Linked List: October 11, 2025

Saturday, 11 October 2025

My thanks to Drata for once again sponsoring DF. Their message is short and sweet: Automate compliance. Streamline security. Manage risk. Drata delivers the world’s most advanced Trust Management platform.

Apple Has Indefinitely Postponed Jessica Chastain’s Apple TV+ Thriller ‘The Savant’, for Political Reasons ★

Nellie Andreeva, reporting for Deadline back on September 23:

The release of Apple TV+’s The Savant has been put on hold. The decision comes three days before the thriller starring Jessica Chastain was slated to premiere on the streamer Sept. 26. No new date has been set.

“After careful consideration, we have made the decision to postpone The Savant,” an Apple TV+ spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline. “We appreciate your understanding and look forward to releasing the series at a future date.”

The streamer would not elaborate on the reasons for the last-minute change but The Savant’s subject matter is believed to be behind it, with the storyline about preventing extremist attacks and some of the imagery considered possibly triggering following the Sept. 10 assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk. The series includes a sniper in action and the bombing of a government building among other acts of violence.

Jessica Chastain, in a post on Instagram later that same day:

I want to say how much I value my partnership with Apple. They’ve been incredible collaborators and I deeply respect their team. That said, I wanted to reach out and let you know that we’re not aligned on the decision to pause the release of The Savant. [...]

I’ve never shied away from difficult subjects, and while I wish this show wasn’t so relevant, unfortunately it is. The Savant is about the heroes who work every day to stop violence before it happens, and honoring their courage feels more urgent than ever. While I respect Apple’s decision to pause the release for now, I remain hopeful the show will reach audiences soon. Until then, I’m wishing safety and strength for everyone, and I’ll let you know if and when The Savant is released.

Here we are nearly three weeks later, and it’s still a question of if, not when — Apple TV’s page for The Savant still has it labeled “Coming: At a Later Date”.

Saul Zabar, Smoked Fish Czar of Upper West Side, Dies at 97 ★

Clyde Haberman, The New York Times:

Saul Zabar, who across more than seven decades as a principal owner of the Upper West Side food emporium bearing his family name kept New Yorkers amply fortified with smoked fish, earthy bread and tangy cheese, not to mention pungent coffee, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 97. [...]

What did he look for in a fish? His response to The New York Sun in 2007 was worthy of a cryptic Zen master: “It’s got to have taste. Not too this, not too that.”

But he was clear about his store’s iconic status. “There’s a romance about what we do,” he said in 2012. “We have a modern appearance, but we really do things the way they were done 40, 50, 75, even 200 years ago.” [...]

“We get asked often why we don’t franchise, because we have a lot of branded products,” he told the magazine Edible Manhattan in 2022.

“Money is not why we do this, not why we’re here seven days a week,” he said. “It’s a way of life for us. It’s kind of old-fashioned.”

Many people claim that they’re not in it for the money. Only some of them mean it. And those are the most interesting, and often most beloved, people in the world.

Amazon Hamfistedly Removed the Guns From Prime’s James Bond Movie Posters ★

Garth Franklin, writing at Dark Horizons:

Amazon has quietly walked back new James Bond thumbnail artwork on its Prime Video service following controversy over digital alterations to the original art. As reported here yesterday, the art was unveiled on the weekend to coincide with James Bond Day celebrations on Sunday.

Bond fans quickly noticed that the artwork had undergone some amateur photoshopping, which either cropped or airbrushed out his signature Walther PPK gun from the original image in a variety of ways.

The results were widely derided on social media; films like Dr. No and Goldeneye appeared to have Bond making a rude gesture, while others like A View to a Kill elongated Roger Moore’s arms well past the point of any human.

The updated ones just kinda suck. Amazon’s original “new” posters were downright hilariously bad. This bodes poorly for the Bond franchise’s future.