Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-success-secret-vcs-founders-nate-silver-on-the-edge-2024-8">Nate Silver</a> is famous for his election predictions.</li><li>Over the last year, he predicted Democrats would lose if Joe Biden was at the top of the ticket.</li></ul>Nate Silver may be the best-known oddsmaker in the world: He first rose to fame for correctly predicting almost all of the 2008 election and repeating the feat again in 2012. And when Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election, after Silver gave her a 71% chance of winning, he became the subject of much (misplaced) scorn.Now Silver has a new book — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.natesilver.net/p/welcome-to-the-river">On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything</a> — which focuses on people like himself, who make a living by calculating odds and placing bets. That includes professional gamblers, as well as entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and crypto speculators. (Silver, by the way, is a big gambler, too: He's a serious poker player, and also spent $1.8 million over a year betting on NBA games, which netted him a grand profit of $5,242.)Silver wants his book to teach you about risk-taking and how it applies to the likes of both <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ftx-crypto-king-sam-bankman-fried-rise-and-fall-2022-11">Sam Bankman-Fried</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-chatgpt-openai-ceo-career-net-worth-ycombinator-prepper-2023-1">Sam Altman</a> — and why he thinks people in fields like government, academia, and media are uncomfortable with risk.But the rest of the world wants to know who Silver thinks is going to win the 2024 election. He scratches that itch by running a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.natesilver.net/">Substack</a> that offers detailed models to subscribers and more general updates to freeloaders.We talked about all of that in a recent conversation. But I'm playing the odds here, too, by focusing these edited excerpts on his election thoughts. Plus a look back, and forward, on his career.I know you don't want to be known as "the political forecast guy" but I do want to know how you see the election. Your most recent projection has a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.natesilver.net/p/nate-silver-2024-president-election-polls-model">Trump-Harris toss-up, though Kamala Harris seems to have momentum</a>. You've also written that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.natesilver.net/p/kamala-harris-cant-meme-her-way-to">normally you'd expect her recent surge to stall, but given how close we are to the election, that might not happen</a>. How are you thinking about it right now?If it were November [Silver's election model] would be really aggressive. You'd say <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-life-and-career-of-kamala-harris-bidens-vp-pick-2020-8">Harris</a> is moving up, and there's not enough time for reversal.Since it's just August, it's more cautious, because we've already seen big momentum swings.I think it's reasonably safe to assume that the next several weeks will look good for her in the polls. She's having her convention, and Harris and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tim-walz-family-wife-gwen-kids-photos-2024-8">Tim Walz</a> are relative unknowns, so it might be a little bit more exciting than usual.There's usually a bounce to the polls after the convention. So she might get up ahead 3, 4, 5 points in national polls. And then September and the debate, or debates, if they're plural, is the reality check.But yeah. Even I thought she'd be an underdog, just less of an underdog than Biden would have been. Now I think you'd probably rather be in her position.It's pretty close. It's no longer Trump's election to lose. It's someone's to seize a moment and grab.Long before the Biden-Trump debate — going back at least a year — you were <a target="_blank" href="https://www.natesilver.net/p/its-probably-too-late-not-to-nominate">consistently</a> arguing that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.natesilver.net/p/if-biden-cant-run-a-normal-campaign">Biden wasn't capable of running a real campaign</a>, that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.natesilver.net/p/of-course-bidens-age-is-a-legitimate">his age was dragging down his chances</a>, and that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.natesilver.net/p/its-time-for-the-white-house-to-put">Democrats should have swapped him out</a>.Did you worry what would happen if you got all of that wrong? That people would be as upset with you as they were after the 2016 campaign, when you said Hilary Clinton was heavily favored to beat Trump?In 2016, I thought people were in denial about the fact that Trump actually had a decent chance — he was only a couple of points down in these critical states, and Clinton had all types of signs of weaknesses. So then I was trying to emphasize that Trump did have a shot, and [the fact that people didn't understand that] was frustrating.This time, I was even more skeptical about Biden than the polls. He was down to, like, a 26% chance in our model, but that assumes that he's running a normal campaign and not trying to avoid media appearances, and not having all his fundraising dry up and things like that. And so I thought his real chance might have been 10% or 15%.As a poker player, it's kind of like getting all-in with aces against kings. It's a really good bet. Biden was probably going to lose.And yes, I was taking on some risk by being kind of very vocal and insistent about it. A calculated risk.But it's also kind of how I felt as a citizen, too. Usually these things have more than one motivation, right? I was very frustrated that I didn't feel like I had a responsible alternative to Trump, and I wasn't gonna vote for Biden. I was going to vote for the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lp.org/">Libertarian</a> or <a target="_blank" href="https://workingfamilies.org/">Working Families Party</a> or something.By the way: Why don't you want to be known as the election forecast guy? Why not be known as the guy who's really good at this?To give a self-aggrandizing comparison: It's a little bit like if you're some indie band who has a big breakout hit, then there's always pressure to play the hits. That's part of it.Part of it is also that we live in a world where people maybe don't understand probability as I would. And so if it's Harris 80/20 and Trump wins, or Trump 80/20 and Harris wins on election day, then that's running some career risk.I first learned about you in your indie band phase, when you were a <a target="_blank" href="https://archive.nytimes.com/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/sxsw-nate-silver-of-fivethirtyeight/">nerd idol</a> doing your own blog. Since then you've worked at two really big media companies — The New York Times and Disney — and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.natesilver.net/p/some-personal-news">now you're back on your own</a>. With hindsight, do you make sense at a big company, or do you think you're better as a solo act?I think I'm constitutionally suited to being a solo practitioner. And also the business model of Substack is very appealing from a cash flow standpoint: All the revenues come in up front, and you get an 80% gross profit margin.But I definitely hope to be doing some hiring soon. I almost certainly will be — but maybe half a dozen people, not 35 people.I know friends who have gone through this at all scales, from small to medium to quite large — people who lucked into some idea and became CEO. I don't think their professional lives are terribly happy. You're spending all your time doing internal politics, external politics, compliance, lawsuits, investor relations. Those things are absolutely not my strength and not how I want to spend the rest of my career.So it's just kind of accepting what can you do with … let's say I'm only allowed to hire six people, and that's a constraint. And let's say that, like, half the bylines have to be mine, right? And with those two constraints in mind, build the best business you can from there. I think sometimes constraints are a good thing.Have you said how many paid Substack subscribers you have?It's good. It's a very healthy number.

Nate Silver on the 2024 race: 'It's no longer Trump's election to lose.'

<ul><li><keyword id="2210217" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="oneplus" source="Orion">OnePlus</keyword> confirmed the launch date <keyword id="13938959" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="ace-racing-edition" source="Orion">Ace Racing Edition</keyword> in China.</li><li>The device may come in two colour options- grey and blue.</li><li>The company has not revealed any specifications of this device yet.</li></ul>The <keyword id="13875432" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="oneplus-ace-racing-edition" source="Orion">OnePlus Ace Racing Edition</keyword> is all set to launch in China on May 17 at 7 pm CST/ 4:30 pm IST. Since its China launch, the company will live stream this event via its Weibo handle. OnePlus Ace was launched Apr 21, 2022 in China, it was the first Ace branded smartphone from OnePlus. Earlier this week, the company confirmed the new phone OnePlus Ace racing Edition. OnePlus Ace Racing Edition can come with different designs and specifications compared to the OnePlus Ace, which came to India as the OnePlus 10R. OnePlus has not revealed any official specifications of OnePlus Ace Racing Edition meanwhile company has shared the first look of the device, which reveals an all-new rear camera setup. The released image also confirms OnePlus Ace Racing Edition can come in blue and grey colour options. Rumoured OnePlus Ace Racing Edition specifications We can expect OnePlus Ace Racing Edition to come in a 6.59-inch IPS LCD full HD display with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Under the hood, it can have Android 12 OS and ColourOS for the user interface. It is depicted to sport a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. OnePlus Ace Racing Edition can be powered with Dimensity 8100 Max chipset. Just like OnePlus 10R, it is expected to arrive in different variants- 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage, and 12 GB RAM + 512 GB storage. It can have a 5000 mAh battery. Coming to camera capabilities, we can assume it will sport a 16MP front camera including 64 MP main camera, 8 MP ultrawide, and 2 MP macro. The OnePlus 10R is priced at ₹38,999, therefore we can expect Ace Racing Edition to be priced around ₹35,000. At present, there is no information about OnePlus Ace Racing Edition launch date in India but we can assume once its launched it will compete against <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/realme-gt-neo-3-review/articleshow/91177590.cms">Realme GT Neo 3</a>. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/how-to-use-the-realistic-crying-face-filter-on-snapchat/articleshow/91587875.cms">How to use the realistic crying face filter on Snapchat</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/google-and-samsung-join-forces-to-help-android-developers-sync-fitness-data-between-apps-seamlessly/articleshow/91589325.cms">Google and Samsung join forces to help Android developers sync fitness data between apps seamlessly</a>

OnePlus Ace Racing Edition to launch on May 17— here’s what to expect

<ul><li><keyword id="4741912" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="aishwarya-pissay">Aishwarya Pissay</keyword> has won 9 championships — both nationally and internationally — in a sport with very few men, let alone women, participating from India.</li><li>The latest feather in her cap was cinched when she came third at the Dubai International Baja, which was the first round of the FIM <keyword id="11117865" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Baja-Rally-World-Cup">Baja Rally World Cup</keyword> under the women's category in February 2021.</li><li>The brutal beginning of her rewarding career involved three major injuries and a couple of hundred minor ones. </li></ul>Fearless Aishwarya Pissay navigates through life on a motorcycle through the harshest of terrains, at the fastest possible speeds, and has brought India much recognition though few would know it. She has won 9 championships — both nationally and internationally — in a sport with very few men, let alone women, participating from India. In 2019, she became the first Indian athlete to win a World Cup at the FIM Baja Rally World Cup in the women's category and placed second in the juniors category in the overall championship (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme <keyword id="9785123" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="baja-world-cup">Baja World Cup</keyword>). And the latest feather in her cap was cinched when she came third at the Dubai International Baja, which was the first round of the FIM Baja Rally World Cup under the women's category in February 2021. What began as a hobby when she was 18⁠ — Pissay and a friend decided to pool in and buy a bike for casual rides on weekends⁠— turned out to be a relatively lucrative career. One she had not fathomed. However, the brutal beginning of her rewarding career involved three major injuries and a couple of hundred minor ones. Even as she spoke to <keyword id="824043" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider">Business Insider</keyword>, Pissay was recovering from a wrist injury from the Jordan International Baja rally racing event held in March 2021. There are two types of motorcycle racing — one is road racing, and the other is rallying. Road racing is an enclosed circuit race and whoever crosses the finish line first wins the race, whereas rallies are longer length courses conducted over rougher terrains like dunes, forests etc. Pissay has mastered both. Edited excerpts of our conversation with Pissay follow. <div type="image" title="Aishwarya Pissay" msid="82128012" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Aishwarya Pissay &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Is this something you always wanted to do or is it something that just happened? I started riding motorcycles at 18, and I really didn't think that I would be racing motorcycles before that because it's a very unconventional sport. And, in our country, at least, I had not heard of any motorcycle racers as such at the time who were competing internationally as well. I came to know about a few accomplished racers like Aravind KP and <keyword id="1617630" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="CS-Santosh">CS Santosh</keyword>, who were racing internationally as well, only once I started getting into racing. But that was in rally races. With road racing, there was no such set benchmark that I could look at. What does it take to succeed in this career? I think a not-giving-up attitude, determination, perseverance, discipline and a goal. It takes the same amount of work as any other sport. It needs a lot of time on the bike and a lot of training. Not just the riding aspect of training, but a lot of physical training as well because our races are more endurance specific. So to sustain through all of that, I think physical fitness and mental fitness also play an essential role in my training. Tell us a little bit about the training that is required. My training is broken down into gym, mental fitness training, navigation training, and riding. In a week, I go to the gym pretty much every day and even if I'm not in the city, I make sure I still do my routine workout there as well. When I'm going to the gym, we're focusing on physical fitness, strength, agility and endurance. These are the aspects that we are looking at with training at the gym. I also have a nutritionist who takes care of my diet. Then with my mental fitness coach, we work on a lot of meditation, breathing techniques, visualisation. We also play the PlayStation because that's the closest that we have to simulate a racing situation, and we also work on a lot of puzzles. We also discuss race strategies. On Fridays and over the weekends, I go to ride. We focus on doing motos, and I have a lap timer on my helmet, which technically tracks my lap timings. We take the reports from that and use them to assess how we could be better. Before international races, like when I was in Dubai for the 2021 FIM Bajas World Cup, I spent one month training there before the race. After which, I participated in the race and finished third in that race. <div type="image" title="Aishwarya Pissay" msid="82128016" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Aishwarya Pissay &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> So how many times have you sustained an injury, or have we just lost count? Well, I've had a lot of minor crashes and those I've lost count of, but with respect to really bad injuries, three. My latest injury was at the Baja World Cup in Jordan on March 19th. I had this accident during a race, and I broke both my wrists in this crash. I was operated on right after on the very same day, and I flew back to India. Now I'm working on my rehab. I've been working on wrist mobility and my fitness routines, the ones I can still work on, especially with my lower body and endurance. Ever thought of embracing an alternate career after any of the accidents? No, never, because I think even if I fall down the stairs, I might break a wrist or break a leg. I can still break something not doing what I do. I think in any sport, the risk of injury exists, and I don't think it has ever bothered me. I think I've always come out of these injuries stronger, and these injuries have just made me more motivated to go towards my goal and achieve them. Can you tell us about your next big race? My next big race is round three of the Baja World Cup. It's happening in Spain in July, so that's what I'm preparing for. <div type="image" title="Aishwarya Pissay" msid="82128032" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Aishwarya Pissay &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Which one has been the toughest terrain that you have had to navigate? Jordan, the one I had the accident in. This is where one of the Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker's epic dune scenes was shot. It's mixed terrain — it has a lot of sand, a lot of hardpack, and many blind spots. It's a lot more challenging, especially with navigation. For navigation, we use a road book which is not a digital device. It is a paper roll that we put on the bike, and we are navigating ourselves reading pace notes that we have to recalibrate or scroll up and down based on the odometer we are at. How does one make money if they choose to take this up as a profession? When I started racing motorcycles, there were not many women or men who had made racing a career. So when I started out, it was more of a hobby, but when I started performing well and started winning championships — privately and with small sponsorships that were in-kind or bikes — did I get my big break. <keyword id="648816" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="TVS-Racing">TVS Racing</keyword> has been in the racing scene for 39 years, and they are always on the hunt for good athletes. We started working together in 2017, and they started supporting me with the rally, nationally and internationally. Them coming on board meant they started taking care of my training, my racing, and it became a job that involved remuneration. Since then, the graph has just been curving upwards. Any government support? Not, not yet. I was nominated for the Arjun Award in 2020, but I believe nobody from <keyword id="735786" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="motorsports">motorsports</keyword> got it. However, just recently, <keyword id="638723" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kiren-Rijiju">Kiren Rijiju</keyword>, Union Sports Minister, added <a href="https://twitter.com/KirenRijiju/status/1308618966777040897" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">motorsports</a> to the list of disciplines eligible for government jobs under the sports quota, which is really great. It's a good start, and I think it's just going to keep getting better from here. What about family? Were they always supportive? In the beginning, my grandparents were a little wary about it because they hadn't heard of anybody doing anything like this. So they wanted me to pursue this as a hobby. But when results started showing, and especially when the association with <keyword id="62356" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="TVS">TVS</keyword> came along, things really changed, and they were also more accepting of the idea. My mother definitely has been very supportive in terms of what I do. She's never really stopped me from what I want to do, and I think that is one of the greatest support that you could get from family — not having to stop you from what you want to do. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/new-super-earth-only-takes-2-4-days-to-complete-a-year/articleshow/82115255.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">A newly found ‘super’ Earth only takes 2.4 days to complete a year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/watch-crystal-clear-hd-video-of-nasa-astronauts-walking-in-space/articleshow/82099944.cms">WATCH: Crystal clear footage of NASA astronauts walking in space, changing out pipes, installing cameras and much more</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/scientists-are-roasting-meteorites-to-recreate-the-birth-of-planets/articleshow/82102499.cms">How to bake a meteorite — scientists are heating up space rocks to recreate the birth of planets</a>

Aishwarya Pissay, a champion motorcyclist, describes what it takes to ace the circuit

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Traci Thomas is the host of "The Stacks" podcast, where she connects with authors, actors, screenwriters, and politicians to use <keyword id="5050" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="books">books</keyword> as a catalyst for larger conversations on <keyword id="15024" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Race">race</keyword>, <keyword id="144584" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="privilege">privilege</keyword>, and culture.</li><li>For anyone who didn't get as much reading done as you would've liked during lockdown, Thomas has compiled a list of 11 books to kick off the new year on the right foot. </li><li>These books cover everything from sports to <keyword id="6361617" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="climate-change">climate change</keyword>, to social justice, to race and privilege, and include titles such as " Black Futures" by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham and "The Undocumented Americans" by Karla Cornejo Villavicenio.</li></ul>2021 is finally here. I know I'm not alone in being excited to welcome a new year, not because I think the world will miraculously be fixed overnight, but because new year means a chance at a fresh start, and I'm all for that.As the host of <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-stacks/id1362164483?mt=2&amp;app=podcast&amp;at=1000lLiX1000lLiX">The Stacks</a>, a podcast about books and reading, I spend pretty much all my time talking about, sifting through, taking pictures of, and smelling books. When I reflect back on 2020, books were a cultural touchstone throughout the year.<div type="image" title="Traci Thomas The Stacks Podcast" height="1803" width="2400" msid="80062202" hostid="261"></div>When lockdown first began, many people took it as the opportunity they needed to finally read that Russian novel they'd been putting off since 1996. Then in May and June, books on <a href="https://bookshop.org/lists/antiracist-reading-list/edit">anti-racist reading lists</a> surged as a response to the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Finally in November, one book was on everyone's wish list, President Obama's memoir "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9781524763169">A Promised Land</a>." While people were certainly talking a lot about books, <a href="https://lithub.com/about-that-wave-of-anti-racist-bestsellers-over-the-summer/">I'm not sure much reading got done</a>. Which is totally fine, no judgement. If you do want to kick off your new bookish self in 2021, here's my list of 11 books from 2020 to begin. A few were pretty popular, and others flew under the radar, but they are all very good and worth your time. They range from sports to climate change, from social justice to rich kids, all in their own unique way diving deeper into the world we live in.Once you finish reading through this list, the most exciting books of 2021 will be here (I'm looking at you "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9780593085684">The Prophets</a>" and "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9780593134047">Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African-America, 1619-2019</a>)" and then we can truly move on from the year that was 2020.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-books-hope-inspiration-uncertain-times-recommended-by-founders-ceos-coaches">19 books that'll give you hope and inspiration in uncertain times, recommended by founders, CEOs, and business coaches</a><h2>1. "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9781568588735">Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream"</a> by Mychal Denzel Smith </h2>This book is a searing work of nonfiction that looks at America, both our realities and our myths, and asks us to consider who we are as a country. Smith has crafted a book that indicts the American Dream and the ways we, as a country, fail to live up to our self-professed ideals.This book is a great jumping off point for the new year as we think about our collective resolutions as conscious citizens, and what we will have to give up in order to abolish the systems of oppression that hinder us all.<h2>2. "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9781594487330">The Office of Historical Corrections"</a> by Danielle Evans </h2>This story collection is about the ways history, both personal and collective, can haunt, harm, and heal us.The stories range from a college student caught in a confederate flag scandal to a womanizing artist who finally decides to apologize for his abusive behaviors, to a near future dystopia concerned with correcting the historical record.In this collection you'll examine grief, race, love, and loss and find characters that confuse and excite you. <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9781594487330">This collection</a> is <a href="https://thestackspodcast.com/the-stacks-book-club/">The Stacks Book Club</a> pick for January 2021, and you can hear our discussion on the podcast on Wednesday, January 27.<h2>3. "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9780399181139">Black Futures</a>" edited by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham </h2>This book was easily my most immersive and unique reading experience of 2020. It's a collection of essays, art, memes, conversations, recipes, lyrics, and more that attempt to detail and encompass the experience of Blackness, both as a time capsule of this moment and a dream for our future."<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9780399181139">Black Futures</a>" is the embodiment of the saying "Blackness is not a monolith". The topics found in the book range from Black Indigeneity to BDSM, from ocean preservation to Colin Kaepernick. Drew &amp; Wortham poured so much love into this collection and into telling the many stories that make up the varied existences of Blackness.<h2>4. "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9781477313138">Loving Sports When They Don't Love You Back: Dilemmas of the Modern Fan"</a> by Jessica Luther &amp; Kavitha A. Davidson </h2>If you love sports, but are finding it harder and harder to cheer for your favorite teams because you hate rooting for the owners and organizations that run them, this is your book.This book covers brain injuries, racism, domestic violence, and the ways we can hope to move forward in creating a sports world that has room for both social justice and our fandom. This book feels particularly relevant as we watch sports in 2021 through the lens of leagues and teams putting profit over players (and fans) in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/10-books-side-hustle-start-making-real-money-2020-10">10 books to read to finally start making real money from your side hustle</a><h2>5. "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9781984820365">Minor Feelings: An Asian-American Reckoning"</a> by Cathy Park Hong </h2>This is a collection of essays from poet Cathy Park Hong that examine the idea of "minor feelings'' - the dissonance that occurs when America's optimism contradictions the reality of one's own life.This book is memoir and cultural criticism and uses Hong's own identity as a Korean American, and a child of immigrants, to tell the story of race in America and the ways Asian identities can complicate and expand our preconceived notions that are often centered only on Black and white.<h2>6. "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9780062333131">The New Wilderness"</a> by Diane Cook </h2>A dystopian near future novel, this book tells the story of a mother and daughter who leave their over polluted city life and move into "The Wilderness State", a place where humans had been previously forbidden. Now they, along with other volunteers, are living in the wild to see if people can live in and among nature without destroying it. Creative and imaginative and a commentary on our own, very real climate crisis.<h2>7. "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9781849354226">We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice"</a> by Adrienne Maree Brown </h2>This super slim book was inspired by a July 2020 blog post from brown titled <a href="http://adriennemareebrown.net/2020/07/17/unthinkable-thoughts-call-out-culture-in-the-age-of-covid-19/">"Unthinkable Thoughts: Call Out Culture in the Age of Covid-19"</a>. The book looks at "cancel culture" and the ways it functions and how we can transform it to serve a greater good. Told from the perspective of a Black, queer, feminist, "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9781849354226">We Will Not Cancel Us</a>" shifts the conversation away from those who have been "canceled" to those we are seeking transformative justice.<h2>8. "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9781580059510">Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America"</a> by Ijeoma Oluo</h2>Every woman and/or person of color has been faced with the white male counterpart who is less knowledgeable, less accomplished, and less skilled but somehow holds more power and authority, and respect. "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9781580059510">Mediocre</a>" explains the history of this phenomenon throughout American history. Oluo shows her reader the many manifestations of this mediocrity from "The Bernie Bro" to higher education. If you've ever felt gas-lit by the systems that are in place in America and have lacked the language to put words to your frustration, this is the perfect book for you.<h2>9. "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9780399592683">The Undocumented Americans</a>" by Karla Cornejo Villavicenio</h2>In this work of creative nonfiction Villavicencio takes her reader into the world of undocumented immigrants that is rarely explored in art and media. This isn't the story of The Dreamers or immigrants who have been deemed successful, it is instead the stories of day laborers, delivery people, domestic workers, and other undocumented people whose stories have cast them into the shadows of the American dream. "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9780399592683">The Undocumented Americans</a>" is a book about the reality of life for many undocumented immigrants in America who have been villainized, harassed, and demeaned.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/books-break-into-venture-capital-investors-founders-professor-recommendations">The 14 best books to read to break into venture capital, according to investors, founders, and professors in the VC space</a><h2>10. <a href="https://bookshop.org/books/ace-what-asexuality-reveals-about-desire-society-and-the-meaning-of-sex-9781662036811/9780807013793">"Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex"</a> by Angela Chen </h2>An overview of Asexuality and it's many intersections, "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9780807013793">Ace</a>" is ambitious in its willingness to dive head first into the complexities of sex, desire, and relationships. Chen isn't only talking about Asexual people, she's also presenting a much more complex picture of Allos (folks who do feel sexual desire). "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9780807013793">Ace</a>" is a wonderful encompassing introduction into the world of sexual desire. <h2>11. "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9781250236432">Anna K: A Love Story"</a> by Jenny Lee</h2> A young adult retelling of Leo Tolstoy's "<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/anna-karenina-9798673567456/9780199536061">Anna Karenina</a>" set among NYC's wealthiest teenagers. It is juicy with sex, drugs, mega-parties and, of course, a little romance. "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9781250236432">Anna K" </a>is a really good time, think <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397442/">Gossip Girl</a>, and the best part is, there is a sequel coming out in April 2021, so by the time you finish this gem, you'll be ready for "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/3111/9781250236463">Anna K Away</a>."Traci Thomas is the creator and host of "<a href="https://thestackspodcast.com/">The Stacks</a>," a podcast about books and reading. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and twin sons. Listen on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-stacks/id1362164483">Apple Podcasts,</a> and follow "The Stacks" on <a href="https://twitter.com/thestackspod_">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thestackspod/">Instagram</a>.

11 books to pick up in the new year that you missed reading in 2020

<ul><li><keyword id="1627596" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="smriti-mandhana" source="Orion">Smriti Mandhana</keyword> has been ranked among the top 10 athletes in the world by sponsorship value on social media.</li><li>Social media performance across her digital platforms saw more than 61 million engagements in 2022 and the swashbuckling batter has combined following of more than 14.8 million.</li></ul>New Delhi, <keyword id="6613" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="smriti" source="Orion">Smriti</keyword> Mandhana, the ace Indian women's cricket team opener, has been ranked among the top 10 athletes in the world by sponsorship value on social media, according to a recent study released by Sportico and KORE. Social media performance across her digital platforms saw more than 61 million engagements in 2022 and the swashbuckling batter has combined following of more than 14.8 million, securing the 9th spot for her among all female athletes in the world, making her the only Women cricketer to be in top 10 athletes. The list also features some of the biggest names in the world of women's sports like the all-time tennis great <keyword id="45035" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="serena-williams" source="Orion">Serena Williams</keyword>, freestyle skier Eileen Gu, American Motorsport racing driver <keyword id="17217259" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="hailie-deegan" source="Orion">Hailie Deegan</keyword> to name a couple who have all been working with some of the top brands. <keyword id="3692712" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tuhin-mishra" source="Orion">Tuhin Mishra</keyword>, Managing Director &amp; Co-Founder, Baseline Ventures, who exclusively manages Smriti said, "Mandhana's success on social media has helped to raise the profile of women's cricket in India and around the world. Her strong performances on the field and her engaging personality off the field have made her a role model for young girls aspiring to make a mark in the world of sports. We expect these numbers to swell even further as we believe it adds more value for the brands that partner with Smriti over the years." Smriti has been a prominent figure in the Indian cricketing circuit for several years and has represented the country in several international tournaments. She has won several accolades for her performances, including the Arjuna Award in 2019, Women's Cricketer of the Year 2019 &amp; 2021, the Wisden Woman Cricketer of the year 2019, ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the year 2018. Most recently the Indian Opener was also sold to RCB for USD 413K, the highest bid for any player in the first edition of the Women's Premier League 2023. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/bard-to-magi-googles-latest-weapon-in-the-battle-for-search-supremacy/articleshow/99576251.cms">From Bard to Magi: Google's latest weapon in the battle for search supremacy</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/ai-generated-images-and-videos-a-game-changer-or-a-threat-to-authenticity/articleshow/99560443.cms">AI-generated images and videos: A game-changer or a threat to authenticity?</a>

Smriti Mandhana makes it to Sportico's Top 10 global female athletes by sponsorship value on social media

<ul><li>I/O 2022 brings big updates to <keyword id="2750705" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="google-pay" source="Orion">Google Pay</keyword>.</li><li>Enhanced security features including Virtual cards to come in future.</li><li>Below read about <keyword id="13947243" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="upcoming-features-in-google-pay" source="Orion">upcoming features in Google Pay</keyword>.</li></ul>At <keyword id="13402316" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="google-i/o-2022" source="Orion">Google I/O 2022</keyword>, Google’s annual developer’s conference, the company announced a bunch of new features to Google Pay and a revival of Google Wallet. According to the company, using a Google Wallet, users can connect their credit cards and simply tap on devices to make payments. It will also allow users to store, digital ID cards, credit cards, vaccination cards and more. Google is also aiming to improve the Google Pay experience for users by adding a potential feature that will show you which credit cards have the best rewards for your purchase. Back in 2020, Google made some major changes to Google Pay with a money management approach that allowed users to track incoming and outgoing transactions. What’s new in Google Pay? During the Google Pay session at I/O, the Product Lead for Google Pay, Rajiv Apana introduced new features including prominent security across the Google Pay ecosystem. Apana claimed Google Pay will be able to choose among the credit cards and find the one that offers the best rewards for purchase. He said, “in the future, we will look to provide even more helpful information about the card benefits such as points, cashback, and purchase predictions, so our users can make the best choice when they are checking out.” During the session, Apana also highlighted the upcoming security feature, Virtual cards. It is focused on enhanced security and privacy by replacing actual cards with virtual one that will protect the users from fraudulent websites. Additionally, just like the auto-fill form, the checkout form will be automatically filled, saving the hassle to input card details. Google Pay is currently available in more than 40 countries and soon we hope Indian users will use these upcoming features. The virtual cards feature will be available in the US with MasterCard, Visa, and American Express sometime in the future. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/oneplus-ace-racing-edition-smartphone-to-launch-on-may-17-2022/articleshow/91591784.cms">OnePlus Ace Racing Edition to launch on May 17— here’s what to expect</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/google-and-samsung-join-forces-to-help-android-developers-sync-fitness-data-between-apps-seamlessly/articleshow/91589325.cms">Google and Samsung join forces to help Android developers sync fitness data between apps seamlessly</a>

Google Pay may soon get a feature that will suggest you the best card for online payments

Hi. Aaron Weinman here. Let's talk about interns, specifically <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/point72-investment-internship-how-to-impress-managers-2022-7">the rigorous program on offer</a> at Steve Cohen's $24 billion hedge fund Point72.And of course, there's our <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/banker-of-the-week-francisco-partners-private-equity-dj-deb-2022-7">Banker of the Week!</a>Shall we?If this was forwarded to you,<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/10-things-on-wall-street"> sign up here</a>. Download Insider's app <a href="https://www.insider.com/app">here</a>.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/point72-investment-internship-how-to-impress-managers-2022-7"></a>1. Here's how to stand out among the pack for Steve Cohen. The hedge-fund manager and New York Mets owner founded the $24.4 billion fund Point72, and its internship is one of the most sought after on Wall Street.Importantly, a summer internship is often a precursor to the Point72 Academy — a 10-month training program for college graduates and early-career folks looking to carve out a living as an investment analyst.The firm gets about 16,000 applications a year for Point72 Academy, but only 40 or so people make the cut each year. Therefore, impressing as an intern is one of the best ways to nab a spot.The chosen ones go through rotations across Point72's 25 investment teams, and they also get to hone their ideas with priceless pitching skills. And who knows, maybe the interns might get to learn pitching skills with some of Cohen's Mets aces, like Jacob deGrom and Edwin Díaz.Insider's Alyson Velati chatted with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/point72-investment-internship-how-to-impress-managers-2022-7">two portfolio managers and a program director</a> at Point72, who shared the most impressive traits among the firm's summer interns.And here's some other reporting about the hiring uncertainty on Wall Street and how early-career folks can progress:<ul><li>Here's everything we know about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-wall-streets-hiring-freeze-2022-7">banks' belt tightening</a> and how it will impact jobs and compensation</li><li>Inside Goldman Sachs' plans to bring back the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-goldman-sachs-annual-performance-reviews-work-wall-street-layoffs-2022-7">dreaded performance review</a></li><li>Twelve career counselors reveal the industries where <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hiring-market-new-graduates-post-great-resignation-tech-layoffs-2022-6">hiring is still hot</a></li><li>Wall Street is racing to turn the tide on its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-firms-hiring-tech-talent-from-silicon-valley-fintechs-2022-7">war for tech talent</a> against Silicon Valley</li></ul>In other news:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-ipo-goldman-sachs-pandemic-2022-7"></a><div type="image" title="Three executives of Airbnb with its logo shooting down towards a red scribble on the side." height="1500" width="2000" msid="93212493" hostid="261" sizebytes="413338"></div>2. Here's how Airbnb and its bankers at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley scrambled to take the company public as the pandemic hit. This story is an excerpt from Insider Chief Finance Correspondent Dakin Campbell's new book "Going Public: How Silicon Valley Rebels Loosened Wall Street's Grip on the IPO and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-ipo-goldman-sachs-pandemic-2022-7">Sparked a Revolution</a>."3. Media dealmaking continues to boom despite the market uncertainty. Meet 16 private-equity players investing in Hollywood, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-private-equity-players-investing-hollywood-2022-7">from Apollo to TPG</a>.4. Flying private has become more popular as commercial carriers struggle with high traffic. But with few private jets available, charter firms are inundated with customers. Go inside the frenzy for private planes as the rich <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wealth-private-jet-charter-sales-europe-airlines-flights-2022-7">flock to European charters</a>.5. The GameStop frenzy put payment for order flow on the hot seat. Here's how FTX US and Public.com plan to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-ftx-us-and-public-plan-to-make-money-without-payment-for-order-flow-2022-7">profit without it</a>.6. Robinhood Chief Executive Vlad Tenev says the company is equipped to stay independent. The app-based brokerage is more focused on its most active users, Tenev told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-28/robinhood-ceo-plots-turnaround-after-rocky-first-year-since-ipo?utm=true&amp;sref=ipW5reFz">Bloomberg in an interview</a>.7. Working from home is taking a toll. Companies are ditching their offices and it is set to get worse for the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/office-market-report-record-high-vacancies-jll-cushman-cbre-statistics-2022-7">$2.5 trillion office-space market</a>.8. This beach house owner's revenues from rent jumped more than $100,000 after ditching a management company for Airbnb. Here's the exact changes Anissa Branch made for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-increase-airbnb-bookings-thousands-quickly-2022-7">her Oregon property</a>.9. JetBlue won the battle for Spirit Airlines after Frontier and Spirit canceled a merger deal. The David Neeleman-founded <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jetblue-agrees-deal-buy-spirit-airlines-billion-largest-us-frontier-2022-7?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=New:%2010%20Things%20on%20Wall%20Street&amp;r=US&amp;IR=T">JetBlue reached a $3.8 billion agreement for Spirit</a>, but now it must win over <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/28/jetblue-won-the-battle-for-spirit-now-it-has-to-win-over-bidens-justice-department.html">President Joe Biden's Justice Department</a>. Goldman Sachs advised JetBlue, Shearman &amp; Sterling was its legal counsel. Barclays and Morgan Stanley advised Spirit, and Debevoise &amp; Plimpton, and Paul, Weiss were legal counsel.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/banker-of-the-week-francisco-partners-private-equity-dj-deb-2022-7"></a><div type="image" title="Francisco Partners' CEO &quot;DJ&quot; Deb" height="449" width="599" msid="93212495" hostid="261" sizebytes="11434"></div>10. And here's our Friday Banker of the Week. Meet Dipanjan "DJ" Deb. He's the co-founder and chief executive at Francisco Partners.The private-equity firm has just raised $17 billion in new capital, and Deb told Insider he's eyeing a bunch of assets throughout the tech space from adtech to healthtech.Check out <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/banker-of-the-week-francisco-partners-private-equity-dj-deb-2022-7">the full story here</a>, and learn about Deb and his decision to leave one of the most well-known investment firms to start his own shop.Done deals:<ul><li>Carlyle's credit platform led the debt financing to support Clayton, Dubilier &amp; Rice's <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/morrisons-owner-turns-to-non-bank-lenders-to-finance-eur2-7bn-outsourcing-swoop-12660447">acquisition of Atalian and OCS Group</a>. The debt package includes a so-called unitranche loan, which comprises a mixture of loans that sit on various parts of a company's capital structure.</li><li>Ardian, Groupe Casino, Bpifrance, and Tikehau Capital will <a href="https://www.ardian.com/press-releases/ardian-groupe-casino-tikehau-capital-and-bpifrance-sign-agreement-ardian-acquire">acquire a majority stake</a> in GreenYellow, a French energy company. Ardian's infrastructure team led proceedings.</li></ul>Sign up now: Ready for the next step? Whether you feel the need to get that promotion, pivot industries or simply just want to shake things up, Morning Brew offers a career Accelerator to get you where you want to go. <a href="https://education.morningbrew.com/accelerators?utm_campaign=MBA-0922&amp;utm_source=insider&amp;utm_medium=newsletter">Get all the details here.</a>Curated by Aaron Weinman in New York. Tips? Email <a href="mailto:aweinman@insider.com">aweinman@insider.com</a> or tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/aaronw11">@aaronw11</a>. Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/hallam_bullock">@hallam_bullock</a>) in London.

Point72's internship could land a dream gig at Steve Cohen's $24 billion fund. Here's what you need to know.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Best-picture nominees need to fulfill certain criteria to turn their nomination into an Oscar win.</li><li>This includes earning other Oscar nominations in key categories, and winning at major precursors.</li><li>We go through this year's nominees to see how they've performed this awards season and who's on top.</li></ul>When it comes to winning <a href="https://www.insider.com/ranked-best-picture-winners-the-oscars-past-10-years-2020-1">best picture at the Academy Awards</a>, there's something of a formula.Throughout awards season, a movie needs to score "points" at certain precursor awards in order to gain the necessary momentum to win the ultimate prize. Whoever gets the most "points" usually wins - although not all the time.Ahead of this Sunday's 93rd Academy Awards, Insider went through the best-picture nominations and identified the other Oscar nominations that each movie ideally needs in order to win best picture.From there, we worked out which of <a href="https://www.insider.com/oscars-most-diverse-academy-awards-ever-study-report-2021-3">this year's eight nominees</a> is ahead in the race to best picture.<h2>Editing, writing, acting, and directing are the most important branches to impress</h2>While the more nominations the better, a movie can miss out on things like costume design, cinematography, and production design, and still be quite likely to take best picture at the <keyword id="6376611" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oscars">Oscars</keyword>. These are below the line categories, and plenty of past best-picture winners, such as "The Departed" and "Spotlight," missed out on almost all below the line nominations and still won the top prize.Where a movie really needs to gain support, however, is in the acting, editing, writing, and directing branches. Oscars history tells us so.Historically, the closest correlation has been between the winner of best director and best picture - 66 of the 92 best-picture winners have also won best director. However, there has been more of a split between picture and director since the preferential ballot voting method (where members rank the films from best to worst, rather than simply choosing their favorite) <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/how-oscar-s-preferential-ballot-works-could-produce-a-best-picture-shocker-1189677">was brought in in 2009</a>.Still, most of those best-picture winners at least earned nominations, if not wins, for best director. "Argo," in 2013, was the last movie to win best picture without a directing nomination, and only four others in Oscars history have achieved that ("Wings" in 1929, "Grand Hotel" in 1932, "Driving Miss Daisy" in 1990, and "Green Book" in 2019). <div type="image" title="argo" height="658" width="878" msid="82232240" hostid="261"></div>That could spell trouble for half of the best-picture nominees this year. "Judas and the Black Messiah," "Sound of Metal," "The Father," and <a href="https://www.insider.com/netflix-the-trial-of-the-chicago-7-review-oscars-2020-9">"The Trial of the Chicago 7"</a> all missed out on best director nods.Meanwhile, only one movie in the last 40 years has won best picture at the Oscars with no editing nomination - that was "Birdman" in 2016, which bucked one of the most reliable Oscar trends. This year, "Judas and the Black Messiah," "Mank," and <a href="https://www.insider.com/minari-review-best-movie-year-american-steven-yeun-2021-2">"Minari,"</a> were all snubbed for best editing. Not looking good for them.<div type="image" title="Titanic" height="1754" width="2339" msid="82232242" hostid="261"></div>Only seven movies out of 92 have managed to win best picture without also landing a writing nomination. The most recent of those was "Titanic" in 1998. Trouble again for "Sound of Metal," the only one of this year's eight best picture nominees to miss out on a writing nomination.The acting categories are also important for a movie to earn support in - 12 movies out of 92 have won best picture at the Oscars with no acting nominations. But this won't matter this year since <a href="https://www.insider.com/oscar-nominations-best-picture-nominees-ranked-critics-2021-3">all of the best-picture nominees</a> have at least one acting nomination each, the the first time this has happened since 2007.Every other year has seen at least one best-picture nominee receive zero acting nominations, and those movies rarely win best picture. The last film to do was "Slumdog Millionaire" in 2009.This year, only two best-picture contenders also earned nominations for acting, directing, writing, and editing: <a href="https://www.insider.com/nomadland-review-chloe-zhao-director-drifter-movie-immersive-2020-10">"Nomadland"</a> and "<keyword id="10490796" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="promising-young-woman">Promising Young Woman</keyword>." Good starts for both of those.<div type="image" title="Frances McDormand Nomadland" height="1200" width="1600" msid="82232243" hostid="261"></div><h2>The guilds are also important</h2>There are specific awards given out by the guilds for each of these all-important branches: the SAG awards (actors guild), PGA awards (producers guild) DGA awards (directors guild), WGA awards (writing awards), and ACE Eddies (editors guild).A movie is considered a major Oscar contender if it manages to gain support at each of these awards groups, too. Five of the last 10 best-picture winners were nominated at all five of these guilds. The other five landed four out of five, with WGA the most common miss.That's good news for "<keyword id="9919274" type="AGENCY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nomadland">Nomadland</keyword>," which scored four nominations (missing WGA), but great news for "Promising Young Woman" and "<keyword id="9987859" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-trial-of-the-chicago-7">The Trial of the Chicago 7</keyword>," both of which landed nominations at all five guilds, the only movies this year to do so.<div type="image" title="promising young woman focus features" height="794" width="1058" msid="82232245" hostid="261"></div><h2>Position yourself as a best picture winner by... winning best picture</h2>The Oscars are the final stop in a long awards season - the final day of soccer games in the season, if you will. But you need to have scored vital victories in previous big events to truly position yourself as a contender. And there are five best-picture opportunities to win leading up to the Oscars: the Critics' Choice awards, the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild awards, the BAFTAs, and the Producers Guild Awards.There is a best picture category (or an equivalent - the SAG's best ensemble cast is their version of best picture) at each awards ceremony, and you pretty much need to win at least one to have any hope of winning at the Oscars.Here are the last 10 Oscar best-picture winners and where else they each won the top prize that year:<ul><li>"Parasite" (2020) - SAG</li><li>"Green Book" (2019) - Globes and PGA</li><li>"The Shape of Water" (2018) - PGA and Critics' Choice</li><li>"Moonlight" (2017) - Globes</li><li>"Spotlight" (2016) - SAG and Critics' Choice</li><li>"Birdman" (2015) - Globes, SAG, and PGA</li><li>"12 Years a Slave" (2014) - Globes, BAFTA, PGA, and Critics' Choice</li><li>"Argo" (2013) - Globes, BAFTA, SAG, PGA, and Critics' Choice</li><li>"The Artist" (2012) - Globes, BAFTA, PGA, and Critics' Choice</li><li>"The King's Speech" (2011) - BAFTA, SAG, and PGA</li></ul>As you'll notice in the list above, winning films in recent years have been dominating less at these precursor awards as prizes are becoming a bit more spread out. And some of these have been surprise winners, like "Moonlight" beating "La La Land" (which had won best-picture awards at the Globes, PGA, BAFTA, and Critics' Choice Awards that year) and "Parasite" beating "1917" (which had won at the Globes, BAFTA, and PGA).Still, a best-picture nominee has historically needed to win at least one of these precursor awards.In the last 20 years, only two best-picture winners have failed to win at least one of the top prizes at one of these five precursors, too. They were "Million Dollar Baby" in 2005 and "The Departed" in 2007.Here are this year's best-picture winners at each of the four pre-Oscars awards:<ul><li><a href="https://variety.com/2021/film/news/2021-critics-choice-awards-winners-list-1234922714/">Critics' Choice</a> - "Nomadland"</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/golden-globes-nominations-winners-list-2021-2">Golden Globes</a> - "Borat Subsequent MovieFilm" (best motion picture musical or comedy) and "Nomadland" (best motion picture drama)</li><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/apr/11/baftas-2021-nomadland-wins-big-as-anthony-hopkins-and-promising-young-woman-surprise">BAFTAs</a> - "Nomadland"</li><li><a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-04-04/sag-awards-2021-analysis-oscars">SAG</a> - "The Trial of the Chicago 7"</li><li><a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2021/03/2021-pga-awards-winners-1234625717/#:~:text=Seven%202021%20PGA%20nominees%20for,Trial%20of%20the%20Chicago%207.%E2%80%9D">PGA</a> - "Nomadland"</li></ul><div type="image" title="Sacha Baron Cohen The Trial Chicago 7" height="1200" width="1600" msid="82232248" hostid="261"></div>"Borat 2" didn't earn a nomination for best picture, so it's just "Nomadland" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7" of the best-picture nominees who won at least one of these awards, with "Nomadland" winning four out of five.This is a major boost for "Nomadland," which dominated these precursors, while "Promising Young Woman" is left with a lot of ground to make up.<h2>You need to win other Oscars the night-of, too</h2>No movie in Academy Awards history has ever just win best picture and no other award.A movie needs to win at least one other Oscar to be a reasonable contender, usually more. Only two movies ever have won best picture with only one other win. That was "The Greatest Show on Earth" in 1953 and "Spotlight" in 2016. Both movies also won a writing award.Out of the current best-picture nominees, here's the Oscars each movie is favored to win, according to awards-experts publication <a href="https://www.goldderby.com/odds/combined-odds/oscars-2021-predictions/">Gold Derby</a>.<ul><li>"Judas and the Black Messiah" - supporting actor (<a href="https://www.insider.com/golden-globes-daniel-kaluuya-speech-technical-difficulty-2021-2#:~:text=The%202021%20Golden%20Globes%20got,to%20finish%20accepting%20his%20award.">Daniel Kaluuya</a>)</li><li>"Mank" - production design</li><li>"<keyword id="10490666" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="minari">Minari</keyword>" - supporting actress (<a href="https://www.insider.com/minari-actress-yuh-jung-youn-stressful-nominated-at-oscars-2021-4">Yuh-Jung Youn</a>)</li><li>"Nomadland" - director (<a href="https://www.insider.com/oscars-women-nominated-best-director-2021-3">Chloé Zhao</a>), adapted screenplay, cinematography</li><li>"Promising Young Woman" - actress (Carey Mulligan), original screenplay</li><li>"Sound of Metal" - editing, sound</li><li>"The Father" - none</li><li>"The Trial of the Chicago 7" - none</li></ul>Bad news for both "The Father" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7," who could both go home empty handed despite earning six nominations each.The two Oscars "Promising Young Woman" is predicted to win are not hugely safe bets, either. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-04-05/sag-awards-2021-viola-davis-chadwick-boseman-winners">Viola Davis</a> will be a fierce competitor for best actress (for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"), while Aaron Sorkin's script for "The Trial of the Chicago 7" could easily win over "Promising Young Woman," which was written and directed by Emerald Fennell."The Father" could nab best adapted screenplay over "Nomadland," too, as it did at BAFTA. However, all of the other predictions do look like safe bets. That's good news for "Judas and the Black Messiah," "Minari," "Sound of Metal," and "Nomadland," who are each predicted to win at least one important Oscar.The writing awards could yet again have a big say in the race. "The Trial of Chicago 7" needs to win best original screenplay to have any hope at all of winning best picture. If it doesn't win that, it's got no chance. "Promising Young Woman" will have to win that award and hope best actress goes their way; then, it's in with a shout.If "Nomadland" wins best director, which is basically a shoe-in at this point, and manages to hold on to best adapted screenplay, it will be tough to beat.<h2>So, who's ahead?</h2><div type="image" title="Frances McDormand Nomadland close up" height="1200" width="1600" msid="82232251" hostid="261"></div>The answer is pretty obvious: "Nomadland."The movie won four of the five major best-picture precursor awards, scored nominations at four of the five guild awards, earned Oscar nominations in each of the key branches, and is predicted to win two very important Oscars.All of the other nominees have major shortcomings in the race to best picture, but if an upset were to occur, look to either "Promising Young Woman" or "The Trial of the Chicago 7." The former earned nominations in all of the important races, the latter is the only other movie this year to win the top prize at a precursor ceremony, and they both nailed the guilds. However, no precursor best picture win for Fennell's movie and no predicted Oscar wins for Sorkin's means both are on shaky ground.Even if "Promising Young Woman" wins both actress and original screenplay, it's still got to conquer the notoriously difficult <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/how-oscar-s-preferential-ballot-works-could-produce-a-best-picture-shocker-1189677">preferential ballot</a> - where the most universally liked movie wins. "Promising Young Woman" will be loved by some, but loathed by others. "The Trial of the Chicago 7" will fare well in this method, however, as it's a liked movie that will probably place third or fourth on a lot of people's ballots.The issue is, "Nomadland" is loved by a lot of people and not really hated by anyone. Even if voters haven't resonated with "Nomadland," it is a very well-respected movie thanks to the expert craft on display. That will see it ranked high on the preferential ballot.So, long story short, "Promising Young Woman" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7" will battle it out to upset "Nomadland," but Chloé Zhao's movie looks unbeatable at this point.

Here's who's really going to win best picture at the Oscars this year

Kham/ReutersA man holds a pangolin at a wild-animal rescue center in Cuc Phuong, outside Hanoi, Vietnam, September 12, 2016.<ul class="summary-list"><li>A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">coronavirus outbreak</a> that originated in Wuhan, China, has killed at least 630 people and infected more than 31,500 across 26 countries.</li><li>Coronaviruses are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-sars-bats-animals-to-humans-2020-1">zoonotic diseases</a>, meaning they jump from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-many-other-disease-outbreaks-to-come-2020-1">animals to humans</a>. </li><li>The Wuhan coronavirus <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-genome-close-to-sars-originated-in-bats-2020-2">originated in bats</a>. One group of researchers says bats may have passed the virus to pangolins, which then passed it to humans.</li><li>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-wuhan-coronavirus-compared-to-sars-2020-1">SARS coronavirus</a>, which killed 774 people in the early 2000s, jumped from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-genome-close-to-sars-originated-in-bats-2020-2">bats to civets, then to people</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Genetic research has all but confirmed that the new <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">coronavirus spreading in China</a> - called nCoV-2019 - originally came from bats.But experts are still racing to pin down another key piece of the zoonotic puzzle: which animal species served as the virus' intermediary between bats and people.Many possibilities have been floated, including snakes (which is unlikely), pigs, and a weasel-like animal called a civet that passed SARS from bats to people in 2002. Now, a group of researchers from South China Agricultural University in Guangdong <a href="https://scau.edu.cn/2020/0207/c1300a219015/page.htm">suggest the coronavirus' intermediate host</a> might have been the pangolin, an endangered mammal.According to China's Xinhua news agency, the researchers found that samples of coronaviruses taken from wild pangolins and from infected patients are 99% identical.But this research has yet to be published or confirmed by other experts. <h2>From pangolins to people?</h2>The novel coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan has so far killed more than 630 people and infected more than 31,500. Many coronaviruses are zoonotic diseases, meaning they spread to humans from animals. In the case of this one, experts think the virus first infected people at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where live animals were sold. SARS, which is also a coronavirus, jumped to people at a wet market. too. It originated in bats as well.Felix Wong/South China Morning Post/GettyA Chinese wet market.At least one species of pangolin can die from coronaviruses, <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/11/11/979">according to a study</a> published last year. That strengthens the theory that the new coronavirus could have jumped from bats to these creatures before making its way into humans."I can definitely believe it could be true," Kristian Andersen, an immunologist at Scripps Research, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00364-2">told Nature</a>. "I look forward to the published report and data."A pangolin resembles a scaly anteater. Its keratin scales are used as ingredients in traditional Chinese medicinal remedies, and its meat is a delicacy in China and Vietnam.All eight pangolin species are threatened with extinction, according to the <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/search">International Union for the Conservation of Nature</a>. Pangolins were the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/group/pangolins/">most trafficked non-human species</a> in the world in 2013, according to National Geographic; the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species declared pangolin trade illegal in 2016. In China, illegal animal trading is punishable by steep fines and <a href="https://qz.com/1142567/pangolin-trafficking-china-seized-record-haul-of-the-worlds-most-trafficked-mammal/">jail time</a>. It's not yet clear whether any pangolins (or bats, for that matter) were sold at the Huanan market.<h2>Other possible intermediaries: pigs and civets</h2><a href="https://nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2012-7">A study</a> published Monday in the journal Nature found that the new coronavirus shares 96% of its genetic code with coronaviruses circulating in Chinese bat populations. The research also showed that the virus can dock to a receptor in human cells called ACE2, deep in people's lungs.That same receptor exists in bats, pigs, and civets, which is why they're the most likely intermediary-species candidates. Oleksandr Rupeta/NurPhoto/GettyAn Asian palm civet in a cage at Kopi luwak farm and plantation in Ubud District, Bali, Indonesia, on November 20, 2018.A less likely candidate is snakes, despite a January 22 report from scientists who edit the Journal of Medical Virology. They <a href="https://theconversation.com/snakes-could-be-the-original-source-of-the-new-coronavirus-outbreak-in-china-130364">suggested</a> that the Chinese cobra could have served as the link, but Skinner said newer information about the coronavirus genome indicates it's "not really compatible with some of the more exotic hosts that were considered earlier in the epidemic." The only way to be sure about where the virus came from, however, is to take DNA samples from animals sold at the Huanan market and from bats in the area.<h2>Bats were the original hosts of several other zoonotic diseases</h2>In the past 45 years, at least four pandemics have been traced back to bats. They were the original source of Ebola, which has killed 13,500 people in multiple outbreaks since 1976; Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome, better known as MERS, which can be found in 28 countries; and the Nipah virus, which has a 78% fatality rate.Researchers traced SARS to a population of <a href="http://www.bio.bris.ac.uk/research/bats/China%20bats/rhinolophussinicus.htm">horseshoe bats</a> in China's Yunnan province. The virus killed 774 people and infected more than 8,000 in eight months.De Agostini/GettyA greater horseshoe bat, a relative of the Rhinolophis sinicus bat species from China that was the origin of the SARS virus."We know a fair amount of viruses on the World Health Organization's Blueprint list of priority diseases have either a direct or indirect link with bats," Vincent Munster, a virologist at Rocky Mountain Kaboratories, previously told Business Insider. Bats pass along viruses in their poop: If they drop feces onto a piece of fruit that another animal then eats, the creature can become a carrier.Here's how some of the viruses that have passed from bats to people in the last 50 years compare.Last <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6466186/">March</a>, a study even predicted that bats could be the source of a new coronavirus outbreak in China."It is highly likely that future SARS- or MERS-like coronavirus outbreaks will originate from bats, and there is an increased probability that this will occur in China," the researchers wrote.That's because the majority of coronaviruses can be found in China. Plus, the study authors said, most of the bats that host coronaviruses "live near humans in China, potentially transmitting viruses to humans and livestock."<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more about the Wuhan virus:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">Everything we know about the deadly Wuhan virus sweeping across China</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-genome-close-to-sars-originated-in-bats-2020-2">The genetic code of the Wuhan coronavirus shows it's 80% similar to SARS. New research suggests a potential way to neutralize the virus.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-sars-bats-animals-to-humans-2020-1">Experts think the Wuhan coronavirus jumped from bats to snakes to people. Bats have been the source of at least 4 pandemics.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-mild-pandemic-how-it-could-end-2020-2">There's a good chance the Wuhan coronavirus will never disappear, experts say. There are only 3 possible endings to this story.</a></li></ul><a href="/intelligence/digital-health?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_subscription&amp;itm_content=health&amp;itm_campaign=digital-health"></a>Featured Digital Health Articles: - <a href="/telehealth-industry-explained">Telehealth Industry: Benefits, Services &amp; Examples</a> - <a href="/value-based-care-pay-for-performance-healthcare-model">Value-Based Care Model: Pay-for-Performance Healthcare</a> - <a href="/senior-care-market-trends">Senior Care &amp; Assisted Living Market Trends</a> - <a href="/wearable-technology-healthcare-medical-devices">Smart Medical Devices: Wearable Tech in Healthcare</a> - <a href="/artificial-intelligence-healthcare">AI in Healthcare</a> - <a href="/remote-patient-monitoring-industry-explained">Remote Patient Monitoring Industry: Devices &amp; Market Trends</a>

The new coronavirus may have jumped to people from endangered pangolins, some researchers now suggest

It is never too late to rise and shine. As if to salvage India’s image that was lost when the country hosted the <keyword id="6354367" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Commonwealth-Games">Commonwealth Games</keyword> in 2010 in New Delhi, Indian sportspersons continue to shine in the medal race at the C’wealth Games being held in <keyword id="69738" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Glasgow">Glasgow</keyword> this year. 
 Some of the media favourites like <keyword id="28211" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Abhinav-Bindra">Abhinav Bindra</keyword>, <keyword id="10633" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sushil-Kumar">Sushil Kumar</keyword> and <keyword id="20664" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="gagan-narang">Gagan Narang</keyword> have had a great showing. But Indians are a tad disappointed as shuttler Saina Nehwal, the country’s biggest medal hope, pulled out of the Games owing to fitness issues. 
 
The 215-strong Indian contingent participating in the Commonwealth Games 2014 has staged some excellent performances this year. Incidentally, controversies marred the last edition of the Games hosted by India four years ago and clearly took some shine off the excellent showing of Indian sports stars at that time. 
 
But this time around, hopes were as strong as the performances put up by Indians. Among the 6,500 sports persons representing 71 nations across 17 sports, India is sitting snug at the sixth spot. Although this is a ‘fall’ of sorts from the earlier ranking, India may very well finish with third or fourth highest medal tally. 
 
Some of the finest stories of non-celebrities evolving into heroes, based on their dedication, focus, hard work and commitment (laced with the smallest share of luck), are being written here. For instance, there is weightlifter Satish Kumar Sivalingam whom we hardly know. He hails from a poor family in Tamil Nadu, but has now secured his place in the hearts of millions by making his country proud. Sivalingam, a humble Railways employee, won the gold in men’s weightlifting 77kg category. 
 
However, India’s ace sharpshooters mostly called the shots in the medal hunt. Apart from Bindra winning the gold in men’s 10m air rifle and Narang settling for the silver medal in 50m rifle prone event, Jitu Rai bagged the gold medal in men’s 50m while Gurpal Singh followed him with the silver. 
 
Shooters and wrestlers came up with a stunning show at the Games, winning majority of the gold medals in India’s medal haul. Having won 41 medals in all, India has so far got 10 gold medals, 19 silvers and 12 bronzes. 
 
Wrestler Sushil Kumar, who carried the weight of India’s aspirations, will also return home to a hero’s welcome. He led the charge of Indian wrestlers who won three of the five gold medals up for grabs at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, the venue for wrestling competitions. 
 
Interestingly, the ongoing Commonwealth Games is his first major international event after his favourite 66kg category was removed and he had to pile up 9kg to qualify for the new weight category. In the Glasgow Games, four sports categories have been removed, reducing the mega event to only 17 categories. 
 
Prior to Sushil Kumar, Amit Kumar and Vinesh Phogat made India proud with excellent performance in their respective categories. Amit won gold in men’s freestyle 57kg by beating Nigerian Ebikweminomo Welson, teenager Vinesh held the country’s flag high by clinching an 11-8 victory against England’s Yana Rattigan in the women’s freestyle 48kg wrestling. 
 
The medal haul continued with marksmen Sanjeev Rajput and Narang winning medals (silver and bronze, respectively, in men’s 50m rifle 3 position) for the country. Lajja Goswami also won the bronze in women’s 50m rifle 3 position category.

India Shining: Medal Hunt Meets Success At Commonwealth Games 2014

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div><ul><li>Filmmakers Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman used the perspective of drug dealers and hitmen to tell the story of "Cocaine Cowboys."</li><li>When criminals get out of prison, they want to tell their stories to Corben and Spellman.</li><li>Corben and Spellman explained their failed attempt to make the real-life story of Martin Scorsese's "Casino."&#xa0;</li></ul>Born and bred in Miami, Florida, director Billy Corben and producer Alfred Spellman grew up knowing a simple fact: their city has been, and will always be, a sunny place for shady people.Whether it's the refuge for retired mafia kingpins of the past, or most recently O.J. Simpson's likely new home once he's released from prison in October, The Magic City has never been able to shake its notorious reputation.For Corben and Spellman, memories of being kids in Miami&#xa0;include racing home after suddenly coming upon a massive drug bust on their way to school and&#xa0;realizing that all their neighbors suddenly were driving around in fancy cars, had big boats, or were building additions on their houses - all while the rest of the country was going through a recession in the '80s.And then there was "Miami Vice.""The big thing [growing up] was finding, in town, where 'Miami Vice' was shooting," Spellman told Business Insider. "They were always just shooting the other day near your friend's house, that was the talk. It was a huge thing in elementary school."When the two grew up (they've known each other since the 9th grade), and decided to get into making movies through their production company <a href="http://www.rakontur.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rakontur</a>, they didn't set up camp in Los Angeles or New York City. They stayed put in Miami and decided to tell the taboo stories of the city.The first: making the real-life "Scarface" movie.<h2>The Smugglers</h2>Miami was the entry point for cocaine moving into the country in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It made the people who were trafficking it extremely rich, but it also made Miami, in that time, the most violent place in the country. The Colombian and Cuban drug cartels set up hits almost on a daily basis around the city.It was a story Corben and Spellman felt had been glamorized in movies and TV, but never told the real way in documentary form. They planned to do that with "Cocaine Cowboys" - tell the story through the accounts of the people who were there. And not just on the law enforcement side, but the underworld&#xa0;as well.But there was a problem. Corben and Spellman had zero&#xa0;connections in&#xa0;the city's drug world of that era. However, there's another simple fact about Miami: "You are basically two degrees of separation away," Corben told Business Insider. "You'll be at a bar and end up sitting next to a former smuggler."And that's what happened to Corben's cousin on a sunny Miami day in 2003. While Corben and Spellman were beginning their research on the movie, Corben got a call.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>"My cousin called me and he said, 'Do you know who Jon Roberts is?' And I'm like 'No, but let me ask the office.' And Alfred yells out, 'Yes!'" Corben said.In his research, Spellman had come across the book "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Made-Snow/dp/0671703129" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Man Who Made It Snow,</a>" and in it Roberts is featured as a former New York City club owner who moved down to Miami to deal marijuana, and ended up being one of the major players dealing cocaine for the Medellín Cartel."It turns out Billy's cousin met him at a pool and Jon wanted to know if we wanted to do lunch and meet," Spellman said.Up until&#xa0;this point, Corben and Spellman had hit closed doors whenever it came to talking to the people behind the cocaine that flooded into Miami in the 1980s. By the early 2000s "Scarface" was a bonafide classic constantly referenced on TV shows and rap songs, but for people living in southern Florida, the topic was still a sensitive subject."In Miami, you didn't talk about cocaine, it's just an era that had never been talked about," Spellman said."My grandfather, who was a real estate developer in Miami Beach and South Florida, he was appalled we were doing the movie," Corben said.But after a sit down with Roberts, in which they explained&#xa0;to him that the movie would not feature a narrator, or have an agenda, and instead would be focused on the first-person accounts, Roberts was on board. And Roberts' partner, Mickey Munday, a modern-day pirate who was in charge of&#xa0;smuggling the drugs into Miami through air and sea, quickly followed.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Corben and Spellman realized they possessed a tool that the former gangsters desperately needed to get back on their feet after years in prison: notoriety."Most people coming out of prison don't have anything," Corben said. "It's life reset. You're not helpless, but you have no income, you have no savings, some people don't have any support system when they come out because people have disowned them. So you come out and all you have is your stories. I don't want to call it your currency, but that's what you have."Though Corben and Spellman said they&#xa0;never paid for an interview, they do not take their subjects' life rights, which means the people they interview are free to use the notoriety they get from the movie to try and land a book or movie deal. (Thanks to the success of "Cocaine Cowboys," both Roberts and Munday have done just that.)After snagging Corben and Spellman, the filmmakers now had law enforcement, newspaper reporters, and smugglers all retelling how cocaine got to the shores of Florida. But they still didn't have any Colombian enforcers.<h2>The Hitman</h2>Landing someone who would go on camera and speak about the murders they committed was obviously a huge challenge. In most instances, the hitmen were in prison for a single murder, so the person could only speak on what they had been convicted of. Corben and Spellman would want to talk to someone who could speak about a wide range of criminal activity.Through the help of a homicide detective, Corben and Spellman reached out to three hitmen serving prison sentences. One was a man convicted for the murder of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Seal" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Barry Seal</a>, the drug smuggler for the Medellín Cartel who Tom Cruise will be playing in the upcoming movie "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woE4GQdvu8E">American Made</a>." They also reached out to Miguel Perez, who is featured in "Cocaine Cowboys" as a hitman who once killed a target at an airport in broad daylight with a bayonet."This guy was described to us by a veteran homicide detective in the documentary as one of the scariest people he had ever encountered in his life," Corben said of Perez.Perez agreed to be interviewed. But after weeks of preparing, and hours on the day setting up lights and dolly track at the prison, Perez appeared from his cell to tell the filmmakers he would no longer do the interview after speaking to his lawyer."This took months to get to this point," Corben said. "I'm on the other side of the room with the crew and I see Alfred wagging his finger at Miguel saying, 'We came all the way here….'""I'm just yelling at him," Spellman added. "And he said he couldn't do it."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>The third person was Jorge "Rivi" Ayala. An enforcer for drug lord <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griselda_Blanco" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Griselda Blanco</a>, aka "The Godmother," Ayala was unique to the other hitmen the filmmakers reached out to. Why? Because Ayala had turned on Blanco and cooperated with authorities. Instead of getting the death penalty, he had immunity and could speak about over 20 homicides instead of just the one he was convicted on.For five to six hours a day, for three visits, Corben and Spellman, along with a film crew, visited Ayala. And what they got from the interviews is some of the most compelling and memorable footage of "Cocaine Cowboys." Ayala held nothing back as he talked about the people he killed and how insane his boss, The Godmother, was.After "Cocaine Cowboys" premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, the movie was bought by Magnolia Pictures. Though its theatrical release wasn't that impressive, the movie would later gain a loyal following on the bootleg market, and quickly became a popular title in the hip-hop world. The movie has since found even more fans on Netflix and airs on movie channels like Showtime.The filmmakers have also built up their status through their popular ESPN "30 for 30" documentaries "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1199479/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The U</a>" and "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2181824/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Broke.</a>"That has made Corben and Spellman's job of landing interviews with shady characters much easier. A major reason why "Cocaine Cowboys 2," which delved deeper into the reign of Blanco, was made is because the main subject of the movie, Charles Cosby, saw that the promotional material for "Cocaine Cowboys" had a photo of him and Blanco. Cosby reached out to Spellman to get the photo, which led to the two talking and eventually deciding to do a movie.And their two movies released in 2011, "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1418702/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Limelight</a>" and "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1466067/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Square Grouper</a>," were made when the subjects reached out to the filmmakers directly. In the case of "Square Grouper," main subject Robert Platshorn's first call after 29 years in prison for marijuana smuggling was to Corben and Spellman."We say, 'When you get out of prison the first call you make is to your mother and the second is to Rakontur,'" Spellman said.<h2>The real 'Casino'</h2>But the pair hasn't landed every movie idea they've gone after.Shortly after the theatrical release of "Cocaine Cowboys" in 2007, Corben's cousin came&#xa0;through again. He told him that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Rosenthal" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal</a>, a mob associate and the person Robert De Niro's character is based on in Martin Scorsese's "Casino," lived in Miami Beach. As "Cocaine Cowboys" was spun as the real "Scarface," Corben and Spellman felt it was time to tell the real-life "Casino."The duo tracked down Rosenthal, who suggested they meet at the posh Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach.Rosenthal, impeccably dressed as Corben recalled, dazzled the filmmakers with stories about his power plays with Hollywood, like how he forced the studio that released "Casino," Universal, to change the real-life names of the mobsters for the movie. In the movie, Rosenthal's name is changed to Sam "Ace" Rothstein. But when Corben pitched to Rosenthal the idea of a documentary about him, Rosenthal's reaction was simply that he'd "consider it.""So a two-hour, $250 lunch later, we walked out with a definite maybe," Spellman said.Two more very expensive lunches followed, including one in which Spellman had to move Rosenthal's car so it wouldn't get towed &#xa0;- "I'm walking to the car and I'm thinking, 'Are people still after him?' I took a deep breath and started the car," Spellman said - but they were still at a stalemate. Months after the final lunch, Rosenthal died.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>"Funny enough, a month or so later I have lunch with an FBI agent we know, and I was spitballing ideas with him, and I told him the whole story about Lefty and he looked at me and paused and said, 'He was the biggest snitch we ever had. He ratted on people until the day he died.' So I realized he was still an asset of the agency and didn't want to put himself out there with doing a movie," Spellman said.Corben believes what has made them successful over the years is they are completely honest with their subjects. They don't have fixers or field producers trying to track people down and convince them to be in the movie, like other movies and TV shows. It's just Corben and Spellman building the relationships."I don't even know what a fixer is," Corben said with a laugh. "So much of what we do and the candid nature, we're asking people to recount embarrassing, unflattering, or humiliating parts of their lives, like going to prison. Those relationships are so much about trust. I don't know how we could do this any other way."And because of that they also are meticulous in the edit room to make sure nothing a subject says on screen is taken out of context. To date, the filmmakers say no one featured in one of their movies has ever said they were depicted unfairly."You're dealing with people who would be very upset if we weren't truthful," Spellman said.The duo aren't done with the "Cocaine Cowboys" franchise. A third one, which will focus on a Miami Cuban crime family headed by Willie Falcon and Sal Magluta, is currently being made into a six-hour miniseries. But before that, there will be another documentary we'll see from them. At the moment they are keeping that under wraps, but you can bet it will be set in Miami and involve shady people."All I'll say for that one is the people called us on the way to prison and then on the way out," Corben said.<div></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-celebrities-look-like-symmetrical-faces-2017-7">Here's what celebrities would look like with symmetrical faces</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

You Searched For "ace racing edition" and got 13 results

Nate Silver on the 2024 race: 'It's no longer Trump's election to lose.'

Peter Kafka

OnePlus Ace Racing Edition to launch on May 17— here’s what to expect

Rahul Verma

Aishwarya Pissay, a champion motorcyclist, describes what it takes to ace the circuit

Kavita Majumdar

11 books to pick up in the new year that you missed reading in 2020

Traci Thomas

Smriti Mandhana makes it to Sportico's Top 10 global female athletes by sponsorship value on social media

IANS

Google Pay may soon get a feature that will suggest you the best card for online payments

Rahul Verma

Point72's internship could land a dream gig at Steve Cohen's $24 billion fund. Here's what you need to know.

Aaron Weinman

Here's who's really going to win best picture at the Oscars this year

Jacob Sarkisian

The new coronavirus may have jumped to people from endangered pangolins, some researchers now suggest

Aylin Woodward

India Shining: Medal Hunt Meets Success At Commonwealth Games 2014

Preetam Kaushik

How the 'Cocaine Cowboys' filmmakers built a career interviewing Miami's most notorious gangsters

Jason Guerrasio

The Making Of Tesla: Invention, Betrayal, And The Birth Of The Roadster

Drake Baer

'That's Not All!' Kevin Trudeau, The World's Greatest Salesman, Makes One Last Pitch

Aaron Gell

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides