Sy’Rai Smith, the daughter of singer Brandy, has folks up in arms following an interview on Tuesday, August 25. Smith sparked an online frenzy after she shared her love for the reality TV show ‘Baddies.’ And spoiler alert: her fans are not having it!

RELATED: Okay?! Brandy Sings The Theme Song For ‘A Different World’ Reboot And Fans Are Shook (VIDEO)

Sy’Rai Smith Has Fans Hollerin’ Over Love For ‘Baddies’

Ray J Wins Celebrity Boxing Match Against Orlando Brown

Ray J fought Orlando Brown in a celebrity boxing match at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The celebrity fight was before the Claressa Shields–Kaye Scott match, Zeus Network aired the match. The three-round fight resulted in a win for Ray J, who was knocked-out by Supa Hot Fire earlier this year, and former pro-boxers Floyd Mayweather and Terence Crawford congratulated the singer for the win.

RELATED: Sibling Love! Brandy And Ray J’s Reunion Has Fans In Their Feels (VIDEO)

More than 25 years after Band of Brothers first aired, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks’ World War II masterpiece remains an almost impossibly high benchmark for television. We’ve seen plenty of attempts to recapture its magic, including its own companion series The Pacific and Masters of the Air, but one of the most acclaimed WWII shows of recent years came from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight instead and audiences have now stumbled across one of the best series around.

SAS: Rogue Heroes is absolutely soaring Prime Video. Originally premiering on BBC One in 2022, the series currently has two seasons under its belt, with a third already confirmed. The series follows David Stirling, an eccentric, bored and hospitalized young officer. Convinced that traditional commando units don’t work, he creates a radical plan that flies in the face of all accepted rules of modern warfare. He fights for permission to recruit the toughest, boldest and brightest soldiers for a small undercover unit that will create mayhem behind enemy lines.

The cast is led by Connor Swindells (Sex Education) as David Stirling, Jack O’Connell (Sinners) as Paddy Mayne and Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones) as Jock Lewes, alongside Sofia Boutella (Rebel Moon), Dominic West (The Crown), Theo Barklem-Biggs (The Inbetweeners), Corin Silva (The Bay) and Jacob Ifan (A Discovery of Witches).

‘SAS: Rogue Heroes’ Has a Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score

The show’s critical reception makes its newfound streaming success even more impressive. Both released seasons of SAS: Rogue Heroes currently hold perfect 100% scores on Rotten Tomatoes, while their respective audience scores stand at 89% and 83%.

Its reception puts the series among the most acclaimed World War II television dramas of the 2020s. For comparison, Apple’s Masters of the Air received an 85% critics’ score, while Netflix’s All the Light We Cannot See sits considerably lower at 28%. And the story isn’t finished yet. SAS: Rogue Heroes has already been renewed for Season 3, meaning its arrival on the Prime Video charts comes at a pretty convenient time for anyone looking to catch up.

SAS: Rogue Heroes is streaming now on Prime Video.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Release Date

2022 – 2025-00-00

Advertisement

Network

BBC One

Directors

Advertisement

Tom Shankland, Stephen Woolfenden

Writers

Steven Knight

Advertisement

Advertisement

• 

  Connor Swindells

  David Stirling

  Advertisement
• 

  Jack O’Connell

  Paddy Mayne

Advertisement

Advertisement

26 years ago, as human civilization stepped into another new century, the world of literature expanded in exciting new directions. Creators of both fiction and non-fiction saw the new world through new lenses. Some told the old stories through new perspectives, and some found stories that were never told before. From fictional tales packed with emotions to revelatory non-fiction themes, the last 26 years have seen some phenomenal works in literature around the world.

In the last couple of decades, we’ve seen seminal non-fiction books that address significant questions about human existence, as well as fiction sensations ranging from sci-fi masterpieces like The Three-Body Problem to phenomenal thrillers like Gone Girl and everything in between, each breaking new ground with their originality and vision. While it would be criminally unfair to select just a handful of books to define the new era, here’s our ranked selection of some of the greatest books of the last 26 years.

8

‘Gone Girl’ (2012)

Image via Phoenix

The third novel penned by American author Gillian Flynn, this psychological crime thriller is easily her most successful and acclaimed work to date. Gone Girl revolves around Amy Dunne, who mysteriously disappears on her fifth marriage anniversary, leaving her husband, Nick, and everyone around them in shock. When the police discover seemingly damning evidence in Amy’s personal journal, Nick becomes the main suspect, triggering a huge public spectacle. Told from Nick and Amy’s respective POVs, the book unfolds competing and often contradictory perspectives on their lives, marriage, and the events that led to Amy’s vanishing.

A dark and twisted tale about a complicated marital relationship, Gone Girl is a deliciously thrilling read with dual unreliable narrators. A literary phenomenon of the 2010s, the crime fiction novel was uniquely groundbreaking in the way it flips the classic missing-person tropes and takes readers in completely unexpected directions. Gone Girl has since been widely praised for its ingenious writing and remains an icon of 21st-century thriller literature.

7

‘Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind’ (2011)

Image via HarperCollins

Written by military historian Yuval Noah Harari and based on his series of lectures, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is a popular science and popular history nonfiction book that surveys the history of Homo Sapiens. The account blends natural science, anthropology, and macro-history to survey the entire journey of human existence, beginning in the Stone Age and ending in the 21st century. The book covers four major turning points: the Cognitive, Agricultural, and Scientific revolutions, and the unification of humankind.

When first published, the book became a New York Times bestseller and earned global recognition, winning the National Library of China’s Wenjin Book Award for the best book published in 2014. While critics have acclaimed Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind for making complex timelines, biology, and anthropology easy to understand, there is also substantial scholarly criticism of the same. However, the book became a publishing phenomenon and is widely considered one of the best books of its decade.

6

‘Brief Answers to the Big Questions’ (2018)

Image via Bantam Books

Stephen Hawking’s final literary work, Brief Answers to the Big Questions, is a popular science book that examines the greatest mysteries of the universe. Described as “a selection of the most profound, accessible, and timely reflections” from Hawking’s personal materials, including essays, lectures, and speeches, the book addresses four main subjects: “Why Are We Here?” “Will We Survive?” “Will Technology Save Us or Destroy Us?” and “How Can We Thrive?” The book also includes a foreword by Eddie Redmayne, who won an Academy Award for portraying Hawking in the 2014 film The Theory of Everything.

Published just a few months after Hawking’s death, Brief Answers to the Big Questions re-establishes the respected physicist’s deep faith in science and how essential it is in solving humanity’s biggest problems. The book came to be noted for making several striking predictions and warnings about the future of humanity, including topics of gene editing, artificial intelligence, and religion, and how those changes could impact the trajectory of human civilization. While the book did not win any major awards, it ranks among the top nonfiction titles of the 2010s and was widely praised as Hawking’s poignant final message to humanity.

5

‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ (2005)

Image via Norstedts Förlag

Advertisement

An international bestseller written by Swedish author Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first book of the Millennium series. The novel follows Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced journalist who is hired by a wealthy businessman to search for his niece, who disappeared 40 years earlier. Mikael takes the help of a skilled but deeply troubled hacker named Lisbeth Salander and dives into the family’s dark secrets to uncover the truth.

Published in 2005, a few months after Larsson’s death, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo broke all the conventions of contemporary crime fiction with its atypical heroine, stark Nordic realism, and social critique. The novel became globally popular and remains Larsson’s most famous work, winning Sweden’s Glass Key Award and a British Book Award. The novel’s success set new trends for Nordic crime noir in mainstream art and culture, prompting highly acclaimed film adaptations in both Sweden and America.

4

‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold’ (2015)

Image via Hanover Square Press

Advertisement

A Japanese magic realism novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Before the Coffee Gets Cold tells the story of people in a small basement café in Tokyo called Funiculi Funicula. The café allows its customers to travel back in time, but they must return to their present before their cup of coffee gets cold, or they will get trapped as a ghost. Their presence and actions in the past have no bearing on their present, and the travelers can only meet those people who have visited the café.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a charming, emotionally resonant meditation on how we perceive time, and a beautiful and hopeful reminder that though the past cannot be changed, the future holds possibilities of doing things differently. The book was an instant success in Japan when it was published in 2015, followed by the English translation by Geoffrey Trousselot published in 2019, which became a trending topic on social media. Before the Coffee Gets Cold was followed by five sequels, with the latest being Before I Knew I Loved You, published in 2026.

3

‘The Kite Runner’ (2003)

Advertisement

In his debut novel, Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini pens one of the most powerful novels of 21st-century literature. The Kite Runner is set against the backdrop of the Afghan conflict of the 1970s and focuses on the Soviet–Afghan War and the exodus of Afghan refugees, as well as the rise of the Taliban regime. Growing up in a tormented nation, Amir and Hassan develop a bond that breaks on Amir’s act of transgression, leaving him to atone for two decades.

Deeply moving and often startling, The Kite Runner offers a raw window into the modern political and social history of Afghanistan, depicted through the story of two childhood friends and a father-son relationship. With themes of guilt, redemption, loyalty, and how they are impacted by classism, The Kite Runner is gut-wrenching and inspiring at the same time. The book became a global bestseller, earned widespread acclaim, and has since been adapted into several stage performances, a graphic novel, and a 2007 film by Marc Forster.

2

‘The Underground Railroad’ (2016)

Image via Doubleday

Advertisement

Written by Afro-surrealist novelist Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad is an alternate-history novel that reimagines the historical titular underground network used by enslaved people to escape to the abolitionist North. Set in the 19th-century Antebellum South, the story centers on Cora, a young woman enslaved at a brutal Georgia plantation, who escapes using the titular route while being hunted down by a ruthless slave catcher. The novel depicts the titular escape network as a literal subterranean railroad system with safe houses and secret passages, tracking Cora’s escape state by state.

The Underground Railroad was massively successful at the time of its publication, winning several prestigious literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Award for Fiction, and the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Reviewers and critics have since praised the novel for its commentary on American history. Bold, imaginative, honest, and painful, The Underground Railroad turns a historical metaphor into a remarkable commentary on the past and present of America.

1

‘The Three-Body Problem’ (2008)

Image via Tor Books

Advertisement

A Chinese hard science fiction novel by Liu Cixin, The Three-Body Problem is the first book in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy and is followed by The Dark Forest and Death’s End. The 2008 novel explores a fictional past, present, and future of Earth, where people encounter an alien civilization from a nearby star system with three Sun-like stars orbiting each other, defining the titular problem of astrodynamics. The book started in 2006 as a serialized story in Science Fiction World.

The Three-Body Problem became a sci-fi sensation and China’s most successful full-length novel of recent decades, earning endorsements from literary legends like George R.R. Martin and inspiring multiple adaptations. Liu Cixin’s work has been compared to that of Arthur C. Clarke and heavily praised for its mind-bending combination of hardcore physics, grand cosmic horror, and a distinct non-Western historical perspective on global affairs. The original edition won the Galaxy Award for Chinese science fiction, while the 2014 English translation by Ken Liu became the first novel by an Asian writer to win a Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Release Date

March 21, 2024

Network

Netflix

Advertisement

Directors

Minkie Spiro, Jeremy Podeswa, Derek Tsang Kwok-Cheung, Andrew Stanton

Advertisement

Writers

David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Alexander Woo, Madhuri Shekar, Rose Cartwright

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stockard Channing‘s face remains a red carpet delight despite being 24 months away!

The actress was spotted breaking her lengthy hiatus to appear at a London event, where she reunited with a few Hollywood pals years after relocating to the United Kingdom.

Stockard Channing’s career has spanned over six decades across stage, film, and television, and she is best known for playing Betty Rizzo in the 1978 movie “Grease.”

5

The actress attended the European premiere, held at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London. The first “Practical Magic” movie was released on October 16, 1998, and Channing played the fan-favorite Aunt Frances Owens.

Channing looked dapper in a stunning dark blue suit paired with a sparkling white button-up shirt, unbuttoned at the top to highlight her thick chain-like necklace. The actress topped it off with matching dangling silver earrings that draped softly past her shoulders.

Channing opted for black platform heels and a dark leather bag to finish her look. Her rich brunette hair, highlighted and styled in thick waves, added sophistication to her chic look. 

As stated by The Daily Mail, in the sequel to “Practical Magic,” Channing will be reprising her famous role for the cult classic, and this is her first movie role in four years.

The 82-Year-Old Reunited With Co-stars On The Red Carpet

5

In the first sequel, Channing’s character was the aunt of Sally and Gillian Owens, played by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. The entire family came from a long line of witches who carried a curse that killed any man they truly loved.

Channing wasn’t the only aunt in the family; Dianne Wiest also played their other aunt, Bridget ‘Jet’ Owens. The red carpet gave them the golden opportunity to reunite as they shared a warm embrace and held hands in London.

Wiest also opted for cool tones like her pal, showing up in a black loose floor-length dress with tiny straps and matching black chunky shoes.

Channing later posed for a group photo with the other cast members, including Joey King and Maisie Williams, who star as the daughters of Bullock’s character.

The sequel, directed by Susanne Bier and based on Alice Hoffman’s sequel “The Book Of Magic,” is scheduled to hit theaters in September 2026.

Stockard Channing Did Not Expect ‘Practical Magic’ To Have Significant Staying Power

5

In a 2020 interview with Vulture about shooting “Practical Magic,” Channing admitted she never could have predicted the 1998 film would remain so beloved by a legion of fans decades later. 

She recalled the production set as warm and playful, with Bullock and Kidman, as she focused on making her character appear timeless and unique. 

Frances was known on the show for her eccentric character, with dramatic makeup, a curly wig, and bold costumes that brought the centuries-old witch to life.

Channing praised Kidman for committing to the very physically demanding possession scene, which took lengthy days to film, and also her own uncomfortable experience performing in a harness for green screen sequences.

One of Channing’s funniest recollections occurred after filming when she was asked to dub her part in French. She quickly realized she had overestimated her language skills and joked that she was eventually told she sounded Bulgarian. 

Despite the memories, Channing said she generally avoids watching herself onscreen, but she remains amazed at how many people still come up to her about the movie.

While the film did not seem high-profile when it first released, Channing said she was struck by the affection it developed over the years, eventually becoming one of the projects audiences still recognize her for.

The Emmy Award Winner Admitted She Sometimes Thinks About The Kids She Never Had

5

Channing moved to London about six years ago following the death of her long-time partner, and she recently opened up about living life without children. As noted by The Blast, the movie star admitted that throughout most of her serious relationships, she did think about welcoming children, but ultimately realized kids were selfish.

The actress joked that now that she is older, she sometimes sees the need to have adult kids around, although there was no guarantee they would have been able to take care of her. In London, Channing has embraced a much quieter life, away from the paps and the demanding nature of Hollywood sets.

Before her partner Daniel Gillham’s death, Channing first married sculptor Walter Channing Jr. in 1963, before their divorce in 1967. She tried again when she married professor Paul Schmidt in 1970, but they divorced six years later.

She married writer and producer David Debin in 1976. The pair remained together until their divorce in 1980, and for now, the actress has called the curtains on ever getting married for the fourth time.

Stockard Channing Is Embracing Life On Her Own Terms Since Big Move

5

The actress’ move to the United Kingdom also coincided with a crucial change in America’s political landscape, which also witnessed a wave of migration outside the country.

However, the move has proven very beneficial for the actress, who noted that her wardrobe has gotten lighter without designer clothes, and she now lives without the pressure of being a celebrity.

Her routine these days now involves creating interesting objects with pottery, reading tons of books, which allows her mind to bask in endless imagination, and relishing life as an ordinary person who works as an actor.

However, she has not completely lost touch with acting, as she revealed she was busy behind the scenes of a stage production at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, serving as a director. 

Channing admitted she still doesn’t have her future mapped out, but the friendships in her life keep her fulfilled. She added that her line of work also continues to give her a sense of excitement, particularly the opportunity to collaborate with younger generations of performers and creatives.

Dolly Parton’s sudden death has rocked the entertainment world, and tributes have poured out from family and friends. 

After the passing of the beloved country music legend, her longtime friend Cher reflected on the star’s enduring optimism and her choice to handle her health battle privately.

Parton passed away on August 25, 2026, at the age of 80, following a brief battle with cancer.

4

During an interview with Gayle King and Tony Dokoupil on “CBS News,” Cher shared emotional memories of her nearly 50-year friendship with Parton.

While initially shocked by the sudden loss, Cher noted that keeping personal health challenges private aligns completely with Parton’s resilience and positive outlook. She commended Parton’s spirit, emphasizing her friend’s focus on maintaining hope regardless of circumstances:

“No matter what was happening, she was either going to go with it, or it was going to get better. She just had a spirit, and it was a spirit that was always thinking the best was happening, the best was going to happen. Her friends loved her, her life was good, you know? That’s who she was.”

Cher also praised Parton’s diplomatic career approach and ability to unite audiences across political spectrums without alienating fans. 

Recalling their early collaboration in 1978 where Parton portrayed an angel in a television special, she fondly remembered her friend’s warmth and humor, noting that playing a heavenly figure guiding others was a fitting reflection of her true character.

Dolly Parton Kept Extent of Illness Hidden within Close Circle

While maintaining her trademark resilience and continuing to connect with supporters, Parton chose to manage her final months privately, ensuring only a tight-knit circle understood the true severity of her condition.

Sources close to the music legend revealed that her condition was significantly more serious than public statements suggested, with the star deliberately choosing to shield her followers from the sad news.

“Her health problems were much worse than she was willing to tell fans, obviously, and she was bad off for many months. She didn’t want the world to know that she was very sick,” an insider said, as noted by The Blast.

Those closest to her emphasized that even as her health deteriorated, her primary motivation remained preserving her optimistic image. 

An Official Statement Confirmed Dolly Parton’s Brief Cancer Battle

4

Following her admission to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for underlying health complications, representatives for Parton released a statement confirming she passed away following a brief battle with cancer.

The statement highlighted the impact of her broad philanthropic endeavors alongside her decades-long entertainment career.

“Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched,” the statement read, according to The Blast.

Her representatives also specifically noted her contributions to global child literacy and medical progress, praising her for her “unconditional love.”

While the specific diagnosis was not publicly disclosed, her team emphasized that her legacy of unconditional kindness and widespread community support remains her enduring gift to the world.

The Singer Spent Four Days At The Hospital Before Her Death

4

Before the official statements confirming her cause of death were released, details surrounding Parton’s final days revealed she was admitted to the hospital.

According to The Blast, the country music icon received treatment in Nashville, Tennessee, leading up to her death, surrounded by family.

The admission coincided with public disclosures in which Parton addressed her declining physical well-being. During those discussions, she also acknowledged that she had neglected her personal care while attending to her late husband, Carl Dean, before his passing.

Dolly Parton’s Close Friend Speaks On The Singer’s Final Year

4

In addition to her immediate medical challenges, friends close to Parton revealed that her final year was heavily defined by personal loss and deep grief.

In the year leading up to her death, she navigated profound emotional grief following the loss of her husband of nearly 60 years, Dean, alongside the passing of her brother. 

According to The Blast, Parton’s family friend, Nikki Lund, shared that the consecutive losses weighed heavily on the icon, altering the usual pace of her life. 

Lund noted that Dean’s death marked the “biggest tragedy loss for her,” prompting the singer to step back from her demanding professional schedule to spend more time quietly at home. 

Dolly Parton’s death has barely settled in, but fans are already fighting to make sure her name lives on.

The country music legend had already spent decades building a legacy through music, business, acting, and philanthropy, but now fans want more.

Dolly Parton died at 80 on August 25 after a brief battle with cancer. Her Imagination Library alone became one of her most recognizable charitable efforts, distributing books to children around the world. 

5

Parton’s fans have begun signing a petition to change the airport’s name in honor of the late singer. The petition was created in January 2025 by Lydia Popovich and Dan Dion.

Its creators argued that Parton’s influence on Tennessee made her deserving of a landmark as significant as Nashville International Airport. They specifically pointed to her music, philanthropy, and Imagination Library, which had already gifted more than 100 million books when the petition was created.

After Parton’s August 25 death, the petition suddenly received a massive wave of new support. Organizers said tens of thousands of people visited and signed after her passing, describing the renewed response as an effort to keep her “light and magic” alive across Tennessee and beyond.

The petition has since climbed well past 120,000 verified supporters, showing how strongly fans want her name attached to the city. The petition issue says, “It’s difficult to imagine a world without our Dreamer-In-Chief. How are we going to be okay without her magic to keep us safe?”

According to the Change.org petition, supporters believe it would honor a Tennessee legend whose influence reached far beyond entertainment, while welcoming visitors to the state through the name of one of its most recognizable figures. The campaign even uses the playful line, “We could all be Departin’ from Parton!”

The Push Has Already Reached Tennessee Leaders

5

The campaign is no longer only a fan-led idea, as Tennessee State Senator Todd Warner has pledged to introduce legislation supporting the proposed name change.

Nashville City Councilor Russ Bradford has also backed the idea and said few people have done more to define Nashville for the rest of the world. However, Bradford clarified that Metro Council can only express support, while the final decision belongs to the Metro Nashville Airport Authority. 

The response has also reached Tennessee lawmakers preparing for the next legislative session. Tennessee House Deputy Speaker Jason Zachary said lawmakers had already begun discussing how to honor someone whose impact was difficult to match. He suggested that Parton’s legacy deserved something bigger than a statue or bust.

The effort is also unusual because Parton was viewed as a figure who crossed political and cultural lines. Representative John Ray Clemmons said Republicans and Democrats planned to work together on a tribute because she “was not a divisive figure.” Meanwhile, Dollywood confirmed that the park would remain open on Wednesday, honoring her wishes that “the show must go on.”

New York City’s Tribute To Dolly Parton

5

The airport campaign is not the only major tribute that followed Parton’s death. The Empire State Building joined the celebration on August 25 by lighting its tower pink in honor of the singer. The building remained illuminated for an hour, turning a familiar New York landmark into a temporary memorial for the Tennessee icon.

The Blast reported that the lights began glowing at 9:25 p.m. ET, creating a clever connection to Parton’s signature hit “9 to 5.” Parton wrote the 1980 song for the movie of the same name, which also marked her mainstream acting debut alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. The song later earned Parton two Grammy Awards.

The choice of pink also carried a personal connection to Parton’s image. The color became closely associated with her glamorous style, alongside her rhinestones, wigs, and bold makeup. She once described herself as a “painted doll” and famously wrote, “No such thing as too much pink!” in a 2019 social media post.

Parton Once Declined Donald Trump’s Honor 

5

Parton’s relationship with political honors was complicated by her determination to remain neutral. She declined the Presidential Medal of Freedom during Donald Trump’s first term, initially because her husband, Carl Dean, was ill. The medal is the highest civilian honor.

When the honor was offered again, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented her from traveling to accept it. Parton had spent much of her career avoiding partisan politics despite repeatedly becoming part of political conversations.

In 2016, she clarified that she had not endorsed either Trump or Hillary Clinton after comments about Clinton’s qualifications were interpreted as an endorsement. Her refusal to publicly align with either side remained consistent in later elections.

The late singer also revealed that Joe Biden presented her the medal. “Now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure,” she said. Trump later honored Parton after her passing, describing her death as a loss for millions and ordering American flags lowered nationwide for one week, as shared by The Blast.

Inside Dolly Parton’s Private Health Battle 

5

Parton had been dealing with several health problems before her death. It was reported that she was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center on August 23 with kidney and autoimmune issues, just two days before she died.

Her representative later revealed that she had also been facing a brief battle with cancer, although the type of cancer was not disclosed. Her health struggles had already affected her professional plans before her final hospitalization.

She had canceled her Las Vegas residency after previously postponing it and missed other public appearances, including the opening of a new Dollywood attraction. Days before her death, she said that she had neglected her own health while caring for Dean, who died in March 2025. 

The Blast reported that despite those setbacks, Parton was still planning for the future. She was preparing to launch her SongTeller Hotel in Nashville in September 2026, while also exploring avatar performances and working on a Broadway project about her life.

Parton’s death may have ended her plans, but the airport petition, public tributes and continuing work around her legacy show that her name is already proving difficult to leave behind.

Jordan Brand is looking toward the future with the Air Jordan 41, officially unveiling the latest entry in one of the most iconic sneaker lines of all time.

Revealed Thursday, the Air Jordan 41 represents a significant evolution for the brand, combining a more modern design philosophy with new performance technology built around the demands of today’s basketball players. The shoe was developed using feedback from athletes at multiple levels, including Michael Jordan, Jordan Brand’s professional and collegiate players and athletes from Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League.

Rather than leaning heavily into the retro styling that has defined many previous Air Jordan releases, the 41 takes a decidedly future-focused approach.

“The Air Jordan 41 is a statement about where Jordan Brand is headed,”

Jordan Brand President Sarah Mensah said. “It carries forward a legacy built on greatness, but it was created for the athletes, whose culture and style of play are defining the future of the game.”

One of the biggest changes comes with the shoe’s upper. Jordan Brand is introducing a nano print mesh construction designed to reduce weight while providing targeted support, containment and breathability. The Air Jordan 41 also moves away from the traditional leather associated with much of the signature line in favor of thinner textiles and performance-focused materials.

Underfoot, the 41 features a full-length Zoom Strobel, a ZoomX midsole and an Air Zoom unit in the heel. The additional heel cushioning was influenced by Jordan himself and his emphasis on defense and remaining ready to move forward at any moment.

A carbon fiber and TPU shank provides additional stability, while a full-length HART rubber herringbone traction pattern is designed to help players make quick changes of direction.

Jordan Brand athletes Napheesa Collier, Paolo Banchero and Stephon Castle were among the players involved in showcasing the performance philosophy behind the new model.

The Air Jordan 41 will also introduce a series of gemstone-inspired colorways tied to different parts of Jordan’s career and personal history. The initial Ruby colorway references Jordan’s championship three-peats with the Chicago Bulls, while an upcoming Amethyst edition is inspired by his birthstone. An Opal colorway will pay tribute to his college career at North Carolina.

The Air Jordan 41 will receive a limited release in China on August 28, with a global launch set to follow. Jordan Brand has not yet announced a specific date for the worldwide release.

With the Air Jordan 41, Jordan Brand appears ready to push its flagship basketball line beyond nostalgia, while maintaining the performance-driven philosophy that has been at the center of the franchise since Michael Jordan first stepped onto an NBA court.

Peter Cullen, the legendary voice actor who brought Optimus Prime to life across more than four decades of Transformers projects, has died. He was 85.

Cullen died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles, his agent confirmed. A cause of death has not been announced. His family said Cullen died peacefully surrounded by loved ones.

Born in Montreal in 1941, Cullen built a prolific voice acting career, but his unmistakable performance as Optimus Prime ultimately became his defining role.

Cullen first voiced the heroic leader of the Autobots in the original Transformers animated series beginning in 1984. His deep, commanding performance helped turn Optimus Prime into one of the most recognizable characters in animation and pop culture.

More than two decades later, Cullen returned as Optimus Prime for Michael Bay’s 2007 live-action Transformers movie. He continued voicing the character throughout the live-action franchise, including Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon, Age of Extinction, The Last Knight, Bumblebee and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

Peter Cullen voice of Optimus Prime

Cullen’s career extended far beyond Transformers. He provided the voice of Eeyore in numerous Winnie the Poohprojects and created the distinctive vocalizations of the Predator in the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Predator. He also voiced characters including K.A.R.R. in Knight Rider and Thaedus in the animated superhero series Invincible.

His work as Optimus Prime earned Cullen generations of fans and eventually a place in the Transformers Hall of Fame. In 2023, he was also honored with the Children’s & Family Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the entertainment industry.

Cullen’s family asked fans to honor his legacy through compassion, integrity, loyalty and service to others, invoking the philosophy that became closely associated with both Cullen and Optimus Prime: being “strong enough to be gentle.”

Few voice performances have become as inseparable from a character as Cullen’s Optimus Prime. For millions of Transformers fans, his voice wasn’t simply part of the franchise. It was Optimus Prime.

If you are a fan of resplendent, otherworldly environments, interstellar galaxies, alien races, and all the other wonderful escapist elements within the science fiction genre, then you probably have noticed that you are tuning into one particular streamer much more often these days. Apple TV has started to corner the market on not only out-of-this-world space adventures but also well-written and cerebral character-driven tales that will leave you both visually dazzled and psychologically stimulated. They have produced fan favorites like Ted Lasso, The Afterparty, The Morning Show, and many others, but over the past several years, they have really focused on bringing some of the smartest sci-fi shows as part of their service.

With notable and well-received entries like Silo, Severance, Foundation, Shining Girls, Invasion, and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, there is no shortage of revolutionary sci-fi shows on Apple TV. For All Mankind has now completed five seasons and is preparing to conclude with its sixth and final season, while its universe has already expanded with the new spin-off Star City. But five years after Foundation helped establish just how seriously Apple was willing to take ambitious science fiction, the streamer is preparing to enter another era.

In January 2027, Apple TV will debut Neuromancer, a 10-episode adaptation of William Gibson‘s influential 1984 cyberpunk novel. Starring Callum Turner and Briana Middleton, the series is another major swing at the kind of dense, cerebral science fiction Apple has spent years making a central part of its identity.

Apple TV Is Flexing With Both Established and New Shows

Apple TV has never flexed its muscle more in the sci-fi genre than it is right now. With flagship science fiction offerings like Foundation, For All Mankind, Silo, and Severance already firmly established, Apple has continued to expand its genre footprint rather than simply replacing one show with another. For All Mankind has grown large enough to spawn Star City, an eight-episode spin-off that revisits the alternate-history space race from the Soviet perspective, even as the original series prepares for its sixth and final season.

There is a clear commitment to consistently deliver compelling and intellectual premises that really give your imagination a healthy workout. They are the new gold standard in the genre. There are a lot of shows out there that offer viscerally impactful visuals, but what sets Apple TV shows apart from the rest is the focus on richly developed characters.

Characters like Salvor Hardin (Leah Harvey), Dr. Hari Seldon (Jared Harris), and Brother Day (Lee Pace) in Foundation give us a reason to emotionally invest ourselves every week. The same can be said of Mitsuki Yamoto (Shioli Kutsuna), Aneesha Malik (Golshifteh Farahani), and Trevante Cole (Shamier Anderson) in Invasion, or Lee Shaw (Wyatt Russell) and Cate Randa (Anna Sawai) in Monarch. All of these players bring something different to the story being told, and they have all been given thorough backstories.

Neuromancer now looks poised to push that strategy into an even harder strain of science fiction. Turner stars as Case, a super-hacker who is thrust into a web of digital espionage and high-stakes crime alongside Molly (Middleton), a razor-girl assassin. Gibson’s novel is packed with cyberpunk concepts, artificial intelligence, powerful corporations, virtual spaces, and terminology that helped shape decades of science fiction after its publication. In other words, it is exactly the sort of complicated material that Apple has spent the past five years proving it is willing to tackle.

Apple TV Excels at Getting the Best Talent

From the writers of the source material to experienced and seasoned showrunners to casting the most talented actors, it all makes such an enormous difference in the final product that ends up on our screens. It all starts with the material that gets written on the page. Invasion writer Simon Kinberg is a veteran of the genre with a pedigree that includes a handful of X-Men movies. Apple has continued to bring established filmmakers and creators into its growing sci-fi library, and Neuromancer is no exception. The adaptation was created for television by Graham Roland and JD Dillard, with Gibson himself among its executive producers.

Having top-notch actors delivering that material is key as well, and the shows that are propelling Apple TV to the forefront of smart sci-fi include gifted performers like Rebecca Ferguson and Tim Robbins in Silo. In Foundation, a combination of known faces like Harris and Pace and up-and-coming talents like Leah Harvey and Lou Llobell make the series tick along at a beautiful pace. Invasion has talent from around the globe in Farahani, Anderson, Barratt, and Kutsuna. Joel Kinnaman continues to lead the talented cast of the parallel-reality NASA drama For All Mankind, while Neuromancer is assembling another impressive ensemble around Turner and Middleton, including Mark Strong, Peter Sarsgaard, and Clémence Poésy.

‘Neuromancer’ Is the Next Step in Apple TV’s Sci-Fi Era

Image via Apple TV+

Apple as an organization has always been pushing the envelope with bigger, better, and more innovative products, and that attitude has translated into its media streaming department, including both television and movies. Their model of focusing on a select group of projects to invest in and produce has helped Apple build a distinct identity in science fiction. It’s this commitment to the viewer and the willingness to let the creative forces behind the scenes do their thing that works out for the best. The difference five years after Foundation is just how established that identity has become, though. With Apple TV expanding its universes, namely with a show like For All Mankind and Star City, Neuromancer feels like the next logical test of that commitment.

Gibson’s novel helped define cyberpunk, and its dense world of hackers, artificial intelligence, corporate power, and cyberspace presents exactly the kind of ambitious source material that might have once seemed difficult to translate to television. Apple now has something it didn’t have when Foundation debuted in 2021: a proven identity as a destination for ambitious science fiction. Foundation, Silo, Severance, and For All Mankind have helped build an audience accustomed to complicated worlds, high concepts, and stories that don’t necessarily provide easy answers.

Neuromancer takes that strategy even further into hard sci-fi and cyberpunk territory, with Turner starring as Case, a super-hacker who becomes caught up in digital espionage and high-stakes crime alongside Molly (Middleton). The series will premiere on January 22, 2027, with two episodes before continuing weekly. That makes Neuromancer more than simply another sci-fi show joining the service. It suggests Apple is doubling down on the genre that has become one of its greatest strengths.

Where Foundation once looked like an enormous gamble, adapting another foundational and famously dense work of science fiction now feels almost perfectly suited to the streamer. Apple TV isn’t just proving that it can make smart sci-fi anymore. With Neuromancer, it’s entering the next era of the identity it has spent the last five years building.

Advertisement

Neuromancer

Advertisement

Release Date

January 22, 2027

Network

Apple TV+

Advertisement

Showrunner

Graham Roland

Advertisement

Directors

J.D. Dillard

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement