I watched a Broadway musical starring Billy Porter that was a 60-minute commercial for a finance app. Enter your email to receive alerts for this author. You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. You're already subscribed to the aa_Nitish_Pahwa newsletter. You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time.

It isn't hard to find AI-generated guidance for just about anything these days, but Meta thinks it has come up with the perfect solution for its extensive creator community with its new Edits assistant. ICYMI, Edits is Meta's creator-focused video editing app, which it launched last year as a rival to TikTok's CapCut. The new Edits assistant is being pitched by Meta as a highly personalized chatbot that understands each individual's audience, rather than simply offering generic and, well, slop-adjacent AI advice. In a press release, Meta said your new "creative partner" can analyze your insights and suggest video ideas based on previous content performance and current trends. You can ask it what videos have performed well for you recently, or for feedback on why some reels haven't resonated as much with your audience. The assistant can dig into all of your Instagram data, including follows, views, likes, shares and retention stats, which it will draw on when responding to your prompts.

AI at School Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable Selects Look Up Say More Safety Net Versus Creator Playbook In My Bag Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series Sam Yam will lead creator products, with more details expected at DevDay. Olivia Tauber is the deputy editor of digital culture, covering creators, media, movies, beauty, and more. Based in New York, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Cut, Teen Vogue, Complex, and Interview Magazine. She holds a Master's degree in Journalism from NYU and a Bachelor's from the University of Michigan. She also runs Fan Mail, a weekly pop-culture newsletter.

Patti Harrison Had Dreams of a Tech Utopia. The comedian sat down with WIRED to talk about social media, AI, and getting laughs for impersonating Boston Dynamics' robot dogs. Patti Harrison, like every great comic, knows how to use her face. If you've seen her stealing scenes in TV shows like Tim Robinson's or Hulu's, you know that she often starts out a bit demure, or pouty, before walking audiences into the deep end. It's that quality in Harrison's work that WIRED borrowed for our own rather unhinged cover concept. Harrison plays five (well, actually six) of the current masters of the universe--Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos (with Lauren Sánchez Bezos by his side). Combining her farcical sensibilities with our commentary on the man-heavy leader ship of Silicon Valley worked perfectly--and she was happy to lampoon the people behind the platforms she used to enjoy. We caught up with Harrison in London, where she had just finished a sold-out run of her show,, and a week of performances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. KATIE DRUMMOND: When we were putting together our WIRED Women cover, we knew we had to put the best possible woman on it. You immediately came to mind, and I can't stress enough how much you nailed the assignment. I want to argue with a bunch of it. I was coming in today like, oh, I guess I didn't really check to see what the interview was about.

Critics celebrate Céline Dion's'high-stakes' comeback show in Paris Iconic Canadian pop singer Céline Dion has kicked off her long-awaited comeback show in Paris on Saturday, after a six-year hiatus due to health issues. The 58-year-old superstar was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder called stiff person syndrome in 2022, which forced her to pull back from touring. Dion, one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, has not performed a full show since a 2020 concert in New Jersey - the last before the Covid pandemic cut her tour short. In 2024, she performed just one song at the Paris Olympics closing ceremony. Saturday marked the first of Dion's 26-show residency at the Paris La Défense Arena, Europe's largest covered concert arena.

Trump's comments on a united Ireland may have targeted audience across the Atlantic When another world leader meets US President Donald Trump the only certainty about what might happen is the uncertainty about what might happen. This was exactly the case ahead of President Trump's two-day visit to Ireland. Nobody could have predicted that by the end of the first day, the main global headline would be his desire to see a unified Ireland . As the shockwaves of his remarks rippled through this island and Great Britain, it was unclear whether this represented a new US administration policy, or an off-the-cuff remark from a president who likes to take questions from reporters, and likes to give answers. Former Republican Congressman Mick Mulvaney was Trump's special envoy to Northern Ireland in his first term in office. He cautioned against anyone reading too much into the president's remarks.

The cable news network's president, Rebecca Kutler, wants to leverage its massive online and TV audience to create a fan community. First up: letting you chat with Rachel Maddow. Even if you're a casual consumer of MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, you know the names: anchors like Chris Hayes, Stephanie Ruhl, and yes, the one and only Rachel Maddow. The network has built a stable of talent who've amassed a massive number of casual viewers, plenty of fans and more than a few obsessives. Now, the network's president, Rebecca Kutler, is looking to build that entire audience into something more akin to a fandom--turning casual viewers and fanatics alike, whether on TV or online, into paying members of an MS NOW media universe. To do it, she's launching an ambitious subscription program, called Membership, designed to connect MS NOW consumers much more directly to the Hayeses and Maddows of the world. Sure, plenty of news providers now offer subscriptions, WIRED included (and by the way, you can subscribe here). But what struck me about Kutler and Co.'s efforts was both their methodical approach--they surveyed 18,000 people before landing on a final offering--and their resolute focus on MS NOW's deep bench of talent as the locus of their paid program.

Look Up Trending Now Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Creator Playbook Say More Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List All Series The U.S. Open has an influencer problem. But creators are not solely to blame. Ring lights, outfit shoots, and expensive suites have turned the tournament into the latest target of influencer fatigue. Olivia Tauber is the deputy editor of digital culture, covering creators, media, movies, beauty, and more. Based in New York, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Cut, Teen Vogue, Complex, and Interview Magazine. She holds a Master's degree in Journalism from NYU and a Bachelor's from the University of Michigan. She also runs Fan Mail, a weekly pop-culture newsletter.

Look Up Say More Switch Off Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Creator Playbook Mashable Voices Trending Now Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series Shannon Connellan is Mashable's Senior Editor, General Assignments, based in London. She has been Mashable's UK Editor (and still manages the illustrious UK team) and Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives searching for . A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror, and loves to nerd out with movie stars, filmmakers, and TV creators . Belen Edwards is an Entertainment Reporter at Mashable. She covers movies and TV with a focus on fantasy and science fiction, adaptations, animation, and more nerdy goodness. She is a member of the Critics Choice Association and the Television Critics Association, as well as a Tomatometer-approved critic. Kristy Puchko is the Entertainment Editor at Mashable. Based in New York City, she's an established film critic and entertainment reporter who has traveled the world on assignment, covered a variety of film festivals, co-hosted movie-focused podcasts, and interviewed a wide array of performers and filmmakers. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

Look Up Say More Switch Off Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Creator Playbook Mashable Voices Trending Now Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series'Paranormal Activity' is a bad omen for Broadway Does this play live up to the hype? Kristy Puchko is the Entertainment Editor at Mashable. Based in New York City, she's an established film critic and entertainment reporter who has traveled the world on assignment, covered a variety of film festivals, co-hosted movie-focused podcasts, and interviewed a wide array of performers and filmmakers. Nowadays on Broadway, you've got to have a gimmick. It's not enough to be beloved or even acclaimed.