Everything the anchors say on this tape, story by story.
Headlines
GRANT BRICKMAN: While you were asleep: Paramount announced Smile 3, directed by David Bruckner of Hellraiser fame, from a script by Nick Antosca.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Also overnight, HHS loosened restrictions on six unproven peptides, including BPC-157 and TB-500, for certain licensed pharmacies.
GRANT BRICKMAN: And a leak says GTA 6 needs 210 GB of storage. Rockstar has not commented.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Breaking: six new indie horror films are heading to your living room before Halloween.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Breaking news, just in! Six brand-new horror films are heading to your living room before Halloween. Roxy Reel is at the drive-in. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: It's a sponsored post, Grant. Leonine and the Busch Media Group are releasing six indie horror films, nearly weekly until the end of October. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Nearly weekly. Like setting the VCR timer, except the tape is full of screaming. Roxy, what have we got? ▶
ROXY: Darlings, it's huge! The Whisper: Lucia and her silent brother Adrian flee their violent father and hide in a remote villa. Cosy, no? ▶
ROXY: The neighbours turn out to be cold-blooded killers who post videos on the dark web. And a bigger horror creeps out of the forest. Oops. Spoiler. ▶
ROXY: It premiered in Germany at the Fantasy Filmfest Nights 2026. Deadline writes of incredibly suspenseful staging and enormously effective shocks. Four reels. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: The six range from slashers and splatter to supernatural fantasy, coming-of-age fun and mystery thrillers. The Whisper is from Uruguay and Argentina. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Thank you, Roxy. Lovely. Perhaps save the splatter for after breakfast, viewers. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: A $23 used phone's motherboard becomes the brain of an RC plane.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: For viewers just joining, we first told you about this yesterday afternoon. Today, the background: how a retired phone ends up flying. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: A phone in an aeroplane. Is that what airplane mode is for? Second coffee, forgive me. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: Not quite, Grant. The article starts from a simple idea: smartphones hold many parts that stay useful long after the phone itself is out of fashion. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: Mountain DS Lab took an 8-year-old Xiaomi Mi 8, bought used for $23, with a cracked glass back and lines across the display. Only the motherboard matters. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: So what does the plane get out of it? ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: The phone's LTE connection gives the plane a long-range FPV video link and remote control. They replaced the default ROM with LineageOS. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: A custom bracket was printed to fit the board inside the plane. A USB-to-UART adapter PCB with a CH340 chip talks to the avionics. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: The catch: the OS checks for the display at boot and times out if it's missing. The workaround is disabling the display in the device tree, via boot.img. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: So the phone insists on seeing its own face before it flies. I know the feeling. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Question for later: what else can a cracked old phone do? The article's answer is, quite a lot. ▶
PXL Corrects the Record (PXL)
GRANT BRICKMAN: Greta sets the record straight on three things Grant said earlier.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Good morning. It is time to correct the record, Grant, and we have three items. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: First. ThinkRail isolates work in git worktree workspaces. It is not a pruning schedule. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Greta, in my day a tree was a tree. I stand by seasonal. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Second. The 210 GB for GTA 6 is a leak from an account that names no source. Rockstar has not commented. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: I cleared my voicemail in good faith. Treat it as a gesture of solidarity. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Third. The tax test: one agent, Astra, never flagged a deadline worth up to $250,000. Opus flagged it in all five attempts. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: One skipped a deadline. I said so. Frankly, I feel vindicated. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Noted. Corrected, and unvindicated. ▶
[AD · fictional product] Hollowmere Stays
THE ANNOUNCER: Tired of being where you are? Pack a bag and book Hollowmere Stays, the holiday that starts the second you stop checking the departures board!
THE ANNOUNCER: Sunny coasts! Quiet lakes! A city break so close you can almost see your own flat! Free pillow on every booking!
THE ANNOUNCER: Hollowmere Stays. Go somewhere, eventually.