The Republican Plot to Destroy Education Research - The American ProspectThe Republican Plot to Destroy Education Research
Elon Musk and the Trump administration have gutted the Institute of Education Science.
by Chris Lewis October 16, 2025
Expand
Schools RDP.jpg
Five Buck Photos/Getty Images
The Revolving Door Project, a Prospect partner, scrutinizes the executive branch and presidential power. Follow them at therevolvingdoorproject.org.
Good data drives good decision-making, and education is no exception. The data provided to researchers from independent research organizations, public-private partnerships, and other institutions helps teachers, administrators, and lawmakers make good decisions about how to approach schooling.
Expand
Revolving Door Project.jpg
That’s why it is critical to highlight the Trump administration’s assault on public data at the Department of Education—just one part of its war on public education in general.
In February, Elon Musk and his DOGE team cut a total of 89 contracts worth $881 million from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the research and data arm of the department. This obscure organization is critical in ensuring that schools from K-12 to college are funded and competitive, and that students are getting financial aid. The contracts were for vendors that helped the institute collect essential data, including the effectiveness of transition support for young people with disabilities and common education standards (which includes common vocabulary data and tools to help education stakeholders).
A 2002 product of the Bush administration, the point of the IES is to improve education outcomes in the United States by providing high-quality data and analysis for state and federal governments. As the New America foundation puts it, IES’s role is to research what works. The institute has four major research arms: the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the National Center for Special Education Research, the National Center for Education Research, and the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. Each performs a pivotal role in education data gathering for stakeholders.
Related: Trump’s Education Department cuts funding allocated to minority-serving institutions
NCES, for example, collects and reports information on student performance and achievement based on standardized test scores, as well as the literacy level of adults. Its data is used by a host of different parties, from researchers to legislators, to understand and improve enrollment, benchmarks, and the performance of educational initiatives. Factoring everything from student performance to teaching techniques to administrators into the data helps inform financial aid, basic needs gaps, and many issues that students face. The data provided by NCES is used by lawmakers to help make decisions on district funding allocations. Without it, there are no reliable, objective metrics to help determine schools’ needs.
The data provided by IES also helps elevate student populations that would otherwise be entirely ignored. Take student parents, people trying to balance getting an education with raising a child. The GAINS for Student Parents Act requires public colleges to give student parents information about services and resources, as well as adjusting costs of attendance and net price valuations to include dependent care. IES data helped elevate an almost entirely invisible population of students that faces unique problems; there aren’t national political organizations for student parents, so lawmakers would have been fairly oblivious to this population’s needs without this data.
Read more from the Revolving Door Project
And the numbers here are not small. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, undergraduate students who are either parents, guardians, or pregnant while in college make up nearly one-fifth of the student population. They don’t have the institutional support offered to non-parent students, and often work more than 40 hours a week between both work and school, because financial aid is typically not enough to live on. A comprehensive picture of these students only exists due to data collected through the IES’s National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.
In short, IES is a vital partner to schools, districts, policymakers, and researchers. In theory, it is a nonpartisan entity, merely conducting research and providing the resulting data to anyone, and hitherto its value has been recognized by Democrats and Republicans alike.
But no longer. As Musk’s assault on the agency shows, education of any kind is now a partisan issue. The Trump administration is refusing to publicize data that bear on the needs of marginalized people because American conservatives are now dead set against the very idea of public education of any kind. The cuts to IES are just one part of this effort.
Currently, IES can barely function. Due to the 1,300 layoffs at the Department of Education under Education Secretary Linda McMahon—a woman who, not coincidentally, is so comically ignorant she confused AI with the A1 steak sauce—IES has a mere 20 federal employees left. According to The Hechinger Report, there are only three people left to do the work of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, NAEP, which is the common measure of K-12 achievement through standardized tests. Ultimately, the layoffs will result in less and lower-quality data that can be provided to stakeholders to help ensure student and teacher success.
Good education requires data that helps educators personalize instruction, make adjustments to the rigor of the curriculum, and overall ensure that students are learning. Administrators use good data to help build out smart reforms or set specific goals for their students or teachers. The assault on this research and data agency is yet another example of the administration’s disregard of the material consequences of its wrongheaded fight against expertise.
While forcing prestigious universities such as the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard to bend the knee gets the most attention from the mainstream media, what Trump is doing to IES will have a far broader and deeper impact on American schools. If he and McMahon have anything to say about it, in the future only wealthy white people will have access to a quality education in this country.
Sunday, 9 November 2025
Thursday, 6 November 2025
'Disgraceful': U.S. Lobbying Blocks Global Fee on Shipping Emissions
'Disgraceful': U.S. Lobbying Blocks Global Fee on Shipping Emissions
‘Disgraceful’: U.S. Lobbying Blocks Global Fee on Shipping Emissions
October 20, 2025
Reading time: 5 minutes
Full Story: The Associated Press
Author: Sibi Arasu, Jennifer Mcdermott, with files from The Energy Mix
Beat Strasser/Wikimedia Commons
The Trump administration has succeeded in blocking a global fee on shipping emissions as an international maritime meeting adjourned Friday without adopting regulations.
The world’s largest maritime nations had been deliberating on adopting regulations to move the shipping industry away from fossil fuels to slash emissions. But Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia and other countries vowed to fight any global tax on shipping emissions.
“It used to be easy to write off President Donald Trump as a go-it-alone pariah on the international climate stage,” writes Politico Power Switch, in a post that also cites Russia, China, Cyprus, and Greece as countries that helped Trump scuttle the deal. In the end, “the Trump administration pulled off a previously unimaginable feat today by using threats and economic power to thwart a global tax on climate pollution from shipping.”
“The issue is that Donald Trump doesn’t want what he has dubbed “this Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping”—and the U.S. is doing everything it can to throw the process off track,” Climate Home News’ Joe Lo reported from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) headquarters in London. The IMO is the United Nations agency that regulates international shipping.
“What is happening wouldn’t shock climate COP veterans but is unusual for the normally staid IMO—with its low profile and scheduled lunch and tea breaks,” Lo added.
According to Lo, Brazil had called for a vote on the new regulatory framework, suggesting that despite U.S. threats, those in favour still have a two-thirds majority needed to win the vote—as they did in April. But Singapore, then Saudi Arabia called for a vote to adjourn the meeting for a year. More than half of the countries agreed. Brazil’s negotiator warned that delaying adoption of the rules—which many had thought would be a formality this week—is “not a neutral stance”, as shipowners are waiting for certainty before they decide to invest in green technologies.
“The delay leaves the shipping sector drifting in uncertainty,” Dr. Alison Shaw, IMO Manager at Transport & Environment, a Brussels-based environmental organization, said in a media release. “But this week has also shown that there is a clear desire to clean up the shipping industry, even in the face of U.S. bullying.”
“The world cannot let intimidation and vested interests dictate the pace of climate action.”
John Maggs, the Clean Shipping Coalition’s representative at the IMO, said in a release that kicking the decision down the road to the next session in October 2026 “is simply evading reality.” Governments serious about climate action must rally to convince nations on the fence or opposed that adopting the green shipping regulations is “the only sane way forward.”
“Now you have one year, you will continue to work on several aspects of these amendments,” IMO secretary general Arsenio Dominguez said in his closing remarks. “You have one year to negotiate and talk and come to consensus.”
“The failure of IMO member states to clinch this agreement is a major setback for people and the planet,” Delaine McCullough, shipping program director at Ocean Conservancy, said in a release. “It’s disgraceful that climate action has been delayed when we see the devastating impacts every day, and when shipping fuels have been tied [pdf] to 250,000 premature deaths and six million cases of childhood asthma every year.”
Ralph Regenvanu, minister for climate change for the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, said the delay was unacceptable, “given the urgency we face in light of accelerating climate change.”
If the green shipping regulations had been adopted, it would have been the first time a global fee was imposed on planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Most ships today run on heavy fuel oil that releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants as it’s burned.
Shipping emissions have grown over the past decade to about 3% of the global total as trade has grown and vessels use immense amounts of fossil fuels to transport cargo—much of it consisting of fossil fuels—over long distances. In April, IMO member states agreed on the contents of the regulatory framework, with the aim of adopting the “Net-Zero Framework” at this London meeting.
Adopting the regulations was meant to demonstrate how effective multilateral cooperation can deliver real progress on global climate goals, said Emma Fenton, senior director for climate diplomacy at a U.K.-based climate change nonprofit, Opportunity Green. Delaying the process risks undermining the framework’s ambitions, they added.
The regulations would set a marine fuel standard that decreases, over time, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions allowed from using shipping fuels. The regulations also would establish a pricing system that would impose fees for every tonne of greenhouse gases emitted by ships above allowable limits, in what is effectively the first global tax on greenhouse gas emissions.
The IMO, which regulates international shipping, set a target for the sector to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by about 2050, and has committed to ensuring that fuels with zero or near-zero emissions are used more widely.
“What matters now is that countries rise up and come back to the IMO with a louder and more confident yes vote that cannot be silenced,” said Anaïs Rios, shipping policy officer for Seas At Risk. “The planet and the future of shipping does not have time to waste.”
This Associated Press story was published Oct. 17, 2025, by The Canadian Press.
‘Disgraceful’: U.S. Lobbying Blocks Global Fee on Shipping Emissions
October 20, 2025
Reading time: 5 minutes
Full Story: The Associated Press
Author: Sibi Arasu, Jennifer Mcdermott, with files from The Energy Mix
Beat Strasser/Wikimedia Commons
The Trump administration has succeeded in blocking a global fee on shipping emissions as an international maritime meeting adjourned Friday without adopting regulations.
The world’s largest maritime nations had been deliberating on adopting regulations to move the shipping industry away from fossil fuels to slash emissions. But Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia and other countries vowed to fight any global tax on shipping emissions.
“It used to be easy to write off President Donald Trump as a go-it-alone pariah on the international climate stage,” writes Politico Power Switch, in a post that also cites Russia, China, Cyprus, and Greece as countries that helped Trump scuttle the deal. In the end, “the Trump administration pulled off a previously unimaginable feat today by using threats and economic power to thwart a global tax on climate pollution from shipping.”
“The issue is that Donald Trump doesn’t want what he has dubbed “this Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping”—and the U.S. is doing everything it can to throw the process off track,” Climate Home News’ Joe Lo reported from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) headquarters in London. The IMO is the United Nations agency that regulates international shipping.
“What is happening wouldn’t shock climate COP veterans but is unusual for the normally staid IMO—with its low profile and scheduled lunch and tea breaks,” Lo added.
According to Lo, Brazil had called for a vote on the new regulatory framework, suggesting that despite U.S. threats, those in favour still have a two-thirds majority needed to win the vote—as they did in April. But Singapore, then Saudi Arabia called for a vote to adjourn the meeting for a year. More than half of the countries agreed. Brazil’s negotiator warned that delaying adoption of the rules—which many had thought would be a formality this week—is “not a neutral stance”, as shipowners are waiting for certainty before they decide to invest in green technologies.
“The delay leaves the shipping sector drifting in uncertainty,” Dr. Alison Shaw, IMO Manager at Transport & Environment, a Brussels-based environmental organization, said in a media release. “But this week has also shown that there is a clear desire to clean up the shipping industry, even in the face of U.S. bullying.”
“The world cannot let intimidation and vested interests dictate the pace of climate action.”
John Maggs, the Clean Shipping Coalition’s representative at the IMO, said in a release that kicking the decision down the road to the next session in October 2026 “is simply evading reality.” Governments serious about climate action must rally to convince nations on the fence or opposed that adopting the green shipping regulations is “the only sane way forward.”
“Now you have one year, you will continue to work on several aspects of these amendments,” IMO secretary general Arsenio Dominguez said in his closing remarks. “You have one year to negotiate and talk and come to consensus.”
“The failure of IMO member states to clinch this agreement is a major setback for people and the planet,” Delaine McCullough, shipping program director at Ocean Conservancy, said in a release. “It’s disgraceful that climate action has been delayed when we see the devastating impacts every day, and when shipping fuels have been tied [pdf] to 250,000 premature deaths and six million cases of childhood asthma every year.”
Ralph Regenvanu, minister for climate change for the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, said the delay was unacceptable, “given the urgency we face in light of accelerating climate change.”
If the green shipping regulations had been adopted, it would have been the first time a global fee was imposed on planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Most ships today run on heavy fuel oil that releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants as it’s burned.
Shipping emissions have grown over the past decade to about 3% of the global total as trade has grown and vessels use immense amounts of fossil fuels to transport cargo—much of it consisting of fossil fuels—over long distances. In April, IMO member states agreed on the contents of the regulatory framework, with the aim of adopting the “Net-Zero Framework” at this London meeting.
Adopting the regulations was meant to demonstrate how effective multilateral cooperation can deliver real progress on global climate goals, said Emma Fenton, senior director for climate diplomacy at a U.K.-based climate change nonprofit, Opportunity Green. Delaying the process risks undermining the framework’s ambitions, they added.
The regulations would set a marine fuel standard that decreases, over time, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions allowed from using shipping fuels. The regulations also would establish a pricing system that would impose fees for every tonne of greenhouse gases emitted by ships above allowable limits, in what is effectively the first global tax on greenhouse gas emissions.
The IMO, which regulates international shipping, set a target for the sector to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by about 2050, and has committed to ensuring that fuels with zero or near-zero emissions are used more widely.
“What matters now is that countries rise up and come back to the IMO with a louder and more confident yes vote that cannot be silenced,” said Anaïs Rios, shipping policy officer for Seas At Risk. “The planet and the future of shipping does not have time to waste.”
This Associated Press story was published Oct. 17, 2025, by The Canadian Press.
Tuesday, 4 November 2025
Gruelling, low-paid human work behind generative AI curtain | The Straits Times
Gruelling, low-paid human work behind generative AI curtain | The Straits Times
Gruelling, low-paid human work behind generative AI curtain
Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The precarious work of training AI has sparked a movement for better wages and conditions stretching from Kenya to Colombia.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:AI/artificial intelligence
PARIS - For a generative artificial intelligence system to learn how to write an autopsy report, human workers must sort and annotate thousands of crime scene images.
The precarious work of training AI, which generally pays just a few dollars, has sparked a movement for better wages and conditions stretching from Kenya to Colombia.
“You have to spend your whole day looking at dead bodies and crime scenes... Mental health support was not provided,” Kenyan national Ephantus Kanyugi told AFP.
Labellers “need to spend time with these images, zoom into the wounds of dead people” to outline them so they can be fed into the AI, the 30-year-old added.
Mr Kanyugi, who has worked on image labelling since 2018, is the vice-president of the Data Labelers Association (DLA), an 800-strong labour group based in Nairobi.
The DLA plans to unveil a code of conduct in October aimed at major labelling platforms, calling for improved conditions for workers.
Kenya has no law regulating data-annotation work – like many countries around the world where millions of people are feeding digital information into growing AI models.
“We’re like ghosts. No one knows that we exist, even though we are contributing to society’s technological progress,” said Ms Oskarina Fuentes, half a world away.
The 35-year-old Venezuelan works for five different data-labelling platforms from her home in Colombian city Medellin, earning between US$0.05 (S$0.065) and US$0.25 per task.
Such behind-the-scenes data work has exploded as generative AI has soared to become tech’s next big thing.
Invisible labellers’ toil has allowed self-driving cars to recognise pedestrians and trees, chatbots like ChatGPT to speak in natural-sounding sentences, and automated content moderation systems to remove violent or pornographic content from social media.
The data-labelling sector amounted to a US$3.8-billion market in 2024 and is expected to grow to more than US$17 billion within five years, according to consultancy Grand View Research.
Modern slavery
Creating new generative AI models will need human-verified data “for as long as it’s based on automated learning”, said Professor Antonio Casilli, a sociology professor at France’s Institut Polytechnique in Paris who interviewed so-called “click workers” from 30 countries for a book on the sector.
Humans are required both to shape the inputs for generative AI models and to give feedback on the relevance and accuracy of the trained systems’ outputs.
Tech giants contract out this work to a plethora of different companies.
One of the largest, US-based Scale AI, recently secured a US$14-billion investment from Facebook parent company Meta – which also hired away co-founder Alexandr Wang to lead its own AI efforts.
Scale’s clients include OpenAI, Microsoft and the Defence Department in Washington.
In his investigation, Prof Casilli found that data labellers are generally aged between 18 and 30 and earn a low wage in relation to their level of education.
Most live in low-wage countries – although the sector is making inroads into America and Europe, where much higher pay is the norm.
As generative AI models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or competitor Anthropic’s Claude gain in capability, more specialised knowledge is needed to inform and judge their responses in maths, chemistry or less-common languages.
Scale AI’s subsidiary Outlier lists work for experts in biology, the Malay language spoken in Malaysia or computer coding in Spanish, with pay ranging from US$30 to US$50 per hour.
Another Scale AI subsidiary, Remotasks, pays labellers around US$0.01 for tasks that can take multiple hours – wages Mr Kanyugi likens to “modern slavery”.
“People develop eyesight problems, back problems, people go into anxiety and depression because you’re working 20 hours a day or six days a week,” he said.
“Then despite working so many hours, you only get poor pay, and you might also not get paid.”
How to murder someone?
Several legal cases have been filed against Scale AI in the US, with workers accusing the company of failing to pay them, reporting them as contractors rather than employees or exposing them to traumatising content without adequate safeguards, according to court documents seen by AFP.
Plaintiffs gave examples like being required to converse with an AI chatbot about topics such as “How to commit suicide?“, “How to poison a person?“ or “How to murder someone?“
Scale AI declined to comment on ongoing court cases, but acknowledged to AFP that some of its work includes sensitive content.
The company added that workers are always warned in advance of such topics and can break off a task whenever they choose.
Scale AI added that it offers workers mental-health resources and an anonymous support hotline.
And it said it makes its pay bands clear, offering equal or better hourly rates than the minimum wage in the countries where it operates.
Generative AI is not the first arm of the tech sector to face complaints over exposing low-paid contractors to disturbing content.
Moderators working for Meta in several countries, from Spain to Kenya and Ghana, have brought legal action against the company over working conditions and alleged psychological harm.
Gruelling, low-paid human work behind generative AI curtain
Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The precarious work of training AI has sparked a movement for better wages and conditions stretching from Kenya to Colombia.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:AI/artificial intelligence
PARIS - For a generative artificial intelligence system to learn how to write an autopsy report, human workers must sort and annotate thousands of crime scene images.
The precarious work of training AI, which generally pays just a few dollars, has sparked a movement for better wages and conditions stretching from Kenya to Colombia.
“You have to spend your whole day looking at dead bodies and crime scenes... Mental health support was not provided,” Kenyan national Ephantus Kanyugi told AFP.
Labellers “need to spend time with these images, zoom into the wounds of dead people” to outline them so they can be fed into the AI, the 30-year-old added.
Mr Kanyugi, who has worked on image labelling since 2018, is the vice-president of the Data Labelers Association (DLA), an 800-strong labour group based in Nairobi.
The DLA plans to unveil a code of conduct in October aimed at major labelling platforms, calling for improved conditions for workers.
Kenya has no law regulating data-annotation work – like many countries around the world where millions of people are feeding digital information into growing AI models.
“We’re like ghosts. No one knows that we exist, even though we are contributing to society’s technological progress,” said Ms Oskarina Fuentes, half a world away.
The 35-year-old Venezuelan works for five different data-labelling platforms from her home in Colombian city Medellin, earning between US$0.05 (S$0.065) and US$0.25 per task.
Such behind-the-scenes data work has exploded as generative AI has soared to become tech’s next big thing.
Invisible labellers’ toil has allowed self-driving cars to recognise pedestrians and trees, chatbots like ChatGPT to speak in natural-sounding sentences, and automated content moderation systems to remove violent or pornographic content from social media.
The data-labelling sector amounted to a US$3.8-billion market in 2024 and is expected to grow to more than US$17 billion within five years, according to consultancy Grand View Research.
Modern slavery
Creating new generative AI models will need human-verified data “for as long as it’s based on automated learning”, said Professor Antonio Casilli, a sociology professor at France’s Institut Polytechnique in Paris who interviewed so-called “click workers” from 30 countries for a book on the sector.
Humans are required both to shape the inputs for generative AI models and to give feedback on the relevance and accuracy of the trained systems’ outputs.
Tech giants contract out this work to a plethora of different companies.
One of the largest, US-based Scale AI, recently secured a US$14-billion investment from Facebook parent company Meta – which also hired away co-founder Alexandr Wang to lead its own AI efforts.
Scale’s clients include OpenAI, Microsoft and the Defence Department in Washington.
In his investigation, Prof Casilli found that data labellers are generally aged between 18 and 30 and earn a low wage in relation to their level of education.
Most live in low-wage countries – although the sector is making inroads into America and Europe, where much higher pay is the norm.
As generative AI models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or competitor Anthropic’s Claude gain in capability, more specialised knowledge is needed to inform and judge their responses in maths, chemistry or less-common languages.
Scale AI’s subsidiary Outlier lists work for experts in biology, the Malay language spoken in Malaysia or computer coding in Spanish, with pay ranging from US$30 to US$50 per hour.
Another Scale AI subsidiary, Remotasks, pays labellers around US$0.01 for tasks that can take multiple hours – wages Mr Kanyugi likens to “modern slavery”.
“People develop eyesight problems, back problems, people go into anxiety and depression because you’re working 20 hours a day or six days a week,” he said.
“Then despite working so many hours, you only get poor pay, and you might also not get paid.”
How to murder someone?
Several legal cases have been filed against Scale AI in the US, with workers accusing the company of failing to pay them, reporting them as contractors rather than employees or exposing them to traumatising content without adequate safeguards, according to court documents seen by AFP.
Plaintiffs gave examples like being required to converse with an AI chatbot about topics such as “How to commit suicide?“, “How to poison a person?“ or “How to murder someone?“
Scale AI declined to comment on ongoing court cases, but acknowledged to AFP that some of its work includes sensitive content.
The company added that workers are always warned in advance of such topics and can break off a task whenever they choose.
Scale AI added that it offers workers mental-health resources and an anonymous support hotline.
And it said it makes its pay bands clear, offering equal or better hourly rates than the minimum wage in the countries where it operates.
Generative AI is not the first arm of the tech sector to face complaints over exposing low-paid contractors to disturbing content.
Moderators working for Meta in several countries, from Spain to Kenya and Ghana, have brought legal action against the company over working conditions and alleged psychological harm.
Sunday, 2 November 2025
Proton Mail Review (2025): The Email Service You Didn’t Know You Needed | WIRED
Proton Mail Review (2025): The Email Service You Didn’t Know You Needed | WIRED
Jacob Roach
GearOct 16, 2025 7:00 AM
Review: Proton Mail
Proton Mail gives you encrypted email, but more importantly, it puts you in the driver’s seat of your inbox.
Photograph: Jacob Roach
Rating:
8/10
Open rating explainer
WIRED
As fast and fluid as Gmail. Several options for encryption. Mass unsubscribe and filtering are simple. Email aliases. Comes as part of Proton Unlimited.
TIRED
Mobile app doesn’t have all the features of the web app. True end-to-end encryption is still clunky.
I never intended to switch away from Gmail. Like most people, I set up a free email ages ago with Google that I’ve carried through countless mailing lists and account sign-ups. My inbox is a mess, my online privacy is completely shot, and untangling my Gmail from my online life seemed impossible. But I went ahead and set up an account with Proton Mail anyway, and I haven’t opened Gmail since.
Proton Mail was founded by Proton Technologies, a privacy-focused company based in Switzerland, and it makes WIRED’s favorite VPN, Proton VPN, as well as a top-rated password manager. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that Proton Mail is equally excellent, though not for the reasons you might suspect.
Like other Proton apps, Proton Mail emphasizes security and privacy, but a big feature for me is that it works for you, not against you. Automatic sorting in Gmail has left my inbox in shambles, and mishandling of my email address has left my contact information in databases I never wanted to be part of. Proton Mail is helping me clean up the mess.
Clean Start
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
It’s tough switching to a new email service, especially when you have an email address so entrenched in your online life. Proton Mail makes the transition as seamless as possible. After signing up for an account, Proton will ask if you want to import data from Google. I imported my calendar—the encrypted Proton Calendar is included with Proton Mail, even on a free plan—and auto-forwarded my emails.
Mail
Rating: 8/10
Buy at Proton (Free)
$5 at Proton (Mail Plus, Monthly)
$13 at Proton (Unlimited, Monthly)
All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Learn more.
From a fresh inbox, messages started trickling in, and I was able to get a handle on them. First, organization. Proton gives you folders and tags, which are limited to three each on the free plan but unlimited otherwise. I tagged emails, told Proton to keep the tags consistent when new emails came from those addresses, and organized a few folders. This is standard fare for any email client, but I appreciate that Proton lets you suppress notifications on folders. I have a folder set up for emails from social platforms, for instance, where notifications are suppressed and the emails are automatically archived.
Organization is one battle, but getting my email off lists I didn’t want to be on is another. Like Gmail, you can unsubscribe from mailing lists easily. In the web client, at the top of any email that Proton has identified, you’ll see an unsubscribe button, allowing you to clean up your email without going through endless unsubscribe portals.
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
Mail
Rating: 8/10
Buy at Proton (Free)
$5 at Proton (Mail Plus, Monthly)
$13 at Proton (Unlimited, Monthly)
All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Learn more.
Further, Proton automatically identifies these mailing lists as “newsletters” and puts them in their own view. There, you can see how many messages they’ve sent, move addresses to different folders, and unsubscribe. Proton also shows the services you’ve already unsubscribed from. After unsubscribing from probably 100 mailing lists, I had at least half a dozen companies still sending me emails. I was able to chase them down and properly get off their lists. (Gmail also recently added a system for managing subscriptions.)
The difference with Proton over other clients is that these tools are brought to the forefront. I had only five email addresses that it didn’t recognize as mailing lists. The vast majority of emails were categorized properly, and the app itself pushed me to use the tools available.
A Cozy View
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
The look of Proton is familiar. By default, you have a list-style inbox reminiscent of Gmail, with options for standard or “compact” spacing, the latter of which will squish down each line. You can use the column layout, which moves your inbox to the left of the screen with a view for each message on the right, similar to the default Outlook view. You also get a toolbar on the right that will show your contacts and calendar, and a menu on the left that shows your labels and folders. You’ve used an interface like this before.
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
Once you start digging around, there are some important differences. When composing an email, you’ll find a handful of buttons at the bottom of the screen. One allows you to set a password, encrypting the email to its destination regardless of the server it travels through. Another lets you set an expiration date for messages, as well as attach your public key; more on that later.
I don’t use AI writing assistants, but Proton allows you to run its writing assistant locally, which is an important distinction compared to nearly every other email service with a similar feature. Most AI features run on remote servers, so when you enter prompts with Google’s AI, for instance, those prompts and the responses are stored on Google’s servers. With Proton, you can keep that all local, no remote server involved. You’ll need a PC that meets certain system requirements, and generating text isn’t as fast as on Proton’s servers. But having the option is huge.
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
As for reading emails, Proton goes out of its way to make things as straightforward as possible. By default, messages load in full rich text, including images. However, Proton will block images from loading if there are trackers tied to them. It will also, by default, ask for confirmation when you click a link, showing the full URL before it’s loaded. That’s important, especially on mobile devices where you can’t hover over a link to check whether an email is legitimate or a phishing attempt.
Most of the features available in the web app or on desktop are available in Proton’s mobile app, which, at the time of writing, was very recently overhauled on Android and iOS. You can bind actions to swiping left or right to quickly archive or organize messages, as well as use offline mode, which is a new addition. My only issue with the mobile app is that it doesn’t provide the same tools for unsubscribing from mailing lists. They’re completely absent, so you’ll need to handle all of that through the web or desktop app.
Mail
Rating: 8/10
Buy at Proton (Free)
$5 at Proton (Mail Plus, Monthly)
$13 at Proton (Unlimited, Monthly)
All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Learn more.
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
You also don’t get some of the more advanced settings available in the web or desktop client. I won’t bore you with the full details, but Proton offers the usual suspects you see at other email services—forward and auto-reply, custom filters, and IMAP/SMTP settings so you can use Proton with an external desktop client like Apple Mail or Thunderbird. The main setting I want to draw attention to is your encryption keys, which you can manage within the settings, as well as export.
The Encryption Misconception
When you land on Proton Mail’s homepage, you’re greeted with this message: “Keep your conversations private with Proton Mail, an encrypted email service based in Switzerland.” It’s a good logline, but it doesn’t fully explain how Proton Mail is different other email services. Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and just about every other email service encrypt your messages. What makes Proton Mail different?
Your standard online email service uses Transport Layer Security for encryption. It’s what you call “in-transit” encryption, meaning that the contents of the email are encrypted only while traveling across the internet. Proton Mail uses end-to-end encryption with public-key cryptography; read our explainer on passkeys for more details on that. End-to-end encryption means that your message is fully encrypted from the source (you) to the destination (the recipient).
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
That’s not how most popular email services work. Your emails are encrypted while traveling, but they can be (and often are) decrypted at various pitstops along the way, like the servers of the email provider you’re using. Proton Mail’s end-to-end encryption means your messages stay encrypted, and Proton doesn’t have the means to decrypt them when they travel through its servers.
At least, that’s the idea. The reality of email encryption is messier. Proton uses end-to-end encryption, but only between two Proton Mail users or if you send a message encrypted with a public PGP key. In the more likely event that there’s a non-Proton user in the exchange, Proton uses Transport Layer Security. The difference is that Proton re-encrypts emails before they hit your inbox, and it allows you to send password-protected emails. That will hide the contents of your email from the service of the recipient, behind a password, and Proton lets you set an expiration date for the message so it can’t be cracked later.
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
This is all important context for Proton, but for my personal email use, encryption isn’t the main draw. Privacy is, and that’s an area where Proton can help, regardless of where your emails are coming from. Just like websites, emails are loaded with trackers that can swipe loads of information, from when you open an email to any links or attachments you interact with. Proton blocks these trackers, and in the top right corner of every email in the web application, you can see what trackers were blocked and where they lead back to. You’d be surprised how many trackers come in one email.
My favorite feature for Proton Mail is aliases. These are technically part of Proton Pass, but you get 10 email aliases included as part of the Proton Mail Plus subscription. (Proton Unlimited gives you unlimited aliases.) If you have the Proton Pass extension installed, you can create an alias when filling in an email field online, which will forward to your Proton Mail inbox. You’re able to see everyone who has access to that alias, as well as block senders from sending messages to it. (Apple has a similar feature with its email client.)
Mail
Rating: 8/10
Buy at Proton (Free)
$5 at Proton (Mail Plus, Monthly)
$13 at Proton (Unlimited, Monthly)
All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Learn more.
That’s very useful. So useful that I leveraged the alias feature just an hour ago at the time I’m writing this. An email from the Professional Triathletes Organization showed up in my inbox. I’ve never heard of it, much less signed up for a mailing list. It turns out another mailing list I signed up for sold my email at some point, but I used an alias! I was able to block both senders without ever touching an unsubscribe button.
Encryption and privacy measures are great, but the difference with Proton Mail is that it is working for you. You pay a subscription fee. Google and other free email providers don’t work for you. They work for themselves, selling your data and feeding you advertisements to fund a free service, at the cost of privacy.
Addressing the Controversy
Although Proton has a solid track record in its more than a decade of existence, there’s one major scar on its reputation. In 2021, a French climate activist (and Proton Mail user) was arrested, and Proton assisted in handing over their IP address to the authorities. The headlines wrote themselves, as the no-logs privacy company not only logged the data of a user but also shared that data with authorities. There’s some critical nuance to this story, however.
Proton is based in Switzerland, and as a Swiss company, it isn’t allowed to share data with foreign governments or entities. That includes France and Europol. In this instance, Proton says it received a legally binding order from the Swiss government to log this user’s IP address. As the Proton Mail threat model page states, “the internet is generally not anonymous, and if you are breaking Swiss law, a law-abiding company such as Proton Mail can be legally compelled to log your IP address.”
Mail
Rating: 8/10
Buy at Proton (Free)
$5 at Proton (Mail Plus, Monthly)
$13 at Proton (Unlimited, Monthly)
All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Learn more.
In this case, Proton did log the IP address after an order from the Swiss government, but it didn’t provide any contents of the email address in question because, as the security model suggests, Proton couldn’t decrypt them. Further, a month later, Proton won a case in Swiss courts to limit required data retention on email providers, and it pointed activists looking for anonymity toward Tor to access Proton.
It’s not a good look for a company that prides itself on privacy to hand over data to the government, even if that data is ultimately inconsequential. Proton says the authorities already knew the identity of the user, and it speculates that they were looking for further incriminating evidence within emails. However, Proton’s response to this situation is just as important. Contrast this situation with something like the LastPass data breach a few years ago. Proton acted with transparency.
I’m a believer that perfect is the enemy of good, and that sentiment reigns with Proton Mail. It is leaps and bounds more private to use Proton Mail than a service like Gmail or Outlook, and although the company landed in at least one controversy, it doesn’t have a track record of mishandling user data or lying about it.
Proton Mail makes privacy easy, and that's what I love so much about it. The reality of true end-to-end encryption is clunky, and the implications of a private email service aren't relevant for a lot of users. But Proton Mail gives me at least a bit more control over my inbox, and after decades of siphoning my data out to the highest bidder without my knowledge, it's a breath of fresh air.
Jacob Roach
GearOct 16, 2025 7:00 AM
Review: Proton Mail
Proton Mail gives you encrypted email, but more importantly, it puts you in the driver’s seat of your inbox.
Photograph: Jacob Roach
Rating:
8/10
Open rating explainer
WIRED
As fast and fluid as Gmail. Several options for encryption. Mass unsubscribe and filtering are simple. Email aliases. Comes as part of Proton Unlimited.
TIRED
Mobile app doesn’t have all the features of the web app. True end-to-end encryption is still clunky.
I never intended to switch away from Gmail. Like most people, I set up a free email ages ago with Google that I’ve carried through countless mailing lists and account sign-ups. My inbox is a mess, my online privacy is completely shot, and untangling my Gmail from my online life seemed impossible. But I went ahead and set up an account with Proton Mail anyway, and I haven’t opened Gmail since.
Proton Mail was founded by Proton Technologies, a privacy-focused company based in Switzerland, and it makes WIRED’s favorite VPN, Proton VPN, as well as a top-rated password manager. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that Proton Mail is equally excellent, though not for the reasons you might suspect.
Like other Proton apps, Proton Mail emphasizes security and privacy, but a big feature for me is that it works for you, not against you. Automatic sorting in Gmail has left my inbox in shambles, and mishandling of my email address has left my contact information in databases I never wanted to be part of. Proton Mail is helping me clean up the mess.
Clean Start
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
It’s tough switching to a new email service, especially when you have an email address so entrenched in your online life. Proton Mail makes the transition as seamless as possible. After signing up for an account, Proton will ask if you want to import data from Google. I imported my calendar—the encrypted Proton Calendar is included with Proton Mail, even on a free plan—and auto-forwarded my emails.
Rating: 8/10
Buy at Proton (Free)
$5 at Proton (Mail Plus, Monthly)
$13 at Proton (Unlimited, Monthly)
All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Learn more.
From a fresh inbox, messages started trickling in, and I was able to get a handle on them. First, organization. Proton gives you folders and tags, which are limited to three each on the free plan but unlimited otherwise. I tagged emails, told Proton to keep the tags consistent when new emails came from those addresses, and organized a few folders. This is standard fare for any email client, but I appreciate that Proton lets you suppress notifications on folders. I have a folder set up for emails from social platforms, for instance, where notifications are suppressed and the emails are automatically archived.
Organization is one battle, but getting my email off lists I didn’t want to be on is another. Like Gmail, you can unsubscribe from mailing lists easily. In the web client, at the top of any email that Proton has identified, you’ll see an unsubscribe button, allowing you to clean up your email without going through endless unsubscribe portals.
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
Rating: 8/10
Buy at Proton (Free)
$5 at Proton (Mail Plus, Monthly)
$13 at Proton (Unlimited, Monthly)
All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Learn more.
Further, Proton automatically identifies these mailing lists as “newsletters” and puts them in their own view. There, you can see how many messages they’ve sent, move addresses to different folders, and unsubscribe. Proton also shows the services you’ve already unsubscribed from. After unsubscribing from probably 100 mailing lists, I had at least half a dozen companies still sending me emails. I was able to chase them down and properly get off their lists. (Gmail also recently added a system for managing subscriptions.)
The difference with Proton over other clients is that these tools are brought to the forefront. I had only five email addresses that it didn’t recognize as mailing lists. The vast majority of emails were categorized properly, and the app itself pushed me to use the tools available.
A Cozy View
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
The look of Proton is familiar. By default, you have a list-style inbox reminiscent of Gmail, with options for standard or “compact” spacing, the latter of which will squish down each line. You can use the column layout, which moves your inbox to the left of the screen with a view for each message on the right, similar to the default Outlook view. You also get a toolbar on the right that will show your contacts and calendar, and a menu on the left that shows your labels and folders. You’ve used an interface like this before.
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
Once you start digging around, there are some important differences. When composing an email, you’ll find a handful of buttons at the bottom of the screen. One allows you to set a password, encrypting the email to its destination regardless of the server it travels through. Another lets you set an expiration date for messages, as well as attach your public key; more on that later.
I don’t use AI writing assistants, but Proton allows you to run its writing assistant locally, which is an important distinction compared to nearly every other email service with a similar feature. Most AI features run on remote servers, so when you enter prompts with Google’s AI, for instance, those prompts and the responses are stored on Google’s servers. With Proton, you can keep that all local, no remote server involved. You’ll need a PC that meets certain system requirements, and generating text isn’t as fast as on Proton’s servers. But having the option is huge.
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
As for reading emails, Proton goes out of its way to make things as straightforward as possible. By default, messages load in full rich text, including images. However, Proton will block images from loading if there are trackers tied to them. It will also, by default, ask for confirmation when you click a link, showing the full URL before it’s loaded. That’s important, especially on mobile devices where you can’t hover over a link to check whether an email is legitimate or a phishing attempt.
Most of the features available in the web app or on desktop are available in Proton’s mobile app, which, at the time of writing, was very recently overhauled on Android and iOS. You can bind actions to swiping left or right to quickly archive or organize messages, as well as use offline mode, which is a new addition. My only issue with the mobile app is that it doesn’t provide the same tools for unsubscribing from mailing lists. They’re completely absent, so you’ll need to handle all of that through the web or desktop app.
Rating: 8/10
Buy at Proton (Free)
$5 at Proton (Mail Plus, Monthly)
$13 at Proton (Unlimited, Monthly)
All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Learn more.
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
You also don’t get some of the more advanced settings available in the web or desktop client. I won’t bore you with the full details, but Proton offers the usual suspects you see at other email services—forward and auto-reply, custom filters, and IMAP/SMTP settings so you can use Proton with an external desktop client like Apple Mail or Thunderbird. The main setting I want to draw attention to is your encryption keys, which you can manage within the settings, as well as export.
The Encryption Misconception
When you land on Proton Mail’s homepage, you’re greeted with this message: “Keep your conversations private with Proton Mail, an encrypted email service based in Switzerland.” It’s a good logline, but it doesn’t fully explain how Proton Mail is different other email services. Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and just about every other email service encrypt your messages. What makes Proton Mail different?
Your standard online email service uses Transport Layer Security for encryption. It’s what you call “in-transit” encryption, meaning that the contents of the email are encrypted only while traveling across the internet. Proton Mail uses end-to-end encryption with public-key cryptography; read our explainer on passkeys for more details on that. End-to-end encryption means that your message is fully encrypted from the source (you) to the destination (the recipient).
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
That’s not how most popular email services work. Your emails are encrypted while traveling, but they can be (and often are) decrypted at various pitstops along the way, like the servers of the email provider you’re using. Proton Mail’s end-to-end encryption means your messages stay encrypted, and Proton doesn’t have the means to decrypt them when they travel through its servers.
At least, that’s the idea. The reality of email encryption is messier. Proton uses end-to-end encryption, but only between two Proton Mail users or if you send a message encrypted with a public PGP key. In the more likely event that there’s a non-Proton user in the exchange, Proton uses Transport Layer Security. The difference is that Proton re-encrypts emails before they hit your inbox, and it allows you to send password-protected emails. That will hide the contents of your email from the service of the recipient, behind a password, and Proton lets you set an expiration date for the message so it can’t be cracked later.
Proton Mail via Jacob Roach
This is all important context for Proton, but for my personal email use, encryption isn’t the main draw. Privacy is, and that’s an area where Proton can help, regardless of where your emails are coming from. Just like websites, emails are loaded with trackers that can swipe loads of information, from when you open an email to any links or attachments you interact with. Proton blocks these trackers, and in the top right corner of every email in the web application, you can see what trackers were blocked and where they lead back to. You’d be surprised how many trackers come in one email.
My favorite feature for Proton Mail is aliases. These are technically part of Proton Pass, but you get 10 email aliases included as part of the Proton Mail Plus subscription. (Proton Unlimited gives you unlimited aliases.) If you have the Proton Pass extension installed, you can create an alias when filling in an email field online, which will forward to your Proton Mail inbox. You’re able to see everyone who has access to that alias, as well as block senders from sending messages to it. (Apple has a similar feature with its email client.)
Rating: 8/10
Buy at Proton (Free)
$5 at Proton (Mail Plus, Monthly)
$13 at Proton (Unlimited, Monthly)
All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Learn more.
That’s very useful. So useful that I leveraged the alias feature just an hour ago at the time I’m writing this. An email from the Professional Triathletes Organization showed up in my inbox. I’ve never heard of it, much less signed up for a mailing list. It turns out another mailing list I signed up for sold my email at some point, but I used an alias! I was able to block both senders without ever touching an unsubscribe button.
Encryption and privacy measures are great, but the difference with Proton Mail is that it is working for you. You pay a subscription fee. Google and other free email providers don’t work for you. They work for themselves, selling your data and feeding you advertisements to fund a free service, at the cost of privacy.
Addressing the Controversy
Although Proton has a solid track record in its more than a decade of existence, there’s one major scar on its reputation. In 2021, a French climate activist (and Proton Mail user) was arrested, and Proton assisted in handing over their IP address to the authorities. The headlines wrote themselves, as the no-logs privacy company not only logged the data of a user but also shared that data with authorities. There’s some critical nuance to this story, however.
Proton is based in Switzerland, and as a Swiss company, it isn’t allowed to share data with foreign governments or entities. That includes France and Europol. In this instance, Proton says it received a legally binding order from the Swiss government to log this user’s IP address. As the Proton Mail threat model page states, “the internet is generally not anonymous, and if you are breaking Swiss law, a law-abiding company such as Proton Mail can be legally compelled to log your IP address.”
Rating: 8/10
Buy at Proton (Free)
$5 at Proton (Mail Plus, Monthly)
$13 at Proton (Unlimited, Monthly)
All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Learn more.
In this case, Proton did log the IP address after an order from the Swiss government, but it didn’t provide any contents of the email address in question because, as the security model suggests, Proton couldn’t decrypt them. Further, a month later, Proton won a case in Swiss courts to limit required data retention on email providers, and it pointed activists looking for anonymity toward Tor to access Proton.
It’s not a good look for a company that prides itself on privacy to hand over data to the government, even if that data is ultimately inconsequential. Proton says the authorities already knew the identity of the user, and it speculates that they were looking for further incriminating evidence within emails. However, Proton’s response to this situation is just as important. Contrast this situation with something like the LastPass data breach a few years ago. Proton acted with transparency.
I’m a believer that perfect is the enemy of good, and that sentiment reigns with Proton Mail. It is leaps and bounds more private to use Proton Mail than a service like Gmail or Outlook, and although the company landed in at least one controversy, it doesn’t have a track record of mishandling user data or lying about it.
Proton Mail makes privacy easy, and that's what I love so much about it. The reality of true end-to-end encryption is clunky, and the implications of a private email service aren't relevant for a lot of users. But Proton Mail gives me at least a bit more control over my inbox, and after decades of siphoning my data out to the highest bidder without my knowledge, it's a breath of fresh air.
Saturday, 1 November 2025
American Magic announces withdrawal from 38th America’s Cup
American Magic announces withdrawal from 38th America’s Cup
American Magic announces withdrawal from 38th America’s Cup
Toby Heppell
October 29, 2025
American Magic has announced it will not compete in the 38th edition of the America’s Cup, stating that the event’s current Protocol does not provide the necessary framework for a financially sustainable campaign
TAGS:
The US-based America’s Cup team, American Magic has announced it will not compete in the 38th edition of the America’s Cup, stating that the event’s current Protocol and new Partnership Agreement ‘do not provide the necessary framework for a financially sustainable and highly competitive campaign’.
The team, which has represented the New York Yacht Club in the previous two Cup cycles, made the decision following, what they call ‘an extensive review of the governing documents’.
“After extensive engagement with the Defender [Emirates Team New Zealand], Challenger of Record [Athena Racing], and fellow teams, we’ve concluded that the present structure does not provide the framework for American Magic to operate a highly competitive and financially sustainable campaign for the 38th America’s Cup,” said Team Principal Doug DeVos.
“For a team committed to long-term excellence, alignment around financial viability and competitive performance is essential. At this time, we don’t believe those conditions are in place for American Magic to challenge.”
The decision comes amid significant structural changes to the America’s Cup. The new America’s Cup Partnership (ACP), established in the latest Protocol, fundamentally changes how the event is run.
The ACP aims to spread the logistical and financial burden of hosting the event among the Challengers and Defender, creating a more commercial structure intended to secure long-term sponsorship and hosting deals.
However, the American Magic’s withdrawal reflects growing concerns that this “democratisation” of the Cup, which shifts away from the traditional winner-takes-all format, may dilute the event’s unique appeal and prestige.
Critics of the ACP argue that commercialising the competition risks turning it into a world championship circuit, potentially making it harder for teams like American Magic to raise the necessary high-level finance by reducing the unique cachet of challenging for the Auld Mug.
Despite the withdrawal, American Magic confirmed it remains committed to its founding purpose of building a high-performance American sailing platform. The team’s focus will now shift to athlete and technology development, international competition, and supporting U.S. Olympic sailing from its base in Pensacola, Florida.
If you enjoyed this….
Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.
Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.
American Magic announces withdrawal from 38th America’s Cup
Toby Heppell
October 29, 2025
American Magic has announced it will not compete in the 38th edition of the America’s Cup, stating that the event’s current Protocol does not provide the necessary framework for a financially sustainable campaign
TAGS:
The US-based America’s Cup team, American Magic has announced it will not compete in the 38th edition of the America’s Cup, stating that the event’s current Protocol and new Partnership Agreement ‘do not provide the necessary framework for a financially sustainable and highly competitive campaign’.
The team, which has represented the New York Yacht Club in the previous two Cup cycles, made the decision following, what they call ‘an extensive review of the governing documents’.
“After extensive engagement with the Defender [Emirates Team New Zealand], Challenger of Record [Athena Racing], and fellow teams, we’ve concluded that the present structure does not provide the framework for American Magic to operate a highly competitive and financially sustainable campaign for the 38th America’s Cup,” said Team Principal Doug DeVos.
“For a team committed to long-term excellence, alignment around financial viability and competitive performance is essential. At this time, we don’t believe those conditions are in place for American Magic to challenge.”
The decision comes amid significant structural changes to the America’s Cup. The new America’s Cup Partnership (ACP), established in the latest Protocol, fundamentally changes how the event is run.
The ACP aims to spread the logistical and financial burden of hosting the event among the Challengers and Defender, creating a more commercial structure intended to secure long-term sponsorship and hosting deals.
However, the American Magic’s withdrawal reflects growing concerns that this “democratisation” of the Cup, which shifts away from the traditional winner-takes-all format, may dilute the event’s unique appeal and prestige.
Critics of the ACP argue that commercialising the competition risks turning it into a world championship circuit, potentially making it harder for teams like American Magic to raise the necessary high-level finance by reducing the unique cachet of challenging for the Auld Mug.
Despite the withdrawal, American Magic confirmed it remains committed to its founding purpose of building a high-performance American sailing platform. The team’s focus will now shift to athlete and technology development, international competition, and supporting U.S. Olympic sailing from its base in Pensacola, Florida.
If you enjoyed this….Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.
Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.
Friday, 31 October 2025
Meet Quebec’s Oldest Craft Brewery: Golden Lion Pub
Golden Lion, Quebec’s oldest craft brewery, serves timeless British ales since 1986. Located in Lennoxville, this charming pub blends history, tradition, and legendary brews like Lion’s Pride.
Quebec’s oldest craft brewery is oddly unassuming. It’s a large heritage home located directly on College St, a stone’s throw from Bishop’s University and near the city of Sherbrooke. In winter, when the terrace is closed, you wouldn’t think this was one of the country’s first craft breweries. Nor would you think that it has been brewing one of the country’s finest British-style ales non-stop for almost forty years.
It felt like visiting a church: you could feel centuries of English tradition come to life on the wooden walls and old paintings, among a few bingo posters and the obligatory public information billboard.
I met Stan on a sunny Saturday, at 11 am. The bar was silent and still. Stan wore a simple checked jacket and a cap. Large grin, big eyes and easy smile. He’s an old-fashioned gentleman with a taste for the classics. He has been bartending at the Golden Lion since he was 16, and took over the establishment a few years ago.
It wasn’t long before we were both sitting at the bar, pint in hand. Stan looked disapprovingly at my choice of beer: « You really should have picked Lion’s Pride first ». And here I thought his Bitter was a top choice. « Oh that’s too bad, you won’t be able to enjoy the flavors of our Pride ». Of course I had no idea he was referring to one of the best lagers in the province.
What’s striking about this establishment is that it is in many ways the anti-craft brewery: an ostensibly British pub with an unwavering commitment to classic English styles. You won’t find an IPA here, no sir. I just don’t like the taste of them.
« They are not real beers to me. Sure, some of them taste great, but when I am thinking about beer, the only beers I like to drink are English beers, and that’s what we have been brewing since the start. » No hype, no trend, no release party. The old ale that is strong does not wither!
How It Started
« Nobody back then ever considered brewing beer. There was Molson, Labatt and O’Keiffe. That was it. «
Lennoxville had about nine bars in the 1970s. Rough railroad bars that weren’t exactly the kind of places Bishop University professors wanted to sit at. Especially visiting English professors. « My father was a university professor, and he had travelled extensively to England. Him and two friends – also professors at Bishop – decided to try something new : making real English ale. »
I thought, what a gamble it was to start a brewery back then. People only knew commercial beer. How were you going to sell this to the public? Stan shrugs away any concerns: « We knew it was going to work because we already had the clients, we knew we were going to make good beer, and we knew it could work because of Traller Pub. »
The Traller Pub is big business. The name may not ring a bell today, but back in 1982, the opening of this craft brewery was a major event. Located in Horseshow Bay, British Columbia, it was Canada’s very first craft brewery.
« If you were allowed in British Columbia, you were allowed to open anywhere in the country. So we decided to do this here. If there was ever a place in Lennoxville where this would work, it was here. In addition to my father’s love of English beer, I had also had some experience by then. I had bartended in Alberta and traveled to Europe and my first stop in England was a pub. »
« My dad and his partners said : this is an interesting concept, let’s do it. We had bought the old Texaco Garage for the parking. It just became a storage for broken down tables and bar stools. We had the infrastructure, locals, students and professors. We were highly confident that it would work. It was more a question of which beer to brew.
Unanimously, it was a British Beer. At the time, Ringwood Brewery was a legendary U.S. Brewery at the time, great scenerey and former hunting ground for Henry. So I went there to learn about brewing. «
Lion’s Pride First!
My mother is turning 90 this year. Her secret : The Lion’s Pride.
The brewery regularly brewed around six beers. Why? Because Stan can’t make beer he won’t drink, and he won’t drink IPA. But that doesn’t mean the brewery is stubbornly stuck in the past. Take good old watermelon blueberry ale for example: this beer is light years ahead of the standard British pint, but Stan was curious to see if they could pull it off. It was supposed to be an exclusive beer, but the response was shocking and it quickly became one of the best-selling beers all year round. Today, there’s a raspberry variant of the beer.
But there is nothing quite like Lion’s Pride, the flagship beer of Golden Lion’s Pub. It’s a golden blonde ale that defies convention. On the surface, it’s more or less in the usual range of slightly bitter, very biscuity notes, but as soon as it touches your tongue, you get this overwhelming sensation of fullness. Something like a crisp Czech beer, but in a more intense way, and with a long-lasting, very pleasant aftertaste.
How It All Started
« Back in the days when you started to learn about brewing, you went to Vermont, because that’s where the great breweries were. So that’s what I did with an internship. At first, they throw you in the mashtun and get you to dig it out with a shovel. It’s all muscle work, but then you start loving it, because you get to play with the material. »
« It was nice on a cool day, as you could feel the warmth of the mash and breathe in the aromas. As soon as you’d cleaned up, you went into town to try the local breweries. So, during the day, you learned how to brew, and after work, you learned what you wanted to brew! »
« Two beers appealed to me: Ruddles County and brown NewCastle. I met Allan Pugsly, an expert brewer who has helped create breweries in New England, and we talked about what we liked. We sat down in a pub. I was looking for a mid-range brewery. Allan asked me frankly: What do you want to brew? I replied something between a caramel beer and a medium brown ale. So Allan ordered three different beers and started mixing them. That’s how it happened. »
« The students thought: what kind of beer is this? Is it dark brown? Fortunately, there were businessmen and professors who had traveled, and they had a taste of what beer could be like on the international scene. It was from this crowd that we started to get loyal customers. The camera crew filmed us. Then tourists. »
« For visitors, you always Start with the Lights. Blond, Amber, Pride, Bitter, and the Stout. »
Terry has been brewing Lion Pride for 38 years.
What to do at the Lion’s Pub?
The crowd is everyone. Pub for public. It’s a place where you come in and talk to everyone, especially the horse bar. Students, teachers, support staff, CEGEP. Lennoxville is all about education, so there’s a lot of curiosity. The most British pub in the region.
At night, the place rolls : On Tuesdays nights, we have the dart club, then it goes into Radio Bingo for a local community English Radio Station. And we also have a big crowd for Bingo. Still on the Tuesday, you have an open mic or accoustic tuesday. Wednesday is Wing Night, with a kick ass Suicide Sauce. Thursday is DJ night : full trasher night. Friday is karaoke night. Back to the DJ on Saturday. Closed on Sunday and Monday.
« On Tuesday evenings, we have the darts club, then Radio Bingo for a local English-language radio station. Bingo is also very popular. Tuesdays are also open mic or acoustic Tuesdays. Wednesday is Wing night, with a kick-ass Suicide Sauce. Thursday’s DJ night: full trasher night. Friday is karaoke night. Back to the DJ on Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. »
Hours: Open Tuesday to Saturday, 3:00 p.m. until close.
Dine-In & Takeout: Serving up delicious eats Wednesday to Saturday, 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. 🍔
Pierre-Olivier Bussières : Editor-in-Chief or Le Temps d’une Bière and producer of Hoppy History. Pierre has previously written for The Diplomat, Global Risk Insights and the NATO Association of Canada. For the past two years, Pierre has been writing on the history of alcohol from antiquity to modern times, with a special focus on the role of craft breweries in North America.
Tuesday, 28 October 2025
OnePlus 15 sets new standard with world’s first 165Hz OLED display
OnePlus 15 OnePlus 15 sets new standard with world’s first 165Hz OLED display
OnePlus 15 wants your eyes to blink slower with its 165Hz display
By Moinak Pal Published October 13, 2025 6:09 AM
OnePlusWhat Happened: Get ready, because OnePlus just dropped some exciting details about its next big phone, the OnePlus 15.The star of the show is a brand-new screen they’re revealing on October 14th.
They’ve teamed up with a company called BOE to create the world’s first-ever high-resolution phone display with a ridiculously fast 165Hz refresh rate, which means everything will look incredibly smooth.
BOE, in a Weibo post, revealed that the OnePlus 15 will be the first phone to feature and OLED display with 165Hz refresh rate.
The phone will also be powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. And in a cool design switch-up, they’re ditching the familiar round camera bump for a fresh new square look.
OnePlusWhy Is This Important: This isn’t just a minor update—it’s a huge leap for phone screens.Putting the fastest-ever refresh rate on a major phone raises the bar for the entire industry.
It’s also packed with a special new chip from Oppo that makes the display react twice as fast as the average phone, which is a pretty big deal for performance.
Why Should I Care: Alright, let’s cut through the tech talk. What this really means is that your phone’s screen is about to get a serious upgrade.If you’re someone who loves a beautiful display, this is for you.
We’re talking about gaming that feels incredibly fluid and movies that just pop with color. Even just scrolling through your feed will feel buttery smooth.
And maybe the best part? They’ve managed to do all this while actually being easier on your battery, so you can enjoy that gorgeous screen without constantly hunting for a charger.
OnePlusWhat’s Next: So, the big reveal is happening tomorrow. Once they’ve officially shown off that new screen, expect to hear all about the phone itself. Honestly, with a display this good, a super-fast processor, and a new design, it sounds like OnePlus is really swinging for the fences. This is shaping up to be one of the most exciting phones to watch out for this year.
Moinak Pal
News Writer
instagramlinkedin
Moinak Pal is has been working in the technology sector covering both consumer centric tech and automotive technology for the…
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
RG Richardson City Guides
Interactive City and Finance Guides
-
6 race-ready new yachts: Performance designs built for speed 6 race-ready new yachts: Performance designs built for speed Toby Hodges Novem...
-
Trump and Hegseth declare an end to 'politically correct' leadership in the US military Trump and Hegseth declare an end to 'pol...
