Pet adoptions and community fundraising events nationwide are taking place. Raising Cane’s year-round commitment to animal welfare continues to make an important impact in communities across the country.

Owner and founder Todd Graves’ yellow lab, Raising Cane is the mascot that matters when it comes to giving back to other animals in need. Most recently, the Brand’s annual Holiday Plush Puppy campaign sold out in Restaurants and online, raising $500,000 in just six weeks to support pets in need nationwide.

(Courtesy Wayside Waifs)

The $100,000 of those funds directly benefited BISSELL Pet Foundation, a national nonprofit working to help every pet find its forever home. The remaining funds supported nearly 200 local pet welfare organizations across the country, helping drive adoptions, provide medical care and fund critical shelter resources in communities where Cane’s operates. Cody’s Friends Rescue’s for example received $30,000 and Arizona Humane Society benefited as well.

What began in 2006 as a single Holiday Plush Puppy has grown into a beloved Raising Cane’s tradition, raising more than $10 million to date for animal welfare causes. With yellow lab mascot Cane III at the heart of the brand, supporting pets is a natural extension of Cane’s culture and community commitment.

Here is three cheers for helping out our beautiful four-legged friends.

On Friday, January 30, 2026, at Hearst Tower in New York City, The M Factor 2: Before the Pause — Perimenopause brought together physicians, filmmakers, and advocates to shine a spotlight on a stage of women’s health long overlooked, misunderstood, and under-discussed.

Presented by Take Flight Productions and Women in the Room Productions, the event built on the original M Factor documentary by shifting attention to perimenopause — the years before menopause when hormonal changes quietly begin affecting millions of women.

A Conversation Long Overdue

The evening opened with remarks from Michael Clinton and Abbey Cuffey, setting the tone for a candid, science-backed discussion. The conversation was neither alarmist nor sensational; it was grounding, validating, and deeply necessary.

The panel featured leading voices in women’s health:

Corinne Menn, DO, MSCP – Prescribing Physician and Director of Clinical Innovation & Education at Alloy Health

Jayne Morgan, MD – Cardiologist and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Hello Heart

Mary Claire Haver, MD, FACOG, MSCP – OB-GYN and nationally recognized menopause educator

Rocío Salas-Whalen, MD – Endocrinologist and Obesity Specialist

Moderated by journalist and filmmaker Tamsen Fadal, the discussion expertly balanced medical expertise with lived experience, making complex information accessible and actionable.

Why Perimenopause Matters

One of the evening’s most powerful takeaways was how early perimenopause can begin — sometimes in a woman’s late 30s — and how frequently its symptoms are misattributed to stress, aging, anxiety, or burnout.

Brain fog. Sleep disruption. Weight changes. Mood shifts. Low energy. Feeling “not like yourself.”

These are not isolated complaints — they are hormonal signals. Many women report fearing early-onset dementia because of memory lapses or cognitive changes. Yet in clinical settings, women are often dismissed, told “everything looks normal,” or offered quick fixes that don’t address root causes.

Panelists noted that the medical field itself is part of the problem. There is a lack of formal training on perimenopause and menopause, and many physicians remain cautious due to lingering concerns from flawed studies in the early 2000s. These studies created a fear of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), though the FDA has since removed the black box warning, recognizing that HRT can be safe and beneficial when appropriately prescribed.

Young Women Are Seeking Answers

A new wave of women, often in their 20s and 30s, are proactively seeking information about perimenopause. Social media has played a crucial role in popularizing these conversations, giving women a platform to share experiences, exchange advice, and demand better care. They want to be prepared, to understand their bodies, and to normalize conversations that were once taboo.

The Real Impacts on Women’s Health

Perimenopause is not just about hot flashes or irregular periods — it affects nearly every aspect of a woman’s health. Panelists emphasized how hormonal changes during this stage can influence:

• Brain health: Memory lapses, difficulty concentrating, and “brain fog,” sometimes raising fears of early-onset dementia.
• Cardiovascular health: Shifts in estrogen levels can increase risk for heart disease, making awareness and preventive care essential.
• Weight and metabolism: Hormonal changes can alter fat storage, appetite, and metabolism.
• Mood and emotional well-being: Anxiety, irritability, and depressive symptoms are common, yet often misattributed to life stressors rather than hormonal shifts.
• Energy levels: Fatigue and disrupted sleep patterns can interfere with daily life and overall quality of life.

The panel stressed that early recognition, education, and individualized care are key. Women are encouraged to track symptoms, ask questions, and insist on thorough evaluations — even when doctors may initially dismiss concerns. Advocacy is crucial: being informed allows women to request appropriate testing, discuss hormone replacement therapy safely, and make proactive choices about lifestyle, nutrition, and medical care.

By raising awareness and empowering women to speak up, events like The M Factor 2 aim to close the decades-long gap in both medical training and cultural understanding. Knowledge, preparation, and open dialogue can transform perimenopause from a source of confusion or fear into a stage of life marked by clarity, control, and confidence.

Changing the Medical and Cultural Narrative

The M Factor 2 is more than a film or an event — it’s part of a broader movement to redefine how medicine, workplaces, and society approach midlife women’s health. By centering perimenopause as a biological transition — not a crisis — the event challenged outdated norms and longstanding medical gaps.

The focus was not fear. It was information. Understanding. Empowerment.

A Room That Felt Different

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the evening was the energy in the room. Women were not being spoken at — they were being spoken with. The conversation felt honest, evidence-based, and validating, in a way that remains rare in women’s healthcare spaces.

The message was clear: Women deserve better information sooner. Perimenopause deserves a seat at the table.

There is a moment when history’s warning signs flash bright enough to burn — when prejudice, once whispered in dark corners, begins to speak loudly in the open. That moment is now.

In South Hampton this weekend, under the soft summer light, a gathering became more than an event — it was a line in the sand. Hosted by Brooke Goldstein, Founder and Executive Director of The Lawfare Project, spoke about Jewish civil rights and legal advocacy. Patricia Heaton then joined to discuss her involvement as a non-Jew for all civil rights.

Patricia Heaton, husband David Hunt, Laura Geller

Notable guests, including Patricia Heaton, Jackie Goldschneider, Rebecca Minkoff, and Jill Zarin, listened intently as Goldstein outlined the battle ahead.

The Lawfare Project, the foremost global legal defense for the Jewish people, has fought over 160 legal battles — battles that have punished those who commit acts of Jew-hatred, dismantled systems of discrimination, and set precedents that will protect generations to come.

SOUTHAMPTON, NEW YORK – AUGUST 07: (L-R) Marilyn Chinitz and Brooke Goldstein  (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for The Lawfare Project /End Jew Hatred )

And yet, the fight is far from over. Across the globe, antisemitic rhetoric is growing bolder, slipping into politics, media, and education. In too many places, it is normalized. In too many hearts, it is excused.

Simone Levinson (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for The Lawfare Project /End Jew Hatred )

“We are not only defending Jews,” Goldstein reminded the audience. “We are defending the values that keep societies free, just, and humane. If we fail here, the cost will be paid by everyone.”

Chloé Jo Davis (C) (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for The Lawfare Project /End Jew Hatred )

The evening ended with wine glasses clinking, but the conversation stayed sober. For those in attendance, the message was clear: Hate thrives in silence. The Lawfare Project is making sure the law will not be silent — and neither should we.

Because history has already told us what happens when the world looks away.

When I first began writing about AI’s impact on business for T2C, I believed I was simply documenting the rise of another tech trend. But night after night, the stories began to connect into a larger, more urgent truth: AI isn’t just transforming industries — it’s replacing jobs, creating new roles, and completely rewriting the rules of work.

The more I wrote, the clearer it became. We’re living through the most significant workforce shift since the Industrial Revolution, and yet most coverage either overhypes the technology or ignores its very real business impact. That’s why I launched FireYourEmployees.com — a daily AI news publication dedicated to telling the real story of automation, innovation, and the future of work.

FireYourEmployees.com isn’t about shock value (although the name does get attention). It’s about helping business leaders, entrepreneurs, and forward-thinkers understand how AI is actually being used to run companies, cut costs, boost profits, and — yes — replace certain human roles.

Every day, we publish:

Breaking AI news from around the world.

Case studies of companies replacing or augmenting staff with AI “employees.”

Opinion pieces on the ethics, risks, and opportunities in automation.

AI tool spotlights that show exactly how businesses are integrating these technologies.

For readers who want more than surface-level headlines, this is a place to explore the hard truths and practical strategies needed to adapt — or risk getting left behind.

I’ve been proud to share my nightly business column here on T2C, but FireYourEmployees.com is the natural next step. It’s a dedicated space where AI and business collide, where readers can get informed, think critically, and prepare for the future that’s already here.

The site is live now, and we’re publishing daily. Whether you’re a CEO looking to streamline operations, a startup founder searching for an edge, or simply someone curious about the future of work, this is your front-row seat to a revolution.

Visit FireYourEmployees.com today — the future isn’t waiting, and neither should you.

The Hamptons glittered a little brighter this weekend as Marilyn Maye, the indomitable legend of song, brought her extraordinary magic to LTV Studios in Wainscott as part of the Hamptons Summer Songbook by the Sea 2025 season. Produced by Donna Rubin and Josh Gladstone, this elegant series transforms a working television studio into an atmospheric cabaret, complete with candlelit café seating, a pristine Baby Grand, and acoustics that wrap around the room like silk.

Now in her mid-90s, Maye performed with the power and precision of someone a third her age — and with far more wit, wisdom, and charisma than most performers ever dream of. From the moment a nostalgic clip played of her iconic Tonight Show appearance singing “Cabaret” — her signature number, introduced to the world by none other than Johnny Carson, who invited her to his show a record 76 times — the audience was transported. And then she sang it live. With the same fire. The same sparkle. The same delicious phrasing that only Maye can conjure. Time did not pass — it bowed to her.

“Being Alive” from Company landed like a benediction — raw, resonant, and deeply earned. It was a standout moment in an evening full of standouts, made even more breathtaking by Tedd Firth, her longtime music director and a virtuoso of sensitivity and swing. He was joined by the always-exceptional Tom Hubbard on bass and Brian Carter on drums — a trio that moved as one, allowing Maye to stretch, riff, pause, and soar with unshakable confidence.

Donna Rubin, Jean Shafiroff and Joy Behar

Her medleys — always a Maye hallmark — were pure jazz storytelling, blending classics with heart and humor. The rhythm was hers, the tempo was hers, the night was hers.

Riki Kane Larimer and her Godson Robby, Lee Mindel and Laurie Tisch

To top off the night New York State Representative Rebecca Seawright presented Ms. Maye with a proclamation. At tonight’s event, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Lee Mindel, the visionary architect and design force behind SheltonMindel, and the incredible Laurie Tisch, philanthropist and arts champion. A reminder that even in the glittering ease of a summer night, true legacy walks quietly — and inspires deeply.

Look for Cabaret royalty and Broadway’s elite to entertain such as Lee Roy Reams, Liz Callaway, Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano, KT Sullivan and Mark Nadler, and the internationally acclaimed Moipei sisters come to this venue. The applause wasn’t just enthusiastic — it was reverent. They knew they were witnessing greatness.

At the heart of Sag Harbor, the Romany Kramoris Gallery (41 Main Street) is pulsing with color, commentary, and cultural memory as Roger Sichel unveils the next chapter of his creative life — and it is nothing short of electric.

A photographer, filmmaker, and legendary festival producer, Sichel has long been a renaissance figure in the world of art and entertainment. From co-creating one of New York’s first erotic film festivals (with judges like Andy Warhol, Gore Vidal, and Milos Forman) to producing concerts for music titans such as The Doors, Isaac Hayes, and The Four Seasons, Sichel has always stood at the crossroads of innovation and rebellion. But in this latest body of work, he turns the lens — and brush — inward.

His neo-pop mixed media pieces explode with saturated vibrancy and layered narrative, fusing his sharp photographic eye with painterly textures, unexpected materials, and echoes of the past. Each piece feels like a visual remix: part memory, part protest, part pulse. There is nostalgia — but never sentimentality. These are works that challenge, seduce, and confront.

This phase of Sichel’s evolution is both personal and political. It draws on decades of experience as a cultural observer and photojournalist, yet refuses to rest in retrospection. Instead, the work pulses with a present-day urgency — responding to the fragmentation of truth, the commodification of identity, and the re-emergence of social fault lines that he, as an artist, has witnessed over generations.

The gallery itself — an eclectic and beloved Sag Harbor landmark — is a perfect home for Sichel’s bold pieces. In a space known for curating the unexpected, his work dominates not with volume, but with voice.

This exhibit isn’t just a look back at a storied life. It’s a powerful declaration that Roger Sichel is not finished observing, creating, or disrupting — he’s simply entering his most vital chapter yet.

Victoria Schneps lit up the East End once again with a dazzling 4th of July soirée. The owner of Dan’s Papers, and about 100 other publications had invited guests for delectable desserts and a front-row seat to the fireworks. The night sparkled with local glam and Hamptons flair. Among the fabulous spotted:Donna Schneier, Todd & Liz Shapiro, Jean Shafiroff and Fragrance icon Sue Phillips

An evening of sweetness, sparkle, and summer celebration — proving once again that Schneps knows how to throw a party worthy of the stars.

Photo’s by Roger Sichel