Key Points
- The Salehe Bembury x PUMA Velum 2 NITRO releases today, August 31, through Bembury's own site at $160 in White/Grey and Orange/Red, with a global PUMA release September 2.
- Aaron Donald has come out of retirement on a one-year, $20 million deal with the Los Angeles Rams, worth up to $30 million with playoff incentives.
- Erykah Badu and The Alchemist released Before The World Blows on August 28, Badu's first album since 2010's New Amerykah Part Two.
- Amazon will shut down Mechanical Turk on September 30 after 21 years, closing SageMaker Ground Truth and Amazon Augmented AI the same day.
The Daily Briefing
Salehe Bembury opens his own release window today before PUMA's global drop on Wednesday. Aaron Donald is back in Los Angeles at 35 after two seasons away. Erykah Badu ended a 16-year album gap on Friday with The Alchemist. And Amazon is closing Mechanical Turk on September 30, 21 years after launch.
Sneakers
The Salehe Bembury x PUMA Velum 2 NITRO releases today, August 31, through Bembury's own website at $160, followed by a global release through PUMA and select retailers on September 2. The pack arrives in two colorways: White/Grey, style code 409221-08, and Orange/Red, style code 409221-03. Sole Retriever has the full specs. The shoe runs Bembury's sculpted fingerprint texturing over a mesh upper with PUMA's nitrogen-infused NITROFOAM midsole, and it is a new shape in the Velum line rather than a recolor of the first model.
Tomorrow: JENNIE's first adidas Originals collaboration, a Superstar rebuilt as a ballet flat with a squared shell toe and an elastic strap where the laces would be, at $150 on September 1.
Sports
Aaron Donald is unretiring and returning to the Los Angeles Rams for 2026 on a one-year deal worth $20 million, and up to $30 million with playoff incentives. The Rams announced the return Sunday, ending a two-season absence. Donald is 35 and leaves the game's ledger at 111 sacks, 543 tackles, 176 tackles for loss, 24 forced fumbles, 10 Pro Bowls, eight First-team All-Pro selections and three AP Defensive Player of the Year awards. He now lines up alongside Myles Garrett, whom the Rams acquired from Cleveland on June 1; NFL.com puts their combined résumé at 236.5 sacks, 17 Pro Bowls and five DPOY awards.
The US Open continues in Flushing Meadows, with defending men's champion Carlos Alcaraz headlining Monday's schedule. Baseball has a 12-game slate: Philadelphia at Arizona closes the night at 9:40 p.m. ET on ESPN, the Yankees are at the Angels at 9:38 p.m. ET, and Jacob deGrom starts for Texas against the Athletics at 8:05 p.m. ET. Sunday's card is in our Games to Watch post, and Roger Federer's Hall of Fame induction in Newport landed on Saturday, in his first year of eligibility.
Culture
Erykah Badu and The Alchemist released Before The World Blows on August 28, a joint album featuring Steve Lacy, Earl Sweatshirt, Thundercat, Westside Gunn, Kamasi Washington, DRAM and Joi. It is Badu's first album since New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh in 2010, per Stereogum. The same Friday brought Rod Wave's Don't Look Down, Fat Joe's Organized Rhyme, Trippie Redd's #NDA and DJ Dahi's Black Boy (Alternative) with Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino and Vince Staples.
At the box office, Spider-Man: Brand New Day held number one for a fifth weekend with $15.5 million across 3,678 theaters, pushing its domestic total to $884.8 million. The Odyssey took second with $14.3 million in 2,617 theaters and $563.8 million domestic. Two new releases opened behind them: Coyote vs. Acme at $11.1 million in 3,575 theaters and The Dog Stars at $8 million in 3,330. Figures from Box Office Mojo for the August 28–30 weekend.
Technology
Amazon is shutting down Mechanical Turk on September 30, 21 years after launching the marketplace Jeff Bezos once described as artificial artificial intelligence. Amazon is closing SageMaker Ground Truth and Amazon Augmented AI on the same date, exiting human-data infrastructure entirely. The platform, launched in 2005, paid workers to complete Human Intelligence Tasks — data labeling, transcription, survey work — and listed more than 500,000 workers at its peak. CNBC reported the closure. Scale AI, Mercor and Prolific now recruit workers for AI training data, per CNBC.
Andreessen Horowitz closed a $1.1 billion Machine Age Fund on August 28 for chips, memory, networking, storage, data centers, robotics and home AI appliances.
Today on Uristocrat
The Rams acquired Myles Garrett from Cleveland on June 1 and signed Donald three months later. Our full post has the contract structure and the career numbers.
Sneakers. The Salehe Bembury x PUMA Velum 2 NITRO drops today at $160, and JENNIE's adidas Superstar Square Ballet follows tomorrow at $150.
Sports. Aaron Donald unretires for a one-year, $20 million deal with the Rams, Roger Federer entered the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, and Games to Watch covered Sunday's Red Sox–Yankees finale.
Technology. Amazon is closing Mechanical Turk after 21 years, and a16z raised $1.1 billion for AI hardware.
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