As an only child, I was in for the shock of a lifetime when my children first started properly fighting.

Of course, I knew siblings fought – I grew up alongside other kids and watched their close (and sometimes calamitous) sibling relationships with intrigue and longing.

But seeing my own kids fight was another experience altogether. There’s the screaming, hair-pulling, throwing things at each other. It’s like someone’s transported WWE straight into my living room.

Siblings are going to fight. It’s only natural – I read somewhere that young children fight around 3-4 times per hour, on average. (Whew.)

But it got me thinking: as someone who’s new to this sibling business, and who’s watched family estrangement play out in the public eye, are there specific pointers I should be following now to help raise two kids who have a stronger bond in later life?

L.J Jones, BACP registered counsellor and author of Become the Parent You Needed, tells me: “Sibling relationships can be some of the longest-lasting in our lives, yet they’re often filled with conflict and competition in childhood, and even estrangement in later life.

“The truth is, children aren’t born knowing how to navigate these relationships. They learn through experience, and crucially, through us.”

She often reminds parents that their role isn’t to eliminate sibling conflict, “as it is one of the most organic forms of character building and appropriate to their development stages, albeit extremely stressful for parents”.

Instead, their role is to “help children move through it in a way that builds empathy, emotional and physical safety, and connection”.

So, I asked therapists and counsellors for their top dos and don’ts for raising siblings who thrive. Here’s what they said:

1. “Treat all children equally in terms of attention, rules and consequences, this will ensure all children feel seen, valued and included.”

– BACP senior accredited psychotherapist, Debbie Keenan.

2. “Be consistent. Consistency does not mean perfection, difficult days can happen and it’s OK to get things wrong. What it does mean is that, for the most part, your children experience you as a reliable, predictable presence. They know what to expect from you, and that sense of security forms the foundation upon which healthy sibling relationships are built. When children feel safe and secure in their relationship with their parent/s, they have far greater emotional capacity to navigate their relationships with one another.”

– BACP registered child and adolescent therapist, Kemi Omijeh.

3. “Praise and recognise all siblings. Don’t compare each child’s strengths, offer balanced, individualised praise, so no child feels overlooked.”

– BACP senior accredited psychotherapist, Debbie Keenan.

4. “Encourage individuality and celebrate them separately. If they each feel they have unique skills and attributes to offer, this will encourage their self confidence in and out of your family unit.”

– BACP accredited therapist, Janey Morrissey.

5. “Build connection, not competition. Encourage teamwork, working together, rather than creating rivalry. Some rivalry is OK, but not if actively and consistently promoted, as this could embed resentment further down the years.”

– BACP senior accredited psychotherapist, Debbie Keenan.

6. “Give praise liberally when they work together to achieve things. This can engender a sense of positivity when they come together as a team.”

– BACP accredited therapist, Janey Morrissey.

7. “Spend one on one time with each child, so that they feel heard and seen. Siblings have to be in each others’ company a lot of the time and parents have to split their attention – giving quality time to each child every now and then helps them feel valued.”

– BACP accredited therapist, Janey Morrissey.

8. “Teach conflict resolution skills. It’s natural to want to step in quickly when tensions rise. But sibling conflict is not something to be eliminated; it’s something to be guided.

“When we jump in as referees or problem-solvers, we unintentionally remove the opportunity for children to learn vital relational skills.

“Within timely restorative conversations lies the opportunity to teach them how to take accountability; a life skill to carry through life.”

– BACP registered counsellor, L.J Jones.

1. “Don’t have a favourite (even unintentionally). Children are highly sensitive to perceived favouritism, this can quickly damage sibling relationships and self-esteem.”

– BACP senior accredited psychotherapist, Debbie Keenan.

2. “If there are arguments or conflict, don’t always step in and solve the issue. Help them to healthily solve the disagreement by expressing their feelings to each other in a safe, measured way.”

– BACP accredited therapist, Janey Morrissey.

3. “Don’t compare or label. Comparison is one of the quickest ways to create tension between siblings and often leads to impaired esteem for the child being compared less favourably.

“Comments like, ‘Why can’t you be more like your brother?’ or even subtle labels such as ‘the sensitive one’ or ‘the easy one’ can shape how children see themselves and each other. Over time, this can lead to rivalry, resentment, and a sense that love or approval must be earned.”

– BACP registered counsellor, L.J Jones.

4. “Don’t apply inconsistent consequences. Different reactions to the same behaviour can create feelings of injustice, which in turn, can deepen rivalry. Keep clear, consistent boundaries for all.”

– BACP senior accredited psychotherapist, Debbie Keenan.

5. “Don’t minimise hurt. When conflict happens, it can be tempting to downplay it, especially if it seems small from an adult perspective. What this is actually doing is unconsciously informing children that their feelings are disregarded and unimportant.

“Phrases like ‘It’s not a big deal’ or ‘Just ignore it’ can leave children feeling dismissed, particularly when the hurt comes from a sibling. Instead, start with validation: ‘I can see why that really upset you.’ Feeling understood doesn’t reinforce conflict; it softens it. When children feel emotionally safe, they’re far more able to access empathy and move towards repair.”

– BACP registered counsellor, L.J Jones.

6. “Don’t have unrealistic expectations. Consider your child’s age and where they are developmentally and emotionally before placing expectations around sibling relationships.

“For example, sharing is cognitively and emotionally challenging for children under the age of five. This does not mean you stop supporting them in learning how to share, nor does it mean the other sibling should always be expected to concede. Rather, it means allowing your understanding of your child’s development to inform your expectations and guide how you navigate these situations with patience and realism.”

– BACP registered child and adolescent therapist, Kemi Omijeh.

Therapists note that even if you follow this guidance, you can’t force a relationship on siblings. As BACP accredited therapist, Janey Morrissey, notes: “Hard as it may be, you can’t force any human to like another human – sometimes siblings just aren’t a friendship match.

“It can be healthier to encourage their mutual respect and support for each other, rather than insisting on inorganic closeness.”

The clocks may have gone forward for spring, but it doesn’t look like the wet evenings are going away just yet.

Luckily, while we’re all trying to stay out of the rain, Netflix has something to keep us entertained this April, whether you’re in the mood for a gentle YA series, a competitive reality TV, a dramatic action flick or a new spin-off of one of Netflix’s most popular shows ever.

Here’s your guide to the new shows and films to get your teeth stuck into on Netflix this April…

Tell me more: Love On The Spectrum is back for its fourth season, following the trials and tribulations of dating and maintaining a relationship as someone with autism.

In the latest iteration of the Emmy-winning reality show, viewers are introduced to three new neurodivergent singles looking for love, while Connor, Madison and James, who have been part of the journey since its very first season, all return.

Netflix says: “Once again, the series follows members of the neurodivergent community as they navigate the unpredictable world of first dates, budding relationships, and meaningful connections.

“With international adventures, shocking relationship updates, and big personal milestones along the way, season four is a bold new chapter for the beloved series.”

Tell me more: Netflix’s To All The Boys… spin-off focusses on Anna Cathcart’s Kitty Song Covey as she relocates to Seoul and attends the Korean Independent School of Seoul.

Season three continues Kitty’s journey of self-discovery as she navigates romance with Min Ho, strengthens her ties to her newfound Korean family and creates meaningful moments with her new friend group.

According to the recent trailer, Lana Condor’s character Lara Jean is set to reunite with her little sister in the upcoming third series, in her first appearance in the spin-off.

Netflix says: “Kitty returns for her final year at KISS with her perfect senior year mapped out. She’s going to make meaningful memories with her friends, grow closer to her relatives in Korea, and make big decisions about her future. And, she’s going to define her relationship with Min Ho. For real this time.

“But when surprise revelations derail her plans and relationships, Kitty will have to learn to embrace the unexpected.”

Tell me more: Just in time for the Easter holidays, the TV spin-off of the popular animated films has landed on Netflix to keep your little ones amused.

Hot off the tail of last year’s The Bad Guys 2, the Netflix series follows the gang’s rise to infamy and the pitfalls of being the big shots of the criminal underworld.

As funny and inventive as the films, this television follow-up sees the crew squaring up against old foes, facing a new vigilante and reuniting with an old mentor.

Netflix says: “The Bad Guys are on a heisting hot streak, and the crew is moving on up into a brand new lair. While they continue to earn their bad reputation, the crew must confront old enemies, stop a wedding, and face the emergence of Wolf’s former mentor.

“And when a vigilante comes to town calling for the end of crime, The Bad Guys must take a stand and reclaim their home in the name of mischief, troublemaking, and being bad.”

Tell me more: Trust Me: The False Prophet promises to be your new true crime obsession.

The four-part documentary chronicles the rise of Samuel Bateman, who proclaimed himself to be the successor to Warren Jeffs, the notorious former head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) sect in Utah.

Unlike many of your other true crime favourites, this series was filmed by a couple who infiltrated his inner circle, and offers a first-hand account of Samuel Bateman.

Netflix says: “Trust Me offers intimate access to a normally closed world – and in doing so, I hope it exposes both the violence that enforced secrecy enables and what it takes to tell the truth when everything is at stake.

“What these women did matters far beyond their community. It is a blueprint for how to dismantle even the most entrenched systems of abuse.”

Tell me more: Schitt’s Creek fave Dan Levy has teamed up with I Love LA’s Rachel Sennott to create the new comedy series, Big Mistakes.

In his new TV offering, Dan plays a queer priest who finds himself in over his head when he and his sister, played by Taylor Ortega, fall afoul of a criminal organisation after some petty thievery.

Part family drama, part crime caper, Big Mistakes could be your new comedy favourite this spring.

Netflix says: “Big Mistakes follows Nicky and Morgan, two deeply incapable siblings who are in over their heads when a misguided theft for their dying grandmother accidentally pulls them into the world of organised crime.

“Blackmailed into increasingly dangerous assignments, they clumsily fail upwards, sinking deeper into chaos they’re ill-equipped to handle.”

Tell me more: Temptation Island is back for a second season, following four more struggling couples as they attempt to resolve the issues in their relationship by going their separate ways and living separately among some sexy, eligible singles.

Will they recommit to their partner, or will they explore something new?

Considering that three couples broke up last series, we can’t wait for the drama season two will bring.

Netflix says: “In this new season of Temptation Island, emotions will run high as a fresh group of couples, each at a crossroads in their relationship, attempt to discover if their love can truly conquer all.

“The couples will face plenty of temptation as they part ways to live with a group of singles of the opposite sex. Only time will tell if the choices they make in paradise push them closer together, into the arms of a new lover, or into the single life.”

Tell me more: Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor battles hurricanes and sharks in Thrash, the new disaster movie from Violent Night’s Tommy Wirkola.

Co-starring Hocus Pocus 2’s Whitney Peak and Gladiator’s Djimon Hounsou, the film centres around a heavily-pregnant woman as she tries to survive a shark infestation that has struck in her quiet coastal hometown.

Netflix says: “Amidst a catastrophic hurricane, a coastal town battles nature’s wrath and an onslaught of sharks.

“Braving torrential rain, debris, and darkness, they unite to survive the deadly predators and make it through the storm.”

Tell me more: The new season of At Home With The Furys follows the boxer Tyson Fury as he tries to embrace retirement alongside his wife, Paris, and their seven children.

Fans of Tyson will know his retirement didn’t last long, so the series will likely see what made him change his mind and step back into the ring.

Netflix says: “Surrounded by wife Paris Fury, their seven children and his ever-opinionated dad John Fury, Tyson channels the competitive drive that made him a world champion into new ventures – from a family road trip to Monaco to investing in a racehorse and finding creative ways to stay busy.”

Tell me more: Netflix’s answer to The Traitors was a surprise hit when it premiered last year (even if some critics did brand it a “shameless” rip-off of the BBC show), leaving people hooked on all of the back-stabbing, larger-than-life characters and conniving game plans that Million Dollar Secret provided.

The reality show sees 14 contestants moving into a mansion, where one contestant is initially given a million-dollar suitcase, which they must conceal from the others who are trying to identify the show’s secret millionaire and eliminate them.

After the first episode drops on 15 April, more instalments will be added each week until the final.

Netflix says: “This season, the stakes are higher than ever as players face trickier agendas, grueling challenges and navigate the ever-changing game of deception. Do they have what it takes to keep their Million Dollar Secret?”

Tell me more: The award-winning Beef is back for another season – with a whole new cast and story or revenge.

In this next chapter, the story is hooked on a feud between a newly-engaged couple, played by Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton, and their boss and his wife, played by Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan.

This eight-part miniseries is set to explore the internal rage people suffer at work and the various challenges that couples face through the years.

Netflix says: “A Gen Z couple witnesses an alarming fight between their millennial boss and his wife. Ashley and Austin, both lower-level staff at a country club, become entangled in the unraveling marriage of their general manager, Josh, and his wife, Lindsay.

“Through favours and coercion, both couples vie for the approval of the elitist club’s billionaire owner, Chairwoman Park, who struggles to manage her own scandal involving her second husband, Doctor Kim.”

Tell me more: With almost seven decades in the industry, there is one nature clip that is synonymous with Sir David Attenborough. In 1978, the naturalist met a baby Rwandan mountain gorilla named Pablo during an episode of his show Life On Earth.

This new Netflix documentary film sees Sir David recount this iconic meeting, and explore the community of gorillas at the Volcanoes National Park, many of whom descend from Pablo. Narrated by the national treasure himself, the doc mixes archival footage with never-before-seen excerpts of his journals at the time.

Netflix says: “This intimate documentary blends the remarkable story of David Attenborough’s first encounter with the baby gorilla Pablo with a deep dive into how Pablo’s direct descendants are doing today in the mountains of Rwanda.

“Weaving together contemporary and archival footage of the gorilla group and narrated by Attenborough – including excerpts from his 1978 journals – A Gorilla Story is packed with extraordinary gorilla behavior never filmed before.”

Tell me more: The comedy movie Roommates introduces us to Devon, played by Sadie Sandler (yes Adam’s daughter), a shy first-year college student who strikes up an unlikely friendship with her fiery roommate. At first, it’s all freshman fun for the pair, until a karaoke-fuelled spring break trip starts a war of passive aggression.

The film explores the hilarious complications of female friendship and how trust is lost when boundaries are crossed.

Co-starring Nick Kroll, Natasha Lyonne and Sarah Sherman, expect big laughs from this coming-of-age drama, which was written by Jimmy Fowlie and Ceara O’Sullivan, who penned Saturday Night Live’s viral Domingo sketch.

Netflix says: “When a hopeful, naive college freshman, Devon, asks the cool and confident Celeste to be her roommate, a blossoming friendship spirals into a war of passive aggression.”

Tell me more: If you’ve ever found yourself hooked on the various Harlan Coben series that have premiered on Netflix over the years, the streamer has a new psychological drama that could pique your interest.

Unchosen stars Sex Education’s Asa Butterfield as a member of a close-knit Christian sect, who lives with his wife, played by Molly Windsor.

Co-starring Christopher Eccleston as the congregation leader, this miniseries sees Rosie slowly uncovering dark secrets about their religious community that make her question her marriage – and her life.

Netflix says: “Rosie lives with her husband Adam and daughter in a cloistered Christian community.

“The fateful arrival of escaped prisoner Sam into her life, reveals the reality and restraints of her world; perhaps this hidden religious community doesn’t have her best interests at heart.”

Tell me more: If you’re in need of a comforting, joyful show to provide some escapism right now, This Is A Gardening Show might be just what you’re looking for.

Fronted by The Hangover actor Zack Galifianakis, this gentle series aims to explore gardening in a down-to-earth, earnest and digestible way, rather than just having experts listing Latin names and talking about obscure herbs.

Netflix says: “Rather than positioning himself as an expert, Galifianakis approaches the subject with curiosity and self-effacing humor, with the goal of learning alongside his audience and giving viewers valuable, accessible, and educational tools to use in their own gardens.”

Tell me more: Co-created by Mindy Kaling, the comedy-drama season one of Running Point saw former party girl Isla Gordon, played by Kate Hudson, being appointed president of a fictional basketball franchise over her brothers, which angers them greatly.

Cheesy though it might be, Running Point has been a hit for the streamer, with critics and fans praising its “girlboss” humour and satirical look at men’s attitudes towards women in the sports world.

Season two teases more romance, more competitive siblings and, of course, more fabulous power suits.

Netflix says: “Isla Gordon faces intense pressure leading the Los Angeles Waves, determined to prove she’s not merely placeholder for her brother, Cam , who secretly manoeuvres to reclaim his role as the team recovers from a scandal.

“She must navigate complex family dynamics, board scrutiny, and the challenges of running the franchise, forcing her to develop a new strategy to succeed.”

Tell me more: Already missing Mike, Eleven, Dustin and co after that divisive season five finale? Viewers can now take a return to the Stranger Things universe in this animated spin-off, inspired by the Saturday-morning cartoons of our youth.

Set between the events of season two and season three of Stranger Things, this animated series sees our favourite Hawkins gang take on more monsters and a whole new demo creature.

Tales From ‘85 promises to take us back to when the kids were on BMX bikes trying to save their town, rather than the battles with universe-shattering evil that dominated Stranger Things’ final seasons.

Netflix says: “Welcome back to Hawkins in the winter of 1985, where the original characters face new monsters and a paranormal mystery.”

Tell me more: In this new action film, Charlize Theron plays a rock climber who thinks she’s all alone in the woods, until she runs into a psychotic drifter, played by Taron Egerton, who wants to hunt her for sport.

From Beast director Baltasar Kormákur, the movie promises brutal fight scenes, stunning chase sequences and a twisted villain.

We already know that Charlize Theron can kick ass, so we can’t wait to see how she takes on Taron’s sinister bad guy.

Netflix says: “A grieving woman seeks solace in the wilderness only to become ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a serial killer.”

Tell me more: Another true crime doc coming to Netflix’s roster this month is Should I Marry A Murderer?, a series investigating what happens when a commitment to lifetime love goes wrong, after a woman finds out her fiancé is a murderer.

Should I Marry A Murder? follows Dr Caroline Muirhead, whose partner previously ran over a cyclist and then hid his body.

When he later confesses his crime to his fiancée, she must make a hard decision on whether to tell the police, and if she can stay with the man she had planned to marry.

Netflix says: “A fiancée turned key witness reveals how she stayed engaged to a man accused of murder while gathering evidence against him in this documentary series.”

Tell me more: Wonderman star Yahya Abdul-Mateen ll steps into the role of John Creasy, made famous by Denzel Washington in the 2004 film of the same name.

Adapted from A.J. Quinnell’s book series, the show will follow the Special Forces soldier looking for a fresh start amid a battle with extreme PTSD.

In Man On Fire, John is forced out of retirement to take on a new mission after his only friend is killed and he must protect his fallen comrade’s daughter.

Netflix says: “Haunted by his past and hunted by his enemies, a Special Forces veteran fights to keep a teenage girl alive on the deadly streets of Rio de Janeiro.”

Since it premiered last month, Netflix’s deeply unsettling original series Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen has been a hit with both critics and viewers.

While early reviews for the eight-part horror show were mostly positive, the show itself has been hugely popular with Netflix users, consistently hovering around the top of the platform’s most-watched list ever since it premiered.

The series centres around a young couple gearing up for their wedding day, who are confronted with a series of increasingly horrific bumps in the road that leave them questioning everything about their relationship.

Horror fans have a seemingly-endless plethora of films to pick from when they’re looking for something new to watch, but when it comes to TV, there are considerably fewer offerings from the genre.

With that in mind, if you’ve already made your way through Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen and you’re looking for a new chilling binge-watch, we’ve rounded up 11 horror-centric TV shows available to stream now…

Alright, we’re starting with the biggie – you can’t have a conversation about horror on TV without discussing American Horror Story.

With 12 iterations to pick from (varying in quality, it has to be said), the anthology series takes place in a completely different time and setting each time around, with many of the same actors playing all new characters from season to season.

High points include the camp-tastic witchiness of Coven, the sheer vampiric glamour of Hotel, the grit of NYC, the politically-charged Cult, the terrifying pinnacle of Asylum or the one that started it all, terrifying domestic drama Murder House.

Later this year, American Horror Story will return for its landmark 13th run, with franchise staples Sarah Paulson, Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett and Kathy Bates all returning alongside new addition Ariana Grande.

A love letter to the slasher genre, Scream Queens was another of Ryan Murphy’s attempts at creating a TV horror, serving as a tongue-in-cheek meeting point of Scream, Halloween, Mean Girls and Heathers.

The dark comedy starred Murphy-verse regular Emma Roberts as clique leader Chanel Oberlin, with appearances from Glee alum Lea Michele, Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin and aforementioned American Horror Story newbie Ariana Grande.

While the show didn’t quite live up to the scale of previous Murphy projects like Glee or American Horror Story, it developed a cult following over the course of its two seasons in the mid-2010s.

Murphy tried his hand at horror once again during a fallow year for American Horror Story in 2024, that was every bit as star-studded as you’d come to expect from the TV super-producer.

While the principal actors included Niecy Nash-Betts, Lesley Manville and Nicholas Alexander Chavez (who, at the time, was fresh from his work as Lyle Menendez in the true crime anthology Monster), it also made use of some bold stunt casting, most notably marking the acting debut of one Travis M. Kelce.

The sinister series centres around a detective who teams up with a nun to get to the bottom of a series of crimes affecting their community, only for things to take an increasingly creepy turn.

Alright, one more Ryan Murphy show and then we promise we’re done.

Previous iterations of the Monster anthology series were more grisly true crime explorations than outright horror, but the graphic violence and gore of The Ed Gein Story definitely took the show in an even more frightful direction.

Gein’s crimes are believed to have been the inspiration for horror films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence Of The Lambs – not to mention Psycho, with director Alfred Hitchcock and actor Anthony Perkins appearing in Monster’s third season as minor characters, in a B-story about the creation of the iconic film.

A TV off-shoot of the Andy Muschietti adaptations of Stephen King’s tome It has no right being as good as it is.

The critically-acclaimed prequel explores the seemingly cursed town’s origins, and how Pennywise began terrorising its residents by exploiting their deepest fears and anxieties for its own gain long before the events of It.

Gripping though it might be, Welcome To Derry is also really scary, so just prepare yourself for that.

Stream it on: Now, Sky and HBO Max

One for fans of gothic horror, The Fall Of The House Of Usher is a loose retelling of the Edgar Allen Poe short story set in the modern day, which incorporates other popular stories from the classic author’s oeuvre along the way including The Raven and The Tell-Tale Heart.

While the source material is one of the most famous haunted house tales ever, this new version is more in line with Succession or Industry, focussing on a wealthy family in charge of a corrupt pharmaceutical company Fortunato Pharmaceuticals, which befalls a series of mysterious tragedies in quick succession.

The Fall Of The House Of Usher creator Mike Flanagan is no stranger to horror, though, previously overseeing the anthology series The Haunting for Netflix.

Back in 2018, The Haunting Of Hill House proved to be absolute nightmare fuel, as siblings return to their haunted childhood home to confront their past demons (including the deeply upsetting Bent-Neck Lady) once and for all.

Like with American Horror Story, follow-up The Haunting Of Bly Manor featured several of the same actors in a whole new – but just as terrifying – haunted house setting.

Best known as the auteur behind the expansive and surreal films Pan’s Labyrinth, The Devil’s Backbone, The Shape Of Water and, more recently, Frankenstein, Guillermo Del Toro has made a shift to TV work in the 2010s.

As well as his Tales Of Arcadia series with Netflix, in 2022, he put out the anthology miniseries Cabinets Of Curiosity.

Each episode of the eight-part miniseries told its own stand-alone story (in the style of The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror) hosted by the Oscar-winning filmmaker himself, with instalments putting a new spin on horror tropes like paintings coming to life, demonic conjurings and unrelenting ghosts from the past.

Look out for appearances from Harry Potter’s Rupert Grint, The White Lotus’ F Murray Abraham and Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens, among others.

While perhaps not a horror in the traditional sense, Stranger Things incorporates elements from the genre (particularly from films that popped off in the 1980s, when the show is set) alongside sci-fi, mystery, action and traditional coming-of-age teen dramas.

There are also countless several deliberate homages to Stephen King over the course of its five seasons, with the horror author previously giving the show his personal seal of approval.

Dystopian anthology series Black Mirror is probably most well-known as the show that warns about the perils of technology and social media – but make no mistake that when it decides to go full horror, it can really get in your head.

Among its most frightening offerings include early offerings White Bear, Men Against Fire, Playtest and Metalhead, plus the deliberate horror homages of Demon 79 and Loch Henry.

Meanwhile, even the more allegorical stories like Be Right Back, The Entire History Of You and the “Christmas special” White Christmas will leave you with a chill that lingers longer than you might think.

Then again, maybe you prefer your frights a little less on the disturbing side.

Streaming service Disney+ currently has two stand-alone series based on those R.L. Stine books that had you hiding under the covers back in the 90s, telling two distinct stories that make for more family-friendly viewing than every other suggestion we’ve laid out here.

President Donald Trump has survived political scandals, crises and low approval ratings the likes of which no previous president could withstand. So it may be hard to believe that ol’ Donny Trump won’t, yet again, wriggle his way out of another disastrous drop in his political standing.

But this time it really may be different.

Trump’s Iran war has, even more than anything before, sent his approval rating in a nosedive. Poll aggregators now put him below 40% approval for the first time in his second term as multiple polls have shown his approval in the low-to mid-30s. His net approval is at -21.4, according to FiftyPlusOne.

“When compared to past presidents, Trump’s ratings are the lowest of any president at this point in their term, going back to FDR,” pollster G. Elliott Morris wrote at his Strength In Numbers site on Friday.

Trump’s ability to change his position when things get rough has earned him the nickname TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out).

But his shambolic address to the nation on Wednesday demonstrated that he can’t TACO his way out of this one: Amid unconvincing boasts that the US is “winning bigger than ever before,” Trump offered no clear rationale for the war and no plan or strategy to end it or resolve the vast economic disruption created by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. It didn’t work. The stock market dropped and the price of oil spiked as soon as he finished speaking.

The speech showed that Trump is stuck. He is constitutionally incapable of accepting that he made a mistake by attacking Iran with no plan for keeping 20% of the world’s oil — not to mention around 20% of the world’s fertiliser — moving through the strait, or to take action to rectify it. Instead, he now claims that it’s “somebody else’s problem” and, in his speech to the nation, called on European and Asian countries to “grab it and cherish it.”

Since this isn’t going to happen, the only other options are likely desperate. Trump could escalate and invade Iran with ground troops, which will make the energy crisis catastrophically worse. Or he could unilaterally deescalate, end the war and cede control of the strait to Iran, which would likely mean Iran operating a tolling system to exit the Persian Gulf, as it has already begun to do, and a continued reduction in oil flowing through.

“No matter how we exit this, we’re in a much worse scenario for the oil market than we were before,” oil analyst Rory Johnston said on his podcast “Oil Ground Up” on March 31.

This is politically toxic for any administration. But it is even worse for Trump personally, as his second term has been plagued by one unpopular initiative after another.

Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs, since ruled unconstitutional, caused instant market chaos. His mass deportation campaign of attacking US cities with paramilitary forces turned his most popular position into a net negative.

His bungling of the Epstein Files turned his own brand of conspiracism against him. His Big Beautiful Bill slashed health care spending, causing millions who get insurance through the Affordable Care Act to lose it due to huge price spikes.

That last point is key to his biggest problem: most of his major actions have caused price increases, in complete contradiction to his core campaign promise to lower domestic costs. His on-again, off-again tariffs led to widespread price increases on a range of goods while his immigration crackdown has led to increased costs in fields like in-home elder care and agriculture. Meanwhile, the full impact of the Iran war on prices, particularly for petrol, has not yet come close to being felt.

Trump and his economic advisers are already trying to claim that these price effects are merely temporary. During his Wednesday speech, Trump said that when the war ends, “gas prices will rapidly come back down.” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said on Friday that “energy prices are going down as this quiets down,” pointing to lower oil futures prices for autumn shipments.

But this is just the same happy-talk that Trump offered during the early stages of COVID about cases “going down” and promises that the virus would just “disappear.” If anything, oil prices are currently being traded based on “irrational optimism,” Johnston said on his podcast, adding that “futures markets are grievously underpricing.”

This is exactly the opposite of what voters who swung to Trump in 2024 wanted. The top issue in that election, particularly for swing voters, was the cost of living and inflation. That single issue helped Trump build a coalition that gave him a popular vote majority for the first time in three elections. But that victory made him think he had a mandate to do whatever he wanted, and he promptly went about ignoring voters’ main concern.

The response from voters is about what you’d expect. Working-class Black and Latino voters who swung to him in 2024 are now moving away from Trump and Republicans, according to a March 2026 study by the Center for Working-Class Politics. This flip showed up in recent elections like the 2025 New Jersey and Virginia governors’ races, where the Democratic candidates won big in heavily Latino areas that had swung to Trump just one year earlier.

Young people aged 18-34 moved towards Trump in 2024 and gave him positive approval numbers at the beginning of his term, but a recent CNN poll found 80% now disapprove. Similarly, 73% of independent voters now disapprove of Trump, according to that same CNN poll.

It is not surprising that Trump is growing more and more unpopular as he has somehow brought about all of the worst problems that vexed past presidents all by himself. He has created, on his own, Joe Biden’s inflation, Jimmy Carter’s energy shock (caused by a conflict in Iran, no less) and George W. Bush’s catastrophic war of choice in the Middle East.

With the downing of an American jet over Iran, he may also replicate the disaster Carter faced with an Iranian hostage crisis. And he has done it all by launching his own war of choice, after campaigning on a promise of no new wars. It is hard to imagine a worse series of political decisions.

With the midterm elections a scant seven months away, things look bleak for Republicans in November. Even if they lose only the House, that will effectively end congressional blessing for Trump’s authoritarian power grab — and, in all likelihood, condemn his final two years in office to investigation, impeachment and repudiation.

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In February, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared a video of him eating steak, exercising shirtless and drinking whole milk in a hot tub with ’00s-era musician Kid Rock. The internet’s response to the video was largely bewilderment and mocking, but whether or not the pair succeeded in looking cool, they certainly telegraphed an attempt at masculinity.

The video draws a straight line between the person responsible for US food and health policy and the “manosphere,” as some call it — the side of the internet that largely consists of fitness videos aimed at young men but is also known for introducing its followers to misogynistic, homophobic and antisemitic ideas. So, it might be worth paying attention to what he — and other men in the public eye — wants to be seen eating.

Research shows that not only do men tend to eat more meat than women globally, but also that men are more reactive and defensive to messaging that suggests they lower their meat consumption, be it for personal health or ethical, animal welfare or climate-related reasons.

The beef-loving, vegetarian-hating dad guy is a pop culture trope at this point: Think Parks and Recreation’s Ron Swanson, or Homer Simpson, who famously said, “You don’t win friends with salad.” Cartman of South Park once said, “If you don’t eat meat at all, you become a pussy” (which, in the show’s context, turned out to be kind of literally true). In any case, you can bet that the manliest man dudes, whether aspirational or not, will be offended and maybe even downright hostile if presented with a meatless plate.

“If you go to women and say, ‘[Meat] is really bad, you should probably think about cutting down,’ women will tend to respond by cutting down,” said Sophie Attwood, a psychologist and behavioral scientist whose work focuses on food choice as it relates to human health and environmental sustainability. “Whereas, if you do that to men, what happens is they push back, go right into defence mechanisms — and then they increase intake.”

It’s a generalization, she qualifies, but one that she attests to seeing replicated consistently in the research. This led her to wonder: Why exactly are men so connected to meat?

Daniel Rosenfeld, a UCLA psychologist who studies eating behavior and morality, offers some theories.

“There isn’t 100% certainty on why the meat-masculinity association exists, but a good account is one of historical and evolutionary narrative. We have this image in our heads that as humans, Homo sapiens, we are traditionally hunter-gatherers, from pre-agricultural times, and that’s kind of the glorified era of what our instincts tell us to do, in a lot of people’s minds,” Rosenfeld explained. This provides some justification for seeing divergent gender roles as something natural and inherent, rather than socially imposed.

“Men fall into the ‘hunter’ category in our minds, and women the ‘gatherer’ category. And so that’s one explanation for why people view it as manly to eat meat, because meat comes from animals that we have to hunt,” Rosenfeld said. Eating an animal signifies dominance over nature (even though you probably bought it from a store rather than hunting and killing the animal yourself), and for many, masculinity and dominance are inseparable.

Conversely, “a salad or tofu or other plant-based foods can be viewed as having more feminine attributes because those are gathered and not hunted,” he said.

Rosenfeld uses the term “narrative” intentionally — it’s less about any actual anthropological fact than it is about our beliefs. Modern scientists generally agree that early humans ate majority plant-based diets, and the meat they did eat was often collected by scavenging rather than hunting. It’s a far cry from the 18.5 pounds of meat consumed by the average American every month, but the reality hasn’t stopped modern humans from trying to replicate our “fantasy image,” as Rosenfeld puts it, of humans (and human men especially) as big consumers of meat.

Consider the paleo diet, which includes meat and is quite literally meant to mimic hunter-gatherer diets. Or, at the more extreme end, the “carnivore diet,” whose proponents claim that, actually, early humans ate entirely or almost entirely meat and that modern humans ought to as well for optimal health (despite heaps of scientific evidence suggesting otherwise).

Another idea that Rosenfeld said may influence the meat-manliness connection “can be an association of meat and protein, and protein and muscle, and muscle and manhood.”

We can see both of those ideas coming into play in pop culture and public figures like the Liver King, a manosphere influencer who wanted his fans to believe that his muscular stature was purely a result of following an “ancestral lifestyle,” i.e., eating plenty of raw organ meat, before eventually being exposed for his use of steroids. In “American Canto,” her book about their personal relationship, journalist Olivia Nuzzi described RFK Jr., saying, “like all men, but more so, he was a hunter.” It’s an evocative description, but also a literal one: Kennedy is into falconry. It’s hardly a coincidence that the man currently leading American food and nutrition policy fits the mould of masculinity, especially in such a way that’s both flashy and traditional.

Regardless of where the association comes from, it still doesn’t completely explain why men can be so defensive of their meat-eating, even when it comes up against established science or their own values. We may get a hint, however, by zooming out.

A recent study out of Germany found that men of lower socioeconomic status tend to consume the most meat. Another study, from 2024, found that gender differences in meat consumption were the widest in the most gender-egalitarian countries (Scandinavian nations take the top spots, while the US and UK fall around the middle). It seems that when men are (or believe themselves to be) socially or economically disempowered, meat becomes more meaningful.

In the US today, it’s hardly a secret that men are falling behind women in categories like education, employment and even health. A generation or two ago, it was not only possible, but common, for a man to support a wife and kids on the income from a single, even blue-collar, job. Men today may still feel that being a “provider” is intrinsic to their identity, even as it becomes impossible for them to provide in the same way they saw their grandfathers doing. So if you’re not a provider, what are you? Are you really a man?

Attwood notes that diet is uniquely important in identity construction — not just for meat-eating men, but other kinds of people, like, say, environmentally conscious academics and vegan journalists. “If you’re under threat, your identity is under threat. So your whole thing is about trying to neutralise the threat and reassert the identity, which means you are going to hang on to these symbols to use to communicate to others,” she said.

Some aspects of masculine identity can be considered neutral or even positive, like the desire to provide for others materially. But traits like dominance are inherently hostile, falling into that bucket we call “toxic masculinity.” And these ideas are so culturally embedded that we see them playing out in pop culture and even in policy.

With the release of the latest USDA food pyramid, which features a cartoon T-bone in its illustration of nutritious foods, RFK Jr. announced the end of the nation’s “war on protein,” waged by liberal food policy and “big villains” like the American Heart Association. Never mind that most Americans are already eating too much protein, or that in the last decade, food companies have quadrupled the amount of high-protein products on the market. Never mind that virtually every major health authority agrees that red meat and full-fat dairy are associated with poor health outcomes, especially regarding the very same chronic illnesses our health administration claims to be targeting. And definitely never mind that the very same federal agency just last October announced a battery of plans to “strengthen the American beef industry,” suggesting an entirely different motivation for pushing meat-eating on the general population.

Because what matters here isn’t scientific fact, it’s the story being told. Meat eating is good and natural, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a “villain” to be defeated. Making America Healthy Again means embracing tradition and rejecting any nutritional science that challenges it. Making America Great Again means taking our rightful place as the world’s most powerful nation, able to dominate all the rest. And if anyone suggests you swap in plant-based protein every so often? What they’re really telling you is to stop being a man.

Or so the story goes, anyway.