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This Drama Changed Television and Beat Stranger Things by Nearly 1 Billion Minutes — And Yes, That’s Wild

By Tony Hicks
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Let’s begin with the obvious: we were all emotionally preparing to crown Stranger Things the undisputed streaming monarch of 2025. Final season. Three-year hiatus. The Upside Down’s last hurrah. Dustin’s graduation speech in the epilogue. Max Mayfield’s reaction that probably launched a thousand TikTok edits. It had all the makings of a Nielsen bloodbath. And yet. The show that actually beat it — by nearly a billion streaming minutes — is a 22-season medical drama that has been emotionally terrorizing viewers since George O’Malley still had a face. Yes. It’s Grey’s Anatomy . Clocking in at 40.9 billion minutes streamed versus Stranger Things’ 40 billion, Grey’s did what it has done for two decades: survived, thrived, and quietly reminded everyone that while monsters from alternate dimensions are cool, nothing competes with a hallway breakdown at Seattle Grace. Let’s unpack this because this isn’t just a numbers story. This is a cultural reckoning. The Billion-Minute Realit...
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Canada’s Race to Rebuild Military Triggers a Defense-Tech Gold Rush

By Tony Hicks
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There are two kinds of national awakenings. The first is the slow, responsible kind—white papers, committees, polite applause, a bilingual press conference where everyone agrees to “continue the dialogue.” The second is the moment when someone in Ottawa looks at the global news cycle, exhales sharply, and says, “Oh. We need to fix this. Like… yesterday.” Canada has entered Phase Two. After decades of treating defense spending like that gym membership you technically still have but try not to think about, the country is suddenly sprinting toward military modernization with the energy of someone who just realized winter is not optional. And in the background? Venture capitalists are doing what venture capitalists do best: sniffing opportunity. Welcome to Canada’s defense-tech gold rush. The Polite Superpower Problem For years, Canada has cultivated a global brand somewhere between “reliable peacekeeper” and “the world’s calmest neighbor.” It worked. It still works—until it doesn’t. The w...
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Rocky’s, Retail Darwinism, and the Great American “Everything Must Go” Era

By Tony Hicks
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Nothing says late-stage capitalism with a side of melancholy quite like a liquidation banner sandwiched between a subscription pitch and a dividend king teaser. And yet here we are. After 54 years in business, Rocky’s Great Outdoors — a Burton, Michigan institution — is closing its doors. Not bankrupt. Not imploding in scandal. Just… done. A family business that started in 1971 selling motorcycle parts, evolved into a 50,000-square-foot temple of boots and bait, and now joins the ever-growing Hall of Retail Ghosts. Let’s talk about what this actually means — beyond the press release language and the “macro pressures” greatest hits playlist. The Retail Hunger Games Dick’s Sporting Goods didn’t just survive the retail apocalypse — it thrived. Academy Sports + Outdoors ? Also fine. Meanwhile, the list of fallen names reads like a mall directory from 2008: Modell’s Sporting Goods Bob’s Stores Moosejaw Orvis Eastern Mountain Sports The Sports Authority And now...
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The Loungewear Sets I’ve Been Living in This Winter

By Tony Hicks
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There was a time—gather ‘round, children—when winter required Structure. Denim. Buttons. Waistbands with ambition. That time is over. This winter, I have lived in loungewear. Not visited it. Not occasionally dabbled. I have relocated my personality into matching knit sets. If there were a census category labeled “Primary Residence: Soft,” I would check it confidently. And no, this isn’t one of those breathless “I discovered comfort!” lifestyle awakenings. I have always believed in comfort. I just used to believe it had to be earned. You know. Productivity first, softness later. Winter said: absolutely not. So here we are. Below are the loungewear sets I’ve been living in this season—the heroes, the enablers, the elastic-waisted confidants who have seen me through early mornings, late nights, and the existential spiral that happens when it’s dark at 4:37 p.m. 1. The Elevated Sweat Set That Pretends I Have Plans 4 You know the one. Structured enough to look intentional. Soft enough to f...
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