There’s plenty here for die-hard completists who will marvel at owning Neil Young’s original 1977 mixes. For the rest of us, this release edges into self-indulgent territory

A clip of the presenter appearing to criticise Adrien Brody and Mikey Madison has prompted some ridicule on social media. But his take on the UK’s blinkered relationship with celebrity is worth unpacking, writes Louis Chilton

Walton Goggins says he started crying when he picked up a snake for the very first time

As many as 100,000 photos and online posts including a female Medal of Honor recipient, Black soldiers and people whose last name is ‘Gay’ may be axed in the diversity eradication ordered by Donald Trump

The Trade Desk (TTD) and media agencies are drifting apart — a conscious uncoupling that crept in slowly but is now moving fast. 

Agencies say their spending isn’t climbing like it used to, while The Trade Desk is busy chasing direct deals with advertisers. It’s not a full on breakup yet, but both sides are clearly eyeing other options. 

One holding company media buyer, who exchanged anonymity for candor, told Digiday that rising client investment in CTV — and the many DSPs that can be used to place such spend — meant their agency was becoming less reliant on The Trade Desk over time.

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When you think of influencer marketing, you typically picture brands working with a younger creator to target Gen Z (ages 13-28) or Gen Alpha (up to 12 years old). That’s not always the case. As the influencer marketing space and creator economy continues to grow, so-called silver influencers, or creators from Gen X (45-60 years old) and boomer generations (ages 61-79) are increasingly catching marketers’ attention.

Progresso Soup and Harmless Harvest, a coconut product company, are eyeing the older cohort of creators to earn some cultural cache and boost brand awareness. They’re not alone. Brands’ interest in Gen X and Boomer influencers has been on the uptick in recent years, according to previous Digiday reporting. Alaska Airlines, Mountain Dew and clean beauty brand Ilia have made similar campaigns over the past few years.

“They’re still [linear] TV watchers. But also, it’s a pretty social group,” said Maria Carolina Comings, vice president of the sweet and savory business unit at General Mills, referring to the soup brand’s 55-plus consumers. “So one of the places we went to was TikTok.”

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Creator company Whalar Group opened its doors to a newly-built co-working and production space in Los Angeles for creators in February. Named The Lighthouse, it’s not exactly a school, but not exactly an office either. For Whalar, the intention is to gather creators in one place and see what comes of it, whether that’s business ventures, funding or other creative pursuits, explained Neil Waller, co-founder and co-CEO of Whalar Group.

“Now, a week after when the space is open, I just see people talking to each other and agreeing to do things with each other just by the nature of being around each other,” Waller said in late February. “It’s literally everything we could have like dreamt of coming to fruition.”

The Lighthouse is a members-only place for creators to connect with fellow creators, work on attracting brand partnerships and access professional resources. That’s why Whalar sees it as akin to a university campus that aims to not just provide a networking and production ground for creators, but also act as a vehicle for brands to recruit talent — and prove that all these services under one roof can work as a business.

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The latest ad fiasco might suggest otherwise, but some marketers are finally shedding one of their deepest programmatic misconceptions.

Turns out, fixating on low-fee supply chains, or prioritizing ad tech intermediaries with the cheapest fees, was never the magic fix they hoped for. If anything, it’s looking more like a game of chasing rebates than a revolution in efficiency.

The cracks started showing when the math stopped adding up. 

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When Greg Swan first attended South by Southwest (SXSW) 17 years ago, it “cracked open” his world. 

“It’s a culture of people who start with ‘yes’ versus start from a ‘no’ or ‘we can’t’,” said Swan, senior partner and Midwest digital lead at Finn partners.

Being surrounded by attendees with that mindset makes it a crucial stop for Swan, who has over the years changed his networking approach for the festival. Instead of seeking out the hottest parties, Swan now hosts what he calls “stranger dinners” each night, where he gathers eight to 10 attendees for dinner to talk about what they saw and debate ideas. That’s his plan for this year’s conference, which kicks off today and will run through March 15th in Austin, Texas.

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• Russia is preparing to build a factory in Belarus that can make up to 100,000 drones a year.
• Moscow said the plant would bring "effective security" to Minsk but didn't say if it's for weapons.
• Russia aims to build millions of drones yearly, but a plant in Belarus brings production closer to NATO.

Belarus said on Thursday that it's open to hosting a Russian factory that can build up to 100,000 drones yearly, expanding Moscow's production to NATO's backyard.

Russian representatives, including Maxim Oreshkin — the Kremlin's deputy chief of staff — proposed the idea at a drone exhibition in Minsk on Thursday.

"This is a huge prospect for us," Belarusian leader Aleksander Lukashenko, who attended the event with Oreshkin, said in a statement from his office.

Belarusian officials at the exhibition said the plant would initially build 2,000 drones for agriculture and other logistics.

Though Oreshkin did not explicitly say the factory would also be used to build military drones, he said it would bring "effective security" to Belarus.

"This, of course, is a matter of ensuring sovereignty," Oreshkin told Belarusian state media.

Lukashenko said that Belarus would consult drone specialists in April and May but did not specify when the plant is expected to finish construction.

Russia said in September that it's already able to build 1.4 million drones a year, but official production has been focused deep in its territory through areas such as Tatarstan. Some Russian volunteer groups also provide their troops with cheaper drones.

A plant in Belarus would expand official production to a nation bordering Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. All three are NATO members seeking to rapidly scale up defense spending as concerns soar about a heightened Russian threat.

Those efforts also include drone production on their end: Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia are part of a six-nation European coalition that plans to build a "drone wall" to police their eastern borders.

The rest of the world is also locked in an arms race to boost drone capacity, and Russia and Ukraine have been at the forefront. Both say they want to build 3 to 4 million drones each in 2025.

Still, military drones can vary in size and function, and it's unclear what type of drone Belarus intends to help manufacture. The Kremlin, for example, has relied on Iranian long-range Shahed drones to harass Ukrainian cities.

At the same time, the war has seen the sharp rise of commercial drones fitted with explosives, which serve as a cheap, lethal, and precise way to attack troops and valuable equipment.

Regular reports from Ukraine's air force say it typically shoots down about 1,000 Russian drones — a mix of Shaheds, first-person view drones, and reconnaissance drones — a week.

Belarus already hosts several significant Russian capabilities, including tactical nuclear weapons and advanced air defense systems. In 2022, Moscow's troops used the country to station part of its invasion force to attack Ukraine's northern border.

Press services for the defense ministries of Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia did not respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

• Ashley Tisdale says she had very different postpartum experiences following her two births.
• The "High School Musical" star felt "robbed" of her first experience as a mother due to postpartum depression.
• But welcoming her second child to the family was a "very easy transition," she said.

Ashley Tisdale, 39, is excited that she got to be a mom again.

The "High School Musical" star told Us Weekly that welcoming her second child was a chance to experience motherhood again since she felt "robbed" of her first experience due to postpartum depression, or PPD.

"To be able to have this experience again and to have it in such a great way and be so present, it makes me cherish every single moment," Tisdale said.

Tisdale and her husband, Christopher French, married in 2014. They welcomed their first daughter, Jupiter, in 2021 and their second daughter, Emerson, in September.

So far, it's been a "really easy transition" for the family, she said.

When she first became a mom, Tisdale said she was nervous and didn't know what to expect.

"With the second, you just feel so much more confident," she said.

She also credits her husband for his support.

"I feel like we balance each other out," Tisdale said. "There are times where Chris is really the fun parent and I might be a little bit more strict. And then, there's times where he's a little bit more strict with scheduling, and I'm a really fun parent."

In a September post on her website, written about two weeks after she gave birth to her second child, Tisdale reflected on how different her two postpartum experiences were.

When she had her first child, "something just wasn't clicking for me as a new mom," Tisdale wrote.

"I had expected to feel certain things as a new mother, but I didn't. Instead, I spent a lot of time feeling sad and anxious—and guilty about feeling that way," she continued. "It took me a while to realize that I was going through postpartum depression. Fortunately, I came out of it in time, but I remember feeling robbed of the joy I'd been hoping to experience."

But thankfully, things were different with her second child.

"When I first looked into Emerson's eyes, I immediately had the connection I'd dreamed of. This postpartum period has been so much easier because I feel like my normal self, and I feel 100% connected with my daughters," she wrote.

Tisdale isn't the only celebrity mom who has been open about experiencing postpartum depression.

In a March 2017 essay for Glamour, Chrissy Teigen shared that taking antidepressants helped her with postpartum depression. She was diagnosed with the condition after giving birth to her daughter, Luna, in April 2016.

During a 2020 episode of Jameela Jamil's "I Weigh" podcast, Reese Witherspoon shared that she experienced postpartum depression after the birth of two of her three children.

Based on data from the CDC, one in eight women in the US report experiencing symptoms of depression after giving birth.

Some symptoms of postpartum depression include severe mood swings, crying too much, and having difficulties bonding with the newborn baby.

A representative for Tisdale did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.