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26 conceivably believable pop culture predictions for 2026
Picture me alone in some remote garret, clutching a copy of the American Jewish Year Book like it’s the Grimmerie in Wicked. Pages flutter, the wind howls, and I once more set out to divine what is in store for the year ahead.
But how did I do last year? Taylor Swift is still with Travis Kelce — she didn’t leave him for Manischewitz cover model Jeff Retzlaff. Instead, Manischewitz parted ways with Retzlaff, and he with Brigham Young University.
Elmo did not have a title fight with Larry David, but he did have an antisemitic tirade on X, in an apparent hack.
Billy Joel did not release a single called “Noshin’ Out.” For what it’s worth, though, he did tell the world, “No matter what, I will always be a Jew” in his HBO documentary.
My record is mixed, but I persist. If not now, when? If not me, who? Hence, my 26 quite conceivable (I think) predictions for what’s heading our way in pop culture in 2026.
1. Following Britney Spears’ viral Chabad beard appreciation post, in which she enthused over a group of young Lubavitch men playing chess, the “Hit Me Baby (One More Time)” artist will tie the knot with husband number four, Mendel Bialybaum of Crown Heights.
2. 82-year-old actor and outspoken progressive Wallace Shawn will announce a politically-minded follow up to his 1981 film about a supper meeting with theater luminary André Gregory. Inspired by a similar summit at Mar-a-Lago in 2022, My Dinner with Fuentes is due to hit theaters in time for the midterms.
3. Diamond District jeweler Nachum Bernstein will be hailed as a real-life Howard Ratner — Adam Sandler’s character in the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems, known for his blinged-out Furby — when he unveils a diamond-studded Labubu, “the world’s most expensive.” The creation will be outfitted with pigeon-blood rubies that form the shape of a chai on its chest and a sterling silver backpack clip. It’s not for sale.
4. Alan Dershowitz will found a “spite store” in Martha’s Vineyard after being refused service last summer at a local pierogi stand. “Dersh’s Delights” boasts a legal theme: tarts are called torts, and a signature latte is the Almond Amicus Brief. It will shutter after three weekends, citing lack of interest — just one more reason to be spiteful.
5. The consolidation of HBO into Netflix will herald a number of unlikely franchise crossovers. Most controversial: Season 3 of Nobody Wants This, in which Rabbi Noah will relocate to Baltimore and welcome the family of now-reformed drug kingpin Avon Barksdale as congregants. “The Wire’s been crossed,” the Variety headline blasts.
6. Leslie Odom Jr.’s horror adaptation of a Rolling Stone article about Sammy Davis Jr.’s dalliance with the Church of Satan is reported to feature a scene where Davis — who was Jewish — and Anton LaVey, the Jewish-born founder of that church, play dreidel for one another’s souls.
7. Following Sydney Sweeney’s “good jeans” ad, which some argued was a eugenic dog whistle, American Eagle will launch a new spot, “Good Genes,” with Eugene Levy, Gene Simmons and Gene Shallot sharing a pair of oversized dungarees. Sales soar.
8. After his swearing-in as New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani will become a Shabbos goy for his Upper East Side neighbors, promising them fast, free melakhot.
9. President Donald Trump’s new White House ballroom will feature a steam room — and Six13 will feature a parody song, “Ballroom Shvitz,” in their Hanukkah a cappella compilation.
10. Richard Kind will be revealed to excel at bocce, and be voted Manischewitz’s second matzo box cover athlete after Retzlaff. “It’s an honor I never dreamed of, and one I’m not certain I want,” Kind will say. His cover photo is dynamic, showing the character actor mid-bowl, releasing a matzo ball in the direction of a cluster of pallini.
11. Nachum Bernstein will awaken one night from a dreamless sleep to find the Labubu of his own creation perched on his chest, emerald pupils gleaming, the Hebrew word אֱמֶת (truth) now bedazzling its brow in fire opals.
12. The Swift-Kelce wedding will be the least Jewish social event of the season, despite the presence of Jack Antonoff.
13. The sequel to K-Pop Demon Hunters (KPDH: Certified Gold) will include a Neil Diamond cameo, in which the Basher — who attended NYU on a fencing scholarship — shish kebabs a string of baddies to the tune of Crunchy Granola Suite.
14. Timothée Chalamet will be cast as Olympian Mark Spitz in a forthcoming biopic directed by Barry Levinson. Sources close to the actor say he was looking for a role that let him keep his Marty Supreme mustache.
15. Billy Joel: Live at the Kotel will usher in an era of peace in a divided Jerusalem.
16. Following a well-received Sabrina Carpenter-led special. Seth Rogen will succeed in reviving The Muppet Show and get creative with its guest hosts. One standout edition will see Noam Chomsky appearing to give Dr. Teeth a crash course in Generative Grammar. (The lesson is interrupted by Animal thrashing on the drums, and Gonzo’s loose chickens stealing focus.)
17. Monty Pickle, the anthropomorphic Jewish gherkin with a mission to shed light on Jewish joy, will be seen wrapping tefillin on Rick and Morty’s Pickle Rick outside of 770 Eastern Parkway.
18. Preparing to play Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network sequel, Jeremy Strong will spend a continuous month living in the Metaverse, stopping only to guzzle Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce. “He’s wired in,” a gleeful Aaron Sorkin will tell The Hollywood Reporter.
19. After reimagining CBS News with new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison will set his sights on reshaping CBS’ primetime sitcom lineup, greenlighting Chef in the IDF about a lone soldier with culinary ambitions. When ratings falter, Chuck Lorre will return to expand the Big Bang Theory universe with the show Old Wolowitz.
20. A Goyim Defense League march in Jacksonville, Florida will be disrupted by a near invisible force, which tosses the antisemites sky-high and dangles them over the same highway overpass where they hung a sign reading “6 Million Weren’t Enough.” Video captured on the scene, when slowed down and enhanced, appears to show the neo-Nazis heaved upward by a figure standing a few inches tall — with one full inch being bunny ears — glittering with gems, and wearing a distinctive sharp-toothed grin.
21. Antisemitism watchdog groups will be up in arms on learning that the Cyclops in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has a gigantic mezuzah at the entrance to his cave. Nolan explains that the Judaica was left there by the cave’s real-life owners (the Finkles) and vows to digitally remove it for its online release.
22. Nathan Fielder will finally figure out the elusive science of cold fusion on Season 3 of The Rehearsal.
23. After Nachum Bernstein’s family grows increasingly suspicious of his regular business trips, which always seem to coincide with a planned antisemitic rally in major cities, each of which is thwarted by an ostensibly supernatural force, he vows to stay put for the foreseeable future. In his home workshop, he can be heard tapping. When the family stirs awake the next morning, they discover the glittering Labubu on display next to the Shabbat candle sticks. The inscription on the toy’s brow now reads מֵת — “dead.”
24. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will do Hot Ones. He taps out when host Sean Evans asks a surprisingly sophisticated question about settler violence in the West Bank.
25. Elmo’s X account will be hacked yet again — this time by advocates of hasbara, rather than antisemitism. “Elmo loves cherry tomatoes — did you know they were invented in Israel?” reads one of the posts.
26. After successfully launching its food truck in 2025, Manischewitz will buy several decommissioned Good Year blimps for the project’s next installment. The program will be terminated after injuries stemming from paradropped jarred gefilte fish.
The post 26 conceivably believable pop culture predictions for 2026 appeared first on The Forward.
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Downed Planes Raise New Perils for Trump as Tehran Hunts for Missing US Pilot
Traces of an Iranian missile attack in Tehran’s sky, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 3, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Two US warplanes were downed over Iran and the Gulf, Iranian and US officials said on Friday, with two pilots rescued and a third still missing and being hunted by Tehran’s forces.
The incidents show the risks still faced by US and Israeli aircraft over Iran despite assertions from US President Donald Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that their forces had total control of the skies.
The first plane, a two-seat US F-15E jet, was shot down by Iranian fire, officials in both countries said.
The second plane, an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft, was hit by Iranian fire and crashed over Kuwait, with the pilot ejecting, two US officials said.
Two Blackhawk helicopters involved in the search effort for the missing pilot were hit by Iranian fire but made it out of Iranian airspace, the two US officials told Reuters.
The degree of injuries among the crew of the aircraft remained unclear. The status and whereabouts of the missing F-15E crew member was not publicly known.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was combing an area near where the pilot’s plane came down in southwestern Iran and the regional governor promised a commendation for anyone who captured or killed “forces of the hostile enemy.”
Iranians, who have been pummeled by American air power for weeks, posted gleeful messages celebrating the plane downings. Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on X that the U.S. and Israel’s war had been “downgraded from regime change” to a hunt for their pilots.
Trump has been in the White House receiving updates on the search-and-rescue operation, a senior administration official told Reuters. The Pentagon and US Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
NO SIGN OF END TO WAR
The prospect of a US service person being alive and on the run inside Iran raises the stakes for Washington in a conflict with low public support and no sign of an imminent end.
Iran has officially told mediators it is not prepared to meet with US officials in Islamabad in coming days and that efforts to produce a ceasefire, led by Pakistan, have reached a dead end, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The US and Israel opened the campaign with a wave of strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28. The war has killed thousands and threatened lasting damage to the global economy.
So far, 13 US military service members have been killed in the conflict and more than 300 have been wounded, according to the US Central Command.
Iran has rained down drones and missiles on Israel. It has also taken aim at Gulf countries allied to the US, which have so far held back from joining the war directly for fear of further escalation.
In a security alert on Friday, the US embassy in Beirut said Iran and its aligned armed groups may target universities in Lebanon and urged US citizens in the country to leave while commercial flights are still available.
Israel has been waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon after the militant group fired at Israel in support of Iran.
TRUMP THREAT TO STRIKE BRIDGES, POWER PLANTS
On Friday, as Trump threatened to hit its bridges and power plants, Iran struck a power and water plant in Kuwait, underlining the vulnerability of Gulf states that rely heavily on desalination plants for drinking water.
On Thursday, Trump posted footage on social media showing dust and smoke billowing up as US strikes hit the newly constructed B1 bridge between Tehran and nearby Karaj, which was due to open this year, and said more attacks would follow.
“Our Military, the greatest and most powerful (by far!) anywhere in the World, hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants!” he wrote in a subsequent post.
On Friday, a drone hit a Red Crescent relief warehouse in the Choghadak area of Iran’s southern Bushehr province.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said its Mina al-Ahmadi refinery had been hit by drones. Other attacks were also reported to have been intercepted in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. Missile debris landed near the Israeli port of Haifa, site of a major oil refinery.
Oil markets were closed after benchmark U.S. crude prices gained 11% on Thursday following a speech by Trump that offered no clear sign of an imminent end to the war.
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US-Iran: Diplomatic Push Falters as Qatar Steps Back and Pakistan Talks Stall
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani speaks after a meeting with the Lebanese president at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Emilie Madi
i24 News – Diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran appear to have reached an impasse, as key regional mediators pull back and broader talks stall.
According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, Qatar has informed US officials that it does not wish to take a central role in mediating between the two sides. Officials familiar with the matter said Doha has made clear it is “not willing” to lead negotiations or act as the primary broker.
At the same time, Pakistan-led efforts to bring Iranian and American officials together have also stalled. Mediators say Tehran has refused to attend proposed meetings in Islamabad, calling Washington’s conditions “unacceptable,” further underscoring the widening gap between the two sides and the growing difficulty of restarting dialogue.
Despite the deadlock, diplomatic channels have not fully closed. Turkey and Egypt are continuing parallel efforts to revive talks, with discussions underway about potential alternative venues, including Doha and Istanbul.
US President Donald Trump downplayed the impact of recent military developments on diplomacy, including the destruction of a US fighter jet during operations in Iran. Speaking in a brief exchange with an NBC News journalist, he said: “No, not at all. It’s war. We are at war.”
He further fueled speculation with a cryptic social media post on Truth Social, writing: “Keep the oil, anyone?” criticising international allies on Friday over rising fuel prices. Trump appeared to mock allies such as the United Kingdom, writing that they should “keep the oil.”
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Report: Iran Retains Significant Missile Capability Despite Weeks of US-Led Strikes
Iranian missiles are displayed in a park in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 31, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
i24 News – Despite weeks of sustained airstrikes by the United States and its allies, Iran has reportedly managed to retain a substantial portion of its military capabilities, particularly its ballistic missile arsenal.
According to a report by The New York Times citing US intelligence assessments, Tehran has developed methods to mitigate the impact of the strikes, allowing it to preserve and restore key parts of its missile infrastructure.
While the Pentagon has claimed responsibility for striking more than 11,000 targets over five weeks and reducing the rate of Iranian missile fire, intelligence officials now caution that the actual damage may be more limited than initially assessed. Iranian forces are reportedly able to rapidly repair or reactivate missile launchers stored in heavily fortified or underground facilities, sometimes within hours of being hit.
Analysts also point to the widespread use of decoy sites, which may have drawn strikes away from operational assets. Many of the targeted locations are believed to have contained dummy installations, complicating efforts to accurately gauge the degradation of Iran’s ballistic capabilities. Combined with deep underground bunkers and dispersed storage networks, this approach is seen as enabling Tehran to maintain a higher level of readiness than publicly estimated.
US intelligence officials assess that this resilience reflects a deliberate strategy: preserving a credible long-range strike capability as both a deterrent and a bargaining tool in any future negotiations, while ensuring regime survival and continued regional influence.
Despite sustained air dominance claimed by Washington and its allies, Iran’s adaptive tactics continue to complicate battlefield assessments, leaving the true balance of power in the conflict uncertain.