Logan Roy Things

Goodbye, Paramount. Hello, Skydance 

What's going on: Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are no more. After months of negotiations and antitrust lawsuits, the two Hollywood giants merged for a cool $110 billion to become Skydance. The media company includes Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., HBO Max, CBS News, CNN, Nickelodeon, the DC Universe, and much more — from Succession to Spongebob Squarepants, almost certainly including some of your favorite shows. Skydance is now on par with Netflix and YouTube, but still smaller than Amazon and Disney. In a 1,705-word memo to employees with the subject line “Day 1,” co-CEOs David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz pledged to “take on some of the largest technology and media companies in the world” and acknowledged upcoming layoffs. The cuts will likely affect corporate employees — and thousands of production jobs, as one Los Angeles County report found.

Viewers will see changes, too: Skydance said it’ll merge HBO Max and Paramount Plus into a single streamer (hasn’t HBO Max been through enough name changes?), which analysts say will likely lead to higher streaming prices. As for what happens to your favorite shows, it may depend on how profitable they are: Skydance has $80 billion in debt, and previous mergers have led to show cancellations. Critics also worry about CNN’s journalistic independence, although Skydance agreed to set up an “Editorial Independence Board” ahead of the deal. The future of creative freedom is up in the air as well. Janet Grillo, a professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and a former executive at New Line Cinema, told CNN: “How are monopolies ever good for any industry? They squeeze out competition. They squeeze out innovation. They limit growth.”

Related: The Latest in Trump vs. the Media: Disney and the FCC Go to Court (The New York Times gift link)

Health & Safety 

The Rise of Kratom and Ketamine on Campus 

What’s going on: Two universities with seemingly little in common and thousands of miles apart are bringing attention to the rise of synthetic drug culture on college campuses. In a lawsuit against Cornell University, Jane Doe said she was pressured into taking ketamine for the first time before seven fraternity members assaulted her. Each of the men, she alleges, snorted the drug off her body and coerced her into snorting it off theirs. Ketamine, which she said made her feel like her eyes “were spinning in opposite directions,” is mentioned more than 100 times in investigative materials obtained by The New York Times. At the University of Mississippi in Oxford, authorities are investigating whether two students’ deaths are connected to synthetic kratom. Authorities seized more than 500 units of synthetic kratom products and other narcotics from an Oxford tobacco shop and arrested two employees. 

Not just a keg party: There’s now widening access to potent and potentially lethal drugs, experts say. Ketamine and kratom can be used as sedatives — but as party drugs, people often use them as a hallucinogen (“Special K”) and stimulant, respectively. Kratom, which is legal in states like Mississippi, has been used to help people get off opioids. Its synthetic version, sometimes called “gas station heroin,” is often chemically altered with stronger substances and can be dangerous; officials recently linked semi-synthetic kratom to four deaths in Utah. Universities trying to combat the deadly potential of synthetic kratom (and other drugs) are adding Narcan to vending machines on campus and leading training sessions on how to use it, but it has its limits and wouldn’t help a ketamine overdose. Many students are also carrying date rape drug and fentanyl testing strips.

Related: Former Acting US Attorney General Sally Yates To Review Cornell’s Handling of Rape Allegations (NPR)

Mind the Gap

When Pay Disparities Aren't Enough...

What’s going on: We’re all familiar with the gender pay gap — but what about the “benefits gap”? An NBC News analysis of federal data found women are less likely than men to get paid time off, continuing a 15-year trend. While 69% of women earning a salary or wage had access to PTO in 2025, it lags behind the nearly 73% men who enjoyed the same benefit. (And that’s an improvement from 2011, when just 58% of women enjoyed PTO.) That’s 7 million fewer women having access to paid time off... as if the invisible work many carry isn’t already enough. Meanwhile, data has already shown employees forgo sick leave if it’s unpaid — not to mention women already tend to take less vacation time even if they do have the paid time off.

Can’t catch a break: The state of women’s PTO points to a larger trend in the workforce. In order to balance caregiving responsibilities — like school pickups or caring for sick children — women work flexible, part-time jobs at far higher rates than men. Nearly six in 10 part-time workers (and over 70% of parents who work part time) are women. And those roles rarely offer PTO, let alone maternity leave. According to the National Women’s Law Center, more than one in four part-time workers held low-paid jobs, which forces many to live paycheck to paycheck — and disproportionately affects Black and Latina women.

Related: Trapped in a Part-Time Job? You’re Not Alone (The Atlantic gift link)

Together with toast

All in the Family

A 38-year-old small retail business in Maine shares how they’re carrying their family’s legacy into the future.

Quick Hits

🎾 Maria Sharapova told theSkimm that this is one lesson we should steal from athletes. We’re really going to have to work on our patience.

💃 Attention, ‘80s movie fans: Dirty Dancing: The Musical is coming to Broadway. You’ll have the time of your life. 

🍪 One writer tested eight different fast food chocolate chip cookies, and McDonald’s was the clear winner — while KFC came in last. The research we needed.  

😎 Model Rachel Ojuromi made her runway debut at Paris Fashion Week after showing off her walk in viral videos filmed in her hometown of Lagos, Nigeria. Talk about manifesting.

🍕 There’s a scientific reason why you find AI-generated images of food gross. We weren’t meant to let robots create grilled chicken salads.

🚽 2026’s buzziest holiday toy is (drumroll please) Butt Face, also known as Chester Cheeks. It looks exactly as it sounds.

🎂 Great, now we’re questioning whether we’re baking with real vanilla. The difference between real and artificial could make or break your flan.

Amazon Prime Big Deal Days

It’s the second (and last) day of Big Deal Days, so the clock is ticking. Check out:

• Essentials for kids, like this thermometer for sick season and a nasal aspirator

• Something that can aid with digestion and bloat

• An addition to your skincare routine: this award-winning night cream 

• A vacuum that captures allergens and pet hair to reduce irritation

• A supplement that supports heart function

• One editor’s beloved rabbit vibe, finally discounted

• A restock on your daily collagen