• Over 140 bipartisan lawmakers wrote in opposition to Trump's proposed student-loan limits.
• The new limits would exclude advanced nursing programs from the higher professional degree borrowing cap.
• While most advanced nursing programs wouldn't be affected, lawmakers said it could exacerbate the healthcare shortage.

Opposition toward new student-loan limits in President Donald Trump's repayment overhaul is mounting.

On Friday, a bipartisan group of over 140 lawmakers sent a letter to Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent urging him to revise the Department of Education's proposal to place new student-loan limits on professional degree programs.

The department recently concluded its negotiations on the student-loan payment changes that Trump signed into law in his "big beautiful" spending legislation. The changes included borrowing caps for graduate and professional students: a $100,000 lifetime limit for graduate students, and a $200,000 lifetime limit for professional students.

The crux of the debate centered on which programs qualify as "professional," and the department identified 10 programs, including medicine, dentistry, and law, that would meet its new definition. Post-graduate nursing programs are not included within the professional definition, and the lawmakers wrote that the omission could exacerbate the ongoing nursing shortage.

"Classifying these programs as graduate programs would result in these students having to take out additional student loans to cover the remainder of their tuition, which will limit the ability for students to complete their advanced degree," the letter said.

The lawmakers used the example of the Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist program, which can cost over $200,000. They said that the proposed $100,000 cap is "restricting the pipeline of CRNAs and further limiting an anesthesia workforce that is suffering from shortages across all provider types."

Ellen Keast, the department's press secretary for education, said in a statement that "misinformation on TikTok has caused confusion" about the proposed student-loan limits. Keast cited data from the Department of Education showing that 95% of nursing students are borrowing within the student-loan limits.

"As for the most expensive outlying 5%, enrolled students are grandfathered into current lending limits to ensure there are no barriers to completion," Keast said. "We expect that institutions charging tuition rates well above market prices will consider lowering tuition thanks to these historic reforms."

Business Insider previously reported that, based on data from the College Scorecard, most advanced nursing programs would not be affected by the proposed caps. However, advocates still expressed concern about their implications. Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association, told Business Insider that removing the professional designation for nurses could make it difficult to recruit and retain staff in the industry.

"It's going to be a really bad revolving issue where we don't have enough faculty to produce enough nurses to replace the nurses who are retiring," she said.

The Department of Education is planning to implement these changes beginning in July of 2026, and its proposal is still subject to change based on the comments it receives from the public early next year.

• I'm a health journalist who's tried many pasta-sauce recipes made entirely of whole ingredients.
• My favorite one uses only five ingredients and is surprisingly high in protein and fiber.
• A dietitian even described my Mediterranean diet-friendly sauce as "brilliantly balanced."

Pasta with sauce is, and always will be, one of my most beloved comfort meals.

It's also one of the simplest, speediest, and most satisfying combos in my cooking repertoire, serving as a reliable staple at the end of my busiest days.

Because I've been trying to reduce the amount of ultra-processed foods in my diet, I've experimented with homemade sauces that are relatively low-effort yet made with entirely whole ingredients.

After sampling a range of recipes over the past few months, one flavorful sauce based on a recipe shared by Caroline Hanna, a nutritionist and chef, has emerged as a clear winner.

Here's how to make my favorite creamy pasta sauce

• 2 red bell peppers, deseeded and chopped
• 200 grams cherry tomatoes
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled
• 200 grams butter beans, rinsed and drained (weigh them once drained)
• 150 grams ricotta

1. Preheat your oven to 390 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Add peppers, tomatoes, and garlic cloves to a baking tray and top with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried herbs of your choice.
3. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the ingredients are cooked through. Let the tray cool for a few minutes.
4. Add the baked vegetables to a blender with the beans and ricotta. You can also add some Parmesan and fresh basil at this step.
5. Blend until smooth. If you have a small blender, you may need to add the ingredients gradually between each blend.
6. Stir the sauce into cooked pasta to heat through, mix in more Parmesan, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

The recipe yields four servings, with each containing about 12 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber. If you have leftover sauce, keep it in a sealed container in the fridge and use it within five days.

You can pair the sauce with any type of pasta you like. I typically go for a whole-wheat option for added fiber.

Before the bean-averse shy away from this sauce, let it be known that no one I've made it for has ever guessed they're even an ingredient in this recipe — you really can't taste them.

The blended beans just contribute to the sauce's smooth, creamy texture.

I'd never guess how nutritious the sauce is just by tasting it

I love this sauce because it's packed with vegetables, fiber, and protein, but it still tastes as good as (if not better than) any jarred option I've bought in a grocery store.

It also provides more protein and fiber per serving than most store-bought options I've found.

For more insights, I asked Nichola Ludlam-Raine, a dietitian and the author of "How Not to Eat Ultra-Processed," to review my recipe. She called the sauce "brilliantly balanced and nutrient-dense."

"It's rich in fiber, plant-based protein, and micronutrients," she said, adding that the fiber in the vegetables and butter beans can help support gut health and make the sauce more filling.

The dietitian also said this sauce "aligns with a Mediterranean-style pattern of eating," which focuses on fresh produce and plant-based proteins while limiting processed foods.

"It's packed with antioxidants, especially vitamin C and carotenoids, from the red peppers and tomatoes, and it contains healthy fats from the olive oil, which also helps the body absorb fat-soluble nutrients," Ludlam-Raine said.

Plus, it's easy to customize and dress up

If I have a little extra time and energy, I serve my saucy pasta with chicken, green vegetables, and pine nuts.

For those who want to pack in more fiber, Ludlam-Raine said, you can stir extra vegetables, such as spinach or roasted zucchini, into the sauce.

To add more protein to the sauce itself, you can swap the ricotta for cottage cheese. Personally, I prefer the taste of ricotta, but both are excellent options.

You can also use almost any variety of beans in the sauce, though I find butter beans work best. When I used red kidney beans (which you can see in the featured photos), the sauce came out beautifully.

"Overall, this is exactly the kind of nourishing recipe I encourage people to make," Ludlam-Raine said.

• AI is transforming the chief human resources officer role into an AI strategist position.
• HR leaders now bridge people, technology, and data to shape the future of work with AI.
• This article is part of "How AI is Changing Talent", a series exploring how AI is reshaping hiring, development, and retention.

AI is changing how companies hire, train, and lead, and in the process, the chief human resources officer's role is expanding.

Today's top HR leaders are becoming AI strategists, helping their organizations navigate the next wave of workplace transformation.

"The old model of HR was employees over here, technology over there," says Thomas Hutzschenreuter, a university professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). "But the new model of work is human-AI collaboration."

AI is a coworker now, he says, and that means that "HR has a bigger mandate. They need to understand not just people and culture, but go deeper into the strategy, the business, and the technology itself."

To understand how companies are navigating the shift, Business Insider spoke with people leaders at Citizens Bank, one of the largest banks in the Northeast; Boston Consulting Group, a global consultancy; and UiPath, an automation software testing company.

All interviews have been edited for brevity.

Susan LaMonica, chief human resources officer of Citizens Bank

CHROs are becoming the architects of the future of work, bridging people, technology, and data.

There are many questions we are in the middle of that are germane to how we as an organization move forward, such as: What's going to happen to entry-level roles? What roles are emerging? And how do we reskill people in a way that prepares them to make shifts thoughtfully?

We need people who can quickly learn, adapt, and change. Our technologists need to develop their business acumen, and our business folks need to develop their digital and technical fluency. The lines are blurring.

My HR team is developing a baseline of skills and capabilities. We're having conversations with consulting partners and clients. There's an openness to communal learning because everyone is trying to figure out the same things: what the AI-driven workforce will look like, how to break work into tasks for AI vs. humans, and what AI agents can handle versus humans.

We're subject to a lot of regulatory oversight in our industry. It's great that people can develop their own AI agents — there's a push to decentralize these capabilities — but we need to be mindful of risk and governance and how we do this in a safe, ethical way.

Alicia Pittman, chief people officer of Boston Consulting Group

AI is changing how work gets done and what work gets done. Business models are evolving, and the way companies serve clients is shifting. The CHRO role now requires adapting to both at once. It's a tall order.

In consulting, our ability to add value means constantly evolving our approach to human capital. The issues are constant; the pace is what's different. Today, a quarter of our business involves AI, which wasn't true even two years ago.

We need our people to be AI fluent. About 90% of our workforce uses AI regularly, and more than half use it daily. To get there, we've built a multi-layered support system: a 1,400-person enablement network acting as evangelists and coaches.

We've upskilled more than 100 team coaches to provide hands-on support. We deploy experts directly into teams to help them reimagine workflows and run innovation competitions to keep momentum going.

Our HR team has taken the lead. We started with recruiting — consolidating six IT systems into one and integrating AI throughout the platform and across performance management and development.

We're also experimenting with voice tools, chat interfaces, and AI avatars for real-time coaching. These tools give employees confidence, learning opportunities, and instant feedback. They don't replace managers — they free them up for higher-level thinking and relationship-building.

Agi Garaba, chief people officer of UiPath

Our business is automation, so that muscle is very strong for my team. But the next frontier of agentic AI is an adjustment.

We're using these AI agents — but we're also creating them. One agent, almost in production, helps with performance reviews, which is a time-consuming and sometimes dreaded task. Our agent helps employees write their self-assessment and collects feedback, bringing it together much quicker. It also helps managers by consolidating feedback from multiple resources.

It won't make rating decisions on the manager's behalf, but it makes the year-end much more seamless. Instead of spending time on admin, managers can focus on the feedback itself and my team on the right framework for career development.

There are a lot of unknowns at the moment, and fear is natural. But it should fuel curiosity and development. This is the time to think about career development seriously.

We have this idea that AI is only affecting entry-level or lower-level jobs. The truth is that technology is replacing skills that very highly skilled people have been doing.

If you look at the medical field and aviation — areas where we always thought technology wouldn't touch — that's no longer the case. It's not going to happen overnight. We have time to prepare. But it's relevant for everybody in any profession.

• Dell is increasing its prices on December 17, Business Insider has learned.
• The price hikes are linked to surging demand for memory units amid the AI race.
• In some cases, computer prices are set to increase by hundreds of dollars, an internal document shows.

Your company's Dell laptops are about to cost more.

Starting December 17, the computer maker is set to hike prices across its commercial product lines, according to an internal list of upcoming price changes sent to staff on December 9 and seen by Business Insider.

The list outlines price hikes for Dell's commercial business — meaning its sales to corporate clients rather than individual consumers. The commercial business accounts for about 85% of Dell's annual revenue in the Client Solutions Group (CSG), the division that sells laptops and PCs, according to its latest annual results.

The company is one of the leading providers of computer hardware to US companies, and prices aren't just rising at Dell. An industry-wide shortage of memory and storage chips is driving up costs across the PC industry, affecting competitors like Lenovo and HP as well.

The soaring demand for AI infrastructure has tech companies snapping up enormous quantities of memory and storage chips, increasing competition for consumer devices.

A Dell spokesperson told Business Insider that "like others in the industry, Dell takes targeted pricing action, when necessary, while maintaining supply continuity and its commitment to customer value."

"Our supply chain is resilient and globally diverse. It's designed to offer the needed flexibility when navigating macroeconomic, regulatory and trade dynamics," the spokesperson said.

What the price rises mean for you

How much more expensive a laptop at Dell will be next week depends on how much memory and storage you require.

The global shortages are hitting two key types of chips that are essential components in most user devices: DRAM and NAND.

When you buy a laptop, DRAM — dynamic random-access memory — is the memory, usually 8GB to 32GB for an average customer. NAND — non-volatile flash memory — is used for SSD storage, typically around 512GB or 1TB.

From next week, Dell Pro and Pro Max notebooks and desktops with 32GB of memory will cost between $130 and $230 more, according to the list of price changes seen by Business Insider. If opting for the top-of-the-range 128GB memory, the price is set to rise by between $520 and $765 per device.

Selecting a laptop with 1 TB of storage will add to the overall cost by between $55 and $135.

An employee at Dell who works in sales said the percentage increase would be "between 10% and 30%" depending on the contract. They asked to remain anonymous as they are not permitted to speak publicly, but Business Insider has verified their employment.

The price list also includes price hikes for AI laptops containing Nvidia Blackwell GPUs and individual monitors. For example, a Dell Pro 55 Plus 4K Monitor, currently listed on Dell's website at $1,349.99, will be $150 more expensive, according to the price list.

AI laptops containing an Nvidia RTX PRO 500 Blackwell GPU with 6GB will become $66 more expensive, and a 24GB GPU will cost $530 more, the pricing chart shows.

"It's impacting everyone, and there's no way around it currently, so customers will just have to pay more if they want the products," the sales employee said.

How Dell told its sellers to prepare

Higher prices make for a tougher sell, already a challenge for sales teams amid today's tariff-weary consumers and enterprises.

Dell sent an email to its "go-to-market" (GTM) sales staff on November 25, which Business Insider has seen, outlining the "critical next steps" sellers should take to prepare ahead of the increase.

"Global memory and storage supply are tightening fast," Dell warned GTM team members.

The price of contracts for DRAM and NAND chips has "already risen significantly this quarter, and suppliers are signaling further increases and allocation constraints driven by AI demand," Dell said in the email.

The company told its sellers to "move decisively" ahead of the price increases to "protect value for our customers and for Dell."

The email advised teams to engage with top accounts in the coming week, close deals, and plan significant opportunities and multi-quarter deals to protect the sales pipeline.

"Ordering today for future delivery DOES NOT lock in current pricing," Dell warned, but said that acting now would help customers stay ahead of "significant anticipated memory increase."

The Dell sales employee said that there had been an initial rush to help customers buy remaining inventory, but now the situation is largely viewed as "out of our control."

The employee said Dell was also absorbing some of the costs internally, through hits to margins and limiting discounts that sales staff can offer.

In the company's third-quarter earnings call on November 25, Jeff Clarke, Dell's COO and vice chairman, said the market's price increases were "unprecedented."

"We have not seen costs move at the rate that we've seen," Clarke said. "Demand is way ahead of supply. And as we wade our way through that, we're going to lean on the things that we've always done."

Why is there a chip shortage?

Tech companies are buying massive amounts of DRAM and NAND to power AI models and cloud services, leaving fewer chips for consumer devices.

Combined with global supply-chain tensions, the explosion in demand has prompted the three companies that dominate the DRAM market — Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron — to raise their prices.

DRAM prices are expected to rise 30% in the final quarter of 2025, having already increased by 50% so far this year, according to Counterpoint, a global technology market research firm.

"The entire supply chain simply can't meet the demand that is now required and that inevitably leads to these kinds of challenges," Bob O'Donnell, the president and chief analyst at Technalysis Research, told Business Insider.

These price increases will "likely have a noticeable impact for all types of PCs from every PC vendor," said O'Donnell, adding that the supply shortage is expected to continue throughout 2026.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at pthompson@businessinsider.com or Signal at Polly_Thompson.89. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Two best friends in Alabama became pregnant with twins and triplets at the same time.
• Their shared experience of parenting multiples created a strong support system for both families.
• Living close together, they help each other manage the challenges of raising five young children.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation Madison Knight. It has been edited for length and clarity.

In 2020, I had just moved to a new city in Alabama and was trying to meet new people when my work colleague suggested I meet her niece. She was sure we'd get on, and she was right — we became inseparable.

Over the next five years, we went on to get engaged and get married, moving through a lot of life's major events with each other. We decided that when it came to having kids, we would do everything in our power to get pregnant at similar times.

We weren't expecting what life was about to throw our way.

I got pregnant with twins

I'd gotten off of birth control in June 2024, not because we were trying to have a baby, but just because I had been on it for so long and needed a break. A month later, I found out I was pregnant. I called Jamesen immediately, and told her it was turn now — I wouldn't be doing this alone.

Leading up to my eight-week scan, I had a gut feeling I would be having twins. Sure enough, the ultrasound technician looked up at me during the ultrasound and asked how I felt about having two.

From the hospital, I met Jamesen for breakfast to break the news by simply handing her the ultrasound photos, letting her figure it out.

In October, Jamesen called me to say there was a faint line on her pregnancy test. I immediately got in the car to get more pregnancy tests with her to know for sure. She was pregnant too, and in the lead-up to her eight-week scan, I said several times how crazy it would be if she were to have twins too.

I like to think I manifested multiples for her.

My friend got pregnant with triplets

She called me after her ultrasound and asked to meet for breakfast, handing me the ultrasound photos in the parking lot before we went in to eat. I could see two sacks in the photos, but she kept saying, "No," and then finally told me to keep counting. Jamesen wasn't having twins; she was having triplets.

We stood together in the parking lot, me crying happy tears and Jamesen just smiling and laughing.

For the next six months, we both had a support system in each other, which meant a lot because pregnancy is hard, but pregnancies with multiples are often even harder. Going through the same thing at the same time meant we could talk about all our pains, fears, and plans together, fully understanding one another like no one else could.

I was on bed rest toward the end of my pregnancy, and Jamesen, even though heavily pregnant, came to visit me all the time, making sure I had everything I needed.

Luckily, our husbands also became friends, able to offer support to each other as they considered the mammoth changes ahead.

Our babies were born 1 month apart

I had my two babies, one girl and one boy, in February 2025, and Jamesen had her three boys in March.

Once all the babies were born, life became chaotic, but in the most beautiful of ways. With my working from home flexibility, and Jamesen working shifts as an ER nurse, we live in each other's pockets when we aren't working.

We're either at my house or hers — we only live 10 minutes from each other — because we can't quite make it further with all the babies yet. Looking in through a window, you might assume we were a fully functioning day care — complete with bouncers, swings, diapers, wipes, teething toys, play pens, changing mats, and highchairs scattered everywhere.

She never has to think about what to bring to mine and vice versa. We're all set up with everything we both need in each other's houses.

Being together brings calm to chaos. We just drink coffee on tap while holding and entertaining babies.

We are there for each other

There have been times when Jamesen needed help when her husband is on night shifts. And I've called her when we're all sick and not managing. We are there with each other through it all.

What I'm most grateful for is how I haven't felt alone since having babies, thanks to Jamesen.

I have lots of friends who have babies, and family around too, but Jamesen is the only other person I know who gets what it's like to parent multiples.

It's truly the best feeling to have someone so close to me, whom I trust completely, to walk through this parenting life with. I can't imagine what it would have been like to do this without her, and I look forward to continuing together as our kids grow up.

• HBO is known for making some of the best TV of the last 30 years.
• But not every show can be "The Sopranos," "The Leftovers," "Succession," or "Game of Thrones."
• There have been some real stinkers to air on HBO over the years.

When you think of the shows that have aired on HBO (or are streaming on HBO Max), some of the best TV series of all time will probably come to mind.

"Game of Thrones," "Six Feet Under," "The Leftovers," "The Sopranos," "Sex and the City," "The Wire," "Deadwood," "Succession," "Boardwalk Empire" — the list goes on.

But for every all-time iconic show, there have been others that are less favorably remembered, like "Arliss," or shows that fell short of the high expectations viewers had for them, like the Martin Scorsese-helmed "Vinyl."

With the news that Netflix may be purchasing Warner Bros., and by extension HBO and all its properties, the channel as we know it could be changed forever.

So let's take a stroll down memory lane and ironically reminisce about 10 of the worst HBO shows of all time, as judged by critics and audiences, including our own (tough) viewing experiences.

'The Idol'

"The Idol," a series about a former teen idol trying to reclaim her stardom only to fall prey to a cultish producer, was doomed from the start. The 2023 series started receiving negative headlines when it was first reported by outlets like Deadline that the show's original director, Amy Seimetz, had departed amid an "overhaul."

What Seimetz's version of "The Idol" would've been, we'll never know, but the version we did end up seeing, led by "Euphoria" showrunner Sam Levinson and The Weeknd, ended up closer to a "sordid male fantasy" (Variety), a "Pornhub-homepage odyssey" (The New York Times' Kyle Buchanan), or "torture porn" (sources on set, per Rolling Stone).

Whether you think that's an exaggeration or not, there's no denying that the show just wasn't very good. The relationship between Lily-Rose Depp's Jocelyn and The Weeknd's Tedros made no sense, and Jocelyn's heel-turn at the end of the season was borderline offensive.

Plus, the show wasted the rest of the talented cast, including Rachel Sennott, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Hank Azaria.

It was canceled after one season.

'The Brink'

"The Brink," which aired in 2015, was originally renewed for a second season before the network reversed the renewal and canceled it, per Deadline.

The series starred Jack Black as a Foreign Service Officer assigned to work at the USA's embassy in Islamabad. His costars were Tim Robbins, who played the secretary of state, and Pablo Schreiber, who played a Navy pilot/drug dealer.

The darkly comic series could never quite nail down its tone. As Emily St. James wrote for Vox, "There are funny moments scattered throughout, but by and large, 'The Brink' aims to filter the satire of 'Strangelove' through the tone of 'Family Guy,' where there's no joke so obvious that it can't be made even more obvious."

'Arliss'

"Arliss" was such a mediocre show that it was used as a punchline for TV critics and sports journalists — Bill Simmons, when he was still at ESPN, frequently bemoaned its quality. In one 2001 article, he called it "perennially unwatchable" and a "running joke in the industry for the past few years."

For those who may not even remember what "Arliss" was: It was a sports dramedy created by and starring Robert Wuhl as Arliss Michaels, an agent for an extensive roster of professional athletes. It ran for seven seasons from 1996 to 2002, confounding many.

As Entertainment Weekly put it, "TV critics [were] fond of using the series for batting practice."

'The Mind of the Married Man'

Much like "Arliss," "The Mind of the Married Man," which aired from 2001 to 2002 and similarly starred its creator (this time, comedian Mike Binder), was used as a punchline for TV critics.

In the same 2001 article in which he insulted "Arliss," Bill Simmons called this sitcom a "stinkbomb" and its creator/star "wildly untalented."

The show starred Binder as a fictionalized version of himself delving into the male perspective of being married. That's it. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff.

As Kevin Alexander wrote for Thrillist, "The best part of this show is the dated Wikipedia summaries of each episode."

'Here and Now'

If you watched "Here and Now" in 2025, seven years after it debuted on HBO, you might find it well-meaning, if a bit clunky. Led by Tim Robbins and Holly Hunter, it's the sprawling story of a multiracial family living in Portland — think "Parenthood," but make it HBO.

The reviews for the show's lone season were negative. Time's Judy Berman called it "a self-righteous wallow in upper-middle-class Trump-era despair that tokenized its diverse cast, undermined its own progressive credentials, and wasted two excellent leads," while Joel Keller of Decider wrote, "'Here and Now' is so overwrought that it makes 'The Handmaid's Tale' look like a lighthearted romp by comparison."

'1st & Ten'

"1st & Ten" was one of HBO's earliest sitcoms upon its premiere in 1984. It lasted for six seasons, ending in 1991.

Unfortunately for the show, it's now best known for starring OJ Simpson, who played a running back turned coach. While the presence of a pre-murder trial Simpson might make this a morbid fascination for the true-crime obsessed, it's still not worth the watch. It's just not funny!

Another problem? The premise — that a woman won ownership of a professional sports team in a nasty divorce — would go on to be executed better in future shows, such as "Major League" and "Ted Lasso."

'Vinyl'

In retrospect, "Vinyl" was not that bad, but we had such high expectations that, almost 10 years later, we still can't believe this wasn't the greatest show of all time.

Co-created by Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger, Rolling Stone editor and author Rich Cohen, and "Boardwalk Empire" creator Terence Winter, a show about a 1970s record executive in New York City played by Bobby Cannavale sounds like a slam dunk.

But it just wasn't. As Barbara Ellen wrote for The Guardian, "The makers of 'Vinyl' need to realise that a decent soundtrack is not a panacea for dud scenes and bad dialogue."

After originally getting renewed for a second season, HBO reversed its decision and canceled the show two months after the first season concluded.

'Camping'

The 2018 American remake of the British series "Camping" was the first project that creators Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner worked on together after the end of their smash hit "Girls" in 2017.

Needless to say, expectations were high. The cast had a deep bench, including David Tennant, Jennifer Garner, Ione Skye, Juliette Lewis, Chris Sullivan, Arturo Del Puerto, Bridget Everett, Busy Philipps, Nicole Richie, Hari Nef, and more.

However, this show (about a group of middle-aged friends taking an annual camping trip) was just deeply unpleasant to watch. Every character was unlikable, and not in a charming way, like the characters of "Girls." It was almost painful.

"'Camping' is in the running for the worst US version of a successful British series since 'Coupling,'" wrote Gwen Ihnat for the AV Club.

'Avenue 5'

Hugh Laurie, one of the most acerbic actors in Hollywood, teaming up with Armando Iannucci, the creator of "Veep" (one of the most hilarious, biting satires in HBO's history), should've produced the best show of all time.

Instead, we got "Avenue 5," a story about a space cruise that gets diverted from returning to Earth for three years … with only eight weeks' worth of supplies on board. Laurie played the captain of the ship, Ryan Clark.

The show premiered in 2020 and only returned for its second season in 2022, which probably caused it to lose some momentum, and the show was canceled.

"What we're left with is a not terribly funny workplace comedy, with the saving grace of some accomplished and likable performers," wrote The New York Times' Mike Hale.

'John from Cincinnati'

Think back to June 10, 2007. The highly anticipated series finale of "The Sopranos" has just concluded with one of the most iconic and divisive unresolved endings of all time. People were calling HBO because they were convinced their signals had cut out prematurely.

Instead, the credits rolled, and viewers were treated to "John from Cincinnati," a … surfer crime show? Starring former "90210" and "Saved By the Bell" heartthrobs Luke Perry and Mark-Paul Gosselaar, along with Bruce Greenwood, Rebecca De Mornay, Ed O'Neill, Luis Guzmán, and Jennifer Grey?

Oh, and the titular John? He's a psychically gifted man who possibly has mental disabilities — it's never made clear — and who can only speak using words people have said to him, and can make things appear in his pockets.

… Sure?

It was never going to work out for this show. Everyone was too emotional about "The Sopranos," and it was the wrong place, wrong time for this crew of Californian misfits.

Tim Goodman called the show "utterly flat and unbelievable in its supposed wackiness" in his review for the San Francisco Chronicle.

• Some McDonald's restaurants are found in downright strange locations.
• One McDonald's restaurant in Taupo, New Zealand, is located inside a decommissioned plane.
• A glass-walled McDonald's restaurant has received an award for its impressive architecture.

Some McDonald's locations go far beyond the typical drive-thru experience, offering unique and unforgettable dining settings that redefine the concept of fast food.

From a New Zealand McDonald's located inside a decommissioned plane to multiple restaurants built inside historic homes, McDonald's has transformed iconic and unconventional spaces into mind-blowing dining locations.

Many restaurants have also been modified to comply with local laws. In Sedona, Arizona, there's a McDonald's with turquoise arches instead of the iconic golden ones, designed to complement the area's natural red rock scenery. A glass-walled McDonald's restaurant in Georgia has also received an award for its impressive architecture.

Here are some of the most unusual and extraordinary McDonald's restaurants around the world.

The McDonald's location in Downey, California, is the oldest McDonald's restaurant that still looks as it did when it first opened.

It is the oldest surviving McDonald's location in the world. It doesn't even have a drive-thru — instead, customers walk up to the restaurant's windows to place their orders.

The location also features a vintage McDonald's sign with the fast-food brand's old mascot.

Speedee, a chef with a hamburger for a head, appeared on the original McDonald's signs alongside the brand's logo of two interlocking golden arches.

Some signs also advertised the low price of McDonald's hamburgers — just 15 cents at the time.

This McDonald's restaurant in Hangzhou, China, is located inside a historic villa that once housed a former Taiwanese leader.

Before being converted into a McDonald's and McCafé restaurant, the building was known as a cultural relic that had been the residence of politician Chiang Ching-kuo for one month during the 1940s, according to CNN.

The restaurant has been called "the most controversial McDonald's outlet in the world."

CNN reported that many locals objected to the restaurant opening inside the historic building, calling it a prime example of Western commercialism invading Chinese culture.

However, since opening in 2015, the restaurant has become somewhat of a tourist attraction, welcoming visitors from all over the world.

There's also an eye-catching McDonald's on Dongmen Street in Shenzhen, China.

The restaurant opened on October 8, 1990, in Shenzhen's Special Economic Zone.

The South China Morning Post reported that on its opening day, the unique McDonald's location received over 40,000 customers, despite having a maximum seating capacity of only 460. It was the first McDonald's to open in mainland China, making it a popular destination for both locals and tourists at the time.

The building occupies three floors and features traditional-looking pagoda-style roofs.

The restaurant's roof is still adorned with the iconic golden arches to make it recognizable to passersby.

Author and photojournalist Gary He, who has dined at over 100 McDonald's restaurants around the world, told Business Insider in 2024 that it was one of the most "epic" locations he has ever visited. 

This McDonald's restaurant in Taupo, New Zealand, is located inside a decommissioned plane.

Named one of the "world's coolest McDonald's" on a sign outside the restaurant, customers can enjoy everything from a classic Big Mac to Chicken McNuggets and McCafe beverages inside the plane.

There's even airplane-style seating where customers can sit and enjoy their food.

Visitors to this unique McDonald's restaurant can also view the D3 plane's cockpit.

This McDonald's restaurant in Clifton Hill, Melbourne, Australia, is designed in the Art Deco style of the 1920s and '30s.

The building was originally the United Kingdom Hotel and was designed by architect James Hastie Wardrop.

Constructed between 1937 and 1938, this restaurant has been called one of the most beautiful McDonald's buildings in the world.

Built in 1983, the Rock-N-Roll McDonald's in Chicago was known nationwide for its themed decor.

The restaurant, which spanned two floors and was a replica of Ray Kroc's first McDonald's, was filled with music and pop-culture memorabilia.

The decor was quintessentially '80s, but in 2017, the fast-food giant decided to fully renovate and modernize the location.

After the restaurant was partially demolished and modernized, the memorabilia once housed in the restaurant were added to the franchise owner's personal collection, The Chicago Tribune reported.

Surprisingly, another iconic McDonald's restaurant that has closed for good is the chain's flashy Times Square location.

Known for its giant marquee featuring thousands of light bulbs, the restaurant — perhaps surprisingly — closed in 2020 not as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but rather as part of McDonald's regular review of its restaurant portfolio, a spokesperson told NBC.

However, a new McDonald's restaurant has opened in Times Square, meaning you can still get your fix.

This McDonald's in Sedona, Arizona, is the only one in the world with turquoise arches.

The restaurant, built in 1993, is situated in one of Arizona's most beautiful cities, renowned for its awe-inspiring red-rock mountains, canyon walls, and pine forests. 

The building has to adhere to Sedona's strict guidelines on building design and signage.

While the bright yellow color of most McDonald's signs might work in other parts of the country, the turquoise color chosen by the Sedona, Arizona, location blends much better with the surrounding landscape.

Sedona also has strict restrictions on the height of buildings and signage, which is why the famous arches are placed lower than at most other McDonald's restaurants.

A now-closed McDonald's in Houston was themed to pay homage to the nearby NASA Space Center.

On top of the large McDonald's restaurant, which also had a play place, was a statue of a NASA astronaut holding a container of fries.

The theme continued inside the restaurant.

Ronald McDonald and the rest of the "McDonaldland" characters lined the walls wearing space suits and posing against a starry background.

The world's first floating McDonald's restaurant opened in St. Louis in 1980.

Moored slightly south of the Gateway Arch on the Mississippi River, this McDonald's was the very first McDonald's to be opened on a riverboat.

It was open for 20 years before closing in 2000.

The McDonald's restaurant in Freeport, Maine, resembles a house more than a standard fast-food franchise.

Some McDonald's locations attempt to blend in with the local buildings and are designed more sympathetically. 

This McDonald's location, however, was actually built inside a preexisting colonial mansion that's more than 150 years old. Located in Freeport, a small seaside town in Maine, the building was converted into the town's only McDonald's in 1984.

This Parisian McDonald's is located in a historic building built in 1892.

The restaurant is on Rue Saint-Lazare in Paris, France. Though the building is now a McDonald's, it is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Referred to as the "flying saucer McDonald's," this unique fast-food restaurant in Roswell, New Mexico, is truly out of this world.

Inspired by Roswell's extraterrestrial history, the interior of the spaceship contains a space-themed play area.

This McDonald's restaurant in Kristiansand, Norway, was converted from an old bank building.

Though you might think patrons can stroll up the steps to enter one of the most unusual McDonald's buildings in the world, customers actually enter from a side entrance.

A McDonald's in São Paulo, Brazil, is similarly grandiose — at one point, it even had cartoonish fry sculptures on the front of the building.

The building almost resembles the White House. It's known as the Méqui1000 because it was the 1,000th McDonald's to open in Brazil.

However, past its columns and grand facade, customers can still enjoy McDonald's favorites like the Big Mac or Brazilian menu items like the McCrispy Chicken Legend and the cheddar McMelt.

A McDonald's location in Porto, Portugal, was previously occupied by Cafe Imperial, a famous coffee shop open in the city since the 1930s.

The giant bronze eagle, designed by Portuguese sculptor Henrique Moreira, is usually the first thing customers notice when they approach the restaurant. 

Inside the restaurant, guests find glamorous details such as crystal chandeliers and a massive stained-glass window behind the counter.

The colorful window is original to the coffee shop that previously occupied the space, and it features beautiful coffee-related scenes.

The restaurant has been called the world's most beautiful McDonald's.

Independence, Ohio, is home to a McDonald's that's known as one of the fanciest fast-food restaurants in the country.

It was designed in accordance with building requirements from the city.

Inside, guests are greeted by gold chandeliers and a majestic banister.

"The building is unique to any I have ever seen and it is a joy to take a break and walk to the second floor and enjoy the view while I enjoy breakfast or lunch," wrote one TripAdvisor user.

This McDonald's is found in Barstow Station, a fake train station in Barstow, California.

The "train station" opened in 1975, and is also occupied by a Starbucks and a Popeyes.

The restaurant is surrounded by passenger train cars, which are used as dining areas.

Despite having a unique theme, the restaurant still serves up McDonald's favorites.

A McDonald's restaurant is also found inside the historic Denton House on Long Island, New York.

The building was originally an 18th-century farmhouse that was converted into a Georgian-style mansion in the 1860s.

McDonald's originally intended to knock the building down after it was purchased in 1985.

However, Atlas Obscura reported that the fast-food giant faced pressure from preservationists to restore the home to its former grandeur.

The town then allowed the chain to build onto the existing building to create space for a drive-thru. 

There's also a McDonald's inside Budapest's beautiful Western Railway Station.

The station was built in 1877 by the Eiffel Company, which also built the Eiffel Tower.

This unique McDonald's location is in Batumi, Georgia.

Located in downtown Batumi, this McDonald's stands out for its reflective glass exterior. Patrons eating inside the restaurant can also gaze out onto the pool of water and manicured grass surrounding the building.

Inside, the restaurant's furnishings are similarly modern in design.

This location was built in 2013 and won the award for The Best Commercial Building of 2014 by the architecture website ArchDaily.

In spring, flowers bloom on the lawns.

This makes for a great photo-op or simply a beautiful sight while patrons eat their meals.

This McDonald's restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina, was renovated to fit with the local guidelines from the nearby Biltmore Estate.

Resembling a ski lodge, the restaurant fits in perfectly in the mountain town and the nearby Biltmore Estate, a grand home built by George Vanderbilt in the 1890s.

However, the inside is grander than perhaps any outside viewer could expect.

The restaurant features red-oak tables, a self-playing baby grand piano, wrought-iron railings, and a fireplace.

The interior is also decorated with wallpaper, pieces of art, and hanging chandeliers. 

The McSki in Sälen, Sweden, looks straight out of a fairytale.

Located in Lindvallen, one of Sweden's premier ski resorts, this one-of-a-kind "ski-thru" McDonald's allows guests to enter the building and order their food without ever even removing their skis. 

Gary He told Business Insider that it was the most unusual location he had ever visited. 

"The air is so clean and crisp — it's like being on top of the world," He said. "When I visited, it wasn't even busy. It was just me, the McSki, and the mountains. I was just hanging out and enjoying myself."

• I spent seven years living abroad in Budapest before returning to the United States.
• I noticed many of my habits changed, like the way I viewed work and how I shopped for groceries.
• That said, the one American trait I'll never ditch is my love of small talk.

Travel has always been important to me.

In college, I spent two separate semesters abroad. After graduation, I won a once-in-a-lifetime competition that let me spend the summer visiting five continents.

Unsurprisingly, when I got the opportunity to move to Budapest to teach English, I jumped at the chance — and ended up sticking around. I spent seven years building a life in Europe before heading back to the States.

Now that I'm back in the US, I've noticed that I picked up more than a few European habits.

Some are small: I no longer wear shoes inside the house, and I use cutlery even when eating "finger food" like pizza. I also get dressed up for quick errands, instead of just throwing on athleisure like I used to.

I've noticed some bigger shifts in how I live, too. Here are four ways my habits and lifestyle have changed since my time in Europe — and one distinctly American trait I plan to keep.

I've learned to savor and carve out time for meals.

I remember thinking that desk lunches, grab-and-go snacks, and rushed meals were the norm. Sitting down to eat was one of the first things I'd sacrifice for the sake of time.

Once I moved abroad, however, dining became an occasion, not something to be rushed through. The abundance of outdoor terraces for an afternoon coffee or restaurants offering a business lunch — which usually means two or three courses for a set value price — helped support this.

This isn't to say that I think every meal has to be a formal event, but I liked how intentional eating and drinking felt in Europe.

Now, I savor my meals more, whether that means intentionally carving out time for a long lunch or just sitting down to enjoy a coffee instead of sipping it while I head to my next destination.

I gained distance from hustle culture and started enjoying the little things more.

When I first moved to Hungary, one of the biggest shocks was the lack of "hustle culture." In the US, I always felt pressured to work more so that I could earn more so that I could buy more.

Suddenly, though, I found myself living among people who generally didn't work on days off and took their six weeks of annual vacation seriously.

Now that I'm back in the US and looking for a full-time job, I am prioritizing roles at companies that understand and appreciate work-life balance, too.

My grocery-shopping habits changed.

Before I moved to Europe, I considered buying fresh produce or groceries from farmers markets to be a luxury. There weren't many of these markets in my area, and it made sense to go to larger stores.

Budapest, on the other hand, has many such markets, so fresh food was much more accessible. Since everything was closer, I picked up essentials daily, instead of doing one massive weekly shop.

When I first visited a grocery store after moving back to a small town in the US, I was a bit bewildered by how pricey it felt to buy high-protein foods or produce marketed as organic.

After getting used to whole foods in Budapest, though, I've made it a priority to seek out healthier ingredients and fewer processed foods here — even if they don't feel as readily accessible where I live.

I speak more slowly and with more intention.

Living in an international community where English wasn't everyone's first language changed the way I speak.

Over the past several years, I've found myself talking more slowly and with more intention. As a result, I believe I've become a better listener.

I've also noticed that the kinds of conversations I participate in have changed, too — and I've developed more cultural sensitivity.

One American habit I never ditched, though, was my tendency to make small talk.

When I first moved abroad, I heard some criticisms from new Hungarian acquaintances about how often Americans make small talk.

I was surrounded by people who were much more private, so what I thought were well-intentioned questions sometimes came off as invasive.

For instance, some Hungarians have told me that even "How are you?" is generally considered a personal question.

I didn't want to make locals feel uncomfortable, so I learned to tone down any tendencies to overshare. That said, I was also raised to be enthusiastic and friendly, and didn't want to lose those traits.

Now that I'm home, I remember how affirming it feels to strike up a chat with a stranger — maybe in line at the grocery store or out walking my dog — and have it reciprocated.

I believe kind, surface-level interactions are still beautiful moments of connection, and I want to remain open to those instead of guarded, no matter where my travels take me next.