Whistleblower Steve Gabavics tells Marc Lamont Hill how the US dismissed Israel’s killing of an Al Jazeera journalist.
Did the Biden administration help cover up the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces?
This week on UpFront, Marc Lamont Hill speaks to Steve Gabavics, a colonel-turned-whistleblower who was sent by the United States Department of State to investigate Abu Akleh’s killing in 2022.
Gabavics found that Israel intentionally killed Abu Akleh, who was fired at 16 times while wearing a blue vest marked “press”, but the State Department labelled her killing “accidental” to avoid angering the Israeli government.
Gabavics claimed that Abu Akleh is among several American citizens killed by the Israeli military for whom the US has taken no action to hold Israel accountable.
Across the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of the Crossword Puzzle
By Natan Last Pantheon: 336 pages, $29
If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.
In August, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani hosted a citywide scavenger hunt, inviting voters to scour the boroughs in search of historic political sites. (Grand prize: a bag of chips.) Clues for it were written by veteran puzzle maker Natan Last, who has long endorsed the idea that puzzles at their best blend politics, community and a nerdy good time.
If you missed the hunt, Last’s book, “Across the Universe,” delivers similar pleasures. Though its subtitle — “The Past, Present, and Future of the Crossword Puzzle” — suggests a history tome, Last approaches the subject essayistically. Crosswords, for him, are arguments on behalf of things: of what qualifies as “common knowledge,” of what role puzzles should play in informing a citizenry, of how wordplay and slang snake into the mainstream. “The crossword is a uniquely capacious artifact ready to absorb and recast any group’s predilections and passions into puzzle form,” he writes.
That may seem like making too much out of an everyday diversion. But as Last points out, crosswords have long been a miniature version of America’s larger culture wars. Crosswords’ popularity exploded in the 1920s in various newspapers; Ernie Bushmiller, cartoonist of “Nancy” fame, exploited the “crossword craze” in a strip called “Cross Word Cal.” But killjoys swiftly arrived to dismiss it as paleolithic brain rot. The New York Times, now the best-known purveyor of crosswords, thought the puzzle beneath it, and didn’t offer one until 1941. (“The last adult in the newsroom,” Last smirks.)
The New York Times’ crossword is synonymous with its current editor, Will Shortz, who gave the puzzle a refresh in the 1990s, jettisoning academic jargon and obscurities in favor of layered puns and pop-culture references. Last recalls working as Shortz’s intern in 2009 and loving the experience. But Last is also the point of the spear among constructors who insist there’s plenty of room for improvement: tokenized ethnic terms, lack of gender parity among constructors, double standards (“erotica” is acceptable, but “gay erotica” isn’t?), a narrow view of what readers know or will accept. “The bar is on the floor,” USA Today crossword editor Erik Agard tells Last.
For the record:
10:04 a.m. Nov. 24, 2025A previous version of this article said Mangesh Ghogre came to the U.S. on an H-1B visa. He came on an EB-1A visa.
Last’s public statements on this subject, he writes, are often met with eye rolls: “Oh, so now the crossword puzzle needs to be woke?” But that high dudgeon, he notes, is “as good a proof as any that it’s not just a puzzle.” Not for the solvers he speaks to, who use their puzzle routines as calming influences or mementos of relationships. Not for constructors like India-born Mangesh Ghogre, who came to the U.S. on a specialized visa to make puzzles and who cleverly works Indian themes into his grids. And certainly not for institutions like the New York Times, which has made games a profit center in a news industry that’s often hemorrhaging cash.
Last’s range and intelligence help sell the importance of the crossword, then and now. Still, its lack of a direct throughline can be frustrating. Like a particularly manic solver, he attacks the subject in an across-and-down fashion, here contemplating the impact of AI on the game, there considering what role crossword-style wordplay had on Modernist writers like T.S. Eliot and Gertrude Stein, now contemplating the 1920s crossword craze, now skipping to its 2020s COVID-prompted renaissance. It’s all relevant, and Last is a bright and witty guide through all of it. He demands a certain comfort level with disorientation, though.
Still, that’s kind of the point: For him, puzzles should motivate solvers to be more than half-thinking box fillers. Instead, we should be comfortable learning new ideas through the puzzle. Mamdani’s scavenger hunt didn’t play a big role in his eventual election to the mayorship in October; it probably didn’t even play a small one. But it spoke to the concepts of play, surprise and diversity that the crossword at its best represents for Last. Maybe you don’t have immediate recall on the word “Haudenosaunee” (the Native name for the Iroquois Confederacy), but what’s so bad about a crossword puzzle introducing you to it? Like every other section of the paper, the crossword can bring the news. It can evoke — and shape — a culture.
Ex-prime minister’s family calls for prayers for her early recovery after hospitalisation for a lung infection.
Bangladeshi former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has been hospitalised in “very critical” condition, according to members of her party, as her family and supporters urged well-wishers to pray for her speedy recovery.
Zia’s personal physician, Dr A Z M Zahid Hossein, told reporters late on Saturday that the 80-year-old politician, who was taken to the Evercare Hospital in Dhaka on November 23, remains in intensive care.
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She was admitted with symptoms of a lung infection and Hossein said she appeared to be responding to the treatment.
“At this moment, I can say her condition has been in the same stage for the last three days. In doctors’ language, we say ‘she is responding to the treatment’,” he was quoted as saying by the Daily Star news website.
“Please pray so that she can continue to receive this treatment.”
Hossein’s comments came a day after the secretary-general of Zia’s Bangladesh National Party (BNP), Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, told reporters that her “condition was very critical”.
According to the Daily Star, Zia has “heart problems, liver and kidney issues, diabetes, lung problems, arthritis, and eye-related illnesses”.
She has a permanent pacemaker and previously underwent stenting for her heart, the outlet reported.
Activists in support of Bangladesh’s former prime minister, Khaleda Zia, hold a banner with her portrait as they pray for her recovery in front of the Evercare Hospital in Dhaka on November 29, 2025 [Munir UZ Zaman/AFP]
Earlier on Saturday, BNP’s vice chairman, Ahmed Azam Khan, told reporters that an air ambulance was on standby to take Zia abroad for advanced treatment if her medical condition stabilises.
Zia’s eldest son, Tarique Rahman, who has been based in London since 2008, called on the people of Bangladesh to pray for his mother’s recovery.
“We express our heartfelt thanks and gratitude for all your prayers and love for the highly respected Begum Khaleda Zia,” Rahman, 60, said in a social media post on Saturday.
“We fervently request you to continue your prayers for her early recovery.”
Zia, who served three terms as prime minister, was jailed for corruption in 2018 under recently ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, which also barred her from travelling abroad for medical treatment.
She was released last year, shortly after Hasina’s removal.
Despite her ill health, Zia has promised to campaign in elections expected in February 2026, in which the BNP is widely seen as a frontrunner.
Waiting in front of the hospital since morning, Liton Molla, a driver for a private company, said he rushed there after hearing about Zia’s condition, describing her as his “dear leader”.
“I just pray she recovers and can contest in the election,” Liton, 45, told the AFP news agency.
“At this moment, Bangladesh needs a leader like Khaleda Zia.”
Bangladesh’s interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, also issued a statement.
“During this transitional period to democracy, Khaleda Zia is a source of utmost inspiration for the nation. Her recovery is very important for the country,” he said on Friday night.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will give his backing to the chancellor’s Budget in a speech on Monday, and commit the government to going “further and faster” on pro-growth measures.
He will say Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s statement will help to alleviate cost of living pressures, lower inflation and ensure economic stability.
It comes as the Treasury faces questions over whether it was transparent about the state of the public finances in the run-up to the Budget.
No 10 has denied that Reeves misled voters and defended her statement.
Despite the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) downgrading growth from next year, the prime minister will argue that “economic growth is beating forecasts”, but the government must do more to encourage it.
Protecting investment and public services will further drive financial growth, Sir Keir is expected to say.
He will call for reform in the sector and an urgent correction to “fundamentally misguided environmental regulation”.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle is to be tasked with applying the lessons of the nuclear power report to infrastructure more widely.
The prime minister’s speech on Monday, just five days after the Budget, may suggest some nervousness over how the government’s economic plans have been received by the public, though No 10 say a statement was already planned.
In the days since the Budget, Downing Street has been forced to publicly back Reeves after she was accused by political opponents of repeatedly warning about a downgrade to the UK’s economic productivity forecasts, paving the way for tax hikes.
In a letter to MPs sent on Friday, the chairman of the OBR revealed that he told the chancellor on 17 September that the public finances were in better shape than widely thought.
The Conservatives have accused Reeves of giving an overly pessimistic impression of the public finances as a “smokescreen” to raise taxes.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the letter showed Reeves had “lied to the public” and should be sacked.
Last week, a spokesperson for the Treasury said: “We are not going to get into the OBR’s processes or speculate on how that relates to the internal decision‑making in the build‑up to a Budget, but the chancellor made her choices to cut the cost of living, cut hospital waiting lists and double headroom to cut the cost of our debt.”
Both the chancellor and Badenoch are scheduled to appear on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.
EXCLUSIVE – Freddie Flintoff is back this Sunday with a new episode of Bullseye
Bullseye host Freddie Flintoff has a hilarious one-word response as a contestant reveals their unusual talent on Sunday’s episode.
The revamped ITV gameshow is back for another fun episode on Sunday night as three more pairs made up of keen darts player and quizzing partners compete against one another to win points and prizes.
In an exclusive clip obtained by the Mirror of this Sunday’s episode, it sees Freddie, 47, baffled over a contestant’s unique party trick.
In the video, Freddie speaks to contestants Graham and Becky to which the latter reveals she’s a paediatric nurse.
Freddie then says: “I hear you’ve got a anatomy party trick, haven’t you?” to which Becky replies: “Yes I do! I can name a part of the body for every letter of the alphabet!”
Issuing a one-word response, a baffled Freddie says: “Why?” to which Becky responds: “I don’t know!” However, making a joke, Freddie then says: “But Y, Y, I’ve just thrown one at you! Can you do then A to J?”
Becky then starts reciting body parts to the alphabet letters before hilariously asking: “What’s after E, F?!” to which she then misses out the letter G.
This prompts Freddie to joke: “So you know your anatomy but not your alphabet?” to which Becky responds: “Yeah, that’s it!”
Firing another joke, Freddie says: “I was going to say, do you know your a**e from your elbow but I’m not quite sure!”
It comes as Bullseye has returned for a new series and a 2025 Christmas special following last year’s one-off Bullseye festive special, which drew in audiences of over 8.6 million.
The original Bullseye aired from 1982 until 1995 and was hosted by the late Jim Bowen.
Meanwhile, Freddie will not be using his real name as the former England cricketer hosts the ITV quiz show.
The 47-year-old has always gone by Freddie but is actually named Andrew.
Cricket icon Flintoff has always been known as Freddie ever since his school days. He was given the nickname because his surname was similar to that of cartoon character Fred Flintstone.
Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, on Saturday announced he won’t seek re-election in 2026 and instead endorsed his twin brother, Troy Nehls, to replace him. File Photo by Sarah Silbiger/UPI | License Photo
Nov. 29 (UPI) — Rep. Troy Hehls, R-Texas, on Saturday announced he will not seek re-election in 2026 and will retire from Congress and focus on his family.
Nehls, 57, since 2021 has represented Texas’ 22nd Congressional District, which is situated southwest of Houston and includes parts of Sugar Land, Richmond and Rosenberg, among other Texas communities.
“I have made the decision, after conversations with my beautiful bride and my girls over the Thanksgiving holiday, to focus on my family and return home after this Congress,” he said Saturday in a post on X.
“Before making this decision, I called President Trump personally to let him know of my plans,” he continued.
“President Trump has always been a strong ally for our district and a true friend, and I wanted him to hear it from me first,” Nehls added.
“Serving this country in the military, serving our community in law enforcement and serving this district in Congress has been the honor of my life.”
Nehls enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1988 and earned two Bronze Stars while serving in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
He joined the Richmond (Texas) Police Department in 1994 and was elected sheriff of Fort Bend County in 2012, before winning the 2020 House election.
His announced retirement is among several made recently by Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb. and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Nehls’ twin brother, Trever Nehls, already announced his candidacy for the seat and has been endorsed by Troy.
Amid heightened Japan-China tensions, US President Donald Trump spoke by telephone with Chinese President Xi Jinping. While Trump termed it a positive development, stating he would visit China in April 2026, China claimed that it categorically made it clear that “Taiwan’s return to China was an ‘integral part of the postwar international order.” While it has been reported that Trump requested a phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the details of the conversation between the two haven’t been made public yet.
Trump’s claim of “extremely strong” US-China relations has once again seized global attention. Earlier, last month, just ahead of his highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, Trump boldly announced on Truth Social, “THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY!”
Unsurprisingly, the statement sparked widespread discussion, directly invoking China and seemingly reviving the long-dormant G2 concept, an idea previously floated by former President Barack Obama.
This apparent attempt to resurrect the “G2” notion, which envisions shared global leadership between the US and China, marks a notable rhetorical shift and is surprising given that Trump has been hawkish on China even during his first term as the president. By invoking it, Washington has brought back a concept dismissed as a faulty trade-off, given the persistent and often adversarial nature of US-China relations. Media analyses suggest that this move reflects a growing recognition within the US of China’s rising power and an uneasy acknowledgement of its near-equal status on the world stage. The renewed attention signals an implicit acceptance within American policy circles of China’s expanding international influence and the shifting balance of global power.
For China, however, the idea holds little appeal. First, China continues to present itself as a developing country, aspiring to lead the Global South and, eventually, to achieve broader global influence. Unlike the West, China sees strategic value in retaining the support of developing nations to bolster its legitimacy. While it aims to surpass the US militarily, economically, and technologically, it is unlikely to embrace a bilateral framework implying formalized co-governance of the world. Second, the ideological, strategic, and global ambitions gap between China and the US remains vast, limiting the feasibility of any institutionalized G2 arrangement. Third, if such a framework were ever to exist, it would likely involve broader coalitions of nations with differing ideologies, capacities, and priorities, rather than a US-China duopoly. In this light, the G2 concept appears even less plausible for China in 2025 than it did in the 2000s.
While much commentary has focused on how this discourse may be interpreted in China, the implications extend far beyond the bilateral relationship. Washington’s allies and partners across the Indo-Pacific are closely observing these developments. For many in the region, stability in US-China relations is desirable, as it would help mitigate the risks of confrontation, economic disruption, regional instability, and global upheavals. Yet Trump’s rhetoric has also generated unease among America’s regional partners regarding Washington’s long-term strategic intentions.
Concerns are growing that a return to the G2 framework could signal a weakening of US commitment to the Indo-Pacific, particularly in terms of security and regional order. While sustained engagement with China is widely accepted as necessary, framing the relationship as one of shared global governance may alarm America’s allies and partners, especially the Quad countries, the Philippines, and Taiwan. For these countries, any suggestion of a US-China condominium raises doubts about the credibility of the US’s status as a security guarantor and its assurances of collective defense and regional stability.
From the US perspective, reviving the G2 discourse may appear advantageous to smooth the way for a rare earth materials deal with China or to ease bilateral tensions. But fundamental differences and rivalry cannot be erased: China’s ultimate goal is to overtake the US. In all likelihood, China will view G2 rhetoric skeptically, interpreting it as a sign of US weakness and declining influence in the Indo-Pacific.
The Xi-Trump phone call and China’s reiteration of the Taiwan claim put pressure on Trump’s G2 plan. How Trump would manage ties with Japan and Taiwan while building relations with China is an issue worthy of international attention.
Trump’s episodic and erratic approach to China and the region risks eroding the trust the US has painstakingly built with its partners. There is little chance that countries such as India, Japan, or the Philippines would accept a bipolar world dominated solely by the US and China. Rather than serving as a stabilizer, the G2 concept is more likely to be seen as an attempt to divide the world into two poles once again, or worse, as a signal that the US is content with a bipolar world rather than a genuinely multipolar order.
Even if the G2 never materializes, the rhetoric has already strengthened China’s position while placing the US in a strategic bind. In effect, it is a win-win for China but a lose-lose for America. There are limitations to America First not only for the region but also for America itself and its foreign policy. The Trump administration’s path would do well to seriously consider the perspectives of its allies and partners, rather than advancing a strategy that ultimately benefits China.
Daisy, 27, got her big break in TV series Cold Feet as Olivia the daughter of David and Rachel played by Robert Bathurst and Helen Baxendale.
She was recently seen in the 2024 storm chase movie Twsiters and starred opposite Gladiator II hunk Paul Mescal in romantic drama Normal People,
The new film takes inspiration from best selling historical book Bad Bridget: Crime, Mayhem, and the Lives of Irish Emigrant Women by Irish professors Elaine Farrell & Leanne McCormick.
Internal rifts deepen in Corbyn’s Your Party as cofounder Zahra Sultana skips first day of conference amid expulsions from the party.
Published On 29 Nov 202529 Nov 2025
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Veteran British socialist Jeremy Corbyn’s new left-wing political party faced a new crisis after its cofounder, Zarah Sultana, pledged to skip the first day of its inaugural conference.
Corbyn had called for members to “come together” at the opening of the conference on Saturday, with the party seeking to move on from a messy launch and become a viable left-wing challenger to the governing Labour Party.
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“As a party, we’ve got to come together and be united because division and disunity will not serve the interests of the people that we want to represent,” Corbyn told the conference in the northwestern English city of Liverpool.
A few hours later, a spokesperson for Sultana said that she would not enter the conference hall on Saturday in protest at one of her supporters being denied entry to the event and several others being expelled from the party over alleged membership of the far-left Socialist Workers Party.
Delegates are seen before a speech by Jeremy Corbyn [AFP]
“I’m disappointed to see on the morning of our founding conference, people who have travelled from all over the country, spent a lot of money on their train fare, on hotels, on being able to participate in this conference, being told that they have been expelled,” she told UK’s Press Association news agency.
“That is a culture that is reminiscent of the Labour Party, how there were witch hunts on the eve of conference, how members were treated with contempt.”
Corbyn, 76, and Sultana, 32, both former Labour MPs, have been in frequent dispute since they announced the party in July.
A spokesperson for the new party, currently called Your Party, defended the expulsions.
“Members of another national political party signed up to Your Party in contravention of clearly stated membership rules – and these rules were enforced,” the spokesperson said.
This is the latest blow for a party hoping to make gains on the left as British politics fractures into a multiparty system and Labour moves rightward on some issues.
Two of the four independent MPs who initially signed up later quit over the divisions, which have included a row over a botched membership launch and threats of legal action.
Over the course of the conference, members are set to choose the party’s official name and decide whether it should have a single leader or be led by its members.
Flamengo beat fellow Brazilian side Palmeiras 1-0 in Peru to lift the Copa Libertadores title for the fourth time.
Published On 29 Nov 202529 Nov 2025
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Flamengo defeated Palmeiras 1-0 to win the Copa Libertadores, becoming the most successful Brazilian team in the history of South America’s top club competition by lifting the title for a fourth time.
A second-half headed goal from Flamengo centre-back Danilo settled a scrappy encounter at the Estadio Monumental in Lima on Saturday – the fifth Libertadores final in the past six seasons to feature two clubs from Brazil.
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Flamengo’s win avenged their 2-1 defeat to Palmeiras in the 2021 Libertadores final and leaves the famous Rio de Janeiro club firmly on course for a hat-trick of trophies in 2025.
Flamengo began the year with victory in the Brazilian Super Cup and need only two points from their remaining two league fixtures to clinch Brazil’s domestic championship.
Flamengo’s third win in the tournament since 2019, and fourth overall, put them level with Argentina’s Estudiantes, three behind another Argentinian club, Independiente, with seven titles.
Palmeiras, meanwhile, were left ruing a golden chance to equalise in the 89th minute, when Vitor Roque blasted over the bar from point-blank range.
That was arguably the best Palmeiras chance of a mostly fractious final, littered with 33 fouls and seven yellow cards shared between the two teams.
A scrappy first half saw Flamengo enjoy the better chances, with Bruno Henrique the first to trigger alarm in the Palmeiras ranks with a 15th-minute strike that flew high and wide.
Flamengo continued to find space down the flanks, and moments later, Samuel Lino threatened to break the deadlock, cutting in from the left and flashing a shot wide.
This, however, was as good as it got for Flamengo in the first half, and the men in red and black were fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men after 30 minutes, following a melee that erupted when Palmeiras defender Bruno Fuchs brought down Flamengo star Giorgian de Arrascaeta.
As tempers flared, Flamengo’s Chilean international Erick Pulgar flew in and kicked out at Fuchs, yet somehow escaped only with a yellow.
Flamengo again looked the more threatening team after half-time, while struggling to create clear-cut chances.
The breakthrough finally came on 67 minutes, when Arrascaeta swung in an inviting corner from the right.
Danilo – inexplicably left unmarked – rose unchallenged to head home for what would be the winning goal.
Tom Stoppard, frequently hailed as the greatest British playwright of this generation, had both a remarkable life and a remarkable career.
Born in Czechoslovakia in 1937, his family fled to Singapore when the Nazis invaded. When Japan threatened their new home, his mother took him and his brother to India. His father stayed behind in Singapore but died when the ship he was aboard was sunk. His mother later married a British officer and the family relocated to England, where young Stoppard took his stepfather’s surname and “put on Englishness like a coat,” he later said.
Stoppard quickly became known for his clever, witty and intellectually curious work, earning three Olivier Awards, five Tony Awards and an Oscar (for “Shakespeare in Love”). He was even knighted in 1997 by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to theater.
Starting with “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” in 1966, through his final full-length play “Leopoldstadt” in 2020, Stoppard crafted a body of work that would be the envy of most countries, let alone one writer.
Below are some of Stoppard most important plays, with observations from Times critics:
The 2022 Broadway production of “Leopoldstadt” in a family scene from 1924.
(Joan Marcus)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966)
After working as a journalist, Stoppard had a breakthrough when this absurdist romp debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe. Times theater critic Charles McNulty reviewed a 2013 production at the Old Globe’s Shakespeare Festival in San Diego, describing it as a “metapharcical romp (to coin a genre), in which ‘Hamlet’ is glimpsed through the oblique perspective of the prince’s twin buddies, sent to spy on him by Gertrude and Claudius in that Elsinore castle of murder, adultery and occult intrigue. … Stoppard’s fertile wit keeps this three-act drama pulsing along without too much strain. A subtle pathos, along with the playwright’s verbal sophistication, prevents the play from degenerating into a collegiate vaudeville.” In 1990, Stoppard himself directed a film version starring Gary Oldman and Tim Roth.
Jumpers (1972)
This satire set in an alternative universe in which British astronauts land on the moon and “Radical Liberals” have taken over the nation’s government, premiered at London’s Old Vic starring Michael Hordern and Diana Rigg. Two years later, Times theater critic Dan Sullivan reviewed an American Conservatory Theater production of it in San Francisco. “Stoppard’s new play can’t be hung with one of those preprinted tags that theater critics carry in their pockets for easy labeling,” he wrote. “You might call it a Metaphysical Spoof With Acrobatic Prelude, or you might not. The only general thing you can say about it is that it’s very bright and very funny, and sometimes rather touching.”
Travesties (1974)
The Royal Shakespeare Company staged the first production at the Aldwych Theatre in London, starring John Wood, John Hurt, Tom Bell and Frank Windsor. Stoppard was fascinated with the idea that James Joyce, Vladimir Lenin and Dadadist poet Tristan Tzara were all living in Zurich in 1917. He placed these zeitgeist figures in the orbit of a more humble historical figure named Henry Carr, who figured into Joyce’s “Ulysses.” The Times’ Sullivan took in the 1975 New York production, calling it “dazzling” and wondered if Broadway audiences would be able to keep up with it. “Like Stoppard’s last play ‘Jumpers’ (which didn’t do very well here), this is a vaudeville show where the language does tricks as well as the actors,” wrote Sullivan. “And to do the tricks as well as ‘Travesties,’ John Wood [as Carr], a playwright’s language has got to be pretty accomplished.”
The Real Thing (1982)
Felicity Kendal and Roger Rees originated the lead roles in Stoppard’s very personal examination of love and marriage, truth and honesty. The playwright significantly reworked the script for its Broadway run, starring Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons directed by Mike Nichols, to great success. Linda Purl and Michael Gross assumed the roles for the 1986 L.A. production at the Doolittle Theatre. ”Without spoiling its surprises, the reviewer can say that not every scene in ‘The Real Thing’ is what it seems to be, including the first one,” wrote Sullivan. “Stoppard’s characters are theater people, professional makers of scenes, and some of these scenes get swept into the play. … ‘The Real Thing’ has wit, surprise and characters you care about. … If you like plays written in full sentences, you’ll like ‘The Real Thing.’
Arcadia (1993)
Moving between the 19th century and the present, Stoddard balanced tragedy and comedy with a healthy dose of science and mathematics. The play opened at the Royal National Theatre in London directed by Trevor Nunn with a cast including Rufus Sewell, Felicity Kendal, Bill Nighy and Emma Fielding. Two years later, in New York, Nunn directed a new cast that included Billy Crudup, Blair Brown, Victor Garber as Bernard, Robert Sean Leonard, Jennifer Dundas and Paul Giamatti in his Broadway debut. “‘Arcadia’ is a great play not because it seamlessly meshes serious ideas and the intense pleasure of a literary detective story,” wrote Times critic Laurie Winer, reviewing director Robert Egan’s 1997 Mark Taper Forum production. “It is a great play because, by the end, Tom Stoppard touches ineffability, just as his heroine touches genius.”
The Invention of Love (1997)
For this portrait of poet A. E. Housman, Stoppard once again turned to historical figures for his cast. The play premiered at the Royal National Theatre, London, with Housman played as an old man by John Wood and as a young man by Paul Rhys. It was directed by Richard Eyre. The play opened on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre in 2001, directed by Jack O’Brien. “Stoppard has written an essentially undramatic dreamscape,” wrote Times critic Michael Phillips.” The recently deceased Housman (Richard Easton), about to cross the River Styx, assesses his recessive life and great unrequited love for the athlete Moses Jackson (David Harbour), a fellow Oxford man. En route, the elder Housman runs into his younger self (Robert Sean Leonard). There’s a long scene near the end of Act 1 shared by the two Housmans. As they discuss the niceties and textual flaws of the classics they love as much as life itself, Stoppard’s playfulness is tinged with rue; the older man cannot prevent the younger’s heartbreak to come.”
The Coast of Utopia (2002)
This trilogy of plays, “Voyage,” “Shipwreck” and “Salvage,” zeroed in on philosophical debates in 19th century Russia. They premiered at the National Theatre’s Olivier auditorium in repertory, directed by Nunn. The plays debuted on Broadway, directed by Jack O’Brien, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center in 2006. “A nearly eight-hour drama about the Russian intelligentsia that received mixed reviews when it premiered in London in 2002, ‘The Coast of Utopia’ isn’t for the theatrical faint of heart,” cautioned Times critic McNulty. “Stamina is a prerequisite for the company and audience alike. … Stoppard’s play enacts a moment in history when thinkers and writers set out to redirect the future. Ideologies were conceived and pressed immediately into service, sometimes at the expense of the individual lives they were theoretically meant to serve. [It] dramatizes both the ebb and flow of conditional life and the hunger for unconditional solutions to its woes.”
Rock ‘n’ Roll (2006)
Stoppard looked to his Czech roots with this drama, connecting the Prague Spring of 1968 with the Velvet Revolution of 1989 through music. The play premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, once again directed by Nunn and featuring Rufus Sewell, Brian Cox and Sinéad Cusack. The cast moved to Broadway in 2007. “You might want to arrive a bit early and study the timelines in the lobby, which detail Czechoslovakia’s turbulent political history from 1968 to 1990 and key events in the rock music scene during that era,” wrote reviewer F. Kathleen Foley of Open Fist’s 2010 production. “Read them carefully. Otherwise your head just may explode at some point during this Los Angeles premiere, which presupposes an intimate familiarity with Czech history, the early rock scene and, oh, did we mention Sapphic poetry? It’s all a bit ostentatious and difficult to follow — but even at his most intellectually prolix, Stoppard is flat-out brilliant, arguably our greatest living playwright.”
Leopoldstadt (2020)
The final play of Stoppard’s brilliant career was sparked by the playwright learning of the plight of his Jewish ancestors upon his mother’s death in 1996. It debuted at Wyndham’s Theatre in London’s West End, but was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and debuted on Broadway in 2022 starring Davis Krumholtz with Patrick Marber directing. The play “unfolds as a series of oil paintings magicked into life,” wrote Times critic McNulty. “The play, which features a cast of 38 actors, moves from turn-of-the-century Vienna, where Freud, Mahler and Schnitzler are the talk of the town, to 1924, when the scars of World War I are clearly visible. Performed without intermission, the action ominously leaps to 1938, as the Nazis are ransacking the homes of Jewish citizens. The play concludes in 1955, when three family survivors reunite to piece together the fates of their murdered relatives. … It’s not just that the work mirrors aspects of his personal history. It’s also the virtuosic way that he conjures the shifting cultural zeitgeist of Vienna in the first half of the 20th century through stylized conversation alone.”
You can find audio dramas by L.A. Theatre Works of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,” “The Real Thing” and “Arcadia” on Spotify.
Many of the films Stoppard wrote or co-wrote are available for streaming, including “Brazil” (1985),” Turner Classic Movies, and for rent on Apple TV and Prime Video; “The Russia House” (1990), for rent on Prime Video; “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” (1990), for rent on various platforms; “Empire of the Sun” (1987), for rent on various platforms; and “Shakespeare in Love” (1998), Paramount+ and Kanopy, and for rent on various platforms.
Stoppard is also certainly a playwright whose work is a joy to read. Most of these plays can be found at your local public library or favorite bookstore.
Nov. 29 (UPI) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied ordering the U.S. military to “kill everybody” and said news reports claiming such are “fake news.”
Hegseth was responding to a report by the Washington Post on Friday that accused Hegseth of verbally ordering military personnel to kill all 11 crew members by carrying out a second strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel on Sept. 2.
That strike was the first of many targeting drug vessels in international waters, but the Washington Post only cited anonymous sources to back its claim, which the Defense Department has called fabricated and “fake news,” according to The Guardian.
“We told the Washington Post that this entire narrative was false yesterday,” Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell said in a social media post on Friday.
“These people just fabricate anonymously sourced stories out of the whole cloth,” Parnell continued.
“Fake news is the enemy of the people,” he added.
Hegseth went further, calling the Washington Post report “fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland.”
The Washington Post said Hegseth’s alleged verbal order resulted in a second strike on the vessel as two surviving crew members clung to the wreckage, which killed them.
The report on Friday prompted Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., to order inquiries into the matter to determine the facts.
Hegseth said every strike carried out against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean has been legal and only targeted members of designated foreign terrorist organizations.
A group of “former military attorneys” on Saturday released a report saying international law prohibits the targeting of attack survivors and requires the attacking force to “protect, rescue and, if applicable, treat them as prisoners of war,” the Washington Post reported.
The U.S. military has struck 21 vessels whose crews were alleged to be smuggling drugs to the United States and killed 83, according to USA Today.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One on Tuesday. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
Umaro Sissoco Embalo arrives in the Republic of Congo after first seeking refuge in Senegal following this week’s coup.
Published On 29 Nov 202529 Nov 2025
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Guinea-Bissau’s former president, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, has travelled to the Republic of Congo, the AFP and Associated Press news agencies are reporting, days after he was deposed in a military coup.
Califa Soares Cassama, Embalo’s chief of staff, confirmed to AP that the former president was in the Congolese capital, Brazzaville.
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Unnamed Congolese government sources also told AFP that Embalo was in Brazzaville.
Embalo had initially sought refuge in neighbouring Senegal after a group of military officers on Wednesday announced that they had taken “full control” of Guinea-Bissau ahead of the release of provisional presidential election results.
The true motives for the coup remain unclear, with speculation and conspiracy theories circulating, including that it was carried out with Embalo’s blessing.
The coup has sparked a wave of international condemnation, with regional leaders and the United Nations calling on Guinea-Bissau’s new military leaders to restore constitutional order and allow the electoral process to complete its work.
Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko condemned the events as a “sham” in remarks to lawmakers on Friday.
“We want the electoral process to continue,” Sonko said. “The [electoral] commission must be able to declare the winner.”
Many of Guinea-Bissau’s new military leaders are close to Embalo, including General Horta Inta-A, who was named as the transitional president earlier this week, and Ilidio Vieira Te, who was appointed prime minister.
Te had previously served as finance minister in Embalo’s government.
On Saturday, Inta-a appointed a 28-member government, most of whom are allies of the deposed president.
Separately, the country’s main opposition party, PAIGC, said in a statement that its headquarters had been “illegally invaded by heavily armed militia groups” in the capital, Bissau.
The party denounced the raid on Saturday as “an attack on stability, democracy and the rule of law” in Guinea-Bissau.
PAIGC had been barred from presenting a presidential candidate in last Sunday’s election, a move that drew criticism from civil rights groups who denounced an apparent crackdown on the opposition.
Both Embalo and his main challenger, Fernando Dias, had declared victory ahead of the release of the provisional vote results, which had been set for Thursday.
Strictly Come Dancing 2025 is flying by, and another star will be shown leaving the BBC series on Sunday night, filmed on Saturday, but the leak has already revealed who left
23:13, 29 Nov 2025Updated 23:16, 29 Nov 2025
Strictly Come Dancing 2025 is flying by, and another star will be shown leaving the BBC series on Sunday(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Guy Levy)
Another star has left Strictly Come Dancing 2025, and the result has left fans “absolutely devastated”.
While the result has not been confirmed by the BBC and doesn’t air until Sunday night, as per usual a leak has given the game away. With the results show filmed on the Saturday night after the live show, each week the booted off celebrity gets revealed online hours before the BBC announce it.
This week is no different, and the Strictly mole has revealed all – with the result dividing fans. As usual, Mirror has chosen not to state the name given, but fans have reacted to the supposed result online.
Taking to social media fans confessed they were “absolutely devastated” and some didn’t see it coming. Others even went as far as to say they wanted a second opinion, while some were “not surprised”.
One fan said: “Holy – that I was NOT expecting. absolutely the correct decision though.” Another said: “I can’t believe it!!!!! I’m absolutely devastated.”
A third fan said: “I am gutted with this elimination,” while one fan said: “Not the biggest surprise after this evening’s show, but overall they have been lovely to watch.” Another added: “Absolutely the right decision.”
One fan didn’t believe it to the point they wanted a “second opinion”. “I’m sorry, I want a second opinion here. I don’t believe for one minute they would save the person in question between those two,” they claimed.
It comes a week on from La Voix leaving the show due to an injury. Initially only missing out on one week, the drag artist sadly had to quit the show altogether meaning an elimination was cancelled.
After sustaining a food injury, La Voix and pro dance partner Aljaz had hoped she would recover and continue their Strictly journey, but sadly this was not to be. She broke down in tears as she spoke out about her sudden exit.
The star said: “This has been the most extraordinary experience of my entire life. What I loved most, don’t hate me, it’s not the dancing but it’s just being welcomed by everyone.
“I came into the show as a minority, as a redhead, and you’ve embraced me wonderfully. I cannot thank you enough, it’s been amazing.” La Voix added: “I’m just so lucky. What you see on that dancefloor is a fraction of the love and the passion this man has for dance.
“You have made me carry on when I’ve questioned myself, made me laugh on the toughest day and when I thought I couldn’t do something, you never gave up on me. Not once. I am leaving this show more confident, and that’s because of you.”
Meanwhile, fans were left fearing fellow celebrity contestant Alex Kingston would be next to withdraw, after an injury. After claims she had sustained a rib injury, Alex spoke out to assure fans she was going nowhere, and had no plans to quit the series.
Around 3,500 vocal fans filled the intimate arena, jeering TKV on his ring walk. ‘Big Fraze’, from nearby Burton-upon-Trent, received a rousing reception in return.
Much to the fans’ delight, he asserted himself in the opening round, snapping a jab to the body before ripping in stinging uppercuts that clearly troubled TKV.
But the Tottenham man – whose family boasts a fascinating history, with both his father and grandfather serving in the Zairean army – showed his fighting spirit and settled into the contest.
The bout had originally been scheduled for October before a rib injury forced TKV out. The postponement reignited tensions, souring a once-respectful rivalry.
Clarke’s corner repeatedly protested low blows from TKV, some drifting in on the blindside of the referee, who issued a warning in the third. Moments later, another borderline shot earned TKV the point deduction.
Jabs were scarce; instead, the fight descended into clinches from Clarke and heavy leaning from TKV, with lunging, telegraphed punches punctuating the action.
TKV found success with his left hook and Clarke with his uppercut, but both men soaked up the shots as if they were bouncing off stone.
Just as the contest seemed to be petering out, TKV – his right eye badly swollen – detonated a left hook that left Clarke reeling in the 11th.
Clarke stayed upright only by leaning into TKV, looking lost as the referee moved in for a closer look.
His coach, Angel Fernandez, looked set on pulling him out, but Clarke insisted on continuing.
He left the ring without giving a post-fight interview, still appearing shell-shocked.
Nov. 29 (UPI) — The federal government is ending its anti-Semitism investigation at Northwestern University in exchange for a $75 million fine in an agreement that restores $790 million in federal funding for research.
The Chicago-area private university must abide by federal anti-discrimination laws regarding admissions and hiring and initiate mandatory anti-Semitism training for students, staff and faculty as part of the deal, the Chicago Sun Times reported.
University officials also must enact and maintain policies that clearly regulate protests and other “expressive activities,” review its policies regarding international admissions and end its Deering Meadow agreement that enabled “peaceful” protests at the university’s 2-acre park.
“This is not an agreement the university enters into lightly, but one that was made based on institutional values,” interim President Henry Bienen said, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.
Attorney General Pam Bondi called the settlement a win for civil rights.
“Today’s settlement marks another victory for the Trump administration’s fight to ensure that American educational institutions protect Jewish students and put merit first,” Bondi said in a statement.
“Institutions that accept federal funds are obligated to follow civil rights law,” Bondi added. “We are grateful to Northwestern for negotiating this historic deal.”
Bienen said university officials had several “hard lines” that they refused to cross when negotiating the settlement.
“We would not relinquish any control over whom we hire, whom we admit as students, what our faculty would teach or how our faculty would teach,” he said.
University officials said they will review their international admissions criteria and develop training to better socialize international students so that they understand the campus norms regarding open debate and inquiry.
Northwestern’s board of trustees also will create a committee to ensure the university complies with the agreement with the federal government.
The university must pay its $75 million fine in increments over the next three years, which is the second-highest amount being paid by a college or university to settle accusations of discrimination and anti-Semitism amid pro-Palestinian campus protests.
Columbia University in New York City earlier agreed to pay a $200 million fine to settle claims made against it by federal investigators.
The $790 million in federal research funding that had been suspended should be restored by the end of December, according to Bienen.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump pardon Gobble, the National Thanksgiving Turkey, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on November 25, 2025. Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI | License Photo
Mexico currently faces an unparalleled economic juncture. Global geopolitical dynamics, driven by nearshoring and the imperative to diversify supply chains, have positioned the country for a development opportunity that far exceeds simple assembly manufacturing. The potential to build high-value ecosystems in artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor fabrication—the foundational pillars of the modern global economy—could fundamentally redefine Mexico’s standing in international trade.
But, this critical ambition is currently being stalled by a single, deeply rooted structural factor in the national infrastructure: the capacity, quality, and, above all, the reliability of the National Transmission Grid (RNT) operated by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). The power grid, therefore, is not merely an operational prerequisite; it has transformed into the primary strategic constraint jeopardizing Mexico’s technological sovereignty and its potential qualitative economic leap.
I. The Tensions of Demand: World-Class Requirements
The AI and semiconductor fabrication (FAB) industries impose energy demands that Mexico’s legacy infrastructure is struggling to meet. These sectors not only consume power on a massive scale but also require it with a precision and resilience that approaches technical perfection.
A. The Exponentials of AI and Data Centers
The core engine of AI is the data center. These facilities, especially those dedicated to training massive models using Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), require a constant power flow comparable to that of entire cities. Large hyperscale data centers can demand between 100 MW and 300 MW of installed capacity, and the aggregate demand from this sector in Mexico is projected to multiply tenfold in the near future.
This demand possesses one non-negotiable quality: 24/7 availability. AI operations cannot tolerate interruptions. A micro-power cut is more than just an economic loss; it represents the possibility of compromising the integrity of critical data or nullifying the progress of computation processes that have required weeks of execution—an unviable vulnerability for the industry.
B. The Precision Mandate of Semiconductors
Semiconductor manufacturing plants are arguably the industrial environments most sensitive to power quality. In the fabrication of microchips, where tolerances are measured in nanometers, a micro-unit of voltage fluctuation or an interruption lasting mere milliseconds can prove catastrophic. Such an event can instantaneously ruin entire batches of silicon wafers valued in the millions of dollars.
Therefore, the key to attracting advanced semiconductor fabrication facilities (FABs, typically requiring between 50 MW and 150 MW each) does not lie solely in guaranteeing the volume of energy but in certifying a power quality that the CFE, given constraints in transmission and distribution, struggles to consistently assure within the most desirable industrial hubs. The promise of availability must, by necessity, be a world-class guarantee.
II. The CFE Infrastructure: From Support to Barrier
The National Electric System (SEN) operates under a structural pressure that positions it as the decisive bottleneck. This barrier manifests across three critical dimensions that undermine the confidence of high-technology investors.
A. Saturation of Transmission and Distribution
Mexico’s fundamental problem is not a lack of total generation capacity but the systemic inability to move that power efficiently, a responsibility that falls squarely on the RNT. This infrastructure, much of which is aging or designed for industrial patterns of a past century, has simply failed to evolve at the pace required by nearshoring.
The consequence is severe congestion in substations and distribution lines, particularly in the vital industrial corridors of the north and center (such as Nuevo León, Coahuila, and the Bajío region). This congestion translates into something tangible and costly: industrial park developers face wait times exceeding a year just to obtain connection feasibility. This delay has led to a troubling phenomenon: the proliferation of “Dark Buildings”—industrial warehouses completely finished and ready for operation but lacking physical access to electrical power.
B. Reliability, Risk, and the Unacceptable Interruption
Recent waves of blackouts and recurrent service interruptions demonstrate that the SEN is consistently operating at its operational limit. Obsolescence in the generation fleet and deficiencies in transmission elevate the risk of system failures.
For any corporation managing mission-critical computing processes or high-value production lines like FABs, this level of risk is unacceptable. A multi-billion-dollar investment cannot depend on a grid that offers systemic uncertainty. Compounding this is regulatory volatility, where the perceived prioritization of fossil fuel generation over renewable energy dissuades global investors who seek clarity, stable long-term pricing, and a predictable framework for operation.
C. The Sustainability Imperative (ESG Factor)
Leaders in the technology industry (from Google and Amazon to major chip manufacturers) have adopted rigorous corporate commitments regarding sustainability and governance (ESG), including net-zero carbon goals or the use of 100% clean energy.
To establish AI or semiconductor operations in Mexico, these investors require contractual guarantees that a substantial portion of their consumption will be sourced from renewables. The difficulty imposed on the interconnection of private wind or solar energy projects to the RNT, coupled with the CFE’s reliance on generation based on natural gas and fuel oil, creates a sustainability impediment that automatically excludes Mexico from the list of viable destinations for many of these investments.
III. The Strategic Cost: Sovereignty and Dependency
If the electric infrastructure issue is not addressed with a decisive, long-term state vision, the cost to Mexico will be dual and profound:
Firstly, it will result in the loss of the value-added nearshoring opportunity. High-demand and high-precision firms will simply divert their investments to markets that offer solid power grids and transparent regulatory frameworks, such as the United States (driven by the CHIPS Act) or established Asian ecosystems.
Secondly, it will perpetuate technological dependence. Without the necessary energy infrastructure to host, power, and train large-scale AI models, and without the capacity to manufacture advanced components, Mexico will be relegated to being merely a consumer and assembler of technologies designed and produced elsewhere. This outcome has a direct, negative impact on national technological sovereignty and the capacity of Mexican research centers to compete at the global frontier of knowledge.
Conclusion: From Bottleneck to Catalyst
The CFE grid represents the single most fundamental challenge to Mexico’s digital ascension. While recent investments in transmission grid modernization signal a positive step, the sheer scale of the challenge necessitates a true paradigm shift that transcends institutional inertia.
To transform this bottleneck into a powerful catalyst, Mexico must execute a strategic course of action centered on efficiency and openness:
Agile Regulatory Reform: It is imperative to simplify procedures and drastically reduce the timelines for connection and feasibility studies for high-demand industrial projects.
Focalized Transmission Investment: The reinforcement of the RNT must be specifically prioritized in the industrial corridors that are the heart of nearshoring and the potential base for technological ecosystems.
Facilitating Clean Energy Integration: Creating mechanisms that not only permit but actively promote the interconnection of private renewable energy projects to meet the ESG demand and the volume required by technological leaders.
Deployment of Smart Grids: The massive adoption of AI-based technologies for distribution optimization, loss reduction, and ensuring resilient voltage quality is essential for the mission-critical needs of the AI and semiconductor industries.
Mexico’s technological future hinges upon the resolution of the CFE dilemma. It is the key that, when turned, will either open or definitively close the door to high-technology development.
Phillip McGraw, the genial celebrity psychologist who spent a career calling out the behavior of others and doling out zingers, found himself upbraided by a bankruptcy judge.
Merit Street Media, McGraw’s new network, had filed for bankruptcy protection in July, a little more than a year after he launched the media startup, and then sued its distribution partner, Trinity Broadcasting Network.
During a nearly three-hour hearing in Dallas last month, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Scott Everett said that he’d “never seen a case” like the Chapter 11 filing McGraw’s company was attempting.
Everett cited evidence indicating McGraw had “violated” a court order by deleting “unflattering” text messages that allegedly described his plan to use the bankruptcy to “wipe out” creditor claims.
“What makes this case unique, unfortunately, is that it has been plagued with the attempted destruction of relevant evidence and less than truthful testimony by some of the key players,” said Everett, alluding to McGraw and his associates in the case.
Everett ruled that Merit Street be liquidated.
Following the hearing, a spokesperson for McGraw’s production company vigorously denied the accusation that he destroyed evidence and said he is appealing the ruling.
“Dr. McGraw’s excellent record of integrity, success and service to millions over two decades speaks for itself,” said Chip Babcock, attorney for McGraw’s production company.
The unraveling of McGraw’s media venture was a gut punch for the celebrity therapist who has assiduously built a reputation — and tremendous personal wealth — as one of the most trusted voices on television. But his fortunes faded amid a dying market for syndicated TV and clashes with a distributor and partner.
After 21 years as host of the successful syndicated talk show “Dr. Phil,” McGraw went out on his own last year. He launched Merit Street Media in Texas, a company that he said would promote “family values” and serve as an antidote to “woke” culture, only to find that his ambitions collided with a new television reality.
Unlike “Dr. Phil,” Merit Street was untethered to the well-oiled machine of Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, where it was filmed, and top-tier distribution partner CBS.
Moreover, the sheer force of McGraw’s personality could not overcome the fact that linear TV is on the wane. Syndicated daytime TV shows are no longer the cash cows they used to be as most viewers consume content through streaming and other digital outlets such as YouTube and TikTok.
“By the time he put this new company together, the ‘Dr. Phil’ era had kind of ended,” said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. “There is a shelf life to these characters and he reached his.”
An Oprah favorite
McGraw rose from clinical psychologist to an American living room staple and self-help guru in the late 1990s after Oprah Winfrey anointed him as her protégé.
Television’s then-reigning queen hired McGraw to prepare for her libel case brought by Texas cattlemen in 1997. They claimed her comments during an episode about mad cow disease disparaged them and caused beef prices to drop.
Winfrey prevailed, but it was McGraw, a former linebacker with the commanding presence of a sheriff from an old-time western, who emerged victorious.
Oprah Winfrey launched “Dr. Phil” after he advised her during her Texas cattlemen’s libel trial in the late 1990s.
(Christopher Smith / Invision / AP)
Much like books, pajama sets and certain chocolate brands, McGraw became one of Oprah’s favorite things. Recast as “Dr. Phil,” she featured him during weekly segments on her hugely popular talk show, starting in 1998. By 2002, a “Dr. Phil” spinoff began airing five days a week, produced by Winfrey’s Harpo Productions.
The show was distributed by CBS Media Ventures and filmed on a soundstage at Paramount studios on Melrose Avenue with a live audience, and it became the de facto voice for home viewers.
McGraw quickly earned a massive following for dispensing advice to cheating spouses, drug addicts, troubled teens, meddling in-laws, infamous criminals and celebrities. He delivered his no-nonsense, often blunt assessments wrapped in folksy Southern sayings such as “No matter how flat you make a pancake, it’s still got two sides.”
For more than two decades, “Dr. Phil” was a top-rated syndicated daytime talk show — 11 of those seasons at No. 1 — garnering 31 Daytime Emmy nominations. He was catapulted to stardom, appearing everywhere from late-night talk shows to sitcom cameos, even a character on “Sesame Street,” Dr. Feel. In 2020, he received a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
Dr. Phil McGraw with his wife, Robin McGraw, his son Jay McGraw and his wife, Erica Dahm, as well as their two children, London and Avery, at the ceremony celebrating Dr. Phil receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
(Getty Images)
McGraw leveraged “Dr. Phil” as a launching pad for his ever-growing empire of bestselling books and various ancillary businesses, including a virtual addiction recovery program, a telemedicine app and production company, Stage 29, with his son Jay McGraw that produced shows like daytime’s “The Doctors.”
But as McGraw’s popularity and influence grew, so did the controversies.
The family of Britney Spears criticized him after he visited the troubled pop star when she was hospitalized on a psychiatric hold and issued a news release saying she was “in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention.”
McGraw later told viewers on his show that “I definitely think if I had it to do over again, I probably wouldn’t make any statement at all. Period.”
Claims of conflict
Questions were also raised that McGraw used his show to promote businesses and products connected to his family and affiliates, sometimes without fully disclosing those ties.
In 2006, McGraw settled a lawsuit for $10.5 million with consumers who alleged that he defrauded them by making false claims about a line of nutritional and weight-loss supplements that he endorsed on “Dr. Phil.”
He faced a Federal Trade Commission investigation into false advertising and the line was eventually discontinued.
“Dr. McGraw’s career stands among the most successful in television history,” Babcock said. “His programs always have been completely transparent, with all brand integrations under full network oversight and full FCC compliance.”
The on-air promotion of McGraw’s family businesses, such as his wife Robin McGraw’s skincare line and lifestyle brand and his son Jay McGraw’s books during “integrations,” also drew scrutiny.
Dr. Phil McGraw and son Jay McGraw.
(Jason LaVeris / FilmMagic)
“Dr. Phil” episodes frequently featured guests suffering from addiction who were often offered the opportunity to check into a treatment facility at the end of the episode.
In 2017, an investigation by STAT News and the Boston Globe alleged that the show highlighted specific treatment facilities in exchange for those recovery programs purchasing various products affiliated with McGraw.
A spokesman for the show had denied the allegations, saying that “any suggestion that appearances on Dr. Phil’s show are linked to the purchase or use of this program is false.”
McGraw’s wattage remained undimmed. He continued to branch into new ventures. He launched a podcast in 2019, “Phil in the Blanks,” and prime-time TV shows like “Bull,” a legal drama on CBS based on his experiences as a trial strategist, and another CBS legal drama, “So Help Me Todd.”
The “Dr. Phil” show has said that since its premiere, it has provided $35 million in resources to its guests after they appeared.
During the last years of “Dr. Phil,” staffers and viewers noticed that programming began to shift away from advising relationships, parenting and money issues to more conservative and cultural issues such as immigration and transgender athletes.
“He took a political slant already, but once COVID hit, [the show] skewed more and more political,” said one former longtime “Dr. Phil” staffer who declined to be named out of fear of retaliation.
During an appearance on Fox News in April 2020, McGraw said that pandemic lockdowns would be more fatal than the virus, drawing a widespread backlash on social media.
McGraw later posted a video saying he supported CDC guidelines but was concerned about the mental health effects of long-term quarantine.
“He was very good about getting big stories, but we had no input, and believe me, if we ever wanted to or tried, we’d be just told ‘no,’” said a former executive at CBS, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject matter.
Starting over in Texas
In 2023, McGraw announced that he was leaving CBS and returning to Texas to launch a new venture and broaden his audience, citing “grave concerns for the American family” and that he was “determined to help restore a clarity of purpose as well as our core values.”
Merit Street built a studio in a former AT&T call center in Fort Worth. Many of the staffers were veterans of “Dr. Phil” or had worked on McGraw-related content and relocated from Los Angeles to Texas.
Dr. Phil and President Trump at the National Day of Prayer event at the White House in May.
(Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images)
The network, whose name was derived from meritocracy (with shades of main street), premiered in April 2024.
“Merit Street Media will be a resource of information and strategies to fight for America and its families, which are under a cultural ‘woke’ assault as never before,” McGraw said in a statement.
McGraw aired “exclusive” interviews with Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his flagship, “Dr. Phil Primetime.”
Programming consisted of a slate of news, entertainment and conservative commentary programs with former syndicated television stars Nancy Grace and Steve Harvey, whose Steve Harvey Global had a 5% stake in the company, according to Merit’s bankruptcy filings.
But Merit struggled to find an audience; only 27,000 viewers tuned into the network weekly during 2024, placing it at 130 out of 153 U.S. channels, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“It’s totally false to say Merit had bad ratings,” Babcock said. “For a startup, it was like a rocket ship; at one point it passed CNN in the first few months of its existence.”
Merit soon scrapped the live audience for “Dr. Phil Primetime” and eventually production on its original programming came to a halt.
Four months after the network’s debut, the company cut 30% of its staff, including workers who had relocated from Los Angeles.
Facing mounting debts, Merit filed for bankruptcy protection in July, listing liabilities of at least $100 million.
“You could see the writing on the wall,” said the former CBS executive. “Ratings for syndication were dropping.”
While still a household name, McGraw was part of a waning breed of TV syndication stars — Judge Judy, Maury Povich and Ellen DeGeneres among them — whose shows were fast becoming nostalgic relics.
Former McGraw staffers from his CBS days said it appeared that he thought he could simply translate his name recognition and longtime popularity to the new venture, but failed to grasp the new digital media landscape.
“The programming model that he launched in 2024 was more appropriate two decades earlier,” said Syracuse University’s Thompson.
Merit Street faced internal strife as well, according to former staffers and court filings.
Former employees described tensions between Los Angeles transplants and less experienced nonunion crews.
“It was total disorganization,” said one former field producer who had worked for the “Dr. Phil” show and then relocated to Texas to work for Merit Street, who declined to be named out of fear of retribution. “Everyone kept saying this was a startup, and maybe it was. People made decisions but had no idea what they were doing,” the producer added.
A representative of McGraw’s production company conceded the startup had growing pains.
“The company thought they could produce the same quality production with less people,” he said.
Compounding matters, relations between Merit and its business and broadcast partner TBN also soured.
Merit alleged in its lawsuit that TBN provided “comically dysfunctional” technical services, with teleprompters and monitors blacked out during live programs before a studio audience.
The suit further alleged that TBN failed to pay TV distributors and had reneged on its promise to cover $100 million in production services and other costs.
McGraw, through his production company, bankrolled the struggling enterprise from December 2024 to May 2025, lending it $25 million, according to Merit’s lawsuit.
For its part, TBN accused McGraw and his production company Peteski Productions of “fraudulent inducement,” alleging in a countersuit that it had invested $100 million into Merit and that McGraw and Peteski had failed to bring in promised advertising revenue.
TBN said McGraw reached out to the company as a potential replacement for CBS as a distribution partner during the latter half of 2022.
“McGraw specifically represented to TBN that he wanted to change networks because of what he perceived to be CBS’s censorship of the content aired on the ‘Dr. Phil Show.’ As McGraw put it, ‘I don’t want snot-nose lawyers telling me what I can and can’t say on TV,’” the lawsuit states.
Instead, they claimed in their complaint, McGraw and his company engaged in a “fraudulent scheme” to fleece TBN, a not-for-profit corporation.
In a statement to Variety, a spokesperson for McGraw and his production company called TBN’s lawsuit “riddled with provable lies.”
TBN did not respond to a request for comment.
Merit also clashed with another partner: Professional Bull Riders, which in November 2024 canceled its four-year contract with Merit and pulled its content, claiming the company had failed to pay the fees it owed.
Professional Bull Riders claims Merit Street stopped paying its broadcast fees and is owed $181 million.
(Anadolu via Getty Images)
PBR, which later signed with Fox Nation and CBS, alleged in a separate lawsuit that Merit breached their contract and is seeking $181 million.
“We’re glad he’s being held accountable,” said Mark Shapiro, the president and chief operating officer of TKO Group Holdings, parent company of PBR, in a statement to The Times.
“Merit Street agreed to work out its differences with PBR in a confidential proceeding which is ongoing. We were therefore surprised that PBR would publicly accuse us of violating our agreement when the facts are in dispute,” the company said in an earlier statement.
Two weeks after Merit filed for bankruptcy, McGraw announced the launch of another new network, Envoy Media Co., that would include live, “balanced news,” original entertainment programming and “immersive viewer experiences,” as well as original programming from friend and former Merit stakeholder Steve Harvey.
Last month, Envoy struck a distribution deal with Charter Communications.
“Dr. McGraw remains deeply proud of his past work and the millions of people it has reached. He’s now turning that same purpose and energy toward Envoy Media,” Babcock said.
But the Merit legal drama is far from over.
TBN has since alleged that Merit Street filed for bankruptcy in bad faith as a way to secure funding for Envoy.
A spokesperson for Peteski called TBN’s allegation “blatantly false” and said Envoy is independently financed.
Earlier this month, Judge Everett rejected Merit’s motion to pause the company’s liquidation while his ruling is appealed. He cited deleted texts in which McGraw described plans by Merit to file for bankruptcy protection to “wipe out” debts from its main creditors, TBN and PBR.
“Candor to the court is critical,” said Everett during his original ruling, and then declared that Merit Street Media “was as dead as a door nail when the bankruptcy was filed.”
