Behind on retirement savings? Here’s how you can save more in 2025.
If you’re in your early 60s and have a 401(k), 403(b) or other workplace retirement account, you can supersize your contributions — to as much as $34,750.
washingtonpost.com
New job? You may be leaving behind thousands in 401(k) savings.
People receive on average a pay bump of 10 percent when they switch jobs, but the amount they stash in their 401(k) accounts often drops.
washingtonpost.com
King Charles removing ‘treasures’ from Prince Andrew’s Royal Lodge home amid eviction war
The monarch, 76, is removing priceless items from the sprawling royal property due to maintenance and security concerns, according to a royal biographer.
nypost.com
Text exchange reveals shocking reason why woman didn’t get a job
A woman learned that there are some questions that still don’t go over well in the interview process.
nypost.com
Deadly bomb cyclone slams Seattle area with fierce winds leaving over 700K without power
An estimated more than 700,000 people had lost power across Western Washington as of early Wednesday morning, according to PowerOutage.US.
nypost.com
AI Biases Are Ushering In a New Era of Gender Apartheid | Opinion
Time and again, AI is used to dehumanize and undermine powerful women—drawing attention to their appearance rather than their capability and success to harm their self-confidence and affect their performance.
newsweek.com
Trump loves tariffs. Will the rest of America?
Donald Trump visits the Economic Club of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, last month. Some business leaders worry his economic plans will fuel inflation. | Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images Long before he officially pursued the presidency, Donald Trump railed against US trade deals. In interviews dating back to the 1980s, he told journalists that deals that benefited Asian and Middle Eastern trading partners consistently “ripped off” the US. Over decades, that charge may have turned into a winning election strategy. As a first-term president and in his 2024 campaign, Trump argued that a lopsided global trading system is not only responsible for a deficit between the US and China, but also behind a decline in American manufacturing and jobs. Now, Trump has made a second-term promise to raise tariffs — the taxes on imported goods that must be paid when they enter the US — even higher on China and other countries, while resurrecting those jobs. This story was first featured in the Today, Explained newsletter Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day. Sign up here. But footwear, apparel, and auto-part companies say they expect to pass the cost of such tariffs on to American consumers. Yale University’s Budget Lab projects that Trump’s proposed tariffs would cost the average American household up to $7,600 a year with initial price hikes as high as 5 percent. Those higher costs could potentially backfire on the president-elect’s campaign promise to make inflation “vanish completely.” Trump’s trade strategy is one that Greg Ip, chief economics commentator at the Wall Street Journal, says is a major departure from almost 80 years of US policy. In a conversation with Noel King, co-host of the Today, Explained podcast, Ip described how it might play out and have massive implications for the global economy. Below is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. There’s much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Pandora. Noel King Trade is a reality of economic life these days. What is Trump’s theory on it and how does it differ from his predecessors? Greg Ip In the United States, since the 1940s at least, there’s been a bipartisan consensus that more trade is good. And this came from a bipartisan view that this made our workers more productive, because they had bigger markets to sell into. It benefited our consumers because they got cheaper goods and a greater variety of goods. And it was also good for the US geopolitically because it helped us increase our economic bonds to countries that thought the same way we did, politically. Trump comes along and he argues: This entire regime has been much more to the advantage of other countries than it has been to the United States. Countries like Japan and then Germany and now China have taken advantage of the United States’s fixation on free trade to increase their trade surplus with the US, sell us lots of manufactured goods, and not buy very much from the United States. So his entire mission, from his first term, and now into this one, is to reverse that relationship and, he hopes, force those countries to buy more from the US, and Americans to buy more from each other instead of from importers. That’s the theory, anyway. Noel King Donald Trump had a chance to do all of this from 2016 to 2020 when he was in office. What did he do? Greg Ip He did raise tariffs, for example, in a series of rounds of tariff increases. He imposed tariffs on a wide range of products from China. And this was pursuant to a long-running case that complained that China was just systematically unfair to the United States, stealing our technology and putting up barriers to US exports to China. Then he imposed a variety of more bespoke tariffs on particular products. Noel King So at the end of that first term … had Donald Trump gotten what he wanted? Had his plan worked? Greg Ip If the test of Donald Trump’s trade policy was a smaller trade deficit, then no, he didn’t really achieve what he wanted. The trade deficit when he left office was larger in dollar terms than when he entered office. Did some manufacturing jobs come back? Possibly. But there also appear to have been some costs. There were industries that had to pay more for their inputs because of tariffs, and they lost sales and possibly jobs. And some of our trading partners retaliated. Our trade deficit with China did begin to shrink. At the same time, though, you saw our trade deficit with Mexico and Vietnam grow. And what that told us is that some businesses responded to Trump’s tariffs not necessarily by bringing production back to the United States, but by moving it to another country — out of China, into Vietnam, into Mexico — that were not quite as affected by the tariffs. Noel King What are Donald Trump’s plans for a second term? Greg Ip He wants to, number one, come down even harder on China. Instead of just putting tariffs on about half of China’s imports, he’s talked about a tariff on all Chinese imports of as much as 60 percent. And instead of sparing traditional US allies, he wants to impose an across-the-board tariff on everybody, of say, 10 to 20 percent. But there’s a very big caveat to this, which is that we don’t really know if Trump will end up doing exactly what he’s talked about. We know that Trump likes tariffs, but we also know that Trump likes to make deals. So, as in his first term, we might see that the threat of tariffs is primarily a leverage instrument — you know, a negotiating chip — in which he goes to countries that he thinks treat the United States unfairly and says, “Here are some things we want you to do differently. And if you do as we ask, then we won’t hit you with the tariffs that I’ve talked about.” Noel King How close can Donald Trump come to really and truly changing the way the world does trade? Greg Ip It’s possible that Trump presses ahead with exactly what he said, raises tariffs on everybody, and then all those countries retaliate. They export less to us, we export less to them, trade shrinks, and everybody is worse off. There’s another possibility here, which is that a lot of folks in the United States and in other countries say, “You know, he’s right. The trading system was fundamentally good, but it went off the rails at some point. We need to get together. We need to remake that thing.” So I think another possibility is that we end up a few years from now with a different trading system, and perhaps a more realistic view of how China, above all — but some other countries, [too] — have not been playing by the rules. But I think, as we learned from his first term, one thing with Donald Trump — you can be sure of this — is that you should expect the unexpected.
vox.com
People Are Roasting Their Loved Ones in Hysterical New 'Suspect Trend'
A psychotherapist told Newsweek that the trend is more than just a bit of fun and may have some benefits.
newsweek.com
Carcass of massive endangered whale washes ashore in Alaska
The carcass was comparable to the width of a college basketball court and female, according to biologists.
cbsnews.com
Did AI Influence the Election Result? Experts' Verdicts
Experts express concern that AI could have impacted election integrity through deepfakes, disinformation, and bias.
newsweek.com
Washington Post columnist claims 'Republicans want to kill your kids:' 'It's actually true'
Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin called on Democrats to alter their messaging, urging them to say, "Republicans want to kill your kids," something she claimed is "actually true."
foxnews.com
If Democrats could compromise with Republicans on abortion, should they?
Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth speaks at a news conference in February in support of IVF access. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, Democratic lawmakers and reproductive rights advocates have maintained a clear strategy: Win a more progressive Democratic trifecta in 2024, eliminate the Senate filibuster, and pass comprehensive federal protections. When reporters asked about contingency plans — particularly given polls suggesting full Democratic control was unlikely — such questions were dismissed, cast as premature or defeatist. Now, with Donald Trump’s return to power and Republicans set to control Congress, that strategy is drawing fresh questions. The GOP has signaled some openness to compromise: While campaigning, Trump said he supported abortion exceptions in cases of “rape, incest, and protecting the life of the mother,” and he promised to mandate insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization (IVF). Several Republican lawmakers have backed their own fertility treatment bills. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) backed a Democratic-led IVF measure and speaks openly about his family’s consideration of the procedure. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) has pushed legislation to expand over-the-counter contraception. But reproductive rights organizations are doubtful. “We are not willing to compromise when it comes to our ability to make decisions about our bodies, lives and future,” Gretchen Borchelt, of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), said on a press call the day after the election. “What is the compromise that would provide relief for Amber Nicole Thurman’s family who’s grieving her every single day?” added NWLC’s president Fatima Goss Graves, referring to a patient who died from sepsis after being denied care. Vox asked six major advocacy groups if they would consider pushing for new federal protections under a Republican-led Congress, be it for IVF, birth control or abortion. Most avoided giving a direct answer, instead directing the conversation to Republican accountability and the harm caused by abortion bans. The stance reflects a deeper calculation: that accepting anything less than people deserve — meaning access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care for any reason — would legitimize restrictions and undermine the broader fight for bodily autonomy. When asked about pursuing partial protections versus holding out for more Democrats, groups choose waiting. “We are really looking at this from a defensive position,” said Ryan Stitzlein, the vice president of political and government relations at Reproductive Freedom for All, the group formerly known as NARAL. “We read Project 2025, we are very familiar with the folks in leadership on the Republican side … and are preparing for them to levy attacks on reproductive freedom at all levels of government on the administrative side.” Polling suggests there may be political opportunities Despite the Biden era’s surprising bipartisan deals on thorny issues from gun control to climate change, there were never similar attempts to forge bipartisan compromise on reproductive rights. When a small group of Republican and Democratic senators introduced legislation in 2022 to codify elements of Roe, abortion rights groups quickly rejected the idea, arguing in part that it did not go far enough. Even on issues like IVF and birth control, where Republican support seemed possible and anti-abortion groups held less sway, there were no serious efforts to find common ground. To be sure, while many Republicans have sought to reassure voters that they support IVF, their voting record thus far tells a different story. Many of those same lawmakers co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act, which could severely restrict fertility treatments by granting legal personhood from the moment of conception. Republicans have largely voted against Democratic IVF legislation, while claiming they’d support narrower fertility treatment bills and criticizing Democrats for not being open to working on amendments. Still, polling suggests potential political opportunities. About 80 percent of voters say protecting contraception access is “deeply important” to them, and 72 percent of Republican voters had a favorable view of birth control. IVF is even more popular: 86 percent of Americans think it should be legal, including 78 percent of self-identified “pro-life advocates” and 83 percent of evangelical Christians. Americans’ support for abortion rights has intensified since the fall of Roe, and this reality shaped some Republicans’ rhetoric on the campaign trail. Newly elected Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Dave McCormick ran on a platform of fighting restrictions on fertility treatments and proposing a $15,000 tax credit for IVF. Some policy strategists have suggested that, regardless of Republican sincerity, Democrats and abortion rights groups might benefit from pushing votes on new IVF and birth control bills, even if they offer limited protections or codify certain provisions that advocates oppose. Such moves could either win new concrete protections or expose Republican resistance. But Democratic leadership and abortion rights groups for now seem uninterested in this approach, preferring to maintain pressure for comprehensively restoring rights. “We haven’t seen a genuine effort from Republicans that they engage in this conversation,” Stitzlein said. “We’ve seen them propose bills to try to save face in response to Dobbs and the Alabama IVF ruling.” Should Democrats keep their red line on abortion exceptions? The political math around abortion exceptions would seem straightforward. Trump ostensibly supports them. Most Americans, including many Republicans, believe abortion should be legal in cases of rape, incest, and threats to the parent’s life. And women are being demonstrably harmed by the lack of workable exceptions in state bans today. One recent study estimated that more than 3 million women in the US will experience a pregnancy from rape in their lifetime. Yet when asked whether they would consider seeking federal protections for abortion exceptions during Republican control as a harm reduction measure, established advocacy groups showed no interest, pointing to patients like Kate Cox and Amanda Zurawski who almost lost their lives or fertility despite state bans with exceptions. “As we are seeing across the country, exceptions often don’t work in practice, so people should not take comfort in those or rely on them,” Rachana Desai Martin, chief government and external relations officer at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Vox. This position stems from a core belief: that any engagement with exceptions would validate the broader framework of restrictions. Some doctors on the ground in states with restrictive bans have bemoaned the lack of support they’ve received for carving out exceptions. “I worry that reproductive rights advocates may be digging into untenable positions and failing to listen to those affected most by the current reality,” wrote one maternal-fetal medicine physician in Tennessee. On the question of codifying emergency medical protections, Planned Parenthood Action Fund stressed in an email that, “narrow health exceptions or those that focus only on emergencies are a disservice to patients and their health care providers because every pregnancy is unique.” The position is particularly notable given these same groups’ strong defense of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) at the Supreme Court this year. The groups argued that EMTALA — which requires hospitals to provide “stabilizing treatment,” including emergency abortion care — represents a crucial federal protection for women in medical crises. Yet when asked about codifying the Biden administration’s interpretation of EMTALA or similar protections through legislation, the groups demurred. Internationally, exceptions have served as imperfect stepping stones to broader rights. Colombia’s journey from total ban to full decriminalization began with three abortion exceptions in 2006 — for health risks, fatal fetal conditions, and rape. Over 16 years, advocates used these flawed measures to help build public support and legal precedent for expanding access, ultimately leading to decriminalizing the procedure up to 24 weeks in 2022. India and Spain followed similar trajectories. India’s 1971 Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act initially permitted abortion only for specific circumstances like health risks and rape. Advocates used this limited framework to gradually build broader rights — first emphasizing public health arguments around unsafe abortions, then expanding to gender equality concerns. This incremental approach led to significant expansions in 2021 and 2022, including extended gestational limits and broader access for unmarried women. Spain’s path from its restrictive 1985 law to its 2010 legalization up to 14 weeks followed a similar pattern, with advocates particularly leveraging Spain’s mental health exception to create de facto broad access. These tensions — between principle and pragmatism, between long-term strategy and immediate needs — have taken on new urgency as patients in the US encounter the limitations of state-level abortion exceptions. In Louisiana, which has exceptions for protecting life, health, and fatal fetal conditions, almost no legal abortions have been reported since its ban took effect. Doctors say ambiguous laws and criminal penalties make them unwilling to test the rules. But rather than pursue clearer federal standards around exceptions, advocacy groups are betting on abortion rights becoming more prominent as restrictions continue. “Americans will continue waking up to stories of women who died preventable deaths because they were denied access to essential health care and voters will continue to see these bans wreak havoc on their families and communities,” declared a post-election strategy memo from Emily’s List, National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and Reproductive Freedom for All. “With anti-abortion politicians in power, abortion rights will only grow in salience for voters in elections to come.” Working with Republicans on even limited protections could also undercut the narrative of GOP extremism — a message advocacy groups see as crucial for winning in 2026 and 2028. A high-stakes political bet Despite abortion rights proving less galvanizing in the most recent election than Democrats had hoped, reproductive rights groups are betting that voter attitudes will shift as restrictions continue. Currently, 28 million women, plus more trans and nonbinary people of reproductive age, live in states with abortion bans. “We have no interest in shrinking our vision,” Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director of Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, said, “but the politicians who will soon govern a majority pro-abortion country would do well to expand theirs.” In an interview with Vox, Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota said she will work with anyone in Congress who wants to collaborate in good-faith to protect abortion rights, but stressed that as Democrats move into the minority, “the onus will be on Republicans” to come to the table and negotiate with them in a serious way. Asked about potential deal-breakers, Smith declined to discuss specific provisions in the abstract, saying she would wait to see complete proposals. Smith’s view captured the movement’s current predicament: “We have been saying for several years after Dobbs that the way to protect people’s access to abortion is to win elections for people who are willing to protect those rights. And that didn’t happen, so there is no magic solution here.”
vox.com
Nancy Mace Puts Up 'Biological' Women Sign on Capitol Bathroom
It comes just weeks before the first openly transgender member of Congress is sworn in.
newsweek.com
Holiday travel can break the bank. Here’s how to manage expectations.
If the popular song is to be believed, there’s no place like home for the holidays. But getting there is going to cost you. Americans plan to spend an average of $2,330 on holiday travel this year, according to NerdWallet’s 2024 Holiday Spending Report. Factor in another $900 on gifts, per the report, and hundreds more on all the usual living expenses and you’ve got a hefty credit card bill come January 1. You would think that it’d be easy to opt out of unnecessary and pricey holiday travel, but sometimes external pressures and expectations can make it hard to say no. Parents may look forward to spending uninterrupted time with their adult children and grandchildren during this time of year. If you’re coupled, that doubles the coordination: Pairs might weigh whose hometown to visit. “We, as a culture, put so much emphasis on the holidays being the most important time — even though I don’t believe that’s true — that families get together,” says licensed marriage and family therapist Nicolle Osequeda. “[People] feel really obligated to meet the needs of their family … and moreover, not to disappoint them.” As much as you’d like to make the grandparents happy and get out of town for the holidays, sometimes your budget just won’t allow it. If you’re nervous about how to approach negotiations with your partner or break the news to your family, therapists offer some guidance on what to say and how to compromise. Set your holiday priorities Beyond just setting a budget, Osequeda suggests first getting clarity on what an ideal holiday looks like for you. During a time of year when people are often making decisions out of obligation, ask yourself what’s actually important to you this holiday season. Maybe it’s paying down debt or saving for a major purchase. Everyone’s reasons will be a little different. By focusing on what’s important to you, you can determine what you can afford. It’s not worth going into debt because you want to do it all this holiday season. “If there’s a reality that there’s three things you want to do and you can only afford to do two … just closing your eyes and putting things on credit cards is going to create bigger problems down the line,” says Matt Lundquist, founder and clinical director of Tribeca Therapy. “Those conversations go better when everybody is willing to put their cards on the table and say, ‘This is what I want, this is why it’s important to me.’” Getting clear on what you want helps you advocate for yourself when making plans with your partner, too. You may choose to prioritize some form of travel, but aren’t able to accommodate visiting both you and your partner’s families. Again, discuss your holiday goals and let your significant other know how your proposed plans align with that goal. If it’s been years since your partner’s been home, you might decide to visit them for Thanksgiving and then invite your family over for a New Year’s Eve party. “Those conversations go better when everybody is willing to put their cards on the table and say, ‘This is what I want, this is why it’s important to me,’” Lundquist says, “rather than the situation where we’re guessing what the other person wants and having to navigate reading between the lines.” Break the news as soon as possible — and be direct Many people have a tendency to delay sharing news that might be potentially upsetting, Lundquist says. But don’t string your family along. As soon as you’ve determined you can’t make it, let your loved ones know so they can deal with their disappointment or offer a compromise, Lundquist says. Then, tell your family in a “kind but clear way,” Osequeda says, why you can’t make it — but avoid over-explaining. You owe your loved ones an explanation, but you don’t need to justify your choices, she says. The more justification you proffer, the more “people start to poke holes in your argument,” Osequeda says, and may try to convince you to spend beyond your budget. If you’re unsure of how to tell your family, Osequeda suggests: “This is hard for me, but I’ve decided not to come home for the holidays this year because of the expenses involved. I understand if you’re disappointed. However, right now I really need to focus on [staying on top of my bills/not being stressed out over finances/not putting more money on my credit card/getting gifts for the kids]. Are there ways that we can still connect during the holidays that don’t include me traveling?” You might get some blowback from family members offering unsolicited criticism on what you choose to spend money on. (Which is none of their business anyway.) Remember that you’re making this choice based on your budget and financial needs, Lundquist says, and sometimes you’re going to make decisions that upset others. “I can’t get myself into debt to avoid you being upset,” he says, “And I also don’t want to organize our relationship in a way where those are the terms.” But be open to compromise Of course, your family might be entirely understanding and want to find a way to see you. It’s worth trying to find a happy medium, Osequeda says. If you have young kids and schlepping the whole family across the country is out of the question, you could ask your parents to travel to you if they’re able. Some families may offer to split the cost of travel with you. Get as creative as you want: Meeting somewhere in the middle, making a plan to visit during a cheaper time of year, promising to save up so you can come next year. Maybe these bigger asks are out of the question. You could make a smaller compromise and suggest FaceTiming the family during dinner or when the kids open presents. If you’ve determined that your holiday wouldn’t be complete if you weren’t at home, there are also other ways to make it work. For the cheapest flights, you might consider departing on the holiday itself and returning home during the week after the holidays. Try to carry on your luggage instead of checking a bag to save on fees. Driving will generally be cheaper than flying for shorter trips, but be sure to factor in extra travel time for holiday traffic. But if you’re traveling across the country, your time and money is better spent on flying. Other ways to lower the cost of holiday travel, according to NerdWallet, are to use miles or points for flights and hotels and to book rideshares to and from the airport in advance. Regardless of where you spend the holidays, you should still find time to get together with people you care about, whether it’s a local Friendsgiving or neighborhood potluck. “If you are unable to make it to your family because of financial reasons,” Osequeda says, “it doesn’t mean that you have to sit home alone miserably.”
vox.com
What Trump's 'drill, baby, drill' fracking agenda could look like
President-elect Donald Trump's second term could bring reform to energy permitting and increased fracking on federal lands.
abcnews.go.com
Why do hotel lobbies smell like that?
Vox reader Jen Hawse asks: Why do hotels pump in very strongly smelling perfume into their lobbies and sometimes their guest rooms? What we think of as a “nice” hotel often comes down to a certain je ne sais quoi. Sure, it has all the amenities — a luxe restaurant and bar on the premises, hotel room beds with soft Egyptian cotton sheets, perhaps a decadent spa — but beyond all that, it should have an ineffable ambience that’s both welcoming and sensual, cozy and yet exotic. Scent can be what helps clinch this vibe. You might have noticed an alluring aroma wafting through the air as you enter a hotel lobby, or even a hotel room; this is likely a custom fragrance that hotels diffuse into the air. While some use mass-market scents available to consumers, many use their own signature scent developed by a master perfumer. Scent marketing, as the practice is called, isn’t just limited to the hospitality scene, but pervades the retail sector. Just think of the thick miasma of cologne that used to radiate from every Abercrombie & Fitch store. It’s (usually) a more subtle marketing tool than a giant light-up billboard, calling back to happy memories and altering your mood so you feel more satisfied in a space — which, in turn, can nudge you to stay there longer, spend more money, book a room again, and recommend the experience to someone else. Some companies are even spritzing smells in the office to make the return-to-office more pleasant. In so many of the places we spend time in, an appeal is being made to your nose. What’s the psychology behind scent marketing? Scent marketing has been around for decades, with Las Vegas casinos being some of the earliest pioneers to use it. In the 1990s and early 2000s, though, its purpose wasn’t just to invite a pleasant aroma to an otherwise neutral space — it was to counteract a lingering, distasteful odor. “There was a while there where most resorts were drawn to environmental scenting because they wanted to do something about the cigarette smoke,” Jim Reding, CEO of the environmental scenting company Aroma Retail, says. Sign up for the Explain It to Me newsletter The newsletter is part of Vox’s Explain It to Me. Each week, we tackle a question from our audience and deliver a digestible explainer from one of our journalists. Have a question you want us to answer? Ask us here. A growing number of companies outside hospitality are developing ambient scents for their retail spaces, says Caroline Fabrigas, CEO of Scent Marketing Inc. Recently, Fabrigas’s firm helped create a custom scent for Wayfair’s new Chicago store that smells like linen and fresh-cut grass. In food and drink establishments, focusing on smell makes immediate sense: You smell pizza, you think of pizza, you crave pizza. Starbucks works hard to keep its coffee aroma from being sullied by food and other smells in its stores — employees aren’t even allowed to wear fragrances. For other spaces, the basic theory is that a distinctive smell becomes something customers immediately associate with a brand — our sense of smell is connected to the part of the brain related to memory, like a certain laundry detergent taking you straight back to being wrapped up in blankets when you were home sick from school. Using an ambient scent can cement brand recognition, and improve how well customers remember aspects of a product or service. A nice smell also puts you in a good mood. A 2021 study by researchers from the Barcelona School of Tourism, Hospitality, and Gastronomy conducted a trial in a four-star hotel by comparing guest experiences in rooms scented with lavender and rooms without any scent; guests who stayed in scented rooms appeared to show higher happiness levels when in the room than those in the neutral room. Studies have also shown that a scented environment can make customers stay longer in a restaurant (while underestimating the length of their visit), thus spending more money — time flies when you’re enjoying yourself. An experiment an automaker conducted in the early ’90s even tried to determine if spraying certain scents on salespeople would make them more likely to be perceived as trustworthy, though it’s unclear what the outcome of this trial was. How do hotels decide on a “signature scent”? Hotels and resorts spend a lot of time matching up their brand image to a signature scent, especially today. (Although it might be very similar to a popular fragrance.) One of the trends in hotel design right now is to play up how distinct a space feels. “Everything has become hyper-local now,” says Lori Mukoyama, a global leader of hospitality practice at the architecture and design firm Gensler. “Gone are the days where we’re stamping out the same brand, exactly the same, in 50 different cities across the world.” Having a tailor-made scent is key to building the feel of a personalized hotel lobby, according to Mukoyama. “I totally feel like it’s a logo in the air,” says Fabrigas, whose company develops ambient scents for businesses. “It’s a backdrop against which all else plays.” For some brands, having one signature scent isn’t enough. The now-closed Mirage hotel in Las Vegas, for example, used two separate fragrances for two separate spaces. In the lobby, it used a buttery coconut vanilla scent, Reding says, to evoke a tropical theme that matched the giant aquarium behind the front desk. “It gives us a feeling of warmth and safety,” he says. But then the casino used something more energizing — a “tropical cocoa mango” — to give it a party-feel that might encourage exciting risk-taking rather than relaxation. One reason why environmental scenting is so commonplace in hotels is that it’s a place where the perception of cleanliness is sacrosanct. Reding says hotels often tell him they want something that smells fresh and clean, but tend to eschew anything that might remind people of cleaning products. It goes back to how we associate smells with certain contexts — a whiff of lemony Pine Sol is going to make you think of a bathroom, or a mop, rather than the luxurious, crisp cleanliness that hotels strive for. For some, hotel fragrances are an olfactory delight they want to recreate in their own homes. Several online retailers sell hotel and resort scents for consumers — or at least, an approximation of their bespoke scent — and Reding says this is the bulk of his business today. But not everyone is a fan of scent marketing. What’s a good or bad smell is highly subjective, and people with sensitive noses in particular might bemoan not being able to escape a headache-inducing fragrance. “That’s what really makes it tricky — that you’re diffusing in public spaces without the public’s consent,” Reding says. This story was featured in the Explain It to Me newsletter. Sign up here. For more from Explain It to Me, check out the podcast. New episodes drop every Wednesday.
vox.com
Matthew McConaughey reveals why he left Hollywood at height of his acting career
The Oscar winner, 55, and his wife Camila Alves moved to his home state of Texas over a decade ago -- and the pair haven't looked back since.
nypost.com
Umberto Smerilli's score for 'A Different Man' reduced its director to tears
'A Different Man' director hesitated before enlisting Umberto Smerilli to compose the score. He needn't have worried.
latimes.com
'Anora' as cautionary fairy tale
'Anora' cinematographer Drew Daniels kept the camera loose and freewheeling to echo the good times at play early in Sean Baker's film.
latimes.com
No Soto! Dodgers should focus on keeping World Series champs together
Column on Dodgers offseason and how they should run it back, except for adding pitcher Max Fried.
latimes.com
Will Congress give Trump the ability to kill organizations like Planned Parenthood and ACLU?
A bill before the House would allow the administration to designate nonprofits whose work the president-elect opposes as terrorist-supporting groups.
latimes.com
In ‘The Wild Robot,’ machines, animals and new technology paint a very human picture
The animated feature adapted from the popular children’s books crafts a lovely, bittersweet parable of parenting.
latimes.com
The prodigies, the master and their journeys beyond in song
The two youngest people to write a Disney song score and one of the most-nominated female songwriters in Oscar history are in this year’s original song mix.
latimes.com
How a tabloid interview led to criminal charges in John Belushi's death
In March 1983, a year after Belushi’s death, Cathy Smith was indicted on a count of second-degree murder — a charge potentially carrying 15 years to life — and 13 counts of administering cocaine and heroin to the comedian.
latimes.com
The crops and their paychecks went up in flames: How the Mountain fire hammered farms and farmworkers
The agriculture community lost $7 million in fire damages. While some disaster relief programs help farmers recover from wildfires, farmworkers have no economic safety net.
latimes.com
Re-creating a family tradition one walnut at a time
A writer tries to re-create a traditional Italian walnut-based liqueur made by her great-grandfather and makes connections to her family and culture.
latimes.com
Should women be allowed to fight on the front lines? Trump’s Defense pick reignites the debate
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has reignited a debate that many thought was settled long ago.
latimes.com
Introducing Marissa Bode, the actor making 'Wicked' history in her film debut
In more than two decades since the stage show launched, disabled 'Wicked' character Nessarose has never been played by a real-life wheelchair user. Enter newcomer Marissa Bode.
latimes.com
Here's a look at the number of women serving in U.S. military combat roles
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has been outspoken about his opinion that women shouldn't serve in combat roles.
latimes.com
This novel should come with an X rating
From the moment our protagonist lays eyes on an older man in Maya Kessler's 'Rosenfeld,' she's in unrelenting lust. But ... why?
latimes.com
Solutions: Biden still has time to nudge the federal budget closer to sanity
The president should defend the funding for the IRS that helps to catch tax cheats, and he should block efforts by both parties to overspend.
latimes.com
On a day when the world woke up to a nightmare in progress, they were in the control room
The new thriller ‘September 5’ looks back at the 1972 Munich Olympics tragedy through the lens of ABC’s coverage, exploring the ethical dilemmas of crisis reporting.
latimes.com
The L.A. Flower District is full of surprises. Here’s a DIY guide for newbies
The Los Angeles Flower District hosts more than 70 vendors in downtown L.A., where DIYers with a plan can go wild on blooms for relatively little cash.
latimes.com
GOP targets Medicaid with the return of a bad idea
Imposing work requirements on Medicaid recipients didn't achieve anything the last time. So why are they being considered again by Trump's GOP?
latimes.com
Letters to the Editor: Biden has finally freed Ukraine to defend itself. Too little, too late
A year ago, allowing Ukraine to launch U.S. missiles into Russia could have changed the course of the war. Now, it makes us look like a fickle ally.
latimes.com
How Francis Ford Coppola pushed Osvaldo Golijov's orchestration to new heights in 'Megalopolis'
Osvaldo Golijov ended up ditching his first 'Megalopolis' score to compose a new eclectic version fitting director Francis Ford Coppola's evolving vision.
latimes.com
Trump takes a hard line on homelessness. Why L.A. Mayor Karen Bass hopes to find common ground
Trump has promised to forcibly remove homeless people and place them in tent cities. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass does not believe aggressive tactics will be needed, but said she looks forward to working with Trump on the crisis.
latimes.com
Animated contenders spotlight a ghost cat, snail hoarder, robots and a fowl villain
In another year of wildly varied animated features, Japan, Australia, Great Britain and the planet Cybertron send us their best.
latimes.com
They pretended to be from church to kidnap and rob the elderly, police say; 2 arrested
Two people targeted older residents of South L.A., Boyle Heights and the MacArthur Park area, gaining their trust before turning on them, authorities said.
latimes.com
Oscars 2025: Early assumptions. True or false?
Will these five early award season assumptions pan out or fall by the wayside?
latimes.com
Letters to the Editor: If Trump is more 'likable' than Harris, this nation has problems
Democrats need to be likable, some say. Problem is, Harris ran as the candidate of joy, and she still lost to someone who called others 'vermin.'
latimes.com
Who needs L.A.? These 30-somethings are creating a hip, communal oasis in Palm Springs
Growing up, these young locals thought Palm Springs was dead. Now, they're reclaiming the low desert as their own with restaurants, bars and cafes that appeal to both visitors and themselves.
latimes.com
Chad Michael Murray fell in love with dance on 'The Merry Gentlemen,' but it also terrified him
The actor and former teen heartthrob is starring in his latest holiday film for Netflix, which required him to dance for hours while baring his abs for all.
latimes.com
How Laken Riley's death sent "a reality shock" through a college town
For many students, Athens, Georgia, no longer feels like the safe haven they once thought it was, after the killing of Laken Riley.
cbsnews.com
Letters to the Editor: Why did George Gascón lose? With cameras everywhere, voters saw the reality of crime
Even if George Gascón's progressive policies made sense, that couldn't beat the constant stream of footage from cameras showing the reality of crime.
latimes.com
It’s half a movie, but ‘Wicked’ casts a mighty spell
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande bring Elphaba and Glinda from stage to screen, and the result is over the rainbow.
washingtonpost.com
Political stress: Can you stay engaged without sacrificing your mental health?
Stress from politics isn't fundamentally different from other kinds of stress, but it can encompass and enhance other sources of anxiety, experts say.
latimes.com
Letters to the Editor: Praise for an L.A. Times reporter's profile on Gnatalie the dinosaur
Readers express appreciation for the Natural History Museum's new exhibit and a Times reporter's story on its star, Gnatalie the dinosaur.
latimes.com