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16 interview questions that are designed to trick you

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job interview

• Interview questions are often designed to test candidates.

• Some of these questions are obviously difficult, while others are more subtle traps.

• Business Insider spoke to two career experts who listed some especially tricky questions to watch out for and how to answer them.



Savvy hiring managers know exactly what to ask candidates.

Sometimes, that means asking prospective employees seemingly simple questions.

These questions may seem innocuous at first, but they're actually trying to get you to reveal information you may have been trying to conceal.

Hiring managers often love these queries. Used correctly, they break through the traditional interview noise and clutter to get to the raw you.

So it's important to learn how to answer questions designed to trick you.

Here are a few particularly thorny questions — and some suggestions on how to answer them:

SEE ALSO: The way you think about your job interview could be sabotaging your chances right from the start

DON'T MISS: 28 brilliant questions to ask at the end of every job interview

'Can you tell me about yourself?'

"The employer wants to hear that the candidate did their homework," Tina Nicolai, executive career coach and founder of Resume Writers' Ink, told Business Insider. "The interviewer is also listening for a level of confidence in how well the candidate portrays herself through the information that is communicated."

So, how can such a straightforward question be a trap? Nicolai said that it's important not to use this question as an opportunity to chat about your personal life. You need to focus on your potential value to the organization.

"The employer wants to hear about your achievements broken down into two or three succinct bullet answers that will set the tone of the interview," Nicolai said.

Remember, what we tell people about us is what they hear. So stay sharp and convey your top strengths when answering this question.



'How would you describe yourself in one word?'

With this question, interviewers are likely hoping to elicit several data points.

They want to know about your personality type, how confident you are in your self perception, and whether your work style is a good fit for the job, explained Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of "Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job

This question can be a challenge, particularly early on in the interview, because you don't really know what personality type the manager is seeking.

"There is a fine line between sounding self-congratulatory versus confident, and humble versus timid," Taylor told Business Insider. "And people are multifaceted, so putting a short label on oneself can seem nearly impossible."

When in doubt, opt for the conservative route. For example, if your coworkers find you both hilarious and reliable, Taylor said to stay on the safe side and emphasize the latter trait.

But most of all, try to tailor your response to the role or organization in question.

"Most employers today are seeking team players that are levelheaded under pressure, upbeat, honest, reliable, and dedicated," she added. "However, it would be a mistake to rattle off adjectives that you think will be well received. This is your opportunity to describe how your best attributes are a great match for the job as you see it."



'How does this position compare to others you are applying for?'

They're basically asking: "Are you applying for other jobs?"

"The hiring manager is first trying to figure out how active you are in your job search," Nicolai said. The interviewer wants to see how you speak about other companies or positions that hold your interest — and how honest you are. 

If you say, "This is the only job I'm applying for," that'll send up a red flag. Very few job applicants apply to only one job — so they may assume you're being dishonest.

If you openly speak about other positions you're pursuing, however, and you speak favorably about them, the hiring manager may see you as unattainable and pass.

"Speaking negatively about other jobs or employers isn't good either," she said. 

It is appropriate to say, "There are several organizations with whom I am interviewing, however, I've not yet decided the best fit for my next career move."

"This is positive and protects the competitors," Nicolai said. "No reason to pit companies or to brag." 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

'Ready Player One' is the most enjoyable Steven Spielberg movie in over 15 years — and will take you on a wild ride

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Ready Player One 2 Warner Bros

  • Steven Spielberg proves he can still do the blockbuster movie better than anyone else with "Ready Player One."
  • It's the best Spielberg "ride" movie since "Catch Me If You Can."


With Steven Spielberg at the helm adapting a book that celebrates the geeky decade when he was at his peak, it’s okay to go into “Ready Player One” (opening in theaters Friday) with a whole lot of skepticism.

Is Spielberg too close to the material to be able to pull off a story that is true to Ernest Cline’s book?

No. It’s as simple as that.

Spielberg — along with screenwriter Zak Penn (“X-Men: The Last Stand,” “Last Action Hero”) and Cline (who is also a credited screenwriter) — creates an event film that has to be seen on a big screen to be fully appreciated.

Along with the countless pop culture references that fill the movie (if I saw it five more times I still don’t think I could catch them all), Spielberg dusts off his action-adventure storytelling tool box to prove to everyone he still can make a blockbuster movie at a high level.

Lately the Oscar-winning director has focused on more serious fare like “The Post,” “Bridge of Spies,” “Lincoln,” and “War Horse.” That means many moviegoers haven’t gotten that incredible Spielberg pulse-pounding, entertaining movie in over a decade. Even when he tried to sprinkle in a few that would attract the under-30 crowd in that time — “The BFG” and “The Adventures of Tintin” — they were box-office duds that were mostly ignored by the Spielberg die hards. (And I’m not even going to mention “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” Just pretend that never happened.)

You have to go all the way back to 2005’s “War of the Worlds” with Tom Cruise running from aliens for a Spielberg blockbuster that was universally praised. But I’ll go even further back than that.

Personally, I think “Ready Player One” is Spielberg’s most enjoyable movie since 2002’s “Catch Me If You Can” starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

I know what you’re going say: "How can a movie about a check forger running from the FBI for years compare to a movie about a crippled future where everyone is addicted to VR?"

The ride.

What Spielberg still does better than any other filmmaker is take you on a thrilling ride while sitting in a dark theater. I had that feeling watching DiCaprio con his way through “Catch Me If You Can,” and I finally had that feeling once more watching a Spielberg movie when I saw “Ready Player One.”

ready player oneIf you’re not familiar with the book, Wade Watts (played by Tye Sheridan) lives in the year 2044 in Oklahoma City’s poverty-stricken trailer home community known as “the stacks” (trailers are literally stacked one on top of the other). In this future the world has been decimated by a slew of disasters — both technological and environmental — that has led to society basically giving up and heading to a new world.

That new world is not Mars or another other planet, but the virtual reality world of the OASIS.

There people can be and do whatever they want through their avatars. The longer you are in the OASIS and building a coin count, the more cool things you can accumulate. And thanks to the creator of the OASIS, James Halliday (Mark Rylance), there’s also a whole slew of 1980s pop culture references he loved as a kid (“You can even climb a mountain with Batman,” Wade says at the beginning of the movie).

But there's one more big reason to go into the OASIS. When Halliday died (before the events of the movie), he announced that he'd left an Easter Egg buried somewhere in the OASIS and the first person to find it would receive a fortune and ownership of the OASIS. He also left three keys that lead to the Easter Egg. But at the start of the movie, it’s been five years and no one has found any of the keys.

During "Ready Player One," we follow Wade and his friends as they try to find the keys. But they aren’t the only ones looking. The corporation IOI has a team of people working day and night to find the egg led by former Halliday intern, Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn).

Spielberg still gives us his baseline theme that is in almost all of his movies: the main character’s troubled family life. But for the most part we are in the OASIS following Wade’s journey. Things pick up when Wade discovers a cheat to the race he’s been trying to win with no success (driving the DeLorean from “Back to the Future,” Wade can never seem to get past King Kong to the finish line). With the victory, he becomes the first person ever to get the first key. 

A lot of that race we’ve seen already in the trailers, but it’s a good appetizer for what's to come. It’s when Wade goes after the second key that the movie kicks into another level.

I’m not going to give it away. All I can say is that’s where “the ride” feel of a Spielberg movie kicked in for me. You could just feel the energy change in the theater I was in when we all realized what was about to happen.

And the movie just becomes more fun as it goes on. Along with the action, it sprinkles in a love story between Wade and Samantha (Olivia Cooke), and a race to beat Sorrento that juggles between reality and the OASIS. There’s also a great message about the need, as human beings, to have real-world interaction and not be plugged in all the time.

Listen, I’m not trying to say we should put “Ready Player One” on the Mount Rushmore of Spielberg classic movies. What I hope I’m getting across is if you missed that Spielberg ride (or haven’t experienced it yet in your life) this movie is going to give it to you.

SEE ALSO: All 30 Steven Spielberg movies, ranked by how much money they made at the US box office

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why 555 is always used for phone numbers on TV and in movies

17 celebrities who became politicians

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donald trump

Former reality TV star and real estate mogul Donald Trump isn't the first celebrity to enter the world of politics.

With a penchant for attention and widespread name recognition, celebrities have a unique advantage in politics, where simply getting noticed is the first step toward winning a political campaign.

From Ronald Reagan to Arnold Schwarzenegger, here are 17 celebrities who used their superstar status to jump-start their political careers.

SEE ALSO: RANKED: The greatest US presidents, according to political scientists

DON'T MISS: RANKED: The 15 most polarizing US presidents

Bodybuilder and action movie superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger served as governor of California from 2003 to 2011.



Actress Stacey Dash, best known for her role in the movie "Clueless", went on to become a Fox commentator and is now running for Congress in California's 44th district in the upcoming November 2018 election.



Actor Kal Penn — of "Harold & Kumar" fame — served off and on in the Obama administration as an associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement from 2009 until 2011.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Airbnb for billionaires: Where the world's richest people stay when they travel

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  • Airbnb has changed the way many people travel, including billionaires. 
  • Renting private villas has become increasingly popular among the world's richest people, according to Nota Bene Global.
  • Airbnb-style luxury villa rentals cost between $87,000 and $174,000 per week. 

Airbnb has changed the way many people travel, including billionaires. 

Just ask Anthony Lassman, cofounder of London-based, luxury travel- and lifestyle-management company Nota Bene Global. Lassman and his wife Elaine have been offering tailor-made, travel-planning services to the ultra-high net worth crowd since launching Nota Bene in 2005. 

"Ten to $20 million is the starting wealth [of our clients]," Lassman told Business Insider. "Some of them I know are worth between $1.5 to $8 billion," he said.

For billionaires, the relative cost of a trip to Bali is like buying a candy bar. But that doesn't mean they're flippant about how they spend their money.

Lassman says his clients "will pay it if they believe it's something very, very, extraordinary." 

That's why more than ever, Lassman is putting his millionaire and billionaire clientele into private rented villas — a type of Airbnb for billionaires — noting that the privacy and true relaxation is worth the extremely high prices.

Luxury vacation rentals in destinations like Greece and Italy typically cost between $87,155 to $174,349 per week. 

For Lassman, whose company previews all the villas before offering them as an option to his clients, it's all about the quality. "Nobody wants their money to be taken for granted. Nobody wants to feel you're just billing them for huge sums of money without being able to justify it."

Ahead, a look at a few truly stunning, remote villas that you won't find on Airbnb — and that only the super rich can afford to rent out.    

SEE ALSO: 18 photos that show why you should never trust the pictures hotels post online

Italian Lakes Villa: around $105,847 per week.



The Italian Lakes Villa is located in Tremezzo, Italy near Lake Como.



Its dining room offers stunning views.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

How much money you can make working at Netflix, which reportedly poaches talent from competitors by offering 'as much as double their pay' (NFLX)

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reed hastings, netflix, sv100 2015

Keeping a new-media juggernaut like Netflix running requires a large team of employees, including designers, engineers, managers, and customer service representatives.

Netflix is willing to shell out large salaries to make sure it recruits people who can deal with the fast pace of its product development, seeking out employees who can thrive in a hands-off work environment.

A recent Bloomberg report detailed how the company has often poached talent from competitors by offering "as much as double their pay."

Using data from Glassdoor, we compiled a list of the highest salaries you can earn while working at Netflix, ranked from lowest to highest. 

(Note: Some positions listed on Glassdoor were excluded because there weren't enough shared salaries. Each average salary included in this roundup has at least 5 reviews.)

SEE ALSO: All your favorite Netflix original shows that are coming back for another season

16. Customer Service Supervisor

Salary: $62,828

A customer service supervisor oversees the work of customer service representatives, who at Netflix surely deal with at least a few angry people who just want to watch a movie. Glassdoor reviewers describe the customer service department as flexible and not built on a script. But one reviewer says that sometimes customer service is also the last department to know about changes in the company.



15. Operations Manager

Salary: $77,799

Operations managers deal with the day-to-day operations of a company, monitoring and managing operational costs, according to Payscale. Netflix is a company where the operations of the company has shifted significantly over the past decade, as it moved away from DVD and toward streaming. As one Glassdoor reviewer wrote in about the DVD side in 2009, “Relax. You will all be out of work in 5-7 years when everything goes online streaming.”



14. Executive Assistant

Salary: $98,473

Most executive assistant jobs at Netflix entail organizing and assisting "demanding and fast moving" teams. In a Glassdoor review, an assistant from the company's Los Angeles office described the culture as "extraordinary, no yelling allowed, respect for all demanded, smiles down the hallways."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

From açaí bowls in Hawaii to seafood-and-corn-topped pizza in Taiwan, employees shared menu items you can order at Costco food courts around the world

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Costco eating pizza customer

• Costco food court menus tend to be fairly static in terms of offerings and pricing.

• But there are a few international and regional differences.

• From Japanese bulgogi bakes to French ham and cheese croissants, here are menu items you can only order in certain Costco food courts around the world.



Costco food courts have quite a following, and it's pretty obvious why.

As Business Insider's Hollis Johnson found out during a visit to a Brooklyn Costco food court, the food is cheap and delicious.

It's also fairly static, in terms of cost and offerings. That is, unless you visit a Costco on the other side of the US, or the world.

"We'll sell you a hot dog and soda for $1.50 — same price since 1991 by the way — and make eight cents per sale, just so your last experience before leaving is one of a pleasant cashier treating you well and giving you a good deal," an anonymous Costco employee told Pop Sugar.

But in a recent Reddit thread, Costco employees from various regions revealed that some of their food court offerings differed from others'. One Costco employee wrote about a "delicious" gelato that was sadly nixed from their local menu because "it wasn't making money." Others mentioned chili, Italian sausage, and French fries on the menu.

According to Statista, Costco has warehouses in the US, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Spain, Iceland, and France, as of 2017. Business Insider did some more digging to see what international and regional items grace the menus at regional and international Costco food courts.

Here are some dishes that you can only find in certain Costco food courts around the world:

SEE ALSO: Costco employees share their best food court secrets and hacks

DON'T MISS: 11 insider facts about shopping at Costco only employees know

In the United States, cheeseburgers are reportedly on the menu at some Costcos in the Chicago area and the state of Georgia.

Source: Food Beast



The food court at France's single Costco warehouse sells "melty ham and cheese croissants with mustard," as well as chicken tenders and fries.

Source: The Kitchn, The Atlantic



In the UK, Costco food courts offer up stuffed baked potatoes — also called jacket potatoes. A Costco in Cardiff, Wales, also offered cottage pies, which are meat pies filled with ground beef with a crust of mashed potato. In terms of pizza, they hawk barbecue chicken, five-cheese, and pepperoni varieties.

Source: The Kitchn, Cruising Costco, Imgur, Reddit



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

In France, it's illegal to expect employees to email after hours — and New York City could be next

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working late email laptop

  • New York City may pass a law making it illegal for employers to require employees to check work email outside regular work hours.
  • France passed a similar law in 2017, and the German company Volkswagen shuts off email servers at night.
  • Research suggests workers are emotionally exhausted by the anticipation of receiving messages from work when they get home.


Sending your team emails and Slack messages after everyone's left for the day is annoying.

Soon, it could also be a crime.

A new bill in New York City aims to protect workers' "right to disconnect," making it illegal for employers to require employees to check their work-related electronic communication outside regular work hours.

The bill will be introduced in the City Council meeting Thursday by Raphael Espinal, who represents District 37 (in Brooklyn).

Time Out New York reports that if the law is passed, workers who are barraged by super late or early emails from their managers could complain to the city's Department of Consumer Affairs, which would initiate an investigation. If the boss is found guilty, they would have to pay a fine.

New York City isn't exactly a pioneer in this domain.

In 2017, for example, France passed a law that lets them ignore emails outside working hours, Business Insider's Rob Price reported. (The French law applies to companies with 50 or more employees; the New York City bill applies to companies with at least 10.)

And the German company Volkswagen switches off their email servers late at night because they "respect relaxation time."

In many cases, after-hours work email elicits more than just an eye roll. Business Insider's Julie Bort reported on a study that found employees are emotionally exhausted by the expectation that they're always available.

Ultimately, regardless of whether New York City passes the law, the onus may be on employees to monitor their attachment to their inboxes.

David Burkus, author of "Under New Management," told Business Insider's Áine Cain that many people complain about receiving after-hours emails from bosses or clients.

"But when I ask them if they expect subordinates or anyone else to respond in such a short period of time … they say no. We all feel pressured to respond quickly, but we all feel like its someone else pressuring us. Maybe it's all in our heads."

SEE ALSO: France is pushing a law to cut down on work email — here's why the US probably won't follow suit

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How to undo sent emails in Gmail

A bald head is not all your mom's fault — these are the other factors that can cause you to lose your hair

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the rock

  • Hereditary balding is complicated, and the popular notion that it's inherited solely from your mother is incorrect.
  • Blaming a single gene for baldness is too simplistic — in reality, your chances of losing hair are determined by a complex host of genes from your mother and father, along with some environmental factors. 
  • Some genes that determine early baldness in men might be carried on the mother's x-chromosome.


When it doubt, blame your mom for your problems...right?

Actually, science says you can't even blame your mother's genes for a bald head.

For years, many people have believed the myth that the genes for male pattern baldness are passed down from a mother to her son on her x-chromosome. The conventional wisdom has been that men could simply take a look at the heads on their mom's side of the family and get a pretty good indication of how theirs might wind up looking.

But doctors say it's more accurate to blame both of your parents for thinning hair. 

"To assess your chances for hair loss, look at all relatives in your mother's and father's families," Dawn Davis, a doctor from the Mayo Clinic's dermatology department, wrote in a blog post. 

There are a couple of reasons that's true. First, scientists still aren't sure exactly which genes determine whether we lose hair and where those genes come from, but they think both sides of the family contribute. Second, your mom has two x-chromosomes, which makes it difficult to look to any one family member for clues about your hair's future.

Why we lose hair as we age

The scientific term for common hair loss is androgenic alopecia. If you have it, you're not alone: roughly half of all adults will lose some hair by the time they're 40.

samuel l jackson

Hairs last about two to three years on our head, then fall out and get replaced with new ones in a months-long cycle. When a hair falls out and isn't replaced — or gets replaced with a much thinner hair — then we start to go bald.

The specific factors that determine how hair-free someone's head will be are still somewhat mysterious. Scientists believe the condition is mostly genetic, and caused by changes in our sex hormones.

One recent 2018 scientific review hypothesized that people likely lose their hair as the concentration of one sex hormone (dihydrotestosterone) increases in the tissue on their heads. That hormone leads hairs to become thinner and even stop growing out of the follicles altogether, which might be the key mechanism at work with genetic hair loss. But scientists still aren't quite sure how it works.

What scientists have discovered about male pattern baldness

Even though it's not totally your mom's fault, her genes might play a role, especially if you go bald before middle age. One 2005 German study suggested that balding before the age of 40 may be dictated by a gene on the X-chromosome, meaning that the predisposition would come from a mother's side of the family.

The researchers hypothesized that men who inherited the alleged balding "gene" from their moms would be predisposed to have more androgen (a male sex hormone) receptors on their scalp, and more likely to go bald early as a result.

But Professor Markus Nöthen, one of the researchers leading the study, said in a release that there were also "indications that other genes are involved which are independent of the parents' sex."

Nöthen did a follow-up study on more than 600 German men in 2008, and found that a location on Chromosome 20 had a "strong effect" on early onset male pattern baldness. That's a clue that both a mother's and a father's DNA are involved in baldness genes.

Non-genetic factors seem to be at play, too. A 2013 study of more than 3,100 Korean patients found that smoking and drinking can have an impact on whether people lose their hair early. 

The lingering mystery of baldness explains why it's been so difficult to create a gene-therapy "cure" for baldness, though scalp scientist Shirley McDonald told Business Insider that's the new holy grail for hair scientists. 

Until then, there are only a couple proven treatments that fight or slow balding: Rogaine (generic name: Minoxidil) and Propecia for men (generic name: finasteride).

Other than that, the best strategy may be just to own one's shiny scalp — scientists have found that people tend to describe bald men as both stronger and taller when they shave their heads.

SEE ALSO: The only things that actually cure baldness, according to science

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Transplants don’t cure baldness but here are a few products that will regrow hair, according to a hair scientist


Meet the high-profile lawyer representing Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against Trump — who learned from the guy who sued OJ Simpson and races sports cars professionally

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michael avenatti Stormy Daniels Lawyer

At the moment, Michael Avenatti may be the most high-profile lawyer in America. The 47-year-old seasoned litigator has made headlines in recent weeks thanks to his client, adult film actress and director Stormy Daniels.

Just days before the 2016 US election, a lawyer for President Donald Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels to keep her silent about an affair she allegedly had with Trump in 2006.

Avenatti has since sued the president, on Daniels' behalf, accusing Trump of invalidating a non-disclosure agreement. Avenatti says the violation allows Daniels to reveal her side of the story to the public, and on Sunday, she did just that in a blockbuster "60 Minutes" interview on CBS News.

As Daniels' profile has risen, so has Avenatti's. Here's what you should know about him:

SEE ALSO: Meet 'Stormy Daniels', the porn star Trump's lawyer paid to keep quiet about an alleged sexual affair — who's finally telling her side of the story

DON'T MISS: Trump's personal lawyer admits he paid a former porn star $130,000 but says the money came out of his own pocket

Avenatti graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996. Three years later, he received his JD degree from George Washington University.



During college and law school, Avenatti worked for The Research Group, a campaign research firm founded by Rahm Emmanuel, former President Barack Obama's chief of staff and the current Democratic mayor of Chicago.

Source: Chicago Magazine



After graduating law school, Avenatti worked at O'Melveny & Myers, a high-powered Los Angeles law firm. Over the course of his legal career, he has contributed to several high-profile cases involving Paris Hilton, Jim Carrey, and members of the rock band The Eagles.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

30 damaging habits you should break before you turn 30

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We are often told that we should eat better, work out more, and drink less booze, but how often do we make a conscious effort to change our lifestyle?

The approach of 30 is the perfect time to take a long, hard look at yourself and address the areas in your life that need a little tweaking in order to live a longer and more fulfilled life.

We asked friends and members of the Business Insider UK office for the most damaging habits they managed to break — or are on their way to breaking — before they hit the big 3-0.

Scroll on for a comprehensive sort-your-life-out checklist of damaging habits you should break by the time your 30th birthday rolls around.

SEE ALSO: 25 under-the-radar places in Latin America to visit in your lifetime, according to the world’s top travel experts

Living for the weekends.

The best way to stop doing this is to plan constructive things into your weekday evenings, according to Harry, associate distribution editor at BI UK. 

Megan, office manager and HR coordinator at BI, added, "Get a proper hobby. It's good to do something outside of work and socialising with friends... especially not involving a computer."

Whether it's signing up to your local book club or taking a dip in the lido, factoring in some me time after work can be extremely satisfying. 



Supporting fast fashion.

"Before turning 30 I made a decision to stop buying items that support fast fashion," Laura, an operations officer from London, told Business Insider. "That means no Zara! I have already given up on H&M and Primark. They say that most items are worn just seven times, so my goal is to buy things you will wear many times even if it costs more."



Thinking social smoking is 'OK.'

Paul, who is in recruitment from London, said social smoking was his biggest vice to quit before he turned 30.

Most people who consider themselves social smokers cut themselves some slack because they don’t smoke every day, or they "only smoke when they drink."

But government guidelines suggest that if you smoke at all, you're at higher risk of heart disease and cancer than those who don’t, not to mention unwanted short term effects like bad breath, ageing skin, and the money you're wasting.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

A Saudi Arabian millennial ambassador flies in a private Boeing 767 that costs $30,000 per hour — take a look inside

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boeing 767

  • Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US, Khalid bin Salman al-Saud, rents a private Boeing 767 jet for $30,000 an hour
  • The 1,066-square-foot jet has over 60 seats and can hold eight tons of luggage.
  • Passengers are served by at least five attendants per flight.


Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US, Khalid bin Salman al-Saud, has a lavish lifestyle. Al-Saud is part of Saudi Arabia's royal family, as his father is King Salman and his older brother is Crown Prince Mohammad.

Al-Saud, who's 28 years old, served as a fighter pilot in the Royal Saudi Air Force before becoming the country's US ambassador in 2017. Since then, he's met with President Donald Trump, spent time in a $12 million mansion he purchased as a Georgetown student, and chartered a private Boeing 767 jet that costs $30,000 per hour, according to the Daily Mail.

The 1,066-square-foot jet is suited for royalty. It has dozens of seats, a master bedroom, an office, and plenty of TVs. 

Here's a look inside:

SEE ALSO: The fabulous life of the Saudi Arabian millennial ambassador who bought a $12 million DC castle as a Georgetown student and flies in a private jet for $30,000 an hour

The jet can fly for 15 hours without refueling.



Its cabin covers 1,066 square feet and is almost eight feet tall.



It can seat 63 passengers and hold eight tons of luggage, which is equal to about 300 standard suitcases.



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The 15 best filmmakers under 35 who will shape the future of Hollywood

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Damien Chazelle La La Land Lionsgate

Hollywood is always starving for young and fresh ideas, and currently there’s a crop of talent that can give the movie industry just that.

It’s already happened with the likes of Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther”) and Damien Chazelle (“La La Land”), but there are a handful more that are ripe for some major breakthroughs. These are the directors who will continue to shape Hollywood for years to come.

Here are 15 of the best filmmakers working today under 35:

SEE ALSO: "Ready Player One" is the most enjoyable Steven Spielberg movie in over 15 years — and will take you on a wild ride

Antonio Campos

Only 34, Campos has four features and episodes of “The Punisher” and “The Sinner” under his belt — not to mention the numerous other titles he’s produced. He’s best known for his slow burn style of dark material like “Simon Killer” and “Christine.” 



Damien Chazelle

He’s a best director Oscar winner and one of the most sought-after filmmakers in Hollywood — and he’s only 33. The “La La Land” director has dazzled audiences with his original storytelling that also includes the acclaimed “Whiplash” and the upcoming Neil Armstrong biopic, “First Man,” starring Ryan Gosling.



Ryan Coogler

Believe it or not, there’s a director younger than Chazelle that everyone in Hollywood is drooling over. Coogler, 31, has just come off directing the historic box office hit “Black Panther.” This is after two other acclaimed movies, Sundance winner “Fruitvale Station” and “Creed.” Coogler pretty much has his pick of anything he wants in the industry for the foreseeable future.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

After 6 Marvel TV shows on Netflix it's become clear that they are both compelling and fundamentally boring at the same time

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defenders elevator

I’ve seen every episode of every Marvel show on Netflix: "Daredevil," "Jessica Jones," "Luke Cage," "Iron Fist," "The Defenders," and "The Punisher."

But I honestly couldn’t tell you exactly what’s happened on any of them, because while they're all good (with the exception of "Iron Fist"), they're not memorable.

Netflix's Marvel shows are visually interesting, the performances are excellent, and they take a "realistic" look at life as a superhero compared to the MCU. The characters are compelling and so are their sidekicks. And unlike many superhero movies, all the shows try to send a broader message and theme.

But the villains and plot of all the seasons we've seen so far? Not compelling — so much so that I cannot remember what the heck even happened in the bulk of the episodes.

So why can't I stop watching them?

The process of watching season two of "Jessica Jones," the majority of which bored me until an exciting reveal late in the season, inspired me to dig into why I have stuck with Marvel's Netflix shows.

I broke down what I do remember from all the Marvel Netflix shows, then tried to figure out what common threads they have that resonated with me (or didn't).

SEE ALSO: 9 characters who could die in 'Avengers: Infinity War,' ranked by how likely they are to meet their end

"Daredevil"

Season one (2015): Daredevil, lawyer by day, must save Hell's Kitchen from ninjas and a bald man. I don't remember the plot well, but the bad guy had all his meetings on the docks. Another thing that is central to season one is that Daredevil can't tell his friends that he is the vigilante of Hell's Kitchen (to protect them).

Season two (2016): Season two was basically a prequel to season one of "The Punisher." The Punisher punished people, Daredevil was mad about it, they fought (and sort of made up), the Punisher was on trial, and then Elektra came. 

How boring is it? Pretty boring, but Charlie Cox is great as Daredevil. "Daredevil" also has the strongest side characters in Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. The acting in general is stellar.



"Jessica Jones"

Season one (2016): Jessica Jones is a private investigator who drunkenly runs her business out of her apartment, which, like Daredevil's, is in Hell's Kitchen. David Tenant is creepy and excellent as Kilgrave, the only Netflix Marvel villain I can name off the top of my head. He can manipulate people to do whatever he wants, which makes for some interesting narrative structures. By the end of the season, Jessica kills Kilgrave and people think she's a murderer because they don't know the backstory.

Season 2 (2018): Jessica is fighting with most of the people she knows, and she's on a journey to figure out who is responsible for giving her super powers, and why. She finds out but the season doesn't get interesting until episode seven. 

How boring is it?It is the least boring Marvel Netflix show. It can still become a bit boring at times, but it definitely has its moments. 



"Luke Cage"

Season one (2016): Luke Cage finally gets us out of Hell's Kitchen, which is refreshing. We had already met Luke Cage in "Jessica Jones," but in his own series we get his origin story, and watch him save Harlem (which is to Luke Cage what Hell's Kitchen is to Daredevil). Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali played the villain before he was an Oscar winner. 

How boring is it? The plot can get boring, but the actors really keep it interesting, and it gives us the most we've seen of Rosario Dawson's character.



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How to know if you or someone you know is a narcissist, according to a clinical psychologist

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narcissist

  • Narcissists share certain key behaviors. 
  • One of the most common traits associated with narcissists is a lack of empathy, as well as an inability to relate to the emotions of others. 
  • While narcissists may appear to have an inflated sense of self-importance, this often stems from low self-esteem and insecurity. 

 

Sometimes it seems like we live in a world plagued by people with an inflated sense of self-importance — like that one Facebook friend who brags about every minute of her life, or the coworker who drones on and on about how wonderful he is.

But it can be hard to decipher whether these people simply lack self-awareness or if they suffer from a deeper problem, like narcissism.

Dr. Ramani Durvasula, a professor of psychology at California State University, Los Angeles and a licensed clinical psychologist, shares some of the qualities that might make you, or someone you know, a narcissist.

SEE ALSO: 5 tips for making a long-distance relationship work, according to relationship experts

You blame others for your problems

Durvasula says one common quality of narcissists is never taking ownership when they make mistakes. They will blame anyone they can instead of admitting their wrongdoing.



You've been told you lack empathy

This is often recognized as the hallmark quality of narcissists. People with narcissistic personality disorder are often incapable of relating to the feelings of others.



If you do something kind for someone, you expect endless thanks

When narcissists buy someone a gift, they expect an inappropriate amount of gratitude. This quality applies in the workplace, too. "Let's say they help you, mentor you or advance you," Durvasula says. "They will expect you to thank them and be grateful for that for the rest of your life."



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The 'Roseanne' premiere tackles the American political divide over Trump head-on and fans have mixed feelings

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Roseanne revival

  • "Roseanne" came back to ABC Tuesday after over 20 years. 
  • In the premiere, Roseanne is a Trump supporter, and her sister is a Hillary supporter. 
  • Some people criticized the show for Roseanne's Trump support, but others applauded it for the way it represents a lot of American families in a time of significant political divide. 

"Roseanne," one of America's most beloved sitcoms, is back after over 20 years. And in its 10th season premiere it gets political in a way no show has since Trump was elected president.

In the show, Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) is a Trump supporter, and hasn't been on speaking terms with her Hillary-supporting sister Jackie (Oscar nominee Laurie Metcalf) since the election. Things have gotten so bad that Roseanne just pretends Jackie is dead.

Throughout the episode, Roseanne's daughter Darlene (Sarah Gilbert) tries to help her mom and her aunt find some common ground. However, Jackie comes to Roseanne's house dressed in a bright pink "Nasty Woman" T-shirt and a pink hat from the Women's March. That doesn't help matters between them, but by the end of the episode, Roseanne and Jackie find that common ground Darlene wanted. 

A lot of people who were fans of the original show found the fact that Roseanne is a Trump supporter upsetting. But other people applauded the show for depicting an American not usually shown on TV these days. 

Some people were loving it: 

And others, not so much:

SEE ALSO: Some fans have been wary of the 'Roseanne' revival because she supports Trump, but critics say it's surprisingly refreshing

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30 irresistible places Americans dream of owning a vacation home

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Puerto Vallarta mexico

  • Exotic locales from Canada to South America draw millions of tourists every year.
  • But some vacationers are looking for more than a one-time visit — they want a home away from home.
  • Based on Google searches originating in the US, these are the top 30 countries in North, South, and Central America where people are eyeing a vacation home.

 

If you've ever fantasized about turning your getaway dreams into reality, you've got company.

Approximately 14% of realtor respondents in the National Association of Realtors' Profile of International Activity in US Residential Real Estate said they had a US client seeking property abroad — 87% of those clients sought to use the property as a vacation home.

In a recent report, Point2 Homes revealed the most popular spots Americans were looking tobuy a vacation home.

To compile this data, they ranked US users' Google searches from January 2017 to January 2018 using keywords regarding homes for sale abroad in countries located in the Americas. The countries were then ranked based on average monthly search volume.

Below, check out the top 30 countries Americans are dreaming of making their home away from home.

SEE ALSO: American homes are more affordable than they've been in 40 years — but that could change sooner than you think

DON'T MISS: How much homes cost right now in the Hamptons, one of America's most elite summer vacation destinations

30. British Virgin Islands — The 60-island archipelago has specifically seen an uptick in demand for high-end properties, particularly in Tortola and Virgin Gorda, its two most populated islands.

Monthly Google searches: 1,990

Source:Global Property Buying Guide



29. Saint Martin — The French side of the island has no shortage of luxury villas and sea views, with homes for sale under $200,000.

Monthly Google searches: 2,160

Source:Point2 Homes



28. Turks and Caicos Islands — It's easy to see the appeal of the last outpost of the Caribbean thanks to its 250 days of sunshine. With the promise of its first-ever cliffside residences come 2020, the islands might rank even higher on this list in a few years.

Monthly Google searches: 2,210

Source:Turks and Caicos Tourism,AOL



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Inside the close relationship of Trump and his 'pit bull' lawyer Michael Cohen — who paid Stormy Daniels and says he would 'take a bullet' for Trump

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michael cohen

  • Michael Cohen has been one of President Donald Trump's closest associates for years.
  • Their unique relationship has come under scrutiny amid the Stormy Daniels controversy, as Cohen admitted to paying the porn actress $130,000 days before the presidential election.
  • She says the payment was to keep her silent about a 2006 affair she says she had with Trump.
  • But that wasn't the first time Cohen stood up for his boss.

There is perhaps no one more loyal to President Donald Trump than his personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who is known as Trump's "pit bull."

"It means that if somebody does something Mr. Trump doesn't like, I do everything in my power to resolve it to Mr. Trump's benefit," Cohen told ABC News in a 2011 interview. "If you do something wrong, I'm going to come at you, grab you by the neck, and I'm not going to let you go until I'm finished."

Cohen's brazen words endear him to Trump, who is known to obsess over loyalty.

For more than a decade, Cohen has been by Trump's side, first as the treasurer on the board of Trump World Tower in New York and now as his personal attorney.

Cohen's fascination with the Trump brand began in 2001, when he bought his first Trump apartment.

Five years later, while working at a law firm, managing several side businesses, and still living in New York, Cohen met Trump through his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., according to Vanity Fair. After Cohen advised Trump on some legal matters, Trump reportedly became so impressed with Cohen that he invited him into his office and offered him a job.

Cohen would quickly become one of Trump's most ardent supporters.

'I'd never walk away'

cohenIn 2011, Cohen helped launch a website called Should Trump Run to gauge public opinion about whether the reality-TV host and real-estate mogul would have a shot at winning the presidency.

Trump passed on the opportunity that year, despite Cohen's pressure.

But in 2015, Cohen was back at it again, pushing Trump toward the White House.

Over the next several years, through all the controversies — Trump describing Mexican immigrants as rapists, the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape, and Trump's equivocating comments about neo-Nazi protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia— Cohen never blinked.

"I'm the guy who protects the president and the family," Cohen told Vanity Fair. "I'm the guy who would take a bullet for the president."

"I'd never walk away," he added.

Even during the 2016 campaign, when Cohen could have made millions writing a tell-all book about his experience working for Trump, Cohen said there was "no money in the world that could get me to disclose anything" about the campaign, Vanity Fair reported.

David Schwartz, who is one of Cohen's longtime friends and personal lawyer, told CNN that Trump called his right-hand man at "every dinner" the two have had together.

"He took care of a lot of things for Mr. Trump without Mr. Trump knowing about it," Schwartz said, adding, "He's the guy that you could call at 3 in the morning when you have a problem and you need something taken care of."

Cohen's porn-star problem

stormy daniels

Perhaps no one has tested Cohen's loyalty to Trump more than Stormy Daniels, the adult-film actress and director whom Cohen admitted to paying $130,000 just days before the 2016 presidential election.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says the money was to keep her quiet about an affair she says she had with Trump back in 2006. Cohen and other Trump representatives have denied the affair.

During an interview on CBS News' "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday, Daniels described her account of the affair in lurid detail.

While the more salacious claims about her sexual encounter with Trump grabbed most of the headlines, one startling accusation may have implicated Cohen.

In 2011, weeks after she agreed to tell a sister publication of In Touch magazine about what she described as a yearlong relationship with Trump, Daniels said a man approached her in a Las Vegas parking lot.

She said the man told her to "leave Trump alone" and "forget the story." She then said he leaned in, looked at her infant daughter, and said, "That's a beautiful little girl — it'd be a shame if something happened to her mom."

After the "60 Minutes" interview, Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, told NBC News that the man she said threatened her "had to be someone that is related to Mr. Trump or Mr. Cohen."

In response, Cohen's lawyer demanded Daniels "cease and desist" and apologize for the suggestion that Cohen was behind the incident.

While there is no evidence suggesting Cohen was responsible for the threat, Daniels' claim isn't the first time someone close to Trump has been accused of making threatening or intimidating remarks.

On two other occasions — neither of which involved Cohen — BuzzFeed News reported that Trump associates were accused of threatening people to keep quiet about information that could hurt Trump's business.

Not concerned about party affiliation

Cohen's political support for Trump is rooted more in his personal admiration for the president than in ideological foundations.

Cohen once voted for Barack Obama, and he didn't officially become a Republican until March of last year, nearly two months after Trump's inauguration.

In 1988, Cohen volunteered for the Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, according to ABC News. He also worked as a legislative intern for Joe Moakley, the longtime Democratic congressman from Massachusetts who died in 2001.

But Cohen, like Trump, isn't easily boxed into political positions.

When ABC asked whether his previous support for Obama and his advocacy for Trump made him a hypocrite, Cohen replied:

"I'm more concerned now about my children, future grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and everybody's children and families," he said. "I'm more concerned about them than I am about party affiliation."

SEE ALSO: Meet the high-profile lawyer representing Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against Trump — who learned from the guy who sued OJ Simpson and races sports cars professionally

DON'T MISS: Stormy Daniels' terrifying recollection of a parking-lot ultimatum wouldn't be the first reported threat from a Trump associate

Join the conversation about this story »

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'Goonies' actor Corey Feldman says he was stabbed and hospitalized in an 'attempted homicide'

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  • "Goonies" actor Corey Feldman said on Twitter that he was stabbed and hospitalized on Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
  • The actor shared pictures of himself in the hospital, adding that we was "OK" and describing the attack as an "attempted homicide."
  • Feldman wrote that he believed the attack was "connected" to "mounting threats" he said he has received on social media, ostensibly in connection to his efforts in exposing Hollywood pedophilia. 

"Goonies" actor Corey Feldman was stabbed and hospitalized Tuesday night in Los Angeles, the actor wrote on Twitter.

Feldman, 46, shared two pictures of himself in a hospital gown on Twitter, adding that we was "OK" and describing the attack as an "attempted homicide."

"IM IN THE HOSPITAL! I WAS ATTACKED 2NITE! A MAN OPENED MY CAR DOOR & STABBED ME W SOMETHING! PLEASE SAY PRAYERS 4 US!," Feldman wrote in the tweet. "THANK GOD IT WAS ONLY MYSELF & MY SECURITY IN THE CAR, WHEN 3 MEN APPROACHED! WHILE SECURITY WAS DISTRACTED, W A GUY A CAR PULLED UP & ATTACKED! I’M OK!"

Feldman went on to write that he believed the attack was "connected" to "mounting threats" he said he has received on social media.

"@LAPD R CURRENTLY INVESTIGATING THE CASE AS AN ATTEMPTED HOMICIDE! I HAVE HAD MOUNTING THREATS ON ALL SM PLATFORMS BY THIS VILE 'WOLFPACK,'" Feldman wrote. "& THIS IM SURE IS A RESULT OF THOSE NEGATIVE ACTIONS! I HAVE REASON 2 BELIEVE ITS ALL CONNECTED! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! HOW SICK R THESE PPL?!?"

Feldman has been talking to the media about his intention to expose Hollywood pedophiles since last year, when he announced he was raising money to make a documentary on the producers he alleged abused him as a child. He said in a video announcing the crowdfunding effort for the documentary in October that he felt had put his life in danger by doing so.

"I had a near-death experience last night where I felt like I was almost going to be killed," Feldman said. "Two trucks came speeding at me at the same time on a crosswalk. And then several of my band members decided to quit because they decided they were afraid for their lives."

In November, the LAPD launched and later dropped an investigation into Feldman's allegations of sexual abuse from his childhood, saying that the alleged incident was "out of statute," according to California law.

SEE ALSO: R Kelly accused of sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old girl he was keeping as a 'pet'

Join the conversation about this story »

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A former dominatrix started a school to teach women how to wield power — here are her biggest tips

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The Academy, Kasia Urbaniak and Ruben Flores

Being a dominatrix is a job that involves a surprising power paradox: you're the employee, yet you're also the one who's calling the shots over a submissive client. It's you holding up the whips and the chains, even though they're the one who's paying the bill.

It turns out that being a dominatrix is like having a robust human laboratory at your fingertips for understanding the nuances of how people relate to each other in different situations.

"It has to do with attention and power dynamics," former dominatrix Kasia Urbaniak told Business Insider. 

Urbaniak has turned her "dom" skills of perception towards the goal of training a corps of powerful women in new ways of communicating with others, by starting up her own school in New York, a place called The Academy. For the past five years, The Academy's offered a curriculum — designed for anyone who identifies as a woman — to learn new paradigms for speaking, asking questions, and commanding as well as focusing attention in more powerful ways.

Urbaniak said time and time again she's seen her dominatrix-born tools help people get more of what they need at work (things like raises or childcare) while positively transforming their intimate relationships.

Her advice has been resonating with a broader audience than ever before since the Me Too sexual assault movement took off. She even created a class called "Cornering Harvey," after the news of sexual assault allegations against film mogul Harvey Weinstein broke last year. It's based on the ideas she was already teaching her students about how to break out of potentially dangerous patterns of learned silence. 

Here are her top tips for surviving and thriving in all kinds of relationships.

SEE ALSO: A dominatrix reveals a sure-fire way to maintain a lasting, healthy relationship

Urbaniak says people are finally starting to get comfortable with an idea that she has been proselytizing for years: leaving important things unsaid doesn't help men or women.

Urbaniak calls this phenomenon "speechlessness," and she says it shows up in all kinds of interactions: whether it's asking for a raise, talking with a friend, or confronting a sexual predator. 

She says the "invisible" phenomenon often impacts women and minorities in unfair ways. But people are starting to recognize the harmful effects speechlessness can have on their daily lives, as movements like Me Too and Black Lives Matter gain steam.

At Urbaniak's school, she's developed a curriculum full of tools to combat speechlessness in different ways.

 



At her school, she coaches women in understanding how to ask for things "in a way that men don't have to think about," as she put it.

She said it's unfortunate, but often women have to learn to "bypass a lot of conditions that set off weird vibes," in situations like asking for a raise or extra time off. Often, these kinds of interactions can skew power dynamics in relationships between men and women, and leave the men coming out on top. But Urbaniak isn't OK with that. 

"I'm not waiting until the entire world changes," she said. "We just like to arm women with what to do about it." 



Urbaniak said one of the best ways to combat speechlessness is by taking a more dominant stance in conversations.

That means focusing attention outside of yourself, and talking about something that doesn't include you as the subject.

For example, in a job interview, this might mean talking about your own experiences less, and focusing more on the new company, and what actions need to be taken there. 

 



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31 Showtime original TV shows ranked from worst to best — from 'Homeland' to 'Billions' to 'Twin Peaks'

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billions season 3

With "Billions" back on Showtime and "Homeland" currently airing as well, it's a good time to take stock of all the great TV the premium network has brought us over the years.

Business Insider went back in time to rank all the network's notable original scripted programs from the last 10 years based on how well they did with critics.

Showtime launched in 1976 and is now owned by CBS. Its original programming took off in the 1990s with shows like "Twin Peaks" and "Stargate SG-1." But it really grew into a powerhouse in the late 2000s with shows like "Weeds" and "Dexter." Most recently, "Homeland," "Shameless," "The Affair," and a "Twin Peaks" revival have been prominent on the network.

But which did critics love the most?

To answer that question, we used review aggregator site Metacritic to determine the ranking, excluding variety and sports programs (and shows that didn't get enough reviews to qualify). We calculated the average score for each show based on the scores of the various seasons.  

If any season of the show aired in 2008 and beyond, we counted it. "Twin Peaks" was an unusual case, as the series originally aired in the 1990s but returned for a special third season last year called "Twin Peaks: The Return." With that in mind, we counted the series on the list, and calculated the average score of all three seasons.

Below are the 31 notable Showtime original shows to air in the last decade, ranked from worst to best:

SEE ALSO: 'Billions' creators discuss their charmingly devious characters who have everyone on Wall Street saying, 'You know that was based on me, right?'

31. "Our Cartoon President"

Critics score: 42

Number of seasons: 1

Years aired: 2018

Summary: Based on a character introduced on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," this comedy follows an animated President Trump and his staff through their chaotic White House, but it has failed to land with critics.



30. "Roadies"

Critics score: 47

Number of seasons: 1

Years aired: 2016

Summary: Luke Wilson and Carla Gugino starred as members of a rock band's production crew, and the show followed their lives on the road. 



29. "Happyish"

Critics score: 49

Number of seasons: 1

Years aired: 2015

Summary: A man's life is turned upside down when he's fired from his job, and his anti-depressants fail to make him happy. 



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