My Effin’ Life, the new memoir from Rush‘s frontman and bassist, Geddy Lee, tells a tale that’s almost as epic in scale as his band’s largest-scale songs, from his upbringing as the child of two Holocaust survivors, to the rise of Rush, to the loss of drummer Neil Peart in …
Read More »'Mice in a Maze of Pain': Inside the Scandal-Scarred Comeback of Star DJ Bassnectar
T homas was a 19-year-old metalhead when a friend persuaded him to attend his first DJ set in 2012. DJs were “corny” for not playing instruments, he thought. But after the show, his mind was blown — not only by the huge range of track selections and psychedelic visuals, but …
Read More »'We Do a Bad Job Dealing With Rape in This Country': Why W. Kamau Bell Needed to Make His Controversial Cosby Doc
In 2018, comedian and TV host W. Kamau Bell was talking to TV producers about comedy documentaries when the question arose: “Could you do a doc about a comedian who has fallen?” Bell recalled his fascination with Ezra Edelman’s acclaimed O.J.: Made in America, the eight-hour series that examined the …
Read More »'Succession' Season 3 Finale Recap: Pass Me the F-kin' Shotgun
A review of the Succession Season Three finale, “All the Bells Say,” coming up just as soon as I’m a plane crash away from becoming Europe’s weirdest king… The castaways keep trying and failing to build a raft to escape Gilligan’s island. The Wire‘s Major Crimes Unit keeps coming agonizingly …
Read More »'I See Myself as Her Bodyguard': Beanie Feldstein on Playing Monica Lewinsky
If there is an archetypal role for Beanie Feldstein, as an actor an a human, it’s the best friend. The 28-year-old became famous for her performances in two portraits of female friendship: Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, and Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart. “I’m still doing that here,” Feldstein says of her role …
Read More »Aaliyah's Music Is Coming to Streaming… and Her Estate Is Not Happy
Despite reservations from Aaliyah’s estate, the singer’s music will finally start arriving on streaming services this month. On Wednesday, Alliyah’s estate tweeted for the first time in months to share a statement criticizing the “unscrupulous endeavor to release Aaliyah’s music without any transparency or full accounting.” While the statement didn’t …
Read More »Justice Clarence Thomas Is the Unlikely Cannabis Supporter on the Supreme Court
Marijuana legalization has an interesting advocate at the Supreme Court: Justice Clarence Thomas. Today, once again, Justice Thomas indicated his support for cutting back federal laws that criminalize pot. You might think this is good news since Justice Thomas is one of the most conservative Justices on the Court, therefore …
Read More »Beijing Calling: Suspicion, Hope, and Resistance in the Chinese Rock Underground
Like Beijing itself, Dusk Dawn Club — or simply DDC, to the locals who stumbled out at all hours — blended centuries of history into a neon blur. Located in the city center’s trendy Gulou district, down one of its many winding, sparsely lit stone alleys, the club was housed …
Read More »How Nigerian Musicians Are Responding to the Country's Twitter Ban
On June 4, Nigeria’s federal government indefinitely suspended Twitter in the country — ironically announcing the action on the platform itself. In a tweet thread, the Ministry of Information and Culture cited “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence,” as the …
Read More »You Strike a Match
& nbsp; This story is published in collaboration with Grist, a nonprofit media organization covering climate, justice, and sustainability. On election night in 2016, two young women drove toward a construction site off Highway 7 in northwest Iowa’s Buena Vista County. Their car contained a half dozen empty coffee canisters, …
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