People are innately social creatures. Even introverts need human connection, so it can be upsetting to learn that something you've said unintentionally shut down a conversation. No one is immune to having a bad conversation, but certain things are surefire ways to make them awkward or uncomfortable for everyone involved. Francesca Tighinean, a life coach with a bachelor's degree in psychology, shares self-help tips and tricks online across multiple social media platforms. Recently, the Romanian native who now lives in the U.S. shared conversation habits that unintentionally make people dislike you. But just because something is a habit doesn't mean it can't be broken, which is why Tighinean offers alternatives to behaviors people may find off-putting. The items on the list are behaviors most people have been guilty of at least once in their lives, so don't fret. If you're struggling with maintaining conversations and feel like it could be due to one of these unintentional habits, stick around for how to address them. Friends deep in conversation on a cozy couch.Photo credit: Canva1. Interrupting someone's storyGetting excited about a story someone is telling and accidentally interrupting them to tell your own can create an uncomfortable situation. Tighinean points out that most people do this as a way to connect with a shared experience, but it can make the person sharing feel unheard. It can also feel like attempting to "one-up" the person's experience. Coffee shop chat with friends.Photo credit: CanvaThe simple fix to this is to wait until the person is finished telling their story. "Ask them follow-up questions like, 'Oh my gosh, how was Paris? That's amazing,'' Tighinean says before adding that you can then share your story once you've shown interest in their topic. Another strategy that may help keep you from interrupting is to repeat the question you want to ask in your head. This will help you to remember what you want to ask and keep you from prematurely inserting yourself into their story. 2. Giving advice without being asked"I know we all love to do this because we know better, or we've been through that. Or we love giving advice, we love feeling needed and valued, but it can come across as condescending and as if I know better than you what you should do with your own life. So if someone didn't ask you for advice, don't give it," the life coach says. Intense conversation at the table, emotions running high.Photo credit: CanvaSometimes people just want to share what's happening in their lives and aren't seeking advice of any kind. Instead of offering up advice, Tighinean says the best approach is to ask if the person wants a listening ear or if they're interested in hearing advice. This allows the person to decide whether they want to hear advice, rather than having it heaped on them unexpectedly.3. Bringing up someone's past opinionsPeople's opinions are not fixed. People are constantly learning and growing, so when you're talking with someone you're familiar with, bringing up a past opinion of theirs can be a turn-off. Tighinean explains that this can manifest in the form of commenting on someone eating meat when they were previously vegan, or putting them on the spot for something they didn't follow through on. "This just makes people feel judged, exposed, and it threatens their social identity," Tighinean shares. Instead of mentioning past opinions or choices in social settings, ask them about something else. In the example of a vegan eating meat, you can tell them their meal looks good and ask how it is. There's no need to bring up the past in those moments.4. Making someone's efforts sound easyThis is something that many people have experienced. It doesn't feel good, especially if it's something you have personally worked hard at. Tighinean gives the example, "Something like, 'Oh, it's not that hard; anyone can do it. Anyone can do your job.' This just minimizes their efforts, and their competence, and their sense of achievement, and it can also impact their self-esteem, so don't be surprised if they start distancing themselves from you." Group discussion in a bright, casual office setting.Photo credit: CanvaInstead of expressing how easy something is, the life coach recommends validating people's efforts, recognizing the achievement, and congratulating them. Creating a good connection with others requires interest in the person you're speaking with and the internal recognition that your skill set might be different than theirs, but it doesn't make their efforts less important.5. Fixing errors in someone's story in real timeSometimes details are important, but many times they're not when someone is relaying a story. At a get-together, if someone tells a story about breaking their ankle while getting ice cream, it isn't helpful or important to correct the flavor they purchased. In a social situation, bringing up small discrepancies in the middle of someone telling a story can push people away. People chat at a restaurant.Photo credit: Canva"These irrelevant remarks or corrections just makes people dislike you," Tighinean says. "It shows that you value accuracy, what's accurate and what's real and perfect over connection. And it makes the other person feel embarrassed, even if you're technically right. If it's not central to the story, let it go. Preserve connection over correctness."

Otis Redding. Stevie Wonder. David Bowie. Jimi Hendrix. Jim Carrey? All of those icons, including that last one, have put their own unique stamp on a classic Beatles song. In 1997, still at his wacky peak of physical comedy, Carrey took part in the Beatles tribute album In My Life, compiled by the band’s longtime producer George Martin. The Ace Ventura star’s contribution was a gleefully unhinged—and undeniably impressive—version of the band’s 1967 psych-pop staple "I Am the Walrus."In-studio footage of the recording session has resurfaced online and gone viral via the Instagram account All Things Music. People are genuinely blown away by the performance, with some even speculating (incorrectly) that the video is AI-generated. "eeer ..it’s AI," one user wrote. "Al video. It’s so easy to make nowadays," added another. Someone else noted, 'The video looks like it’s ai…" One person was so taken aback, they immediately sought out the full clip on YouTube: "Who is here [in] 2025 after seeing a clip of Jim singing on insta and had to fact-check?" they wrote. You know you’ve recorded a great vocal when some people don’t think you’re a human. - YouTube www.youtube.com It’s worth looking at the full version, watching Carrey as he excitedly bops around behind the microphone, with Martin gently laughing behind the studio glass. The actor was a perfect choice for this already colorful tune, adding surprising falsetto leaps and raspy rock belting. He makes "sitting on a cornflake" sound like the work of a legit heavy-metal singer, and he slips into a stunning falsetto on the word "pigs." During the verse opening with "Mr. city policeman," he adopts a faux-British accent—virtuosity of raw technique and silliness. Jim Carrey fans loved his version of "I Am the Walrus"Some of the other comments are priceless:"God spent a little more time on him. What a talent.""Why’s he actually got a good voice though""The high note in 'in a rowwww' is legitimately top tier rock and roll vocals""He is indeed the Eggman.""That might be the best thing Jim Carrey has ever done""bro sung his role as eggman into existence""Dude is in complete control of his voice""I have the George Martin CD with that song. The whole album is a masterpiece." - YouTube www.youtube.com Carrey has been flexing his vocal chops for yearsThe album in question, In My Life, was definitely a unique project. Martin recruited a wide range of established musicians (Phil Collins, Jeff Beck, Bobby McFerrin, Céline Dion) and actors (Carrey, Sean Connery, Robin Williams, Goldie Hawn)—not exactly the usual suspects you’d expect to hear on a Beatles tribute.But if you’re a Carrey diehard, you know this isn’t his first rodeo as a singer. He has vocal cameos in many of his films, from teaming with Nicolas Cage to sing a cappella in Peggy Sue Got Married to delivering a theatrical rendition of Jefferson Airplane’s "Somebody to Love" in The Cable Guy. He could have been a rock star in another life. He's even shown off his chops on late-night TV, performing a truncated version of a-ha's "Take on Me" on The Late Show. - YouTube www.youtube.com

Orcas and dolphins provide constant fascination with their ever-evolving behaviors (see: salmon hats). But the two becoming hunting collaborators? That’s on a new level. For the first time ever, both species were filmed working as a team to hunt salmon off the coast of British Columbia, according to a new study published in Scientific Reports. The partnership works a little something like this: Pacific white-sided dolphins act as “scouts” searching for massive Chinook salmon, according to Sarah Fortune, a marine scientist at Dalhousie University and the report’s lead author. Once the salmon are spotted, Northern resident orcas, who have been following close behind, make the kill and leave the smaller scraps for the dolphins. Whole salmon are too big for dolphins to hunt and eat on their own. So, everybody wins…except the salmon, of course. - YouTube www.youtube.com In this dynamic, orcas theoretically get to conserve energy while dolphins seem to get protection from other subspecies of orcas that do hunt them. Furthermore, neither species acted aggressively towards one another, leading experts to conclude this is a consensual, organized, and mutual relationship. How did this discovery come about, exactly? Technically by accident. Drone pilot Keith Holmes had been capturing footage for a different study when he first caught the sighting. Researchers then placed tags with forward-facing cameras onto some orcas, allowing them to investigate their interactions with the dolphins. These cameras showed that even deep underwater, the orcas were trailing the dolphins. - YouTube www.youtube.com Underwater sound recordings also showed both species were echolocating, taking turns to vocalize clicks to locate prey. “This might suggest that the dolphins and the killer whales are eavesdropping on each other,” explained Fortune. There are still several unknowns to this: whether or not cross-species communication is actually happening, if this is indeed a new habit, or what this means for the already dwindling salmon population. But it’s all fascinating nonetheless. The study also shows how, as Fortune put it, that aspect of whale culture is “perhaps a bit more complex than we initially understood, which is exciting.”“Most people are aware that killer whales have strong culture, and that they’re a very social species and specialised hunting strategies," she said. "But as social as they are, when it comes time to hunt and to catch salmon, they turn into lone wolves. To see them likely cooperatively hunting with another species shows how adaptable they are to changing and refining their hunting strategy.”“Every now and then, you get kind of lucky and something unexpected happens,” Fortune concluded, “This is one of those lucky things.”

You may have read news stories about the rise of AI chatbots as companions, therapists, creative partners, or simply digital friends. Well, sorry, Sam Altman; someone already beat you to the punch 40 years ago.His name was Ben Hollis, and for the full 42 minutes of his VHS tape Rent-a-Friend, he became your new buddy, Sam.Originally released in 1986, the obscure Rent-a-Friend was available for purchase through ads in the back of magazines. It would be mailed to your home, whereby you'd pop it into your VCR and have instant companionship for the next 45 minutes.Hollis plays Sam, a gentle, friendly guy who sits in a comfortable chair and directs a casual chat with the viewer. He starts with introductions, telling you his name and a little about his family, before asking you the same. Hollis's Sam leaves pauses for the viewer's responses, nods along, and offers natural replies like "Oh, that's interesting" or "Yeah, I can see that" to keep the conversation flowing and feeling natural.Sam tells you about his childhood and asks you about yours. He invites you to play a game called "Blockhead."The original packaging on the tape reads, "He talks to you. He listens to you. He drinks with you. He even lends you money!"The video, performed in a single take without any cuts or interruptions, is at times warm and comforting and at other times creepy and cringeworthy. But above all, it is extremely earnest. And that's probably why, even though the tape is strange and niche, it was eventually picked up for coverage by CNN, David Letterman, and even Oprah, who declared it "Unbelievable!"A few years later, Rent-a-Friend was the inspiration behind a psychological thriller called Rent-a-Pal, which definitely checks out.Today, you can watch the whole thing online. If you can get over the very 1980s sweater and the old-fashioned telephone, Sam is ready and willing to be your friend, even in the year 2025. - YouTube www.youtube.com As silly as the whole thing seems, Hollis recalls legitimately wanting, at the time, to help people feel less alone. That was in large part because he himself was dealing with significant personal challenges when he took on the project.In a 2024 essay on his Substack, Hollis writes that as the video goes viral, it's been hard for him to reconnect with the feelings he had at the time, "when my first marriage teetered on collapse, when I grasped onto this project to make this video as a creative and emotional salve.""I was aware that maybe this odd little video might make someone smile, or feel a little less alone," he adds. "If so, wow. Even a laugh would be nice. Laughter reduces depression, after all."An interviewer recently asked Hollis what he saw in himself when he rewatched the video after all these years, and he said he could see the pain he was hiding as clear as day: "I told him I couldn't help but see a neediness in myself, even a desperation in my on camera schtick. It was 1986, and, however unconscious, I so desperately wanted you to like me." Loneliness is not a modern invention. Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash Loneliness is often discussed as a modern epidemic, but it has always been a challenge for many people, long before social media, AI, today's divisive politics, and other aspects of 2025 culture that can feel isolating.More and more people are leaning on AI to fill their loneliness gaps today, though research says it doesn't work very well. The more you talk to AI, the more lonely you become.Similarly, Sam was never intended to be your permanent best friend. After all, how many times can you play "Blockhead" and hear the same stories about his tough upbringing? But what's beautiful about Rent-a-Friend is that Hollis channeled his own sadness into creating something new with the intent of helping others. Unlike talking to ChatGPT, doing kind things for others has been proven to increase our happiness.Hollis says he's still proud of the work he did on Rent-a-Friend, and he's thrilled that it continues to reach people today, even if they're laughing at it or finding it just a little unsettling."It's rather surreal to have made this video over 30 years ago and it's reaching people in a way of envisioned, but didn't know it would happen in such a delayed, time-released way!" he writes in a YouTube comment under the video. "Very sweet. Grateful! Loneliness is still growing. Glad this might offer a short breath of relief"The reposted video of Rent-a-Friend on YouTube has over 100,000 views and counting. Many people jump into the comments to make fun of it or call it weird, but every so often a comment like this rolls in: "You were my friend today Sam when i was feeling down. thank you!"

Incredible images captured by an amateur astrophotographer show a bizarre red ring, 143-miles wide, floating in the sky. Valter Binotto not only managed to capture the otherworldly sight over his hometown of Possagno, amazingly, it’s the second time he has recorded the rings from his location in northern Italy, nestled in the foothills of Monte […] The post Photographer Captures Incredible Luminous Event Over His Italian Town–For the Second Time (LOOK) appeared first on Good News Network.