US News 

How Safe Are Roller Coasters? 

What's going on: Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, a 42-year-old man from Atlanta, died on Monday after witnesses say he was ejected from a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia, injuring others as he fell. Aerial news footage showed park staff evacuating riders from the Goliath roller coaster. Police have not confirmed the number injured in the incident. Kariem is at least the seventh person to die at the Georgia park, including one person in 2006 on the same ride. After Monday’s incident, Six Flags temporarily closed nine roller coasters across six parks in the US and Canada “out of an abundance of caution.” The news comes just weeks after the amusement park announced it would permanently close its X2 roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California after more than 100 reports of sustained brain injuries and at least two deaths. 

Roller coasters are supposed to be fun: Deaths from riding a roller coaster are rare. Engineers design and test rides using the same tech as aircraft and space systems. Rides are also checked each morning and, in states that mandate it, go through official inspections. One expert told CNN that the Goliath features a waist restraint but not an over-the-shoulder harness, which he said should be considered. Ride operators also play an important role and have to ensure riders' restraints are properly working. Some argue that amusement parks should be treated as consumer products, which would mean they need to meet national safety regulations. Politicians including Rep. André Carson (D-IN) have repeatedly introduced legislation to implement safety standards for years. “We don't know the extent of what happened yet, but we do know that there are gaps in amusement park safety policies,” he told the Daily Skimm via email. “I'm calling for a full investigation.”

Related: A British Man Died After Entering a Tiger Enclosure at a Wildlife Park (BBC)

Midterm Money

A Record-Setting Campaign Donation

What’s going on: The richest man in the world is now also the single biggest donor of this election cycle. Elon Musk has quietly donated more than $276 million since July ($366 million total) to Republican groups and his own super PAC. The largest share of the funds went to the Senate Leadership Super PAC to help Republicans retain their majority. Separately, Musk gave $10 million to Lone Star Liberty PAC, which supports Attorney General Ken Paxton. The Republican candidate is in a tight race for Senate in Texas, where Musk now lives and moved his businesses. While Musk said in 2025 that he planned to do "a lot less" political spending in the future, his wallet says otherwise. His heavy financial backing of President Donald Trump in 2024 paved the way for his role at DOGE. Now, as the SpaceX CEO with government contracts in play, Musk is leading the Pentagon's "Project Meridian" to "look at the future of warfare."

More money, same old issues: Compared to the next highest donors, like billionaire (and perennial Republican “bogeyman”) George Soros who donated $170 million in 2022, the significance of Musk’s contribution can not be understated. Republicans have already outspent Democrats this election cycle by $400 million and they are flush with cash. But despite all their money, the needle doesn’t seem to be moving much in favor of Republicans. “Voters are seething,” says president of the Brennan Center Michael Waldman. “They see big money as a major issue, deeply connected to government’s failure to work for them.” One Democratic operative told NPR, money "can help insulate [candidates], but it can't change the fundamentals of what voters are feeling." 

Related: Republican Senate Candidate Ken Paxton Partied in Dubai With American Fugitives (The Wall Street Journal gift link)

Spilled Milk

Cleanup on Aisle Deux

What’s going on: Normally we’d be jealous of anyone grocery shopping in France, but not this week. Hackers attacked hundreds of supermarkets around the country, hijacking their refrigeration systems and dialing temps up to as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit –– spoiling food, melting equipment, and sparking some fires. A UK cyber security expert told the Financial Times that it was “one of the oddest cyber events” he’d witnessed, noting that hackers tend to take systems hostage to collect a ransom, but that doesn’t seem to have been the case here. It’s also unclear how widespread this attack was. Another expert told Reuters that several other European countries, including Germany and Spain, were affected. Separately, the parent company of a popular Dutch grocery chain took its digital infrastructure offline to fix a “security issue within its network.” 

What it means: Step one… stop ignoring your software updates. At least that’s what the Danish company that runs the hacked refrigeration software is saying. The company made big security upgrades earlier this year, but says the French grocers affected were using an old version that was so outdated, it wasn’t even receiving updates anymore. Finger-pointing over poor “basic cyber hygiene” aside, this episode is a sobering reminder of how interconnected our critical infrastructure has become, and how vulnerable it is to bad actors. As one EU official put it, “Food security requires more attention at all levels. Because the weaponization of food has become a reality.” Icebox, anyone?

Related: Anthropic Warns AI Models Could Soon Self-Replicate on Smart Fridge Software (Al Jazeera)

The Best Luxury Gifts

We’re aware that it’s mid-October, but in order to avoid panic-buying come December, we’ve launched our holiday gift guides early. We’ve got presents that’ll appeal to everyone on your list — your parents, siblings, friends, partner, etc. Let’s start with some big-ticket items:

• The coziest pair of slippers we could find, amongst other splurge-worthy items

• A cookie assortment to split with siblings

• Our top picks from luxury brands that skew a little cheaper 

​*PS: If you have gifter’s block (aka writer’s block for gift giving), QVC has a little something for everyone.

Quick Hits

✈️ A flight from Italy to Australia was canceled after an outbreak of bed bugs was found in the seats. We’ll never complain about a gross tray table again.

🦄 A biohacker who runs a gene-editing company says unicorns could be just five to 10 years away as she works on developing horns. Dragons could take longer, she said. Clever girl.

🏠 Here are five weird noises your house makes that home service experts say need your attention. In other words, we’re learning that our house is not actually haunted like we thought.

👗 For some clothing items, “dry clean only” could be a suggestion, one laundry expert says. Does anyone else feel like they just got a raise?

🎤 Olivia Rodrigo announced she’s releasing a remix with Chappell Roan. We’ve got real big expectations.

📺 It’s official, the 90s are back: Ryan Coogler’s reboot of The X-Files has been picked up by Hulu.

🦁 The first trailer for Greta Gerwig’s The Magician’s Nephew is out, and we didn’t know Narnia would be so rock ‘n’ roll.