In the Heart of the Sea True Story: All About the Real Whale Attack (and the Crew’s Harrowing Turn to Cannibalism) That Inspired the 2015 Film

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

In the Heart of the Sea isn’t just an epic tale of man versus nature, it’s also a dramatic recounting of a real attack. 
The 2015 Ron Howard film was based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s 2000 nonfiction book of the same name, which investigates the 1820 sinking of a whaling ship that was caused by a sperm whale attack. The Essex and the sailors that Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland and Cillian Murphy portrayed on-screen were real and had already inspired Herman Melville’s iconic 1851 novel Moby-Dick. 

Despite influencing multiple books and movies, in many ways, the sailors’ real-life tale is even more harrowing.

“Where Moby-Dick ends is really where the story of the story of the Essex kicks in,” Philbrick told TIME in 2015. “It’s not a fictionalization of a story, it’s a transformation of a story and all the darkness of the Essex disaster.”

Much like Moby-Dick, which received mixed reviews upon its release, In the Heart of the Sea was widely considered a box office failure. The action film received its due 10 years later, though, when it rose to the No. 1 spot on Netflix in January 2025.

Though some moments were dramatized, Howard’s film remained faithful to the horrific events the sailors endured. The director told The Iris in 2016 that he didn’t have to “invent very much” drama after learning what the real men experienced and that the intense production — which included putting Hemsworth on a daily 500-calorie diet — made the cast more empathetic to their characters.

“At the end of the day, I would apologize to everybody,” Howard said. “[The actors] would just say, ‘Well, first of all, it’s just a fraction of what the real guys that we were playing went through.’ ”

So, what is the true story behind In the Heart of the Sea? Here’s everything to know about the real Essex whale attack — and the tragic events that followed.

What happened to the Essex? 

Moby Dick from Herman Melville’s novel ‘Moby-Dick’.
Culture Club/Getty

On Nov. 20, 1820, a whaling ship from Nantucket, Mass., was attacked by a large sperm whale in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. According to the Nantucket Historical Association, the boat was 1,300 miles from land. 

First mate Owen Chase was reportedly the first to spot the whale, per Smithsonian Magazine. He estimated it to be 85 feet long and said in later accounts that it collided head-on with the ship, giving it “such an appalling and tremendous jar, as nearly threw us all on our faces.” By Chase’s retelling, the whale rammed the Essex one more time before disappearing for good. 

The ship quickly capsized, and 20 surviving sailors boarded three small whaleboats with whatever supplies they could grab. Though their captain, George Pollard Jr., wanted to set sail towards the closest islands, rumors of their allegedly cannibalistic inhabitants convinced the remaining crew to head south in hopes of being spotted by another whaling ship. 

Two weeks later, they landed on Henderson Island but found that it had few food sources. Three men remained on land, and the rest set sail once again. 

In Chase’s 1821 book Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex, the 23-year-old sailor wrote that the starved crew cannibalized the remains of one man who suddenly died overnight — a tragic survival tactic they would end up using again. 

Of the three boats and 16 men that remained, eight more sailors died after leaving Henderson Island and their bodies were also eaten. Eventually, one boat disappeared entirely, and Chase and Captain Pollard lost sight of each other’s vessels. 

On Feb. 6, 1821, one man aboard Pollard’s ship suggested that they draw lots to decide who would be eaten next. Fearing that if they didn’t eat soon, they would all die, the men agreed, and Pollard’s young first cousin, Owen Coffin, drew the lot. Despite his cousin’s attempt to take his place, Coffin agreed to the draw and was shot, killed and cannibalized. 

How long were the Essex crew lost at sea?

Chris Hemsworth and Tom Holland in ‘In the Heart of the Sea’.
Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock

The Essex crew were lost at sea for 92 days. Chase’s boat was rescued on Feb. 18, 1821, with only three men onboard, and Pollard and his last surviving crew member were found a week later. The third lost boat wasn’t discovered until years later, with only skeletons onboard. 

Miraculously, the three men left on Henderson Island survived for four months on shellfish and bird eggs until an Australian ship spotted them. Of the 20 original crew members, only eight survived.

Who was Owen Chase?

Chris Hemsworth as Owen Chase in Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ (2015).
Jonathan Prime/Warner Brothers/Kobal/Shutterstock

Owen Chase, portrayed by Hemsworth in In the Heart of the Sea, was the first mate aboard the Essex.

After surviving three months at sea, he returned home and wrote his account of the whale ramming and the disastrous events that followed. His book served as the inspiration for Melville’s novel Moby-Dick, per the Linda Hall Library.  

Chase continued to go on whaling expeditions in the Pacific for the next two decades. He married four times — including to the widow of one of his Essex crewmates — and died in 1869.  

Who was Captain George Pollard Jr.? 

Edward Ashley as Barzillai Ray, Morgan Chetcuti as Sheppard, Chris Hemsworth as Owen Chase and Benjamin Walker as George Pollard in Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ (2015).
Jonathan Prime/THA/Shutterstock

George Pollard Jr., played by Benjamin Walker in the film, was the captain of the Essex. Only months after being rescued, he captained another ship named Two Brothers.

In a twisted act of fate, it struck a coral reef near the Hawaiian Islands and sank, marooning Pollard again on a small boat in the middle of the ocean. Thankfully, he and his crew were rescued the next day. 

That ended the captain’s whaling days, and he retired to Nantucket, where he worked as a grocer and one of the town’s constables. Pollard fasted yearly on the anniversary of the Essex’s sinking until he died in 1870, per the Nantucket Historical Association.

Who was Thomas Nickerson?

Tom Holland as Thomas Nickerson in Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ (2015).
Jonathan Prime/THA/Shutterstock

Thomas Nickerson was a cabin boy aboard the Essex. After surviving the ordeal, he continued to work as a mate on whalers and cargo ships before retiring in New York as a master mariner. Eventually, he returned to Nantucket with his wife and operated a boarding house until his death in 1883. 

Nickerson — played by both Holland and Brendan Gleeson in In the Heart of the Sea — also wrote an account of the sinking, but it was lost for over 80 years. After the book was found, it took 20 years to verify its authenticity, and eventually, Philbrick used it as a source for his own book. 

Who was Herman Melville?

American writer Herman Melville circa 1860 ; Ben Wishaw as Herman Melville in Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ (2015).
Hulton Archive/Getty ; Jonathan Prime/Warner Brothers/Kobal/Shutterstock

Herman Melville, portrayed by Ben Whishaw in the 2015 film, was the author of the iconic American novel Moby-Dick. The novel was inspired by both his experience as a whaler and the Essex tragedy.

According to the Nantucket Historical Association, Chase’s son gave Melville a copy of the former first man’s Narrative while they were at sea on a whaling expedition near the original attack site. 

The writer met Pollard years later, after the book was published. Though they only exchanged a few words, Melville said the captain was “the most impressive man, tho’ wholly unassuming, even humble,” per Smithsonian Magazine.  

Was Moby Dick real?

Benjamin Walker (R) as George Pollard in Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ (2015).
Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures/THA/Shutterstock

Moby Dick — the giant, albino whale antagonist in Melville’s novel — is not real but based on a different sperm whale with a reputation for ramming and destroying small boats off the southern coast of Chile. Because he could often be found around Mocha Island, sailors called him Mocha Dick.  

Unlike Moby Dick, Mocha Dick was not alabaster white but white with gray patches. According to the International Marine Mammal Project, he evaded humans for 20 years before he was finally harpooned and killed.

Though the whale that took down the Essex didn’t inspire the Moby Dick character, the attack and tragic events that followed did serve as inspiration for the end of the story. 

Scientists uncover how deep sleep can cleanse your brain

Science and Health

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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels

By Stephen BeechA good night’s sleep clears the mind like a “dishwasher” cleans crockery, new research suggests.Deep sleep may wash away waste that builds up in the brain during waking hours, say scientists.Their findings also offer insights into how sleeping pills may disrupt the “brainwashing” system, potentially affecting cognitive function in the long term.Researchers already knew that the brain has a built-in waste removal process – called the “glymphatic system” – which circulates fluid in the brain and spinal cord to clear out waste.The process helps remove toxic proteins that form sticky plaques linked to neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease.But what drives the system has remained unclear, until now.Danish scientists found that a molecule called norepinephrine plays a key role in brain cleaning in mice.During deep sleep, the brainstem releases tiny waves of norepinephrine about once every 50 seconds.

Norepinephrine-mediated slow vasomotion drives glymphatic clearance during sleep. (Nadia Alzoubi & Natalie Hauglund via SWNS)

Study senior author Dr. Maiken Nedergaard, of the University of Rochester in New York, and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, explained that norepinephrine triggers blood vessels to contract, generating slow pulsations that create a rhythmic flow in the surrounding fluid to carry waste away.She said: “It’s like turning on the dishwasher before you go to bed and waking up with a clean brain.”We’re essentially asking what drives this process and trying to define restorative sleep based on glymphatic clearance.”To find clues, Dr. Nedergaard and her team looked into what happens in mice when the brain sleeps.They focused on the relationship between norepinephrine and blood flow during deep sleep.They found that norepinephrine waves correlate to variations in brain blood volume, suggesting norepinephrine triggers a rhythmic pulsation in the blood vessels.The researchers then compared the changes in blood volume to brain fluid flow.They found that the brain fluid flow fluctuates in correspondence to blood volume changes, suggesting that the vessels act as pumps to propel the surrounding brain fluid to flush out waste.Study lead author Dr. Natalie Hauglund, of the University of Copenhagen and the University of Oxford, said: “You can view norepinephrine as this conductor of an orchestra.”There’s a harmony in the constriction and dilation of the arteries, which then drives the cerebrospinal fluid through the brain to remove the waste products.”Dr. Hauglund then wanted to know if all sleep is created equal.To find out, the research team gave zolpidem, a common drug to aid sleep, to mice.They found that the norepinephrine waves during deep sleep were 50% lower in zolpidem-treated mice than in naturally sleeping mice.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels

Although the zolpidem-treated mice fell asleep faster, fluid transport into the brain dropped more than 30%.The researchers say their findings, published in the journal Cell, suggest that the sleeping aid may disrupt the norepinephrine-driven waste clearance during sleep.Dr. Hauglund said: “More and more people are using sleep medication, and it’s really important to know if that’s healthy sleep.”If people aren’t getting the full benefits of sleep, they should be aware of that so they can make informed decisions.”The research team says that the findings likely apply to humans, who also have a glymphatic system, although it requires further testing.Scientists have observed similar norepinephrine waves, blood flow patterns and brain fluid flux in humans.Their findings may offer insights into how poor sleep may contribute to neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s.Dr. Nedergaard added: “Now we know norepinephrine is driving the cleaning of the brain, we may figure out how to get people a long and restorative sleep.”

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Longtime Maine Business Celebrates 200 Years This Week

Business News

When it comes to businesses here in Maine, there are so many that have been around for dozens of years. Some of those businesses have even been around for literal hundreds of years. When you consider how difficult it is to start, maintain and operate a successful business for even as long as 5 years, hundreds is pretty impressive, right?READ MORE: New brewery opens in Waterville, MaineAnd one of those businesses is turning 200 years old this week. It was on January 8th, 1825, that the popular Maine news publication, The Kennebec Journal, printed their very first issue. And, incredibly, they’ve managed to navigate the changing media landscape through the decades and remain in business.Has The Kennebec Journal Thrived Over The Years?Not only has the Kennebec Journal managed to stay in business, but they have continued to be a pillar of the community for towns across Central Maine and beyond. As a matter of fact, a lot of what you hear us talking about online and on the radio originally came from something we read in the Kennebec Journal.READ MORE: When do we change the clocks in New England?Sure, printed newspapers being delivered to every home across the state is kind of a thing of the past. And while many still do receive a daily newspaper, so many more are consuming their daily content online. The KJ does a phenomenal job keeping their online paper current, relevant and up-to-date- no doubt a major part of their continued success.What Does The Kennebec Journal Think About This Incredible Milestone?Well, according to an article about the KJ’s birthday written by none other than, you guessed it, The Kennebec Journal, they included in their story in part,The Kennebec Journal, the oldest Maine newspaper still in publication, turns 200 Wednesday, the anniversary of its first issue, published Jan. 8, 1825, out of a shop on the corner of Bridge and Water streets in downtown Augusta.In 1929, the Kennebec Journal was bought by Guy Gannett, a prominent resident of Augusta who was quickly becoming a media magnate, having purchased a series of Portland newspapers as well as the Waterville Morning Sentinel in the previous eight years.So whether you still get a paper copy of your local paper or you prefer to login and read everything digitally without the risk of ink on your fingers, one thing still remains true. The Kennebec Journal has been and continues to be a trusted publication containing all things local news, community events and things ‘we need to know’ for all of Central Maine and beyond.Happy Birthday, KJ!14 Maine Restaurants That Have Closed Since Being Featured on National Television ShowsHere’s a list of 14 Maine restaurants that sadly have closed down since being featured on national television shows. Hopefully the list doesn’t continue to get larger.Gallery Credit: Chris Sedenka37 Maine Restaurants That Closed in 2024Gallery Credit: Sean McKenna

Business Expert Warns US Now A ‘Kleptocracy’ After Meta Abandons Fact Checkers: ‘We Are Becoming More Like Russia Every Day’

Business News

An NYU business professor claims President-elect Donald Trump of leveraging his power to shape the U.S. government in a manner resembling Russia’s kleptocracy.Scott Galloway of New York University’s Stern School of Business made his stunning accusation on a segment of MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Wednesday.”We are becoming more like Russia every day, that’s where we are,” Galloway said.He made the accusation in light of Mark Zuckerberg’s 180-degree turn to abandoning fact-checking on Meta’s Facebook social media platform.A kleptocracy occurs when a government with corrupt leaders use political power to usurp the wealth of the people and land that they govern through embezzlement or misappropriation of government money.
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As Galloway sees it, Trump influenced Zuckerberg to change Facebook’s moderation guidelines for financial gain.”With this decision, the CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg gets kind of a two-fer,” Galloway said. “He gets to placate, at least temporarily, the president who threatened to put him in jail the rest of his life, and he gets to save maybe upwards of $5 billion, which is how much they spend on their [Facebook’s] safety and security department –– and a price-earnings ratio of 30, that’s potentially $150 billion increase in market capitalization.””Mark Zuckerberg owns 15 percent of the company, so you have what is effectively a get-out-of jail-card potentially from someone who appears to be an oligarch threatening to put people in jail and add $15 to $20 billion to his net worth,” he added.This move, Galloway said, is kleptocratic behavior, supposedly stemming from Trump’s close relationship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.”This is –– Russia is the role model. We are becoming more like Russia every day, that’s where we are,” Galloway said.Galloway also said Trump is being influenced by other billionaire friends like Elon Musk, and it should raise a red flag to Americans.”The greatest trade of 2024 –– it wasn’t Bitcoin, it wasn’t Nvidia — it was Elon Musk investing a quarter of a billion dollars directly into the Trump campaign,” he said. “And when Trump won, since the election, Elon Musk’s worth has gone up $140 billion. So that’s effectively, I believe, about a 56,000 percent return on investment.”Galloway doubled down on his kleptocracy statement.”So we’ve gone full kleptocracy,” stated. ‘We can never, in my opinion, wave our finger at Russia again when the president, the elected president is taking public trust and public authority and weaponizing government.”

5 New Self-Help Books To Try Out This Month

Arts & Culture, Books

From life-changing advice, and honest accounts of anxiety and alcoholism, to the stories behind celebrity scrutiny, these books might help change your new year mindset …

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The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions Of People Can’t Stop Talking About, Mel Robbins, Hay House
The premise behind public speaker and podcaster Mel Robbins’ new book is simple. It’s a guide to stop letting other people’s opinions, drama and judgement impact your life. These two simple words – “Let Them” – will set you free from the exhausting cycle of trying to manage everything and everyone around you. Using her renowned no-nonsense, science-backed approach, Robbins explains how you can apply this theory to eight areas of your life. In the process, readers learn how to stop comparing yourself to other people, break free from fear and self-doubt, release the grip of other people’s expectations, pursue what truly matters, and build resilience against everyday stressors and distractions.

Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity and Finding Your Life’s Purpose, Martha Beck, Piatkus
In Beyond Anxiety, self-help superstar (and Oprah Winfrey’s life coach) Dr Martha Beck explains why anxiety is skyrocketing. Her premise is that we should harness the anxiety within us to propel us into a life of creativity. Using a combination of neuroscience, as well as her background in sociology and coaching, Beck explains how our brains tend to get stuck in an “anxiety spiral,” a feedback system that can increase anxiety indefinitely. To climb out, we must engage different parts of our nervous system – those parts involved in creativity. Beck provides instructions for engaging the “creativity spiral” that not only shuts down anxiety, but leads to problem-solving, a sense of meaning and purpose, and joyful connection with others. Fortunately, Beck reassures us that “creative expression” doesn’t have to be high art, it could be a working out how to fix the car, creating a dinner party, doodling or setting up a fort with your child.

Greenlights, Matthew McConaughey, Crown Publishing
“Ever since I learned to write, I’ve been keeping a journal. Writing down anything that turned me on, turned me off, made me laugh, made me cry, and made me question what kept me up at night. Two years ago, I worked up the courage to take all those journals off into solitary confinement just to see what I had and I returned with a book,” so explains actor Matthew McConaughey. He describes the finished work as a “collection of stories, prayers, poems, people and places, and a whole bunch of bumper stickers.” One of these bumper stickers being, “Don’t walk into a place like you wanna buy it, walk in like you own it.”
As for the title, he chose to name it Greenlights because, “We don’t like red and yellow lights because they take up our time. When we realise that they all eventually turn green, that’s when they reveal their rhyme. That’s when life’s a poem and we start getting what we want, and what we need at the same time”.

Brooke Shields is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on ageing as a woman, Brooke Shields, Piatkus
Out January 14, in Brooke Shields new book she describes growing up as a child actor and model, when her every feature and movement were judged. Now, she faces a different kind of scrutiny: that of being a “woman of a certain age”. And yet, at 59, Brooke feels more comfortable, more empowered and confident than she did decades ago in her famous Calvin Klein jeans.
In Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old, she hopes to change the narrative about women and ageing. This is an era, she insists, when women are reclaiming agency and power, not receding into the shadows. Brooke paints a vibrant and optimistic picture of being a woman in the prime of her life. Not only does she share her own experiences with humour and humility, she also weaves together research and takes aim at the systemic factors that contribute to age-related bias. Her honesty and vulnerability is sure to resonate with women everywhere, and spark a new conversation about the power and promise of midlife.

Bad Drunk: How I found my freedom from alcohol – and you can too, Millie Mackintosh with Dr Ellie Cannon, Piatkus
Set to be released on January 16, this is a practical guide to going alcohol-free from lifestyle influencer and Made in Chelsea alumna Millie Mackintosh, writing with NHS GP Dr Ellie Cannon. Millie took the decision to give up alcohol after observing the impact drinking had on her health and wellbeing. More than two years into her sober curious journey, Millie shares her experience with honesty and warmth from the events that led to her decision to stop drinking, through to the positive effects of the alcohol-free lifestyle she enjoys today. Writing with NHS GP Dr Ellie Cannon, Bad Drunk combines practical, scientific advice with Millie’s personal experience – what has worked for her, what hasn’t, what she has struggled with, as well as tips on how to navigate the road ahead. Whether you’re struggling with Dry January, looking to cut back your alcohol consumption, you’re ready to quit drinking altogether or you want to understand how to help a loved one, this book could help you make decisions for your future health and happiness.
READ MORE: Interview With A Man – Award-Winning Author Donal Ryan

Q&A Zoe Whittall explains why heartbreak is a valid form of grief The Ontario author discussed No Credit River on Bookends with Mattea Roach. Books -Bookends |1 hour ago

Arts & Culture, Books

Bookends with Mattea Roach28:03Zoe Whittall: Why heartbreak is a valid form of griefCanadian writer Zoe Whittall wrote a poetic memoir that examines a type of grief that isn’t always awarded the same weight as when a loved one dies — heartbreak.”It feels like there’s a culture of not admitting how profound that loss is. That romantic loss can be life-changing and altering and it can really impact the next few years of your life,” said Whittall in an interview on Bookends with Mattea Roach.In No Credit River, Whittall brings readers along through six years of her life which include the loss of a pregnancy, a global pandemic and abandoned love. Honest, emotional and painful, the collection of prose poems examines anxiety and creativity in the modern world as well as the intersection of motherhood and queerness.Whittall, based in Prince Edward County, Ont., is an author, poet and screenwriter. Her past works include the short story collection Wild Failure and the novels The Fake, The Best Kind of People and Bottle Rocket Hearts.Her previous poetry collections include The Emily Valentine Poems and The Best Ten Minutes of Your Life. She has received the Writers’ Trust Dayne Ogilvie Award, a Lambda Literary Award and been shortlisted for the Giller Prize.Whittall is also a juror for the 2025 CBC Nonfiction Prize alongside Danny Ramadan and Helen Knott.She joined Mattea Roach to discuss her memoir in prose poems, No Credit River, and what it was like to write from an autobiographical perspective for the first time.Mattea Roach: No Credit River tells the story of a failed relationship and its aftermath. You describe the book in its opening pages as an unreliable memoir in prose poetry. I was interested in you describing it yourself as unreliable right at the opening. What appealed to you about blurring the line in that way?  Zoe Whittall: The Ars Poetica (the text that introduces the collection) that starts the book is one of the last things that I wrote, and it felt like I needed to establish some things before the poetry, because it can be so slippery. I felt like anybody who is writing about a romantic relationship is not going to be telling you facts.They’re going to be telling you feelings and they’re going to be going through their experience.I felt like just laying out that fact at the beginning because, if people didn’t write about heartbreak, we wouldn’t have the Fleetwood Mac Rumours album, you know? It’s a really universal experience, but it can feel so particular and it can be so humiliating and embarrassing to write about it and talk about it.But there’s this long literary history, and as a reader, I’m obsessed with reading about heartbreak.  As a reader, I’m obsessed with reading about heartbreak.- Zoe WhittallElizabeth Smart’s By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept … I’ve always wanted to write a queer version of that book and this is what comes close. But this wasn’t the kind of book that’s like talking badly or trying to expose anything about a relationship.It’s really about my own wounds and my own vulnerability and wanting to get to the bottom of mistakes that I’ve made in the relationship. MR: What are some of the specific challenges or negotiations that you were wrestling with when crafting this new book, given that it is this confessional type of work where you’re talking about your own experiences in a relationship? ZW: While I was writing it, I was very conscious about how there’s very few literary works about femme-butch relationships and very few about femme and transmasculine relationships. I feel like there’s something about queer audiences and queer readerships that when we read work by people in our own communities, like our claws are out, we’re ready to fight in a way. It’s kind of dispiriting and terrifying as a writer. There’s something scary about it in particular because the world, especially the world now, really distrusts trans people and on purpose misunderstands and hates trans people.Also, the partners of trans people who are cis or who might be cis are considered also untrustworthy and somehow suspect. It was important to me while writing that I acknowledge that, and also free myself from that sort of self-censorship that can happen. I had to let go of any kind of ideas of representation and think only about the artful quality or the real sort of vulnerability that I wanted to get at through language.  I had to let go of any kind of ideas of representation and think only about the artful quality or the real sort of vulnerability that I wanted to get at through language.- Zoe WhittallAt some point I felt like I shouldn’t publish this. I was too scared. And my editor said, “Heartache is a universal experience.”He gave me the freedom to actually go a level deeper than I had because of those fears.MR: Do you feel at all that there is a tension or a collision between being queer, but then also having this longing for motherhood and, specifically, wanting to have a kid yourself? ZW: Yes. I feel like there’s always a joke we used to make about queers being permitted an extended adolescence. A lot of my friends and I did not have the experiences most teenagers have until they came out. Then in your 20s, you were allowed to still be a teenager.And then a lot of queer women my age have babies late because it’s taken us longer to settle into our chosen families and to figure out our lives. Now, I think it’s easier to come out and it’s maybe easier to form family structures that are more traditional-looking earlier. But I do think that what surprised me about growing older — I’m 48 — was just how much I started to think about this timeline that I think queers were sort of permitted to not have to think about, like we didn’t have to conform and stay on these relationship escalators that were leading towards a certain kind of long-term monogamy that might be dysfunctional or heteronormative. Then, when I reached 35, I was like, “I should start making these decisions. I should start thinking about my life in a different way.”That was surprising to me. There’s a line in No Credit River about how illegible a woman’s body can be if you don’t have a child and how even amongst other queers, it starts to feel that way sometimes when everyone around you has kids. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. It was produced by Katy Swailes.

The channel stands corrected: Hardware is a refresh cycle business now

Business News

Opinion The tech hardware industry may be facing something of an existential crisis if one veteran analyst is correct – the days of shifting boxes are going to be limited to mere replacement cycles.
This was the message delivered by Steve Brazier, formerly CEO at Canalys until it was bought by Informa, where he is now a Fellow.
“I come on stage with a smile, but you may not be smiling by the end of this presentation,” he told an audience of resellers and distributors at the Canalys Channels Forum in Berlin last October.

“For 30 years or more, the channel has actually been easy to run. You thought you were all business leaders and geniuses for the success you had. But if we boil it down, you sat there, you waited for new hardware products to launch in all sorts of different categories, and you followed that growth as those different categories grew year after year after year.

“Unfortunately, we’re calling a turning point today in that 30 years, which is essentially across the board the hardware industry is no longer growing, whether that’s printers or PCs or servers or storage or Wi-Fi or routing or all our major categories.”
Most of the major hardware vendors sell via third-party suppliers that then take their PCs, servers, and other tech kit to customers, provide installation, integration, and other services.

The travails of the channel are reflected by the traditional big brands whose legacy operations faltered. Cisco, for example, has struggled to lift its switching and router business out of the doldrums, reporting declines of 15 percent in its FY 2024.
HPE – which used to transact around 80 percent of its global revenue via distributors and resellers – only grew in its fiscal 2024 due to AI server sales in its Compute division. These sales weren’t very profitable, despite taking place outside of the channel, so no middlemen were involved to take a cut.
The channel used to account for $4 in every $5 that HPE generated in sales, but that figure has fallen to 65 percent over the years, due to direct selling of HPC kit in addition to AI servers and more.

Brazier said emerging technologies including the metaverse, 3D printing, and IoT have failed to become “material businesses,” telling the 1,000-strong tech exec audience, “don’t get too depressed” as the traditional growth drivers are “not declining” but they aren’t growing either.
“Running flat business is OK, but they’re all essentially flat, a replacement business. The outlier is cybersecurity,” he said, which remains a double-digit growth market as the cyber baddies are relentlessly still causing harm.
The picture is “more bleak” in Europe as “economies are developing more slowly,” unlike the US. Why?
“Actually, one of the biggest differences between the US economy and the European economy is the US has more immigration. But politically, it’s so hard for politicians to stand up and say, ‘If you want more growth, we need more immigration’.”
Companies headquartered on Europe’s side of the pond, including Computacenter, that have also established operations in the US were able to offset slowing trade in the UK last year.
Others are building ever bigger cloud services businesses: Insight purchased SADA, which has Google Cloud skills; CDW bought AWS partner Mission Cloud; and WWT bought cloud migration specialist Softchoice.
So is the Canalys founder correct?
Simon Ewington, HPE worldwide channel and partner ecosystem leader, told The Register that Brazier is “always” provocative, a point echoed by Steinar Sønsteby, CEO of Atea – one of Europe’s largest services-based resellers.
“As a long-time friend of Steve, I can truly recognize his provocative style,” Sønsteby told us.
Data collected by Canalys does back up Brazier’s points, so his speech wasn’t baseless by any means. The bigger resellers and distributors are getting bigger but via acquisition.
Sønsteby continued: “I feel comfortable that the IT industry will keep on growing as digitalization has never been more critical. The channel in Europe will consolidate to fewer and bigger players as the OEMs downsize and need the channel more than ever – but need players that can add value for the OEM and the customers.”
Added value is in the eye of the beholder.

James Rigby, CEO at SCC, told us he attended the event – as did The Reg – saying: “I think the general feeling was that he [Brazier] was being overly pessimistic. And to be honest, I think the discourse is probably 12 months too late.”
Rigby describes the past 12 months as “hard yards for everybody” and tough in terms of “cost pressures” and sliding “demand.” He points toward the Windows 11 refresh and AI as beacons of hope and cause for “optimism about demand going forward.” Some of our readers may disagree.
Canalys reckons that tech buyers are nervous about uncertain geopolitics, which are constraining budgets. Customers are extending sales cycles, making it harder for the channel to find growth. And following a sustained refresh cycle, fueled by the pandemic, there is a saturation in terms of computers, networking kit, and other areas.
Brazier told The Register today that the challenges faced by the channel are reflected in the market capitalizations of the biggest players (as demonstrated by the graph below).

“To put this into words, had you invested $100 in the S&P500 on Jan 1 2024 you would have had $126 as of Jan 6. Had you invested $100 in the publicly quoted channel partners over the same period you would have had $82. So, I know the partner CEOs try to sound positive but can you imagine the conversations in their boardrooms this year?”
Brazier’s last point at the Channel Forum in Berlin was about the wider tech industry on this side of the pond, and it’s perhaps a prescient one. He reckons the industry in Europe has missed the tech boat and every office worker in the region is paying a €100-a-month “tax” to American companies for a right to work.
“And with the arrival of AI, that €100 a month is simply going to go further up.”
At this stage in the evolution of GenAI, “virtually nothing of it benefits the channel. The channel has been excluded,” he said. And he is entirely correct.
The AI industry is dominated by hyperscalers investing in AI infrastructure, and AI startups which then use their expanding datacenters and so on to run their services. Tech is eating itself. Customer spending on AI is currently a fraction of the amount big tech is lavishing on big bets that the technology will take off.
So if the AI bubble bursts, will the channel care? The knock-on effects will be felt far and wide, just as happened in the dotcom bust. ®

Biz Talk: AED partners with Data Community DC to support data science professionals in Arlington

Science and Health

Photo courtesy Data Community DC
This article is sponsored by Arlington Economic Development.
Data Community DC (DC2), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is dedicated to connecting and supporting data professionals in the National Capital Region.
The organization fosters education, opportunities, and professional development through high-quality, community-driven events, resources, products, and services. Founded in 2012, DC2 was established to serve the growing data science community in Arlington and Washington, D.C.
The organization is led by Board Chair Janet Dobbins, a long-time Arlington resident, with daily operations managed by Executive Director William Angel, an Arlington native.
Arlington Economic Development (AED) is proud to partner with DC2 to host at least 18 data-focused meetup events across Arlington and the region over the next six months. These events are funded through AED’s Arlington Innovation Fund Ecosystem Support Fund, which was created to enhance Arlington’s tech ecosystem and support the growth of local technology startups.
DC2’s 2025 programming will spotlight the work of local data practitioners, with a focus on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and large language models. The events will also provide learning opportunities for Arlington residents.
The Data Viz DC Meetup group, a DC2 initiative, will host a free event on Building Data Visualization Portfolios on Wednesday, January 22, at 5:30 p.m. The event, held at Excella in Courthouse, will include food and networking opportunities. Learn more and register to attend.
Learn more about upcoming events and subscribe to DC2’s newsletter at DC2.org or follow on LinkedIn.
Subscribe to AED’s Innovation Ecosystem emails to learn about upcoming DC2 events as well as other sponsored events and exclusive innovation ecosystem opportunities.

$100,000 gift to be used to help renovate, remodel PBL High’s science lab

Science and Health

PAXTON — The Paxton-Buckley-Loda school district has received a $100,000 anonymous donation to help fund the renovation and remodeling of PBL High School’s science lab.
The donation will go toward upgrading equipment, improving safety features and creating a more modern, collaborative environment for students and teachers, Superintendent Travis Duley said, expressing gratitude for the contribution and the positive impact it will have on students.
“We are incredibly thankful for this anonymous donor’s support,” Duley said in a news release. “Although it will not fund the entire project, this generous donation is a big step toward allowing us to provide our students with a state-of-the-art science lab, enhancing their learning experience and preparing them for success in the sciences. It’s truly an investment in our future.”
The PBL school district had planned to renovate the lab space in the near future, but the large donation should allow the district to complete that project in a more timely manner, Duley said. The district will begin initial planning for the project this spring, Duley said, with the hope of completing the project in summer 2026 or 2027.
“This is a game-changer for our students,” Duley said. “The ability to work in a fully modernized space will hopefully spark excitement for science and help us continue to provide the best possible education.”
Duley said the sizeable donation — possibly the largest single donation in local school district history — came unexpectedly from someone who asked to remain anonymous.
“As a district, we emphasize the value of relationships, and this is a perfect example of that,” Duley said. “Our ultimate goal is to offer the best opportunities for our students, but achieving that often comes with financial challenges. Donations like this one play a crucial role in making it possible.”