Art & Culture

NEW YORK – October 22, 2026 -- Hip-hop manager and author Sophia Chang's new podcast, The Baddest Bitch in the Room, is available now on the SiriusXM app and all major podcast platforms, with new episodes every Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET.

The show is part of SiriusXM's Women's Empowerment Network

The podcast sits inside SiriusXM's Women's Empowerment Network (WEN), which launched in December 2024. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and SiriusXM Urban View host Karen Hunter executive produces the network, which focuses on conversations about personal growth, careers and culture.

Chang will cover confidence, relationships and careers

Chang, widely known as the first Asian woman in hip-hop, managed Wu-Tang Clan members RZA, GZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard. Her client list also included D'Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, Q-Tip and A Tribe Called Quest.

NEW YORK – October 22, 2026 -- The One Times Square Candy Experience becomes a Halloween trick-or-treating destination for one week only, starting Saturday, October 24, with tickets sold online.

Halloween candy, bucket decorating and spooky photo spots join the attraction

The multi-level, multisensory attraction normally walks guests through New York City in candy form. During the Halloween week, it adds Halloween-themed candies, candy-bucket decoration stations and spooky photo opportunities.

General Manager Delfin Ortiz said the goal is to give families and visitors "a new way to celebrate Halloween in the heart of New York City."

Three floors take visitors from Central Park to the Underground

The attraction spans three floors: Central Park, the Neighborhoods of NYC and the Underground. Guests play, discover and learn as they fill a bucket with candy themed to each area.

New York – October 22, 2026 -- Ireland is inviting travelers to spend Halloween in the place it started, with festivals running from late October into November across the island.

The season traces back more than 2,000 years to Samhain, the Celtic festival that marked the shift from summer to winter and shaped the Halloween traditions celebrated worldwide today.

Two main festivals anchor the season

Púca Festival in Meath and Derry Halloween in Northern Ireland form the core of Ireland's Halloween celebrations.

Galway and Dublin add parades and Gothic history

In Galway, the Macnas Halloween Parade features giant mythical figures, visual effects and live performance. In Dublin, the City Bram Stoker Festival celebrates Dracula and his Dublin-born creator. It is one of the city's biggest arts festivals and explores its Gothic history and heritage.

Melville, N.Y. – October 22, 2026 -- A student in Cologne, Germany, has won the 52nd annual Nikon Small World photomicrography competition with a photo of ink droplets suspended in midair inside a printer as it prints. Nikon Instruments announced the winners, with first place going to Ole Bielfeldt.

Bielfeldt rebuilt a printer so the paper moves instead of the printhead

Bielfeldt wanted to know how a printer places ink onto paper so precisely. His first attempts failed. The printhead moved too fast to keep a small area in focus, and the droplets were too fast for his camera's shutter speed.

San Mateo – October 22, 2026 -- Episode 1 of GoPro's six-part series "The Line Above" is live on the GoPro Snow YouTube channel, with new episodes every Wednesday through Nov. 25. The show follows pro skier, BASE jumper and GoPro Athlete Matthias "Super Frenchie" Giraud through a two-year effort to ski BASE jump from the north face of the Aiguille du Plan above Chamonix in the French Alps.

Giraud skied a 600-meter, 50-degree face on October 22, 2026

The route included two 60-meter rappels anchored in ice. Giraud finished by skiing off the bottom serac and opening his parachute midair. The face was first skied in 1977 and has been descended only a handful of times. According to Giraud, no one had ever exited the line with a ski BASE jump.

Worldwide – October 21, 2026 -- Seven acclaimed indie games, including Sifu, Vampire Crawlers and No Man's Sky, are now available to download or pre-order on iPhone and iPad as the App Store kicks off Indie Games Week. The App Store will spotlight the titles all week with daily features and curated collections.

Carson Oliver, Apple's head of App Store Worldwide, said the store "gives bold ideas a global stage," whether the games come from solo developers or growing studios.

Sifu brings its kung fu revenge story to touchscreens

Sifu is a stylish third-person brawler that follows a young kung fu student on a path of revenge. Enemies attack simultaneously, so players must parry strikes, chain combos and use the objects around them as weapons. The iPhone and iPad version comes with custom-tuned touch controls, a reworked camera system and full controller support.

Paris – October 21, 2026 -- Apple's second Designers of Tomorrow exhibition, created with Design Miami, opens today at Hôtel de Maisons in Paris, showing four original works built around the theme of presence.

Curator Rodman Primack, former longtime creative director of Design Miami, says the theme grew out of how busy modern life has become. The featured designers are Salem S. Charabi, Isabel Rower, Yoonjeong Lee, and the studio Parafernalia, run by Genki Matsumura and Sebastián Zorrilla. A jury of global design voices, including Apple's Molly Anderson, picked them for storytelling, material innovation, and craft.

Ruston – October 20, 2026 -- Choosing the wrong paper can shift the colors, texture and lifespan of an artwork reproduction, according to a new HelloNation guide featuring Henry McCoy of Fine Line Supply Co. in Ruston, Louisiana.

Weight changes how a print feels

Heavier paper often gives reproduction prints a more substantial, professional feel, while lighter paper can make them look more casual. The article says weight also affects durability.

Glossy paper boosts vibrancy, matte cuts glare

A glossy finish enhances vibrancy and contrast, making colors stand out. A matte finish reduces glare and softens tones, which may suit certain display environments better. Understanding finish helps artists control how work looks under different lighting.

Bethesda – October 19, 2026 -- Starting in November, the ice! Christmas attraction opens at eight Gaylord Hotels and JW Marriott resorts across the United States, with new Harry Potter, Home Alone and Nightmare Before Christmas themes. More than 300 master ice artisans from Harbin, China, have arrived to build it.

Artisans carve for nearly 40 days before opening

The crew will sculpt millions of pounds of ice into scenes covering more than 20,000 square feet. They work with chippers, tongs, handsaws, grinders and chainsaws, turning 300-pound blocks into details no bigger than a coin and scenes taller than 30 feet. Their 300-page design books and generations-old techniques guide the work. A proprietary coloring process and accent spotlights add color.

Once the attraction opens, several artisans stay on site to maintain the sculptures and give daily live carving demonstrations.

New York – October 19, 2026 -- SiriusXM will broadcast every NBA game of the 2026-27 season, from Opening Night through The Finals, and its new SiriusXM Sports Pass subscription includes all of them for $5 per month.

Opening night brings a three-game slate on October 20

The season starts with a tripleheader on October 20. At 3:00 pm ET, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics visit Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena.

At 7:00 pm ET, Jalen Brunson and the reigning NBA Champion Knicks host the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden. The 76ers have a new-look roster featuring LeBron James and Jaylen Brown.

At 9:30 pm ET, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder visit the reigning Western Conference Champion Spurs and Victor Wembanyama at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.