It's the first day of October, which means it's time to curate your Halloween movie watch list. The Nice News team tends to track toward the Practical Magic and Casper the Friendly Ghost side of things, but if you prefer the spooky variety, USA Today compiled a list of 15 new horror movies to sink your teeth into this month.
Must Reads
Step into the shoes — or rather, the suit — of someone in their 70s or 80s
For these dishes, the "secret ingredient" isn't an ingredient at all
Culture
After 20 Years, "Reading Rainbow" Is Back to Inspire a New Generation of Book Lovers
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It's a good day to be a book lover! After nearly 20 years off the air, Reading Rainbow is returning to our screens. Mychal Threets, aka Mychal the Librarian, will serve as host, ready to spark a new generation's love for stories, imagination, and all things reading. If you're not familiar with Threets, he's a librarian and social media star from Fairfield, California, who has spent years sharing the powerful message that everyone belongs in the library. But his passion for reading goes back much further than his librarian career. In 2024, he told USA Today he "was practically raised by libraries," crediting the spaces for shaping his homeschooled education and sense of self. Last year, Threets became the resident librarian at PBS, a gig that unfolds perfectly into this next chapter at the helm of Reading Rainbow, which ran on the network from 1983 to 2006 with LeVar Burton as host. Instead of returning to PBS, though, new episodes of the revamped series will be shared via Kidzuko, an educational YouTube channel from Sony Pictures Television. While the premiere date is still TBD, the trailer gives a sneak peek into the star-studded guest lineup, which includes John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Adam DeVine, Gabrielle Union, and many more. For now, we'll stay tuned and await the butterfly in the sky …
The Blueprint for Better Hearing and More Confidence
Horizon IX by hear.com is more than a hearing aid — it's a thoughtfully engineered solution for effortless hearing. With dual-processing technology and precise German design, it separates speech from background noise to deliver crystal-clear clarity in any environment. The Horizon IX also has an ultra-sleek design — making it nearly invisible so you can hear clearly without the discomfort or bulk of traditional devices. And the best part? You can hear the difference yourself with a 45-day no-risk trial.
Want to Know the Temperature? Just Count the Cricket Chirps
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If you don't have plans tonight, you will after reading this story. Over the weekend, CBS News Sunday Morning shared a fascinating fact: A chorus of crickets isn't just soothing — the sound can actually serve as a natural thermometer, no weather app or fancy gadget necessary. Because crickets are cold-blooded, their muscles move slower in cooler temperatures and faster when it's warm, which allows them to rub their wings together more quickly and produce that familiar "chirping" sound. That means the faster the chirps, the warmer it is outside. More than a century ago, physicist Amos Dolbear translated this phenomenon into a practical formula — now called Dolbear's Law — to estimate the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. The law states that if you count a cricket's chirps for 15 seconds and then add 40, the result is an approximate measure of the ambient temperature. But there are a few cricket caveats. The formula works best with the snowy tree cricket, often nicknamed the "thermometer cricket." It also becomes less applicable when temperatures drop near 50 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, as the crickets chirp less or not at all. Give it a shot tonight — and check out the National Weather Service's cricket chirp converter (yes, it's a real thing) to turn your chirp count into temperatures in Fahrenheit, Celsius, Rankine, and Kelvin.
Health
How Bruce Willis and Wife Emma Are Helping Raise Dementia Awareness
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
"Loud voice, fun stories, just always laughing and smiling" is how Lisa Ihnat-Durbin described her husband, Sean Durbin — but that changed when he was diagnosed with a form of frontotemporal dementia: a group of brain disorders that impact language, behavior, and comprehension. "I noticed at times I couldn't quite get my words out," Sean, 58, said in a video shared by the Cleveland Clinic, adding, "That's when I first noticed it, that I was struggling." During their journey grappling with Sean's diagnosis, the couple found comfort in the story of Bruce Willis, who was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, or FTD, in 2023. And now, they're teaming up with the actor's wife, Emma Heming Willis, to help spread awareness and expand resources for families facing the brain disease. To explain the diagnosis to others, which has been one of the hardest parts for Sean and Lisa, the pair found themselves referencing the condition's famous patient. "It was just easier to say, 'It's the same thing Bruce Willis has,'" Lisa, 50, explained. "Then people could ask questions and start to understand." And when Emma, 47, learned that Sean and Lisa were sharing their story, she recognized the courage it takes to turn personal hardship into public advocacy. "You have this sort of story in your mind of how your life is going to play out, and then to see it completely ripped from you is just heartbreaking," Emma said. "You have to sort of figure out your new chapter of your life. When you educate yourself and understand the disease, you can better support yourself as well as your person."
In Other News
MacKenzie Scott donated $70 million to support historically Black colleges and universities (read more)
A cannabis-based drug reduced chronic back pain in patients over 12 weeks, per a large study (read more)
College volleyball star Natalia Newsome is stunning NBA legends with her 40-inch vertical leaps — see her fly (read more)
After going unseen for 64 years, a rare double-striped thick-knee bird was spotted in Texas (read more)
The world's first mushroom-poweredtoilet turns human waste into compost, sans water or electricity (read more)
Something We Love
Tin Can Phones Tin Can phones function like good ol' fashioned landlines — you can make calls, press buttons, and play with a twirly cord. But the company goes the extra mile to keep kids safe by only allowing approved contacts to call, with controls managed through a parents-only companion app. It also provides features like "quiet hours" so kids aren't chatting with their BFFs (or their cool aunt) during bedtime. The throwback phones are all the rage right now, and I'm sure they'll only get more popular once the holiday gifting season rolls around. – Marika Spitulski, Writer
It can be hard to find well-fitting clothes for premature babies. That's why Kim Franks spends many of her days knitting and donating tiny blankets, bonnets, and booties for an Australian hospital's NICU, ensuring the preemies have comfy clothes made just for them. In return, she gains a sense of purpose, as she lives with psoriasis and is often bedbound. "It keeps my mind active, keeps your hands busy," she said. "And it takes away from you thinking about yourself, and you just start thinking about how you're helping others."
Photo of the Day
Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
The World Para Athletics Championships are underway in New Delhi, marking the first time India has hosted the global event. With a record-breaking program featuring 186 medal events — including the men's 100-meter pictured above — and over a thousand athletes from around the globe, it's described as the "most ambitious" edition yet. Find out how to watch the upcoming track and field events.
Read the Deep View to Become an AI Expert in Just 5 Minutes
If you're a decision maker at your company, you need to be on the bleeding edge of, well, everything. But before you go signing up for seminars, conferences, and all that jazz, just know there's a far better (and simpler) way: subscribing to The Deep View. The free daily newsletter condenses everything you need to know about the latest and greatest AI developments into a 5-minute read. Squeeze it into your morning coffee break and before you know it, you'll be an expert, too.
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