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For Valentino Spring 2026 Couture, Alessandro Michele Made Everyone Watch Through A Peephole

Vera Adamidou
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For Valentino Spring 2026 Couture, Alessandro Michele Made Everyone Watch Through A Peephole

“And I was dreaming, dreaming, about movie stars, dreaming about everything beautiful in the world. My mother said, you are a dreamer. You always dream, dream, dream, about stupid things. I was always so attracted to magazines, to films. I had a sister and she took me for the first time to see some films, and to me it was the dream of my life to see those beautiful ladies of the silverscreen. You know for me, a young guy of thirteen, to see this sort of beauty… I think, from that moment, I decided I wanted to create clothes for ladies.” Valentino Garavani’s voice, which we lost a few days before the show, was the one to open it.

Screenshot of the Valentino maison featuring a Kaiserpanorama on Instagram
@maisonvalentino via Instagram

Who would’ve thought, back in the 1940s, when Valentino’s dresses were still just an idea in the head of a 13-year-old boy, that those silverscreen stars would one day become iPhone stars, dressed in Valentino red and awkwardly peeking through a hole in the wall, all in the name of the maison’s craftsmanship, 64 creative years later? About those holes… ever heard of a Kaiserpanorama? Don’t worry if you haven’t, it’s a late 1800s invention. Michele built intricate wooden orbs with “windows” for the guests’ eyes all around, the model standing in the center. Then the lights went down, the model shifted behind another hole, and suddenly you had a new one to peek at. You had no choice but to slow down and actually look. No rushing, no distractions, just a moment to lean in and appreciate like a polite little spy.

Instagram screenshot of Numero Magazine featuring a runway moment of the Valentino couture ss26 show
@numeromagazine via Instagram

And what would a couture spy see at an Alessandro Michele for Valentino Couture show, you ask? To start, Valentino rosso, 1920s feathers on the head, a mythic queen’s crown, 1940s Old Hollywood glam, Medieval sculptural shapes, 1980s shoulder pads at full drama, sequins flirting with sheerness, sheerness flirting with volumes, volumes flirting with drapes. Basically, everything bold you can imagine, and then some. Fashion really does still draw from films.

Instagram screenshot of Numero Magazine featuring a runway moment of the Valentino couture ss26 show
@numeromagazine via Instagram

People argue that Michele’s work doesn’t look like Valentino’s. Of course it doesn’t. If it did, fashion’s Last Emperor wouldn’t be the last one. Heritage is great, nostalgia is fun, stories are lovely, but a maison can’t be frozen in time. Respect it, love it, take notes, then let it breathe. The world moves, fashion moves, and after 2025, it’s pretty clear that creative directors move too. Here’s to new talent honoring the past, and the familiar ones finding the right way forward. A storied house grows with its people, not just its seams.

“Today, Valentino’s absence is real, tangible. It tears open a deep and painful void. Nevertheless, his presence is still warmly felt.” […] “His passing does not stop the movement he set in motion. Rather, it calls on us to live up to what remains. And we continue to work within this space: not to fill an absence, but to preserve it. Only by accepting such a void, with no intention to fill it, can Valentino’s legacy remain what has always been: an idea of beauty conceived as a noble form of responsibility toward time, bodies and the world we are given to cross.”

– Alessandro Michele

Ronker: ‘We missed our life – because we did everything for rock and roll’

Priya Elan
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Ronker: ‘We missed our life – because we did everything for rock and roll’

The cocaine-caked, boozed-soaked hamster wheel of rock laughs mirthlessly at those who can’t keep up with its constant rotations. Gig. Party. Repeat is the deliciously enticing recipe that can turn into a destabilising prison sentence and knock a mere mortal into the deep weeds.

After touring for their debut Fear Is a Funny Thing, Now Smile Like a Big Boy, Belgian speedmetal quartet Ronker were ready to write about their experiences on the knife-edge of their rock and roll dream. Ecstatically received live show (with the revved-up, scissor-kicking energy of The Hives in their prime) and a Hard Days Night sense of mischief (see the synchronised dance moves in the gym kink video for No Sweat) are one thing. The fading out of another reality is another.  “We’re in our thirties and all our friends are having kids and buying houses,” says hound-dog-moustached leader Jasper De Petter over Zoom. “We missed our life – because we did everything for rock and roll.”

The mirror had two faces: sex, drugs and rock and roll. But also overwhelm, exhaustion and burnout. Both were funhouse distortions. Recorded almost live, the Belgian band’s second album Respect the Hustle, I Won’t Be Your Dog Forever is a wild and visceral examination of those dualities. Written over 8 months in between playing 40 shows and recorded relatively quickly, it’s an album that attacks you with vigilant chords, hysterical delivery, and street poetry that cuts to the quick. “They say rock and roll’s a lifestyle…I’m a slut for the game,” De Petter sings in his hair-standing-up-on-the-ends-of-your-arms bark on the joyride thrash of sort of title track ‘Respect the Hustle’, while on the My Chemical Romance-esque pelt ‘Tall Stories’ he shrieks on burning out “like a fast flame.” There’s a manic, fevered energy to the songs and a little bit of vaudevillian mischief evidenced in the videos for ‘Limelighter’ and ‘No Sweat’, playing on the metaphors of music biz as circus and gym, respectively. Let’s get physical…

“The first half of the album is this beating heart, rock and roll monster. Like ‘I want to taste it all, let’s go!,'” he says. The hideous hustle was real but going scorched earth was only half the tale. “It’s really praising this hedonistic lifestyle,” says De Petter, “and the second half is distancing yourself from it. Like my body can’t go on like this and my mental state is deteriorating.”

The band tapped into this side by writing these songs sober. “We put the brakes on,” he says. “We weren’t drinking. We weren’t doing any narcotics. We’d get in a room, talk and play these ‘songy’ tunes. A different kind of aggression came up. It’s more like a frustration.”

Recent single, the bare boned Snuff which could be from a musical set in hell, is the most raw of these ‘songy’ tunes. “The bottle is hard to ignore,” De Petter sings, where the morning after beer fear has become the clarity of a naked desperation. While the Kyuss-meets-Bloc Party breakneck descent of ‘Disco Dust’ is even balder in its assessments that: “addiction doesn’t discriminate…addiction it doesn’t give a fuck.” It’s a cold slap in the face after the ratatat of what’s come before.

Reality and fiction blur, as the band conceptualised a soft narrative for the album, in the style of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars and Jesus Christ Superstar. “You have this Messiah type of figure at the centre,” explains De Petter, “and at the end of the story they realise ‘the joke’s on me.'”

But the joke’s definitely not on Ronker. Respect the Hustle, I Won’t Be Your Dog Forever is electrifying and raw, alive with spiked intensity. The cinematic quality is visible, not over-egged and it feels like a modern classic. Reality dipped in the hazy honey of a fiction.

After intense gigging and recording, De Petter says the making of it brought the band closer together. “I think we know what our band’s about now,” he says. “We talked a lot while we were making music.  There was some health stuff going on for family members of the band. And it became a safe space for us.”

The morning of the first show of the new era, De Petter admits it’s “a little bit terrifying” to be playing the new songs for a crowd. But, he says “I think it’ll be fun,” and we can’t imagine it being anything but that.

Respect the Hustle, I Won’t Be Your Dog Forever is out now.

Choose Crypto for What It Does, Not What It Costs

Our Culture Mag & Partners
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Choose Crypto for What It Does, Not What It Costs

Map crypto to familiar buckets: store of value, cash/cash-like, growth tech, yield/credit, commodities, venture, collectibles, and infrastructure.

  • Bitcoin = “digital gold.” Low long-term correlation to equities (~0.2–0.3, regime-dependent), hard-capped supply, halving cycles. Volatile, yes. But scarcity is the thesis.
  • Stablecoins and tokenized T‑Bills = cash equivalents/FX. Think money-market rails with 24/7 settlement. What if liquidity moved at internet speed?
  • Ethereum and major Layer 1s = software platforms. Like owning an OS with fees (gas) tied to usage. Narrative is network effects, not cash flow certainty.
  • ETH gas/staking = commodity + yield. Staking resembles a variable “dividend” with slashing/tech risks. Not risk-free. Not a bond.
  • DeFi lending = high-yield credit without intermediaries. Smart contract risk replaces bank risk. Would you trust code over a balance sheet?
  • NFTs = art/IP/collectibles. Illiquid. Narrative-driven. Treat as passion capital.
  • Small-cap tokens = venture/EM beta. Big upside. Big drawdowns.
  • Picks-and-shovels = exchanges, custodians, miners (equities). Cleaner governance, clearer audits. Environmental footprint? Improving with renewables and methane capture, but still debated.

Which crypto categories matter for utility over hype?

Utility lives where crypto reduces friction: stablecoins, Bitcoin, smart-contract platforms, tokenized real‑world assets, and core DeFi rails. Many users start with USDT and sometimes exchange usdt to usdc to access a fully-backed, regulated stablecoin, reducing issuer risk while keeping funds ready for payments, DeFi, or staking.

Need 24/7 dollars that move at email speed? Stablecoins settle in minutes and already move trillions monthly. Bitcoin offers censorship-resistant collateral, deep liquidity, and derivative markets, while Ethereum and PoS peers (plus rollups) enable contracts, identity, and compliance tooling—fast and programmable, but exposed to smart-contract and governance risks.

Looking for yield without exotic tokens? Tokenized T‑Bills and money‑market funds bring on‑chain cash management, with KYC and custody trade‑offs. Need market plumbing? DeFi AMMs, lending, and on‑chain oracles provide transparent price discovery, though liquidation and oracle risk remain.

Cross‑border remittances and NGO aid? Stablecoins deliver inclusion and speed, if local laws allow. Freedom to move value. Responsibility to manage risk.

What does Bitcoin’s store-of-value and payments role mean for allocation?

Treat Bitcoin primarily as a high-volatility store‑of‑value sleeve—1–3% core—with only a small, optional 0–1% “payments optionality” overlay. Not a payments bet. Not yet.

Why? Today’s adoption is “digital gold”: 21 million supply cap, halving-driven scarcity, deep liquidity via spot ETFs, and improving (but variable) correlations to gold and risk assets. Looking for an inflation hedge with equity‑like drawdowns? Size it like venture‑tier gold.

Payments is upside, not baseline. On‑chain settlement remains slow and fee‑sensitive; Lightning Network and other Layer‑2 rails are growing but unproven at global scale. Curious about remittances and cross‑border independence? Keep it small until throughput, security, and UX harden.

Risk first: 60–80% peak‑to‑trough drawdowns happen; rebalance with bands (e.g., 25–50% drift) and stress test against liquidity crunches. Track Sharpe, rolling correlations, and ETF flows.

ESG matters: mining is shifting toward renewables, waste‑heat reuse, and methane abatement, but scrutiny persists. Comfortable with that trajectory? Allocate. If not, keep exposure minimal or indirect.

How do Ethereum, Solana, and Layer-2 ecosystems create value?

Value accrues by selling scarce blockspace and compounding network effects into fees, staking returns, and app-driven demand for ETH and SOL.

Why does blockspace matter? Every DeFi trade, NFT mint, or on-chain game buys it. Ethereum converts demand into fee revenue and token scarcity via EIP-1559 burns; net issuance can turn deflationary when activity spikes. Stakers (or via Lido) earn yield from priority fees and MEV—akin to a dividend with variable cash flows and tech risk.

Layer-2s—Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, zkSync, Polygon zkEVM—scale Ethereum with rollups. They cut gas costs, widen the funnel, and remit value back through ETH used for security and data availability. Shared security, EVM composability, OP Stack flywheels—network effects in action.

Solana bets on high throughput and fast finality. Lower fees, monolithic design, growing DeFi/NFT/consumer apps. But outages happened; concentration risk exists.

Environmental angle? Ethereum’s proof-of-stake slashed energy use ~99%. Solana’s emissions are offset programs. Freedom to build. Freedom to exit. Still, smart-contract risk, sequencer centralization, and regulatory uncertainty remain.

Where do stablecoins and DeFi generate real cash-like utility in crypto?

Stablecoins already deliver cash-like utility: 24/7 dollars and instant, low-cost settlement at global scale.

Need dollars on a Sunday? Want to pay a supplier in minutes, not days? Stablecoins like USDC and USDT move trillions annually on-chain, enabling cross-border payroll, B2B settlement, and remittances often under 1% fees. In inflation-hit markets, self-custodied dollars mean independence from local currency risk.

DeFi turns that liquidity into functional money markets. Aave and Compound offer overcollateralized lending for working capital and treasury management. Curve and Uniswap enable tight-spread stable swaps—think on-chain FX. MakerDAO channels reserves into short-duration Treasuries, passing yield via the DAI Savings Rate, while tokenized T-bill products (e.g., OUSG, USDY, BUIDL) provide transparent, cash-like yield with on-chain settlement.

Honest risks: depegs (see USDC–SVB), reserve opacity, blacklisting, smart-contract exploits, and liquidity vanishing in stress. Regulation is evolving. Due diligence is non-negotiable.

Which crypto infrastructure and middleware have durable moats?

Durable moats are rare; they cluster where network effects, compliance, and deep integrations meet.

Where are they strongest? Oracles (Chainlink) with multi-chain integrations and high-stakes SLAs. Indexing (The Graph) embedded across dApps. Institutional custody and on/off-ramps (Coinbase, Anchorage, Fireblocks) where licenses, bank rails, and audits create switching costs. Liquidity-based staking middleware (Lido) locking user habits and integrations. Developer platforms (Infura, Alchemy) powering wallets like MetaMask. Sequencing/MEV infrastructure (Flashbots) with builder-relay ecosystems. Data availability layers (Celestia) if rollup adoption compounds. Feels centralized? That’s the trade-off for reliability and compliance.

What about L2 rollups? Moats hinge on sequencer neutrality, liquidity, and app distribution—watch Optimism’s Superchain and Arbitrum’s ecosystem grants. Bridges (Wormhole, LayerZero) win if they secure the most flows and partners.

Risks? Open-source commoditization, regulator dependence, cloud outages, MEV centralization. Opportunity? Own the picks-and-shovels. Cleaner footprints via proof-of-stake and efficient data centers. Want independence from single vendors? Favor multi-client, multi-cloud infra and credibly neutral governance.

How should you value crypto by use case, not just price action?

Value crypto by what it does and what it earns, not just what it trades at.

What problem is solved, for whom, and at what unit cost? For “digital gold” (Bitcoin), test durability: hash rate, security spend, holder distribution, and energy mix. For “programmable money” (Ethereum, Solana), examine cash flows: protocol revenue (gas/fees), net issuance after burns (EIP‑1559), staking yields after inflation, and Layer‑2 take rates. For DeFi, demand real economics: fee share to tokenholders, TVL stability vs “mercenary” liquidity, MEV capture, default/loss history. For oracles (Chainlink), price the data economy: paying integrations, update frequency, and margins. For payments and remittances, compare all‑in costs and settlement speed to Visa or SWIFT. For storage (Filecoin/Arweave), benchmark $/TB, durability, and enterprise uptake.

Ask: are users real? Active addresses, retained cohorts, developer activity. Beware token dilution, governance capture, wash trading, and regulatory overhang. Freedom is utility: lower fees, open access, censorship resistance. Environmental? Prefer miners using stranded or renewable energy; measure, don’t assume.

Best Place To Live In California 2026

Our Culture Mag & Partners
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Best Place To Live In California 2026

Relocating to California is a major life decision, and choosing the right city can shape your finances, career, and overall happiness for years. In 2026, many people are rethinking what “best” really means. Instead of chasing famous cities, smart relocators are looking for places that offer balance. The goal is not perfection. It is finding a city where daily life feels manageable and rewarding at the same time.

What Most People Need When They Relocate

When people move to California, they usually face the same challenges. Housing costs feel overwhelming. Commute times can eat into personal life. Job security matters more than scenery once the move is complete. A good place to live solves these problems instead of adding new ones.

The best cities are those where income aligns better with expenses, neighborhoods are clearly defined, and newcomers can settle in without constant financial stress. This matters even more in 2026, as people are prioritizing stability and quality of life over status.

Why San Diego Stands Out Overall

San Diego is often considered the best place to live because it performs well across many important areas without extreme tradeoffs. The job market is diverse, with opportunities in healthcare, biotech, education, tourism, defense, and professional services. This variety helps people who relocate without a guaranteed role or those who may want flexibility in the future.

The city is also easier to navigate compared to larger metros. Neighborhoods feel distinct, and it is possible to choose an area that fits your lifestyle rather than forcing yourself into one expensive zone. While housing is not cheap, it feels more predictable. Many newcomers find success by renting first, exploring inland neighborhoods, and avoiding rushed decisions. This approach often leads to better long-term satisfaction.

Lifestyle Matters More Than You Expect

One reason San Diego works well for relocators is how it supports everyday life. Good weather, outdoor access, and a calmer pace make it easier to build routines that reduce stress. This is especially helpful when you are new and trying to create a sense of home.

Unlike cities where entertainment always costs money, San Diego offers simple ways to enjoy free time. Walkable areas, parks, beaches, and community events help newcomers meet people without pressure. These details may seem small, but they make a big difference when adjusting to a new city.

Comparing Other Popular Relocation Options

Not everyone will find San Diego to be the perfect fit. Sacramento appeals to people who want more space and a realistic path to homeownership. It works well for those in government, healthcare, logistics, and education, and it often provides lower monthly pressure on household budgets.

Irvine attracts families and professionals who value structure, safety, and strong schools. It is well planned and consistent, which helps people who want predictability. The tradeoff is cost, but smaller homes or longer-term rentals can make it workable.

San Jose fits people focused on career acceleration, especially in tech. The income potential is high, but so are expenses. Relocators here usually need a clear financial plan and flexibility with housing choices.

How to Relocate With Confidence

A successful move starts with setting clear limits before you arrive. Decide on a maximum housing budget that includes utilities and transportation. Be honest about commute tolerance, because traffic affects quality of life more than most people expect. Visit neighborhoods during regular weekdays to see how they really function.

Many people find it helpful to secure short-term housing first. This gives you time to explore and prevents costly mistakes. Planning ahead turns a stressful move into a controlled transition.

The idea of Living In California often comes with high expectations, but the reality depends on preparation and location choice. In 2026, San Diego remains the best overall place to live for most people because it balances opportunity, lifestyle, and livability. With realistic planning and the right city, relocating can become a fresh start instead of a financial burden.

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Return With New Song ‘Sunburned in London’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Return With New Song ‘Sunburned in London’

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever are back with a new song, their first new music since 2022’s Endless Rooms. The glimmering ‘Sunburned in London’ arrives with a video shot at Melbourne’s Northcote Theatre, featuring Stella Donnelly, Sophie Ozard, and Julia Wallace on backing vocals and keys. Check it out below.

“As a band, we have always made songs about cities,” the band’s Tom Russo said in a statement. “I was thinking about sensory overload and relentless beauty, and the creeping feeling in the streets that the party’s winding up and the lights are about to come on.”

The Weirdest, Messiest, and Most Memorable Moments of the 2026 Grammys

Konstantinos Pappis
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The Weirdest, Messiest, and Most Memorable Moments of the 2026 Grammys

Ever prone to alliteration, I considered using “mildest” as the first superlative in the title of this 2026 Grammys recap, but let’s face it: Mildness is a defining quality of music’s biggest night, not a momentary one. To sit through eight hours of the Recording Academy handing out awards (including the pre-telecast Premiere ceremony, where the majority of the awards are given), you have to be either contractually obligated, financially invested, or nominated, and for those of us who have to pull an all-nighter in order to do so, it is especially hard not to lose interest. What’s the point of singling out the blandest parts of a ceremony – Trevor Noah’s insufferable jokes, Pharrell’s corny advice, Billie Eilish snagging a trophy two years after her last album was released, an Alex Warren performance that somehow made you miss Benson Boone – whose aftertaste is normally a resounding “Meh”?

What, you may add, is the point in caring about any of it? The Grammys have always skirted the line between celebratory and self-congratulatory, and veering too far to the wrong side has a way of undercutting their occasional significance. Sabrina Carpenter, who walked away empty-handed despite proving that she should be on the performers list every year, got a chuckle out of me when she asked everyone looking for a little validation to stand up during ‘Manchild’. (Unlike Noah, she understands that a good roast should always reflect back on one’s own frailty.) Whether in a genuine attempt to recognise excellence in music, correct past wrongs, or stay relevant, however, the Recording Academy gets some things right. And sometimes, when it does, you get the sense that it’s worth the spectacle.

This feeling was ignited in me early on, when the Cure won their first Grammy. And then when FKA twigs pulled a surprise win in a male-dominated Best Dance/Electronic Album field, even though presenter Darren Criss hilariously butchered the pronunciation of EUSEXUA. And then when Turnstile, sincere as ever, accepted their awards. But there was always room for the Grammys to mess up in the main ceremony. Yet despite the inevitable messiness, there was something genuine that reverberated through the pageantry of it all, a reminder that the people behind today’s most popular recordings are more important than celebrities breaking records.

Let’s sort out the most bizarre, chaotic, and commendable parts of the night, shall we? (Sorry, Rap Album of the Year GNX just isn’t that wordplay-friendly.) I’ll let you draw the line wherever you want.

First-Time Winners the Cure, Kehlani, Turnstile, and… His Holiness the Dalai Lama

This year’s first-time winners were a weird, cross-generational mix that included the Cure, Kehlani, Turnstile, Clipse, FKA twigs, and Tyler Childers. Rufus Wainwright, accepting the Dalai Lama’s award for Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling, offered one of the most quotable lines of the night: “Obviously, I’m not the Dalai Lama.” I’ll be using it next time I’m about to give someone advice.

Justin Bieber’s Stripped-Down Performance

We all had the same thought when Justin Bieber stepped onto the stage: Why is he only wearing boxers and socks? The more the stripped-down performance dragged on, the more I was convinced there was a think piece there about the disarming intimacy of it all, and I don’t even care for ‘Yukon’. As the camera shifted between him and his wife, it was somehow refreshingly unceremonious, definitely earnest, even raw. Everything happening at the Grammys is bogged down by the fact that it’s happening at the Grammys, somewhere called the Crypto.com arena, but this seemed to exist outside of that realm. We were all stunned there for a little bit.

The Best New Artist Whirlwind

The Grammys are not a fast-moving event, a fact sneakily underlined by how many of the performances were set in the liminal spaces of transportation: airport terminals, parking lots, gas stations. But that Best New Artist medley was a lot to digest at once, and the quality plummeted quickly. The Marías delivered a touching, oh-so-blue performance that had Billie Eilish loudly cheering (her Hit Me Hard and Soft is no doubt aesthetically aligned), Addison Rae’s magnetic appearance on the back of a truck got Drag Race fans typing, the transition to Katseye was smooth, Leon Thomas was solid  – but the overbearing ballads of Alex Warren and Lola Young (‘Messy’ did not need to be stripped down), not to mention sombr’s hamfisted disco, were too much too handle. Thankfully, they were offset by the effortlessly breezy Olivia Dean, ultimately a safe and deserving recipient of the award.

Lola Young, Duh

“I very much relate to this song,” Charli XCX said when announcing Lola Young’s ‘Messy’ as the winner of Best Pop Solo Performance. It would be one of the biggest surprises had the song not received a standing ovation earlier, an example of how charming messiness can be.

Tyler, the Creator Self-Destructs

The Grammys are often chaotic bad, but Tyler, the Creator’s performance – the best of the night – was on the other end of the spectrum. His medley of ‘Thought I Was Dead’, ‘Like Him’, and ‘Sugar on My Tongue’ was seamless and electrifying, as much proof of his magnetism as the aesthetic sensibilities that made him the inaugural Best Album Cover winner. That much was expected, but seeing him blow up the building and collapse on the floor was hair-raising entertainment.

Cher’s Surprise Appearance

The only thing more iconic than Joni Mitchell’s “Oh, I won?” last night was Cher showing up, offering some words of wisdom, then walking off before announcing Record of the Year. After Noah called her back, she said the winner was Luther Vandross, whom Kendrick Lamar sampled on the winning ‘Luther’. Her silliness near the event’s supposed climax was enlightening. If they’d let her ramble for a few more minutes without revealing the winner, how many of us would notice they’d skipped a category?

The Grammys (Rock Version)

A certain section of the internet may have been upset that a hardcore band won in a Best Metal Category featuring Spiritbox, Sleep Token, and Ghost, while another reignited debates around Turnstile’s hardcore status. But to the average viewer, the more immediate takeaway was that this year’s Grammys were particularly guitar-forward. I mean, Bruno Mars didn’t have to shred on the guitar while performing ‘APT.’, but it ended up feeling like an apt way to kick off a ceremony that also included a rocked-out version of ‘Abracadabra’ featuring drummer Josh Freese. (Maybe they felt the need to up the ante after last year’s just-fine ‘Die With a Smile’.) Lady Gaga’s extravagant performance was not only a full-circle moment after the song’s music video premiered during the 2025 Grammys, but a much-needed jolt of energy after Jelly Roll’s depressing win.

The Sprawling In Memoriam Segment

Although weirdly segmented by genre and chaotic in its own way, the sprawling In Memoriam segment got pretty much everything right. Post Malone’s vibrato stunned during his Ozzy tribute alongside Slash, Duff McKagan, Chad Smith, and Andrew Watt, while Lauryn Hill’s first Grammys appearance since 1999 did not disappoint – paying tribute to D’Angelo and Roberta Flack, it soared through several moods before rejoicing in Fugees’ take on ‘Killing Me Softly’.

“ICE OUT” and Bad Bunny’s AOTY

From Justin Bieber to Joni Mitchell, numerous artists wore “ICE OUT”  pins while appearing onstage, culminating in Bad Bunny’s declaration as he accepted the Album of the Year trophy. Grammy voters sometimes surprise us by making the correct choice for the most coveted award, but rarely does it carry such a strong sense of urgency and weight, amplifying a message that was reiterated in unambiguous and varyingly personal terms throughout the ceremony – from Billie Eilish’s “No one is illegal on stolen land” to Olivia Dean’s “I’m a product of bravery.” For Bunny, bravery looked like soaking in the gravity of the moment and getting the words out as lovingly as he could: “We’re not savages. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans.” It looked like speaking in his native tongue before dedicating his award “to all the people that had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams.” As the coffee wore off and the sun was coming up, his conviction was the only thing keeping my heart pounding.

Cairn: How to Climb

Shubhendu Vatsa
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Cairn: How to Climb

Cairn is finally out, and if you’re jumping in, the first thing you’ll need to get comfortable with is climbing. The Game Bakers’ latest release is a realistic climbing adventure in which you play as Aava, a seasoned mountaineer attempting to become the first person to reach the summit of Mount Kami. The game has you scaling rock faces for most of the game, so knowing how climbing works in Cairn can help you plan routes, make better use of Aava’s strength, and avoid rookie mistakes that can quickly send you back down. So, to get started, here’s how to climb in Cairn.

Cairn: How to Climb

Cairn features a realistic, simulation-style climbing system, so you need to keep an eye on hand and foot placement, balance, and how far Aava can safely reach. To climb in Cairn, simply approach a rock face and press X on Xbox, Square on PlayStation, or left-click on PC. Aava will grab the wall, and the game will automatically select one of her limbs.

You can then use the left stick or WASD keys to drag that hand or foot toward a ledge, crack, or other non-flat surface, and press the same button again (X on Xbox, Square on PlayStation, or left-click on PC) to place it. Then, repeat the process with each limb to move higher.

Cairn uses a tight third-person camera, so finding the right way up often takes a bit of looking around. You can press LB on Xbox, L1 on PlayStation, or Tab on PC to bring up the camera and get a wider view of the cliff before you start moving again.

If a placement doesn’t feel right or if Aava places her hand flat against the wall instead of grabbing a hold properly, you can undo the last move by hitting B on Xbox, Circle on PlayStation, or right-click on PC. While the game usually picks which limb to move next, you can manually select a specific hand or foot by pressing RB on Xbox, R1 on PlayStation, or Space on PC.

Moreover, like real climbing, Aava is far stronger and more stable when she’s pushing upward with her feet rather than pulling herself up with her arms. So, you’ll often find it easier to place her feet on solid footholds and press upward rather than hang from her hands.

And that does it for our how to climb in Cairn guide. For more gaming news and guides, be sure to check out our gaming page!

Are Video Games the Best Way to Spend a Night in With Friends?

Our Culture Mag & Partners
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Are Video Games the Best Way to Spend a Night in With Friends?

There’s a familiar moment that keeps happening. Someone suggests going out. Everyone agrees it sounds nice. Then reality kicks in. Prices. Travel. Timing. Energy. Before you know it, the plan quietly falls apart and the group chat goes silent. No one’s annoyed, but everyone’s a bit disappointed. You tell yourself this is just how adulthood works and move on, even though you miss actually spending time together.

That’s where gaming sneaks in. Not as a big decision or a lifestyle change, but as the easiest option left on the table. No bookings. No getting ready. No spending money you’ll regret tomorrow. Just showing up, talking, and doing something together. And honestly, that starts to feel like a win.

Nights out stopped being the obvious choice

It’s not that people don’t like going out anymore. It’s that it’s become a lot harder to justify. You add up food, drinks, transport, and suddenly a casual evening feels like a financial commitment. Even when you try to keep it simple, costs creep in from everywhere.

A night in with games flips that completely. You’re entertained for hours without watching your bank balance drop. There’s no pressure to stay out longer just to make it “worth it.” You can hang out, laugh, and log off when you’re tired. That freedom changes how social time feels, especially when money is tight or priorities have shifted.

Scheduling gets easier when nobody has to travel

One of the biggest barriers to seeing friends is distance. Different cities. Different countries. Different time zones. You want to meet up, but coordinating everyone’s schedules feels like organising a small event, and nobody wants to deal with that kind of pressure.

Gaming removes that friction. You don’t need everyone in the same place. You don’t even need everyone free for long. People can drop in late, leave early, or just listen in. That flexibility makes it easier to actually make plans happen instead of talking about them for weeks and never following through.

Games give you something to do together

A lot of social plans rely on conversation alone. That’s fine, but it can feel awkward or draining, especially after a long day. Games give everyone a shared focus. Something to react to. Something to laugh about.

That’s why even a quick game of poker without the need to gamble can be enough to spark an evening. You’re not staring at each other waiting for topics to come up. You’re doing something together, and conversation flows naturally around it. The activity carries the social weight, which takes pressure off everyone involved.

It’s social without being exhausting

There’s a big difference between being social and being overwhelmed. Loud spaces, constant noise, and forced energy drain people faster than they realise. Gaming lets you control the vibe.

You can talk when you want. Stay quiet when you don’t. Sit in comfortable clothes. Eat your own food. That balance makes socialising feel sustainable again, especially for people who still want connection but don’t want to be “on” all the time. It’s relaxed in a way that traditional nights out rarely are anymore.

Distance stops mattering as much

One of the quietly powerful things about gaming nights is how they keep long-distance friendships alive. When friends move away, staying close usually gets harder over time. Messages get shorter. Calls get rarer. Life fills the gaps.

Games create shared experiences again. Inside jokes. Moments. Stories you reference later. You’re not just catching up on life, you’re doing something together in the present. That shared time matters more than people realise, especially when geography would otherwise pull friendships apart.

It’s easier to mix different friend groups

Combining friend groups can be awkward. Different personalities. Different interests. Different dynamics. Gaming smooths that out because it gives everyone common ground instantly.

You don’t need to explain why you know someone or manage conversation flow. The game does that for you. People bond over mechanics, strategies, and shared wins. Over time, separate groups start feeling like one because they’re connected through the same activity rather than forced interaction.

You end up meeting new people naturally

Another unexpected bonus is how often gaming introduces you to new people. Friends bring friends. Someone invites a teammate. Suddenly there’s a new voice in the group chat and everyone gets to know them.

Because you’re already doing something together, meeting new people feels low-pressure. There’s no awkward introduction phase. You’re just there, playing. That’s how groups grow without effort, and how social circles expand without needing formal plans or events.

It reflects a bigger cultural shift

This isn’t just a personal thing. Gaming is now completely reshaping global culture, including how people socialise. It’s no longer niche or isolating. It’s mainstream, shared, and woven into how friendships work.

People don’t talk about games instead of life. They talk about life while playing games. That distinction matters. Gaming hasn’t replaced socialising. It’s adapted it to fit modern lives that are busier, more expensive, and more spread out than ever before.

Why gaming instead of a night out just makes sense in today’s world

At some point, the question stops being whether gaming is a good way to spend a night in with friends, and starts being why it works so well. It removes the pressure, the cost, and the effort that often get in the way of seeing people you care about. You still laugh, still talk, still share moments, just without the hassle that comes with traditional plans. It fits around real life instead of competing with it.

For a lot of people, that’s exactly what makes it special. You don’t have to choose between being social and being comfortable. You don’t have to wait for the perfect time or perfect plan. You just show up, play something together, and let the evening unfold naturally. And once you realise how easy and enjoyable that feels, it’s hard not to wonder why you ever made it more complicated than it needed to be.

The Best Online Casino-Themed Video Games Available in the U.S.

Sebastian Bickley
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The Best Online Casino-Themed Video Games Available in the U.S.

Open up a U.S console store, type “casino”, and the results are a mess. Some tiles look like straight-up gambling apps, some look like parody cartoons, and every so often, there is a game that actually feels like a proper video game first and a casino second. Those are the ones players talk about on forums at 2 a.m., usually while they are still sitting at a virtual poker table.

If you care about the feel of a game, not just a giant “spin” button and a shower of coins, that distinction matters. Plenty of software borrows the casino floor’s look. Far fewer titles use that setting to build characters, communities, or online spaces that people want to come back to for months.

So, the focus here is deliberately narrow. Not real-money casinos, not bonus code landing pages, just the online casino-themed video games available in the U.S that behave like games, with systems to learn, lobbies to sit in, and stories to tell in the group chat later.

Walking Into a Casino That Lives on Your Console

The easiest reference point is The Four Kings Casino and Slots. On the store page, it sits in the same category as dozens of other casino apps. On a television, once it loads in, it feels closer to a small-scale MMO that happens to be obsessed with blackjack, roulette, and slots.

There is a character creator. There is a hotel-style lobby. Players drift between bars, banks of machines, and table pits in real time, waving, sitting, standing back up again. Chips are virtual, wardrobes unlock slowly, and seasonal events come and go. It is more like walking through a digital resort than clicking icons in a menu.

Because everything runs on play money, it scratches a similar itch to browsing the latest no deposit bonuses during a quiet moment at work, but with more texture. Walking across patterned carpet to reach a favourite machine is a tiny detail, yet it still changes the way the space feels. Many nights inside Four Kings end up being more about quietly hanging out than chasing any specific win.

AAA Video Games with Casinos Hiding Inside

Beyond dedicated casino titles, there are the blockbusters that quietly double as casino sims for anyone who wants them to.

Grand Theft Auto V is the obvious example. With the Diamond Casino and Resort update, the game added a high-rise casino complex to Los Santos. On paper, it is one location among many. In practice, for a lot of players, it becomes its own game inside the game, with late nights spent between the blackjack tables, the slot machines, and the horse racing lounge while the rest of the map waits outside.

Red Dead Redemption 2 plays the same trick, but at a very different speed. Its poker games in back rooms and saloons are slow, talky, and incredibly sticky. Hands stretch out. Characters mumble. A few chips change hands at a time. Players often log on planning to clear a main mission, then realise an hour later that they are still sitting at the same felt table, inventing rivalries with AI ranchers and outlaws.

Japanese series like Yakuza and its spin-offs, such as Judgment, add their own take. Behind doors and down staircases sit small casino rooms with blackjack, roulette, mahjong, and slot-style machines, all wrapped inside crime stories and side quests. Fallout: New Vegas makes the casino its whole backdrop, turning the strip into a run of themed houses that each handle cards, credit, and comps slightly differently.

Poker Games That Treat the Table Like a Stage

For some players, the casino exists only around the poker table. Modern poker games lean into that, building the whole experience around online tournaments, tells, and that slow rhythm of fold, call, raise, repeat.

Prominence Poker is one of the names that keep coming up. The city it is set in, Prominence, is fictional, but the structure is familiar. There are back rooms, bigger rooms, bosses to beat, and crews to face down. The story framing is pulpy, almost comic-book at times, yet underneath it sits a real Texas Hold’em engine that rewards patience and reads.

Sessions can feel messy in a good way. Players fidget, gesture, and lean back in their chairs. Emotes fire at odd moments. The game keeps track of progress over time, so a lucky night against strangers can quietly push an avatar up a rung on the ladder.

Pure Hold’em takes the opposite route in tone. It sells the fantasy of polished TV poker, with studio lights, sharp tables, and very clean camera cuts between angles. Players begin at low-limit tables and work their way upward, watching chip stacks grow and shrink. The online lobbies look less like a casino pit and more like a tournament lobby, but the rhythm of hands, blinds, and pressure is the same.

Old-School Chips and Stranger Spins on the Formula

None of this came out of nowhere. Older players can point to cartridge-era casino games that lived and died on simple blackjack and slot simulations, or to the tiny gambling corners of role-playing games that ran on 16-bit hardware. The graphics were blocky, the rules were the same.

Modern indie games take those ideas and twist them into odd shapes. Some use card draws and dice as the backbone of deckbuilding or roguelike systems. Others take the bright lights, chiming sound effects, and spinning symbols of the casino floor and wrap them around rhythm challenges or bullet-hell shooters. The result does not look like a traditional casino, but it feels strangely close in the moments where a run comes down to one last roll of the dice.

Our Favourite Casino-Themed Video Games Overview

  • The Four Kings Casino and Slots
  • Prominence Poker
  • Pure Hold’em
  • Grand Theft Auto V: Diamond Casino and Resort
  • Red Dead Redemption 2 poker and blackjack
  • Yakuza / Judgment casino rooms
  • Fallout: New Vegas strip casinos

A Different Kind of Casino Night

Put all of that side by side, and the pattern becomes easier to see. The casino in 2025 is not only a building; it is also a setting developers use to create tension, glamour, or a certain kind of late-night energy.

For U.S players, that means a casino-themed session can look like a walk through The Four Kings lobby, a long night in Prominence Poker, a quick visit to the Diamond Casino before a heist, or an hour lost to a dusty Red Dead table. The stakes are virtual, the chips reset, and nobody has to catch a flight home. The stories that come out of those sessions, though, still sound a lot like the ones people tell after a real trip to the tables.

Jacquemus Fall 2026 “Le Palmier” & His Grandmother

Vera Adamidou
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Jacquemus Fall 2026 “Le Palmier” & His Grandmother

Excitement around Jacquemus’ upcoming ready-to-wear “Le Palmier” collection needed no help. The runway took care of that. What did need clarifying, though, was the label’s emotional center. So, days before the show, Simon Porte Jacquemus made quiet the announcement, the first brand ambassador in the house’s history. And it felt personal, because it was.

Less than a week before the show, Simon posted a cryptic Instagram story. “Good evening. This week I’ll announce my very first Jacquemus ambassador… I can’t believe it. See you soon.” The guessing game began immediately, supermodel, actress, pop star, all predictable. The announcement wasn’t. Liline Jacquemus, his 79-year-old grandmother got the title. And we couldn’t be happier. Fans didn’t need a second glance, she’d been in Simon’s 2020 summer campaign, shot at home during the pandemic.

Screenshot of Jacquemus' grandma-brand ambassador announcement via Instagram
@jacquemus via Instagram

“Before Jacquemus existed, she was already my inspiration. Her strength, her elegance, her authenticity… she shaped the way I see women, and the way I imagine this Maison.” But with that honor comes rules. As Simon wrote in his announcement post “The ambassador must not pronounce the names of other fashion houses. The ambassador must not wear any other brand, archive, label, or ‘just something comfortable’ comfort is conceptual. The ambassador must not remove Jacquemus pieces at home, at night, or in dreams.” You get it. In a world obsessed with worshipping “star faces”, Liline is more than welcome. Just like family values, real inspiration, and raw emotions. Fashion actually needed her.

It all started with little teaser videos that carried the name of the collection, and… well, palm-tree hairstyles. That iconic ’80s-it style, made just weird enough to be cool. Even the invitations to the show came with a comb and a Jacquemus’ step-by-step guide to the perfect, proudly standing palmier. So yes, it was a pretty fun collection, but the fun didn’t end on the head. “I wanted to have this strong woman, the spirit of the ’80s, the cut of the ’50s, and the sensuality of the ’90s,” the creative told Vogue.

Screenshot of Jacquemus' Instagram post featuring a runway moment of the "Le Palmier" show
@jacquemus via Instagram

Think hourglass silhouettes, huge hats, not just the elegant kind, but also the kind a 5-year-old birthday boy would approve of. Blacks and vivid colors like reds, yellows, and turqoises, patterns like polka dots and animal prints, fringes everywhere. And when I saw everywhere, I mean at the Picasso Museum where everything took place, let’s not forget his love for Paloma and Pablo Picasso. His finale was a recreation of the dress painted in “Woman with a Fan” after all. One shoulder, glass in the right place, and Jacquemus reminding us of what matters.

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