2 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
Skip to main content

Books

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
The Handmaid’s Tale, but make it YA.

Hulu has dropped a trailer for its upcoming Handmaid’s Tale spinoff, The Testaments, and when the series premieres on April 8th, it looks like it will be a harrowing reminder of much violence the girls of Gilead were forced to endure.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Audible’s new subscription option is less expensive, but lacks a major perk.

The new “standard” Audible subscription announced on Tuesday costs $8.99/month, compared to $14.95/month for the existing premium plan. Users on the standard plan get one audiobook each month, but unlike premium subscribers, don’t keep access to those audiobooks if they cancel their subscription.

Correction: Audible’s “standard” tier does not issue audiobook credits.

If you buy something from a link, The Verge may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Spotify launches audiobook charts and a lot of people are still listening to Atomic Habits.

Wuthering Heights being number one makes sense; it just got a blockbuster adaptation. But why is the 8-year-old self-help book from James Clear number two?

Spotify’s new lists also include genre-specific charts, so you don’t have to scroll past 37 steamy thrillers just to find your next dystopian sci-fi.

Spotify’s Audiobook charts showing Wuthering Heights at number 1 and Atomic Habits at number 2.
Image: Spotify / The Verge
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu is getting a biography this fall.

Uematsu has created music for countless Square Enix games, including classics like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, and Final Fantasy VII. Now he’s going to be the subject of a biography by James Mielkem, Nobuo Uematsu: On the Record.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
A dragon queen of the seven kingdoms.

Though HBO still hasn’t announced a firm release date for House of the Dragon’s upcoming third season, there’s a new trailer teasing out Rhaenyra’s plan to make her enemies pay using her squad of newly-tamed dragons. The new season drops some time in June.

Animal Crossing started life as a dungeon crawler

One of Nintendo’s biggest success stories began as a very different game.

Keza MacDonald
The best books we read in 2025The best books we read in 2025
Verge Staff
Wicked: For Good is a soaring second act that brings it all full circle

Turns out splitting the musical into two movies was a pretty solid idea.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Dudes rock.

The new trailer for Amazon MGM’s adaptation of Alex Weir’s novel Project Hail Mary teases a bit more of the catastrophe that’s imperiling Earth, but it’s mostly about the friendship that’s going to develop between astronaut Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) and an alien that looks like a pile of rocks.

The Running Man is a propulsive tribute to ‘80s action movies

The new movie stays true to Stephen King’s original novel to tell a story that doesn’t feel all that farfetched in 2025.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
John Higgins
John Higgins
The long awaited (in the audio world) Sound Reproduction 4th Edition by revered researcher Dr. Floyd Toole has been released.

This new edition includes chapters by fellow acclaimed Harman researchers Dr. Sean Olive (on headphones) and Todd Welti (on subwoofers and room acoustics). It’s 20 percent off until next Tuesday.

If you buy something from a link, The Verge may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

The 4th edition of Sound Reproduction by Floyd e. Toole, Sean Olive, and Todd Welti on a wooden table.
Photo by John Higgins / The Verge
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Pennywise is coming over for Halloween.

Rather than waiting for Sunday, HBO now plans to drop It: Welcome to Derry’s second episode on October 31st just in time for the end of spooky season.

Fandom’s CEO has left the companyFandom’s CEO has left the company
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Ring’s CEO says his cameras can almost ‘zero out crime’ within the next 12 months

Jamie Siminoff’s new book, Ding Dong, charts how his video doorbell startup turned into a home security behemoth.

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
HBO’s Welcome to Derry series just ain’t it

The It prequel series is a half-hearted attempt at crossing Stephen King’s opus with Stranger Things.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Rebecca Sugar is headed to Moominvalley.

It was already exciting to know that Rebecca Sugar is making a Steven Universe follow-up series for Amazon, but Annapurna just announced that Sugar has also signed onto a new Moomin feature that will adapt a number of Tove Jansson’s classic stories for the big screen.

Kevin Nguyen
Kevin Nguyen
Catch me on The Daily Show.

Earlier this year, I published my second book, Mỹ Documents. It’s a work of fiction but Verge readers will recognize a lot of things we’ve covered here: the Department of Homeland Security, the legacy of the Vietnam War, and how Google has warped the incentives of the internet. If you want to know more about a novel full of Verge themes (should my next book be about a morally bankrupt FCC chairman?), you can see me talking about it with Ronny Chieng on The Daily Show. Clip below!

If you buy something from a link, The Verge may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Get ready to be obsessulated.

Though all of Oz is atwitter in Wicked: For Good’s final trailer, there’s a (literal and metaphorical) storm on the horizon that’s going to pop off when Glinda (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) are reunited.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Say hello to the oldest resident of Derry, Maine.

The latest trailer for HBO’s Welcome to Derry series is chock full of alarming new scenes from the It prequel, but the most intriguing thing about it are its shots of what seems to be Pennywise’s arrival on Earth from space(?) in a massive ball of fire.

Books that changed our livesBooks that changed our lives
Verge Staff
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
RIYL: resist t-shirts, history lessons, bodice rippers.

There’s no truer sign of the times than romance novel readers breaking the Goodreads recommendations algorithm to suggest On Tyranny to people checking out A Wedding to Protect Her Fortune.

Readers also enjoyed: On Tyranny, on the listing for A Wedding to Protect Her Fortune.
Screenshot
Image: Goodreads
The Verge’s guide to upgrading your fallThe Verge’s guide to upgrading your fall
Barbara Krasnoff
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Apple’s Foundation is coming back for a fourth season.

Though the third season of Apple TV Plus’ Foundation adaptation is set to wrap this Friday, the series won’t be coming to an end. Apple announced today that it has renewed Foundation for a fourth season whose production will kick off some time in early 2026.

In a statement about the renewal, Foundation co-showrunners and executive producers Ian Goldberg and David Kob said they were honored to be coming back for another season. Apple TV Plus head of programming Matt Cherniss added that the studio is beyond excited to be producing a show that has “become such a global phenomenon.”

The Long Walk is a dystopian slog where brutality is the main point

Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of the Stephen King classic feels like gory YA that’s light on real social commentary.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Pennywise wants you to come visit this October.

After months of teasing us all with snippets from It: Welcome to Derry, HBO has finally given the prequel series an October 26th premiere date.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Alfie Allen has a (new role on) 3 Body Problem.

Production on the second season of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem adaptation is now underway, and the show has added Alfie Allen, Claudia Doumit, and Ellie De Lange to its cast.