Try to think of another time when a star released an album with a physical-only bonus track — but that physical product was only made available online, through one website, with a weeks-long shipping delay. Therein lies the marketing genius of Taylor Swift‘sFolklore, which dropped on Friday, sans one rare …
Read More »'RS Interview: Special Edition' With Al Gore
John Lewis had died two days before former Vice President Al Gore and I sat down to speak, and Lewis’ legacy was weighing heavily on his mind. Speaking from his home in Nashville, where he has been isolating during the pandemic, Gore said that while many have referred to Lewis …
Read More »Platitudes and Protest: How the Music Industry Responded to Blackout Tuesday
Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang made no mention of silence, let alone a black box, when they called on their peers in the music industry to devote Tuesday, June 2nd, to a new initiative, #TheShowMustBePaused. The idea was to force the industry — which is built on black talent, but …
Read More »Why Are So Many Gen Z Kids Becoming Furries?
Jen’s daughter is nine years old, with shoulder-length brown hair and darting, fearful eyes. She’s anxious and withdrawn, and her mother says she doesn’t get asked to go on play dates very often. When she speaks to people she doesn’t know, she keeps a careful distance, like she’s trying to …
Read More »Trent Reznor Breaks Silence on 'Undeniably Hooky' 'Old Town Road'
When Trent Reznor first heard “Old Town Road,” he was surprised. The song used a short section of banjo from “34 Ghosts IV,”a track off of Nine Inch Nails’ mostly instrumental 2008 album Ghosts I–IVthat Lil Nas X and producer YoungKio had souped up with trap beats and an unforgettable …
Read More »The Iowa Circus
Listen to an audio version of this story below: Traveling hundreds of miles across Iowa, passing cornfields and covered bridges, visiting quaint small town after quaint small town, listening to the stump speeches of Democrat after would-be Donald Trump-combating Democrat, only one thought comes to mind: They’re gonna blow this …
Read More »Jon Stewart Tees Off on Rand Paul for Blocking 9/11 Victim Bill
On Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) blocked an effort to unanimously pass a bill to reauthorize the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. Jon Stewart was not happy. “Pardon me if I’m not impressed in any way by Rand Paul’s fiscal responsibility virtue signaling,” a visibly disgusted Stewart told Bret Baier on …
Read More »Is America Ready for Mayor Pete?
Listen to an audio version of this story below: Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 33 has a sculpture of two 20-foot wrenches emerging from the mud out by its pocked parking lot in Des Moines, Iowa. Inside, a public bathroom features a shower adorned with gone-gray towels and multiple containers …
Read More »Sparkles, Bows and Millions of Dollars: Inside JoJo Siwa's Glitter-Covered Empire
O n a nondescript, cactus-lined street in Sherman Oaks, California, it’s hard to miss the only house with a unicorn-drawn-carriage and a custom BMW painted like a rainbow race car on its curb. Inside the house, singer, actress, and YouTube superstar JoJo Siwa is covered in flour, sprinkles, and eggs, …
Read More »Watch Tom Petty's Poignant New 'For Real' Video
Last year, Tom Petty’s daughter Adria was in the home studio of Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell, reviewing some of the material her father left behind. There, she first heard “For Real,” a plaintive, sparely arranged song written and recorded quickly in 2000 but never released. The song expressed her father’s …
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