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Metro
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Neil Gaiman allegations explained as Netfflix launches Sandman season 2 part 2
Part two of the long-awaited second season of The Sandman, adapted from Neil Gaiman's beloved comic book series, is finally dropping on Netflix. The streaming service has already confirmed that this will be the last we see of Dream (Tom Sturridge), in an announcement that came in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations levied against Gaiman, who co-developed the show from his comics. The second season focuses on Dream and his epic final journey as he looks to rebuild his kingdom. But the show has been dogged by the accusations against Gaiman, which sent shockwaves through his fanbase earlier this year. The first six episodes dropped on July 3, with the second five arriving tomorrow. Ahead of the season, Netflix released a teaser trailer for The Sandman season two, which did not mention Gaiman by name. The showrunner, Allan Heinberg, notably also did not mention Gaiman or the allegations when he shared a statement about the show's conclusion. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 'The Sandman series has always been focused exclusively on Dream's story, and back in 2022, when we looked at the remaining Dream material from the comics, we knew we only had enough story for one more season,' he told Netflix's Tudum. A number of projects involving Gaiman across film and TV have either been paused or cancelled altogether – including Good Omens on Prime Video, which is now ending in a feature-length episode without Gaiman's involvement. The allegations against Gaiman were first made in 2024, when a Tortoise Media podcast series detailed the claims of five women, two of whom accused Gaiman of sexual assault. Then, further allegations were made against Gaiman in a report in New York Magazine in January, which spoke to eight women, four of whom were also involved in the Tortoise podcast. The alleged behaviour included assault, abuse and coercion. Gaiman's accusers are adults, all of whom are younger than the 64-year-old author, including one who is nearly 40 years his junior. One of these women, Scarlett Pavlovich, said she was 22 when she first met Gaiman's ex-wife and punk cabaret musician Amanda Palmer in New Zealand and started to babysit the couple's child. It was during this time that she claims Gaiman repeatedly assaulted her, including one instance in which she claims he did so while his son was in the room. Pavlovich has since filed a civil lawsuit in Massachusetts against Gaiman and his estranged wife, Palmer, accusing Gaiman of repeatedly sexually assaulting her while she was working as the couple's nanny. The lawsuit reportedly accuses Gaiman of rape, coercion and human trafficking. Palmer is accused of 'procuring and presenting' her to Gaiman 'for such abuse', according to The Guardian. She is seeking at least seven million dollars (£5.6 million) in damages. Gaiman has strenuously denied the allegations. 'I'm far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever,' he wrote in a statement shared on his website in January. 'Some of the horrible stories now being told simply never happened, while others have been so distorted from what actually took place that they bear no relationship to reality,' the statement continued. 'I am prepared to take responsibility for any missteps I made. I'm not willing to turn my back on the truth, and I can't accept being described as someone I am not, and cannot and will not admit to doing things I didn't do.' After the New York magazine article, a representative for Palmer said she was 'profoundly disturbed' by the allegations. The musician wrote on social media: 'As there are ongoing custody and divorce proceedings, I am not able to offer public comment. Please understand that I am first and foremost a parent. I ask for privacy at this time.' When the show's executive producer, David Goyer, spoke about the second season, he emphasised he personally 'never glimpsed any of this', referring to the allegations. He told Variety: 'When the accusations first came out, I think we were three weeks from finishing filming Season 2 — so we were very, very far down the path.' He went on to say that Gaiman 'wasn't as involved in season two as he was in season one'. He continued: 'Obviously, it's complicated. I have tremendous respect for women that come forward in those situations. It's really concerning, but I know that Netflix, at the time, felt, 'God, we spent two years making this thing. There's all these actors and writers and directors involved that, if we didn't air it, wouldn't be fully compensated for it.' 'So we just decided, we're going to let this work speak for itself. But I'd be crazy to say it wasn't weird.' The first season of The Sandman arrived in 2022, but it has taken years to get the second instalment onto the streaming platform. The announcement that the second season would be The Sandman's last came in January, shortly after the sexual misconduct allegations were levied against Gaiman. However, Variety reported that the Netflix powers that be had decided the second season would be the last prior to filming in 2023 – before the accusations in the Tortoise Media podcast in 2024. This was something executive producer Goyer also reiterated to the publication, saying the ending was planned over two years ago now. 'We had a lot of discussions, Allan [Heinberg, showrunner] and I, with Netflix. And obviously we love the books, but one of the concerns about some of the story arcs is that Dream isn't in them very much,' he said. 'And the other thing was, even though the original comic book run was 75 issues, we just ended up burning through story faster than we thought we would.' More Trending 'When we talked through it, we felt, let's make a slightly bigger season 2 and take it through to the end. There's always the possibility that we could do some of the other spinoff material, if you will,' Goyer said. Metro contacted Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer's representatives for further comment. This article was originally published on July 2. View More » The Sandman season 2 part two is available to stream on Netflix from July 24. Rape Crisis England & Wales is a feminist charity working to end rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, child sexual abuse – and all other forms of sexual violence. Whether it happened recently, or a long time ago; whether you know without a doubt that you experienced sexual violence, or aren't quite sure; whether it happened to you, or someone you know; Rape Crisis England & Wales will always believe you and listen to you, and they can offer you information and support. You can find out more about Rape Crisis England & Wales here; and if you're aged 16 or over, you can call the charity's 24/7 support line for free on 0808 500 2222. MORE: 9 deliciously bleak films and where to stream them after 'soul-crushing' new horror MORE: Erik Menendez hospitalised with 'serious' condition before hearing to be released on parole MORE: Netflix fans 'completely hooked' on crime thriller storming into the top 10
Harvard Business Review
11-07-2025
- Harvard Business Review
Why Understanding AI Doesn't Necessarily Lead People to Embrace It
Artificial intelligence has become an invisible assistant, quietly shaping how we search, scroll, shop, and work. It drafts our emails, curates our feeds, and increasingly guides decisions in education, healthcare, and the workplace. As companies increasingly integrate AI into their products and services, a critical but often overlooked question emerges: Why do some people embrace AI enthusiastically while others seem more hesitant? In a new paper published earlier this year in the Journal of Marketing, we uncovered a surprising pattern: The more knowledge people have about AI and how it works, the less likely they are to embrace it. This pattern emerged when we combined two datasets: one measuring cross-country AI literacy (based on levels of 'AI talent' assessed by Tortoise Media) and another measuring country-level interest in using AI (from Ipsos). People in countries with lower average AI literacy tended to be more open to adopting AI compared to those in countries with higher literacy levels. Then, across six additional studies involving thousands of U.S.-based participants—including undergraduate students and online samples selected to be representative of the U.S. in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, and regional distribution—we consistently found that lower AI literacy predicts greater receptivity to AI. Our studies found that the greater interest in AI wasn't because people with less knowledge thought AI was more capable or more ethical. Quite the opposite: People with lower AI literacy saw AI as less capable and more ethically concerning. Yet, they were more likely to have used it themselves and to want it used by others. What explains this surprising finding? It comes down to the way people perceive AI. For those who know less about AI, envisioning AI completing tasks feels magical and awe-inspiring. This sense of 'magic' fuels enthusiasm. But for those with higher AI literacy, who understand the mechanics—algorithms, data training, computational models—AI loses its mystique. Much like learning how a magic trick works, this knowledge strips away the wonder. With it, the interest in using AI fades. The gap in interest in AI usage is more pronounced when AI tackles tasks we typically see as uniquely human such as writing a poem, composing a song, cracking a joke, or giving advice. In these creative and emotional domains, people with lower AI literacy are particularly likely to see AI as magical and more willing to hand over control to it. But when it comes to tasks rooted in logic like number crunching or data processing, where it is more obvious how AI can do the tasks and the magic is gone, this pattern fades. In some cases, it even reverses. These findings challenge a core assumption in tech adoption: that more education will naturally lead to greater adoption. In reality, as knowledge about AI grows, interest in AI-powered products and services may diminish. While our studies focused on consumers' AI interest and adoption, understanding who embraces AI—and why—has implications for a broad range of business decisions, including organizational-adoption strategies, product design, and marketing. Here's how you can apply them. Assess Managers' and Employees' AI Literacy Managers and employees may be influenced by their level of AI literacy. Low AI literacy can make them more open to using AI across business functions like hiring, accounting, product design, and marketing, even if they may not be the most optimal solution. In contrast, those with higher AI literacy may have a more informed, less-emotionally-driven view of AI, which can lead to greater caution or even disinterest—not because they think AI is worse but because it feels less novel or transformative. By understanding both their own AI literacy and that of their teams, managers can better calibrate how they approach AI adoption so they avoid both overenthusiasm and underutilization. That's why we launched a free tool designed to help leaders assess their AI literacy and surface blind spots before they affect critical business choices like strategy, staffing, or customer trust. (The data collected through the tool is used strictly for academic research purposes and is fully anonymized.) Don't Assume Your Most Tech-Savvy Users Are Your Most Receptive If you're building or marketing AI-powered tools, our findings should give you pause. They suggest that the people in your target market who are the most technically sophisticated, such as those with AI-related degrees, may not be your most receptive ones. Especially in domains like creativity or coaching, target customers who are the least AI literate may be your most enthusiastic adopters. Tailor Your Marketing to Your Audience's Literacy Level To tailor messaging effectively, companies need to first assess their audience's AI literacy. This can be done through surveys, customer interviews, or behavioral proxies (e.g., technical forums visited, prior product usage patterns). Tools like ours can also help gauge AI literacy quickly and offer guidance for segmentation. Some AI use cases are naturally a better fit for AI-savvy consumers—such as software engineers using generative AI models like GitHub, Copilot or Cursor to write better code or Google's Vertex AI to help build AI agents. If your target customers are AI-savvy, don't rely on the 'wow' factor to increase adoption. Instead, highlight its capability, performance, or ethicality. In contrast, if the target audience for your AI product is the average consumer and if your value proposition includes generating awe, don't demystify it by providing loads of detailed technical explanations. Design Products with Different Literacy Levels in Mind You may assume that your users have a solid understanding of technology and can navigate sophisticated UX designs or that your customers want maximum autonomy in using AI. But many users just want simplicity, clarity, and guidance. Effective onboarding and intuitive UX are key. ChatGPT's success, for instance, had less to do with its back end and more to do with how accessible it felt to everyday users. Be Transparent and Honest Don't interpret our findings as a call to keep consumers uninformed. Sustainable and responsible use of AI requires informing consumers of the tradeoffs involved when AI is used to support or replace human judgment, especially in high-stakes domains like hiring, healthcare, or education. This includes knowing that AI systems can reflect or amplify existing biases, that their outputs are shaped by the data they're trained on, and that 'automated' doesn't mean infallible or neutral. Overreliance on intuitive impressions of AI can lead to misuse, misplaced trust, and ethical lapses. Businesses should ensure consumers are educated about any factors that could impact their welfare. While the sense of magic can fuel initial enthusiasm, it is likely to backfire if AI doesn't truly benefit the consumers it serves. When AI is marketed as magical but doesn't provide real benefits, users will feel disappointed or manipulated. This will lead to a loss of trust. The Bottom Line AI is reshaping how we learn, work, and make decisions. But our relationship with it is driven not only by what it can do, but also by what we think of it. As a new tool, understanding how different people—consumers, employees, and managers—perceive AI and how this differs across such groups may be one of the most important steps we can take.
Leader Live
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Observer's editor-in-chief to deliver MacTaggart lecture on media landscape
James Harding, co-founder of Tortoise Media, which acquired broadsheet newspaper The Observer in April, will speak about the media landscape during the festival's flagship address. He follows in the footsteps of former keynote speakers that include: Dear England playwright James Graham; I May Destroy You screenwriter Michaela Coel; media mogul Rupert Murdoch; former Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis; and broadcaster Louis Theroux. Mr Harding said: 'Some years ago, I covered the MacTaggart lectures as a reporter and know how important it is for television, journalism and the wider creative industries. A post shared by Edinburgh TV Festival (@edinburghtvfest) 'I am hugely honoured to be asked to give the lecture in its 50th year. I hope it will be a moment to call out the challenges to truth and trust – and suggest how we can renew the media to meet them.' Before he co-founded Tortoise Media, Mr Harding was editor of The Times from 2007 to 2012 and was in charge of the BBC's news and current affairs programming from 2013 up until the beginning of 2018. He also co-presented On Background on the BBC World Service and wrote the book Alpha Dogs: How Political Spin Became A Global Business. Jane Tranter, chief executive of production company Bad Wolf and advisory chair of the Edinburgh TV Festival 2025, said: 'James' demonstrable determination to protect truth and trust in public service broadcasting and the media – coupled with his belief that in order to protect we need to change – makes him the MacTaggart lecturer that we need in this seismic year. 'In James' hands, our lecture promises to be a provocative, kick-ass and insightful view from a visionary leader. We couldn't ask for more.' The festival, which is celebrating 50 years of its MacTaggart lecture, brings together leading industry figures and a broad, diverse range of delegates to debate the issues facing the television industry.
Rhyl Journal
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Rhyl Journal
Observer's editor-in-chief to deliver MacTaggart lecture on media landscape
James Harding, co-founder of Tortoise Media, which acquired broadsheet newspaper The Observer in April, will speak about the media landscape during the festival's flagship address. He follows in the footsteps of former keynote speakers that include: Dear England playwright James Graham; I May Destroy You screenwriter Michaela Coel; media mogul Rupert Murdoch; former Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis; and broadcaster Louis Theroux. Mr Harding said: 'Some years ago, I covered the MacTaggart lectures as a reporter and know how important it is for television, journalism and the wider creative industries. A post shared by Edinburgh TV Festival (@edinburghtvfest) 'I am hugely honoured to be asked to give the lecture in its 50th year. I hope it will be a moment to call out the challenges to truth and trust – and suggest how we can renew the media to meet them.' Before he co-founded Tortoise Media, Mr Harding was editor of The Times from 2007 to 2012 and was in charge of the BBC's news and current affairs programming from 2013 up until the beginning of 2018. He also co-presented On Background on the BBC World Service and wrote the book Alpha Dogs: How Political Spin Became A Global Business. Jane Tranter, chief executive of production company Bad Wolf and advisory chair of the Edinburgh TV Festival 2025, said: 'James' demonstrable determination to protect truth and trust in public service broadcasting and the media – coupled with his belief that in order to protect we need to change – makes him the MacTaggart lecturer that we need in this seismic year. 'In James' hands, our lecture promises to be a provocative, kick-ass and insightful view from a visionary leader. We couldn't ask for more.' The festival, which is celebrating 50 years of its MacTaggart lecture, brings together leading industry figures and a broad, diverse range of delegates to debate the issues facing the television industry.
Glasgow Times
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Observer's editor-in-chief to deliver MacTaggart lecture on media landscape
James Harding, co-founder of Tortoise Media, which acquired broadsheet newspaper The Observer in April, will speak about the media landscape during the festival's flagship address. He follows in the footsteps of former keynote speakers that include: Dear England playwright James Graham; I May Destroy You screenwriter Michaela Coel; media mogul Rupert Murdoch; former Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis; and broadcaster Louis Theroux. Mr Harding said: 'Some years ago, I covered the MacTaggart lectures as a reporter and know how important it is for television, journalism and the wider creative industries. 'I am hugely honoured to be asked to give the lecture in its 50th year. I hope it will be a moment to call out the challenges to truth and trust – and suggest how we can renew the media to meet them.' Before he co-founded Tortoise Media, Mr Harding was editor of The Times from 2007 to 2012 and was in charge of the BBC's news and current affairs programming from 2013 up until the beginning of 2018. He also co-presented On Background on the BBC World Service and wrote the book Alpha Dogs: How Political Spin Became A Global Business. Jane Tranter, chief executive of production company Bad Wolf and advisory chair of the Edinburgh TV Festival 2025, said: 'James' demonstrable determination to protect truth and trust in public service broadcasting and the media – coupled with his belief that in order to protect we need to change – makes him the MacTaggart lecturer that we need in this seismic year. 'In James' hands, our lecture promises to be a provocative, kick-ass and insightful view from a visionary leader. We couldn't ask for more.' The festival, which is celebrating 50 years of its MacTaggart lecture, brings together leading industry figures and a broad, diverse range of delegates to debate the issues facing the television industry.
