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In the Mud Season 2: Cast, Rumours & Release Date

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Can you stomach a bleak prison drama? If the answer is affirmative, you might like Argentinian thriller In the Mud, currently streaming on Netflix. It makes Orange Is the New Black look like a light binge in comparison.

The show premiered on August 14 and is currently the most-watched non-English series on the platform. At only eight episodes, you can probably binge it over the course of a weekend. But what then?

In the Mud Season 2 Release Date

At the time of writing, the series hasn’t officially been renewed for additional episodes. While you get an adrenaline-fueled finale, the show leaves the door open for more stories, so we’re cautiously optimistic.

As long as Netflix green-lights In the Mud season 2, it could arrive in late 2026.

In the Mud Cast

  • Ana Garibaldi as Gladys Guerra
  • Rita Cortese as Cecilia Moranzón
  • Lorena Vega as Fabiana
  • Carolina Ramírez as Yael Rubial
  • Ana Rujas as Amparo Vilches
  • Marcelo Subiotto as Dr. Soriano
  • Érika De Sautu Riestra as Dra. Olga Giuliani
  • Camila Peralta as Soledad Rodríguez
  • Alejandra Oliveras as Roqui

What Could Happen in In the Mud Season 2?

In the Mud revolves around Gladys Guerra, known as “La Borges,” and a group of women with no prior prison experience.

While on their way to La Quebrada prison, the transfer bus crashes. The women manage to save themselves, but the accident becomes a brutal initiation and forces them to rely on each other to survive.

Once inside, they confront the harsh rules of daily life and the “tribes” that control the penitentiary. Life isn’t easy, and each woman has to draw on her past to endure the violence and chaos. Together, they forge a sisterhood rooted in survival.

La Quebrada turns out to be incredibly corrupt, and making it out alive isn’t a guarantee. By the end of the first season, Gladys makes a dramatic decision, but the finale ends with open threads, hinting at power plays to come. In the Mud season 2 will likely pick up from there.

The show’s creator, Sebastian Ortega, all but confirmed there are more episodes in a recent interview.

“We did the entire shoot in a place that was about to be demolished, 14 blocks. We managed to delay that process a bit so we could build a prison there. That’s why we filmed both seasons back-to-back, without a break. The day after we finished the last scene of season 1, we were starting season 2,” Ortega said.

While it’s always best to wait for Netflix to corroborate the news, it looks like fans can breathe easy.

Are There Other Shows Like In the Mud?

If you find prison shows fascinating, you probably already watched Prison Break, Oz, Locked Up, Wentworth, and the previously mentioned Orange Is the New Black.

Other dark crime series you might enjoy include Ozark, Mindhunter, Narcos, Dept. Q, or Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.

The Best Songs of August 2025

Every week, we update our Best New Songs playlist with several tracks that catch our attention, then round up the best songs of each month in this segment. Here, in alphabetical order, are the best songs of August 2025.


Asher White, ‘Cobalt Room: Good Work / Silver Saab’

A killer sludge riff sweeps the floor on ‘Cobalt Room: Good Work / Silver Saab’, the 7-minute centerpiece of Asher White’s new album 8 Tips For Full Catastrophe Living. Then the narrative, like White’s ludicrous range of sonic reference points – Brazilian Tropicália, experimental jazz, death metal, krautrock – gets all wound up. Inspired by Claire Denis’ 1999 film Beau Travail, White sings from the perspective of an aging military wife who, in her words, “is left to imagine the sort of fraternal love and belonging her husband is enjoying at camp and begins to suspect it is his way of actualizing an unrealized gay lifestyle and subsequently reflects on their marriage with newfound skepticism.” White’s theatricality has a touch of the absurd: “I know the house had cost us nothing but I felt so evacuated/ Mornings would draw the dust to settle where you once had masturbated.” It’s almost cartoonish, but she lets the festering frustration spill out, craving its own release.

Chat Pile and Hayden Pedigo, ‘Radioactive Dreams’

Chat Pile and Hayden Pedigo are Oklahoma City residents, which makes their unlikely collaboration easier to rationalize. But how do you carve a middle ground between the band’s harrowing noise rock and the fingerstyle guitarist’s acoustic folk instrumentals? One way, the striking first single from their upcoming album In the Earth Again suggests, is by digging right into it. “So I share my song/ With the veins of the soil/ And the angels of the earth/ And God,” Raygun Busch intones over reverberating guitar harmonics, pounding bass, and distant drums. Reverent, mournful, and captivated by an “unshakeable feeling,” the singer is tempted to stay below the surface, in ghostly company, where it doesn’t matter if he’s able to speak it. But he can’t linger too long; he’s blessed with life, he reminds himself, as the song twinkles into the night.

Deftones, ‘milk of the madonna’

No band can make cataclysmic music sound quite as sumptuous as Deftones, who were quick to remind us of that fact with the early private music single ‘milk of the madonna’. In his invocation of bloody rain, thunder, quaking winds, and most of all fire, Chino Moreno sounds utterly consumed yet invigorated by the pummeling force of the instrumentation, which relents only for a few ethereal seconds before the song’s final chorus. “The display ignites your mind,” he sings. How could it not? When so many contemporary shoegaze bands reach for the same imagery while sounding oddly unaffected by it, Deftones still match their legacy with passion.

Dijon, ‘Yamaha’

The immediate acclaim surrounding Dijon’s sophomore album speaks, in part, to how immediate and universal its songs are, rendering emotions with the perfect mix of gloss and fire, past and future. ‘Yamaha’ may stand out because it’s one of the album’s most accessible-sounding songs, but also because, in an effort to express just how big the euphoria of being in love is, it’s one of its longest songs. Dijon and his cast of collaborators (in addition to close confidants like Mk.gee, Cara Delevingne is listed as a co-writer here) layer in so many sparkling synths and acrobatic harmonies they almost muddy the mix, but they don’t collide around his voice so much as the earth-shaking beat. “So, shall I repeat?” he asks at one point, “Still want you more.” Four and a half minutes is enough, but he sounds like he could go on forever.

Militarie Gun, ‘B A D I D E A’

It sounds like a crazy idea, but Militarie Gun initially pitched their new song’s instrumental for the hardcore record that Doja Cat wanted to do. But then, frontman Ian Shelton was like, “Nah, I’m taking that.” On top of an unsurprisingly anthemic chorus that sears its way into your brain, he ended up using it to tackle a particularly sensitive topic, which is giving into vices he spent his whole life actively avoiding – neither celebrating nor quite beating himself up for the slip-ups. “I’m well aware that being this vulnerable turns my personal trauma into a marketing hook for this album,” Shelton said of the upcoming God Save the Gun, and that awareness makes ‘B A D I D E A’ more fun than simply self-indulgent. Not giving it away was probably for the best.

Scarlet Rae, ‘A World Where She Left Me Out’

Shoegaze often channels melancholy through the language of metaphor. It emotes by way of shrouding it. On ‘A World Where She Left Me Out’, the opening track on Scarlet Rae’s No Heavy Goodbyes EP, her vocals are whispery and manipulated, but her lyrics ultimately express her desperation matter-of-factly. “I literally don’t know what to do, it’s getting hard to be here without you.”  It was the first song the New York-based artist, formerly of Rose Dorn and bar italia’s live lineup, wrote after her sister died, and you can feel the knot in her throat as she untangles the anger and confusion that loss has left in its wake. Seventy days into her grief, she’s allowed herself to be around others, afraid of solitude but somehow aching harder in their company. The cloud of instrumentation dissolves for the titular line, giving weight to each word, the odd grammar just a slight representation of how strange it’s all been.

Skullcrusher, ‘March’

An existential sigh of a piano ballad sounds like an odd way to introduce a new album, but not for Helen Ballentine, who makes knottily confessional songs as Skullcrusher. ‘March’, the second single from And Your Song Is Like a Circle, weighs up the burden of what that song can do. Though she begins by questioning what she lives for, she’s not oblivious to the gift she’s chosen to share with the world: “I made the tears fall/ From your eyes with my words.” We’re all staring down the same unknown, after all, so it’s not unlikely her words get through to you. She stretches the words beautiful and terrible as if trying to strike a balance between them, but they are stringy and simultaneous; in this stripped-back environment, it is not hard to tell they hold power over her, too. But she finds a way to describe that feeling, one that seems to lift a weight off her shoulders: “forever pressing into me.”

Wombo, ‘S.T. Tilted’

Wombo’s music is wonderfully off-kilter, and the lyrics to ‘S.T. Titled’, a highlight from their new album Danger in Fives, seem to play with that feeling in kind of a meta way. “And with a tilted head, try to regain balance/ Turn on it now and then, quietly to open,”  Sydney Chadwick sings over and over again, her humming and roiling bass line a mood all their own. Yet it’s the skronky guitar work that enlivens the song unlike any other on the record, scratching through the lush, vaporous haze it leaves behind. It suspends a moment of disorientation, splicing together disparate parts that end up making the trio sound uniquely locked-in.

Upcycling Culture: Creative Ways to Relist, Refresh and Rehome Vintage Finds Online

There’s a small, stubborn joy in finding something that’s already been loved. A sweater with the faintest elbow fade. A record sleeve with a coffee stain at the corner.

A lamp whose brass has gone the color of old honey. Those little imperfections are not problems — they are the reasons people lean in. They keep things interesting.

Lately, that itch to rescue and rehome has moved out of basements and church halls and onto screens. Scrolling late at night, people aren’t just buying—they’re inheriting, curating, and occasionally rewriting the histories of objects.

Relisting isn’t a boring repost; it’s a second act. And when it’s done well, it looks less like commerce and more like conversation.

The Resurgence of Vintage Culture Across Fashion & Lifestyle

Vintage used to be a niche hobby—something you did on a Saturday if you liked the thrill of the find. Now it’s part of how people dress, decorate, and think about consumption.

Sure, sustainability is a clear driver. Buying secondhand is a simple, direct way to keep stuff in play and out of landfills. But there’s more to it.

People want character. They want pieces that don’t come with an instruction manual. That’s why a 1970s blazer with a slightly off-kilter lining can be more appealing than a factory-perfect knockoff.

It’s about identity. It’s about a material history that you can actually wear or live around. And because individuality feels rare in a world of mass-produced sameness, it’s suddenly desirable.

The result? Designers pulling from archives, influencers pairing thrifted pieces with high street staples, and everyday people building homes that look like someone lives in them — not like they were staged for a catalog. It’s noisy, messy, and oddly comforting. Exactly the point.

Why Online Marketplaces Are the New Curated Exhibitions

Imagine wandering a gallery where curators are everyday people. That’s what many modern marketplaces feel like. Listings aren’t sterile product entries; they’re tiny installations. Sellers stage, explain, and, yes, plead a little — in the best possible way.

A good listing does three things: shows the piece, places it in context, and offers a tiny narrative. Someone photographing a teak side table in afternoon light isn’t just showing grain; they’re proposing a life for that table.

A seller who mentions “found at an estate sale, solid dovetail joints” gives the piece a provenance that can matter more than a pristine “new” desk.

The democratization here is beautiful. You don’t need a gallery contract — you need curiosity, a decent camera phone, and the patience to write what a thing feels like.

The market becomes a cultural exchange rather than a sterile auction. People buy into stories, moods, and possibilities — not only price tags

Timing and Tactics: When to Relist for Maximum Visibility

Relisting is not lazily reposting. Think of it like giving an item a fresh premiere. It’s surprising how much timing shifts outcomes.

Weekday afternoons? Meh. Sunday nights, when people settle into the couch? Prime time. Early mornings can work too — a different crowd, different mood.

Small edits matter. Swap a general title for something specific: “vintage wool coat” becomes “1960s wool coat — warm, soft nap, roomy fit.” Change the cover photo. Move from an indoor yellow light to window-lit clarity.

Add a contextual image that shows scale — a chair beside a bookshelf, a lamp on a side table. Those tiny moves are often what make someone stop scrolling long enough to read.

And don’t be afraid to tweak price modestly. A small shift signals movement to algorithmic feeds; it nudges visibility. But more than price, the trick is to treat relisting as storytelling: what new angle can you show today that you didn’t show last week?

Tech That Empowers Creators: A Simple Mention of How to Relist

Tools have gotten better at handling the grunt work, which leaves more room for the human stuff that actually sells.

Saved drafts, templates, and cross-posting features take the repetitive bite out of relisting. That’s useful. But the part that makes a difference is what you change between listings.

For creators wanting to give objects another shot, learning how to relist on Facebook Marketplace (and similar platforms) efficiently can be a genuine timesaver — but it’s the creative reframe that delivers results.

A relist shouldn’t be a mindless copy/paste; it should be a new introduction. A better photo. A tidier headline. A short, thoughtful backstory. Technology frees time; imagination fills it.

Storytelling Through Listings—Bridging the Gap Between Seller and Collector

People buy things for reasons that aren’t always obvious to sellers. They buy memory, mood, and the possibility of belonging. A listing that hints at these things will do better than one that provides only measurements and condition notes.

You don’t need a long essay. Two or three sentences can be enough: where it came from, what it’s seen, how it behaves in a room.

“This chair sat in a sunroom for years” is better than “chair in good condition.” Tiny details turn furniture into characters. And characters stick.

Condition notes matter, but they don’t have to read like legalese. If an edge is worn, say so — but mention the charm in the same breath. Buyers respect honesty, and they’re attracted to authenticity. Craft the listing like a short invitation: come see what this can be in your life.

Visual Aesthetics Matter—Capturing the Essence of Each Piece

Photos are the stage. Good light. Simple backgrounds. A few angles. Close-ups of texture. That’s not glamorous — it’s practical. Natural light softens color and reveals detail; too much flash flattens life out of the image.

Show scale. A lamp looks different next to a couch than alone. A jacket draped on a person or dress form gives context that helps buyers imagine wear.

If a piece is repaired or shows wear, include a clear close-up. Honesty builds trust — and trust breeds quicker sales and repeat customers.

Also: don’t over-filter. Heavy filters can mislead on color and finish. Authenticity sells. Let the piece speak for itself.

Building a Community, Not Just a Sale

The best sellers don’t act like vending machines. They act like hosts. Quick responses. Careful packaging. A little note tucked in with the parcel. Follow-ups that ask if the piece landed well. These small human gestures turn single transactions into relationships.

Post content beyond listings: a short note about restoration, a before-and-after, a quick tip on caring for brass. Share a story about how a piece looked in its new home (with permission). 

That builds trust and keeps people coming back. Relisting becomes part of a conversation, not a one-off event.

Over time, this approach seeds a micro-community: collectors who wait for your drops, creatives who DM for tips, repeat buyers who bring friends. That’s cultural value you can’t buy with ads.

Relisting as Cultural Revival

Relisting is not a small thing. It’s a small, steady rebellion against disposability. Each relisted dress, lamp, or print is an argument for continuity: that objects can carry meaning across owners, and that time can add beauty rather than erase it.

So when something doesn’t move the first time, don’t feel embarrassed. Relist it right. Give it another voice. A second debut often finds the right audience. That’s the joy of it: the patience, the care, the slow work of rehoming history.

At the end of the day, upcycling culture is less about saving things and more about caring for stories. When you relist with thought, you’re doing both.

Offshore to Local Regulators: A Guide to Casino Licensing

Casinos are a wild ride—whether you’re pulling slots in a glitzy Vegas hall or betting online from your couch. But behind the flashing lights and big wins, there’s a serious web of rules keeping things legit. Licensing is the heartbeat of it all. Without a proper stamp of approval from a trusted regulator, a casino’s basically operating in the shadows, unable to take bets, process payouts, or even advertise in most places. The catch? Licensing isn’t the same everywhere.

Places like the UK, Malta, and Nevada, with their tough rules, get more love from players and investors, according to the ICGR review.

Why?

Less chance of fraud or legal headaches. Banks and payment companies also stick with these operators because they’re less likely to cause trouble.

You’ve got offshore islands, national governments, tribal councils, and state boards all doing their own thing, sometimes stepping on each other’s toes. Let’s dive into what this means for players, businesses, and anyone curious about how gambling stays above board.

Where Casino Licensing Began

The story of casino licensing is all about money and keeping things in check. Back in 1931, Nevada said, “Let’s make gambling legal!” to scrape together some cash during the Great Depression. The state’s Gaming Commission set the bar for tough oversight, and it’s still a model today. By 1961, the U.S. government threw in the Wire Act to stop betting from crossing state lines, putting a fence around how casinos could grow.

Across the pond, the UK got the ball rolling with the 1960 Betting and Gaming Act, and now the 2005 Gambling Act keeps things tight under the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). In Asia, Macau turned into a gambling mecca after loosening up licenses in 2002. That move, backed by Law 16/2001, created an industry that pulled in over $23 billion in 2023.

Licensing has always been a tug-of-war between making money and keeping gambling clean. Governments use it to grab taxes, protect players, and stop crooks from laundering cash through bets.

Offshore Licensing: The Easy Way In

When the internet turned gambling into a global party in the ‘90s, offshore regulators saw their chance. Places like Antigua and Barbuda started handing out licenses in 1994, followed by Curaçao in 1996 with its Master License setup. A few big players could pass out sub-licenses to tons of online casinos, making it a quick way to get in the game.

Why pick offshore? It’s cheap—think $30,000 for a license compared to six figures in places like the UK. You could get approved in weeks with barely any need to set up a local office.

But here’s the rub: these licenses often came with flimsy protections. Got a problem with a casino? Good luck getting it fixed.

Worried about money laundering? Rules were often more like suggestions. Your winnings? Not always safe.

That’s why some countries, especially in Europe, started blacklisting sites licensed in places like Curaçao.

Cracking Down for Real

By the late 2010s, the world got fed up with lax offshore rules. Big players like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the European Union leaned hard on these jurisdictions to shape up. In 2023, Curaçao said it was ditching its old system for a new one under the National Ordinance on Games of Chance. Now, casinos need a local office, tough anti-money-laundering checks, and regular audits to stay legit.

Other offshore spots, like Malta with its 2018 Gaming Act, went all-in on stricter rules. The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) makes casinos offer tools to help players gamble responsibly, verify who’s betting, and keep player money separate from business funds. It’s a sign the industry’s growing up—regulators know they need to be transparent to earn trust worldwide.

Local Regulators: The Big Leagues

United States

Everything changed in 2018 when the Supreme Court tossed out the federal sports betting ban (thanks, Murphy v. NCAA). Now, states call the shots. As of mid-2025, over 38 states plus D.C. regulate sports betting, and about 10 cover online casinos. Each state’s got its own playbook:

New Jersey

The Division of Gaming Enforcement makes casinos partner with a local brick-and-mortar spot, pass serious financial checks, and cough up over $400,000 to start. Taxes hit 8% for land-based bets and 15% online.

Pennsylvania

The Gaming Control Board charges a whopping $4 million per license for things like slots or poker, with taxes as high as 54% on online slots.

Michigan

The Gaming Control Board oversees tribal and commercial casinos, taxing online bets at 20–28%.

These state regulators don’t play—they dig deep into backgrounds, enforce anti-money-laundering rules, and push hard for responsible gambling.

Europe

  • United Kingdom: The UKGC, born from the 2005 Gambling Act, is no-nonsense. Casinos have to offer self-exclusion programs like GAMSTOP, check if players can afford their bets, and follow strict ad rules. Mess up, and you’re looking at fines—over $250 million dished out between 2017 and 2023.
  • Sweden: The Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen) licenses casinos under a 2019 law, doubling down on player safety.
  • Germany: The 2021 Interstate Treaty on Gambling keeps things tight, with rules like a €1 cap per spin on online slots.

Asia and Beyond

  • Macau: Six major players run the market under Law 16/2001, paying 35% of their revenue in taxes plus extra fees. In 2022, renewals forced them to prove they’re giving back to the community.
  • Philippines: PAGCOR oversees casinos and online operators, raking in about $1 billion in taxes in 2022.

The Global Push for Standards

Big international groups set the tone:

  • FATF: Says gambling businesses need to watch for money laundering like hawks.
  • EU Anti-Money Laundering Directives: Make casinos verify players, especially for bets over €2,000.
  • UN Office on Drugs and Crime: Ties gambling rules to fighting corruption.

Regulators who follow these get respect. Those who don’t? They’re labeled risky and left out in the cold.

Why Players Should Give a Damn

A license can save your bacon. If a casino’s got a UKGC license, you’ve got a clear path to sort out problems through official channels. An old Curaçao license? You might be shouting into the void. Licensed casinos have to:

  • Prove their games are fair with audits from folks like eCOGRA.
  • Keep your money safe, separate from their own funds.
  • Offer tools like deposit limits or time-outs to keep gambling fun, not reckless.

Unlicensed casinos? They might hold your winnings hostage, rig the games, or disappear without a trace.

Why Casinos Need Licenses

For casinos, a license is like a golden ticket. It gets them:

  • Access to payments: Banks and card companies won’t touch unlicensed operators.
  • Ad space: Licensed casinos can splash ads on Google or sponsor your favorite sports team.
  • Partnerships: In places like New Jersey, you need a state license to team up with local casinos.
  • Investor trust: Big companies like Entain need licenses to keep their shareholders smiling.

How Licensing Shapes the Money

Licensing flips the script on gambling markets. Pennsylvania’s 54% tax on slots scares off some operators but fills state coffers. New Jersey’s 15% tax lets over 30 brands duke it out, making the market vibrant. Macau’s 35% tax brings in billions but pushes casinos to chase high rollers. Malta’s 5% tax on local bets makes it a hotspot for gambling businesses.

The Pain of Staying Legit

Getting a license is a slog, and keeping it is even harder. Casinos deal with:

  • Deep dives into owners’ and directors’ pasts.
  • Yearly financial checkups.
  • Reports on sketchy bets, often anything over $3,000–$10,000.
  • Mandatory programs to promote safe gambling, like training staff and offering player tools.

Screw up, and you’re hit with fines, suspensions, or lose your license. The UKGC, for instance, has pulled licenses over shady deposits worth millions.

What’s Next: A Global Standard

As gambling spreads worldwide, things are starting to look similar. Offshore spots like Curaçao and the Isle of Man are tightening up to match global rules. New players like Brazil, with its 2023 sports betting law, or Kenya’s growing market are borrowing from the best, like the UK or Malta.

The future belongs to regulators who keep players safe, let businesses thrive, and bring in tax dollars. Those who can’t keep up? They’ll lose operators, players, and respect.

The Casino Gaming Licensing and Regulatory Landscape in Gibraltar

The Bottom Line

Casino licensing isn’t just paperwork—it’s what keeps gambling real. Offshore regulators gave newbies an easy way in back in the day, but their loose rules gave them a bad rap. Now, big dogs like the UKGC, Malta, and U.S. states set the standard, backed by global anti-crime rules.

For players, a license means you’re covered if things go south. For casinos, it’s their key to markets and money. For governments, it’s a cash machine and a way to fight crime. The future’s bright for regulators who nail this balance—because without solid licensing, gambling risks falling back into the dark.

Ranked: The 3 Best Insurance Comparison Sites for Auto, Home, and Bundles

Prices for car and home cover have jumped again, and if you are juggling rent, festival tickets, and a decent laptop, every dollar counts. Bundling can cut costs, but only if you compare like-for-like quotes from a wide range of insurers – and avoid sites that sell your info instead of showing real numbers. We put three big comparison platforms to the test with a creator’s reality in mind: city driving, renters or first homes, and gear you actually care about.

The 3-minute speed run

TL;DR quick verdicts

  • Insurify – Deepest carrier mix and cleanest no spam stance. Best starting point for serious bundle hunting.
  • Compare.com – Highly accurate, bindable rates. Great if you want precision and minimal hassle.
  • Policygenius – Strong human help and education. Fewer carriers, but excellent for first timers.

Who should use what

  • City drivers and EV owners: Insurify or Compare.com for low-mileage and pay-per-mile options.
  • Renters pairing auto + renters: Insurify or Compare.com first, then Policygenius if you want advice.
  • First-time homebuyers: Policygenius for hand-holding, verify prices on Insurify or Compare.com.

Deep dive: how each platform handles auto, home, and bundling

Insurify – The all-terrain workhorse

Auto depth: Broadest panel across national and regional carriers (500+) with real-time rates. Good at surfacing low-mileage, usage-based, and EV-friendly options.

Home depth: Strong homeowners and renters coverage options, with editable property details so you can tweak roof age, construction type, or security features without restarting the quote.

Bundling: Transparent bundle math lets you compare stand-alone vs. package pricing side by side. This is solid for renters and auto bundles if you are not ready to buy a home yet.

Trust signals: Consistently strong consumer reviews and a clear privacy policy with a no spam posture.

Who it’s for: Low-mileage city drivers, EV owners, renters who may bundle later, privacy privacy-conscious shoppers.

Watch outs: The widest net means more options to parse. Take two minutes to match deductibles and limits before comparing numbers.

Compare.com – The accuracy hawk

Auto depth: This is a large panel (120+) with bindable rates that tend to match checkout closely. It stands out for side-by-side clarity and fewer surprises when you click through to buy.

Home depth: Competitive for homeowners and renters, with smooth pathways to bundle quotes.

Bundling: Clear indicators of carriers offering meaningful multi-policy discounts and occasional single deductible claims handling.

Trust signals: Positive consumer sentiment, long-standing BBB record, and a straightforward data policy.

Who it’s for: Busy readers who want prices they can actually bind without agent games.

Watch outs: The panel is slightly smaller than Insurify, so cross-check if you live in a niche market or have a complex history.

Policygenius – The advisor in your browser

Auto depth: Leaner list of carriers than Compare.com and definitely smaller than Insurify. Car insurance is not the platform’s primary focus, but it’s backed by licensed brokers who can sanity check coverage.

Home depth: Stronger on homeowners and renters, but still not as robust as Insurify and Compare.com. with good explanations of coverage parts like extended replacement, scheduled property, and water backup.

Bundling: Helpful guidance on whether to bundle or keep lines separate based on carrier and discount math. Great for first timers who want a person to explain tradeoffs.

Trust signals: Generally strong reviews and transparent process, with clear expectations about advisor outreach.

Who it’s for: First-time homebuyers and shoppers adding scheduled coverage for cameras or instruments.

Watch outs: Fewer carriers mean fewer price points. Treat it as your advice layer and confirm prices with one of the depth leaders above.

Renters + auto vs home + auto: which bundle wins when

  • Renters + auto can be a strong interim play if you are city-based or still saving for a down payment. Savings are smaller than home + auto, but still meaningful if your auto rate just spiked.
  • Home + auto usually unlocks the biggest discounts when a carrier really wants your whole account. You will often see the best total price when both lines are with the same insurer and deductibles are aligned.
  • When to keep lines separate: If one carrier dominates on auto but is uncompetitive on home due to roof age, location risk, or past claims, you may pay less by splitting. Use two sites to test both scenarios.

Privacy and spam: a two-minute safety check

  • Look for a no spam promise and a visible carrier list. If the site only collects your info and never shows prices, it is likely lead generation.
  • Use a dedicated email alias and consider declining phone contact unless required to bind.
  • If agent calls start, say do not call and register your number on the national Do Not Call list. Reputable firms will comply.

How we ranked them for Our Culture readers

We weighted three things: 1) auto and home comparison depth across real carriers, 2) number of insurers available in the quote flow, and 3) recent consumer sentiment on independent sites like Trustpilot and Reddit. We also favored platforms with clear privacy commitments and minimal unwanted outreach. Exact scores shift over time, but the relative strengths below have been consistent across many user reports.

The ranking

  1. Insurify – Best overall for combined auto and home shopping thanks to the broadest carrier depth, strong renters support, and consistently positive reviews. Privacy stance is a plus for inbox sanity.
  2. Compare.com – A close second with highly accurate, bindable rates and a deep network. If you value precision and a clean checkout, start here or use it to validate Insurify results.
  3. Policygenius – Excellent education and human guidance, stronger on home than auto. Use it to understand coverage decisions, then confirm pricing on a depth leader.

FAQ

Is bundling auto and home always cheaper?
Usually, but not always. In high-risk home markets or with recent claims, splitting lines can win. Always run it both ways. Either way, make sure you’re comparing quotes on Insurify, Compare.com, or Policygenius to cross-check how you can save more.

How many quotes do I need?
Get quotes from at least two comparison platforms with three to five carrier results per line as a good baseline. More is better as long as you compare the same limits and deductibles.

Why did my final price change at checkout?
Small shifts happen when carriers verify data like mileage, violations, or roof age. Using platforms with bindable rates reduces surprises.

Can I add coverage for cameras, laptops, or bikes?
Yes. Ask about scheduled property on home or renters. Some sites make it easy to add during the quote; others require an agent follow up.

Key Takeaway

Start with Insurify for breadth, then cross-check with Compare.com for bindable accuracy. If you want advice, loop in Policygenius. Triangulating two of these tools usually nets the best price – without surrendering your inbox.

Between Possession and Absence: Minyu Zhu’s Interweave Series and the Evocation of Visual Discontinuity and Affective Tension

In the contemporary art context, the meaning of an artwork is no longer confined to the moment of its completion by the artist. It is instead a perceptual mechanism that is activated, circulated, and continuously generated through the act of being seen. As Rosalind Krauss has pointed out, the cultural dimension of art is expanded through circulation, display, and re-coding (The Originality of the Avant-Garde, 1985). Minyu Zhu’s Interweave series embodies precisely this generative logic of viewing: her installations do not provide a fixed vantage point, but rather, through fissures of form and tensions of space, produce an experience of rupture. The viewer, confronted with structures that appear figurative yet resist functionality, enters into a cyclical state—seeing, losing, and attempting once more to possess—yet this process can never reach completion. It is within this endless act of unfinished viewing that Zhu constructs her distinctive field of visual tension.

Cartilage vase 
mixed media,7×22cm

Through embroidery, stitching, dislocated installation, and the juxtaposition of fibers, metals, and furniture-like forms, she reorganizes the rhythm of perception within space. This spatial strategy not only interrupts visual continuity but also challenges the passivity of the spectator in the realm of visual culture. Her works compel viewers to oscillate between “image–object–structure,” undermining the modernist presumption of self-evidence in the artwork. As John Berger argued in Ways of Seeing, the act of looking is never neutral but always shaped by culture, gender, and social structures. Zhu’s works exploit non-functional structures to disrupt utilitarian modes of vision, pulling viewers into unstable, indeterminate perceptual states. In line with Laura Mulvey’s notion of the politics of the gaze, where looking is itself an enactment of structural power, Zhu effectively inverts the mechanism: her works are no longer passive objects of vision but active “agents” that set the conditions of perception, leaving viewers as involuntary participants in spaces of rupture and affective disturbance. 

Yet Zhu’s installations are not merely spatial theaters but also performative languages of materiality. From tactility and craftsmanship to spatial configuration, each visual element resists simplified seeing and creates multi-layered sensory channels. In her textile-based works, touch is no longer supplemental but becomes a core dimension of cognition. Coarse and fine interwoven threads, exposed seams, and the antagonistic pairing of fabric and metal evoke what might be called a phantom tactile experience—where the body feels “touched” despite the absence of physical contact. This summons of tactility extends beyond the physical, entering into the domain of embodied perception, transforming vision into a tactile extension. The mechanism of translation between vision and touch ensnares viewers cognitively within the work.

This practice resonates with her understanding of “the labor of the hand.” She emphasizes that “the hand is an extension of language… handcraft is not nostalgia, but a political invocation of perceptual relations.” With meticulous manual techniques, Zhu responds to the mechanical information overload of the digital era. In Interweave, she does not attempt to restore clarity of communication; instead, she excavates the failures, delays, and noise of informational processes. The ruptured embroidery, irregular seams, and tensions between fiber and metal reveal how bodily memory intervenes in technological orders. These gestures are not mere homages to traditional craft but aesthetic strategies that resist the semantics of industrial uniformity—acts of bodily intervention inscribed within material. Her stitches and assemblages are not decorative gestures but material responses to the fractures of contemporary communication: thread becomes fragments of language, fibers bear misreadings, and matter itself produces interference. Material is both signal and noise; both revelation and concealment. This “disfluent visual language” becomes a deliberate resistance to the transparency of images.

Her deployment of materials also establishes a logic of form at its threshold state: metal as skeletal framework, fabric and fiber as muscular tissue, entangled in tension, torsion, and suspension. These structures are performative not in the sense of representation, but as ongoing enactments of morphological failure. Space is no longer a neutral backdrop but an active participant, where the weight of fiber and metal induces collapse, fracture, and instability. As one enters, one steps into a sensory crisis. Through what may be called a “corporealized material language,” Zhu transforms her works into agents that interact with the viewer’s body—not static objects to be gazed upon, but responsive fields that shape the act of seeing itself.

Interweave-01 
mixed media,30x130cm

Her works resist any possibility of being “seen once and for all.” They are traps that demand repeated re-engagement through cycles of failure. In this process, viewing itself becomes a practice of “visual collecting”—not of objects, but of fragmented perceptual experiences. Each spectator loses some recognizable element within the work but gains an elusive resonance of sensation. For Zhu, “collecting” is a psychological rather than material act. Her installations resemble incomplete maps, where each encounter only traces a temporary path, never revealing the whole. The works perpetually evade classification, compelling viewers to gather fragments of perception within uncertainty and illusion. Such collecting is not about possession, but about an ethics of seeing grounded in loss. Drawing on Jacques Rancière’s notion of the “emancipated spectator,” Zhu detaches viewers from passive reception, reconfiguring them as collaborators in the production of meaning. In her nonlinear system of viewing, spectators must navigate on their own, and each disorientation becomes a site where vision regenerates itself.

In her aesthetic framework, time is not a neutral background of linear flow but is strategically embedded as a rhythm of perception. Through material indeterminacy, she produces ruptures of temporality, delaying the spectator’s ability to complete the act of seeing. One cannot instantly arrive at comprehension, but must linger precariously at the cliff edge of judgment. Her strategy of de-functionalization extends beyond the physical to the perceptual: chairs cannot be sat upon, frames cannot support, structures appear usable but remain inoperative. This persistent failure of “potential function” provokes reflections on use, order, and logic, and these reflections themselves become part of the act of seeing. Zhu’s installations are not made to be “understood” but to be “endlessly failed at in viewing.” Such aestheticized failure is both strategy and critique—an ironic counter to consumption, efficiency, and mastery. She engineers delay through material, suspension through structure, forcing the spectator into states of pause, oscillation, and unresolved tension between the familiar and the strange.

The Grid 
mixed media , 30x65cm + 30x65cm
Interweave series 
mixed media,multiple sizes

Her work is not about the display of objects but about the sustained interrogation of seeing. What she creates are visual events that cannot be completed in a single encounter nor easily categorized, becoming fissures and reverberations within the perceptual system of the viewer. Here, viewing is not an act of completion but an unfinished and recursive process. She reveals how seeing becomes a form of psychic weaving—not about possessing the artwork, but about undergoing it; not about reading the work, but about being read within it. By constructing logics of perpetual incompletion, Zhu transforms art into an apparatus of continual perceptual generation. In this sense, the spectator is no longer a detached observer but an indispensable co-conspirator within the structure of the work. They cannot withdraw, nor can they possess; they can only, through recurring loss, become weavers of perceptual resonance and memory. And thus, art itself eludes the closure of objecthood, remaining instead as an unfinished, ongoing labor of seeing.

False Sexual Empowerment: Calayah’s Critique of the Construction of Female-Dominant (giver) Identities

Inside the Futanari Clinic, a surgical operation unfolds in which the female sexual organ is reassembled: accompanied by the tearing of flesh, this near-death experience rearranges the female body into something uncanny. Through this corporeal mutation, she is reborn within another body—one marked by a newly constructed identity: that of the dominator. (Futanari: Anime characters with both male and female genitalia, usually female-presenting.)

Queer artist Calayah, through the act of pegging, invites us to reconsider how femininity, sexuality, and identity are translated, imitated, and technologically produced and reproduced. Through this performance that converts females into intersex subjects with dildos via an operation at once excruciatingly painful and strangely sweet, she explores the false sexual empowerment granted to women within the phallocentric script of pegging. Her work exposes the gendered masquerade and performativity of sexuality, interrogating the disciplinary power of patriarchal sexual scripts over women’s embodied subjectivity.

Calayah’s artistic practice generates a profound sense of tension, juxtaposing qualities that appear contradictory—sweetness and violence, bliss and horror. Influenced by Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s seventeenth-century sculpture The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, she captures the paradoxical affect of pain fused with joy, even ecstasy with surrender.

Upon closer scrutiny, viewers encounter the concealed horror underlying this sweetness, subtly embedded within the visual composition. The immaculate white birthday cake, for example, symbolizes the female body prior to social inscription. Yet once penetrated by the surrogate phallus, the cake is violently transformed—mirroring the enforced reconstruction of the body. The operating table offers a deceptive serenity, a brief anesthetized sweetness that accompanies corporeal laceration and the experience of nearly crossing into death. In this process, both psyche and soma are radically altered.

Following Michel Foucault, sexuality could be understood as socially and historically constructed, often serving political or ideological functions. Gender oppression, in particular, is rendered insidiously invisible because of its de-politicization: instead of being framed as a field of power, it is naturalized and stripped of its political dimensions.

The politics of gender thus interrogates unequal relations of domination and subordination. For contemporary women, the articulation of desire is mediated by structural power relations, out of which the practice of pegging emerges. Pegging is characterized by three salient features: gender reversal, phallic centrality, and the assertion of both active female desire and male anal pleasure. At its core, however, pegging is a replication of masculinity: once women don the prosthetic phallus, they enact traits long attributed to hegemonic male dominance. They stand taller, their voices deepen, their authority is amplified.

John Gagnon and William Simon’s Sexual Conduct (1973) introduced their sexual scripts theory, which posits that all social behavior—including sexual conduct—follows culturally constituted scripts. As Shakespeare famously wrote, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” Sexual scripts theory rejects the notion of sexuality as a raw impulse, conceiving it instead as scripted performance within social conventions.

In phallocentric discourse, penetrative intercourse is positioned as the climactic centerpiece of sexual activity—equated with sex itself. Correspondingly, the erasure of the clitoris in social discourse mirrors its marginalization within heterosexual sexual scripts. In pegging, although women derive psychological pleasure from disrupting conventional gendered positions, physical pleasure remains comparatively minor. The emphasis continues to fall on reproductive utility, while female pleasure itself is conceptually absent. Desire and corporeality become entirely disembodied.

Precisely because gender oppression is structurally concealed, women engaging in pegging often do not perceive their disciplining within a patriarchal frame. As Calayah asserts: “Empowered women do not need to look for another symbol to replace the penis.” While pegging undoubtedly offers women access to a dominator’s identity, such empowerment remains tethered to the replication of masculine forms of dominance and therefore circulates within patriarchal discourse. In a culture where women’s opportunities remain constrained, envy is directed not toward male anatomy but toward male power and privilege. The phallus becomes a convenient synecdoche of structural inequality. Otherwise, why is there so little talk of “womb envy,” despite the uterus’ reproductive primacy?

Within the Futanari Clinic, Calayah dramatizes the psychic intensification of phallic envy. The surgical environment materializes a cult of the phallus, visually staging how pegging produces a “new male.” Ritualistic tropes abound: candles kindle the sacred, white surgical caps suggest sublimated libido. The use of water-filled condoms invokes a metaphor for phallic envy—women’s symbolic longing for power mapped onto prosthetic substitution. Their limp, suggestively absent-yet-present forms function as metaphors for the omnipresence of phallocentrism in patriarchal culture.

Significantly, even as Calayah identifies pegging as a trap of false empowerment, she posits a cautious optimism: “Admittedly, pegging destabilizes heterosexual structures to a certain extent. Women become subjects of desire—a phenomenon emerging from women’s rising consciousness. Yet I consider such awareness of feminine sexual subjectivity still in its developmental stage. In the future, women need more freedom, inclusivity, and love in the external environment, so as to cultivate diverse, intersubjective sexual scripts.”

How Hawaiian Postcards Preserve Cultural Heritage

Postcards serve as powerful cultural artifacts, preserving the essence of diverse traditions and landscapes. Their evolution from simple communication tools to vibrant cultural touchstones is remarkable. Hawaiian postcards stand out, offering a vivid glimpse into the region’s rich heritage and artistic legacy.

Throughout history, postcards have captured the imagination of people worldwide, serving as tangible expressions of culture and art. Hawaii paintings postcards play a unique role in this narrative, encapsulating the beauty and spirit of Hawaiian heritage for a global audience. These postcards not only preserve cultural imagery but also provide a bridge between tradition and modern artistic practices. As you explore their significance, you’ll discover how these small yet powerful pieces of art continue to make an impact on both local communities and international admirers.

The historical evolution of postcards in art

The transformation of postcards from mere utilitarian objects into meaningful cultural artifacts reflects a broader shift in how art is perceived and shared. Originally designed for brief communications, postcards began to incorporate vibrant imagery and artistic designs over time. This evolution coincided with advancements in printing technology, allowing artists to reproduce their works affordably and widely.

By the early 20th century, postcards had become a popular medium for artists to showcase their creativity while reaching diverse audiences. The ability to convey complex themes through a compact format made them attractive to collectors and enthusiasts alike. As this trend grew, postcards were increasingly recognized not just as souvenirs but as valuable pieces of art that told stories about the places they depicted.

In this context, Hawaii emerged as a particularly rich subject for postcard artistry. The islands’ natural beauty and unique culture offered artists endless inspiration. Consequently, Hawaiian-themed postcards became cherished keepsakes for travelers and collectors worldwide, further cementing their place in the history of art.

Hawaiian postcards as a window to tradition

Hawaiian postcards serve as visual storytellers, capturing the essence of the islands’ vibrant culture and traditions. These small pieces of art often depict iconic landscapes such as lush rainforests, pristine beaches, and volcanic mountains. Beyond landscapes, they highlight significant cultural motifs like hula dancers, traditional festivals, and native wildlife.

For many artists, creating these postcards involves drawing from deeply rooted cultural symbols that resonate with both locals and visitors. The intricate designs reflect a respect for heritage while embracing contemporary artistic techniques. As a result, Hawaiian postcards are not only visually striking but also culturally significant.

These artworks offer a glimpse into Hawaii’s past while celebrating its present. They bridge generations by preserving stories that might otherwise fade away. By capturing moments in time through artistic expression, Hawaiian postcards continue to be cherished by those who appreciate the beauty of tradition intertwined with modernity.

Global impact and reach of Hawaii postcards

The global appeal of Hawaiian postcards lies in their ability to convey universal themes through localized imagery. These postcards have traveled far beyond the islands’ shores, reaching audiences worldwide who seek an authentic connection with Hawaiian culture.

Their widespread distribution has been facilitated by tourism and collector networks that value both aesthetic quality and cultural authenticity. As travelers take these mementos home or share them with friends abroad, they spread awareness about Hawaii’s unique heritage while fostering cross-cultural appreciation.

Artists contribute significantly to this global dialogue by infusing their work with personal interpretations of Hawaiian themes. By doing so, they ensure that each postcard is not only a snapshot of paradise but also an invitation to explore deeper cultural narratives. For those interested in contemporary interpretations, Nataliia Rasina offers a unique perspective that enriches the ongoing conversation about Hawaiian art.

6 Albums Out Today to Listen To: Sabrina Carpenter, Blood Orange, The Beths, and More

In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on August 29, 2025:


Sabrina Carpenter, Man’s Best Friend

Man's Best FriendOne year after the breakthrough success of Short n’ Sweet, Sabrina Carpenter has returned with Man’s Best Friend. Produced by Jack Antonoff’, the record was led by the single ‘Manchild’, an early contender for Song of the Summer. “The album is not for any pearl clutchers,” Carpenter told CBS Mornings of the project. “But I also think that even pearl clutchers can listen to an album like that in their own solitude and find something that makes them smirk and chuckle to themselves.” It’s not so much the lyrics themselves that might cause such a reaction, but the elegant ballads they’re often packaged in; on the swooning ‘We Almost Broke Up Again’, for example, she sings, “Gave him his whole heart, and I gave him head.” She’s never sounded more relaxed in her comedic chops.


Blood Orange, Essex Honey

Essex HoneyDev Hynes has released Essex Honey, the first Blood Orange album in seven years. Revolving around his childhood growing up outside of the Essex region in England, it’s billed as a “soundtrack created from a dreamscape of his journey working through grief.” It’s also a perfectly hazy, gorgeous, and evocative album to get lost in, especially at the end of summer. Previewed by the singles ‘Mind Loaded’, ‘Somewhere In Between’, ‘The Field’, and ‘Countryside’, the record features contributions from Lorde, Caroline Polachek, Daniel Caesar, Mustafa, Liam Benzvi, Turnstile’s Brendan Yates, Wet’s Kelly Zutrau, Tariq Al-Sabir, author Zadie Smith, actors Naomi Scott and Amandala Stenberg, and more.


The Beths, Straight Line Was a Lie

The Beths album coverLinear progression is generally a myth, yet one often projected onto artists, who must continually level up their sound without straying from their original vision. The Beths have indeed tightened, coloured, and expanded their approach since their 2018 breakout Future Me Hates Me, and while they’re not quite making a statement about their own trajectory with Straight Line Was a Lie, their fourth album, the titular realization extends to the way they handle both lyrics and instrumentation: careening between the immediacy, anxiety, and tenderness of their previous albums, but leaving space for different shades of weariness and anhedonia, a void that doesn’t dull so much as activate a new side of New Zealand quartet’s sound. Read the full review.


Hayley Williams, Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party coverEarlier this summer, Hayley Williams of Paramore put out an album’s worth of songs on a password-protected website, then officially released them as 17 separate singles. Now, these songs have been packaged into an album called Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, with a bonus track, ‘Parachute’, tucked at the end of the tracklist. Williams and Daniel James wrote, played, and recorded most instruments on the record, with assistance from longtime collaborators Brian Robert Jones and Joey Howard. Physical releases will follow on November.


CMAT, EURO-COUNTRY

EURO-Country album coverIrish songwriter Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson has released her latest album as CMAT, the audacious, witty, and soulful EURO-COUNTRY. In press materials, she described the follow-up to Crazymad, For Me as, “I think, the best thing I have ever made. I felt halfway through recording it was the most important record I’ve made for myself… mainly because it was making me go crazy.” Thompson added: “I’m always going to make the work I want to make, because there is a little gremlin in my head that tells me if it’s shit. More than success, there’s a bigger gremlin that wants me to make music that’s really good. She’s brutal and has ruined my life at times, but she is the keeper of my life and she’s always right.”


The Berries, The Berries

The BerriesMatthew Berry, who has been a member of Happy Diving and Big Bite as well as Hotline TNT’s live band, has released his self-titled album as The Berries. Co-produced by Jimmy Dixon, The Berries features contributions from Narrow Head’s Kora Puckett, studio drummer Bryan De Leon (The Drums, Ethel Cain), Color Green’s Corey Madden, and poet/musician Julia Lans Nowak. “This record came out of a need to break from my old self, to break from a lifestyle that I could no longer bear waking up to everyday,” Berry explained. “It’s equally fueled by remorse and relief — I can rejoice a bit in having found a renewed purpose, but I had to finally stare down everything that was standing in the way of that sense of dignity first.”


Other albums out today:

Margo Price, Hard Headed Woman; Ganser, Animal Hospital; Runnner, A Welcome Kind of Weakness; The Beaches, No Hard Feelings; The Hives, The Hives Forever Forever the Hives; Lathe of Heaven, Aurora; Erykah Badu & The Alchemist, Abi & Alan; Google Earth, Mac OS X 10.11; Nova Twins, Parasites & Butterflies; End It, Wrong Side of Heaven; Jehnny Beth, You Heartbreaker You; Zach Top, Ain’t in It for My Health; Oren Ambarchi / Johan Berthling / Andreas Werliin, Ghosted III; Belinda Carlisle, Once Upon A Time in California; Pinkshift, Earthkeeper; Pearly Drops, The Voices Are Coming Back; Slow Crush, Thirst; Shannon, Krgovich, Tenniscoats, Wao; Eiko Ishibashi & Jim O’Rourke, Pareidolia; Tim Carr, Pleasure Drives; quinnie, paper doll; The Technicolors, Heavy Pulp; Modern Nature, The Heat Warps; myah, i don’t know what i’m feeling; Christian Wallumrod, Percolation.

Alabama Shakes Share First New Song in a Decade

Alabama Shakes have returned with their first new song in a decade. ‘Another Life’, which marks the rock band’s first original track since 2015’s Sound & Color – as well as their debut for new label home Island – is moving and gracefully arranged. Check it out below.

“When I wrote ‘Another Life,’ I was thinking about all the lives we carry,” vocalist and guitarist Brittany Howard said in a statement. “The ones we’re living right now, the ones that slipped away because of different choices, the what ifs, the what wasn’t meant to be, the goodbyes, and the chance encounters that feel divine. This song is about those threads and how they stretch across time and space, connecting every version of who we are. It’s about letting them come together, letting them harmonize, and realizing that goodbye isn’t really goodbye. It’s more like I’ll see you later. A collective story that never stops unfolding. I’m glad we opened this door into this reality of us making music together again.”