Numlock News: May 1, 2026 • Wolves, Murakami, Oilers

May 01, 2026

By Walt Hickey

Have a great weekend! Thanks for reading.

Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers have managed to build what is considered the single largest 50/50 raffle in pro sports, with the contest selling C$472 million (US $350 million) in tickets since 2001, half of which has gone to prizes for residents in Alberta and the other half (after expenses) to funding the foundation. That “after expenses” bit is slightly germane here — the C$107 million paid to Win50, a company incidentally owned by the Edmonton ownership group, for organizing the raffle is a conspicuously large expense compared to other such events — but still, the numbers are massive compared to other contests across the NHL.

Justin Birnbaum and Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico

DAU

Meta reported that its figure for daily active users across their suite of social media products — Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger — dropped by 20 million this past quarter compared to the previous three months. The company chalked that up to Iran and Russia, though given the extent to which the company obfuscates information about what users are using which product and where, it’s up to the reader to decide how much they trust that statement.

Jess Weatherbed, The Verge

Pod Slop

Many companies are attempting to flood audio platforms with AI-generated files, and the podcast ecosystem has been a substantial target. Over the past nine days, the Podcast Index observed 10,871 new podcast feeds created. Of those, its analysis indicated that 4,243 of them, or 39 percent, may have been AI generated. One can only imagine the situation in newsletters; we here at Numlock appreciate your support for 100 percent AI-free words; all typos are either handcrafted or downright intentional, batch made by some guy in Queens, New York who got into this business for the numbers, not the grammar.

Ashley Carman, Bloomberg

Eat Incredibly Fresh

Subway has pulled off a shocking realignment over the past decade, a move which most recently culminated in the net closure of 729 restaurants in 2025. At the end of last year, the sandwich artist collective finished with 18,773 units, down from over 27,000 stores in 2015. From 2016 to 2025, Subway closed a net total of 8,345 restaurants. For perspective, a restaurant chain with 8,345 locations would be one of the top five biggest chains in America.

Ben Coley, QSR Magazine

Our Mother Has Been Absent Ever Since We Founded Rome

A new study out of Italy’s Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Lazio and Tuscany analyzed genetic material collected from 748 wolves found in Italy from 2020 to 2024, as well as DNA from 26 wolves collected between 1993 and 2003. The study found that 47 percent of those wolves were wolf-dog hybrids, some of which were the offspring of hybridization attempts from generations ago, but plenty of which were recent. Wolves play a complicated role in Italian society — alarmist argue that they seduce Italy’s many wooden puppet sons into a life of sin, while advocates argue that their milk aids leaders in augury — but the genetic degradation of their wild population could have long-term ramifications.

Gennaro Tomma, bioGraphic

Hot 100

A new analysis of songs that made the Billboard Hot 100 from 2021 to 2025 argues that the temperament of songs topping the charts have changed. According to the analysis, lyrical cynicism has increased from being seen in 59 percent of charting songs to 70 percent, anger is up from 26 percent to 36 percent, nostalgia is up from 23 percent to 33 percent, production is slower and songs are shorter. To which I say: we get it, country is now mainstream and charting, what else?

Gary Trust, Billboard

Tungsten Arm O’Doyle III

Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox is good at two things: striking out and hitting home runs, and he is good at very little in between. The rookie has already hit 12 home runs this season, tied with Aaron Judge, and is on pace for 63 homers through the first month of play. That said, he’s striking out like mad, with 46 strikeouts over the period and just 14 singles, with no double or triples. He is the first player since at least 1900 to hit 10 homers before hitting literally any other extra-base hit to begin his career. Fully 61 percent of base appearances end in a strikeout, a walk, or a home run; nobody in the history of baseball has been above 58.8 in a season.

Jared Diamond, The Wall Street Journal

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