Day: October 4, 2025

• This post originally appeared in the BI Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider’s daily newsletter here.

Welcome back to our Saturday edition! One woman who has traveled to all 50 states solo determined that this US region is the best to visit during the fall. Find out if it’s where you live.

On the agenda:

• At-home saunas are the hottest amenity in real estate.
• So long, June. October is wedding season now.
• The “micro-luxury” items one woman splurged on to upgrade her life.
• BI’s Kim Schewitz went to the same cooking school as “tradwife” Ballerina Farm. It was blissful — and exhausting.

But first: Taylor’s back.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Business Insider’s app here.

This week’s dispatch

‘The Life of a Showgirl’

Taylor Swift is back, baby. “The Life of a Showgirl” takes listeners inside the pop star’s life when she’s not heartbroken, and instead enjoying love (Hi, Travis!) and life.

The 12-track album is “flamboyant” and “catchy,” writes Business Insider’s senior pop culture writer, Callie Ahlgrim.

Swift wrote and produced her 12th studio album in Sweden last year. On the project, she reunites with Max Martin and Karl “Shellback” Schuster, the same hitmakers who created the pop anthems “Shake It Off” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” So, Swifties were just blessed with a real treat.

“‘Showgirl’ is the most brazenly pop-forward, melodically savvy, and structurally polished album that Swift has released in about a decade,” Ahlgrim continues.

(BI’s Joe Ciolli, author of the upcoming First Trade newsletter, also has an interesting take about how Swift shares a lot in common with another big trend these days: artificial intelligence.)

For Swift’s part, she describes the album as “melodies that were so infectious that you’re almost angry at it, and lyrics that are just as vivid, but crisp and focused and completely intentional.”

“It just comes from the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life,” Swift explained. “That effervescence has come through on this record.”

Ahlgrim listened to each track on “The Life of a Showgirl,” and shared her first-listen reaction. Find out which songs she loves, and which four she thinks you could skip.

The latest flex in real estate

Home saunas are the newest “it” amenity, and they’re only becoming more sought-after. Studies on Finnish saunas — the most popular worldwide — show cardiovascular benefits, stronger immune function, potentially lower risks of Alzheimer’s and dementia, and more.

It’s part of a broader shift toward “wellness design,” where homebuyers prioritize mental and physical health at home.

The trend is hitting New York City, too.

October romance

June is no longer the favorite month to get hitched. That title belongs to October, which has been the most popular wedding month since 2019, according to The Knot.

A mix of climatic and cultural factors make fall weddings particularly appealing. The weather is milder, the scenery is beautiful, and it’s a less basic choice than a summer wedding — or at least, it was.

Pumpkin-spiced nuptials.

Little treats

Claudia Gough defines micro-luxuries as “small indulgences that don’t have to cost a fortune, but really enhance your day-to-day life.”

Gough, a public relations manager for Benefit Cosmetics, counts a $95 hairbrush, a $120 car freshener, and a $950 pair of leather flats among hers. They’re high-quality pieces that will last her a long time, if not a lifetime.

See what else is in her collection.

Cooking like Ballerina Farm

BI’s Kim Schewitz took a two-and-a-half-day cooking course at the prestigious Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland. It’s where Hannah Needleman, the tradwife influencer also known as Ballerina Farm, took a three-month culinary course.

Schewitz stayed in a cottage, learned from world-famous chefs, and tasted raw milk from the farm’s Jersey cows. She hoped to bring Ballymaloe’s lessons back to London, but quickly realized how exhausting, expensive, and time-intensive the lifestyle is.

Enter the domestic fantasy.

What we’re watching this weekend

• “Chad Powers”: In this new series on Hulu, Glen Powell plays an egotistical college quarterback who, after ruining his reputation, disguises himself and goes by the name Chad Powers to join a new team.
• “The Lost Bus”: This movie on Apple TV+ stars Matthew McConaughey as a bus driver who must navigate a group of kids through the deadliest fire in California history.
• “The Naked Gun”: Watch Liam Neeson play a bumbling police officer in this slapstick comedy now available on Paramount+.

What to shop

• Custom suit, off-the-rack price: Indochino offers fully custom suits starting at reasonable prices, and we tried the whole process, from online design to final fitting. The results (and the tailoring tips we learned along the way) were surprisingly great.
• Joggers you’ll live in: We found joggers that move with you, feel soft all day, and actually look good outside the house. Whether you’re running errands, working from the couch, or just not in the mood for jeans, these picks go the extra mile.
• Everlane nailed the loafer: Everlane’s Modern Loafer feels like a rare win: soft leather, solid arch support, and a flexible sole that’s surprisingly comfortable straight out of the box. Learn more about it in our review.

Inside a high-school teacher’s Labubu business

A Bay Area teacher has a side hustle giving Labubus a makeover with tattoos, piercings, and grills. Thanks to the current Pop Mart craze, he makes thousands of dollars a month reselling the customized plush toys.

More of this week’s top reads:

• I’m Bill Nye, the science guy. I’m working to save America’s best brand, but first I need to drink my coffee and feed the kitty cats — here’s a day in my life.
• I ate dinner at one of Ina Garten’s favorite restaurants. It was worth every penny.
• Olivia Munn had a clear mammogram and no symptoms of breast cancer. A two-minute online test led to her diagnosis at 43.
• Kris Jenner’s orthopedic surgeon has no back pain at 53. Here’s his simple, three-step weekly workout routine to stay strong.
• Jesse Williams shares the four green flags he looks for before signing on to a new role in Hollywood.
• I shopped at Michaels and Hobby Lobby for fall decor. The winner really depends on which holiday you’re shopping for.
• I bought a house with my best friend 15 years ago. Many warned us not to, but it’s still one of my best decisions.
• Jane Goodall worked into her 90s. Here are five lifestyle habits that might explain how she stayed ‘fit as a fiddle’ for so long.

The BI Today team: Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Akin Oyedele, deputy editor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York.

• My mother moved from Florida to New York to live with me when she was 76, and it was great at first.
• But over time, we realized how different we are. She’s much more social than I am.
• She’s also happiest living alone. After two years, she decided to move back to Florida.

When my bold, free-spirited mother reached her mid-70s, she found that maintaining her home in Florida alone had become too expensive and demanding. My sister lived in a nearby town, but was busy with her large family and wasn’t able to be there as much as our mom needed.

“Come live with us, Mom. It will be relaxing and peaceful,” I offered.

So, in 2020, at the age of 76, my mom relocated from Florida to my home in upstate New York, bringing her two dogs and her most prized possessions, with the intention of spending her golden years with my two youngest daughters and me. We had always gotten along well and expected this to be the perfect solution.

Having her with us was wonderful at first

At first, it was delightful. We were happy to spend so much time together after she had been living so far away for many years. She had moved from New York to Florida over 30 years earlier and had also moved alone to the Dominican Republic and then to Costa Rica in her 60s for a few years, just for the adventure.

Meanwhile, I find it stressful just to go to a new grocery store. We should have known. Although we have a lot in common — we love creating and growing things, enjoy sitting alone reading for hours, she likes cooking, I like baking — living in separate states for most of my life had masked our differences.

We realized how different we are

My mom is gregarious and sociable, and has many friends. I am the opposite. I am single, live in the woods, work from home for 10 hours a day, and have fewer than a handful of friends with whom I socialize. Together, we occasionally ventured out to the farmers market, to a café for lunch, went thrift shopping, and sold handmade goods at a local lavender farm in the summer — mom knitted and hand-sewed cat toys to benefit the care of feral cats — but my work schedule and my daughters kept me home much of the time.

My mom discovered too late that I am way too quiet and boring for her liking. She was used to managing every aspect of her wide world like the strong, independent Wonder Woman she is, and suddenly found herself after a long winter feeling like Alfred Pennyworth in Batman’s cave.

She did have friends here, as she lived in New York for many years, but it was nothing like her busy social life in Florida. She did have more time to enjoy things she loved, like knitting, cooking, watching history shows, and shopping with her closest friend once a week.

She also discovered some new joys here, including listening to my daughters sing as they got ready for school, hearing geese honk overhead to announce their arrivals and departures, and laughing with the “Golden Girls” on TV. But when the most interesting things she was accomplishing were counting the number of bird species that came to her feeder and sitting in her room knitting for hours each day, my mother knew something had to change.

Mom decided to move back to Florida out of boredom

Eventually, Mom decided she was too lonely and bored to stay. Since she had come to live with me, her life had become too small and quiet for her comfort or happiness. She looked around at her newly shrunken life and realized that she had suddenly become an old lady! My fiercely independent mother cannot be contained and restrained in this way.

My mom decided to move back to Florida after a two-year stint. She is now 81 and living in a small mobile home on my sister’s property, where she happily socializes with her friends, pet-sits, creates art, and takes care of her dogs and chickens.

She discovered that although she no longer wants the responsibility and demands of her own house and property, she’s happiest living alone in her own space, with support close by, but not in the next room. And she wouldn’t mind someday dying of old age, but dying of boredom is out of the question.