10 best thrillers on Amazon Prime to wreck your nerves

Sometimes, you want a movie to make you anxious, to really sink its hooks into you and stress you out — but in a fun way! When you’re in that mood, you need a thriller. Luckily for you, Amazon Prime has a solid library of movies that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Whether you want to watch a political thriller, a psychological thriller, or a thriller with a more comedic edge, these 10 movies are sure to scratch that itch. Plus, they’re all included with an Amazon Prime membership, so you don’t need any additional subscriptions in order to watch them.

Here, in no particular order, are the 10 best thrillers on Amazon Prime.

1. Unbreakable

It’s easy to overlook this fact, but M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable is actually an origin story for a reality-based superhero (and also his nemesis). Bruce Willis stars as a seemingly ordinary security guard whose life of consistently good health is thrown into question when he survives a deadly train crash with nary a scratch or bruise on him. Is Willis’s David Dunn really that healthy? Or is something more fantastical going on here? Also featuring strong performances from stars Samuel L. Jackson and Robin Wright Penn, Unbreakable ended up becoming the starting point for an eventual Shyamalan-helmed trilogy. – Adam Rosenberg, Senior Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Unbreakable is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

2. The French Connection

In this 1971 crime thriller, NYPD detectives Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Buddy “Cloudy” Russo (Roy Scheider) work to catch Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey), a French narcotics smuggler. What really sets this movie apart from other films about detectives working a case is its consistent forward momentum. It’s a classic cat and mouse situation made even better thanks to spectacular action sequences staged throughout New York City. When Popeye tails Charnier or chases down an elevated train by car, you feel a real sense of movement and excitement. – Belen Edwards, Entertainment Fellow

How to watch: The French Connection is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

3. The Handmaiden

Park Chan-wook’s psycho-sexual thriller unfolds in three acts, each twisting and reframing what came before it. Set in Japan-occupied Korea in the early 20th century, the film follows Count Fujiwara’s (Ha Jung-woo) plan to con the wealthy Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee) by infiltrating her household with handmaid Sook-Hee (Kim Tae-ri). Sook-Hee and Hideko begin a relationship while the Count attempts to woo the heiress, leading to one betrayal after another. 

When it’s not wildly erotic and filled with deception, The Handmaiden feels almost like a fantasy movie, immersing you fully in Ryu Seong-hee’s production design and Jo Yeong-wook’s score. The cast manage to fool viewers as much as each other, and even the film’s quietest scenes thrum with energy. -Proma Khosla, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: The Handmaiden is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

4. Rear Window

Alfred Hitchcock is the master of suspense, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Rear Window. The whole movie is confined to the apartment of L.B. Jefferies (Jimmy Stewart), a photographer stuck at home with a broken leg. He observes his neighbors through his rear window in order to pass the time, but everything changes when he witnesses a sinister act. Hitchcock masterfully uses the claustrophobia of Jefferies’ plight to build tension throughout this classic mystery, resulting in one of the greatest thrillers of all time. – B.E.

How to watch: Rear Window is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

5. Fight Club

For better or for worse, Fight Club is a movie that defined a generation. It’s frequently quoted (“The first rule of fight club…”) and often misunderstood (Tyler Durden is not a role model), but its iconic twist and anti-capitalist message is one that resonates decades after its release. Fight Club was a commercial failure in theaters despite the surprisingly high profile casting of Brad Pitt, Ed Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter, therefore it stands as an example of a great film that was too uncomfortable for its era and later hailed as a masterpiece. – Alexis Nedd, Senior Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Fight Club is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

6. The Report

The Report is a political thriller that is less interested in generating thrills than it is in taking a thorough look at its thorny subject matter: the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into the CIA’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques,” conducted by Senate staffer Daniel Jones (Adam Driver). Writer and director Scott Z. Burns distills Jones’s investigation (and subsequent 7,000 page report) into a film that is gripping and horrifying in equal measures. Particularly upsetting are depictions of the CIA’s torture methods, as well as scenes in which United States government officials attempt to justify said torture. Strengthened by one of Driver’s best performances to date, The Report is an unflinching and meticulous examination of the process to uncover a serious injustice. – B.E.

How to watch: The Report is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

7. Burn After Reading

The Coen Brothers’ sharp eye for satire and talent for spinning comedic gold out of any genre is on full display in Burn After Reading, a sort-of spy thriller with the kind of cast a director would kill to work with. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, John Malkovich, and J.K. Simmons star in this story about a disgruntled ex-CIA employee whose horrible memoir winds up in the hands of two dimwitted gym employees who mistake it for top secret government information. The following chaos is a controlled demolition of spy tropes, red herrings, broken stereotypes, weird sex stuff, and murder. – A.N.

How to watch: Burn After Reading is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

8. Blow the Man Down

Directed by Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy, Blow The Man Down is an expectation-defying marvel. Set in a small fishing town in Maine, this darkly comedic thriller goes to some unbelievable places when teen sisters Mary Beth (Morgan Saylor) and Pris (Sophie Lowe) are forced to cover up for a violent crime. Still, the film’s unrelenting atmosphere of realism will keep you hooked on the murder mystery at its center, never letting you distance yourself from the action.

Clever joke writing, stunning cinematography, and a fearless performance by Margo Martindale are obvious draws for this title, but it’s full of quieter moments that are just as memorable. A true hidden gem you’ll be recommending yourself if you see it, this is a good pick for when you want to impress someone with your impeccable taste in suspense. Or even just freak them out a little. — Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Blow The Man Down is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

9. The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Imagine a scenario where one of the top candidates in a U.S. presidential election is actually a brainwashed agent of forces working to undermine American interests. That’s the basic premise of The Manchurian Candidate, a 1959 novel and 1962 film that got a fresh and modernized update in 2004 from filmmaker Jonathan Demme. It stars Denzel Washington as Bennett Marco, an ex-soldier who suspects that one of his former squadmates-turned-candidate for Vice President, Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber), is receiving orders from forces outside the U.S. chain of command. -A.R.

How to watch: The Manchurian Candidate is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

10. Raazi

One of the best mainstream Indian films of the 2010s is Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi, starring Alia Bhatt as a spy during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War. Bhatt plays Sehmat Khan, who is married into a Pakistani family and tasked with spying on them by her dying father (Rajit Kapur).

Raazi contains familiar sequences from any spy movie; the training montage, tense surveillance, and brushes with death — but Bhatt’s performance grounds the toll of espionage in a way that few films do. Sehmat often breaks down after a high-stress encounter or upon seeing the consequences of her actions, the body count of a war purportedly greater than any of the individuals caught in its crossfire. Many Indian films succumb to blind nationalism, but it feels different through the eyes of a younger India and Pakistan, and through characters like Sehmat’s husband Iqbal (Vicky Kaushal) who are never villainized but made real and relatable. -P.K.

How to watch: Raazi is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is really proud of its ‘largest windows in space’

A mock up of the Blue Origin capsule, famed windows and all.

Blue Origin wants to make sure you know about its windows.

The company, owned by multi-billionaire and now former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, intends to send rich tourists to space and is not at all like Virgin Galactic — a company founded by billionaire Richard Branson which plans to eventually send rich tourists to space.

That’s the message made loud and clear by Blue Origin in a series of tweets Friday which attempt to draw a distinction between the two companies. Specifically, Blue Origin highlighted all the ways its offering is presumably superior.

Notably, those include the following:

  1. Blue Origin’s New Shepard capsule is perched atop a rocket, while Virgin Galactic offers a ride in some kind of space plane.

  2. The Blue Origin capsule takes tourists to approximately 100 kilometers of elevation, while Virgin Galactic’s plane reportedly reaches heights of around 80 kilometers. According to National Geographic, NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Air Force, and NOAA, space technically starts at around the 80 kilometer mark.

  3. And, perhaps most importantly of all, Blue Origin’s New Shepard capsule has the “largest windows in space.”

While admittedly having large windows on a space tourism ride does sound nice, it’s unclear if the view offered by Virgin Galactic will be inferior.

Virgin Galactic is set to take off on July 11, with Blue Origin’s New Capsule is timed to depart on July 20.

It is true, to be fair, that the methods of conveyance offered by Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are quite different. Take a look.

Virgin Galactic's SpaceshipTwo on a test flight in 2018.

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceshipTwo on a test flight in 2018.
Credit: GENE BLEVINS / getty

Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc. and founder of Blue Origin LLC, speaks at the unveiling of the Blue Origin New Shepard system during the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S., on Wednesday, April 5, 2017. Bezos has been reinvesting money he made at Amazon since he started his space exploration company more than a decade ago, and has plans to launch paying tourists into space within two years. Photographer: Matthew Staver/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc. and founder of Blue Origin LLC, speaks at the unveiling of the Blue Origin New Shepard system during the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S., on Wednesday, April 5, 2017. Bezos has been reinvesting money he made at Amazon since he started his space exploration company more than a decade ago, and has plans to launch paying tourists into space within two years. Photographer: Matthew Staver/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images

But as long as they both get paying tourists to space and safely back home again, it’ll be up to those forking over the (huge amounts of) cash to decide if one is inherently better than the other.

Netflix offers a first peek at where ‘The Witcher’ Season 2 will go

What’s next for The Witcher on Netflix? Fans of the series understood the significance of the Season 1 capper, which saw Henry Cavill’s Geralt meeting up with Freya Allan’s Ciri for the first time. And now we have a new teaser offering a peek at what happens next.

The Witcher is ostensibly based specifically on the books from Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, though the show has drawn liberally from the visual language established in the video game series from CD Projekt Red as well. Geralt’s connection to Ciri is a particular focus of The Witcher 3, the most recent game in the series, so Season 2 represents a big moment for Netflix’s take.

The Witcher Season 2 is coming to Netflix on Dec. 17, though fans won’t have to wait that long to get some kind of Witcher fix. Netflix also has an animated prequel movie coming up, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, and that one debuts on on Aug. 23.

‘Legend of Zelda’ auction sets bar for the most expensive video game at $870,000

A classic! The original Zelda cartridge in all its golden glory sitting next to an original Nintendo Entertainment System.

Link’s wallet has never been large enough to carry this many Rupees.

Just a few months after a record-setting auction turned a sealed copy of Nintendo’s original Super Mario Bros. into the most expensive video game — at an eye-popping price of $660,000 — that record has fallen. Another NES classic, The Legend of Zelda, is now the title-holder.

In a Heritage Auctions sale that ended Friday, a sealed copy of the very first Zelda game sold for $870,000. Even though this particular copy scored a (slightly) lower quality rating than Mario, the rarity of the item boosted its value significantly.

This version of Zelda, described in the listing as a “true grail among games,” is notable for its age. “This is the only copy from one of the earliest production runs that we’ve ever had the opportunity to offer,” Heritage notes in the description, and that production run only lasted a handful of months.

The distinction here is a major difference-maker for serious collectors. There are little clues on every NES package that indicate which production run the release comes from. This copy of Zelda is from a run dubbed “NES R” (for the ® that appears next to the “Nintendo Entertainment System” logo on the box).

That “NES R” production run dates back to late 1987, and it was preceded by only one other run (dubbed “NES TM”). The auction listing notes that since only one copy of an “NES TM” version is known to exist — and it’s not clear if or when it will ever be sold — that makes this particular Zelda “the earliest sealed copy one could realistically hope to obtain.”

SEE ALSO:

Sotheby’s to auction Picasso painting together with NFT

The fact that it’s in great condition no doubted helped boost the sale price as well. While the Mario copy that sold in April rated higher — Wata 9.6 A+ Sealed — this copy of Zelda is still in stellar condition, with a Wata 9.0 A Sealed rating. (Wata Games does professional video game grading for collectors, in case that’s not clear.)

Make no mistake, though: It’s the rarity and age of this copy that made it such a pricey buy. As Heritage notes, “there has never been a single public opportunity” to buy a copy of The Legend of Zelda from this early in its life.

How to set up and use the Focus feature in iOS 15

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While Apple’s Do Not Disturb feature has worked to a certain extent all these years, it’s always lacked flexibility and customization options. That’s all set to change with the addition of Focus in iOS 15, which ups the ante on Do Not Disturb and expands on its capabilities.

With Focus, you’re able to choose from a variety of modes like Driving, Personal, Sleep, or Work (in addition to Do Not Disturb) and even create your own. You can also tweak certain settings by permitting alerts from designated contacts and apps, as well as enable status updates.

Here’s how to set up and use Focus in iOS 15.

1. Open “Settings” and tap “Focus”

You can find it under Settings.

You can find it under Settings.
Credit: screenshot / apple

The feature offers a list of pre-made Focus modes.

The feature offers a list of pre-made Focus modes.
Credit: SCREENSHOT / APPLE

To access the Focus feature, open your Settings, scroll down until you see its respective tab, and tap on it. From there, you’ll see all of your different Focus options:

  • Do Not Disturb

  • Driving

  • Personal

  • Sleep

  • Work

You can also access the Focus feature from the Control Center. Swipe down on the right side of the display and you’ll see a dedicated section for the feature on the left. When you long-press on it, you’ll see all of the same Focus options as listed above.

You can also access Focus through the Control Center.

You can also access Focus through the Control Center.
Credit: screenshot / apple

From here, you have access to different shortcuts for each Focus mode and the ability to access the Settings menu.

2. Choose your “Focus”

You can choose from the existing list or create your own.

You can choose from the existing list or create your own.
Credit: Screenshot / apple

There are also a lot of customization options.

There are also a lot of customization options.
Credit: screenshot / apple

Now it’s time to set up your Focus Mode. For the purpose of this tutorial, let’s say you choose “Personal.” When you tap on it, you’ll be brought to a new window with a ton of different options you can customize including:

  • Allow Notifications: Here, you can choose which contacts and apps you still want to receive notifications from when the mode is enabled.

  • Time Sensitive Notifications: You can toggle this on or off to allow contacts and apps to notify you right away while using Focus.

  • Share Focus Status: When this setting is turned on, it’ll send apps (like iMessage) a notification that your alerts are muted. For example, when you select the Fitness Focus, the alert will let people know you’re exercising. If Reading Focus is on, it’ll let others know you’re currently reading, and so on.

  • Customize the Home Screen: You can toggle on whether you want to hide notification badges or you can choose which home screen pages you want to see.

  • Customize the Lock Screen: You can choose to dim the lock screen and also whether you want to show silenced notifications.

  • Turn on Automations: Rather than having to manually enable Focus mode, you can create an automation that triggers it depending on a specific time, location, or app that you open (such as the Books app, Mail app, etc). There’s also the Smart Activation feature which, over time, learns when to turn the mode on based on location, app usage, and more.

It’s worth noting that some Focus modes have slightly different customization options. For example, Sleep mode also lets you adjust your bedtime and wake up time, while Driving mode has a few additional Automation options like “Activate automatically,” “When connected to Car Bluetooth,” or “Manually.”

Remember Away Messages? This is kinda like that.

Remember Away Messages? This is kinda like that.
Credit: screenshot / apple 

The feature allows you to set different contacts that can still call you when a Focus mode is on.

The feature allows you to set different contacts that can still call you when a Focus mode is on.
Credit: screenshot / apple

There are also a few additional ways you can customize each Focus Mode. On the main page, it gives you the option to control which apps are notified of your Focus Status and who you want to allow calls from for all modes.

3. How to create your own “Focus” mode

You can tap on the plus sign to create your own Focus mode.

You can tap on the plus sign to create your own Focus mode.
Credit: screenshot / apple

Tap on the custom option.

Tap on the custom option.
Credit: screenshot / apple

The Focus feature also offers the ability to create your own Focus mode. To do this, go to Settings > Focus and then tap on the plus sign in the corner, and tap on the “Custom” tab.

You can also access the option to create your own Focus Mode from the Control Center.

You can also access the option to create your own Focus Mode from the Control Center.
Credit: screenshot / apple

You can also access this through the Control Center by long-pressing on the Focus section and tapping on the “New Focus” option.

From there, the setup process will prompt you to name the new Focus, choose a specific label color, and an icon from the list.

Assign a color to your Focus mode.

Assign a color to your Focus mode.
Credit: Screenshot / apple

Choose your icon, too.

Choose your icon, too.
Credit: screenshot / mashable

From there, you can choose specific contacts and apps to allow notifications from and whether you want time-sensitive notifications. Then tap “Done.”

The new Focus mode will be added to the list of other modes on the main page. You can edit it whenever you’d like by tapping on it to access the full menu of options.

4. How to manually manage “Focus” modes

You can toggle it on and off in the Control Center.

You can toggle it on and off in the Control Center.
Credit: screenshot / apple

Once you’ve set up each mode, you can automate them so that each one turns on at a specific time. You can also manually turn the modes on and off, as well.

To do this, wipe down to access the Control Center, long-press on Focus, and then tap on the mode you want to enable. To disable a mode, simply follow the same steps.

Whenever a Focus Mode is turned on, its respective icon will appear on the lock screen. So, you can always just long-press the icon on the lock screen to disable it.

Easy enough.

How to play podcasts on your Amazon Alexa

Alexa, play my podcast.

If you want to walk freely around your house listening to your podcasts on all your Alexa-enabled devices, we’ve got you covered.

Alexa is Amazon’s voice-operated virtual personal assistant that can perform a wide range of functions from reminding you of an appointment to checking the weather or listening to music on Spotify. It is an ideal tool for hands-free listening and playing a variety of content on Alexa-enabled devices.

In order to listen to podcasts on your Amazon Alexa, you first have to link your podcast service to your Alexa. Here is how to link your podcast service to your Alexa:

1. Open Alexa app

Mashable Image

2. Tap “More” (the three lines icon)

Mashable Image

3. Select “Settings”

4. Scroll down to select “Music and Podcasts”

Mashable Image

5. Select “Link New Service”

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6. Select the service you want to listen to a podcast on

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7. Select “Enable to Use.” Depending on the service you may have to login to your account to link it.

Mashable Image

Once you have linked your podcast service to your Alexa you can ask Alexa to play your desired podcast by saying “Alexa, play RadioLab on Spotify.”

Happy listening!

Biden’s executive order: What it means for Big Tech and you

Biden just put Big Tech CEOs like Tim Cook on notice.

President Biden’s new executive order “on Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” talks a big game on promoting competition across the U.S. For the tech portions of the document, it’s not clear how much walk there is to follow up the talk — but already, advocates are hopeful that it means a more free and open internet.

The order, which Biden signed Friday, basically says the federal government will make curtailing monopolistic and unfair business practices a priority from here on out. The document covers a wide swath of economic issues, from international trade to agricultural workers’ rights to prescription drug costs. Antitrust experts agree that it sends a clear signal to big business: The times, they are a-changin’.

“What they said today was ‘we’re going to use every single power within the executive branch to deal with concentration of power in powerful corporations’,” says Barry Lynn, an antitrust expert and executive director of the Open Markets Institute. “This was a statement of principle, a statement of intent.”

Several sections in the order relate to powerful tech companies. This is no surprise: Breaking up big tech has been a hot topic at the FTC, in Congress, and in federal and state departments of justice for some years. But the executive order goes far beyond the scope of those investigations. It wants internet service providers to allow for more consumer choice and pricing transparency. It wants the FCC to restore net neutrality; it wants new rules governing surveillance and data collection by internet companies; it throws the president’s weight behind the right to repair movement.

And, yes, it says the government will look at unfair business practices among internet giants, like privileging their own products in online marketplaces or making competition-killing mergers — which could be reversed.

But how big of an impact will this order actually have on the internet? Executive orders are directives a president makes to executive departments (like the Department of Transportation or Agriculture), independent agencies (like the FCC or the FTC), and other independent government bodies (like the Department of Justice and Congress). The tech provisions mostly fall under the purview of independent agencies and the Department of Justice, whom Biden can’t force to do anything.

Still, there’s a good chance — especially on provisions like pursuing antitrust cases, and writing and enforcing net neutrality and privacy laws — that what the executive order demands will come to fruition.

Hours after the White House released the executive order fact sheet, the FTC published the response of newly installed chair Lina Khan. It says the department will be reviewing merger guidelines, and potentially revising them, if they are determined to be”overly permissive.” This is in step with the order’s “policy of greater scrutiny of mergers, especially by dominant internet platforms.” Of particular concern: “The acquisition of nascent competitors, serial mergers, the accumulation of data, competition by ‘free’ products, and the effect on user privacy.”

The FTC had already begun work on new data privacy rules, which would strengthen its ability for enforcement actions against tech companies that collect users’ personal information. Berkeley Law professor James Dempsey says the fact that the executive order referred to data collection as surveillance was “significant.”

“The president is saying, ‘yes, do what you were going to do,'”Dempsey said, referring to the FTC rules on data collection. “What’s notable here is the rhetorical emphasis on surveillance and the accumulation of data — which is really not the way that executive branch officials previously talked about tech company data practices.”

The executive order also signals that strong action is coming down the pike on internet providers. It directs the FCC to reinstate net neutrality (the Trump-era FCC repealed it in 2017), but also outlines ways ISPs must provide more flexibility, choice, and transparency to customers.

To get this done, Biden urgently needs a new FCC chair after the departure of Trump’s choice, Ajit Pai.

“To achieve many of the goals laid out in this order,” says Evan Greer, the director of the digital rights organization Fight for the Future, “the Biden administration needs to nominate a fifth FCC commissioner who doesn’t have ties to the telecom industry and will stand up to the ISPs, who supports reinstating net neutrality, and who will expand broadband access for everyone.”

Once that person is confirmed, experts say it’s reasonable to expect net neutrality to have more teeth than before. The Obama-era FCC policy actually had significant loopholes that favored ISPs, according to Jim Dunstan, the general counsel at technology policy organization Tech Freedom.

In the new order, “a lot of that light touch goes away,” Dunstan says. “Some of the things that the executive order is talking about — prohibiting termination charges, more specificity on rates and charges — that’s not light touch. That’s the FCC coming in and saying, we’re gonna regulate you pretty hard. So, what we may get is less light than what we had in 2015.”

Another promising bellwether for tech activists is the administration’s directive to prohibit product makers from controlling where customers can repair their devices — a win for the right to repair movement.

The order directs the FTC to “prohibit manufacturers from unfairly restricting consumers’ ability to repair their own devices, or to access independent repair options,” says Kerry Maeve Sheehan, U.S. policy lead at repair company iFixit. “As the FTC is an independent commission, the president cannot directly instruct them to pass a particular rule, but this order makes it clear that the White House sees the Right to Repair as a priority for this administration, and expects the FTC to take prompt action to address repair restrictions.”

While most of the work relating to tech in the order will happen outside of the executive branch, it does establish a new council within the White House to keep tabs on and support that work. To promote competition among internet companies, there’s work to be done in executive departments, federal agencies, courthouses, and legislatures across the country. But the people doing this work now have the president’s big thumbs up. And maybe some renewed energy for the fights ahead.

(Editor’s note: As of this writing, only the White House’s Fact Sheet for the order, not the text of the order itself, was available to the public. All expert comments are referring to the fact sheet, and include the caveat that the text of the order may differ from the White House’s statement.)

Trick your boss into thinking you’re working with Slack scheduled messages

Hard at work.

Tech finally made the world a better place.

Slack, the messaging platform used by organizations ranging from the MTA to SoftBank, quietly released a new feature in late June that’s set to forever change the remote-work game: scheduled messages. Because whether or not Slack intended it, scheduled messages are perfect for tricking your boss into thinking you’re working. (Or for the less devious among us, just not bugging your co-workers after hours.)

As the name suggests, the feature lets you compose and schedule a message to be posted in a Slack channel of your choosing at a later date. Most importantly for our purposes, once sent the message looks exactly the same as any other message — giving no indication that it was scheduled in advance.

The possibilities are wondrous.

Picture it: It’s a beautiful summer afternoon, the sun is blazing, and you’re at the beach soaking in those rays. But thanks to scheduled messages, as far as your boss can tell you’re hard at work dropping pitch ideas into the #Brainstorm channel.

Combine that with a handy little trick which keeps your Slack status bubble green, and you’re a nonstop working machine in the eyes of your corporate overlords.

We’re clearly not the only ones who can’t wait to, ahem, use this feature to its fullest potential.

“Everyone’s saying slack scheduled messages promote work life balance by sending messages during working hours but I’m going to use them to send messages in the middle of the night so it looks like I’m always working,” wrote Nick Morgan, whose Twitter profile identifies him as a backend engineer at Twitter.

“Nah you got to use them to make it look like you’re working while taking a nap,” replied another self-identified Twitter employee Justin Anderson.

Others, perhaps hesitant to put themselves on blast, merely hinted at some vague mischievousness in their future.

Because let’s be real: While some may welcome the scheduled messages feature as the bland productively tool it’s surely intended to be, we all know what many Slack users will do with it.

SEE ALSO: How to keep your Slack status active while *ahem* ‘working’ from home

See you at the beach.

Yes, we can reverse gray hair. No, we don’t know why it works. Just chill.

Say goodbye to gray hairs, if you can reduce your stress.

There are so many news stories this year that seem likely to give us gray hairs, you’d be forgiven for missing one that gives us hope that we can restore those gray hairs back to their regular color — no dye required.

In the first published study to find evidence of “natural re-pigmentation,” researchers at Columbia University set out to create a computer model of how hair graying happens with age and in response to stressful events. First they identified 323 proteins that tell us whether a hair was gray, white, or colored at any point in its history. Then they snipped colored and gray hairs from 14 participants who listed and rated the stressfulness of their life over the past year. We know that there’s a connection between graying and high stress; you only have to look at the hair of ex-presidents who don’t dye it to see that in action.

What we didn’t suspect is that the reverse may also be true; that de-stressing events can bring the color back to those exhausted fibers. That’s what the study found when it matched the protein history of the hairs (which grow at a pretty reliable one centimeter per month) with the history of their owners: some normal-colored hairs had actually been gray in the past year, but went back to normal when life stress was low.

“I was not surprised by any of the stressors that correspond with graying; I was surprised to see how strong of an impact a vacation had on the reversal of graying,” says Ayelet Rosenberg, lead author on the study. “One participant went on just a 2-week trip, and amazingly enough, five of their hairs regained color afterwards.”

Examples of dramatic reversals in hair color across the body, in the Columbia study.

Examples of dramatic reversals in hair color across the body, in the Columbia study.
Credit: elife sciences

Before the battered tourism industry celebrates this news, however, there’s a lot still to nail down about the science of hair graying. More studies are needed to find out if this re-coloring effect ever happens over the age of 40 (it didn’t for the few over-40s in the Columbia study). Still, if we can replicate these results soon — and the pandemic has given us one heck of a stressful event to map on hair around the world — the implications are huge.

Why? Because we’re told constantly that too much stress is a killer, and we should combat it with mindfulness, exercise, sleep, and the rest of the familiar list. But the danger feels distant because it’s internal. Nobody wakes up in the morning and sees their calcified arteries staring back in the mirror. When it comes to new gray hairs, though, many of us seem to zero in like Terminators.

And just this one time, human vanity might save us — because in our future world of preventative medicine, new gray hairs are actually worth telling your doctor about.

“Hair is unique, because it is a visible change that also indicates changes happening on a cellular level,” Rosenberg says. “The ideal outcome would be for doctors to one day be able to use hair pigment as a diagnostic tool, using our method. If somebody did have a sudden onset of gray hairs, it would be worth looking at their stress levels that correspond to that point in their life.

“When you see it with your own eyes, I think people are more likely to care, and possibly make a change.”

The stem cell solution

So what is actually going on at a cellular level when our hair regains color? Simple: Stem cells swinging into action. The raw material of the growing human body that can make any kind of cell required, stem cells are increasingly used in a wide range of medical therapies. We’re in a golden age of stem cell research; just in the past few weeks we learned about how they could eradicate HIV, make brain tumors stop growing, and can be injected to successfully treat heart and lung disease in mice.

But hair is a relatively new area of focus for stem cell research, partly because we had no idea they were powerful enough to re-color our grays. Melanocytes are the type of stem cell that live in our hair follicles. Some studies suggest there is a limited reservoir of melanocytes up there; when they’re done, so is your hair color. But this is hardly settled science.

“The depletion of stem cells would imply that the graying is permanent, but this has only been shown in mice,” Rosenberg says. Melanocytes may also be replenished by mystery visitors, she adds: “Some transient stem cells may come in, which could possibly be responsible for the re-pigmentation that we are seeing here.” Say it with me now: More study needed.

So fear not, fortysomething millennials on the cusp of a graying decade. Science may soon find that extreme commitment to destressing can reverse hair color loss at any age — something that would be a lot easier to prove if those Buddhist monks that experimenters love to study (whose brains appear to be kept significantly younger by meditation) would just stop shaving their heads.

Or we may develop new stem cell therapies to restore our melanocytes in later life. Such a therapy may be open to abuse if younger grayhairs use it to mask the stress indicators they should be telling their doctors about in the first place. But either way, our new awareness of our hair’s ability to recolor itself may be a blow to the $23 billion global hair color industry (which was projected to grow to $36 billion by 2027 until this news came along).

In the meantime, the Columbia study stands among many that are blaring the same message loud and clear: We are too stressed out, and it is neither optimal for employers nor employees. Another eye-opening piece of research from earlier this year found that a five-hour workday was optimal for productivity; anything longer than that, and you start to burn people out in the long run. There are trade-offs, of course; CEOs who made the switch noted a decline in the cohesion of workplace culture. But the stress caused by longer days may matter more, particularly if that workplace culture starts seeing hair color decline as a sign of burning out.

One day soon, then, perhaps your manager will inspect your head for signs of stress. More than five new gray hairs, and it’s off on mandatory vacation you go. Give our regards to your melanocytes.

The best documentaries on Hulu

B.B. King in 'Summer of Soul'

Seeking a story that’s stranger than fiction but just as fascinating? Then you’ll relish Hulu’s rich collection of documentaries, suitable for every inclination. Whether you’re seeking to uncover hidden histories, shocking true crime tales, deep dives into nature, political journeys, or personal stories that are absolutely outrageous, we’ve got you covered.

Here are the best docs on Hulu streaming now.

1. The Painter and the Thief

This highly acclaimed 2020 documentary has a true-crime hook but a poignant twist, unveiling the bizarre heist that begat an unlikely friendship. It was a sunny day in Oslo, when the titular thief, Karl-Bertil Nordland, strolled into an art gallery and plucked a large painting from the wall before vanishing out the back door. He was caught, but the painting was not recovered. Seeking closure, Czech artist Barbora Kysilkova wanted to get to know the man who stole her work. Swiftly, this tattooed tough guy goes from a curiosity to her muse to something far more complicated. Documentarian Benjamin Ree gets up close and personal with both painter and thief, exploring the intricacies that make up people, art, and the heady mix of emotions that forge relationships, treasured and toxic.

How to watch: The Painter and The Thief is streaming on Hulu.

2. Blackfish

For millions of Americans, Shamu the killer whale was whimsical symbol of the great wonders of the oceans. Before an arena full of giddy human families, he’d swim in a cement tank, perform tricks, and seemingly smile for applause. But behind the scenes, the orcas in captivity were treated horridly. Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s unflinching documentary explores the depths of these abuses by diving into the tragedy of Tilikum, an orca infamous for killing his handler. Through interviews with experts and former SeaWorld employees, Cowperthwaite exposes the seedy underbelly of whale captivity and how it might drive anyone (or any whale) out of their mind. With shocking footage and defiant empathy, Blackfish speaks for the maligned giant who cannot defend himself. The result is a 2013 documentary that is riveting, haunting, and profoundly informative.

How to watch: Blackfish is streaming on Hulu.

3. Minding the Gap

One of the most esteemed documentaries of 2018 began as ramshackle video recordings of a boy and his friends skateboarding in Rockford, Illinois. Through pulling tricks, epic falls, and sharing in both, these kids forged an unbreakable bond. All grown up, Bing Liu made his blistering directorial debut by training his camera once more on his childhood friends. Not only does Minding The Gap probe how skating gave them an escape from their abusive fathers, it also reveals how the trauma they endured from such volatile and toxic masculinity has shaped them for better or worse. Far from saccharine or navel-gazing, Liu’s documentary looks unblinkingly at poverty, domestic violence, substance abuse, and the battle to be a better man.

How to watch: Minding the Gap is streaming on Hulu.

4. Three Identical Strangers

It’s like something out of The Twilight Zone. Imagine you’re walking down the sidewalk and all of a sudden, you come face to face with your exact double. Not a doppelgänger, but a twin you never knew you had. Then, a third comes out of the woodwork. You learn you are one of a set of triplets, adopted out to three different families, who had no idea such a savage separation had occurred. In 1980 New York, three young men faced this mind-blowing reality. Just like that, they were national news and local celebrities, even scoring a cameo in Madonna’s movie Desperately Seeking Susan. However, beyond the joy of reunion came an avalanche of life-changing revelations. Documentarian Tim Wardle speaks to the brothers, their families, and journalists to examine the complex story behind the flashy headlines.

How to watch: Three Identical Strangers is streaming on Hulu.

5. The Queen of Versailles

If you’re seeking something with a salacious slathering of schadenfreude, you’ll relish this daffy 2012 documentary about a billionaire couple going bust. He was a timeshare magnate; she was a pageant queen with high-society ambitions. Together, David and Jackie Siegel not only built a family of eight children (and a pack of lap dogs) but also began construction on “the biggest house in America,” a garish Orlando mansion modeled after the Palace of Versailles. Then, the Great Recession of 2008 threatened to pitch them from riches to rags. Through interviews with the couple, their kids, and their overwhelmed house staff, documentarian Lauren Greenfield creates a jaw-dropping journey that follows the Siegels from private planes to Walmart shopping sprees, and through their castle, bedecked with glamor, delusions, and dog shit.

How to watch: The Queen of Versailles is streaming on Hulu.

6. MLK/FBI

Many Americans might remember Martin Luther King, Jr. as the peaceful leader of the civil rights movement. Yet there was much more to this monumental Black icon than his “I Have a Dream” speech. Advocating for racial equality as well as major economic reform, he was an inspiration to millions. But to J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, King was a threat. This heralded 2020 film explores the surveillance and harassment King endured from the FBI, who threatened to expose his private flaws to a judgmental public. Sam Pollard, the Academy Award-nominated documentarian behind 4 Little Girls, conducts interviews with historians and advocates, revisits archival footage, and delves into a wealth of recently declassified FBI documents to create a fuller portrait of King and his historic battle against white supremacy in America.

How to watch: MLK/FBI is streaming on Hulu.

7. Hail Satan?

In the wake of 1980s Satanic Panic, many Americans developed a distorted view of what Satanists truly are. Irreverent documentarian Penny Lane aims to enlighten by training her keen eye on the modern Satanic Temple in this challenging 2019 film, which follows the group’s political battles. Far from the violent villains painted by Christian propaganda, these Satanists are misfits, freethinkers, philosophers, provocateurs, and activists who are purposely provoking to push back against a government that is blurring the line between church and state. While the stakes are high, Lane’s approach is playful, reflecting the devil-may-care attitude of her fascinating — and often damn funny — interview subjects. Whether revealing rituals, capturing protests, or conducting interviews, Lane charts this tricky terrain with a dry wit that makes this exploration even more entertaining than it is daring and informative.

How to watch: Hail Satan? is streaming on Hulu.

8. The Final Member

The setup of this critically heralded doc might sound like a dirty joke. Yet, documentarians Jonah Bekhor and Zach Math erect a surprisingly stimulating tale about a history-making moment for the Icelandic Phallological Museum. It begins as a hobby doc, revealing museum founder Sigurður Hjartarson’s collection of mammalian penises. Over 40 years, he’s gathered penises from guinea pigs, bulls, and whales (oh my!). All he was missing was a human member. Finding volunteers proves the least of his troubles when two eccentric men vie for the honor. This race to the display case is littered with wild turns as well as surprisingly vulnerable moments about mortality, masculinity, and legacy. But be warned this funny yet heartfelt doc is not for the squeamish: Full frontal nudity, fermented flesh, and dismembered — uh — members are featured throughout.

How to watch: The Final Member begins streaming on Hulu July 15.

9. Notturno

Celebrated by critics in 2020, Notturno rejects traditional talking head interviews, guiding voiceover, or any such means of cozy context. Instead, Academy Award-nominated director Gianfranco Rosi introduces a title card that tersely explains how the Middle East has been plagued by foreign intervention, tyranny, and war. Then, he introduces a wealth of footage, shot over three years around the borders between Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria, and Lebanon. There are scenes of soldiers on patrol, women in mourning, children in therapy discussing an ISIS attack, and a fisherman going about his toil while explosions burn in the distance. But that’s not all. His patient camera catches moments between lovers in swoon and a happy theatre troupe in play rehearsals. These scenes — and many, many more — meditatively carve out narratives that demand attention. Rosi is our silent yet insightful tour guide, revealing a richness of the Middle East too often obscured by headline-chasing news reports.

How to watch: Notturno is streaming on Hulu.

10. Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Hip-hop star Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson makes his directorial debut with a 2021 documentary that’ll make you want to get up and dance. Weaving together footage forgotten for 50 years, he ushers audiences back to the summer of 1969, where for six weekends the Harlem Cultural Festival burst with song and elation. Dedicated to celebrating Black pride, unity, and music, this incredible event drew major crowds and major acts, including Gladys Knight, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, and Sly and the Family Stone. Critics have cheered the immersive cinematography of the never-before-seen footage, which pulls you onstage and into the mix. But Questlove does more than invite us to the party. Interviewing those who were there, he unfurls the hidden history of the festival and sings of the power of the people.

How to watch: Summer of Soul is streaming on Hulu.

11. American Animals

Documentarian Bart Layton first wowed film critics with The Imposter, which revealed a twisted tale of a French con man who posed as a missing American kid. His fascinating follow-up blurs the lines between documentary and docudrama to unravel the disturbing of case of the Transylvania University library heist. The stranger-than-fiction details involve an obsession with the movie Reservoir Dogs, a plot to fence a rare art book, and old man disguises. Yet Layton takes things to a mind-bending new level. Not only does he cast famous performers like Evan Peters and Barry Keoghan to play the young thieves, but also he weaves their real counterparts into sequences with them. Plopped into a movie set, the convicted crooks reflect and quibble over differing details with their movie-doppelgängers, as they barrel through to a disastrous plan. The result is a film that invites audiences to experience the rush of a heist flick, then the agony of its subjects, who got in over their heads and lived to regret it.

How to watch: American Animals is streaming on Hulu.