chose Charlize Theron. I mean, I love her, but Charlize Theron? As Bella Goth?! Suffice it to say that when The Circle Season 6 debuted Wednesday on Netflix with its robo-character, “Max,” I went in fully convinced that, while AI might be automating over more and more of our world, it still lacks a certain human touch. Foolishly, I thought that there was no way this tech twist would actually convince anyone. Alas, to err is human, and when I binged the first four episodes, I was shocked to discover that the damn chatbot was totally flying under the radar. Circle, message: How the hell could this be?! Read more at The Daily Beast.