Before We Turn the Page
Before the year closes, a pause to reflect, say thanks, and share what’s ahead for Sunday Setup.
Bad News Bear
A talking teddy bear got pulled from shelves after saying way too much, way too confidently. Turns out when no one asks, “Should we?”, even the cuddliest ideas can go completely off the rails.
Side Doors & Drone Drops
A confiscated drone, a luxury surf & turf, and a lesson in scarcity.
Sometimes the real problem isn’t the workaround—it’s the system that made it necessary.
Acidic Abs
Tired of doing crunches in search of those elusive washboard abs, one Chinese man spent half a million bucks to buy them. But like all shortcuts, they look impressive at first… until the long-term side effects show up.
Spiderverse Synergy
Two rival spider species just built a 1,100-square-foot web together… without eating each other. Turns out, Mother Nature may know more about workplace collaboration than most corporate training modules.
A Bag of Fibs
A man faked a carjacking to avoid going shopping with his wife — and now he’s facing real jail time for a fake crime. Turns out, there are easier ways to deal with tasks you’d rather avoid.
Hot Seat Hustlers
Spain’s newest crime ring didn’t target banks — they targeted bistro chairs. And strangely, it’s a perfect metaphor for credit thieves at work.
An Inconvenient Booth
Ever catch yourself mindlessly unlocking your phone? A Colorado startup is on a mission to stop doom scrolling - with a 6-pound smartphone case.
Apocalyptic Odds
Canadian scientists finally tackled the question no one asked: which American states would survive a zombie apocalypse. Because who needs a cure for inflation when you can prep for the apocalypse?
Sorry, Not Sari
One photo. Two offended cultures. Zero awareness.
A cautionary tale of what happens when companies treat awareness like a buzzword.
Blind Surveillance
Some people fake it till they make it. Others fake it for decades — like the guy who faked blindness for 50 years before he got caught.
Hoppin’ Pain Killers
Some people pop painkillers; others pop frogs. Turns out, “hopping” on the latest wellness trend can have side effects.
Dirty Carats
They say diamonds are forever, but finding one might cost you three weeks, a sunburn, and your sanity. Instead of shopping at Tiffany’s, one New Yorker went with the “bring your own shovel” package instead.
TP FaceTime
When bathroom breaks require QR codes and commercials, you know we’ve reached peak surveillance. At least at work they only watch our Slack dots, not our squat breaks.
Mad About Mayo
Turns out mayo really can be spicy — at least when it sparks arson. A café patron in Spain went full Gordon Ramsay meets Pyro after being denied mayonnaise. The sandwiches may have been dry, but his temper was extra crispy.
Ridin’ Purdy
Forget Fast & Furious — this was Slow & Suspicious. A man’s quest for sugar ended not with brain freeze, but with a police stop in the tiniest getaway car ever made.
Goal Digger
A 54-year-old fan went from cheering in the stands to guarding the net, proving sometimes dreams really do come true — just 30 years late. Perhaps I should dust off my cleats and start practicing my victory dance in case the NFL runs out of running backs.
Virtual Retribution
Road rage just got a makeover. Forget iced coffee — drivers can now toss giant emojis at each other, turning traffic into something that looks suspiciously like Mario Kart with clown faces instead of banana peels. It may not fix bad driving, but at least it’ll make gridlock more interesting