If it felt like everyone and their mother (of dragons) was watching Game of Thrones on Sunday night, it’s because they were. 

According to HBO, a staggering 17.4 million viewers across cable, HBO Go, and HBO Now tuned into the Game of Thrones: Season 8 premiere on Sunday — surpassing Thrones‘ previous ratings record from the finale of Season 7, which brought in 16.9 million viewers in July 2017. 

The debut of Thrones’ final season marked the largest night of streaming activity in HBO’s history, and that means great things for the service’s other series. 

Barry, a tense dramedy starring Saturday Night Live alum Bill Hader, followed Thrones and saw its best night ever with 2.2 million viewers.  Read more…

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Jack Dorsey’s mother and father, the ’80s band Whitesnake, a “war room” associated with Donald Trump’s reelection campaign — these are a few of the more than 10,000 accounts Twitter has quietly verified in recent months, despite putting its verification program on hold.

The company has said little publicly about verification, which it suspended in 2017 following backlash over its verification of a white supremacist. But data viewed by Mashable suggests the company is verifying a flurry of accounts each month despite the supposed break. 

Celebrities, and others with backchannel connections to the company, are able to become verified as Twitter ignores everyday users and those without insider access. In many ways, this secretive process is now more opaque and unfair than it was when anyone could apply on Twitter’s website. At a time when Twitter says it’s trying to be more transparent about its rules, the lack of an official verification policy is hurting groups already susceptible to abuse, critics say. Read more…

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Warning: Spoilers for Game of Thrones: Season 8, Episode 1 below

When you play the game of thrones, you win… or you get roasted Ned Umber-style. (RIP teeny, tiny boy.)

Game of Thrones: Season 8 has only just begun, but Twitter users are already launching their red-hot, post-premiere roasts and takes. 

From Bran sitting in a courtyard all night to Cersei missing out on those elephants, here are some of the funniest Twitter reactions to the Thrones premiere heard round the world.

On that very Harry Potter-esque dragon riding scene

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*** Warning: Spoilers ahead for Season 8 of Game of Thrones ***

The final season of Game of Thrones was always going to be the end for someone.

In the teaser for the second episode of Season 8, there looks to be trouble ahead for Jaime Lannister, who features prominently alongside Daenerys Targaryen.

“When I was a child, my brother would tell me a bedtime story about the man who murdered our father,” Daenerys opens in the teaser. 

“Of all the things we would do to that man.” Read more…

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Game of Thrones Season 8 arrived full-force, with Jon Snow learning his true identity during the very first episode.

Jon’s BFF-slash-true brother Samwell Tarly had a rough episode, learning that Daenerys executed his father and brother just after gleefully being introduced to her by Jorah Mormont.

Disillusioned with the dragon queen, Sam runs into Bran (but he’s not really Bran, idk if you’ve heard, he’s the ~*~*~Three-Eyed Raven~*~*~), who says that only Sam can tell Jon the truth. This is not an enviable position, which is probably why Sam literally hides in the crypts, but Jon catches him and then there’s nothing to do but have the awkward convo. Read more…

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Has it really been a year since Beyoncé’s era-defining performance at Coachella?

It certainly hasn’t been forgotten at this year’s Coachella, with the pyramid stage from the iconic performance finding new life as an installation on the festival’s grounds.

The first woman of color to headline the festival, the singer reunited with other members of Destiny’s Child for the two-hour performance, which also featured appearances by her husband Jay-Z and her sister Solange. 

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In the lead-up to the premiere of Game of Thrones‘ final season, the show’s cast and crew have been understandably getting nostalgic.

That includes the Mother of Dragons herself, Emilia Clarke, who on Sunday posted an adorable Instagram shoutout to her green screen baby dragon, ahead of the first episode of Season 8.

“Me and my baby (dragon) (Drogon) just very excited for you all to see #season8gameofthrones which if I’m not mistaken begins….now,” she captioned the post, which shows Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen cuddling up to what will eventually be rendered as her beloved Drogon. Read more…

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Feel like you might be ready to lead? Maybe you’re thinking about starting an MBA but need some inspiration before you make your move? Look no further than your screen. Yep, as usual, pop culture is here to save the day. 

These fearless film and television characters are guaranteed to inspire your inner leadership skills whether you’re planning on managing a team, dreaming of being your own boss or you’re simply looking for a competitive edge in your career. 

Miranda Priestly 

With her scathing commentary and unbelievably high expectations, Miranda Priestly, editor-in-chief of Runway magazine, might be one of the silver screen’s most feared (and revered) bosses.  Read more…

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Ever since Arya Stark made her kill list and topped it off with Cersei Lannister’s name, theirs is the face-off I’ve been waiting for. The two haven’t shared a scene since early Season 1 but their stories have intertwined in grievous ways.

Arya has managed to knock off a few names off her list, including Walder Frey and Meryn Trant, but Cersei remains the one big profile name on it. 

Game of Thrones Season 8 will bring about lots of reunions, some emotional and some awkward. The one we deserve the most is Arya vs. Cersei, especially if it means the former will kill the latter. Read more…

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This ain’t your average sports game.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced Friday that the international tournament for people with disabilities would be getting its first video game, The Pegasus Dream Tour. The new game has some serious weight behind it; it’s being created by JP Games, the new independent studio founded by Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata. The Paralympics game will be his new team’s first since Tabata went indie.

“This is not just an ordinary video game about sports,” Tabata said. “JP Games is going to represent fully the wonders that are unique to Paralympic sports in this brand-new role-playing game.” Read more…

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