Business Insider's creative team covered an array of projects this year. We brought our stories to life by incorporating animations, crafting bespoke multimedia experiences for our biggest stories, producing and commissioning hundreds of illustrations, and working with photographers around the globe.

Our visuals captured a wide range of topics, from looking into illegal lockouts in major US cities to Ozempic Scams.

We hired nearly 250 talented freelancers who helped bring our most compelling stories to life, producing over 1,500 pieces of custom art that enhanced our storytelling.

Here are some of our favorite visual creations from 2024.

For God, for country, for rain

Photos by Jett Lara

Why we don't exercise

Illustration by Timo Lenzen

Locked out

Illustration by Andrei Cojocaru, Design and Development by Rebecca Zisser, Isabel Fernandez-Pujol, Randy Yeip, and Annie Fu, Photos by Bridget Bennett, Callaghan O'Hare, Alyssa Pointer, Abel Uribe

The risky allure of WiFi Money

Illustrations by Brandon Celi

Lunar New Year traditions through the lens of three photographers

Photos by Caroline Xia, Ramona Jingru Wang, and Sam Lee

The plight of big sisters

Illustration by Gracia Lam

Albums are too damn long

Illustration by Tyler Le

Want to make money as a pop star? Dream on.

Illustrations by Chris Burnett

The American dream is shrinking

Illustration by Javier Jaén

America is facing a 'fringe friend' crisis

Illustration by Seba Cestaro

'Civilizations rise and fall'

Illustration by Hokyoung Kim

Gen Z's new status symbol

Illustration by Pablo Declan

Joseph Stiglitz on why America's appetite for Trump endures

Photos by Dina Litovsky

The Big Dumb Economic Lie of 2024

Illustration by Alyssa Powell

Scared your partner is cheating? Strangers on the internet are here to help — for a fee

Illustration by Natalie Ammari

Iran will pay for gender-transition surgery, but it comes at a cost — your dignity

Illustration by Ibrahim Rayintakath

New York City's new Gilded Age

Illustration by Carl Godfrey

The pot farm massacre

Photos by Mike Simmons

From ALICEs to DINKs

Illustrations by Jimmy Simpson

The best albums of 2024

Illustration by Natalie Ammari

A founding father of Utah's VC industry is stepping back as accusations of sexual harassment surface

Illustration by Deena So'Oteh

The death of the nuclear family

Illustration by Mark Harris

The online minefield of Ozempic knock-offs

Illustration by Jenny Chang-Rodriguez

To the manor shorn

Photos by Astrid Landon

Through the roof

Illustration by Alex Castro

The mismeasure of America

Illustration by Chris Gash

The rise of the job-search bots

Illustrations by Hugo Herrera

The world's meanest app

Illustration by Alvaro Dominguez

It's gearing up to be a hot travel debt summer for Gen Z and millennials

Illustration by Rebecca Zisser

Hot girls love book clubs

Illustration by Natalia Agatte

What an extra $500 to $1,000 a month did for 8 families

Design and Development by Kim Nguyen, Rebecca Zisser, Isabel Fernandez-Pujol, Photos by Jovelle Tamayo, Tim Evans, Helynn Ospina, Andre Chung, Brittany Greeson, Libby March

'No CCP in USA!'

Illustrations by Matt Harrison Clough

Drake Bell knows life is not a Disney movie

Photos by Ana Topoleanu

AI Power List 2024

Illustration by Karan Singh

Soup to nuts

Illustrations by Tyler Le

The professors turned porn stars

Photos by Simone Lueck

Inside the Billionaire Bunker

Illustration by Saratta Chuengsatiansup

The poisoned chalice of restaurant popularity

Illustration by Valentin Tkach

Gen Z's fading dream

Illustration by Abanti Chowdhury

China's massive stimulus misfire

Illustration by Alyssa Powell

Rob McElhenney is betting on himself

Photos by Sheryl Nields

The hidden costs of traveling while gay

Illustration by Derek Abella

The cursed inheritance

Illustrations by Nate Sweitzer

Steam loops vs. doom loops

Illustration by Sam Green

This Ramadan, queer and transgender Muslims made their own community

Photos by Ramie Ahmed

The fitness fad graveyard

Illustration by Jenny Chang-Rodriguez

Inside Microsoft's struggles with Copilot

Illustration by Chelsea Jia Feng

In celebration of Black History Month

Illustration by Loveis Wise

Why so many Americans hate their jobs

Illustration by Ricardo Tomás

The new rule of homebuying

Illustration by Sebastian König

Behind the data center boom

Illustration by Arif Qazi

MDMA therapy could be legal by summer. Why are so many advocates sounding the alarm?

Illustration by Richard A. Chance

Lunden and Olivia Stallings are TikTok's lesbian power couple. Straight people love them; queer people aren't so sure.

Photos by Kendrick Brinson

Young Chinese are looking for dupes and cheaper substitutes for everything from Hermès to travel

Illustration by Chelsea Jia Feng

The plight of the girlboss

Illustrations by Kiersten Essenpreis

America's absurd war on 'organized retail crime'

Illustration by Tara Anand

The war within Gen Z

Illustration by Tommy Parker

Priced out of America

Illustration by Juanjo Gasull

S'more! S'more!

Illustrations by Liam Eisenberg

My brain on Ozempic

Photos by David Vades Joseph

Elon Musk is fighting wars on a lot of fronts right now

Illustration by Rebecca Zisser

A trainer-heiress power couple created the fitness juggernaut Pvolve. Then came a divorce, an arrest, and Jennifer Aniston.

Illustration by Christian Northeast

The United States of Automobiles

Illustrations by Pete Ryan, Design & Development by Kim Nguyen and Randy Yeip

'Trump is going to win'

Photos by Jordan Vonderhaar

For Gen Alpha, learning to read is becoming a privilege

Illustration by Keith Negley, Photos by Momo Takahashi and Alex Welsh

My breakup with ambition

Illustration by Sophi Gullbrants

The gutting of the Eighth Amendment

Illustration by Matt Rota, Design & Development by Randy Yeip, Kim Nguyen, Dan DeLorenzo, Rebecca Zisser, and Isabel Fernandez-Pujol

• Perfumes were massively popular in 2024, especially those from prestige brands.
• Business Insider asked successful women across industries to name their favorite scents.
• Some like expensive, trendy options from Aesop, while others enjoy body sprays and classic perfumes.

The key to everyday luxury in 2024 was simple: spray some perfume.

The fine fragrance industry boomed throughout the year, with Women's Wear Daily reporting that prestige scents were the fastest and largest growing sector of the overall beauty industry.

Colognes were also extremely popular with men, and members of Gen Z became obsessed with smelling good.

So, Business Insider turned to successful women across industries to learn which perfumes they recently favored. Here are their picks.

The founder of a sustainable marketing agency loves unisex scents from Aesop.

Estella Struck founded Viviene New York, a marketing agency that promotes sustainable businesses. She's also a rising star of influencer management.

The 23-year-old told BI that she's "not a perfume maximalist" — but there are two scents she loves.

"I really like Aesop. I think they have an amazing line of fragrances, and they're unisex," she said.

She's purchased the Tacit scent for herself, which costs $160 or $220 depending on the bottle you buy, and the $200 Karst scent for her boyfriend.

"I'll use his Aesop scent depending on my mood," she added.

She also likes a clean version of a popular Gucci fragrance.

Struck told BI that she loves the scent of Gucci Bloom but doesn't find it to be the most sustainable and skin-friendly option on the market.

It's also priced pretty high, between $110 and $128 each for full-sized bottles.

So, the marketing professional turned to Dossier, a brand known for selling clean, inexpensive fragrances inspired by designer products.

Struck said the brand's Floral Honeysuckle perfume smells exactly like Gucci's, and the bottle costs $39.

One media strategist is loyal to a classic Victoria's Secret perfume.

Abby Carlos has spent the past two years working as a media strategist for Warner Bros. Discovery.

So far, she's worn the same perfume each day on the job: Victoria's Secret Bombshell.

She prefers the brand's original scent, which is sold as a body mist, lotion, and perfume (though the latter is sold out).

Other variations of the fragrance — including Bombshell Intense — are still available on the Victoria's Secret website for upward of $60.

For nights out, she turns to a designer brand.

Carlos told BI she likes to wear a limited-edition Carolina Herrera scent called Good Girl Fantastic Pink for nights out.

"It's packaged in a sparkly pink bottle, and I get so many compliments on that one," she said.

She also previously enjoyed the brand's Very Good Girl scent, packaged in a red, heel-shaped bottle. But over time, she thinks it's become a bit overrated.

"It felt like everyone started wearing it," she said of the perfume. "I was like, 'Oh my God. Now I've got to find a new scent.'"

Bottles of the latter fragrance — and others in Carolina Herrera's Good Girl line — range in price between $94 and $192 per bottle. The brand no longer sells the Fantastic Pink line, but it can be purchased on fragrance websites and Amazon.

One entrepreneur sprays an underrated Viktor and Rolf perfume as a mood booster.

Sabrina Guler, 31, is an author and entrepreneur who cofounded the real-estate investment company Techvestor, which landed her on BI's rising stars of real estate list.

"I love Viktor & Rolf's Tiger Lily," she said. "That's been my go-to, and I always get complimented on it."

She describes the scent as floral, feminine, and "very sexy."

"I'm someone who wears fragrance when I want to enhance my self-love," she said. "If I want to feel better about myself, if my mood is kind of off, or if I just want to feel more connected to me, I'll add a little bit of perfume."

An influencer talent agent layers multiple fragrances to create her signature "vanilla cupcake" scent.

Asia Gousse found herself on BI's list of rising stars in influencer talent management thanks to her work with Slash Management. She works with an all-female client roster that she discovered on TikTok.

Even when her job is busy, the 28-year-old makes time for a thorough fragrance routine.

Gousse always begins by applying unscented body oil to help her perfume last longer. She then uses the $14.99 Being Frenshe body spray in Cashmere Vanilla as a base layer for a rotating perfume.

Sometimes, she sprays Valentino's Born in Roma Intense, which costs between $110 and $140. On other days, she chooses Maison Margiela's Replica Afternoon Delight ($35 to $165) or Viktor & Rolf's Flower Bomb Ruby Orchid ($38 to $225).

Finally, she uses a niche fragrance from Idult Paris called Tiholta, which she says is the "truest vanilla" scent she can find. It costs 180 euros, or about $187.

"I want to always walk around smelling like a vanilla cupcake. It's my pride and joy," she said.

A fashion designer has found her signature scent in YSL's line.

Anna Molinari is a 26-year-old content creator and sustainable fashion designer. She's also a newly cemented fragrance fan.

"I never used to be a fragrance person, but now I've been learning about them as I receive them in PR packages," she told BI. "My favorite is the YSL Black Opium Over Red."

In addition to the YSL scent, which costs between $35 and $160 per bottle, Molinari enjoys the Mugler Alien scent, which retails for around $150 per bottle.

"My issue with perfumes is that, to me, they can smell like old ladies," she said. "So what I like about the YSL cherry scent specifically is that it does smell very fruity. Same thing with Mugler Alien. I can wear them every day."

• Casual-dining chains often capitalize on football season to draw in customers.
• We tried Buffalo chicken wings from five chains to determine the best option for game day.
• Wingstop surprised us with its saucy, juicy wings at the right price point.

As football season kicks off, restaurant chains are rolling out crowd-pleasing tailgate favorites to win over fans.

In a new series, "Tailgate Taste-off," Business Insider is pitting these chains against each other to uncover the best versions of popular game-day dishes.

Whether you're deciding which chain has the best chicken wings or offers the best value for delivery, this guide will help you make the most of your football season dining experience.

Buffalo chicken wings arguably reign supreme among the most popular game-day foods and are practically synonymous with football season.

A report by the National Chicken Council estimated Americans would eat 1.45 billion chicken wings during the 2024 Super Bowl. Many chain restaurants embrace wings' popularity all football season long with promotional deals, family-sized bundles, and free delivery.

Chains that specialize in chicken wings, such as Wingstop, are also experiencing significant growth. In October 2024, the chain, which focuses its menu on bone-in chicken wings, boneless wings, and other chicken items, announced 38.8% year-over-year revenue growth.

Wingstop has also expanded its presence by opening 273 new locations across the US in the past year, bringing its total number of US restaurants to 2,064 at the end of the third quarter.

We ranked Buffalo chicken wings from five chain restaurants — Applebee's, Chili's, Buffalo Wild Wings, TGI Fridays, and Wingstop — based on taste and value.

Here's how the five chain restaurants' Buffalo wings ranked, from our least to most favorite.

My least favorite Buffalo wings came from TGI Fridays.

I ordered an eight-count of bone-in traditional Buffalo wings at the restaurant I visited in Massachusetts. They cost $12.19, excluding taxes and fees, and came with celery sticks and sides of ranch and blue cheese.

I live in New York City, but I had to travel further afield to try the chain's wings because many of my local TGI Fridays restaurants have closed.

In early November, the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Reuters reported that it was facing $37 million in debt, which led to some underperforming restaurants closing.

The TGI Fridays location I visited in Massachusetts is locally franchised and owned, so it's not included in the larger brand's bankruptcy filing.

The wings were crispy but a little under-sauced.

Unlike some of the other chains I tried, TGI Fridays also doesn't appear to make its own Buffalo sauce.

On the menu, it's advertised as simply Frank's Red Hot Buffalo. While I do like that brand of sauce, I could easily make the same wings at home, which made it feel less unique.

I also thought they were slightly smaller than some of the other wings I tried.

Business Insider reached out to TGI Fridays for comment but did not receive a response.

The meat inside was tender, but the Buffalo flavor just wasn't there.

Though I liked the crispy skin and texture of these chicken wings, as well as the tender meat inside, I thought they were lacking in sauce and flavor.

Overall, I probably wouldn't order these again.

The next stop I tried was Applebee's.

At my local Applebee's in Brooklyn, an order of nine classic bone-in wings costs $18.99, excluding tax and fees. They came with celery sticks and sides of ranch and blue cheese.

Applebee's partnered with the NFL this year as the league's official grill and bar partner after finding a major crossover between their customer base and NFL viewers.

"We know our guests are football fans," Applebee's chief marketing officer Joel Yashinsky told Business Insider.

Since Buffalo wings are a favorite among football fanatics, I was excited to see how the chain fared.

The wings were super crispy and the largest out of all that I tried.

The wings were a rich red-brown color and fried to a crisp.

The wings were juicy, and the sauce had a good buttery flavor.

The Buffalo sauce had a nice balance between the heat and the more savory, buttery flavor, making for a balanced bite. I thought the meat inside was pretty juicy, and I loved the sheer size of these wings.

My only real complaint was the price — $18.99 for a plate of wings felt pretty pricey, even though the wings were on the larger side. However, the price will vary depending on which location you visit.

Chili's landed squarely in the middle with its crispy Buffalo wings.

At the Massachusetts location I visited, an eight-count of bone-in Buffalo wings cost $14.99, excluding tax and fees. They came with two dipping sauces: ranch and blue cheese.

However, the wings cost slightly more, $17.99, at the Chili's location I typically visit in Queens, New York.

I thought these wings were flavorful and juicy.

I've tried these wings before and commented that they could have been slightly saucier and crispier. However, when I tried them this second time, I didn't encounter those issues.

They were perfectly crispy and almost dripping in sauce.

The wings had a generous amount of meat inside.

The Buffalo sauce had a strong buttery flavor with just the right amount of heat. The chain is also known for its ranch dipping sauce, which paired very nicely with the wings.

Though the wings were smaller, I thought they packed more flavor than the ones from Applebee's and TGI Fridays.

The second-best Buffalo wings came from Buffalo Wild Wings.

The chain's Buffalo bone-in wings are arguably Buffalo Wild Wings' most famous menu item, so I was eager to see how they would stack up against other chain restaurants' wings. I certainly wasn't disappointed.

I ordered a six-count of traditional Buffalo wings through the Buffalo Wild Wings app for $12.49, excluding tax and fees, and a side of ranch.

The wings were small length-wise but had a lot of meat on them.

The wings were crispy and had a light coating of Buffalo sauce that covered every part of the wings.

There was a selection of both drumsticks and flats, but I noticed that the drums were particularly meaty.

I loved the flavor of the Buffalo sauce and thought the chicken meat was moist.

The chicken meat inside the wing was moist and tender, and the crispy skin and slightly sweet, just-spicy-enough sauce added a lot of flavor. Overall, these were really solid Buffalo wings.

I also thought these wings were a great value for the money and would definitely order them again.

My favorite wings I tried were from Wingstop.

I ordered 10 classic bone-in wings for $17.29, excluding tax and fees.

Wingstop doesn't offer Buffalo sauce on its menu, but it does have its Original Hot sauce, which is the chain's version of Buffalo. I ordered them with a side of ranch.

The wings came drenched in the bright-red sauce but were still supremely crispy.

The sticky sauce clung to my fingers as I ate these wings, which were the perfect size: not too big, not too small, and just the right amount of tender chicken meat.

The meat was tender and the spicy hot sauce blew me away.

The sauce had a lot of levels, balancing between a strong vinegar flavor, to buttery, and topped off with a layer of spice that was slightly smoky yet not overpowering.

The Wingstop wings stood out as the spiciest among all the chains I tried. However, the heat didn't overpower the flavor — instead, it enhanced it.

Each element, from the crispy seasoned skin to the tangy undertones of the sauce, came through distinctly. These wings balanced bold, spicy flavor with a depth of taste, making them the best chain-restaurant Buffalo wings I tried.

In the early days of the pandemic, Josh Kramer and his wife set up a Discord server to stay in touch with their friends. Branched off from the main group of about 20 people are different channels for topics — like AI and crypto, which took over a channel previously devoted to "Tiger King," and another called "sweethomies" to talk about their houses and apartments — that only some people might want to be notified about to avoid annoying everyone all the time. Now, more than four years later, it's become "essential" for the extended friend group, says Kramer, seeing them through the early anxiety of COVID-19 and two presidential elections.

While the chat is made up of friendly faces, it's not really an echo chamber — not everyone has the same ideology or political opinions, Kramer tells me. But it's more productive than screaming into the void on social media. Now, when he has a thought that may have turned into a tweet, he instead takes it to the group, where it can become a conversation.

"It's a way to have conversations about complicated issues, like national politics, but in context with people I actually know and care about," Kramer, who is the head of editorial at New_ Public, a nonprofit research and development lab focusing on reimagining social media, tells me. The success of the server has also informed how he thinks about ways to reform the social web. On election night, for example, using the group chat was less about scoring points with a quippy tweet and "more about checking in with each other and commiserating about our experience, rather than whatever you might take to Twitter to talk about to check in with the broader zeitgeist."

In the month or so since the 2024 election, thousands have abandoned or deactivated their X accounts, taking issue with Elon Musk's move to use the platform as a tool to reelect Donald Trump, as they seek new ways to connect and share information. Bluesky, which saw its users grow 110% in November according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, has emerged as the most promising replacement among many progressives, journalists, and Swifties, as it allows people to easily share links and doesn't rely as heavily on algorithmic delivery of posts as platforms like Facebook, X, and TikTok have come to. But some are turning further inward to smaller group chats, either via text message or on platforms like Discord, WhatsApp, and Signal, where they can have conversations more privately and free of algorithmic determinations.

It's all part of the larger, ongoing fracturing of our social media landscape. For a decade, Twitter proved to be the room where news broke. Other upstarts launched after Elon Musk bought the platform in 2022 and tried to compete, luring people with promises of moderation and civility, but ultimately folded, largely because they weren't very fun or lacked the momentum created by the kind of power users that propelled the old Twitter. But for many, there's still safety in the smaller group chats, which take the form of your friends who like to shit talk in an iMessage chain or topic-focused, larger chats on apps like Discord or WhatsApp.

"Group chats have been quite valued," Kate Mannell, a research fellow with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child at Deakin University in Australia, tells me. They allow people to chat with selected friends, family members, or colleagues to have much "more context-specific kinds of conversations, which I think is much more reflective of the way that our social groups actually exist, as opposed to this kind of flattening" that happens on social media. When people accumulate large followings on social media, they run into context collapse, she says. The communication breakdown happens as the social platforms launched in the 2000s have taken on larger lives than anyone anticipated.

By contrast, some more exclusive chats are seen as cozy, safe spaces. Most of Discord's servers are made up of fewer than 10 people, Savannah Badalich, the senior director of policy at Discord, tells me. The company has 200 million active users, up from 100 million in 2020. What started as a place to hang with friends while playing video games still incentivizes interacting over lurking or building up big followings. "We don't have that endless doomscrolling," Badalich says. "We don't have that place where you're passively consuming content. Discord is about real-time interaction." And interacting among smaller groups may be more natural. Research by the psychologist Robin Dunbar in the 1990s found that humans could cognitively maintain about 150 meaningful relationships. More recent research has questioned that determination, but any person overburdened by our digital age can surely tell you that you can only show up authentically and substantially in person for a small subset of the people you follow online. A 2024 study, conducted by Dunbar and the telecommunications company Vodafone, found that the average person in the UK was part of 83 group chats across all platforms, with a quarter of people using group chats more often than one-to-one messages.

In addition to hosting group chats, WhatsApp has tried more recently to position itself as a place for news, giving publishers the ability to send headlines directly to followers. News organizations like MSNBC, Reuters, and Telemundo have channels. CNN has nearly 15 million followers, while The New York Times has about 13 million. Several publishers recently told the Times that they were seeing growth and traffic come from WhatsApp, but the channels have yet to rival sources like Google or Facebook. While it gives them the power to connect to readers, WhatsApp is owned by Meta, which has a fraught history of hooking media companies and making them dependent on traffic on its social platforms only to later de-emphasize their content.

Victoria Usher, the founder and CEO of Gingermay, a B2B tech communications firm, says she's in several large, business-focused group chats on WhatsApp. Usher, who lives in the UK, even found these chats were a way to get news about the US election "immediately." In a way, the group chats are her way of optimizing news and analysis of it, and it works because there's a deep sense of trust between those in the chat that doesn't exist when scrolling X. "I prefer it to an algorithm," she says. "It's going to be stories that I will find interesting." She thinks they deliver information better than LinkedIn, where people have taken to writing posts in classic LinkedIn style to please the algorithm — which can be both self-serving and cringe. "It doesn't feel like it's a truthful channel," Usher says. "They're trying to create a picture of how they want to be seen personally. Within WhatsApp groups or Signal, people are much more likely to post what they actually feel about something."

The candid nature of group chats — which some have called the last safe spaces in society today — gives them value and tethers people with looser connections together, but that can also make them unwieldy. Some of the larger group chats, like those on Discord, have moderation and rules. But when it comes to just chatting with your friends or family, there's largely no established group-chat etiquette. Group chats can languish for years; there's no playbook for leaving or kicking out someone who's no longer close to the core group. If a couple breaks up, who gets the group chat? How many memes is a person allowed to send a day? What happens when the group texts get leaked? There's often "no external moderator to come in and say, 'That's not how we do things,'" Mannell says.

Kramer, while he likes his Discord chat, is optimistic about the future of groups and new social networks. He says he's also taken over a community Facebook group for his neighborhood that was inactive and made more connections with his neighbors. We're in a moment where massive change could come to our chats and our social networks. "There's been a social internet for 30 years," says Kramer. But there's "so much room for innovation and new exciting and alternative options." But his group chat might still have the best vibes of all. Messaging there "has less to do with being right and scoring points" than on social media, he says. "It has so much value to me on a personal level, as a place of real support."

Amanda Hoover is a senior correspondent at Business Insider covering the tech industry. She writes about the biggest tech companies and trends.

• "Yellowstone" ends this week.
• New shows like "No Good Deed" and "Dexter: Original Sin" are also premiering.
• Buzzy movies like "Conclave" and "Maria" are now streamable.

It's the end of an era: "Yellowstone" takes its final bow this weekend. (Or maybe not, depending on how those Beth and Rip spinoff rumors shake out.)

There are also some TV premieres this week, including the "Dexter" prequel series, "No Good Deed," from "Dead to Me" creator Liz Feldman, and a new reality show featuring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.

Over on the film side, there are documentaries like "Elton John: Never Too Late," acclaimed dramas like "Conclave," and buzzy-for-the-wrong-reasons movies like "Joker: Folie à Deux."

Here's a complete rundown of all the best movies, shows, and documentaries to stream this weekend, broken down by what kind of entertainment you're into.

"Yellowstone" ends on Sunday.

The future of "Yellowstone" is unclear. Unconfirmed reports are swirling that fan-favorite characters Rip and Beth might get their own spinoff (or take over as the leads of the flagship series).

One thing is certain: The season five finale airs on Sunday. Whether it's also a series finale is TBD.

Here's where to watch "Yellowstone" season 5, part 2.

"Conclave," one of the year's buzziest films, is now streaming.

If you've been on social media over the last few months, you've probably seen at least one post about "Conclave."

On its surface, the drama, which focuses on a group of cardinals meeting to choose the new pope, doesn't seem like it would be prime meme fodder. The reality is that the film is one of the most thrilling movies of the year, with plenty of iconic moments. Case in point: That vape hit.

Streaming on: Peacock

So is "Joker: Folie à Deux," which was also buzzy but for opposite reasons.

The "Joker" sequel was getting memed a lot, too, but not in a fun way.

Todd Phillips' long-awaited follow-up was largely trashed by fans when it was released in theaters in October. Despite appreciation for the lead performances from Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix, who had won an Oscar for playing the title character in the first movie, "Folie à Deux" made some bold choices that unfortunately didn't land with the general audience.

Streaming on: Max

For a Christmas action flick, watch "Red One."

North Pole's Head of Security, Dwayne Johnson, is forced to team up with bounty hunter Chris Evans after Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) — code name "Red One" — is kidnapped. There's also a buff anthropomorphic polar bear.

Streaming on: Prime Video

"One Hundred Years of Solitude" brings an acclaimed novel to life.

The beloved classic of magical realism literature was long considered unadaptable, even by its author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Netflix brought it to life for the first time in a visually stunning new series that works hard to capture the sprawling multi-generational epic about the Buendía family.

Streaming on: Netflix

For a new drama, watch "No Good Deed."

"No Good Deed" is another dark comedy from "Dead to Me" creator Liz Feldman.

It has an impressive ensemble cast that includes Lisa Kudrow, Linda Cardellini, and Luke Wilson, among others. The story focuses on a couple who's attempting to sell their home after a family tragedy. Of course, there are plenty of twists and turns along the way.

Streaming on: Netflix

True crime fans can check out a new docuseries about the serial killer Richard Ramirez.

Almost 40 years ago, Richard Ramirez terrorized LA as the Night Stalker, one of the most infamous serial killers in American history. This new docuseries features audio interviews with Ramirez while he was on death row, as well as never-before-seen interviews with his family, friends, and wife.

Streaming on: Peacock

Or "The Kings of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga."

"Kings of Tupelo," much like "Tiger King," focuses on a bizarre crime. In this case, it centers on Paul Kevin Curtis, an Elvis impersonator who was framed for plotting to kill former US president Barack Obama.

Streaming on: Netflix

Looking for a biographical drama? Watch "Maria."

Angelina Jolie stars as opera singer Maria Callas in a new biopic that's getting some awards buzz for her performance. And yes, she's really singing in the movie.

Streaming on: Netflix

Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie reunite in a new reality show.

"Paris & Nicole: The Encore" brings together the two stars of "The Simple Life," which ran from 2003 to 2005, for a new series.

Streaming on: Peacock

There's a new "Dexter" prequel series.

The "Dexter" revival, which aired from 2021 to 2022, didn't get an entirely positive reception, but that didn't stop Showtime from ordering another new series within the hit drama's universal.

"Dexter: Original Sin" focuses on serial killer Dexter Morgan's early years, with Patrick Gibson playing a young Dexter and original actor Michael C. Hall voicing Dexter's inner thoughts.

Streaming on: Paramount+

Music lovers should tune into "Elton John: Never Too Late."

Elton John is the latest legendary music artist to get the documentary treatment. "Never Too Late" profiles the singer during his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour.

Streaming on: Disney+

Want an action thriller? Check out "Carry-On."

Taron Egerton plays a young TSA agent who gets blackmailed by a mysterious traveler (Jason Bateman) into allowing a mysterious package to slip through security.

Streaming on: Netflix

• Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy aim to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget by June 4, 2026.
• They've said they will fire federal employees, "delete" agencies, and publicize all of their work.
• The DOGE leaders have name-dropped many causes they might target, like DEI efforts and public media.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have big plans for the Department of Government Efficiency.

The two have promised to significantly reduce the federal budget, with a goal of cutting $2 trillion in spending. In 2024, federal spending reached $6.75 trillion, with nine-tenths going to federal programs. President-elect Donald Trump has long sworn not to touch Social Security or Medicare benefits, which comprise a significant chunk of the budget.

Here's a running list of things Musk and Ramaswamy have said they will do as they gear up to take on this new role.

Representatives for Musk and Trump did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment. A representative for Ramaswamy declined to comment.

Slash regulations

Musk and Ramaswamy plan to suggest regulations to cut to Trump, whom they said could then use executive actions to pause the regulations and begin the removal process.

The co-heads outlined their ideas in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal and explained that they plan to lean on two recent SCOTUS rulings, West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. The cases, they said, "suggest that a plethora of current federal regulations exceed the authority Congress has granted under the law."

Some legal experts previously told BI that the DOGE leaders are misinterpreting the lawsuits, which they said do not add to the executive branch's ability to curb regulations. Under the rulings, agencies still need to comply with a lengthy administrative process to change or overturn rules, the experts said.

'Delete' entire agencies, or at least vastly change them

A key part of DOGE's cost-cutting agenda has to do with scaling back government agencies — Ramaswamy promised that the group will "delete" entire departments. Political scientists and fellows at Washington think tanks previously told BI that deleting departments outright almost always requires congressional approval, making DOGE's goal seem unrealistic to some. There are more than 440 government agencies; Musk has said he wants to trim that down to no more than 99.

Here are some of the agencies DOGE plans to target:

Planned Parenthood and public media may be impacted

Musk and Ramaswamy criticized the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and "progressive groups like Planned Parenthood" in their op-ed. They said that DOGE will try to curb federal spending "by taking aim" at the funds appropriated for those services, among others.

The CPB is the largest funding source for public radio, television, and online services, primarily for local public media — in fiscal year 2024, it had a budget of $535 million. Congress created the CPB and authorizes the budget. Between 2019 and 2021, American affiliates of Planned Parenthood received approximately $148 million in federal grants, according to the Government Accounting Office.

Target expired federal spending commitments

Musk and Ramaswamy said in their op-ed that they plan to go after expired federal expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office, $516 billion worth of federal appropriations in 2024 have expired, with the largest programs in terms of spending relating to veterans' healthcare, drug development, and NASA. Neither Musk nor Ramaswamy have specified which expired authorizations they'll target.

Reduce the federal workforce

Musk and Ramaswamy said they want to significantly reduce the size of the federal workforce, though haven't specified precisely how many employees should be cut. There were more than 2 million federal employees as of 2023, according to the nonpartisan group the Partnership for Public Service.

Civil service workers benefit from job protections that make it difficult to fire them, but the DOGE co-leaders said in their Journal article that Trump could implement "reductions in force" that aren't directed at individual employees.

In the op-ed, Musk and Ramaswamy said that after eliminating federal regulations, "mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy" will follow. They plan to determine the minimum number of employees needed at each department and said they might enact policies that lead some staffers to voluntarily resign, like return-to-office mandates, early retirement offers, and severance packages.

Federal employee salaries don't comprise a big chunk of the budget — not including military personnel, their annual salaries and benefits total approximately $305 billion, or 4% of spending, per the Washington Post. If Musk and Ramaswamy got rid of 25% of the federal workforce, government spending would fall by around 1%.

Relocate some federal agencies and reform building use

Musk and Ramaswamy raised the possibility of relocating federal agencies outside Washington in their op-ed, a point that Ramaswamy has spoken more about online and in interviews. When talking to Fox News in November, he said he "absolutely" wants to move agencies elsewhere and called the fact that some employees don't go into the office a "dirty little secret."

In a post on X from late November, Ramaswamy said addressing the cost of maintaining federal buildings "sounds like a job for DOGE." According to a 2023 report from the Government Accountability Office, 17 of the agencies reviewed use about 25% or less of their buildings' space. The federal government spends around $2 billion each year to maintain federal office buildings and $5 billion to lease space to agencies, the report found.

Conduct audits of agencies

In their opinion piece, Musk and Ramaswamy said that audits conducted during temporary payment suspensions could bring big savings. They called out the Pentagon and wrote that the agency failed its seventh consecutive audit. Support for the proposal came from an unlikely place: progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders. In a post on X, Sanders said that "Elon Musk is right," pointing out that the Pentagon has "lost track of billions."

Publicize all the changes the commission makes

Musk said he will publish all of DOGE's actions online for "maximum transparency" in a post on X.

"Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!" he wrote. In the same post, he said DOGE will create a "leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending." Ramaswamy promised in a post that DOGE will start "crowdsourcing" for sources of waste and fraud.

Disband DOGE no later than July 4, 2026

When Trump announced the creation of DOGE, he said the committee would disband by July 4, 2026. The committee's leaders, though, have said they think their work will be done earlier.

Musk said on X that DOGE will complete its goals "much faster," and Ramaswamy told Fox News that "people will be surprised by, I think, how quickly we're able to move with some of those changes." To complete its work, DOGE plans to employ "a lean team of small-government minded crusaders" that works closely with the Office of Management and Budget, according to the leaders' opinion piece.

They've hinted at abolishing Daylight Savings Time and other initiatives

Though posts on X don't equate to an official DOGE plan, Musk and Ramaswamy have both posted about other things they might tackle in their roles, some of which would require Congressional approval.

Musk has posted about abolishing Daylight Savings Time, continued spending in Afghanistan, and "fake jobs" in the government.

Ramaswamy said in his own posts that DOGE could be used to address subsidies from the CHIPS Act, DEI efforts at universities, and how the federal government buys technology services.

Luke Wilson's experience filming Wes Anderson's 1996 movie "Bottle Rocket" was many things: his film debut, a family affair (his two brothers Owen and Andrew also starred), and the start of a long relationship with Anderson.

It was also a bit of a nightmare.

"I love this Bob Dylan album 'Blood on the Tracks,' and he's got this quote about it where people will say to him, 'Bob, I love "Blood on the Tracks,"' and he'll say, 'I don't know how people can get enjoyment out of something that caused me such pain,'" Wilson told Business Insider.

"I read that and thought that was really funny," he continued. "That's what rings true for me with 'Bottle Rocket.'"

The offbeat crime caper about a heist gone wrong wasn't a commercial success, but it did offer Wilson a crash course in the often frustrating business of movie-making.

"All we ever heard was, 'The studio doesn't like it.' 'They don't know what you guys are doing.' 'They don't like the dailies,'" Wilson recalled. "And me being like, 'What are dailies?'"

Nearly three decades later, Wilson, 53, is a seasoned veteran who's found his niche playing soft-spoken straight-man roles in comedies like "Blue Streak," "Legally Blonde," "Old School," and "Idiocracy."

For his latest role, Wilson brings his comedic chops to Netflix in Liz Feldman's new series "No Good Deed." Like Feldman's previous Netflix hit, "Dead to Me," the series is a star-studded ensemble piece that blends elements of comedy and thriller.

Wilson stars alongside Ray Romano, Lisa Kudrow, Abbi Jacobson, Denis Leary, and his "Legally Blonde" castmate Linda Cardellini as JD, a soap opera actor who is in a bidding war for a house he believes will solve all his problems.

It was exactly the kind of role Wilson knew he could chew on. "Depressed out of work soap opera star… I thought, 'I like the sound of that,'" he said.

For the latest edition of Business Insider's Role Play series, Wilson breaks down how he and his brother launched their careers after connecting with fellow Texas native Wes Anderson, auditioning for "Blue Streak" at Martin Lawrence's house, and his efforts to convince "Idiocracy" director Mike Judge to make a sequel.

On 'Bottle Rocket' and why he's never been competitive with his brother Owen

Business Insider: 1996 marked your screen debut in the indie classic "Bottle Rocket," which was directed by Wes Anderson and cowritten by him and your brother Owen, who also stars in it. What were your acting aspirations back then? 

Luke Wilson: We always really loved movies. For me, Owen, and our brother Andrew that was our focus. Me with my friends, it was talking about what movies are coming out this weekend, if they are rated R, how are we going to get into them? What theater are they at? Do we wait for a cool-looking guy in line to buy us tickets, or does one of us go to a G movie and then open the back door? When I think back on it, that was what hooked me. I would study TV Guide to see what year a movie came out, who was in it, just like how people study box scores.

And then you're suddenly on the big screen yourself.

Yeah. But not until Owen met Wes Anderson at the University of Texas did we get the idea that we were going to try to make a very low-budget movie.

That movie launched not just your career, but your brother's. What was it like going out for work while at the same time knowing Owen was also trying to start his career? Would you two audition for the same stuff?

I'm sure it happened occasionally, and who knows what happens with casting and directors, but Owen quickly went and did some big-budget movies like "Armageddon" and things like that. I was kind of doing indie stuff and smaller roles.

People always ask if we were competitive, and we never were. I always looked at it as we're from the same company, we're from the same family, and we love each other. We're not trying to hijack each other. 

On his favorite Wes Anderson movie and the moment he knew 'Old School' would be a hit

Out of all the Wes Anderson movies you've done — "Bottle Rocket," "Rushmore," and "The Royal Tenenbaums" — which is your personal favorite? 

The most exciting and interesting thing for me was "Tenenbaums." With "Rushmore," Wes was hitting his stride, but with "Tenenbaums," suddenly you're acting with Gene Hackman, Angelica Huston, Danny Glover, Ben Stiller, and Gwyneth Paltrow. All of a sudden it was all of these people and shooting in Manhattan, which to me was the most exciting. It seemed like things suddenly exploded. 

How involved were you with the costuming of your character in "The Royal Tenenbaums"? It's become so memorable. 

It was all Wes. I do remember we did have one battle. We're at this tailor, this little place in New York downtown, and I'm standing up on a wooden crate. The person is measuring me for this suit, and the cuff is getting higher and higher, and I'm like, "Can we get below my calf muscle, please?" Wes pulled me in a corner and dressed me down, so I had to just let it go. 

Out of "Legally Blonde," "Old School," and "Idiocracy," which one of those are you most shocked is still beloved today?

I was just talking to Linda Cardellini, and we certainly had no idea that "Legally Blonde" was going to hit. It's certainly not my milieu or the kind of movie I'm into — I saw "Election" and thought Reese was great and I wanted to work with her.

With "Old School," I'll never forget the test screening in the Valley. After it I walked out and there were kids high-fiving in the parking lot and repeating Will and Vince's lines. This is ten minutes after seeing the movie for the first time. So I kind of knew that was going to work.

But "Idiocracy" might be the biggest surprise. It seemed like such an odd, funny movie, and I like Mike Judge so much and knew him from Austin. Mike has such a great offbeat sense of humor, and I thought things were funny, but I didn't know if it would translate. And Fox wasn't really giving him the money for the effects and set pieces.

I'll never forget I was reading the LA Times before the movie opened, and I saw a small ad that said "Idiocracy," and only three theaters were listed. So I called Mike Judge, and he told me the studio dumped the movie. I was bummed out.

So I was so surprised when it became popular. It is the movie that gets brought up the most to me. Not just election time but over the years. It's really special because it was something that couldn't be denied despite a studio putting the hammer down on it. 

On sweating through an audition for 'Blue Streak' at Martin Lawrence's house and his idea for an 'Idiocracy' sequel

One movie that always sucks me in whenever it's on is "Blue Streak." Honestly, for how great Martin Lawrence is in it and a young Dave Chapelle, it's your work as the straight man opposite Martin that's the glue. Did you and Martin talk a lot between scenes about how far you were going to take the straight act?

I think I've done well with comics because I have such love for them. I have such admiration for stand-up comics. I mean, "You So Crazy" to me is up there with Richard Pryor's "Live on the Sunset Strip." It's just unbelievable. I really loved "Martin" the TV show.

I had just gotten into town so I did a read with the casting director, and then they sent me to a reading with Les Mayfield, the director, and things were looking good, but I had to go read with Martin. So, I'll never forget this: I drove to Martin's house, and I'm waiting outside his house just sweating. I walk in and read with Martin and he's got some friends with him, and Martin just starts laughing with his friends about the way I look and my voice. From then on we got along great. 

Sony is developing a sequel. Have they called you?

I know we've talked to them about it. Whenever I run into Martin we've always talked about a sequel. We have also tried to work on some different things over the years and they just haven't happened. He's one of my favorite people. But hopefully, Carlson will be there if there's a "Blue 2."

How in the world did you end up in "Jackass Number 2?" 

[Laughs.] I'm not so sure how I got in that either. Probably one of those things where I got a waiver jammed in front of my face and didn't know what I was signing. 

So you weren't buddies with those guys?

No. I didn't really know those guys. 

Here's the kicker, Luke. Your footage didn't even make the final cut. It's a deleted scene. 

Yeah. I don't really have much of a memory of that. I don't know why. [Laughs.] 

Do you think Mike Judge will ever do an "Idiocracy" sequel?

Oh, I always call Mike and tell him. He's always busy and always working on a script. But I've always told him, how about me and Terry Crews and Dax Shepard coming back to the present day. We see Terry's Camacho character become president, Dax's character runs a movie studio. I'm always pitching that to Mike. He gets a kick out of it. 

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

• LinkedIn has been gradually rolling out a TikTok-like video feed.
• Some creators say making videos has supercharged their engagement on the platform.
• LinkedIn is encouraging creators to post "short" and "snappy" videos.

LinkedIn is taking aim at TikTok — and creators are intrigued.

Since the spring, the Microsoft-owned platform has been gradually rolling out a TikTok-style vertical video feed that features career advice, industry news, and other creator content. A LinkedIn spokesperson said "most" users now have access to it. Videos can also appear in the app's main feed.

Meghana Dhar, a creator with 15,000 LinkedIn followers, said her LinkedIn "engagement has just exploded" since she started posting videos. She added that LinkedIn moving toward video "indicates that they're taking creators really seriously."

Several creators, including Dhar, told BI that they often see much more engagement and impressions on their video posts than on their text or photo ones. Engagement refers to interactions with a post, such as a like, while impressions are how many people view a piece of content.

Dhar said, for example, that a recent text post she shared on LinkedIn got about 10,000 impressions, while a video of her talking to the camera hit over 2 million impressions. Marketing strategist Caroline Giegerich found that her LinkedIn video posts reached three times as many people as her text posts did.

A LinkedIn spokesperson said video posts — including videos shared from individual profiles and pages — get 1.4 times as much engagement on average as other posts on LinkedIn.

While the concept of LinkedIn video might feel strange to some users, it could be a key for the platform to cement itself as a core platform for creators, unlock more ad revenue, and keep people checking their feeds regularly. The top platforms for creators, such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, are all heavily focused on video.

"I am on a personal mission to make LinkedIn a daily habit for people," Jamé Jackson, a LinkedIn community manager, told BI. "We are so much more than just a platform for job searching."

This isn't LinkedIn's first attempt at video. In 2019, LinkedIn launched its live video product. In 2020, it launched a "Stories" feature, which lets users share disappearing videos (that shut down in 2021).

Still, there is some indication that this current, TikTok-like push might be what finally breaks through.

"Our investments in rich formats, like video, strengthen our leadership in B2B advertising and amplify the value we deliver to our customers," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during the company's October earnings call. "Weekly immersive video views increased 6x quarter-over-quarter and total video viewership on LinkedIn is up 36% year-over-year."

LinkedIn's do's and don'ts for video

So, what makes a good LinkedIn video?

Jackson said to avoid creating content that "feels way too sales-y and promotional" and to keep the video to under two minutes: short, snappy, and actionable.

"The call to action is important because I always like to secretly tell people that the comments section is the liquid gold of LinkedIn," Jackson said. "The way you do that is by inviting people to the party, inviting them to the table after you've created that video, asking them to share in the comments things that they have learned."

LinkedIn has also seen an uptick in "faceless video content," where people aren't front and center, Jackson said, adding that it had generally performed well.

The platform has encouraged CEOs and executives to talk about breaking news as well, Jackson said.

Creators are using video to grow audiences but monetization lags

Creators generally say that compared to other platforms like TikTok and Instagram, LinkedIn is much less saturated — and that's an opportunity to build audiences.

"I've been posting on LinkedIn almost daily, certainly every weekday for a couple of years now," said Avi Gandhi, who has 23,000 LinkedIn followers.

Gandhi has recently focused on short-form video content, posting three to four times a week and often promoting his newsletter by calling out the name and including a link to subscribe at the end of the text post.

Career coach and creator Jahleane Dolne said she often uses LinkedIn to post podcast clips. While her largest following is on TikTok (about 34,000), Dolne said her podcast clips are a better fit for the LinkedIn audience.

Despite the audience growth for some creators, the ecosystem for making money on LinkedIn isn't yet fully developed. That may be changing, though. Three of the creators BI spoke with said they were either already working on LinkedIn-focused brand deals or actively reaching out to potential sponsors. And earlier this year, the marketing agency Creator Authority launched with a focus on LinkedIn.

However, the platform has not yet introduced a monetization program similar to those on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube that directly pays creators.

"If LinkedIn launches monetization for videos where you could start making money from the videos that you post, that would be huge," Gandhi said. "That would be incredible and that would make it all worth it."

• I asked ChatGPT to come up with gift ideas for my dad, mom, and sister.
• The AI tool gave me unique, thoughtful suggestions on what to get my parents.
• I wasn't as impressed with its gift ideas for my sister, but overall, ChatGPT did a great job.

Although I love Christmas shopping and gift-giving, finding unique, meaningful gifts for my family can be difficult year after year.

Determined to switch things up, I turned to ChatGPT to help me come up with some gift ideas for them.

My hope was that the AI service would produce ideas that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise, with suggestions more creative than just another cookbook for my mom or band T-shirt for my sister.

Here's how it went.

Going into the holiday season, I was most worried about what to get my dad

I wanted to start with my dad since he's typically the hardest person to shop for in my family.

He doesn't care much for material things, so I was curious if ChatGPT could suggest practical gifts or experiences he'd appreciate.

Here's the prompt I gave ChatGPT:

Please give me unique gift recommendations for what to get my dad for Christmas based on his interests. He loves anything about World War II history, is trying to learn Spanish via Duolingo, always rewatches "Breaking Bad," is on the keto diet, and loves making breakfast food.

In total, ChatGPT gave me 19 suggestions — three for each of the five interests I mentioned, along with additional ideas under categories suggesting quirky and personalized gifts.

I was most impressed with ChatGPT's suggestions for my dad

Some of the ideas ChatGPT gave me included a personalized World War II history book, Duolingo merchandise, a Los Pollos Hermanos (a restaurant from "Breaking Bad") apron, a keto snack-box subscription, and gourmet bacon.

I was impressed, as these were all ideas I wouldn't have come up with on my own. However, my favorite suggestions were under ChatGPT's "Fun and Quirky" and "Personalized Gift" sections.

The quirky ideas included a World War II-themed board game like Axis & Allies, and a movie-night pack comprised of a collection of Spanish-language films (with snacks to enjoy while watching).

Under the personalized gift section, ChatGPT suggested a keto-friendly breakfast basket with treats like low-carb muffins and nut butters.

Because my dad isn't really into collecting memorabilia, I decided the best idea would be to combine two ideas and pair the Spanish movie-night pack with an assortment of keto-friendly snacks.

I think he'd appreciate the experience of watching movies together. I may also check out some keto-snack-box-subscription websites for ideas on what to put in his basket.

I figured my mom would be easier to shop for

Going into this holiday season, I was a bit less worried about what to get my mom because she plans to retire next year and is looking for more hobbies to keep her busy.

Still, I didn't have anything particular in mind, which is where ChatGPT came in handy.

I asked it to come up with gift ideas based on this prompt:

Now, can you help me come up with ideas for my mom based on her interests? She is super excited to go to Iceland for the first time next year, is always trying to find low-carb, low-sugar TikTok recipes, wants to get more into exercising (recently bought a Peloton and Apple Watch), and is overall just looking for more hobbies to pick up when she retires next year.

It gave me 22 suggestions in total — four for each of the four points I mentioned and additional ideas under categories suggesting personalized and mindfulness-related ideas.

ChatGPT came up with some pretty unique ideas for my mom

Among the ideas ChatGPT suggested were a packing kit for Iceland that includes items like a travel adapter and language guide, a personalized binder of her favorite TikTok recipes, Apple Watch bands, and cooking or baking classes to enjoy in retirement.

Compared to my dad's results, I was less impressed with the additional categories ChatGPT created for my mom. Under the "Something Personalized" category, it suggested a customized Icelandic map, a personalized fitness-tracker case, and motivational-quote wall art. In my opinion, none of these seemed very practical or creative.

I thought the "Mindfulness and Relaxation" category had much better ideas: a subscription box for relaxation, a weighted blanket, and an indoor herb-garden kit.

A weighted blanket isn't likely something she'd buy for herself, but I can imagine her getting a lot of use out of it while unwinding after a long day. She's also been trying to eat healthier, so an indoor-herb-garden kit could lead her to a fun new hobby while allowing her to add fresh garnishes to her dishes.

I also liked the personalized recipe-binder idea since my mom usually just watches the same videos over and over again to remember the ingredients. Writing down and compiling her favorite TikTok recipes would be a practical and affordable gift.

I already had a gift idea in mind for my sister, so I was less reliant on the ChatGPT results

I was leaning toward getting my sister concert tickets for Christmas, but I still wanted to see what ideas ChatGPT had.

I figured if any of them stood out, I could give her another gift in addition to the tickets — or just replace them altogether.

Here's the information I gave ChatGPT:

Can you now help me come up with unique Christmas gift ideas for my sister based on her interests and hobbies? My sister loves everything music (she plays five instruments), likes unique party games, lives in San Diego, is graduating from college next year, is going to Bali next year, and likes to get merchandise from her favorite artists.

It gave me 26 gift suggestions, with ideas specific to all six of the points I mentioned and more under a category titled "Something Fun & Personalized."

None of the ideas for my sister blew me away

Although ChatGPT gave me the most ideas for my sister, I was actually the least impressed with these suggestions. However, this may have been because I already had an idea of what to get her.

Some of the ideas it gave me were a custom instrument case, specific party games (most of which she already owned), a Bali guidebook, a memory box to keep mementos from college, and merchandise from San Diego or her favorite artists.

These ideas seemed a lot more generic than the ones it produced for my mom and dad. For example, I wouldn't have thought to put together a TikTok-recipe binder for my mom or a Spanish movie night for my dad.

However, there weren't any ideas for my sister that I thought were especially unique or practical.

Perhaps it was due to the types of interests I entered for my sister, but I wouldn't choose any of those gifts over — or even as an addition to — concert tickets for her.

Before making any future holiday purchases, I'll consult ChatGPT first

Despite being slightly disappointed with ChatGPT's suggestions for my sister, I'll definitely be taking some of the ideas it gave me for my parents.

Although the AI tool may not have all the answers for mind-blowing, personalized gifts, I think it's a decent place to start if you need some ideas for brainstorming.

Based on this success, I plan to return to the platform to ask for gift suggestions for upcoming holidays and birthdays.

• Casual-dining chains understand the importance of embracing football season to attract customers.
• We tried chicken tenders from five chains to determine the best option for game day.
• Chili's and Buffalo Wild Wings impressed us the most with their crispy and customizable tenders.

Football season is here, and restaurant chains are stepping up to serve crowd-pleasing tailgate favorites.

In a new series, "Tailgate Taste-off," Business Insider is pitting some of these chains against each other to determine which makes the best versions of popular game-day foods.

If you're wondering what to order the next time you catch the game at a local Chili's or Buffalo Wild Wings, or if you're uncertain which chain offers the best value when ordering in, this guide will help you make the most of your football season dining experience.

Chain restaurants know the value of embracing football season to attract customers, from offering family-style and game-night combos during football season to leaning into commercial advertising during televised games.

For the first edition of "Tailgate Taste-off," we ranked chicken tenders from five chain restaurants — Applebee's, Chili's, Buffalo Wild Wings, TGI Fridays, and Wingstop — based on taste and value.

Here's how the five chain restaurants' chicken tenders ranked, from our least to most favorite.

My least favorite chicken tenders came from Wingstop.

Founded in 1994 in Garland, Texas, Wingstop has grown a cult following over the years for its chicken offerings, from its wings to its recently released chicken sandwich, which has caught the attention of Gen-Z consumers.

Wingstop does have dine-in options, but I felt it was more authentic to the Wingstop experience to order in.

I ordered four crispy tenders plain with a side of honey mustard sauce from my local Wingstop in Brooklyn, New York, for $10.39, excluding tax and fees.

The chicken tenders had a thick layer of seasoned breading on the outside.

I ordered these tenders plain, but they also come in all of the chain's signature sauces, from lemon pepper to Buffalo. I liked the ability to customize my tenders according to my preferences.

The tenders paired well with the honey mustard, which was creamy and had an ideal level of tanginess. I also thought the classic breading had a nice amount of flavor and peppery seasoning.

However, I was disappointed by the amount of meat inside.

Each Wingstop tender had a different amount of juicy chicken meat, with some pieces being thicker and more satisfying than others. While the flavor was spot-on, I found myself wishing there was a bit more meat in each bite to really hit the mark.

These tenders would make a decent addition to a spread of wings from Wingstop, especially for folks turned off by spicy food.

Next time I order from Wingstop, I'll probably stick to their specialty: their wings.

Business Insider reached out to Wingstop for comment but did not receive a response before publication.

Applebee's, the NFL's official grill and bar partner, came in fourth with its crispy breaded chicken tenders.

I visited my local Applebee's in Brooklyn, New York, to try these chicken tenders.

Applebee's partnered with the NFL this year as the league's official grill and bar partner after finding a major crossover between their customer base and NFL viewers.

"We know our guests are football fans," Applebee's chief marketing officer Joel Yashinsky told Business Insider, adding, "This season, we've been all in on the NFL."

Data collected by Applebee's in April showed that 64% of its guests were interested in or very interested in the NFL, and about 34% had watched the NFL in the last 12 months, which informed the chain's football season strategy, Yashinsky said.

While the chain is consistently lauded for its boneless wings, I haven't heard much about its chicken tenders.

At my location, the chicken tender plate typically costs $12.99, excluding tax and fees. However, I ordered them as part of the chain's "2 for $2X" deal, which also allowed me to get an order of boneless wings and a classic cheeseburger.

I was pretty disappointed by the size of these chicken tenders.

They were really crispy, but slightly on the smaller side. The serving size of the honey mustard was also smaller than the Wingstop version.

However, unlike Wingstop, these chicken tenders came with a generous serving of fries, which I thought made this meal an excellent value.

These chicken tenders had a surprisingly good amount of chicken meat inside.

I appreciated the seasoning on the breading, which was a highlight since this chain serves its tenders plain without coating them in signature sauces like those available at Wingstop, Chili's, or Buffalo Wild Wings.

My only complaint, other than the smaller size of the chicken tenders, was just how fried they were. I thought the breading was a little overcooked, to the point that it left a dry, almost burned taste in my mouth.

However, this could have just been the batch I received and not standard for all Applebee's chicken tenders. I reached out to Applebee's about my experience, but they did not respond before publication.

Landing squarely in the middle of the ranking was TGI Fridays.

TGI Fridays has run into financial trouble in recent months. In early November, the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Reuters reported that it was facing $37 million in debt, which led to some underperforming restaurants closing.

The TGI Fridays location I visited in Massachusetts is locally franchised and owned, so it's not included in the larger brand's bankruptcy filing.

I ordered a four-piece tender meal for $15.69, excluding tax and fees. It came with a side — I opted for mac and cheese — and honey mustard.

These chicken tenders were crispy without being over-fried.

They still had the signature finger shape I typically look for in a chicken tender.

This honey-mustard dipping sauce was less creamy compared to the other chains I tried. However, I was mostly judging the chicken tenders on their own, not the sauces they came with.

The chicken tenders were juicy, with each bite revealing tender, flavorful meat that fell apart.

I was impressed by these chicken tenders and would definitely order them again the next time I visit TGI Fridays for game day or just a standard dinner out.

However, I thought the breading was just slightly too thick and underseasoned to rank them higher than the top two chains.

Business Insider reached out to TGI Fridays for comment but did not receive a response before publication.

Chili's served my second-favorite chain-restaurant chicken tenders.

Chili's has been killing the game lately — with traffic and sales on the upswing leading up to football season, the chain is arguably in a league of its own.

The chain told BI in April that a return to commercial advertising has been a major part of the brand's efforts to increase brand awareness over the past couple of years. This includes during sports seasons. Sports Business Journal reported that in 2023, Chili's spent 38% of its TV advertising budget on live NFL action during games.

Value has also been a focus for the chain in the past year. It has expanded its "3 For Me" menu and offers happy-hour beers starting at $3.

"We're focused on creating a lively, social atmosphere that makes Chili's a great spot to watch the game," Chili's chief marketing officer George Felix told BI.

"Of course, we understand that some people prefer to watch the game from the comfort of home, which is why we also offer everyday favorites and party platters for takeout and delivery," he added.

I ordered a four-count of Chicken Crispers for $14.99, excluding tax and fees. The meal also included fries, mac and cheese, and two sauces.

This was my first time ordering Chili's plain chicken crispers.

The tenders are available in a variety of flavors, such as Nashville Hot, Honey Chipotle, Buffalo Ranch, barbecue, and Buffalo.

I paired my chicken tenders with ranch and honey mustard and was impressed by the creaminess and flavor of both sauces. However, the chicken tenders really hit it out of the park.

They were perfectly crispy, and the breading had a good amount of seasoning to give it flavor.

It was peppery, slightly salty, and just crispy enough to not overpower the chicken meat inside. Plus, for the price, you also get a lot of food.

While I'd probably opt for smothering these chicken tenders in a signature sauce next time, they also hold up on their own with their crispy breading and succulent chicken meat.

The best chain-restaurant chicken tenders came from Buffalo Wild Wings.

Buffalo Wild Wings was founded in 1982 in Columbus, Ohio, by Jim Disbrow and Scott Lowery, who started the restaurant with the goal of bringing authentic Buffalo-style chicken wings to the area.

The chain has since expanded to over 1,200 locations and offers 21 different sauce options, including the chain's signature Buffalo sauce, for its classic bone-in wings, boneless wings, and tenders.

A five-count of the chain's hand-breaded tenders with no sauce or dry rub and fries typically costs $17.99, excluding tax and fees.

However, Buffalo Wild Wings was running a promotion that allowed me to order 15 boneless wings, five tenders, ranch or blue cheese dipping sauces, and fries for $19.99, so I chose that deal instead.

The first thing I noticed about BWW's chicken tenders was the crispy, crunchy texture.

These chicken tenders had tiny pieces of fried breading that enhanced the texture of each bite and paired well with the tangy and fresh ranch dipping sauce provided.

The chicken tenders themselves were well-seasoned and sizable — they were probably the largest chicken tenders I tried, length-wise, and also the thickest.

The breading had the most distinctive flavor out of all the tenders I tried.

The chicken was extremely tender and shreddable, which stood out to me.

The chicken meat inside was moist and high-quality, in my opinion. These tenders from Buffalo Wild Wings also tasted the most homemade to me, which I attributed to the flaky, hand-breaded coating.

The crispy breading added a satisfying crunch without being too thick, complementing the tender, juicy chicken inside. Every bite struck the perfect balance, making these feel less like a mass-produced product from a chain restaurant and more like something prepared fresh in a home kitchen.

All of the chicken tenders I tried had something tasty to offer for game-day and tailgating season. But in the end, Buffalo Wild Wings was the real MVP.

• BI's music reporter ranked the 20 best songs of 2024.
• Charli XCX, Chappell Roan, Doechii, Kendrick Lamar, and Raye round out the top five.
• Listen to the complete ranking on Business Insider's Spotify.

The defining songs of 2024 ran the gamut in every conceivable way: from vicious diss tracks to sapphic heartbreak anthems, from folksy indie gems to club-friendly bangers, from breakout hits by up-and-comers to chart-toppers by pop stars.

All that (and all the best stuff in between) is cataloged below. However, it may surprise you not to find Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, or other titans on this list; like last year, I've made the conscious choice to avoid overlap with my best albums ranking, in order to honor a wider array of music.

Thus, the songs that made the cut are either runaway smash hits (think Shaboozey, Kendrick Lamar, and Chappell Roan) or standout gems in their respective tracklists.

Keep reading to see my 20 top picks, ranked in ascending order.

20. "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" by Shaboozey

When a song resonates so broadly and intensely that it becomes the longest-reigning No. 1 hit in Billboard Hot 100 history, a music critic needs to pay attention. Thankfully, "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" is well worth the focus.

Shaboozey's breakout hit came on the heels of his star-making turn in "Cowboy Carter," an album that knows the value of an unpredictable, well-placed sample. Shaboozey used that strategy to great effect, flipping J-Kwon's 2004 club hit "Tipsy" into a heady pub chant. It was a Beyoncé-level stroke of genius; the hook has shown to transcend both genre and generation.

If you like this, listen to: "Anabelle," "My Fault (feat. Noah Cyrus)," "Vegas"

19. "You Need Me Now?" by girl in red featuring Sabrina Carpenter

Just one month before Sabrina Carpenter released "Espresso" and commenced her plan for world domination, she stole the show in "You Need Me Now?" with a cheeky fourth-wall break.

Carpenter presumably crossed paths with Marie Ulven, aka girl in red, the darling of sapphic bedroom pop, while they were both booked as openers for the Eras Tour. At first glance, this feels like an unlikely team-up — but Carpenter's polished vocal shimmer is the perfect foil for Ulven's grittier vibe.

"You Need Me Now?" was released as the third single from Ulven's sophomore album as girl in red, "I'm Doing It Again Baby!" Her unrelenting, feisty tone recalls the fan-favorite track "Serotonin," while the lyrics reveal a scathing kiss-off to an ex, which turns out to be Carpenter's specialty.

"You know what would be really fucking cool on this? Sabrina," Ulven declares in the bridge, turning a solidly good indie-rock song into a lively, interactive experience. Now that Carpenter is as famous as she is, Ulven's epiphany feels slightly prophetic — and Carpenter's enthusiasm is even more delightful.

"Oh my god, you're so right!" Carpenter cuts in, eager and prepared for her moment. "I'm gonna sing now."

If you like this, listen to: "Too Much," "Phantom Pain," "New Love"

18. "Care" by Hana Vu

Hana Vu is only in her early 20s, and she already has a timeless song under her belt.

The Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter is truly of the millennium (she was born in 2000, making her the same age as Ice Spice and Reneé Rapp), and yet, her single "Care" is not mired in trends or modern touchstones. (Sure, there's a thinly veiled jab at consumerism, but it's not like Gen Z invented existential ire toward the status quo.)

This isn't the case for all of Vu's music; in 2019, she named her EP "Nicole Kidman/Anne Hathaway" after her two favorite actors. But "Care" is an extra special song, anchored by Vu's lush melodies, soulful delivery, and ever-relevant ruminations — about what it means to be human, to love, to hope, and to "find it all too much."

If you like this, listen to: "Hammer," "Dreams," "Find Me Under Wilted Trees"

17. "The Baton" by Katie Gavin

Katie Gavin is known as the lead singer of MUNA, but in her debut solo album, "What a Relief," she strips away much of the band's arena-sized bravado to make room for more intimate meditations.

"The Baton" is Gavin's masterpiece: stark, folksy, and acutely compassionate. The song pays homage to her mother, who guided Gavin's growth, and the hazy silhouette of her future daughter, for whom she'll follow her mother's example.

"I'd pass her the baton and I'd say you better run / 'Cause this thing has been going / For many generations," she sings, suggesting an optimistic inversion of Fiona Apple's "Relay." Still, Gavin's lens is not entirely rosy: "There is so much healing / That still needs to be done."

Unfortunately, "The Baton" hits way harder post election, now that women and queer people across the US are getting ready to fight for control over their own bodies — and, ideally in doing so, to protect future generations from having to do the same.

If you like this, listen to: "As Good As It Gets," "Sanitized," "Sparrow"

16. "Conocerla" by Reyna Tropical

Earlier this year, acting on little beyond a gut feeling, I was lucky enough to catch Fabi Reyna, aka Reyna Tropical, perform in Brooklyn. I found myself hypnotized by her organic production style, her seamless weave of multicultural traditions (Reyna was raised between Mexico, Texas, and Oregon), her tender embrace of queer themes, and, most of all, by "Conocerla."

Now, whenever I return to this song, I have a hard time putting my finger on what it is I love so much — but I always have the same recurring, insufficient thought: "This is the coolest thing I've ever heard."

Luckily, for Reyna, that instinctive pleasure is the whole point. She told Paper that "Conocerla" is about "personal exploration" and creating a space to nurture emotion, not logic. "Through art and music," Reyna explained, "we can hold more than we realize when we don't rely solely on our minds."

If you like this, listen to: "Cartagena," "Lo Siento," "Conexión Ancestral"

15. "In the Night" by Childish Gambino featuring Jorja Smith and Amaarae

Donald Glover's final release as Childish Gambino, "Bando Stone and the New World," is an apocalyptic concept album that follows his character, also a musician, while he navigates doomsday on a remote island.

"Bando Stone" is presented as a holistic body of work, but as with many survival epics, the hero is better off with some company. The album hits its peak when Glover is joined by Jorja Smith and Amaarae for "In the Night," which soundtracks a humid, nocturnal love affair. The women strike conspiratorial tones, singing about lustful dreams and illicit rendezvous; the mini-drama seems immaterial to the end of the world, but it succeeds in infusing the saga with fresh textures and intrigue.

If you like this, listen to: "Lithonia," "Talk My Shit (feat. Amaarae & Flo Milli)," "Running Around (feat. Fousheé)"

14. "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" by Ariana Grande

Immediately upon the release of "Eternal Sunshine," Ariana Grande's sixth studio album, "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" became the runaway favorite across the board. Fans sent it straight to No. 1 on the Hot 100. Keith Urban called it "audible heroin." Many critics (including myself) compared the sparkling synths and propulsive rhythm to Robyn's "Dancing on My Own," a compliment of the highest order among pop nerds. (Max Martin, who produced much of "Eternal Sunshine," has also worked with Robyn. The pair earned two top-10 hits in 1997.)

"We Can't Be Friends" is patently a reaction to Grande's recent divorce, but subtextually, it confronts the inevitable public fallout — that is, the stigma of being a famous woman with a string of romantic missteps. Still, at least in song, Grande can emerge from the fray with her ecstatic falsetto, unashamed and resilient as ever. "Know that you made me / I don't like how you paint me," she insists, "yet I'm still here hanging."

If you like this, listen to: "Don't Wanna Break Up Again," "Eternal Sunshine," "I Wish I Hated You"

13. "Don't Forget Me" by Maggie Rogers

Maggie Rogers has always been an exceptional producer, as evidenced by her famous Pharrell critique (or, more accurately, his lack of critique) that catapulted her from NYU student to indie darling.

In her underappreciated sophomore album "Surrender," Rogers pivoted from folk-electronica to a more organic rock sound as she came into her own as a vocalist. "I learned how to use my lower register," she told The New York Times, "to just sing with my whole body."

When it came time to record her third studio album, "Don't Forget Me," Rogers was already equipped with these polished-up skills. This time, it's her songwriting that comes into clearer focus, totally shorn of self-doubt and pretense.

This is especially true of the title track, in which every word has been chosen with keen precision. Throughout each verse and chorus, Rogers paints miniature portraits of Sally (a vision of domestic bliss), Molly (a besotted portent of mediocre love), and herself (an autonomous woman with a lust for emotional heirlooms).

As Rogers explained in her email newsletter, some of these details were invented for the song. "Pen to paper. Fully formed. There they were," she wrote. But that doesn't make them feel any less lifelike: "I think in this way, some of the deepest truths about my present were able to come forward."

If you like this, listen to: "The Kill," "If Now Was Then," "On & On & On"

12. "Common Man" by Grace Cummings

Grace Cummings makes music as though she's building a bridge between the old and the new. Her album "Ramona" is vivid and nostalgic, saturated with hues of old-school blues, yet dauntless in a distinctly modern way — the kind of music that a Gen X dad and Gen Z daughter could play on a roadtrip and equally enjoy.

The centerpiece is "Common Man," which juxtaposes vintage instrumentation and familiar pastoral imagery (thunder booming overhead, a sunrise on the horizon) with Cummings' singular, androgynous, anything-but-predictable voice.

Even in this wide-open landscape, her belting easily swells to fill the space. So when Cummings delivers the song's thesis, "I can't stand to be the common man," it's no challenge to believe her.

If you like this, listen to: "On and On," "A Precious Thing," "Help Is On Its Way"

11. "Too Sweet" by Hozier

"Too Sweet" is Hozier's highest-charting song ever on the Hot 100, which is kind of a miracle, since he didn't even bother to include it on his latest full-length album, 2023's "Unreal Unearth."

Thankfully, "Too Sweet" didn't get buried forever. It was released seven months later on the EP "Unheard," a brief collection of songs from the "Unreal Unearth" sessions that Hozier had scrapped "for different reasons."

Perhaps Hozier felt the song was too radiant and playful — or, ahem, too sweet — for the album's conceptual journey through the nine circles of hell. That could explain it, although the narrator is certainly at risk of being punished for gluttony (he has a whiskey habit and a 3 a.m. bedtime, so I'm assuming he's not a fan of moderation). Or perhaps Hozier sensed that he had a smash hit on his hands, and didn't want it to overshadow the rest of the project, like "Take Me to Church" did with his debut.

We may never know his reasons for unleashing "Too Sweet" when he did. We can only be grateful that he did it at all — and maybe consider this a learning experience. As his career trajectory has proven, he's a more patient man than most, and something this sweet is worth the wait.

If you like this, listen to: "Nobody's Soldier," "July," "Fare Well"

10. "Soup" by Remi Wolf

"Soup," the second track and fifth single from Remi Wolf's "Big Ideas," is a shining example of an earworm done right. Backed by Tame Impala-esque guitar riffs and bright '80s synths, Wolf delivers a series of airtight melodies and just the right amount of quirk.

Like all the greatest top-40 bops, the chorus is ideal for screaming in the car — yet there's no risk of tedium or replay-induced headaches. "Soup" can be played on a loop and Wolf's songcraft stays fresh.

If you like this, listen to: "Cinderella," "Toro," "Alone in Miami"

9. "Obsessed" by Olivia Rodrigo

As with the two singles from "Guts" that preceded it ("Bad Idea Right?" and "Get Him Back!"), I remain aghast that "Obsessed" wasn't a No. 1 hit.

Olivia Rodrigo is at her best when she's a little punk, a little rock, and completely unhinged — and this "Guts (Spilled)" deluxe track about developing a fetish for her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend ("I know her star sign, I know her blood type") may be the most loosely hinged track in her entire catalog.

In polite society, it's rare that women are allowed to express the full spectrum of emotion — rage, envy, lust, self-loathing, and, of course, obsession — without getting labeled crazy. Rodrigo actively bucks against that sexist custom with her songwriting, flinging herself into the deepest trenches of her psyche and emerging even stronger. In her capable hands, "I can't help it, I've got issues" becomes less of a confession and more of a rallying cry.

If you like this, listen to: "So American"

8. "Starburster" by Fontaines D.C.

I tuned in to Fontaines D.C. last fall, when I saw them open for the Arctic Monkeys' The Car Tour. The Irish band had already released three albums and won a Brit Award, but it still felt like they were on the cusp of greatness, like they were building toward a true breakthrough.

That catalyst arrived seven months later with "Starbuster," the celebrated lead single from their new album, "Romance." The song is punchy and cinematic, like Kasabian's "L.S.F." meets Gorillaz's "Dare" meets the atmospheric, suburban angst of "Skins" (the original UK series, not the busted US version). But despite its traceable lineage, "Starburster" is no mere imitation; it synthesizes its post-punk and rap-rock influences to craft something new.

If you like this, listen to: "In the Modern World," "Sundowner," "Death Kink"

7. "Yeah x10" by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

In Luca Guadagnino's horny tennis drama "Challengers," the thrilling reveal of a young, headed-for-stardom Tashi Duncan ("The hottest woman I've ever seen," in the words of Patrick Zweig) is set to the equally thrilling thumps of "Yeah x10."

The aptly named song is the highlight of the movie's soundtrack, created by Nine Inch Nails maestros Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The Oscar-winning duo provides the precise mix of tension, delight, youthful awe, and "unending homoerotic desire" that's needed to match the characters' churning drama.

Tashi (played by Zendaya) struts onto the court, lithe and confident, as her two future suitors (Josh O'Connor as Patrick and Mike Faist as Art) revel in their shared surge of desire. The scene-and-song combo kicks off a riveting chain of events that dominated cinephile discourse this year. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah," indeed.

If you like this, listen to: "I Know," "The Signal," "Challengers: Match Point"

6. "Eusexua" by FKA twigs

In 2022, FKA twigs launched a new era of pleasure with "Caprisongs," an aura-heavy, electro-pop mixtape designed to sweat out the demons.

This year, she doubled down with "Eusexua," the lead single from her upcoming album of the same name. The twigs-invented word seems to be derived from the Greek word "euphoria," modified to reflect something more erotic, something truly ineffable. The song is an intricate choreography of techno beats and cascading synths, the exact kind of soundscape where twigs and her peculiar mystique tend to thrive.

If I had to define "Eusexua" based on how the song makes me feel, it would be "feeling present in one's body." Not the body-positive platitude of "feeling comfortable in one's skin," per se, but a sensation of full aliveness — every hair on your arms standing in salute, your heartbeat thumping in your fingertips.

If you like this, listen to: "Perfect Stranger," "Drums of Death"

5. "Genesis." by Raye

Over the summer, shortly before the release of her new single, Raye told me how she's willing to sacrifice profit for her creative vision.

"It upsets me to do a half-assed gig or to do a half-hearted thing," Raye explained. "If I was in this to make money, I wouldn't even be releasing the kind of music that I am."

"Genesis." is proof positive of that credo; the amorphous, seven-minute song is the kind of big swing that artists take after years of hard work and honing their creative vision. During the three-part odyssey, Raye unspools everything weighing on her mind, from algorithmically encouraged envy, self-loathing, and substance abuse to political causes she cares about, like universal healthcare and worker rights. It's a lot to digest in one go, but this song deserves the time and effort.

If you like this, listen to: "Oscar Winning Tears."

4. "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar

The cultural impact of "Not Like Us" is self-evident. By many accounts, Kendrick Lamar was already winning in his rap beef with Drake, largely thanks to his Pulitzer Prize-winning lyrical skill. But then, Lamar did the most devastating thing he could to a chart-topping, best-selling behemoth. He dropped an absolute banger.

It takes a truly remarkable diss track to have consumers, gatekeepers, and corporations alike in a chokehold: No. 1 on the Hot 100 for two weeks; six Grammy nominations, including both record and song of the year; plus a much-anticipated performance at the Apple Music-sponsored Super Bowl in February.

Lamar may be the only artist alive who could've pulled it off — that is to say, the only rapper who's shrewd, ruthless, and respected enough to convince stuffy executives to let him call Drake a "certified lover boy, certified pedophile" on national TV.

If you like this, listen to: "Squabble Up," "Luther (with SZA)," "Heart Pt. 6"

3. "Nissan Altima" by Doechii

There was a time this summer when I couldn't go on Instagram without seeing "Nissan Altima" shared on someone's story. More recently, videos of Doechii performing the frantic first verse — in which she calls herself "the new hip-hop Madonna" and "the trap Grace Jones" — have taken over my TikTok feed.

Despite the never-ending clips, I have yet to see Doechii botch the lyrics or trip over her tongue. "Nissan Altima" puts her star power on full display; she's a formidable, top-tier rapper with a flair for eccentric phrasing.

Released as the lead single from Doechii's latest mixtape, "Alligator Bites Never Heal," this is the kind of cult-classic crowd-pleaser that, sooner or later, fans will hold up as a turning point in the artist's career.

Although "Nissan Altima" is still relatively niche and has yet to appear on the Hot 100, it has sparked an undeniable groundswell of support, even snagging a Grammy nomination for best rap performance. Don't be surprised when you start to hear Doechii's music everywhere.

If you like this, listen to: "Boiled Peanuts," "Denial is a River," "Beverly Hills"

2. "Good Luck, Babe!" by Chappell Roan

This time last year, I crowned Chappell Roan's "Red Wine Supernova" as the best song of 2023.

I'm willing to bet Roan wasn't stunned by the praise; "I'm not that surprised people like it because it's really good," she told Dork at the time. But the selection did get some pushback from friends and lurkers online. Back then, Roan was little known by mainstream standards, performing for crowds of a couple thousand at most on The Midwest Princess Tour. Upon its release, "Red Wine Supernova" debuted at No. 75 on the Hot 100 — nothing to sniff at, certainly, but nothing sensational.

Now, "sensation" is just one of many suitable labels for Roan's career. She's become a main character in pop music, performing for massive crowds at music festivals and millions of viewers on network TV. Her rise to stardom has been ferociously analyzed, nitpicked, and gawked at, but as Roan said herself, it should've come as no surprise. She boasts an exceptional, magnetic talent that, once witnessed, makes it impossible to ignore or forget.

This became clearer than ever at Coachella, where Roan performed the as-yet-unreleased single "Good Luck Babe!" with the conviction of a much bigger star. A clip of her singing the bridge while staring down the barrel of the camera, eyes alight with both anguish and clarity, went viral online. There, in the desert, standing face-to-face with "I told you so," she banished every flicker of doubt.

"Good Luck Babe!" is now a top-five hit on the Hot 100, a Grammy nominee for song of the year, and the epicenter of this year's so-called "lesbian renaissance."

In retrospect, it's no wonder that Roan's watershed moment was a song that nods to her own staying power, a magic touch that lingers for a lifetime. She was right all along: You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling.

If you like this, listen to: Roan only released this one song in 2024, but keep an eye out for her much-teased sophomore album, expected to arrive next year.

It'll presumably feature unreleased songs "The Subway," which Roan has performed at several music festivals, and "The Giver," a sapphic Shania Twain-esque bop that Roan debuted on "Saturday Night Live."

1. "Girl, So Confusing featuring Lorde" by Charli XCX and Lorde

Charli XCX's "Brat" already earned the No. 2 slot on this year's best albums ranking — but I'm breaking my own rule, which forbids overlap on both end-of-year lists, for two reasons.

First, the "Girl, So Confusing" remix does not technically appear on the standard edition of "Brat." It was released as a single before its inclusion on the remix album, "Brat and It's Completely Different But Also Still Brat," which, as the name suggests, is a completely different thing. Second, the "Girl, So Confusing" remix is a force of nature unto itself and needs to be treated as such.

I can't remember another time there was such a consensus, from critics and fans alike, about the year's most affecting, most visceral pop song — let alone a spontaneous remix like this one.

Lorde had already heard the original "Girl, So Confusing" by the time Charli sent her a heads-up that, hey, long time no see, but there's a song about our unspoken rivalry on my album. Any Lorde fan would've expected her to respond with grace and mercy, but she went several steps further, offering a real-time resolution: "Let's work it out on the remix." She sent her entire verse over text, the same way it appears on the track, to which Charli reacted the same way everyone else did: "Fucking hell."

Cultural observers and political pundits have been asking each other all year, what makes someone or something "Brat"? Even Charli has struggled to articulate it, but of course, Lorde understood implicitly. Their public truce encapsulates the true essence and charm of the album: off-the-cuff, unedited, and vulnerable in the same way that throwing up in the club and letting a friend hold your hair back ends up bringing you closer.

If you like this, listen to: "Everything is Romantic featuring Caroline Polachek," "Apple featuring The Japanese House," "B2b featuring Tinashe"

Listen to BI's complete list of 100 best songs on Spotify.

• BI's music reporter ranked the 20 best albums of 2024.
• Beyoncé's country-inspired triumph "Cowboy Carter" took the top spot.
• Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, The Marías, and Taylor Swift rounded out the top five.

It's no wonder Spotify Wrapped has become such a sensation: music offers a convenient, edifying structure for a retrospective. We listen to certain albums on road trips with friends and others on rainy days at home alone. The best ones can stir up memories or delineate the seasons of our lives.

This year was dominated by pop stars of both the old guard and the new, from Beyoncé and Taylor Swift to Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter.

But the best music of 2024 wasn't confined to one region or genre. The below list includes Brittany Howard's earthy funk from Athens, Alabama; Tems' alté from Nigeria; The Marías' dream-pop from Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Puerto Rico; The Last Dinner Party's indie-rock from London, and many more.

Keep reading for all 20 top picks, ranked in ascending order.

20. "Timeless" by Kaytranada

There is no party playlist you could make that would be better than playing "Timeless" top to bottom. Across 21 songs, Kaytranada proves himself a top-notch curator of grooves, summoning the perfect cast of sidekicks for his mission — put simply, to make you dance dance dance dance — from Ravyn Lenae, Tinashe, and PinkPantheress to Channel Tres, Anderson .Paak, Childish Gambino, and Thundercat.

Best songs: "Drip Sweat," "Do 2 Me," "Witchy," "Wasted Words," "Snap My Finger"

19. "Dark Times" by Vince Staples

Before Kendrick Lamar surprise-dropped "GNX," Vince Staples had hip-hop heads fully covered. The two rappers share an affinity for intellectual lyrics, an aptitude for tackling complex themes, and a history of critical acclaim — but where Lamar's music is at least somewhat motivated by commercial interests, Staples is unburdened by ego and expectations.

"No one's coming to me," he told Zane Lowe, "looking for a single or looking for a party record, or things of that nature. I don't feel those pressures."

Staples thrives in the album's brooding sonic landscape, which invites the listener to stay fully absorbed. Take 35 minutes to do nothing but listen.

Best songs: "Black&Blue," "Shame on the Devil," "Étouffée," "'Radio,'" "Little Homies"

18. "Prelude to Ecstasy" by The Last Dinner Party

The Last Dinner Party's much-hyped debut album, "Prelude to Ecstasy," over-delivers on the promise of excitement and novelty. Although several of its highlights were released ahead of time as singles, the album's in-between moments are the furthest thing from filler; each composition is lush and grandiose, never allowing for a dull moment. You may be tempted to accuse the British quintet of melodrama, but you get the feeling that's exactly what they were going for.

Best songs: "Burn Alive," "The Feminine Urge," "Beautiful Boy," "Portrait of a Dead Girl," "Nothing Matters"

17. "Wilson" by Ashe

"Wilson" is Ashe's third full-length album, completing the trilogy that spells out her real name (Ashlyn Rae Wilson), but it's her first as an independent artist.

After canceling her global tour in 2023, Ashe decamped to Nashville, where she'd planted the seeds of her songwriting career. After a period of tending to her burnout and building a life with her now-fiancé, she was able to be creative again for creativity's sake. "I painted the walls and renovated and gardened. I bought power tools and put up the wainscoting in the bathroom. I got dirt under my fingernails," she told Forbes. "That was a huge part of separating myself from what my entire identity was wrapped up in, which was my career."

Ashe has always made music that breaks with trends and conventions, but with "Wilson," her unfettered approach is more apparent than ever. Throughout the album, she sings quite literally about liberation, autonomy, and shedding her people-pleasing tendencies, backed by spacious, soaring production that sounds as free as she feels.

Best songs: "Please Don't Fall In Love With Me," "Running Out of Time," "Cherry Trees," "I Wanna Love You (But I Don't)," "Ashe"

16. "Forever" by Charly Bliss

The third studio album from New York-founded foursome Charly Bliss is the perfect musical sugar rush, packed with fizzy vocals and guitar riffs so candy-coated you'll mistake them for synths.

Charly Bliss has often been described as "bubblegrunge," earning high praise for their poppy takes on '90s indie-rock. "Forever" leans more bubble than grunge, echoing Taylor Swift's "The Archer" in the Jack Antonoff-approved standout "Nineteen" and often evoking Carly Rae Jepsen's beloved "Emotion."

But make no mistake: Even as Charly Bliss' soundscape has evolved, their songwriting hasn't lost its Warped Tour-adjacent angst. "I'm Not Dead" yearns for a life with more fuck-ups and fulfillment ("If I'm a rock star, I'm not doing it right") while "I Don't Know Anything" is explicit about the harrowing realities of the music industry ("You bet on yourself and you lose every day"). But it's the deceptively upbeat single "Back There Now" that contains the album's spikiest turn of phrase: "A boy like you would hang me if I gave you the rope."

Best songs: "Calling You Out," "Back There Now," "Nineteen," "I'm Not Dead," "I Don't Know Anything"

15. "What a Devastating Turn of Events" by Rachel Chinouriri

Chinouriri's disarming candor, empathy, and attentiveness come through loud and clear in her songwriting. Listening to her debut album, "What a Devastating Turn of Events," you get the feeling that she walks around with her arms outstretched, ready to engage anyone in conversation. Her best songs are personal but rarely self-serving; she'll narrate tales about a lonely month she spent in Los Angeles ("When you don't belong, the hills will know") or a cousin in Zimbabwe who committed suicide after getting pregnant ("Out of wedlock which her family despised / But if she lost it, it would still be a crime") that double as meditations on racism and reproductive healthcare.

But not all of her songs are heavy. Chinouriri is a proud student of Britpop (Blur, Oasis) and noughties indie-rock (Phoenix, Kings of Leon), though she filters her research through a modern feminine lens (Olivia Rodrigo, Lily Allen circa "It's Not Me, It's You"). "What a Devastating Turn of Events" strikes a tricky balance between being substantial, at times intense, and being downright fun to listen to.

Best songs: "Garden of Eden," "The Hills," "Never Need Me," "All I Ever Asked," "What a Devastating Turn of Events"

14. "For Your Consideration" by Empress Of

Lorely Rodriguez, known professionally as Empress Of, has collaborated with an array of indie-pop geniuses, from Blood Orange to Caroline Polachek to MUNA and toured with Carly Rae Jepsen and Maggie Rogers.

If you like any of those artists — or, better yet, all of them — you'll love Rodriguez's magnum opus, "For Your Consideration." The compact 11-song tracklist sounds like someone put all the best experimental dance music and punchy synth-pop into a blender and sprinkled it with the essence of Rosalía's "Motomami." The result is a treat that's jam-packed with flavor, made to be slurped and savored.

Best songs: "Preciosa," "Femenine," "Sucia," "Baby Boy," "What's Love"

13. "Bright Future" by Adrianne Lenker

"Bright Future," the sixth solo album by Adrianne Lenker (also known as the frontwoman for Big Thief), is at once haunting and comforting.

Lenker's singular brand of songwriting honors the traditions of folk music while breaking new ground, unfurling scenes of unrequited queer love ("We could be friends / You could love me through and through / If I were him") and the desire for a gentle, patient life ("Do you wanna dance? / Sometimes I think I try too hard") in her signature one-take warble.

There's a palpable melancholy in her reveries — an awareness that nothing is quite so easy or so pure — but still undeniable beauty in the hope of it all. "I have so much nuance and complexity to what I need," Lenker told Crack Magazine, "and I do not feel by any means I've wrapped my mind around it."

Best songs: "Sadness As a Gift," "Fool," "No Machine," "Free Treasure," "Vampire Empire"

12. "Charm" by Clairo

Clairo is doing her best Carole King on "Charm," and she could take this role to the bank.

Much like King's seminal work, "Tapestry," Clairo's third studio album is characterized by billowing warmth, a soundscape largely achieved with jazzy piano chords, woodwinds, and humble lyrics that capture basic truths of love, devotion, and heartache: "It's second nature," "You make me wanna go buy a new dress / You make me wanna slip off a new dress," "Honey, was it enough? Is it ever enough?"

Best songs: "Sexy to Someone," "Second Nature," "Terrapin," "Juna," "Add Up My Love"

11. "Born In the Wild" by Tems

Tems has already left her fingerprints across the pop landscape, whether listeners realize it or not. You may recognize her voice from Drake's "Fountains," Future's "Wait for U," Beyoncé's "Move," or, most likely, Wizkid's "Essence," which was nominated for a Grammy and became the first song by all Nigerian artists to reach the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

But Tems was not destined to be a featured guest. Her first full-length album, "Born in the Wild," makes it clear that her fate is musical royalty. (Prophetically, her parents named her Temilade, which means "the crown is mine" in Yoruba.)

"Born in the Wild" pulls triple duty, showcasing Tems as a dynamic vocalist, producer, and, in the words of Boutayna Chokrane for Pitchfork, "author of her own lore." Although the album carries traces of her forebears, from Lauryn Hill, Destiny's Child, and SZA to the reggae-fusion legend Diana King, whose "L-L-Lies" is interpolated in "Gangsta," Tems is credited as the lead songwriter on all 18 tracks. Her voice and vision remain at the forefront.

Best songs: "Burning," "Love Me JeJe," "Ready," "Boy O Boy," "T-Unit"

10. "The Great Impersonator" by Halsey

Halsey has long been devoted to concept albums, whether it's the Shakespearean fever dream of 2017's "Hopeless Fountain Kingdom" or the pregnancy-induced body horror of 2021's "If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power."

Their latest album, "The Great Impersonator," both cements and subverts their legacy as a shapeshifter. Across the 18-song tracklist, Halsey adopts different genres, tones, and impressions, but she constantly oscillates between fantasy and sincerity. On the opening track, "Only Living Girl in LA," Halsey takes a cue from Simon & Garfunkel's "The Only Living Boy in New York" — written as a tender farewell to the duo's partnership — while cracking dark jokes about the crowd at her funeral. The PJ Harvey-inspired scorcher "Dog Years" draws a parallel between suicidal ideation and putting down her pet. "Letter to God (1983)" is a convincing Bruce Springsteen pastiche, which nearly distracts from the desperate pleas for divine intervention.

Only by trying on costumes, Halsey seems to suggest, can she feel safe enough to expose her most private fears and urges.

There's a sense of tragedy that pervades this practice, as well as the music itself. "The Great Impersonator" was written during a time of grave physical illness and familial upheaval, or, in Halsey's words, "the space between life and death."

Halsey confronts her catastrophes with emotions scaled to match. She is at turns furious, devastated, resentful, resigned, and wracked with guilt — both of the survivor's and mother's variety. "I don't ever wanna leave him," she sings of her young son, Ender, "but I don't think it's my choice."

More than anything, "The Great Impersonator" captures the never-enoughness of life itself. Halsey is doing everything, saying everything, feeling everything, because it might be their last chance — and isn't that the point?

Best songs: "Ego," "Panic Attack," "I Believe In Magic," "Lonely Is the Muse," "Arsonist"

9. "What Now" by Brittany Howard

Thanks to her rich timbre and multi-octave range, Brittany Howard's voice is immediately discernible, whatever style of rock 'n' roll she happens to be commanding that day.

As the frontwoman for Alabama Shakes, it was '60s-flavored Southern soul ("Boys & Girls") and psychedelia ("Sound & Color"). In her second solo album, Howard leans even deeper into her soul and funk instincts, swathed in fuzzy guitar licks and jazz-inflected brass arrangements. "What Now" reveals Howard at the peak of her powers, bending every instrument to her virtuosic will.

Best songs: "I Don't," "What Now," "Red Flags," "Prove It To You," "Power to Undo"

8. "Short n' Sweet" by Sabrina Carpenter

Sabrina Carpenter is a pop star with a capital P and a capital S. She knows exactly what she's doing, and this clarity of purpose and personality is what makes "Short n' Sweet" shine through 2024's deluge of pop albums.

These days, most of the top singer-songwriters follow the Taylor Swift Theory of Pop Music, believing they must be confessional and soul-bearing in order for their music to resonate with fans. Carpenter's sixth studio album (yes, sixth, though she considers it to be her second "big girl" album) offers a rebuttal.

That's not to say Carpenter isn't a skilled lyricist; Jack Antonoff, who produced much of "Short n' Sweet," confirmed that Carpenter wrote every word in "Sharpest Tool," the album's best song. She's just a different kind of lyricist, wielding humor, innuendo, and wordplay as many of her peers might wield their diaristic details.

Even the most generalized, nonspecific songs in the tracklist, like the smash hit "Espresso" or the sexy standout "Bed Chem," manage to feel sticky and memorable. Carpenter delivers each line with vocal flair and charisma, reshaping the broadest phrases to fit her specific persona. On paper, "That's that me espresso" could've been written by anyone, but now that we've heard the song, it could only make sense coming out of Carpenter's mouth.

Best songs: "Please Please Please," "Sharpest Tool," "Coincidence," "Bed Chem," "Espresso"

7. "Imaginal Disk" by Magdalena Bay

Magdalena Bay is the indie-pop band that every music critic and chronically-online-cool-girl is obsessed with right now.

If you're not familiar with their surrealist TikTok account or the album cover that inspired Rosalía's Halloween costume, the band is actually just two people: Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin, both Miami natives with Argentinian-Jewish roots, who met in high school. They're a couple now, though some people mistakenly believe they're related. Think of it like The White Stripes for the digital age — if Jack and Meg White were listening to a lot of early Grimes and doom-scrolling on their phones.

"Imaginal Disk" is the culmination of their 13-year partnership, the fruit of two true creatives who are perfectly in sync. The music is very much of the moment, full of distorted synths and anxious lyrics about "divine digits," warped mirrors, and TV-induced nightmares — but, miraculously, it never strays into the realm of pretentious, patronizing slush. Tenenbaum and Lewin may be preoccupied with the splendors and ills of the modern world, but they're not preaching or speaking down to us because they are us.

Best songs: "Killing Time," "Image," "Death & Romance," "Fear, Sex," "That's My Floor"

6. "Tyla" by Tyla

Tyla's self-titled is the most impressive debut album of the year, parading an assortment of moods and genres — namely Afrobeats, amapiano, pop, and R&B — with the poise of a seasoned superstar.

Listening to "Tyla," I can't help but remember how I felt listening to Rihanna's "Music of the Sun" in 2005, that flutter in my stomach when I knew something big was about to happen — or, more accurately, someone.

Like most great pop albums, "Tyla" is accessible and versatile with a song for every mood. "Water" may be her "Pon de Replay," but she's also got her independent-girl anthem ("No.1"), her timeless love song ("Butterflies"), her heartbreak memento ("To Last"), and, of course, her party-starters ("Jump," "On My Body"). Through it all, Tyla never sacrifices her signature sound for the sake of mass appeal.

Best songs: "Truth Or Dare," "Butterflies," "On and On," "Jump," "To Last"

5. "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology" by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift as a concept looms large over her 11th studio album — so much so that it was summarily dismissed by people who've grown tired of "her whole thing." As Swiftian history shows us, this fatigue happens cyclically every few years.

But as Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield wrote in "Heartbreak is the National Anthem," his new book about Swift's place in music history, "Many people often find Taylor infuriating and exhausting. So does Taylor Swift."

That may as well be the thesis for "The Tortured Poets Department." At 31 songs, the album is instantly overwhelming. It's self-effacing and self-aware to a truly comical degree. (I will never forget where I was when I first heard Swift sing, "I'm having his baby. No, I'm not! But you should see your faces.") It's full of heel turns, hallucinations, and contradictions. She pledges, "I can fix him," then ends the same song with, "Woah! Maybe I can't." Later, she swears she'll forget him — in a song that also swears he's a swindler who deserves jail time. She begs God to send her a soulmate, but three tracks later, she compares the sensation of leaving a man to emerging from a frozen lake. In the album's lead single, she literally casts herself as an asylum patient.

As Sheffield notes, "There's something scary about all her try-try-try energy, but that's the only possible way she could write songs like these." Swift is always erupting, never walking it back, and never playing it cool. It's annoying. It's relatable. It's annoyingly relatable. But for her fellow triers, it's sheer magic. It's a crucial part of her allure as an artist, and it's also what makes the "The Tortured Poets Department" — yes, even the extra 15 songs — such a damned, accursed thrill.

Best songs: "But Daddy I Love Him," "Guilty as Sin?," "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?," "Loml," "The Black Dog," "How Did It End?," "The Prophecy"

4. "Submarine" by The Marías

One year after The Marías released their debut album, 2021's "Cinema," the band reached a watershed moment: They were featured on Bad Bunny's 2022 blockbuster "Un Verano Sin Ti." Their duet, "Otro Atardecer," has over 481 million streams on Spotify to date.

Bad Bunny's cosign promised more ears and a much bigger platform; a well-executed sophomore album could change their trajectory forever. It seemed the stars had aligned.

In reality, their path forward wasn't promised. Lead singer María Zardoya and drummer and producer Josh Conway, the duo that founded the band and cowrote the songs, broke up. They'd begun dating shortly after meeting, drawn together by their artistic chemistry. Dousing that spark could've spelled the end of The Marías.

To avoid this fate, the bandmates had the wisdom to impose a six-week sabbatical — the longest they'd been apart in their eight years of knowing each other, Zardoya told Elle. They both took the time to travel. "We were in our 'Eat, Pray, Love' era for sure," she said. "The isolation was necessary for us to heal, then come together and make this project. We overcame a lot to make it happen."

"Submarine" may be the best album written by actively splitting lovers since Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours," though The Marías' version is markedly more serene. Zardoya swaps the righteous fury of Stevie Nicks for soothing melodies and abiding tenderness, sounding more like Selena mixed with Sade. Conway compliments his ex's hushed vocals with glinting synths and waves of reverb.

The effect is all-encompassing, fluid, almost reverent — quite like sitting at the bottom of a pool, watching the sunlight glitter on the surface, as Zardoya does in the cover art. There isn't a single dissonant moment or skippable song to pull you out of its depths.

Best songs: "Echo," "Run Your Mouth," "Blur," "No One Noticed," "Vicious Sensitive Robot"

3. "Hit Me Hard and Soft" by Billie Eilish

"Hit Me Hard and Soft" is Billie Eilish's third studio album and her best yet by far. Compared to the lonely visions of 2019's "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" or the self-indulgent soliloquies of 2021's "Happier Than Ever," this world feels richer, more curious and expansive.

Although the tracklist only has 10 songs, every chord, every ad-lib, and every transition has been carefully considered as part of a whole. String motifs and key lyrics resurface across the album, and the eerie and reflective closing track, "Blue," fuses two scrapped songs from Eilish's past into something new.

Eilish's brother and collaborator Finneas O'Connell once described this album as containing "real ghosts" because they resurrected old material. This may explain why its centerpiece, "Chihiro," shares a name with the protagonist of "Spirited Away," a movie about stumbling through a portal to an alternate dimension that's full of strange monsters and spirits. Chihiro is thrust into a great adventure at an extremely young age — much like Eilish when she shot to fame as a teenager. His only options are escape or immersion.

Eilish's previous albums ooze with the itch to escape. In "Hit Me Hard and Soft," Eilish finally chooses the latter.

Best songs: "Chihiro," "Birds of a Feather," "The Greatest," "The Diner," "Blue"

2. "Brat" by Charli XCX

The "best" album of the year is always debatable, but one thing is for sure: "Brat" will go down in history as the main character in 2024's cultural discourse.

The artwork's acid green seeped into every corner of observable life, from statue gardens and brand campaigns to Times Square and the White House. Even NASA hopped on the trend, using "Brat" lyrics in an Instagram caption to describe the lingering glow of a supernova. "Buried at the center is the star's tell-tale heart," the agency wrote, "which beats with rhythmic precision." How very fitting.

After many years of languishing in pop's middle class (justice for "How I'm Feeling Now"), Charli XCX broke into the mainstream with her most idiosyncratic work to date. Ironically, it was her previous effort, 2022's "Crash," that was created with the intention of showing off her pop-star chops — both as a cynical stunt and an earnest bid for attention.

At the time, the experiment seemed to fail. "Crash" was well received by critics but failed to lift Charli into pop's upper echelon.

And yet, it was precisely this kind of failure — or, at least, the perception of failure in the competitive world of "stan Twitter" — that made the existence of "Brat" possible. Throughout the tracklist, Charli is haunted by her own legacy. She frets constantly about being compared to other women in the industry. Do they even notice when she's fixing her hair or snagging her tights? Do they see her standing in the background? Do they also wish they could rewind to simpler times, before they cared about Billboard charts and sales numbers? She even wonders whether her music career is worth putting her personal life on hold for.

Even when Charli is playing her familiar role, the "365 party girl," her brags are still legacy-oriented. "I'm your favorite reference, baby," she insists in the opening track, "360." In the standout single "Von Dutch," she teases, "It's OK to just admit that you're jealous of me." Put in conversation with the album's deep cuts, these lyrics seem more defensive than they do at first brush. Charli is ready to call herself an icon, but she wants you to say it back.

"Brat" is a uniquely Charli album, but as NASA accidentally noted, it's also a tale as old as time: Buried at the center, beneath the neon lights and pulsing synths, Charli's tell-tale heart is beating, keeping her alive, begging to be heard.

Best songs: "Sympathy Is a Knife," "Von Dutch," "So I," "Girl, So Confusing," "365"

1. "Cowboy Carter" by Beyoncé

"Brat Summer" may have taken over the online lexicon in 2024, but once again, it was Beyoncé who made the most technically impressive and thematically effective album of the year.

Following the footsteps of "Renaissance," the best album of 2022, "Cowboy Carter" is part of an ongoing trilogy that probes the limits of genre — and, crucially, the roles that race and gender play in imposing those limits. Beyoncé is the perfect and perhaps only musician alive who could stage such an experiment with this level of mastery, foresight, and cultural impact.

You could pinpoint pretty much any three-track run on "Cowboy Carter," and you'd find proof why it's the album of the year. Take "Ameriican Reqiuem," a mini-dissertation on prejudice in the music industry, then "Blackbiird," an illuminating blend of young Black voices in country music with a classic-rock song that was inspired by the Little Rock Nine, topped by "16 Carriages," a soulful ballad that draws from Beyoncé's outlaw-esque roots, and you've still only covered the first 11-ish minutes.

Beyoncé has many musical gifts, including (but not limited to) identifying fresh talent, reinventing samples, fine-tuning even the tiniest details, and synthesizing many themes and perspectives to form one coherent narrative. Her range is already well established, but on "Cowboy Carter," each of these skills is deployed to its fullest extent.

The album opens with a pointed set of questions: "Can you hear me? Or do you fear me?" But Beyoncé knows the breadth of her power, so she already knows what the answer will be. She closes the album by asking again, but this time, it's tinted by the shadow of a smirk: "Tell me, can you hear me now?"

Best songs: "Ameriican Reqiuem," "Bodyguard," "Daughter," "Alliigator Tears," "II Most Wanted," "Ya Ya," "II Hands II Heaven," "Sweet Honey Buckiin'"

• Some people are turning to "loyalty tests" to check if their partners are cheating.
• Companies are cashing in, connecting users to testers for a fee.
• Even when someone "passes," a test can pose problems for couples.

It's no secret: Dating in the digital age is hard.

Knowing when to change your Facebook relationship status or "soft launch" your relationship is stressful enough, but the internet has also made cheating easier than ever.

"The digital age has provided a million more ways to cheat or be deceptive or be disloyal in a relationship than in the past," Landis Bejar, a wedding therapist and the founder of AisleTalk, told Business Insider.

Some lovers have turned to "loyalty tests" to see if their partners are faithful, tapping strangers to catch their significant others being disloyal by sending incriminating direct messages, hoping for an untoward reply. Now, companies like Lazo and Loyalty-Test are cashing in on the trend.

One woman who paid to test her partner told Business Insider she wished she had used the service sooner.

Helping others who get cheated on

A tester who goes by Ari on Loyalty-Test for privacy reasons but whose identity is known to BI said she first became familiar with the app as a customer.

"I was the one that wanted to test my partner," she said. "He ended up passing by default. He didn't respond."

Ari said she appreciated the process and became interested in being a tester. So, she signed up.

"In the past, with relationships, I would get a lot of unfaithful partners, and I would have loved to have this sooner," Ari said. "I definitely wanted to be the one to help people out."

Now, Ari works as a hairstylist by day and performs between five and eight loyalty tests weekly. She sticks to digital tests and charges $55 for a day of testing.

"I've noticed people do fold very quickly," she said. "It usually happens within the first day."

Ari said she starts her work with clients by asking what they think of as a pass or fail to ensure they agree.

"Usually, I'll explain the process that I'm going to do, and if they have specific things they want me to say, then I go by what they want me to say," she said.

Some of her clients are in committed relationships and suspect cheating when they hire her. Others are about to take a step with someone, like becoming exclusive or moving in together, and want to use a loyalty test to confirm they're making the right decision.

Ari said it can be difficult when she has to tell clients their partners are failing a test, both because she feels empathy toward them and because she has been cheated on.

"The length that they would go to be sneaky, you know, it's a little triggering sometimes," she said.

'Loyalty tests' are on the rise

Videos about loyalty tests started going viral online around 2021, and they all followed a similar blueprint.

A "tester" messages someone's partner on social media at their request and pretends to want to date them. If the person shows interest in the fake suitor, they fail the test. If they don't, they pass.

As the trend became more popular, companies started offering anonymous tests for a fee.

Lazo began testing potential cheaters in January, Ashlyn Nakasu, the company's community manager, told BI. Lazo's team aims for the app to provide people unfettered access to the truth in a relationship.

Lazo has about 400 checkers that charge a range of fees, though they typically start at $40. For that fee, a tester will message your partner, pretending to be interested in them to see if they cross a boundary.

"You never know if you're actually going to get the whole truth out of people," Nakasu told BI, as many people don't immediately confess if their partner accuses them of cheating.

"We wanted to offer a solution that was more affordable and less time-consuming," Nakasu said, referring to hiring a private investigator. According to the job platform Bark, the average cost of a private investigator in the US is $85 per hour, and their services can range from digital investigation to trailing your partner.

Loyalty-Tests, launched in January 2023, offers digital and in-person tests for a fee set by the testers. As founder and CEO Brandan Balasingham told BI, testers sign up to work for the company on the app like Uber drivers. The company then sifts through applicants to see who would be a good tester before they get approved to take on clients.

Some testers charge as little as $10 for a digital test, but the in-person tests, in which a tester meets up with a potential cheater at a client's direction, can cost upward of $500.

As of November 2024, Balasingham said Loyalty-Test averaged 10 to 20 customers daily.

Both Lazo and Loyalty-Tests said their clients are seeing real results.

Nakasu said 60% of Lazo users' partners pass the loyalty tests. Balasingham said the latest data from Loyalty-Tests shows a discrepancy between the results of men and women being tested. About 60% of men fail, while around 30% of women do.

Establish trust early

Although loyalty tests have become popular, Bejar said they shouldn't be the norm in a healthy relationship.

"There's no relationship without trust," Bejar said. "If we don't have trust, we have to completely manage another person and oversee another person to ensure they're going to do what they say they are. And that can't work in a relationship."

Dramatic acts like cheating can erode trust, but smaller "ruptures," as Bejar calls them, like not doing something you said you would or telling white lies, can damage the bond between you and your partner just as easily.

In that sense, conducting a loyalty test against your partner can be a betrayal in the same way that cheating is. Whether someone passes a loyalty test or not, the relationship is likely in trouble if someone feels the need to conduct one.

Bejar does think there are some situations where a loyalty test could be helpful, though, particularly in an abusive relationship.

"If a loyalty test can break someone out of that kind of contrived reality that an abusive person has created for them, that by definition is really hard to get out of, then I think there's a place for it," Bejar said.

Still, if you want to use a loyalty test instead of organically building trust with your partner over time, Bejar said that's likely a sign you need to reflect on why building trust seems hard. She added that you should set boundaries with your partner to ensure you agree on the definition of betrayal.

"Love can be blinding, and we can overlook things," she said. "You need to know what a dealbreaker is to you so that if you are in love with somebody and they cross one of your boundaries, you can walk away even though it's hard and sad."

• Amazon has faced repeated delays in launching a new AI-powered Alexa.
• Integration with partners like Uber and Ticketmaster has complicated troubleshooting processes.
• Latency and compatibility issues have also caused delays.

Amazon's Alexa seems like the perfect product for the generative AI era.

Getting this powerful technology to actually work well with the digital assistant is a monumental challenge that's been plagued by gnarly technical problems and repeated delays.

Customer-friction concerns, partnership hiccups, compatibility questions, latency problems, and accuracy issues have snarled progress, according to internal Amazon documents and multiple people involved in the project.

The Alexa team is under immense pressure to get something out. A decade ago it launched with Echo speakers and became a household name. But that early success fizzled and the business has so far failed to become profitable, leading to drastic cutbacks and layoffs in recent years.

Some company insiders consider this AI moment to be a seismic opportunity for Alexa, and potentially the last chance to reignite consumer interest in the voice assistant through the power of large language models.

A product of this scale is "unprecedented, and takes time," an Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider. "It's not as simple as overlaying an LLM onto the Alexa service."

"RED" warning

One of the main challenges facing the new Alexa relates to how the digital assistant will interact with other companies and services, and who is responsible for customers if their requests, orders, and payments don't go smoothly.

In late August, Amazon was working on integrating 8 third-party applications, including Uber and Ticketmaster, into the upcoming AI-powered Alexa to handle various user inquiries.

At that time, the goal was to launch the new Alexa around mid-October, according to one of the internal documents obtained by Business Insider. However, it was still unclear which companies would be responsible for customer support issues, like payment and delivery errors, this document stated.

The lack of clarity could cause Amazon to send "frequent" customer contacts to the partner companies. Then, those partners would sometimes redirect the users back to Amazon, the document explained.

"This level of support would cause significant customer friction, when some of the orders/purchases are time-sensitive (meal orders or rideshare trips) and purchase mistakes can be expensive (e.g. buy Taylor Swift tickets)," the document said, assigning it a "RED" warning.

Release dates pushed back

Snafus like this have caused Amazon to push back the release date, almost on a weekly basis, according to some of the people involved in the project, which has been codenamed "Banyan" or "Remarkable Alexa." BI's sources asked not to be identified because they're not authorized to talk to the press.

For example, without more clearly defined responsibilities with third-party partners, Amazon expected further delays in the launch. "Alignment on customer support plans between Product teams and the 3P partners may push this timeline further out if any delays occur," one of the documents warned.

The company had once planned for a June launch, but after repeated delays, it told employees late last month that the new Alexa would launch "no earlier" than November 20, one of the documents said.

A few of people BI spoke with recently are even talking about the Alexa upgrade rolling out in early 2025, which would miss the key holiday period. Bloomberg earlier reported on a 2025 launch plan.

As of late October, Amazon had not settled on an official brand for the updated voice assistant, and instructed employees to simply call it the "new Alexa" until further notice, one of the documents said.

Alexa's huge potential

To be sure, Alexa has significant long-term potential in the generative AI era — as long as Amazon can iron out problems relatively quickly.

Time is of the essence, partly because the existing Alexa business has lost momentum in recent years. According to a recent report from eMarketer, user growth for major voice assistants, including Alexa, has declined significantly in recent years.

The sudden rise of ChatGPT has showcased what is possible when powerful AI models are integrated smoothly with popular products that consumers and companies find useful.

Some Amazon leaders are bullish about the AI-powered Alexa and a new paid subscription service that could come with it. At least one internal estimate projected a 20% conversion rate for the paid subscription, one of the people said. That would mean that out of every 100 existing Alexa users, roughy 20 would pay for the upgraded offering. Amazon doesn't publicly disclose the number of active Alexa users but has said it has sold more than 500 million Alexa-enabled devices.

An internal description of the new Alexa shows Amazon's grand ambitions: "A personalized digital assistant that can handle a wide range of tasks, including drafting and managing personal communications, managing calendars, making reservations, placing orders, shopping, scouting for deals and events, recommending media, managing smart home devices, and answering questions on virtually any topic," one of the documents said.

Customers will be able to access the new Alexa "through natural language using voice, text, email, shared photos, and more across all their devices like Echo, Fire TV, mobile phones, and web browsers," it added.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy shared a similar vision during last month's earnings call, saying the new Alexa will be good at not just answering questions, but also "taking actions."

In an email to BI, Amazon's spokesperson said the company's vision for Alexa is to build the world's "best personal assistant."

"Generative AI offers a huge opportunity to make Alexa even better for our customers, and we are working hard to enable even more proactive and capable assistance on the over half a billion Alexa-enabled devices already in homes around the world. We are excited about what we're building and look forward to delivering it for our customers," the spokesperson said.

Smaller AI models

Still, the project has grappled with several challenges, beyond customer friction and partnership problems.

Latency has been a particularly tough problem for the AI Alexa service. In some tests, the new Alexa took about 40 seconds to respond to a simple user inquiry, according to three people familiar with the test results. In contrast, a Google Search query takes milliseconds to respond.

To speed up, Amazon considered using a smaller AI model, like Anthropic's Claude Haiku, to power the new Alexa, one of the people said. But that dropped the quality and accuracy of the answers, leaving Amazon in limbo, this person said. In general, smaller language models generate quicker responses than larger models but can be less accurate.

Amazon had initially hoped to use a homegrown AI model, one of the people said. Last year, Alexa head scientist Rohit Prasad left the team to create a new Artificial General Intelligence group at Amazon. The stated goal of the new team was to create Amazon's "most expansive" and "most ambitious" large language models.

However, this AGI team has not produced notable results so far, which led Amazon to consider Anthropic's main Claude offering as the primary AI model for the new Alexa, this person said. Reuters previously reported that Amazon was going to mainly power Alexa with Claude.

Amazon's spokesperson said Alexa uses Amazon Web Services's Bedrock, an AI tool that gives access to multiple language models.

"When it comes to machine learning models, we start with those built by Amazon, but we have used, and will continue to use, a variety of different models — including Titan and future Amazon models, as well as those from partners — to build the best experience for customers," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also added a note of caution by highlighting the difficulties of successfully integrating large language models with consumer applications. These models are great for conversational dialogue and content creation, but they can also be "non-deterministic and can hallucinate," the spokesperson added.

Getting these models "to reliably act on requests (rather than simply respond) means it has to be able to call real-world APIs reliably and at scale to meet customer expectations, not just in select instances," the spokesperson explained.

New risks

In late August, Amazon discovered several new risk factors for the AI Alexa service.

Only 308 of more than 100,000 existing Alexa "skills," or voice-controlled applications, were compatible with the new Alexa, presenting a "high risk for customers to be frustrated," one of the documents explained.

Some older Echo devices would not be able to support the AI-powered Alexa, the document also warned. And there were no plans for expanding the new service to dozens of overseas markets where Alexa is currently available, leaving a large user base out of touch, it also noted. Fortune previously reported some of these risk factors.

Integration headaches

As of late August, Amazon had 8 "confirmed" partner companies to handle certain tasks for the new Alexa, as BI previously reported. The company hopes to onboard roughly 200 partners by the third year of the new Alexa's launch, one of the documents said.

Integrating with some of these companies has already created headaches. One document said that Amazon struggled to develop a consistent troubleshooting process across every partner service. Companies including Uber, Ticketmaster, and OpenTable have deprecated their existing Alexa skills, further disconnecting them from the voice assistant.

Amazon's spokesperson said that, as with any product development process, a lot of ideas are discussed and debated, but "they don't necessarily reflect what the experience will be when we roll it out for our customers."

Amazon has also anticipated customer complaints, at least in the early launch phase. One internal document from late August stated that the new Alexa was projected to receive 176,000 customer contacts in the first three months of its release. At one point, Amazon considered launching a new automated troubleshooting service for issues related to its devices and digital services, including Alexa, according to one of the internal documents. That was later shelved.

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• Older bathroom styles are back in vogue as homebuyers and renters gravitate toward nostalgia.
• Even younger people are opting for patterned tiles, matching sinks and toilets, and pastel colors.
• One 24-year-old Florida homeowner paid $900 for a baby blue toilet and vanity from the 1950s.

In August, Miami interior designer Dani Klaric shocked her boyfriend with the new centerpiece of her guest bathroom: a secondhand toilet.

The preowned throne, in a baby blue hue reminiscent of the 1950s, was part of Klaric's plan to "de-modernize" the three-bedroom Miami home she bought in May.

Klaric, a 24-year-old content creator with 2.1 million followers on TikTok as of November 27, fought hard for her used toilet. When she couldn't find the exact shade of blue she wanted in stores, she tracked down a seller on Facebook Marketplace who specialized in saving vintage bathroom fixtures from tear-down projects.

Klaric drove a rented U-Haul five hours across Florida to pick up both the toilet and a vanity for $900.

"It's way more warm and cozy and has so much more personality," Klaric told Business Insider.

Neutral bathrooms have dominated the pages of design and architecture magazines for years, but old-fashioned looks are coming back. A new Zillow report on home trends based on key terms and phrases that crop up more frequently in for-sale listings said, "2025 is set to go full granny." Mentions of "nostalgia" in listings were up 14% from 2023, while the word "vintage" showed up in 9% more listings.

Los Angeles-based interior designer Shannon Ggem told BI that "grandma bathrooms" typically feature pastel pinks and greens, elaborate tile designs, and frilly decorations. Once considered dated, they are driving trends in homebuying and interior design — even among millennials and Gen Zers.

"People are so bored of all white and gray houses," Ggem told BI. "They're so hungry for character."

Even manufacturers are observing the uptick in interest.

In 2023, kitchen and bath manufacturer Kohler reissued two "heritage" colors from its archive, a rose blush called peachblow and minty spring green. It released a limited-edition line of toilets, sinks, and tubs in the hues.

"People are gravitating toward things that pull at those nostalgic heartstrings," Alex Yacavone, head of Kohler's design studio, told BI.

Homeowners are paying to get the look

Interior designers told BI that younger homeowners are turning their bathrooms into time machines.

"I'm really seeing it grow with the younger audiences," said San Diego-based interior designer Rachel Moriarty. "They're taking that grandma aesthetic and running with it. They're making it cool again."

Moriarty recently said a San Diego client spent $5,000 restoring her bathroom's aquamarine tiles with black trim and 1930s Art Deco arches. Previous homeowners had ignored the tiles altogether or tried to paint over them. She and the client shopped for black glass knobs for the cabinets and vintage lights of the era to make the tiles stand out even more.

Ggem, an interior designer in Los Angeles, said a client is spending $85,000 on a total bathroom re-do to achieve a vintage look. The couple's home came with all-white, builder-grade fixtures they considered passé, so they're adding a floor with a tile pattern and a mosaic design on the walls, Ggem said.

"The basic finishes didn't feel like they met the luxury level of the community," Ggem said.

A landlord with 30 LA buildings preserves their vintage bathrooms

Forty years ago, real-estate developer Gene Bramson saw historic apartment buildings in Los Angeles being ripped up for the sleek, modern aesthetics of the 1980s. Bramson, who loved the intricate tile work and bold colors found in many of those properties, bought some with the intent of preservation.

"I wanted to take these places and elevate them, bring them back to their original glamour," Bramson told BI. "I just had a great feeling that these locations can't be replicated."

Today, Bramson's company, GLB Properties, manages 30 properties throughout Los Angeles, with rents ranging from $3,250 for a one-bedroom to $11,000 for a four-bedroom.

In 2020, Bramson's daughter Ivana, who also works for GLB, noticed Angelenos clamoring for colorful bathrooms. So she started posting photos of ones in the company's buildings on its Instagram account, which exploded from 6,000 to 40,000 followers between then and mid-2024. Potential tenants started reaching out through direct messages on Instagram, Bramson said.

Keeping up these vintage rooms isn't cheap. GLB spent $25,000 to preserve and upgrade a pink bathroom in a one-bedroom apartment in one of their properties, sourcing vintage tiles, installing a princess tub, and hanging salvaged mirrors. Bramson estimated a renovation with stick-on tiles from Home Depot would have cost about $9,000.

"The bathrooms are the crown jewels of the apartments. I think people can sense it's not a quick vinyl tile cover," Ivana told Insider.

Tenants seem to agree. In 2021, esthetician Biba de Sousa moved into a GLB apartment in LA's Miracle Mile neighborhood. She pays $4,000 monthly for a two-bedroom apartment with a bathroom covered in green tiles and decorative black accents.

"It's just cheerful," she told Business Insider. "It feels like my grandmother left me the apartment."

• Over 1,600 older Americans and counting shared their financial and other regrets with BI.
• Many had regrets about retiring too early, taking Social Security prematurely, and draining savings.
• This is part of an ongoing series about boomer regrets.

At what age should you retire? When should you start collecting Social Security? Will you need to work part time in retirement?

Millions of Americans are asking these questions, and some told Business Insider what they've learned in a voluntary reader survey. Over the past two months, over 1,600 Americans and counting between the ages of 48 and 90 shared their biggest regrets with BI. (This is part three of an ongoing series.)

A few dozen of those survey respondents talked about mistakes made while navigating their retirement years.

Regrets included retiring too early, taking Social Security benefits prematurely, and draining retirement savings too quickly. Others said unpreventable life events like a spouse's death or medical emergency set them back. Many wished they held onto jobs longer or better understood how sudden costs could hurt their wallets. And a few talked about finding community — and themselves — in retirement.

Here are a few of their stories.

We want to hear from you. Are you an older American with any life regrets that you would be comfortable sharing with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form.

Unexpected financial and medical setbacks

Kathleen Rudd, 74, regrets retiring when she did and not having a cushion when her health declined.

Rudd spent her career running a catering business and later working as an executive chef. By 2008, she had about $60,000 saved in a 401(k). That account lost 40% of its value in the Great Recession, and she said it never recovered.

Though she had retirement accounts, she said more nuanced retirement planning wasn't really on her radar.

"I don't think I thought about retirement until probably the last 10 years, and it's because I don't have kids or anybody that I was concerned about leaving a legacy for," Rudd told BI.

At 62, she retired from a job paying almost $60,000 a year and opted to take Social Security early. She received $1,290 a month, about $400 a month less than if she had waited until 67. Because of Social Security earnings restrictions, she opted for private chef positions paying about half as much as her previous job and part-time gigs as a sales clerk until she was 70.

Now, she has just $40,000 in savings and is banking on eventually selling a house she bought with her sister in Colorado when she originally retired. Hospitalizations for a collapsed lung, a brain bleed, and gut trouble have made money particularly tight.

"I never should have left that job, and I should have stayed working," Rudd said, referring to her executive chef role.

David John, a senior strategic policy advisor at AARP, told BI that older Americans' retirement expectations don't often match reality. Even those who prepare for retirement often don't know when to do so or how to navigate it financially.

"There's the old saying, 'Act in haste, repent at leisure,' and that definitely seems to apply to many of these situations," John said. "In practice, essentially retirement is a foreign country. We can read about it. We can talk about it. But until you actually reach it, until you actually do retire, you aren't fully aware of the reality."

Retiring too fast and spending too much

Misty Miller, 65, said she retired too early. One week in, she regretted it.

Miller worked as a paralegal and legal analyst before retiring at 58 with $700,000 in her retirement accounts. She lived frugally while working, driving the same car for 26 years, and rarely spending on luxuries like going to a salon. She calculated her expenses for the next few decades, and she retired with a monthly pension check of about $4,000. However, after retiring, she said her frugal habits disappeared.

The Sacramento resident withdrew money from her 401(k) for a down payment on a $515,000 beach house. She and her husband then sold the house in 2020 and moved to a $488,000 home in a Sacramento suburb, paying five times as much in property taxes as the first Sacramento property.

"I'm house-rich and cash-poor, so I had to go back to work," Miller said. "I lived frugally up to this point, and then I just lost my mind."

With those house purchases and other expenses cutting her retirement savings by about a third, to $450,000, Miller returned to the job she held before retiring. She said she was worried her pension couldn't cover all her expenses.

"I plan to stay working until they carry me out in a casket," Miller said, adding she wishes she never retired.

John, at AARP, said retirees make three common mistakes during the process. The first is taking out more than they should from their retirement investments, leaving them with not enough money to meet their daily needs down the line. The second is the opposite: working longer and saving more than necessary, depriving themselves in fear of not having enough. The third was common among respondents to BI's survey: assuming they can put off financial decisions until it's too late, doing things like stalling on putting aside an emergency fund or relying too heavily on Social Security.

"They need to make certain decisions at an advanced age, and they find that they no longer have the flexibility, meaning the financial assets, necessary to make that kind of decision," John said.

Cashing out Social Security too fast

Sharon, 77, took Social Security too early, prompting her to unretire to cover expenses.

The Atlanta resident, who asked to use her middle name for privacy reasons, worked as a teacher but retired in 2001 after a divorce and her parents' deaths. She worked a few temporary jobs in the 2000s, and she invested much of her inheritance in the market. When the market crashed in 2008, she lost nearly half of her $725,000 assets.

"I became very afraid of the stock market, afraid of what to do, not trusting the advice I was getting from people, and making a lot of bad financial decisions," Sharon said.

To dig herself out, she took Social Security at 62 instead of waiting until 67. She said her financial situation deteriorated when she hit her mid-60s, so she returned to work as a teacher, earning "very little pay." A series of health issues and home damage meant her $936 in Social Security each month hasn't gone far, and she has under $100,000 in liquid assets.

"If only someone had just said, do not take Social Security early, do not invest your money this way," Sharon said. "If I had somebody who would have just really directed me, maybe I wouldn't be in this horrible situation because, by 2030, I easily will run out of money."

John said that about 22% of people had a financial plan before retirement, while just 33% had one after retirement. "People regularly don't do this in part because they are a little more comfortable with a vague worry than with hard facts that they need to deal with," John said.

Returning to work and staying busy

For many older Americans, retirement mistakes aren't about finances. Dozens told BI they returned to work after discovering retirement was lonely or monotonous. While some may envision retirement as sitting on a beach or playing golf, John said many still have an itch to get back to the office.

"So many people have a social network intimately tied with their work life, and once they're outside that, many people just plain old get lonely, and they aren't part of the discussions anymore," John said.

Some respondents, however, had a more positive outlook on how retirement upended their social lives. Many said they took on passion projects and used their retirement to focus on themselves and rediscover their passions.

Cindy Kohli, 64, has been on Social Security Disability Insurance since 1990 and receives Veterans Affairs Disability Compensation. For years, the Arizona resident scraped by as a single mother of three children. She made financial mistakes such as spending too much of her income, though she gradually developed cost-saving strategies.

One of her biggest regrets, though, was not putting herself first.

"I'm the type of person who has always put other people first, never thinking about myself," Kohli said. "There are periods of my life where I never bought myself clothes, didn't take care of myself."

In her retirement years, she has learned to reprioritize herself. She spends hours each week reading financial books, doing pro bono paralegal work, and being active in her community.

"Oddly enough, my greatest challenge now is rediscovering my purpose because, in the past, it's been helping people in any way I can," Kohli said. "A lot of people complain that their limited income keeps them from going places like they used to. In reality, they just have to adapt and find new things to do."

Are you an older American with any life regrets that you would be comfortable sharing with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form or email [email protected].

• Nearly 1,200 Americans shared with BI their financial regrets.
• Many of the baby boomer respondents said they had regrets about preparing for retirement.
• This is part of an ongoing series about boomer regrets.

Millions of Americans facing retirement are worried they won't be financially prepared — or fear that they'll have to work forever.

Some are already there. Finances and retirement were major themes in the roughly 1,200 responses Business Insider received from Americans between the ages of 48 and 90 who filled out a voluntary survey about their biggest regrets. (This is part two of an ongoing series.)

Many of the respondents in the baby boomer generation said retirement — how to invest and how much one needs — is a black box. Some wish they'd hired a financial advisor, while others regretted expensive purchases. Others said they took Social Security too early or retired without a long-term financial plan.

And then there are those who suffered an unexpected setback such as a cancer diagnosis, a job loss, or a divorce and wish they'd been better prepared for an emergency.

We want to hear from you. Are you an older American with any life regrets that you would be comfortable sharing with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form.

Gary Lee Hayes, 70, wished he'd been more regimented with his savings and investments. The California resident briefly served in the Navy, got a degree in public administration, and worked in mental health and handyman positions. He had little financial literacy growing up and said he didn't focus on building his career to be more lucrative.

Two of Hayes' main money regrets are not investing in Verizon stock early on and not saving at least 10% of his income each month. He also said he was somewhat too liberal with his spending throughout his life, though he said he didn't purchase anything too far beyond his means. He also avoided putting money into his 401(k) and said he should have chosen more stable investments instead of short-term ones.

"You can't expect that you're all of a sudden going to win the lottery," said Hayes, who receives $1,846 a month in Social Security and lives in government-subsidized housing. "You can't expect that someone's going to pass and leave you an inheritance that will make your life more comfortable."

Some older Americans wish they'd had more investing knowledge

A major theme among BI's survey respondents was that they lacked knowledge about investing. For some, this meant not saving enough; for others, it meant falling into some common investing mistakes.

New research from Vanguard suggests people changing jobs put less into their 401(k)s, often without realizing it, and can lose out on as much as $300,000 throughout their careers.

Another theme among survey respondents was they waited too long to start saving. Two separate surveys from Transamerica Institute and Charles Schwab found that, on average, boomers waited until age 35 to start saving.

Nancy Seeger, 64, who lives outside Cleveland, said she made investing mistakes that had long-term repercussions on her finances. Seeger, who has two master's degrees, worked for many years as a teacher and health librarian. She was laid off earlier this year from her $74,000-a-year job and while she's not ready to fully retire and is still looking for work, she worries she won't be able to land another decent-paying job given her age.

She told BI she wished she could have saved more when her children were young and started retirement funds earlier. While she had some savings, she began consistently putting more into her investments at age 50.

She also didn't realize that because she has a pension in addition to receiving Social Security when she retires, she would be affected by a little-known Social Security provision that would lower her monthly check. Between her pension of $713 monthly and Social Security, which she expects will be between $1,200 and $1,400 monthly, she'll have just enough to cover her rent.

"I was fortunate to get a small inheritance from my parents and an aunt, which saved me, but it's unlikely that I will be able to do the same for my children, and that bothers me a lot," Seeger said. "I had hoped to travel, and I wanted to leave money for my kids, but both of those goals are compromised now."

Seeger said she has few regrets and "let life come to me," though she's planning to take a part-time job when she retires to supplement her income. She's still digging herself out from bills from undergoing cancer treatment in 2022, and because she has a few months until turning 65, she can't get on Medicare and has to pay her health insurance out of pocket.

"I've had a lot of unexpected things happen, but I've also come to understand that the unexpected things impact everybody, and you can't really plan for them," Seeger said.

It's difficult to prepare for the unknown

While $1 million for retirement may be sufficient for some Americans, it could be too little for others.

Bank of America's Financial Wellness Tracker suggests that Americans ages 61 to 64 should have about 8.5 times their current salary in savings. Someone with $1 million in savings at 65 can safely withdraw $40,000 in their first year of retirement, Bank of America said.

For some, saving just 1% more could have significant financial rewards down the line. If someone making $50,000 annually contributes 5% of their salary to retirement, they would save nearly $60,000 less after 30 years than if they'd contributed 6%.

Nevenka Vrdoljak, the managing director in the chief investment office for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank, told BI that calculating how much you need for retirement requires difficult estimations of life expectancy, spending in retirement, and retirement resources.

"Changes in government benefits can affect expected income," Vrdoljak said. "Fluctuations in investment returns make it difficult to estimate how much savings you will have in the future."

With cancer rates rising and diagnoses coming earlier in life, another difficult calculation is how to prepare for time off work and quickly mounting medical bills.

"The need for long-term care can cause more than financial strain in retirement. It can place a burden on loved ones," Vrdoljak said. "Investors with substantial assets may prefer to self-insure against this risk. But for many other investors nearing retirement, long-term-care insurance can help mitigate the risk and cost of care."

PJ White, 69, never had aspirations for a high-income career — but she never expected to be homeless.

Throughout her career, she worked for a lab supply company, retail companies, and as a secretary at law firms. She married at 21 and bought a house, but she divorced a year later, which set her back financially.

While she said she often lived hand to mouth, she wished she had been more cautious about spending on leisure and clothes — what she called "play money" — and set aside time to learn about investing. She said it was rare she had savings left over each month, and her peak income was about $41,000. She left work in 2008 to care for her partner's mother.

"The money would come in and out it would go," White said, adding she rarely put money into her 401(k). "I didn't think about the retirement aspect because it was so far down the road, but here I am now wishing that I had."

She recently lost her home because she and her partner couldn't afford to pay property taxes. They now live in a camping tent in San Diego. She lives on about $1,500 in Social Security each month as they fight to get their house back, but she said much of her money goes to court fees. She's received some assistance with groceries through her new health insurance company, but she hasn't secured an affordable housing unit yet.

"He doesn't make any money at all, so it's all on me, and I'm feeling it," White said of her partner. "I'm showing symptoms of stress, and I don't have anywhere to go, no one to turn to."

Are you an older American with any life regrets that you would be comfortable sharing with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form or email [email protected].

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• A virtual private network (VPN) protects your online privacy and security through a secure server.
• Some people also believe flights can be cheaper if you use a VPN. Here's what our research found.
• To get the best flight prices, consider flying mid-week or traveling to and from another airport.

There are countless rumors on social media about the best ways to book flights for less. With the winter holidays approaching in the Northern Hemisphere, you can be sure that the more persistent among them will pop up in your feeds.

In particular, someone may tell you that the trick to finding cheap airfare is to use a VPN when you book. On the face of it, this makes sense. A VPN, or virtual private network, encrypts your data and masks your IP address, which ties your internet connection to a specific location. By using a VPN, you can appear to be in a different country from where you actually are.   

Why and when should you use a VPN?

A VPN is great for eluding government censors, keeping safe from eavesdroppers, and viewing or streaming content from locations where it would be blocked. But would appearing to be in a different country result in cheaper airfare?

We tested the premise against five of the best VPNs, and the results are pretty unequivocal: Flights aren't cheaper when you shop through a VPN.

Are flights cheaper with a VPN? 

The results are straightforward: No, flights are not cheaper with a VPN. Using several VPNs did not result in a single cent of difference in our test. 

But that does not mean that there aren't ways to find cheaper airfare. It just takes some flexibility. 

Travel tips for cheap flights

Travel mid-week

For example, you can look for flights in the middle of the week, when fewer businesspeople travel and demand is often lower. Studies show the cheapest day to fly is Wednesday, and the most expensive Sunday.    

Avoid last-minute travel

Booking in advance is a good idea, although you don't have to buy tickets months before flying.

Try to book at least 21 days before departure; prices rarely go down after that window.    

Consider traveling from a different airport

If you are based somewhere with access to multiple airports, you can also expand your search to more than one airport. Google Flights makes this easy by allowing you to search for flights from a given city rather than a single airport. If you look up flights from New York City, for example, the site will show results including all three main airports — JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark. Prices can differ significantly among them. 

What influences the price of flights?

There are still misconceptions about some other hacks that can get you cheaper airfare. Unfortunately, they don't work, and here's why.   

Using your browser in incognito mode

Websites track your online habits, so why wouldn't airlines tailor their prices to what they know about you? Airfare indeed fluctuates, but it does so according to factors that have nothing to do with your digital identity.   

Pricing is determined by algorithms based largely on demand. You won't defeat those algorithms by masking your identity with incognito mode, any more than you would by masking your location with a VPN.    

Booking on Tuesdays 

There's an old adage that booking on a Tuesday gives you lower prices. This may have been true when airlines loaded prices manually onto electronic systems, but pricing changes in real time these days. What matters is on what day you fly, not on what day you book. 

Google Flights recently reported on the cheapest time to book flights for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. While flights really are cheapest on Tuesdays, according to historical data, they have only been 1.3% cheaper than tickets booked on Sundays — the most expensive day of the week for buying airfare. 

Some websites offer special rates or "secret" deals   

Online travel agencies (OTAs) like Expedia and its several competitors can sometimes find cheaper flights than you'll find directly from the airline, but you can see all of these rates via Google Flights. If an OTA has a lower price than the airline's own, it will be displayed in the search results. 

VPNs: When they're useful

While a VPN can't reliably help you book cheaper flights, having one can protect your digital privacy and security, especially when you travel. VPNs allow you to get online through a private, secure server connection that makes your internet activity far more difficult to trace. They can also allow you to stream shows from other countries and access international websites from anywhere in the world.

You can often find the best VPN deals on longer-term plans, typically by subscribing for a year or longer. Many companies also offer free trials so you can test out the service before you commit. 

How we checked flight prices with a VPN

We picked two popular routes in the United States at two popular travel times, using Google Flights to look up prices. 

We first searched flight prices via a regular connection to an Internet service provider in the US. Then we switched to a VPN, using five of the most popular services, and repeated the searches while appearing to be in a different country. 

The routes and times we picked were: 

• Chicago to Seattle, around the Thanksgiving holiday, departing Tuesday, November 26, and returning Saturday, November 30
• Nashville to New York City, for a long weekend just before Christmas, departing Thursday, December 12, and returning Monday, December 16

Here's what we found for each VPN provider.

ExpressVPN

Express VPN has proven its worth with its ease of use, clean interface, and straightforward installation on multiple devices. We've used it on the road, without a hitch, in dozens of different countries including China, where it bypassed the Great Firewall easily. 

Original flight price, Chicago to Seattle: $361

ExpressVPN price: $361 

Original flight price, Nashville to New York: $99

ExpressVPN price: $99 

The prices were the same, with or without VPN.

NordVPN

NordVPN stands out for the number of servers around the world it can use, and for its speed and reliability when streaming and gaming. 

But when it came to flight booking, using NordVPN yielded the exact same prices for our sample flights as using a regular connection: 

Original flight price, Chicago to Seattle: $361

NordVPN price: $361 

Original flight price, Nashville to New York: $99

NordVPN price: $99 

Surfshark

Surfshark can use more than 3,200 servers across 100 countries, and has a wider selection of servers based in Africa than most competitors.  

But when it came to finding low fares for our sample flights, using Surfshark did not produce different results from other VPNs: the prices were the exact same.

Original flight price, Chicago to Seattle: $361

Surfshark VPN price: $361 

Original flight price, Nashville to New York: $99

Surfshark VPN price: $99 

Cyberghost

Cyberghost offers 24/7 live chat support and an especially good list of servers optimized for streaming, at relatively low prices. 

But when it comes to airfare? You guessed it: on Cyberghost's VPN, we found identical prices to a U.S.-based connection.   

Original flight price, Chicago to Seattle: $361

Cyberghost VPN price: $361 

Original flight price, Nashville to New York: $99

Cyberghost VPN price: $99 

PIA VPN

Private Internet Access (PIA) is a VPN with servers in 90 countries and the ability to block ads, trackers, and malware.

Using it to look up our sample itineraries on Google Flights, though, found the same prices as searching from the US:

Original flight price, Chicago to Seattle: $361

PIA VPN price: $361 

Original flight price, Nashville to New York: $99

PIA VPN price: $99