John Oliver ended Last Week Tonight’s fifth season laying out grim indications that global authoritarianism is on the rise.Authoritarian leaders gain power by perpetuating their own strength, creating popular enemies by demonizing marginalized groups and dismantling institutions. And, Oliver argues, these trends are growing in countries such as Russia, China, …
Read More »
In 2008, Cynthia Shank was sentenced, as a first-time offender, to 15 years in prison on drug-conspiracy charges. She had once been the girlfriend of Alex Humphrey, a Lansing, Michigan, drug dealer, who was shot and killed in a drug bust in 2002. In the years since she’d lived with …
Read More »
A bipartisan commission has determined that President Trump’s recent record defense bill is insufficiently massive to keep America safe, and we should spend more, while cutting “entitlements.” The National Defense Strategy Commission concluded the Department of Defense was too focused on “efficiency” and needed to accept “greater cost and risk” …
Read More »
Fifteen years ago, in the midst of a creative rut and middle-aged ambivalence, Jay-Z made a great album. It was built on an idea never happened: Jay-Z was supposed to retire after The Black Albumand, spoiler alert, did not follow through on that. No one with a shred of common …
Read More »
Days before the 2018 midterm elections, MJ Hegar, the Democratic candidate for Texas’ 31st District, released several videos about her historic Congressional campaign. Only one of them was planned. The final ad features Hegar riding her motorcycle down a solitary road in her district. The clip is unlike her previous …
Read More »
Saturday Night Live mocked Kanye West and his epic White House rant for its latest episode’s cold open, which featured Alec Baldwin reprising the role of Donald Trump and SNL cast member Chris Redd as the rapper. “Kanye, I want to thank you for giving me a pair of your …
Read More »
President Trump on Tuesday morning accepted Nikki Haley’s resignation as ambassador to the United Nations. The news was first reported by Axios, which noted that Haleydiscussed her potential departure with President Trump when the two met last week at the White House. It’s unclear what motivated the decision, but foreign …
Read More »
It’s a Monday afternoon in August, and Steve Perry is cheerfully belting out the Backstreet Boys’ “As Long As You Love Me.” Perry is visiting a buddy at his house in San Francisco, and the singer — who grew up on Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and the Kingston Trio, and …
Read More »
Tina, a musical based on the life and music of Tina Turner, will open make its Broadway debut in Fall 2019. It is currently playing at the Aldwych Theatre in London’s West End. Tinamade its world premiere in London in April 2018 and will continue to run there for the …
Read More »
Brett Kavanaugh wants you to know who the real victim is. In a letter sent today to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Supreme Court nominee describes allegations against him of a sexual assault in high school and of exposing himself in college as “smears, pure and simple.” He paints himself …
Read More »