Kinderman

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Papa John’s will close about 300 stores across the United States by the end of 2027, the Louisville, Kentucky-based company announced during an earnings call on Thursday, Feb. 26.

Ravi Thanawala, Papa Johns' CFO and North America president, said he expects about 200 closures to occur in 2026. The closing stores, according to Thanawala, are primarily franchisee-owned and "are not meeting brand expectations or lack a clear path to sustainable financial improvement."

He added that the locations generate "negative four-wall" income and are over a decade old.

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Papa Johns reported a 2% year-over-year decrease in its revenue from North American stores in fiscal year 2025 in its earnings release. Revenue at company-owned restaurants was down 3% while franchised restaurants were down 2%.

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We met in a bar and bonded over cocaine, hard drinking, and rough sex.

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The gold-medal game between the U.S. and Canadian women reached 7.7 million viewers, becoming the most-watched women’s hockey game of all time. The gold-medal matchup for the men, also between the U.S. and Canada, averaged 18.6 million live viewers. And then the U.S. men’s team threw away all that goodwill in a matter of moments, tainting not only their victory but the women’s as well.

In videos from the post-game locker-room celebration, the U.S. men can be seen chugging beers with FBI director Kash Patel and taking a phone call with President Donald Trump, who invites them to attend the State of the Union address on their way back home. “We’re going to have to bring the women’s team,” President Trump can be heard saying. “[If I don’t] do that, I do believe I probably would be impeached, okay?” The men respond by laughing along.

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This is men’s hockey culture. It is deeply toxic, deeply conservative, and deeply misogynist and homophobic. The NHL, whose viewership has been declining for years, saw a nearly 20 percent spike in ticket sales following Heated Rivalry’s premiere. The league rushed to capitalize on the hype, with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman saying he welcomed this “unique” driver of new fans and teams playing clips and songs from the show during games, as well as selling Heated Rivalry–themed food and merch. New fans to the sport may have believed that, on the strength of a massively successful romantic drama about gay male players, hockey had magically become an inclusive space. But those of us who have followed the league for any period of time knew that it wasn’t just a matter of if the league and its players would disappoint these new fans but when.

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The lack of consideration that the men’s team showed for the women’s team was disappointing but not surprising. What does feel new, however, is how swift and furious the backlash has been. Even hockey-bro podcasts have criticized the men’s behavior, and players are being asked to account for their actions. It’s not often that we see powerful men called out in this way, especially in the sports world, where sexism and discrimination toward women athletes is still largely accepted.

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Sorry Jason Statham, but Gen Alpha (born 2010-2024/25) and Gen Z (born 1997-2012) are not looking for a Transporter.

The Center for Scholars & Storytellers (CSS) at UCLA has released the findings from its “Evolving Masculinity” study. The study surveyed 1,500 tweens, teens and young adults, ages 10-24, finding that these groups want to see boys and men on TV and in movies “moving away from isolation and other masculine stereotypes” and “towards vulnerability and connection.”

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The CSS study was led by Yalda T. Uhls, founder and CEO of the center. Uhls and her team concluded that young people “are asking for a reimagining of how men show up in the lives of others,” as the study reads. “Whether it is a father, mentor, coach, or teacher, the message from the audience was the same.” Uhls and her team pointed to two TV examples — Heated Rivalry and The Pitt — as satisfying those depictions.

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On the opposite end of the spectrum — Vin Diesel. Dominic Toretto may not have friends, he has family, but he would not be the father figure Gens Z and Alpha would gravitate toward.

“There’s not enough nuance or authenticity in the way that these men show the full range of their emotions,” Uhls told THR. “Young people are going to make fun of it or reject it.”

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When a county employee showed up, she “started yelling” at Royer and told him to get off the excavator, Fairchild said.

Royer got off, according to the representative, and law enforcement soon arrived on scene.

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Why would I want to watch that

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His vision is in the same continuity as the original, but with entirely new characters.

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