Yungblud dubs himself “the original loser” on his booming new song “Original Me,” a collaboration with Imagine Dragons‘ Dan Reynolds. “I’m so sick of me, wake up and hate to breathe,” the British singer belts over blaring synths and drums. “And I pride myself in that — so dramatic, I’ll …
Read More »Members of Fleet Foxes, The Shins Performed 'Suite: Judy Blue Eyes' With Judy Collins
Dolly Parton’s surprise appearance may have grabbed most of the headlines during this past summer’s Newport Folk Festival, but one of the weekend’s most exciting moments came during the Sunday evening closing set when Fleet Foxes‘ Robin Pecknold, the Shins’ James Mercer and Eric Johnson (Fruit Bats) offered a note-by-note …
Read More »John Oliver on Origins, Negative Effects of China's Former 'One Child' Policy
On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver explored the origins and negative effects of China‘s “one child” policy, the government’s controversial restriction on family size. The host argued that even though the Communist Party ended the program in 2015, the unforeseen consequences will linger for decades. The policy began in 1980 …
Read More »Hear Camila Cabello Mourn an Ex on New Track 'Cry For Me'
Camila Cabello has unveiled a new single, “Cry For Me,” a heartbroken (but upbeat) number about an ex boyfriend. The track was written by Cabello, Ryan Tedder, Lou Bell and Frank Dukes, and produced by Bell and Dukes, who also worked on the singer’s hits “Havana” and “Never Be the …
Read More »ICE Transferred Women From a Troubled Facility But Won't Tell Lawyers Where They Are
The Karnes County Family Residential Center outside of San Antonio was built to house families detained at the border, but in April, it switched to become a facility that housed single adult women instead. The switch was a disaster: families are typically released after soon processing, but adults are not, …
Read More »The Not-So-Revolutionary Road of 'Mr. Robot'
When Mr. Robot debuted in the summer of 2015, none of its individual components were clearly new. The cyberpunk drama’s then-unknown creator, Sam Esmail, readily copped to the influences of paranoid Seventies thrillers like The Parallax View. Late in that first season, the show even played a piano version of …
Read More »'Raising Dion' Review: A Hero's Journey Chaperoned by Mom
“People with powers are either heroes or villains,” Dion Warren explains to a new friend. Dion would know. Not only does he have superpowers — the abilities to, among other things, move objects with his mind, teleport, and heal the sick — but at age seven going on eight, he …
Read More »Ari Lennox's Rejection-Paved Road to 'Shea Butter Baby'
Ari Lennox wonders what her life would be like if her parents had listened to Korn. “I just got into Korn a couple years ago,” she explains. “My life would’ve been so different if my parents listened to Korn. That would’ve been fire!” Instead, Lennox grew up on ballad singers …
Read More »'Succession' Recap: You Can Never Go Home Again
In a show that orchestrates the arrival of its opening title sequence to maximize its effect (read: right after says something particularly stupid and/or cutting) in every episode, it’s telling when Succession gets right into it and opens with the theme. Tonight’s episode — “Dundee” — eschews any table-setting, opting …
Read More »Future 25: Pharrell Williams, Artist and Festival Founder
In April, when Pharrell Williams put together Something in the Water — an event in his hometown Virginia Beach, Virginia, that featured performances by Travis Scott, Anderson .Paak, and Pusha T — he went out of his way to emphasize that it was not, in fact, a music festival. “This …
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