HONOLULU — The Sony Open is the PGA Tour stop where introductions are in order, and Paul Peterson made quite the first impression. He opened with a 6-under 64 and shared the lead with five others Thursday on a pleasant day at Waialae.
Tom Hoge, who tied for eighth in Kapalua, had the only 64 in the afternoon in a round that featured two eagles. The second one Hoge described as a gift — an 8-iron out of the rough from 189 yards that hit the pin and dropped into the cup.
“I was just hoping it would get down before it got over the back of the green,” he said.
Hideki Matsuyama, coming off a record score to par at Kapalua, birdied two of his last three holes for a 67. He is trying to become the third player to sweep the Hawaii swing.
Peterson is no ordinary rookie.
The lefty from Oregon State has five passport books with stamps from some 44 countries. He has held cards from six tours around the world, which doesn’t include the mini-tours in Arizona and the Dakotas when he was just starting out.
“Whether I feel like a rookie, no,” Peterson said. “I’ve traveled a lot. I’ve seen a lot of golf in a lot of places. I feel like all of that’s helped prepare me to get here. … Do I wish I was over here a little bit earlier? Yeah. But do I regret any experiences I’ve had along the way? No.”
The Sony Open is the first full-field tournament of the year on the PGA Tour, attracting a big batch of rookies and graduates from the Korn Ferry Tour.
Peterson finally made his way back home by finishing among the top 30 on the Korn Ferry Tour, which included a victory in Tennessee. He felt good all week, and had such a good range session Tuesday that he wanted the tournament to start a day early.
The wait didn’t hurt him. He was motoring along with three birdies in eight holes when he belted his 7-wood into a soft, tropical breeze on the par-5 ninth hole to 5 feet for eagle. With birdies in two of the next three holes — six straight 3s on his card — he was the first player to reach 7 under.
A few soft bogeys followed, and Peterson followed with another 7-wood to two-putt birdie range on the par-5 closing hole to join the others.
Peterson left Oregon State and tried the Canadian tour before getting his card on the Asian Tour. He picked up his first victory at the Czech Masters over Thomas Pieters on the European tour, added another title in Myanmar and figured a Japan Golf Tour membership might help him crack the top 100 in the world ranking.
He never made it that high — No. 120 was his best — and has yet to play a major.
But the travel, various conditions inside the ropes and culture at night helped him develop. And there were a few memories along the way. None was better than in 2015, when he received an exemption into the KLM Open.
“Tom Watson made his final European tour start and we got paired on Sunday,” Peterson said. “It was the coolest. He was the coolest. He signed a golf ball for me.”
The travel also let him know he didn’t handle the wind very well. When it blew in Oregon, he just didn’t play. He has a home in Arizona and conditions were too pure. So he moved to Sea Island on the Georgia coast just north of Florida, where he also had plenty of action with several PGA Tour players.
So yes, he’s a rookie. He just doesn’t feel like one, and he certainly didn’t appear to be one.
Cole, McCarthy and Schenk all played bogey-free. Hall, from England, had a more stressful time, at least when he wasn’t making 10 birdies. The 27-year-old, who played college golf at UNLV and now lives in Las Vegas, took two shots to get out of a bunker on No. 8 for a double bogey that slowed his momentum.
Beyoncé brought her album “Cowboy Carter” to life for the first time in a halftime performance at an NFL game on Christmas Day in her hometown of Houston.
The show, which came midway through the Baltimore Ravens’ rout of the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium, was designed to entice viewers to Netflix as the streaming goliath inaugurated a new pact with America’s most popular professional sports league. It also was a way to bring attention to Beyoncé’s latest LP — a detailed excursion into country music that plays up the singer’s Southern roots — just as Recording Academy members cast their votes for February’s Grammy Awards, where “Cowboy Carter” is nominated for album of the year.
Immediately following her performance, Beyoncé posted a brief video on X that suggested she’ll announce something on Jan. 14 — something, whatever it is, that many more fans now are likely to be looking forward to.
For all its cross-promotional synergy, though, Wednesday’s halftime show was a reminder that whatever lures Beyoncé from her superstar cocoon is worth celebrating: As usual for pop music’s greatest live performer, this 13-minute production — a “ho ho ho-down,” as she called it — was a thrill from top to bottom.
The show began with Beyoncé astride a white horse sauntering down a hallway in NRG’s bowels as she sang “16 Carriages,” her ballad about a youth spent on the road chasing showbiz dreams. Soon she was joined by a quartet of Black female country singers — Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts — for a moving rendition of the Beatles’ “Blackbird.”
Beyoncé emerged onto the stadium field to sing a blistering “Ya Ya,” her version of a classic Tina Turner rave-up, accompanied by a small electric rock band and a huge horn section arrayed on bleachers that called to mind her presentation at the Coachella festival in 2018. Then she did the clubby “My House” before welcoming Shaboozey to join her for “Sweet Honey Buckiin’” and Post Malone for their “Levii’s Jeans” (which they did in front of a pickup truck wrapped in denim).
Beyoncé sang her cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” while riding in a car cruising down the field — not unlike her Coachella tribute to HBCU tradition, this was a loving embodiment of Black rodeo culture — and finished the show with her chart-topping “Texas Hold ’Em,” which she did on the 50-yard line while dancing next to her 12-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy.
Throughout the show, Beyoncé’s vocals were strong and precise, the choreography tough and hard-hitting, the costumes beautifully bedazzled — a Christmas gift to her fans in the form of a marketing opportunity.
The “most misunderstood entry” in the White Stripes‘ back catalog is getting a revisit for its 20th anniversary.
Released as part of the ongoing Vault subscription series from Jack White‘s Third Man Records, Get Behind Me Satan XX comes packaged as part of a special two-record set alongside an additional 7″ record and a Blu-Ray, serving as a companion to the original 2005 album.
“Often mistaken as a break-up album, a treatise on fame, or a ‘piano’ album, the record is most accurately described in Jack White’s own words as focused on the truth,” a statement from Third Man Records reads. “The fact that it was in no way Elephant, Part 2 only further confused, infuriated, and/or beguiled many.
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“Twenty years later and the album still stands out for how fresh and how timeless it sounds. In the face of newfound worldwide commercial success, no other contemporary rock band had the stones to introduce mandolin, tympani, hand bells and marimba into their arsenal, let alone embark on deep tours of both Central America and Eastern Europe. But as has long been established, the White Stripes were singular. They were never like anybody else. What enchants now, upon further reflection, is the disparate threads that all came together to make Satan so refreshing.”
The first disc of the new package comes front-stacked with previously-unreleased demos of the album and alternate studio takes. “At the same time both skeletal and enlightening, Jack White’s songwriting demos from 2004 and early 2005 – captured with zero concern for fidelity or thought that anyone else would ever hear them – are of prime excitement here,” the statement adds.
Meanwhile, the second disc features previously-unreleased live recordings from the album’s 2005 tour, while the additional 7″ record boasts “one of the great white whales in Stripes history”, a recording of the long sought-after “Spitting Tacks”. Additionally, the Blu-Ray captures footage of the band during a tour of Central and South America in support of the original record.
“Armed with a mini-DV camera and free reign to capture whatever caught his eye, David James Swanson tagged along on the White Stripes Central and South American tour in 2005,” Third Man Records added. “A soundcheck here, rabid fans singing along there, it’s all crystalline visual quality on a handheld scale. While it would be too grandiose to deem this a ‘film’, the collection of sequences and behind-the-scenes moments captured here are a striking, complimentary statement of the unique and chaotic time that the White Stripes inhabited in this era.”
In typical fashion, the nascent package is rounded out by an expansive archival booklet which collects photos, concert posters, a comprehensive list of tour dates, “and all the exhaustive details fans have come to expect from these anniversary editions”.
Released in June 2005 as the White Stripes’ fifth – and penultimate – album, Get Behind Me Satan peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and saw the group win the Grammy for Best Alternative Album the following year.
While the original album has been occasionally reissued since its original release, Third Man Records’ Vault editions are not typically reissued, with those interested in the Get Behind Me Satan XX advised to sign up to the Vault before Jan. 31st.
If you’re looking to lower your blood pressure, a certain tablet could help. Experts highlight that potassium, a key mineral for heart health, is naturally present in many foods.
However, if your diet falls short, the American Heart Association suggests that supplementation could be a simple fix. Heart health specialists note the role of potassium in managing high blood pressure, or hypertension.
Potassium relaxes the walls of your blood vessels, which helps reduce blood pressure. Additionally, it counteracts the effects of excess sodium – a known contributor to high blood pressure – by getting rid of sodium through your urine.
Potassium tablets, such as those available from Myvitamins MYPROTEIN™ and other brands, can be purchased for as little as £4.03, equating to around 4p per tablet. Don’t forget to check for potassium-rich foods or supplements during your next grocery trip.
Do I need to take potassium supplements?
The experts state if you are an adult with a blood pressure of 120/80 mm Hg or higher and are “otherwise healthy” then they say that people in this category “may benefit from increasing potassium in their diet.”
However not everyone can have this so always ask your GP for advice. Potassium can be harmful in people with:
Kidney disease
Any condition that affects how the body handles potassium
Certain medications
How much potassium should I have?
Recommended potassium intake for an average adult:
Men: 3,400 milligrams per day
Women: 2,600 milligrams per day
The associations: “These recommendations change with pregnancy and breastfeeding. If you are trying to prevent or treat high blood pressure, the AHA recommends 3,500 mg to 5,000 mg of potassium daily.”
Is there a diet I should follow?
Experts say you should try the DASH diet. This stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension and includes fruits, vegetables, fish, whole grains as well as fat-free or low-fat dairy foods.
Potassium-rich foods include:
Fruits
Apricots
Cantaloupe
Durian
Guava
Jackfruit
Kiwifruit
Orange juice
Pomegranate juice
Prune juice
Vegetables
Acorn squash
Bamboo shoots
Beet greens
Carrot juice
Fufu
Lima beans
Plantains
Potato
Spinach
Swiss chard
Water chestnuts
Yam
Dairy
Buttermilk (low fat)
Kefir
Milk (fat free)
Yogurt (Greek and plain)
Proteins
Bison
Catfish
Clams
Goat
Herring
Rainbow trout
Skipjack tuna
Tempeh
Can you have too much potassium?
Yes, and it can really harm your kidneys as too much can build up when your kidneys are less able to remove it from your blood. Too much potassium can also be harmful if you take some medications or have certain medical conditions that affect potassium.
Potassium levels often must be very high before symptoms occur. Symptoms could include:
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Alan Cumming is back in his castle, and murders are happening in the middle of the night. Season 3 of The Traitors is here! Peacock just dropped the first three episodes of the Emmy-award-winning competition show with a new batch of celebrities and a whole lot of treachery. We couldn’t be more thrilled.
Last season became a certified hit by bringing an all-celebrity cast into the castle. It birthed memes, they earned awards, and a year later, we’re still uttering to ourselves, “Lord, Not Ekin-Su.”
With that in mind, Season 3 has some big shoes to fill and they’re already delivering. The season kicked off with everything we expected to see: gamers, murder, Real Housewives, surprise players, and a whole lot of tartan. Let’s get into the action with a recap of The Traitors Season 3 premiere, Episodes 1-3.
Who is on the cast of The Traitors Season 3?
“Boston” Rob Mariano — Survivor
Dorinda Medley — The Real Housewives of New York
Chrishell Stause — Selling Sunset
Britney Haynes — Big Brother
Danielle Reyes — Big Brother
Bob the Drag Queen — RuPaul’s Drag Race
Wells Adams —The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise
Chanel Ayan — The Real Housewives of Dubai
Gabby Windey — The Bachelorette
Dylan Efron — Down to Earth with Zac Efron
Tony Vlachos — Survivor
Jeremy Collins — Survivor
Dolores Catania — The Real Housewives of New Jersey
Robyn Dixon — The Real Housewives of Potomac
Bob Harper — The Biggest Loser
Ciara Miller — Summer House
Lord Ivar Mountbatten — British royal
Carolyn Wiger —Survivor
Sam Asghari — Model, actor, and Britney Spears’s ex-husband
Tom Sandoval —Vanderpump Rules
Nikki Garcia — Former professional Wrestler
The Traitors Season 3, Episode 1 Recap: “Let Battle Commence”
Photo Credit: Euan Cherry/Peacock
Season 3 of The Traitors kicked off with the same energy as Season 2. The cast members rolled up in their SUVs, eager for the adventure ahead. Immediately, the editors started teasing some pre-existing rivalries within the cast. For example, Danielle from Big Brother said that she really didn’t want to see Britney, who just so happened to be in another car on the way to the same castle. It’s like the Parvati and Sandra feud all over again.
When the celebs arrived at the castle, they all started making their little first impressions. Dorinda was stoked to see other Real Housewives. Carolyn felt starstruck by her fellow Survivor castaways. Meanwhile, Dylan felt like the underdog since his main selling point was, “Hi! I’m Zac Efron’s brother.”
Once the celebrities finished their intros, Alan made his grand entrance, along with an army full of creepy dudes in gold masks and black robes. It’s the high level of camp that we love about this show, but then Alan revealed that it was already time to make their “first tough decision.”
One of the cloaked men stepped forward, and like a scene from The Masked Singer, Alan took off the mask to reveal none other than Boston Rob. Alan told the players that anyone could invite Rob into the game, but then they’d have to choose someone to banish. That’s a big choice for a game that has barely even started!
Carolyn felt tempted, but no one took the offer. Alan sent Rob on his merry way, and they really wanted us to think that he had been banished for good. We know they didn’t fly him all the way to Scotland just for two seconds of TV time. He’ll be back. He always comes back.
The Traitors Season 3, Episode 1: Meet the Traitors
Photo Credit: Peacock
Up next was the moment we were all waiting for — the selection of this season’s Traitors. At the roundtable, Alan dramatically paced around the room to make his decisions about who would be bestowed with the great honor of being a Traitor. His first selection? Danielle from Big Brother, and she couldn’t have been more pleased.
“I’ve never been so happy to be so bad,” Danielle said in her confessional.
Next up was Carolyn. She practically begged Alan for it in her interview before the roundtable, so she could hardly contain her excitement when she felt Alan’s hand touch her shoulder.
Last, but certainly not least, the final Traitor selected (for now) was Bob the Drag Queen. Bob teased in his confessional that he was ready to be “employee of the month.” Now, we’re off to the races.
Looking back on the last season of the show, you can see how these picks are extremely similar to last season’s. You’ve got a Survivor castaway, a Big Brother houseguest, and a non-gamer with a huge personality. Has Alan found a formula?
The first mission called for major sacrifices
Photo Credit: Peacock
With the Traitors selected, the group embarked on their first mission. Alan took them to a giant lake. However, we have to call it a loch because, you know, they’re in Scotland.
For the first mission, they had to work together to paddle a giant, dragon-shaped boat. Throughout the loch, there were five pontoons with barrels of gasoline and money. The group needed to paddle their way to the platforms, grab the gas and as much cash as possible, and then return to shore to light a giant ring of fire.
Curiously, Alan mentioned that anyone inside the ring of fire at the end would win a shield. That should have raised some eyebrows for the players. Wouldn’t that mean that everyone could get a shield? Well, that’s the twist.
Once they got to the pontoons, they learned that with each step, they’d need to sacrifice two players, and “shackle” them there for the duration of the mission. You can’t stand in the ring of fire and win a shield if you’re shackled to a raft in the loch.
At the first checkpoint, Robyn volunteered to sacrifice herself. She said it was because she’s a “selfless person,” which we’ve learned from watching her relationship with Juan Dixon. Then, fellow housewife Ayan followed Robyn and sacrificed herself, too.
The paddling continued, and at the next platform, Dorinda and Dolores chose to sacrifice themselves. If you’re rooting for The Real Housewives on this show, this is when you probably started getting worried. Why are they putting themselves up for slaughter?
At the next checkpoint, Bob the Drag Queen started screaming because none of the men wanted to sacrifice themselves. He and Danielle eventually volunteered. Hilariously, the two of them had no idea they both had the same traitorous intentions.
Second thoughts about the sacrifices
Photo Credit: Euan Cherry/Peacock
Bob from The Biggest Loser and Sam sacrificed themselves at the fourth checkpoint, but then the group decided to call it quits. They went back to the shore without grabbing the final money cache. That meant that instead of 10 people at risk for elimination, there were only eight.
That math wasn’t promising, and when the sacrificed players learned their team didn’t hit all of the pontoons, all hell broke loose. In particular, Dorinda was super frustrated, and she said in her confessional that she was starting to feel “Housewife-y.” Let’s say it together, everyone. She’s startin’.
At the castle, Dorinda made it known that she was not happy about how things shook out in the mission. In front of the whole group, she asked, “Why didn’t you go for the fifth boat?”
Dylan and Jeremy tried to defend themselves, but they clearly had never seen Real Housewives of New York. They had no idea that you can’t just go back and forth with Dorinda without losing a limb. Ivar was the one who really pushed it by accusing Dorinda of being a Traitor.
“I didn’t even see you move, Ivar! You didn’t even remotely move,” Dorinda said with a grin that RHONY fans know all too well.
“I put myself out to be murdered tonight,” she continued. “If I do make it tonight, things change. I pray to God.”
The Traitors Season 3, Episode 2 Recap: “Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold”
Photo Credit: Peacock
While Dorinda ripped Lord Ivar a new one, Alan was deep in the forest up to no good, accompanied by a person in a cloak. What could this possibly be?
When the group banished Boston Rob, Alan warned that every decision would have a consequence. With that in mind, Alan went to unmask the person who we assumed would be Boston Rob. Nope! Alan hit us with the first plot twist of the season.
Alan removed the mask, revealing a surprise player: Wes Bergmann! His knees were still dirty from begging for the win on House of Villains. Then, another player appeared. Surprise! It’s Derrick Levasseur from Big Brother. Alan tells them that they’ll both play as Faithfuls, and we’re over here wondering how in the hell they kept this casting a secret.
Finally, Alan revealed Boston Rob again, and he got the golden ticket to enter the game as a Traitor. That means we have four Traitors this season and a whole lot of heavy hitters from the gaming world. Buckle up.
Who was the first kill of The Traitors Season 3?
Photo Credit: Peacock
Dorinda from The Real Housewives of New York was the first person murdered on Season 3 of The Traitors.
In a devastating blow for Bravo fans, Bob, Carolyn, and Danielle set their sights on the Housewives during their first meeting in the turret. They wanted to split up the foursome, and the fact that they all sacrificed themselves in the first mission made it even easier. Brilliant job, Housewives.
For various reasons, The Traitors narrowed down the list to Dolores, Robyn, or Dorinda. Seriously, this felt like a nightmare scenario for those of us rooting for the Bravolebs, and ultimately, they settled on Dorinda. Her fight with Ivar seemed to seal the deal. She couldn’t make it nice, and she had to pay the price.
The next morning at breakfast, the celebs slowly realized that it was Dorinda who got the axe. Most people were shocked, but when Robyn walked in, she was like, “Oh, wow. They murdered Dorinda? I’m not surprised.”
Robyn’s reaction was drier than the English muffin she started scarfing down while everyone else mourned the loss of Dorinda. If you watch The Real Housewives of Potomac, then you know this is just how Robyn rolls. If you don’t know her, then this behavior would look pretty suspicious, and like clockwork, some of the Faithfuls began questioning her position.
Release the beasts
Photo Credit: Art Streiber/E! Entertainment
For the second mission, Alan brought the celebs back into the forest where Derrick, Wes, and Rob were suspended in cages, each of them with a shield to give away. For the mission, the active players had to untangle bags of coins and deposit them into a box. Each deposit lowered the new player down into the game, little by little.
Let’s be honest. This whole scene felt less like a real mission and more like a creative way to introduce the new players into the game. There were no actual stakes here, but it did allow the new players to get introduced to the current players. Hilariously, Wes said that he mainly recognized the people from Survivor and assumed that everyone else had to be Housewives. Wishful thinking, Wes.
With Wes, Derrick, and Rob officially in the game, Alan revealed that they’d be “soft-launched,” meaning that they wouldn’t be able to vote or be voted out of the game this week. Plus, they got to hang onto their shields until after the first banishment. That way, they could be extra strategic (or sneaky) when choosing who to protect.
Who got banished in The Traitors Season 3, Episode 2?
Photo Credit: Peacock
Wells was the first player banished from the game thanks to a messy showdown at the roundtable.
With three new players in the game, the players assembled at the roundtable to discuss the first banishment. Immediately, Bob the Drag Queen made a conscious decision to take control of the room. He was like, “I’m ready to cause some chaos,” and he did just that. He went after Wells, claiming that he had been showing suspicious behavior.
While in the hot seat, Wells put the spotlight on Robyn, claiming that she was suspicious of how she reacted to Dorinda’s murder. A few people agreed, but Robyn seemed completely unbothered.
When it was finally time to vote, everyone was all over the place with their decisions. Some people wanted to target the Housewives, resulting in Dolores and Ayan getting votes. Sandoval randomly got a vote.
Ivar got a handful of votes few from people thinking he killed Dorinda out of retaliation. Ultimately, it all came down to Wells and Robyn. It’s no wonder he was trashing the Housewives in interviews promoting the show.
Interestingly, the final vote came down to Carolyn, a Traitor. She voted for Wells, and Robyn has never looked more pleased. Wells became the first person of Season 3 to get banished, and the room lit up with disappointment when he revealed himself to be a Faithful. Better luck next time, Faithfuls.
As if that wasn’t enough drama for one episode, the three newbies still had to hand out their shields. Derrick gifted his shield to Dylan, and Rob gave his shield to Tony. When Wes gave his shield to Jeremy, he noted how it seemed like the Survivor players were all in lockstep. Alliances are forming, or at least it seems that way.
The Traitors Season 3, Episode 3 Recap: “Nail in the Coffin”
Photo Credit: Peacock
The final episode of this three-part premiere had literally everything you’d want in an episode of The Traitors. There were clowns, there was a murder, and the celebs delivered another shocking banishment.
First, the original three Traitors met up in the turret and welcomed their surprise new member, Boston Rob. He knows he was made for this role, but the reactions in the turret were mixed. Carolyn wasn’t pleased, but Danielle felt relieved to have the Survivor icon on her side.
The four Traitors began debating who they’d kill off next, and once again, it came down to some of our iconic Bravolebs. They wanted to kill either Ayan, Dolores, or Sandoval. Which kill would cause the most chaos and confusion?
The Traitors Season 3, Episode 3: Who did the Traitors murder?
Photo Credit: Peacock
The next morning at breakfast, we learn that the Traitors murdered Ayan.
It’s another blow for the Housewives fans, and the remaining ladies of Bravo were not pleased. Dolores described the state of the game as “Housewives Hunters,” and Robyn said that the rest of the players had a “hard-on for the Housewives.” All of those comments sound like terms that should never be entered into a search engine at work.
Ayan marked another kill for the Traitors, but unfortunately, they weren’t great at hiding their excitement. Danielle thought she was giving an Oscar-winning performance at breakfast, but it was too much. She started raising suspicions because of her theatrics.
Similarly, Dylan felt like Bob the Drag Queen did way too much at the roundtable. He assembled a group of people and started spit balling his theories. It’s wild how correct he was. The only issue was that he told the theory to Boston Rob, another Traitor. Whoops!
The funhouse that flopped
Photo Credit: Peacock
If you’re afraid of clowns, this mission must have been a nightmare to watch. Alan brought the players to a “funhouse” for their third mission, which was packed with killer clowns holding sharp objects. The whole thing turned into a huge disaster, but you could tell Alan loved every minute of it.
On paper, this sounded like a cute challenge. The players got grouped into pairs, and they had to carry a giant gold balloon through different doors of a funhouse. Some of those doors had terrifying clowns waiting behind them, ready to pop the balloon.
Alan teased that the first team to make it through the funhouse would win shields, and every team that gets their balloon across would add $2,000. None that mattered because not a single group made it through the funhouse. They banked a whopping zero dollars. The killer clowns popped all of their balloons, and glitter went flying everywhere.
“My funhouse was not a barrel of laughs for you,” Alan teased the players.
The real fun of this episode happened after the mission. On the car ride home, Jeremy started telling everyone in his car that he felt convinced that Danielle was a Traitor. He’s right on the money, but he didn’t know that Bob the Drag Queen, another Traitor, was right there. Bob immediately ran back to the castle to warn Danielle.
Did anyone get banished in The Traitors Season 3, Episode 3?
Photo Credit: Peacock
In a shocking turn of events, Tony became the second player banished from the game.
He didn’t see it coming, and neither did we.
The players sealed Tony’s fate during a heated exchange at the roundtable, but first, Dylan tried to get everyone on board with his Bob the Drag Queen theory. That didn’t end well for Dylan because Bob dragged him in front of everyone.
Bob said, “You’re misguided. That should be your drag name — Miss Guided.”
With the Bob theory shut down, all of the attention went towards Tony. The poor guy still had glitter on his face, when Gabby kicked off the conversation about how he seemed suspicious. It turned out, a lot of players agreed.
Then, Boston Rob delivered Tony’s final blow. He told the entire roundtable that he gave Tony his shield but hadn’t heard from him since. He said it felt “sus” how Tony acted after getting the shield. Yikes!
When the votes rolled in, the overwhelming majority of players chose to send Tony packing. He was emotional, and the only person he seemed to blame was Boston Rob. On the way out the door, he looked at Rob and said, “You’re a sell-out, bro.”
Episode 3 ended with yet another surprise from Alan. He doesn’t stop! This time, he quietly instructed the Traitors players to create a shortlist of three players to murder. Instead of doing their plotting in the turret, they’ll have to deliberate right in plain sight. And it turned messy, quickly.
The Traitors Season 3 continues Thursdays on Peacock at 9/8c.
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE FIRST THREE EPISODES OF THE TRAITORS? WERE YOU SURPRISED BY THE ELIMINATIONS AND MURDERS? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON WES AND DERRICK JOINING THE COMPETITION?
[Warning: The following post contains major spoilers about The Traitors Season 3’s first three episodes, “Let the Battle Commence,” “Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold,” and “Nail in a Coffin.”]
The Traitors is back, and, yes, it is so back. The third season of Peacock’s Emmy-winning reality competition series features, once again, a variety of reality television stars journeying to the Scottish castle to bask in the glory of Alan Cumming‘s fabulously wild wardrobe and to try and suss out who he’s chosen to be the murderers in this mystery game. This time, there are some surprises tucked up the host’s silky sleeves, including some surprise (and seemingly unwelcome) additions to the cast list and more cloaked traitors than ever.
Cumming puts all of these complicated relationships to the test right away by offering all of them the opportunity to oust someone else in the cast if they’ll only accept “Boston Rob” Mariano into the fold. Despite the temptation, though, everyone holds the line because it’s too soon to make a move, and, besides, Boston Rob’s reputation as a cut-throat player precedes him enough to make folks steer clear (the devil you know…).
Euan Cherry/Peacock
Once inside, each states their case to Cumming about why they should or shouldn’t be chosen as a traitor, and his conversation with Sandoval brings on a zinger to end them all: When the Vanderpump Rules star says he wants to be a faithful and answers in the affirmative that he’d feel betrayed if he was chosen as a traitor, Cumming quips, “Doesn’t feel so nice, does it?” Ouch.
Ultimately, Cumming lands on an eclectic group of traitors by choosing Danielle, Carolyn, and Bob The Drag Queen to carry out the season’s murders. (He also announces a rule change that’s sure to have an impact: “Those of you who make it to the final will no longer reveal whether they are a traitor as they leave. To determine whether there are any traitors left in my game, you will rely solely on your instincts. Dun dun dunnnnn.)
Once the blindfolds come off, the games begin. No one’s playing spot-the-traitor harder than Tom, who’s got a cartoonishly aggressive stare-down game but is immediately (and continuously) wrong with his assessments.
Things get testy for absolutely everyone, though, once the first mission begins and requires a set number of contestants to volunteer to miss the boat, literally speaking, at the various checkpoints. Not only does this make them ineligible for the murder shields waiting at the finish line (er, circle), but it also raises questions among the others about why they aren’t scared of elimination — are they (cue the Alan Cumming eyebrow raise) TRAITORS?! After all four Housewives step up, traitors Bob and Danielle volunteer, too, not knowing they’ve gotten that faithful tap and thus engaging in a lie-loaded conversation with Oscar-worthy performances. Bob Harper and Sam Asghari are the last two players to sacrifice their chance at safety for the greater good, while the rest just decide to turn around and give up another $20,000 for the pot in exchange for precious immunity — despite apparently having plenty of time to reach the last raft full of cash. This last decision sends the Housewives, particularly Dorinda, into a downright tizzy (cue the “Not Well B***” GIF for the seven zillionth time). Her flipout makes her a very easy target for the traitors — and Bob’s thespian skills continue at breakfast when he sheds real, actual tears for the women he just sent home.
Meanwhile, Alan’s treachery reaches new heights when he reveals that Boston Rob isn’t off flying back to Beantown — instead, he’s going to join the cast whether the others like it or not, and he’s been chosen as a traitor. And that’s not all! Also on tap to crash the party are The Challenge‘s Wes Bergmann and Big Brother‘s Derrick Lavasseur.
Euan Cherry/Peacock
The trio of incoming contestants are introduced as part of the second mission, in which they are placed in hanging cages for the others to bring down by retrieving money. This immediately becomes something of a popularity contest, with Rob getting brought down first, but eventually, they’re all rescued in time for the team to nab the full $50,000 for the pot. The newcomers then get to reward whoever they want with shields — but only after they quietly watch the next roundtable go down, with Wells Adams successfully targeted by Bob the Drag Queen and sent home. With that, two faithfuls down… Rob protects Tony, Derrick protects Dylan Efron, and Wes opts to shield Jeremy in hopes of getting in good with the Survivors.
Once Rob reveals himself to be a traitor to the others, he is immediately disappointed by the line-up because they can’t seem to get on the same page with one another, so he decides to exercise quiet control and pull them all together. After some heated debate, with Bob the Drag Queen boldly calling his own suggestion “flawless” and refusing to hear anything otherwise, they decide to send the very unsuspecting Ayan home just to weaken the Housewives even further (and before she could wear her whole wardrobe, the horror!).
The following breakfast is an awkward affair as Danielle attempts to show off her clever concealment skills in front of Rob by putting her foot in her mouth repeatedly. Rob can tell this is going to be a problem, but for now, the bigger issue is the fact that Dylan has gamely realized that Bob the Drag Queen orchestrated Wells’ elimination, and he’s telling everyone who’ll listen about his theory.
It’s not enough to sway the newest roundtable. After a pathetic showing at the funhouse challenge, in which the team earned exactly $0 for the team bank, it’s Tony whose name emerges as the main character of the moment — despite the fact that he did reluctantly go first in the mission — and is overwhelmingly voted for banishment. Dylan makes nice with Bob the Drag Queen, even telling him he’s newly convinced of his innocence, but he’s not giving up on his (absolutely correct) read on the RuPaul’s Drag Race alum. Watch this space!
For now, another faithful has fallen, and if that’s not enough, Alan decides to throw in yet another twist: Instead of a new secret murder meeting, he wants all four traitors to decide on a list of three people up for banishment, which means they have to find a way to sneak off and chat about it without anyone noticing. And subtlety is not Crystal’s strong suit. While they huddle in the wine room, others start to realize that there are people missing, and it looks like Gabby might just catch them in the act of leaving their little hidden meeting place.
We’ll have to wait until next week to see if someone gets caught, but from these first three episodes, it’s clear The Traitors is turning the tension up a notch in Season 3.
Google wants you to press play on an AI-created podcast instead of scrolling for your daily news.
The tech giant can now take what it knows of your interests through your Search and Discover histories and create a 5-minute podcast tailored just for you that summarizes news stories of the day that you might be interested in.
Google began testing the personalized, AI-created podcasts, called “Daily Listen,” through Search Labs, the program that allows users to experience early-stage experiments, reports 9to5Google. The new experiment began rolling out on Wednesday to Android and iOS users in the U.S.
The basis of Daily Listen is Google Search data and interactions that users have had with content on their Google Discover feeds. Using that data, the AI figures out which news articles a user would want to hear about, and summarizes those stories into an audio overview.
Daily Listen gives users a text transcript of the 5-minute podcast and control to pause, mute, rewind, or skip to the following story, per The Verge.
Google told TechCrunch that Daily Listen is meant to help users stay updated on topics they care about.
Photo Credit: 9to5Google/Google
Users with access to Daily Listen will see the section pop up on their home screen on the Google app. Tapping the Daily Listen card under Search will launch the podcast.
The podcast concept is similar to Google NotebookLM’s audio overviews, which are AI-hosted podcasts that turn textbooks, study notes, and generally any collection of sources into a podcast discussion between two AI hosts.
We tested NotebookLM and were surprised by how well it worked. The end result sounded like a podcast between two human beings, with perfect pacing, tone, and delivery. It was nearly impossible to tell that the podcast was narrated by AI.
Seoul (Reuters) -South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s security chief said on Friday the impeached leader, who faces arrest over a criminal probe into his Dec. 3 martial law bid, has been unfairly treated for a sitting leader and warned bloodshed must be avoided.
Park Chong-jun, head of the Presidential Security Service (PSS), is himself under investigation for obstructing official duty related to a six-hour standoff last week between PSS agents and investigators trying to execute an arrest warrant for Yoon.
Arriving at police headquarters for questioning, Park, who is a former senior police official, said the current attempt to arrest a sitting president is wrong and Yoon deserved treatment “becoming of” the country’s status.
“I believe there should not be any physical clash or bloodshed under any circumstances,” Park told reporters, adding acting President Choi Sang-mok has not responded to his request for safety assurances for officials involved.
Hundreds of PSS agents blockaded the presidential compound and thwarted investigators from trying to arrest Yoon last Friday. The investigators were pulled back because of the risk of a clash.
Officials of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is leading the investigation, have said PSS agents were carrying firearms during the standoff although no weapons were drawn.
The investigators obtained a new arrest warrant this week after Yoon defied repeated summons to appear for questioning.
On Thursday, lawyers for Yoon said the arrest warrant was illegal and invalid.
Yoon is under a separate Constitutional Court trial reviewing parliament’s impeachment of him on Dec. 14 to decide whether to remove him from office permanently or reinstate him. His lawyers have said Yoon will accept that verdict.
As Yoon awaits his fate, holed up inside his hillside residence, polls released this week showed a revival of support for his ruling People Power Party (PPP) and calls for his permanent removal slipping.
A Gallup Korea survey published on Friday showed 64% of respondents back Yoon’s removal from office, compared to 75% who favoured it soon after the martial law declaration.
The PPP’s approval rating rose to 34%, a level similar to the period before Dec. 3, in the poll of 1,004 people this week, from 24% about a month ago.
Analysts said the prolonged uncertainty over Yoon’s fate has not only emboldened his supporters but softened some critics concerned that the liberal opposition Democratic Party leader, who is himself on trial on allegations of criminal wrongdoings, may become president.
Department store operator Macy’s said Thursday it will close 66 store locations as part of a strategy it announced last year.
The company said it will invest in 350 “go-forward” Macy’s locations across the country through fiscal 2026.
The company said it will invest in 350 “go-forward” Macy’s locations. AmeriCantaro – stock.adobe.com
The closures come months after the company announced it would be closing 150 “underproductive” stores over the course of three years as it struggles to get back on its feet after a lackluster 2024.
Macy’s stock shed more than 15% in the last 12 months and in December, the upscale retailer cut its annual profit forecast due to weak demand for its apparel and shoes.
There is an old saying that a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged by reality.
Perhaps after the wildfires devastation in Los Angeles this week we might also say that a person who has fallen out of love with the cult of “diversity” is a liberal whose home just burned to the ground.
Investigators are looking into the claims of multiple arson attacks that may well have started or whipped along these fires. A lot of blame is going to have to be apportioned in the direction of an awful lot of people.
But we can already say one thing with certainty. Which is that the authorities in Los Angeles failed catastrophically. And there are reasons.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was holidaying in Africa when the fires broke out. She stayed in Ghana despite a red-flag warning being issued in the place she is meant to govern.
When she did return yesterday even she could not have been blind to the utter devastation. More than 18,000 acres of Los Angles has been burned to the ground while she was away.
And while she first avoided media questions and then stumbled her way through a shambolic press conference, perhaps she began to sense that recently cutting millions of dollars from the LA fire department’s budget was not the wisest thing to do.
In the last city budget Bass slashed an incredible $17 million from the LAFD. And while individual firefighters have fought heroically to try to put out the blaze the fact is that the department was badly under-resourced.
Yesterday morning I sat down with a local woman and her teenage son whose house and entire neighborhood had just burned to the ground. Nothing was left standing. Did she see any fire trucks, I asked? “No. Not a single fire truck entered our area,” she said. “Not one.”
Other residents noted the number of fire hydrants which firemen went to only to find out they had no water in them. How can anyone fail so badly at their job that the one thing they are meant to do — keep the water on — is something they failed at?
There will be many reasons. But one is that putting out fires seems not to have been a priority of the leadership of the LAFD in recent years. You can tell this from the appointment and statements made by the woman in charge: Kristin Crowley.
Her biography on the LAFD’s website makes plain her priorities — and those of the LAFD´s leadership.
“Kristin M. Crowley is the 19th Fire Chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD). With her wife and children by her side, Chief Crowley took the oath of office on March 25, 2022 — becoming the first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief in the LAFD.”
How thrilling! How exciting! Can’t you just hear the glass ceilings shattering?
Her official bio witters on: “Chief Crowley leads a diverse department. Creating, supporting, and promoting a culture that values diversity, inclusion, and equity while striving to meet and exceed the expectations of the communities are Chief Crowley’s priorities.”
Which is strange, because most fire chiefs strive to promote a culture of putting out fires.
But not Crowley, or the syrupy, stone-cold stupid media in California who fawned over her. In one recent TV interview, Crowley was asked about her new bureau in the LAFD.
Guess what this exciting new bureau was? A bureau of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. As she told local media: “So, by creating this new bureau — our diversity, equity and inclusion bureau — now we actually have the staff to do the work when it comes to doing a deep dive in regard to how we do business, how we take care of one another.”
Does that sound like anything other than a Kamala-esque word-salad? It is full of every cliché used by incompetent woke bureaucrats. “Do the work,” “Deep dive,” “take care of one another.”
Crowley had one job — which was to make sure people don’t burn to death in their homes. But that was too much for her. She was too busy “doing the work” and “taking care of one another.”
One part of making sure that there were more “diverse” firefighters in her district was obvious. “I am super inspired” she told one interviewer.
What by, you may ask? Why, a three-year strategic plan to increase diversity of course. Specifically to increase the number of female firefighters. Because it seemed to horrify Crowley and California media that out of 3,300 city firefighters only 115 were women.
“People ask me well, ‘What number are you looking for?’ ” she claimed, before answering her own question. “I’m not looking for a number. It’s never enough.”
True. One of the things that residents of California were definitely thinking this week as they were chaotically and incompetently ordered to leave their homes was: “If only we had more lady firefighters. After all, you can never have enough.”
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Amid the shattering of actual glass, some people even now seem to think that the fact Crowley ticks another diversity box (“proud member of the LGBTQ community”) is worth celebrating. A publication called “Pride” yesterday ran the headline “Amid Palisades fire, Los Angeles’s first LGBTQ+ fire chief is proving lesbians get it done.”
Personally I suspect Chief Crowley will have set back the cause of lesbians in fire departments by about a hundred years.
Because the truth is that nobody has time for this rubbish anymore. Things are too serious — in California and across this country — to keep playing these stupid games. Whole neighborhoods can’t burn to the ground because remembering to actually collect water and firetrucks is your second-order priority.
There was a time when liberals — not least California liberals — pushed diversity into everything. Conservatives warned that there would be consequences, and there were, and are. All around us. Because DEI makes excellence a second-order priority.
Its proponents treat it like a game. But plainly it is a game that even California can no longer afford.
