MagazinAisle

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  • Bitget Research: Institutional Demand and Lower Leverage Support BTC and ETH Short-Term Outlook

    Bitget Research: Institutional Demand and Lower Leverage Support BTC and ETH Short-Term Outlook

    Ryan Lee, Chief Analyst at Bitget Research, says Bitcoin and Ethereum are supported by steady institutional ETF demand and lower leverage, with $BTC expected to break $80,000 to $85,000 short term and ETH targeting $2,800 to $3,000.

    Bitget Research Chief Analyst Ryan Lee says Bitcoin and Ethereum remain in a constructive short-term trend supported by steady institutional allocation, with ETF demand, lower leverage, and improving spot market participation keeping both assets on a firm footing. As crypto.news reported, US spot Bitcoin ETFs logged eight consecutive days of net inflows totaling $2.1 billion through April 23, the longest streak since October 2025, with BlackRock’s IBIT capturing approximately 75% of all capital entering the category.

    Bitget Research Sees $BTC Breaking $80K to $85K With Sustained Inflows

    “The current move is not being driven by aggressive speculative positioning, which gives the rally a firmer base than earlier cycles shaped mainly by retail momentum,” Lee said. In the short term, Lee expects Bitcoin to break above $80,000 to $85,000 with sustained inflows, while Ethereum is expected to follow with gains toward $2,800 to $3,000, driven by ecosystem upgrades and broader adoption. As crypto.news documented, institutional spot ETF inflows and corporate balance-sheet buying have been reinforcing Bitcoin’s role as a digital reserve, with analysts noting that Bitcoin and Ethereum have outperformed gold and broad equity indices this year even as geopolitical risk and higher oil prices would typically favor bullion. Lee’s assessment that the rally has a firmer institutional base than prior retail-driven cycles aligns with that data: the eight-day inflow streak absorbed roughly 19,000 $BTC against approximately 2,100 $BTC produced by miners in the same period, meaning institutional demand absorbed about nine times new supply.

    Gold and Oil Are Reshaping the Macro Environment for Digital Assets

    Lee noted that gold holding near elevated levels reflects continued demand for defensive assets as markets price in geopolitical uncertainty, sticky inflation expectations, and slower policy easing across major economies. He described this as a sign that capital is being distributed across multiple stores of value rather than concentrated in a single hedge. As crypto.news tracked, Bitcoin ETF flows have proven sensitive to exactly that dynamic in 2026, with oil rising toward $100 per barrel earlier in the year triggering risk-off conditions that pulled over $296 million out of spot Bitcoin ETFs in a single week. Lee acknowledged that oil staying elevated adds another layer of macro pressure because higher energy costs can delay rate-cut expectations and tighten liquidity conditions across markets.

    What Institutional Absorption Means for Crypto’s Position in Portfolios

    Lee said that for digital assets, upside remains linked to whether institutional inflows continue absorbing macro volatility rather than reacting to it. “If that continues, crypto remains positioned as part of broader portfolio construction,” Lee said. As crypto.news noted, Lee has previously argued that ETF flows are not the only factor behind Bitcoin’s performance and that technical and macroeconomic catalysts combine with institutional positioning to drive price action across cycles. The current environment, in which institutional inflows are absorbing supply at nine times the mining rate, represents precisely the kind of structural demand base Lee’s framework identifies as more durable than speculative retail momentum.

  • How Camper Became the Go-To R&B Producer for Victoria Monét, Kehlani and Jill Scott

    How Camper Became the Go-To R&B Producer for Victoria Monét, Kehlani and Jill Scott

    Over the past year, Camper has quietly been steering the sound of contemporary R&B. The producer, whose real name is Darhyl Camper Jr., has sat behind the boards for tracks from Justin Bieber, Coco Jones, Mary J. Blige, Ty Dolla $ign and Victoria Monét, among many others. So when it came time for him to release his debut album “Campilation” in early January, it came as no surprise that the tracklist read like an R&B fever dream, touting features spanning Stevie Wonder and Jill Scott to Tank and Brandy.

    How exactly did Camper become your favorite R&B artist’s favorite producer? “At the end of the day, I’m doing all this work and I know I have the work ethic. I know that I’m equipped to do the job,” he explains. “I just needed just to connect the dots and have a year that I’m having. I didn’t plan on it. I put in the work and it’s starting to all happen for me now. And I’m just very grateful and humbled that I’ve lived long enough to see this type of shift.”

    For nearly two decades, Camper has gradually built out his discography on R&B’s main stage. Just this year, he produced Scott’s “The Math” on her comeback album “To Whom This May Concern,” helmed Monét’s latest single “Let Me” and, last week, popped up in the liner notes of Kehlani’s eponymous fifth album for his work on “Still.” But it was with “Campilation” that he took his first real step into the spotlight, pulling together a slate of tracks he recorded along the way and contributing his own vocals to songs like “Love Me” featuring Wonder on the harmonica.

    The 35-year-old explains that his solo foray was a matter of timing, where he could have continued producing for other artists or tapped into the resources sitting in front of him. He began asking collaborators to return the favor when they were in the studio, and started to amass what would become a full body of work. “Everybody that I work with wants to see me win,” he says. “I’m just happy that I get to pay it forward and show them that. And the response that I’m getting with the album is surreal. Even with Stevie Wonder, I’m still pinching myself.”

    That standout feature came about when Camper was at the Los Angeles radio station 102.3 KJLH, appearing on host Tammi Mac’s show. He credits it to kismet: Mac asked him who was on his dream list of collaborators and right as he mentioned Wonder, the legendary artist happened to walk through the door. “I’m like, is this fucking really happening right now?” he says with a laugh. “I know God works fast, but I ain’t never seen him work that fast before.” Wonder joined the conversation and they exchanged information, leading to a session the next day. “I was probably crying for like a month straight” after they hit the studio, he says.

    What distinguishes Camper, at least musically, is his deference to classic R&B signifiers without kowtowing to pastiche. His production feels timeless yet crisp and familiar, a style he’s refined over the years in working with artists. “Music can start anywhere. That’s the special thing about it,” he says. “The keyboard’s up and running, you start playing chords, something might hit you right there and then boom.” Or, he says, it blossoms from a conversation with an artist about their current state of mind. “Just jamming out with my musician friends, I might hear a loop or something or a sample like Stevie before the studio. It doesn’t matter. I draw inspiration from anything because anything and everything inspires me in some way, shape or form.”

    If 2026 feels like the year of sudden ubiquity for Camper, it wasn’t without a long road to get there. Camper grew up in New Jersey and fell into music after his grandmother and father forced him to take piano lessons. He gradually warmed to the instrument and began playing in church, where he met Jordan “Infinity” Suecof, who had worked with Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins. Together, he secured his first placement on Bow Wow and Omarion’s “Hoodstar” and continued to contribute to records from R. Kelly and Backstreet Boys.

    Camper split off from Suecof and went solo, producing tracks for Mariah Carey (“Dedicated” featuring Nas), Keyshia Cole (“Trust and Believe”) and Elle Varner (“Refill”), the latter of which earned him a Grammy nomination. Since then, he’s worked across genre lines to collaborate with H.E.R., Mary J. Blige, and Ye and Ty Dolla Sign, contributing to a third of their “Vultures 1” project.

    At this point, Camper is aware that he has the luxury of being picky as a producer, a freedom that many musicians fail to achieve. These days, his litmus test for working with an artist is that “I would have to believe you. If I don’t believe you, I’m not doing it.” And while he tends to work with artists for a few songs on a project, he’s exploring full-length collaborations following the release of “Campilation,” noting that he’s producing the entirety of Monét’s upcoming album.

    But for now, his main objective is to steer the sound of R&B in a new direction, however he can. “We need to push it forward. I get sampling and all of that, but 2026 needs a fresh sound,” he says. “I just know what R&B means. And the more that I grow, the more that the cure gets to spread if we’re in a world filled with viruses.”

  • Ethereum Tracks Bitcoin Rally: Why A Surge to $3,400 Could Be The Beginning

    Ethereum Tracks Bitcoin Rally: Why A Surge to $3,400 Could Be The Beginning

    Ethereum is beginning to mirror Bitcoin’s bullish momentum, steadily climbing as market confidence strengthens. After weeks of consolidation, price action is now pressing against a key resistance zone, signaling that a breakout could be near. With momentum building and structure turning increasingly bullish, a move is now coming into focus.

    Breakout Brewing: Why $ETH’s Structure Signals Imminent Upside

    Michaël van de Poppe, in a recent market update, suggested that $ETH is gearing up to follow Bitcoin’s upward path. The analyst, who has outlined his levels in Euros, highlighted a steady and controlled grind higher, with $ETH now closing in on a crucial breakout level around €2,070 ($2,430).

    Price action has continued to test this resistance zone without a significant rejection. Such repeated attempts typically weaken a resistance level over time, as sell orders get absorbed and buyers gain confidence. With each retest, the likelihood of a breakout increases, pointing to a potential shift into a stronger bullish phase.

    Beyond the immediate barrier, he identified €2,350 ($2,759) and €2,900 ($3,400) as the next key resistance zones to watch. These levels could act as interim checkpoints, but the overall trend suggests that momentum may not stall easily at the first hurdle.

    Source: Chart from Michaël van de Poppe on X

    A rejection around €2,350 would likely be considered a weak outcome, especially after nearly three months of consolidation below the current resistance band. Extended consolidation phases often lead to explosive moves, meaning a deeper push toward €2,900 (roughly $3,400) appears more consistent with the buildup seen on the charts.

    Momentum across the broader altcoin market could further accelerate if Bitcoin continues its climb toward the $84,000–$87,000 range. In that scenario, Ethereum could not only reach its projected euro-denominated targets but also set the stage for an even more aggressive upside phase.

    Ethereum “Movin’ On Up”: Momentum Builds Across Timeframes

    Donald Dean shared a bullish outlook on Ethereum, noting that both the daily and weekly charts are aligning for a strong upward move. His analysis highlights improving structure across timeframes, suggesting that $ETH may be entering a phase of sustained momentum.

    On the daily chart, price is showing a clean move off a key volume shelf, with the next major pivot and target sitting around $2,970. This level could act as a launchpad for further upside if momentum continues to build. Based on Fibonacci projections, the 1.618 golden ratio points toward a significantly higher target near $6,941.

    From a weekly perspective, $ETH is bouncing off strong support, with historical patterns indicating the potential for a 200% move, similar to previous cycles. The 1.618 extension on this timeframe comes in slightly higher at $7,332, placing both daily and weekly projections in close alignment around the $7,000 region, a confluence that strengthens the case for a major upside expansion.

    $ETH trading at $2,319 on the 1D chart | Source: ETHUSDT on Tradingview.com

  • Binance Wallet Expands dApp Ecosystem with Uniswap Integration

    Binance Wallet has just launched a new integration in its browser extension, which allows trade decentralization and makes it available to users. The most recent release brings about Uniswap, which is among the biggest decentralized exchanges within the crypto sector. This action is an extension of Binance push to expand its Web3 infrastructure and enhance decentralized finance accessibility.

    New Integration on #Binance Wallet Extension!

    Discover Uniswap, the largest decentralized exchange where you can trade 10M+ assets across 18 chains.

    Start exploring Uniswap with Binance Wallet Extension today and elevate your trading experience. https://t.co/0kFIBS2JFH pic.twitter.com/6QVdFa2mGb

    — Binance Wallet (@BinanceWallet) April 27, 2026

    The announcement shows the ease with which customers can now use Uniswap via its Binance Wallet Extension. Introducing the DEX as an in wallet experience will ease the experience of using decentralized applications, as you no longer need a variety of tools or complicated systems.

    Full Accessibility to Multi-Chain Trading

    In this integration, the users have access to trading on over 18 blockchain networks and over 10 million assets. The multi chain support of Uniswap gives traders the opportunity to trade tokens across ecosystems without the centralized service.

    The users who would like to be self custodians and trade decentrally find this development important. Traders can now do swaps right inside Binance Wallet, instead of moving money between platforms and wallets. This minimizes the friction and improve on the entire user experience.

    And the integration also conforms to the increasing interoperability needs in the Web3 sector. With the growing development of blockchain ecosystems, it is clear that people seek one stop services, which embrace various chains. The recent update of Binance Wallet makes it a web of navigating this disjointed world.

    Improving Web3 User Experience

    Ease of use is one of the essential aspects of this integration highlighted by Binance Wallet. This expansion is meant to ensure that the new and advanced users enjoy a straightforward, safe and fulfilling experience.

    Integrating Uniswap, Binance Wallet makes the use of DeFi platforms less complex in most cases. Users do not have to connect other wallets manually or make interface switches. Instead, they will be able to access liquidity pools, token swaps and other DeFi functionalities all within the extension.

    Security is also a major concern. Being a non custodial mechanism, Binance Wallet lets the user have access to their own private keys as they communicate with decentralized protocols.

    Strategic Step in the DeFi World

    Although Binance is regarded more as a centralized exchange, its wallet ecosystem is narrowing the centralized and decentralized gap in services offered.

    Meanwhile, Uniswap grows by acquiring access to major platforms. It has a larger user base that it can access through the partnership with Binance Wallet, which can possibly boost the trading volume and liquidity.

    What this Means to the User

    To the average user, this comes as a boost in convenience and flexibility. They are now able to tap into the application of one of the most favored DEXs without exiting their wallet interface. This simplified system minimizes entry costs to new entrants but provides more sophisticated applications to pro traders.

    Moreover, cross chain trade opportunities create new possibilities in terms of portfolio diversification. Users can have access to a broader selection of tokens and ecosystems without technical constraints of only a single network.

    Looking Ahead

    With the ever increasing adoption of Web3, integrations such as this one may become increasingly widespread. The shift of Binance Wallet to embrace Uniswap is evidence of how wallets are transforming into more than mere storage options to full scale decentralized interaction.

    With its approach of providing ease of use, safety and multi chain capabilities, Binance Wallet is becoming one of the main actors in the next stage of crypto adoption. Uniswap is not merely an update to features but a move towards a more integrated and user friendly decentralized world.

  • White House Correspondents’ Association Chief Says Hilton Donated Around 2,600 Unserved Dinners From Saturday’s Event

    White House Correspondents’ Association Chief Says Hilton Donated Around 2,600 Unserved Dinners From Saturday’s Event

    After the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was abruptly cut short due to a gunman firing shots on Saturday night, the Washington Hilton was left with a lot of unserved food. So staffers there decided to do something good with all of it.

    Weijia Jiang, White House Correspondents Association president and CBS News’ senior White House correspondent, revealed in a social media post Monday that the Hilton donated the approximately 2,600 dinners that had not been served.

    “The Hilton donated the ~2600 dinners that went unserved at WHCD,” she posted on X. “They freeze dried the steak and lobster for longer shelf life before giving them to 2 shelters for abused women and children. HUGE thank you to the staff that worked through the night under terrible circumstances.”

    As the event got underway Saturday night, shots were fired as a gunman, armed with multiple weapons, reportedly charged through a security checkpoint. He fired multiple shots before being subdued by authorities. He was later identified as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher from Torrance, California. On Monday, Allen was charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump.

    In the aftermath of the event, Jiang released a statement, calling it a “harrowing moment.”

    “Last night’s shooting at the Washington Hilton was a harrowing moment for everyone in attendance,” she wrote. “We express our deepest gratitude to the U.S. Secret Service and all law enforcement personnel who ensured the safety of everyone in the ballroom and beyond. Their actions protected thousands of guests, and we wish a full and speedy recovery to the officer who was injured in the line of duty. We are grateful everyone in attendance was unharmed, including the president, the first lady and the vice president.”

    Trump appeared on CBS News’ 60 Minutes on Sunday night, calling for the event to be rescheduled within 30 days.

  • Trump’s ’60 Minutes’ Interview Heavily Edited, Despite Previously Suing CBS Over Deceptive Editing

    Trump’s ’60 Minutes’ Interview Heavily Edited, Despite Previously Suing CBS Over Deceptive Editing

    It seems Donald Trump is OK with his 60 Minutes interview getting edited, just not anyone else’s.

    The president sat down with Norah O’Donnell for an interview that aired Sunday night on 60 Minutes, one day after shots were fired at the White House Correspondents’ dinner. During their conversation, he shared his perspective on what went down, but also got defensive when O’Donnell read from the gunman’s — 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen — alleged manifesto about his motivations.

    The interview comes rougly a year and a half after Trump sued CBS in October 2024 over a 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. At the time, he accused the network of deceptive editing to influence the election.

    Though the president refused a 60 Minutes interview during his campaign, he criticized CBS for airing two different answers from Harris to a question that ran in separate clips on 60 Minutes and Face the Nation earlier in the day. In response, CBS said different portions of her answer to the same question were aired to be more succinct.

    CBS parent company Paramount ultimately reached a $16 million settlement with Trump. Under the settlement, Paramount also agreed to release full transcripts of future interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after they air.

    However, Trump may have forgotten that it would apply to him as well. The president’s latest interview on 60 Minutes was his second one on the show since his second term got underway (he previously spoke with O’Donnell in November 2025).

    Despite speaking with O’Donnell for 40 minutes on April 26, only 13 minutes of the interview aired on CBS. However, the extended version of the interview and the full transcript were later posted on CBS’ website.

    Some of Trump’s unaired remarks were about Democrats disagreeing with his policies, needing his White House State Ballroom finished for security purposes, blaming the internet for radicalizing some people, slamming No Kings protests, criticizing former President Joe Biden, reaction to conspiracy theories that the event was staged or didn’t happen and his plans to “hit people really hard with humor” in his White House Correspondents’ dinner speech, among other topics.

    One of the parts that also didn’t make it to air was Trump’s comments on his CBS lawsuit, which came after he got defensive when O’Donnell asked some follow-up questions about the gunman’s motives. “I’ve also won a lot of money from fake news media, where they write falsely about me,” he said. “And not that I wanna sue people, ’cause I don’t. But I bring lawsuits against the fake news. I brought lawsuits against your network and you paid me $38 million (the settlement was reportedly worth $16 million) because you did something that was so horrible with Kamala.”

    The president continued, “You put an answer down that wasn’t responsive to the question because her answer, her real answer, was so bad it was election-threatening. And you paid me a lotta money. And you tried to pull one off. It was terrible. It was a terrible thing that you did.”

    Though Trump has been critical of CBS, he has also cultivated a close relationship with David Ellison, the current owner of CBS after his company Skydance Media acquired Paramount Global last year. Ellison’s father and Oracle co-founder, Larry Ellison, is also an outspoken supporter of Trump.

  • How Camper Became the Go-To R&B Producer for Victoria Monét, Kehlani and Jill Scott

    How Camper Became the Go-To R&B Producer for Victoria Monét, Kehlani and Jill Scott

    Over the past year, Camper has quietly been steering the sound of contemporary R&B. The producer, whose real name is Darhyl Camper Jr., has sat behind the boards for tracks from Justin Bieber, Coco Jones, Mary J. Blige, Ty Dolla $ign and Victoria Monét, among many others. So when it came time for him to release his debut album “Campilation” in early January, it came as no surprise that the tracklist read like an R&B fever dream, touting features spanning Stevie Wonder and Jill Scott to Tank and Brandy.

    How exactly did Camper become your favorite R&B artist’s favorite producer? “At the end of the day, I’m doing all this work and I know I have the work ethic. I know that I’m equipped to do the job,” he explains. “I just needed just to connect the dots and have a year that I’m having. I didn’t plan on it. I put in the work and it’s starting to all happen for me now. And I’m just very grateful and humbled that I’ve lived long enough to see this type of shift.”

    For nearly two decades, Camper has gradually built out his discography on R&B’s main stage. Just this year, he produced Scott’s “The Math” on her comeback album “To Whom This May Concern,” helmed Monét’s latest single “Let Me” and, last week, popped up in the liner notes of Kehlani’s eponymous fifth album for his work on “Still.” But it was with “Campilation” that he took his first real step into the spotlight, pulling together a slate of tracks he recorded along the way and contributing his own vocals to songs like “Love Me” featuring Wonder on the harmonica.

    The 35-year-old explains that his solo foray was a matter of timing, where he could have continued producing for other artists or tapped into the resources sitting in front of him. He began asking collaborators to return the favor when they were in the studio, and started to amass what would become a full body of work. “Everybody that I work with wants to see me win,” he says. “I’m just happy that I get to pay it forward and show them that. And the response that I’m getting with the album is surreal. Even with Stevie Wonder, I’m still pinching myself.”

    That standout feature came about when Camper was at the Los Angeles radio station 102.3 KJLH, appearing on host Tammi Mac’s show. He credits it to kismet: Mac asked him who was on his dream list of collaborators and right as he mentioned Wonder, the legendary artist happened to walk through the door. “I’m like, is this fucking really happening right now?” he says with a laugh. “I know God works fast, but I ain’t never seen him work that fast before.” Wonder joined the conversation and they exchanged information, leading to a session the next day. “I was probably crying for like a month straight” after they hit the studio, he says.

    What distinguishes Camper, at least musically, is his deference to classic R&B signifiers without kowtowing to pastiche. His production feels timeless yet crisp and familiar, a style he’s refined over the years in working with artists. “Music can start anywhere. That’s the special thing about it,” he says. “The keyboard’s up and running, you start playing chords, something might hit you right there and then boom.” Or, he says, it blossoms from a conversation with an artist about their current state of mind. “Just jamming out with my musician friends, I might hear a loop or something or a sample like Stevie before the studio. It doesn’t matter. I draw inspiration from anything because anything and everything inspires me in some way, shape or form.”

    If 2026 feels like the year of sudden ubiquity for Camper, it wasn’t without a long road to get there. Camper grew up in New Jersey and fell into music after his grandmother and father forced him to take piano lessons. He gradually warmed to the instrument and began playing in church, where he met Jordan “Infinity” Suecof, who had worked with Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins. Together, he secured his first placement on Bow Wow and Omarion’s “Hoodstar” and continued to contribute to records from R. Kelly and Backstreet Boys.

    Camper split off from Suecof and went solo, producing tracks for Mariah Carey (“Dedicated” featuring Nas), Keyshia Cole (“Trust and Believe”) and Elle Varner (“Refill”), the latter of which earned him a Grammy nomination. Since then, he’s worked across genre lines to collaborate with H.E.R., Mary J. Blige, and Ye and Ty Dolla Sign, contributing to a third of their “Vultures 1” project.

    At this point, Camper is aware that he has the luxury of being picky as a producer, a freedom that many musicians fail to achieve. These days, his litmus test for working with an artist is that “I would have to believe you. If I don’t believe you, I’m not doing it.” And while he tends to work with artists for a few songs on a project, he’s exploring full-length collaborations following the release of “Campilation,” noting that he’s producing the entirety of Monét’s upcoming album.

    But for now, his main objective is to steer the sound of R&B in a new direction, however he can. “We need to push it forward. I get sampling and all of that, but 2026 needs a fresh sound,” he says. “I just know what R&B means. And the more that I grow, the more that the cure gets to spread if we’re in a world filled with viruses.”

  • The Scariest Horror Shorts of the Overlook Film Festival

    The Scariest Horror Shorts of the Overlook Film Festival

    The Overlook Film Festival, held in New Orleans earlier this month, didn’t simply cast looming shadows with its feature film selection. The festival also offered bite-sized terror with an array of short films that brought a sense of unease to the Big Easy.

    Of course, short films have become the lifeblood of the horror industry and blockbuster filmmakers like Fede Alvarez and David Sandberg made names for themselves in that medium. Because of the accessibility of hosting sites like YouTube and Vimeo, short films, and the filmmakers behind them, have developed increasingly loyal fanbases, with viewers going back through the films to look for answers or pieces of lore, and make entire Reddit threads dedicated to seven-minute works. Studios are catching onto this trend more quickly than they ever have before. Many of the filmmakers behind some of horror’s most recent hits, and this year’s most anticipated films, built their audience through shorts: RackaRacka (Bring Her Back), Markiplier (Iron Lung), Curry Barker (Obsession), Damian McCarthy (Hokum), Kane Parsons (Backrooms) and Casper Kelly (Buddy).

    The 26 short horror films showcased at the Overlook Film Festival were categorized by “Feral,” “Freaky,” and “Static.” The Feral category offered films about sexual and gender-centric horror ranging from the romantic to the taboo. Freaky delivered on what is more commonly perceived as horror from monsters to folklore. And Static wandered into liminal spaces, the inexplicable, and terrors sometimes best left unspoken. Every film offered something to admire – an image, sound, or performance that stuck with me. And there’s no doubt that many of these directors will get prominent billing in front of major feature films in the coming years. These eight short films were my favorites:

    Haint Dir. Jahmil Eady – Freaky

    As gentrifiers take over her neighborhood, a Gullah Geechee woman, Annabelle (Melanie Nicholls-King) calls on ancestral knowledge, which has dire consequences for the newcomers who have begun to take over the land, ignorant of its history.  What Annabelle unleashes puts her at odds with her policewoman daughter, Kassie (Imani Lewis) as both women are confronted by the means in which they’ve chosen to protect the community. With a strong sense of setting and a standout performance by Nicholls-King, Haint feels like the perfect concept for a feature film, especially in the post-Sinners horror scene.

    Nail-Biter Dir. Joseph Burch – Freaky

    On her 18th birthday, an anxious young woman, Amy (Alexa Swinton) is faced with a family curse that has ravaged her bloodline. Despite her mother’s (Amy Cropsey) insistent warnings, she cannot stop biting her fingernails. Is Amy merely a subject to her mentally ill mother’s control issues, or does the curse portend a more awful revelation. Nail-Biter captures the ageless quality of gothic folklore and creates a great sense of space in Amy’s dimly lit house, allowing the shadows to play their tricks until the well-earned climax.

    Scissors Dir. Hannah Alline – Feral

    A man (Ethan Embry) with a grudge against women crashes a bachelorette party prepared to brutally kill everyone there. As he comes to find out, this group of women, portrayed by Georgia Bridgers, Jenna Kanell, Najah Bradley, Hannah Alline, Anissa Matlock, and Hannah Aslesen, are all queer and none of them take him seriously. Scissors is a clever and funny romp that turns the tables on the slasher format and deconstructs the phallic symbolism associated with the genre.

    Ghoststory Dir. Alex Jacobs – Static

    On an old VHS recording of a woman (Gabriella Ortega Ricketts) talks about a ghost she saw in the woods by her house growing up. This footage is interspliced with haunting images of a low-res ghost (Luke Chamberlain) slowly approaching the camera. Ghoststory is deceptively simple and the woman’s refusal to ever fully tell the ghost story may seem frustrating. But as she starts and restarts her story, each time with a different tone of voice and different emphasis on the words, the feeling of dread about what’s being left unsaid grows. Ghoststory feels like something fans of Jane Schoenbrun and Kyle Edward Ball would enjoy.

    Man Eating Pussy Dir. Lee Lawson – Feral

    Freddie (Julian Richings), a dying, elderly man pays a visit to a mysterious sex worker, Kitty (Grace Glowicki) who offers him a release of both pain and pleasure. I did not expect the title to be quite so literal, but Man Eating Pussy is a wild example of body horror that is simultaneously beautiful, gross, and strange. Incredible special effects work and voice acting make for a creature that is both empathetic and alarming. It’s certainly one of the most original and memorable shorts from the festival.

    Superconscious Dir. Christianne Hedtke – Static

    In the early 1970s, two individuals, Cybil (Nathalie Boltt) and Harvey (Matt Olson) attend a human potential center to conduct a scientific study on psi-energy. As Cybil and Harvey wonder about the boundaries of her psi capabilities, she undergoes a secret mission to breach a realm beyond human knowledge. As the longest short of the festival, at 22 minutes, Superconscious feels the most complete in terms of narrative and characterization. There’s maturity to the storytelling and the time is well spent creating a connection to the characters and the central mystery. Superconscious feels like the perfect springboard for a film set in the world of psi-energy.

    Carousel Dir. Christopher Kosakowski – Freaky

    An aspiring actor, Charlie (Samuel Dunning) stuck with a clown gig receives a zoetrope for his birthday from his strange co-worker Mickey (David Sitler). His reality descends in a nightmare as the images seen in the zoetrope manifest in his apartment. Short, scary, and built around a single concept, Carousel is reminiscent of the early works of James Wan and it’s easily to imagine the clown zoetrope becoming the cursed artifact in a feature film.

    Homemade Gatorade Dir. Carter Amelia Davis – Freaky

    Susie (Carter Amelia Davis) is looking for a buyer on social media for her homemade Gatorade, which she describes as creamy and filling. She gets a message from Daniella (Lauren Davis), who wants to buy every gallon, if Susie can deliver it. On her five-hour road trip, Susie receives increasingly weird messages from Daniella, none of which are threatening but the vibes are certainly off. And they only get more unnerving as Susie approaches her destination. Homemade Gatorade, the only animated short of the festival, was made with both photoshop and After Effects, giving the film an uncanny look that’s accentuated by great vocal performances that highlight the strangeness of what’s shown on screen. Homemade Gatorade feels like an artifact from the early internet, or something you might find a link to on a sleepless night at three in the morning. There’s something vile, yet attractive about the film, an encapsulation of the fact that people and the internet are downright weird.

  • Luke Tennie on His Busy Spring With ‘Shrinking,’ ‘The Pitt’ and ‘Abbott Elementary’

    It’s been nearly impossible to not see Luke Tennie on a television screen over the last few months.

    The 31-year-old actor returned to Apple’s hit television show Shrinking for season three, starring as Sean. The series, which has already been renewed for a fourth season, has allowed the actor to grow into his character over the years. Tennie’s become comfortable in the role, even pitching a potential story idea for Sean to the show’s creator, Bill Lawrence.

    Tennie says he pitched his character Sean becoming a leader in his own way through a veterans’ therapy group, and Lawrence ended up incorporating it into the series. “[I pitched] that Sean would now be a sort of leader in his own sort of category, his own crew, and making sure that other vets like him have help,” he says.

    “We’ve watched this character for so long. He’s somebody that really seems like purpose is something that gives him a reason to get up out of bed. And now he’s got the girl, he’s got the friend, he’s got the job, with food, he’s even got the hobby, with the martial arts,” the actor adds. “What’s that thing that’s going to get him out of bed when he really doesn’t feel like it? Helping others just like Jimmy. The fact that he incorporated that; I will be proud of for the rest of my life.”

    Tennie quickly jokes that he pitched Lawrence another idea that the writer and executive quickly shot down. “I feel very happy with where Sean’s at, largely in part because it’s a great show, and I’m happy with where everyone’s at,” the actor says. “But also largely in part because one of the premier showrunner, creator, writers in Hollywood thought I had a good idea. That makes me feel nice.”

    Being given the chance to grow in the character of Sean has seemingly been a blessing for Tennie, and it’s allowed the character to take on Tennie’s own interests and for Tennie to take on some of Sean’s interests. “We ended up exchanging things. The writers asked me what [I thought] would be fun to explore as Sean, and I suggested cooking. That’s something that I gave him,” he explains.

    “Something that he gave me was martial arts,” Tennie adds. “I now train in Muay Thai and jiu-jitsu because when I did it as Sean, I thought it was nice and wanted [to] keep doing it. I have my blue belt in jiu-jitsu now.”

    Sean is the character the actor’s been with the longest, he notes. “He’s the character that has grown the most, not just because of the time I’ve played him, but because he’s somebody who it was clear to the writers, he needed to grow,” he says. “I feel like we both helped each other grow.”

    There’s a bit of security in knowing the show is continuing on, and it’s not always a guarantee, but Tennie notes that’s there’s a bit of anxiety that comes along with furthering the story. “We did a great thing with season three, but I’m starting to feel these nerves [about] how we responsibly revisit these characters’ lives and tell a story that’s true to our original plan, and at the same time, make sure that our message still comes through,” he explains, adding that the characters can not just be the same people.

    “When Bill told us there was going to be a season four, which that dude got the utmost confidence — He hollered at us before we wrapped season three. He was like, ‘The writers and I, we in the room grinding all this, but it’s going to be different, guys,’” Tennie recalls.

    The actor says that Lawrence told the cast that the last people would want to see is for the first episode of season four to have the characters be doing the same thing they were doing in the first episode of the series.

    “That excites me and also terrifies me,” he admits. “I’ve really figured out Sean and season four Sean, he’s going to be a different dude.”

    In addition to his continued work on Shrinking, Tennie’s found himself in a rare situation for an actor — he’s featured in three major, buzzy television shows at the same time with a recurring spot on Abbott Elementary and a place The Pitt’s night shift.

    The HBO Max medical drama is a show that Tennie and his wife would devour after their kids were asleep. “I have never had the opportunity to play a doctor, but I’ve always heard from everybody my whole life that I could have been one,” he says.

    “I didn’t have the intelligence, but my parents named me Luke from the Bible, who was a doctor, so they always would call me Dr. Luke. There’s this weird sort of thing I was satisfying in this audition, living up to what my parents had sort of envisioned for me. I had that dog in me for that audition,” he continues.

    Tennie says he never expected to hear back after the audition. He says he wasn’t sure the scheduling would even work out, given his other roles, but that he just looked at it as a “cool” audition. When he actually received the offer, he realized he and his team actually had to figure out how to make it work. It ended up working out perfectly, he notes, in terms of scheduling.

    “Everybody on that set is extremely professional. They don’t give sides,” he says. The actor says that he assumed it was a sustainability initiative.

    He later learned it was simply about the actors truly knowing the lines they were delivering. “We would do our rehearsals, nobody has sides. We all just know it,” he continues. “It was a really cool experience, and I really hope they bring me back.”

    There was chatter online about the potential of a night shift spinoff, particularly after Ayesha Harris, who plays a night shift doctor on the series, was promoted to series regular for the show’s upcoming third season. But Noah Wyle, show’s star and executive producer, recently told Deadline that while anything’s possible, it’s unlikely a night shift-centric show is on the way.

    On Abbott, Tennie jokes that the biggest thing he has to prepare for is staying locked in during the scenes. “Sometimes just reading those scripts will split my sides. I just try to be a professional at work and not break,” he says, noting that comedy is oftentimes the harder genre to pull off.

    “Anyone who is any sort of performer would be out of their mind to say that drama is harder than comedy. I think that drama is incredibly challenging, [but any performer] would say it’s way harder to go in there when someone is expecting to laugh and get a laugh,” the actor says. “What they’re doing is incredibly challenging, so for me, joining that, yeah, it’s hard, but when you’re on the court and Michael Jordan is your teammate, how hard is the game?”

  • Google Employees Demand CEO Block Military AI Contracts in Open Letter

    Google Employees Demand CEO Block Military AI Contracts in Open Letter

    In brief

    • Over 560 Google employees have signed an open letter urging CEO Sundar Pichai to block military use of the company’s AI technology.
    • Workers cite ethical concerns about AI systems being used for lethal autonomous weapons.
    • The letter demands transparency on existing Pentagon contracts and creation of an ethics board with employee representation.

    More than 580 Google employees have signed an open letter demanding CEO Sundar Pichai block the Pentagon from using the search giant’s artificial intelligence technology for military applications, escalating Silicon Valley’s internal battles over defense work.

    The letter calls for an immediate moratorium on deploying Google’s AI for military purposes. “We want to see AI benefit humanity; not to see it being used in inhumane or extremely harmful ways,” the employees wrote in the document.

    The signatories, who include more than 18 senior staff ranging from principals and directors to vice presidents, specifically express concerns about the company’s cloud computing services and machine learning tools potentially powering lethal autonomous weapons systems. They demand greater transparency around existing Pentagon contracts and want Google to establish a permanent ethics board with employee representation to review future military partnerships.

    Employees pointed to Google’s 2018 withdrawal from Project Maven—a Pentagon program that used AI to analyze drone footage—as precedent for the company declining military work on ethical grounds.

    The Google employees’ action follows a high-profile clash between the Pentagon and Anthropic, which saw the Department of Defense drop the AI startup two months ago after the company declined to remove contractual restrictions on domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons use.

    The Defense Secretary subsequently designated Anthropic a supply chain risk, prompting the White House to order federal agencies to phase out its tools. A federal judge temporarily blocked the ban in March.

    The pushback comes as the Pentagon increasingly views AI as central to future military operations. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine has described autonomous weapons as a “key and essential part of everything we do” going forward.

    Despite the U.S. government’s dispute with Anthropic, the NSA has reportedly been granted access to Mythos Preview, an AI model that Anthropic has restricted to a small cadre of researchers and cybersecurity organizations. President Donald Trump recently suggested tensions may be easing, describing Anthropic as “shaping up.”

    Google’s employee revolt reflects broader tech industry tensions over the AI industry’s partnerships with the military. Anthropic faced scrutiny after its AI was used in Iran strikes, while OpenAI has defended its Pentagon partnership despite user concerns about compromised safety guardrails.

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