New book by Chad Venters, Arthur J. Dewey, and Steve Ross features an afterword (Aftershock) by John Dominic Crossan.

What if the ultimate weapon of Christian Nationalism—the “Left Behind” End-Time prophecies—is completely fake?

LOS ANGELES, June 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — An exciting new publication from Westar Press, Revelation and Revenge, rescues the Book of Revelation from modern political scare tactics and restores its originality as a brilliant first-century drama resisting imperial forces.

With urgency and provocation, Revelation and Revenge: Confronting Christian Nationalism challenges one of the most dangerous political ideologies of our time: militant theology based on the Book of Revelation. Biblical scholars Chad Venters and Arthur J. Dewey, and acclaimed illustrator Steve Ross, with an Afterword by John Dominic Crossan, provide an incisive, learned, and accessible book aimed at informing the public about the true story of Revelation and its false representation today.

This book dispels fear-based End-Time prophecies that have dominated the American religious and political landscape for decades. The authors pull back the layers of tradition to expose how modern rapture theology is not an ancient biblical truth but a highly profitable nineteenth-century invention. Today, rapture theology actively weaponizes the political climate to escape environmental accountability, deny scientific reality, and rewrite democratic laws under the banner of Christian supremacy.

Using rigorous historical-critical sources and sharp contemporary analysis, this book investigates the apocalyptic roots of Christian Nationalism. It demonstrates how a first-century text originally written by an exiled political dissident as an act of anti-imperial resistance has been inverted into a zero-sum tool for earthly power and conquest.

“The darkness of ignorance and dishonesty must be undone through the light of education and understanding,” writes coauthor Chad Venters.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Westar Institute, 417098@email4pr.com, (855) 490-0454

Review copies, digital gallery links, and interview scheduling available upon request.

Westar Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to educational and scholarly work. Its imprints, Westar Press and Polebridge Press, share this mission and do not operate for profit. All views in this publication belong solely to the authors and do not represent Westar Institute or its affiliates. As publisher, Westar does not endorse the content and maintains no political affiliations or positions.

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SOURCE Westar Institute

HBO Max First Partner for New Innovative Ad Format that Marries IRL and AR – Starting by Putting Fans Into House of the Dragon Ahead of its Season 3 Premiere Using Snapchat’s First-Ever Four-Sided AR Mirror

NEW YORK, June 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — OUTFRONT Media, one of the largest and most-trusted IRL media companies in the U.S., and Snapchat have partnered to launch “Crowd Created.” It debuts today with HBO Max as the launch partner to bring Season 3 of HBO Original series House of the Dragon to life ahead of its June 21 debut.

Powered by the OUTFRONT XLabs innovation arm and Snap Inc.’s technology, Crowd Created is a live AR spectacle in Times Square that marries IRL (in-real-life) with AR (augmented reality). This new ad format is the first Snapchat AR experience to project visitors live onto Times Square billboards in New York City and features the first-of-its-kind four-sided AR Mirror.

From 3PM to 7PM today (June 18, 2026), visitors in Times Square can step in front of the full-body, four-sided Snapchat AR Mirror and interact with custom House of the Dragon AR Lenses to opt-in to see themselves virtually wearing Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen’s crown, placing themselves directly in the world of the series. They will then be able to see themselves and their AR experiences appear live on OUTFRONT Media’s Duffy Duo billboards – two of the most iconic digital signage in the world.

The activation combines Snapchat’s AR technology with OUTFRONT XLabs’ award-winning XTend offering that extends campaigns across screens using augmented reality. The result: an ad experience that transforms a passive walk-by into a shared cultural moment. With more than approximately 400,000 visitors passing through Times Square each day—creating one of the world’s largest concentrations of pedestrian traffic and social sharing – Crowd Created offers brands an innovative way to launch their biggest titles and invite audiences to become part of the campaign itself.

“With Crowd Created, Snapchat and OUTFRONT have transformed the streets of New York into Westeros – dragons and all,” said OUTFRONT Chief Marketing and Experience Officer Stacy Minero. “By combining Snapchat’s industry-leading AR technology, HBO Max’s award-winning IP, and OUTFRONT’s premium IRL media canvases, this campaign demonstrates how innovation can turn real-world environments into immersive experiences that people don’t just see – they step into.”

“AR is one of the most powerful ways Snapchatters engage with the world around them, and it’s amazing to be able to bring that technology to Times Square. We’re thrilled to work with HBO Max and OUTFRONT and bring Westeros to life in a way that lets fans see themselves at the center of the story and on one of the world’s most iconic canvases,” said Laurel Duquette, Head of Media and Entertainment, Snap Inc.

“At its best, fandom is participatory — and we’re always looking to create moments that let fans see themselves in the worlds they love. Through this partnership with Snapchat and Outfront, we’re harnessing innovative technology to bring fans inside the world of House of the Dragon, transforming a simple interaction into a larger-than-life moment,” said Mark Doumet, Vice President, Originals Marketing, HBO and HBO Max. 

This activation is being supported by a two-week campaign throughout OUTFRONT’s NYC ad network to drive attention and awareness for the June 18 event. It is part of a larger, multi-faceted overall campaign for Season 3 of House of the Dragon, premiering June 21 on HBO Max, including a screening in Santa Monica that invites Snapchat creators to see it ahead of time. With 956 million monthly active users and nearly 2 trillion Snaps created in 2025 alone, Snapchat is a significant platform for entertainment marketing. In fact, Samba TV analyses found exposure to Snapchat campaigns delivered a reported 91% lift in theatrical ticket sales and 84% lift in tune-in for TV shows, movies, or sporting events, on average in the studied campaigns. Omnicom Media and Ipsos in-survey-based research found 73% of daily Snapchatters have been influenced to go to the theater after seeing it advertised on Snapchat. The IRL experience also taps into growing demand for personalized and shareable brand intersections, with third-party search indicating that 80% of Gen Z consumers enjoying personalized brand experiences, including AI-powered Lenses, and 60% enjoy sharing content from activations.

About OUTFRONT Media
OUTFRONT is one of the largest and most trusted out-of-home media companies in the U.S., helping brands connect with audiences in the moments and environments that matter most. As OUTFRONT evolves, it’s defining a new era of in-real-life (IRL) marketing, turning public spaces into platforms for creativity, connection, and cultural relevance. With a nationwide footprint across billboards, digital displays, transit systems, and other out-of-home formats, OUTFRONT turns creative into powerful real-world experiences. Its in-house agency, OUTFRONT STUDIOS, and award-winning innovation team, XLabs, deliver standout storytelling, supported by advanced technology and data tools that can drive measurable impact.

About HBO
HBO® is one of the most respected and innovative entertainment brands in the world, serving iconic, award-winning programming through the HBO linear channels and the direct-to-consumer streaming platform, HBO Max, which is available globally in 65 countries. A part of Warner Bros. Discovery, HBO offers an extensive array of programming that includes recent fan-favorite hits like “House of the Dragon,” “The Last of Us,” “The White Lotus,” “Succession,” and “Euphoria,” and iconic titles, including “Game of Thrones,” “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City,” “Band of Brothers” and “The Wire.”

Media Contacts:

Matt Biscuiti
The Lippin Group
212-986-7080
outfront@lippingroup.com

Courtney Richards
OUTFRONT Media
646-876-9404
courtney.richards@OUTFRONT.com

Stephan Bisson
OUTFRONT Media
212-297-6573
stephan.bisson@outfront.com

Snap Inc.
press@snap.com

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SOURCE OUTFRONT Media Inc.

Powered by AI, real-time audience intelligence and deep analysis of social media data, Kinetik helps creators optimize content strategies and build more engaged, profitable communities.

LONDON, June 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Kineto, a startup backed by the engineering legacy of JetBrains, has unveiled Kinetik, an AI agent specialized in marketing and social media. It analyzes audience behavior, emerging trends and content performance to help creators and marketing professionals make smarter decisions, grow engagement and accelerate and monetize social media growth.

Unlike generic AI tools, Kinetik operates right in the messenger, such as Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram, and soon iMessage, and connects to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X, for deeper context. This helps Kinetik understand the creator’s brand voice, handle content writing in their voice, and prepare social media analytics, competitor monitoring, research, and scheduling.

“Kinetik is unlike any other AI tool that I’ve used. It genuinely understands my voice and the way I work,” said Lyubava Zaytseva, a digital content creator. “It analyzed all videos posted for the last year, provided the insights, and identified the trends in minutes instead of the four hours I would spend on it.”

“The truth about creators’ work is that the majority of their time is spent on understanding the algorithms, researching trends, and analyzing the results instead of creating. People have limited capacity to remember the algorithm rules and adapt the content to them; machines are only limited by tokens. Creators today have more opportunities than ever to build businesses around their content, and with Kinetik, they get the tools for every task,” said Andrew Zakonov, CEO and Co-founder of Kineto.

“With significantly boosted content performance and deeper analysis, creators can now leverage AI not for the quick and low-key content production, but actually for the growth of their business on social media.”

Kinetik helps with the most painful and common content and social media tasks:

Trend Research & Content Ideas: Monitors what’s trending in your niche across Instagram, TikTok, X, and the web, providing specific ideas, advice, and content in your voice. It can also automatically send it to Notion or to the doc if you want to save it beyond the chat.Memory: Remembers your niche, audience, style, goals, and past conversations. Every session picks up where the last one left off, so no explanation is needed.Strong learning curve and personalization: Kinetik can be your coach for the better self, but it also learns from you. It never keeps the sensitive data, but it always keeps your goals and the way you think. Ultimately, this makes AI more useful, but also more tolerant and precise – just like you.Voice Notes: Takes a recorded rough thought and turns it into a content idea that fits your strategy.Content Analysis & Insights: Analyzes your posts, engagement patterns, and audience behavior, as well as peers and/or competitors to tell you what’s working and why.Video Review & Feedback: Analyzes editing, pacing, color grading, composition, and gives filmmaker-level feedback with specific timestamps.

Kinetik is also available in Slack for both personal use and team collaboration. When added to a group chat, Kinetik gives teams access to AI-powered marketing tools focused on content creation, social media management, and influencer marketing, one of the fastest-growing yet least-automated niches in AI-driven marketing.

Visit https://kineto.app/ for full product details, pricing, and to get started with a free trial. Subscription plans for individuals and teams are available and open to creators, agencies and marketing teams from 1 to 100 people. Pricing starts at $12.50 with a discount.

Kineto will be demoing Kinetik at VidCon 2026 in Anaheim, California, at booth #5016. They will also be hosting the Creator Track workshop, “AI Magic Behind Your Content,” on Friday, June 26, from 11:00-11:30 a.m. in Room 210AB, featuring Kinetik CEO Andrew Zakonov and special guest creator Anna Deguzman.

About Kineto & Kinetik
Kineto is an independent startup spun out of JetBrains and backed by JetBrains investments and expertise. The same engineering mindset behind IntelliJ IDEA, coding agent Junie and Kotlin, one of the most popular languages for Android development, launched Kinetik, an AI agent for creators and marketing teams that operates in Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram and iMessage coming soon, with a mission to provide creators with an AI teammate that understands their work and allows them to focus on creating.
Kinetik helps with the non-creative work, including research, analytics, strategy, communication with brands, media kits, scripts from voice notes, trend monitoring, and more. It learns your tone, connects to your social accounts, and remembers context across channels.

MEDIA CONTACT
Sophia Gilbert
The Hoffman Agency on behalf of Kineto
kinetik@hoffman.com

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SOURCE Kineto