DINNER PARTY INTEL: Between a rock lobster and a hard place

1. To catch a kreef

Kreef season opened at the weekend on the west coast, but only for “recreational fishermen” and only for 12 days. Between now and April 1, there are only 10 designated days left. Anyone older than 12 can buy a R94 permit, which allows four of the west coast’s famous rock lobsters to be caught. The problem is finding the elusive crustacean — or a post office that sells permits.

2. Bloodbath in the Arena

The Arena Group (not to be confused with Arena Holdings, publisher of FM) is in turmoil. The US digital publisher, whose titles include Sports Illustrated, has fired its CEO, Ross Levinsohn, amid a C-suite bloodbath in which three other executives were also dismissed. It came after an embarrassing debacle in which Sports Illustrated published reports with fake bylines and pictures generated by AI.

3. An effing lot of swearing

A study of more than 60,000 TV shows and films has revealed that the annual number of swearwords they contain has rocketed from fewer than 5,000 in 1985 to more than 60,000 last year. The data, compiled by the recommendation service Enjoy Movies Your Way, using AI, shows that “fuck” has already been uttered more than 22,000 times on screen this year, after hitting a high of 30,000 in 2022.