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Esther Cohen

Esther Cohen

Associate Director of Audience Development

Esther Cohen is the Associate Director of Audience Development at The Verge.

2004 was a great year.

In descending order of importance, it was the year I got my first boyfriend, the year Veronica Mars came out, and the year when much of our digital world was created. It was also the year when some incredible music was released. Kazaa is long gone so we’ve put together this playlist to set the vibes as we revisit 2004. Enjoy!


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The Biden campaign is fundraising against Elon Musk.

Last night, the campaign sent an email about Musk’s planned donations in support of Trump. It urged supporters to prevent Musk from ruining democracy like he “already ruined Twitter.”


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We need to talk about the Rabbit’s name.

I’ve held this in for long enough. For the past week, while the internet talks non-stop about the very poorly reviewed AI-powered Rabbit, all I (and probably all women of a certain generation) have been thinking is, Who was in charge of naming this thing? Were there no women in the room? 

News flash: there’s already a gadget named the Rabbit and it is very well reviewed. If there were ever a case for diversifying leadership in the tech world, this is it.


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Dear Reader.

Today Netflix dropped the latest (and first full-length official) trailer for the third season of Bridgerton. It is equal parts ridiculous and delightful and seemingly packed with way more intense stares-into-eyes than previous seasons. The first batch of episodes drop in a little over a month and I for one can’t wait to see what the members of the Ton are up to.


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Have we had Kenough?

Dressed in pink, of course, Ryan Gosling and Mark Ronson pulled all the stops during their performance of Barbie’s Best Original Song nominee “I’m Just Ken.” Featuring the other Kens, audience participation, and an appearance from Slash (!!!???) the Kenergy was high.


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“Batman, that son of a bitch”

Twins Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito reunited on stage at the Oscars to reminisce about their days as Batman villains and throw some jabs at Michael Keaton (the best Batman).


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Billie Eilish and Finneas take the stage at the Oscars.

Not watching the Oscars live? That’s OK! Looks like you can watch the best original song nominee performances on the Oscars YouTube page shortly after they go live. First up, Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell perform Barbie’s “What Was I Made For?”


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Jeff Bezos bopping to Bad Bunny at Coachella was not on my 2023 bingo card.

The Amazon founder and Lauren Sanchez double-dated with Kris Jenner and Corey Gamble of Kardashian fame. I have so many questions. Who asked who on the double date? What did they talk about?

Did Kendall know her mom and the third-wealthiest person in the world were going to crash her new beau’s show? Did she care? What about Benito, did he know? Is this proof that we’re living in a computer simulation? We may never have the answers, but we’ll always have the TikToks.


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Rihanna’s performance was the best part of the Oscars and they aren’t even over yet.

The singer performed Wakanda Forever’s “Lift Me Up” which is nominated for Best Original Song tonight.