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Back when we started this crazy Sopranos rewatch podcast all those year ago, “Knights In White Satin” was exactly the kind of episode we had in mind. Episode 12 of season two, this one really is one of the greatest Sopranos episodes ever, easily a top fiver. It introduces all sorts of new and interesting characters, from Jackie Aprile’s son Jackie Jr. to Irina’s cousin, the one-legged chain-smoking Svetlana (one of my favorite characters in all the Sopranos canon) whose boyfriend romantically picked her up off the floor at the Gap store. But for the most part, episode 212 is an entirely self-contained miniature movie, with fully developed plotlines, complete character arcs, big twists, and satisfying resolutions. I bet you didn’t think Richie and Janice’s wedding was going to turn out like that, did you! If you’re a Sopranos virgin looking for one episode to get you hooked, check out this one, I’m friggin’ tellin’ you over heah.

As always we have your hosts, comedian Matt Lieb from Newsbroke and me, Vince Mancini, and this week we also welcome sportswriter Dave Schilling (ESPN, Bleacher Report, The Ringer, The Guardian), currently of the Full Court Chat podcast. We go through every plotline in Bada B Stories, countdown our favorite scenes, and explain those bits you may have missed. We hope you enjoy it, but in case you don’t, va fongool.

Don’t forget to give us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and please, say hi to your mothers for me.

Future has been teasing the release of his new album all year and with everyone tucked away indoors avoiding social gatherings, it seems he’s decided now is as good a time as any to finally put the thing out. It’s called High Off Life, a clever reference to his recent admission that he cut back on his drug use, and it’s due this Friday, May 15. According to the press release announcing its release, it’ll be executive produced by DJ Esco, with features from DaBaby, Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, Travis Scott, Young Thug, and more — in other words, the usual suspects.

Future kicked off the High Off Life buzz in January, when he and Drake released the tongue-in-cheek video for “Life Is Good,” sparking speculation that the duo was working on another collaborative mixtape a la What A Time To Be Alive. A remix of the song put paid to that idea while also adding DaBaby and Lil Baby verses to the mix and getting fans excited for a new Future album, just about a year removed from The Wizrd, his last full-length studio album. He followed up by dropping his three fan favorite mixtapes, Beast Mode, Monster, and 56 Nights to DSPs, then announced that the title of his new album would be Life Is Good, like the single spawned from it.

Apparently, he’s had a bit of a change of heart, but so long as the music lives up to his usual standards, I’m sure most fans will be satisfied, no matter what the project is called. It seems we’ll have the chance to find out soon enough.

High Off Life is due Friday, May 15 via Epic Records.

Pandemics are confusing by nature. We’re dealing with a new virus that scientists have to scramble to study, an unknown contagion and death rate, constantly shifting data, and new information being thrown at us on the daily. And as human beings like certainty, that’s hard.

Throw in the social and economic impact of trying to control the outbreak (and buy time for scientists to develop treatments and/or vaccines), along with the totally-on-brand politicizing of the pandemic in the U.S., and it kind of feels like a gigantic, out-of-control sh*tshow.

It’s a many-fold problem, but one outcome is that all of this uncertainty creates a prime breeding-ground for misinformation to spread. And whoa Nelly, is it spreading.

I’ve heard that the CDC admitted their death numbers are inflated (they didn’t and they’re not), that the virus is no worse than the flu (it is), that the whole global pandemic was planned by BIll Gates (blink, blank stare), and that masks either don’t help anything or actually make you sicker (somebody tell most of Asia).

We know that misinformation spreads faster than truth. And we know that a frightening number of Americans have been brainwashed into believing that anything considered “mainstream” is totally untrustworthy, while fringe outlets with no accountability or credibility are legitimate sources of truth. (Hint: If anyone tells you that they’re the only ones telling you the real truth, run away. No credible outlet would ever say that.)

And that combo has created a vortex where people get spun topsy turvy, up becomes down, and anything that hits them in the face as it flies past feels true. That’s how we end up with signs like these in the middle of a freaking pandemic:

The photo, shared by David Parsons on Twitter, shows signs sitting in front of Ramsay One Flooring, a construction company in Simi Valley, California.

“We’re open to the truth,” the first sign reads, followed by “NO Masks allowed,” “Handshakes OK,” and “Hugs very OK.”

Umm, yeah. Contagious novel virus, people. 80,000 Americans dead in two months, and we aren’t even sure if we’re starting to drop off yet. The entire world scrambling to mitigate the spread and racing to come up with a way to treat or prevent it. But somehow, being “open to the truth” means defying very basic, universal hygiene that even kindergarten kids know is important when there’s a bad bug going around? How does that make sense?

The only explanation is that this store owner has fallen for one of several “plandemic” narratives that paints the pandemic as some kind of evil plot orchestrated by dastardly villains who are out to steal Americans’ freeeeedoommm. So, not a real thing. A big conspiracy because a bunch of YouTube videos told them so.

If this were a 9/11 “inside job” conspiracy theory, a JFK assassination conspiracy theory, or faked moon landing conspiracy theory, it wouldn’t be a huge deal. People believe all kinds of far-fetched things, and when those beliefs are confined to the fringe and deal with past events that aren’t of much direct consequence now, I take a “live and let live” approach.

But conspiracy theories filled with misinformation about the coronvavirus pandemic are dangerous. They lead people to outright reject and defy public health guidelines that are in place to literally save lives. Successful containing or mitigating a pandemic requires a population to be on the same page and work as a team. It requires us to be truly the United States of America as if our lives depend on it—because they do.

Don’t we pride ourselves on having the best and the brightest scientists, doctors, and researchers in the world? Experts have known something like this would happen sooner or later, and decades of research and planning have gone into preparing for just this moment. Now we’re just going to ditch all of that work, all of that learning, all of that preparation? Why? Because a baffling number of people trust discredited scientists on YouTube over the world’s most respected and accomplished epidemiologists and virologists? Seriously?

No. Enough. There are legitimate discussions to be had about government overreach and whatnot, but using misinformation to justify defying public health measures is foolishness. And it’s the kind of foolishness that can kill people. In fact, we’ve already seen it happen. An Ohio man who called the coronavirus “bullsh*t” and a “political ploy” died of COVID-19 in April. (Here’s the same story from Fox News as well, so no one can complain about media bias.)

Information leads to beliefs, and beliefs lead to actions. If you believe this pandemic to be fake/rigged/planned/a hoax, you’re going to act accordingly. And that’s dangerous for everyone, including you. Stop it, for everyone’s sake.

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Any sort of resumption of the 2019-20 NBA season, which has been on pause for two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is weeks, if not months, away. But if some of the biggest names in basketball have their way, whenever it is safe to resume, teams will take the courts somewhere in the country and restart the season.

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, a number of the league’s most prominent players held a phone call on Tuesday in which they agreed to a “united front,” one which endorses playing basketball sometime in the future. The call was reportedly arranged by Chris Paul, who serves as the head of the Players Association, and included names like LeBron James and Steph Curry.

Via Yahoo Sports:

Some of the NBA’s biggest superstars formed a united front to resume the 2019-20 season during a private conference call Monday, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Toward the end of the call discussing the ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic, all parties were in agreement to take the court with proper safety measures once the league is given the green light to commence, sources said.

Beyond the aforementioned names, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, and Russell Westbrook all participated in the call. This news comes on the same day that Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Paul and Westbrook will be part of a working group comprised of NBA and NBPA members that want to discuss paths forward.

It is hardly the first big call involving prominent players that we’ve heard of in recent days, as NBA commissioner Adam Silver held a call with players that touched on how the league could resume and what its path forward would look like, with Silver mentioning that games would be held in fan-less arenas.

Haynes reported some more details from that call, mentioning that some players were not comfortable with Silver’s proclamation that their safety cannot be guaranteed until a vaccine is discovered for COVID-19, something that is not expected to happen until sometime in 2021 at the earliest. As for what players would want in the event the season resumes, opinions appear to be split.

The majority of players who are essentially eliminated from postseason contention would rather the league start back up with the top eight teams in each conference competing in some sort of playoff, sources said.

For some players out of the playoff picture, there’s concern a canceled season could negatively affect the next CBA, sources said.

The caveat that comes with this united front — that they want the league to resume “with proper safety measures once the league is given the green light” — is interesting, because there is no guarantee that this green light will come any time soon. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said last month that “If you can’t guarantee safety, then unfortunately you’re going to have to bite the bullet and say, ‘We may have to go without this sport for this season.’” Testing, Fauci said, is a key variable, and it is unclear if the NBA will be able acquire enough tests to make it feasible for games to resume.

The good news is that the NBA has plenty of runway to make a decision, as there is no need for them to rush into anything in the coming days. With how frequently things are evolving in what we know about the virus, perhaps the hopes of the NBA resuming sometime in the coming months aren’t a pie in the sky idea. As long as it is safe, the plan will have the support of some of the biggest names in the league.

The week before Money In The Bank, the smallest-ever number of people tuned in to watch Raw live on cable. The night after the pay-per-view, Raw drew more eyes, experiencing both higher viewership and a boost in the ratings.

Last night’s show, which featured Becky Lynch announcing her pregnancy, Asuka becoming Raw Women’s Champion, and the returns of both Edge and The Iiconics, was viewed by 1.92 million people on average over its three-hour run time. That’s a significant increase from last week’s record-low audience of 1.69 million and a step up from the previous week’s 1.82 million. However, it’s still fewer people than were watching Raw’s earlier no-fans shows; more than two million people were still tuning in to watch Raw at the Performance Center back in March.

Despite smaller live audiences, Raw has had consistently high ratings during this period, and those were a little higher this week. The first hour of Raw was the highest-rated show on cable, the second hour was the second-highest, and the third hour was the fourth. These hours drew a 0.59, 0.58, and 0.53 with the 18-49 demographic, respectively.

With the lack of a live crowd removing a key element of the pro wrestling experience and top stars like Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, and now Becky Lynch out of action, WWE is looking for ways to get more people to tune into their programming. The first order of business: allowing talent crossovers between Raw and Smackdown again, starting with Baron Corbin taking on Drew McIntyre next week on the red brand and Charlotte Flair showing up on Friday’s Smackdown.

Angelenos — you might want to sit down. If you’ve been looking east at the lax lockdown measures of other states as they begin to slowly open up or planning active recreation beach trips as we inch closer and closer to summer, you might want to slow your roll for a second. And by “for a second,” we mean like three months. If we’re lucky.

Los Angeles Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer has indicated that the county’s stay-at-home order will be extended for the next three months “with all certainty,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

During a Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday afternoon, Ferrer indicated that the three-month timeline would only change if there was a “dramatic change to the virus and tools at hand,” reiterating the crucial need for widely available testing and rapid at-home solutions that would allow people to test themselves on a daily basis. Ferrer’s comments came shortly after the nation’s top infectious disease expert — and your mom, aunt, and older cousin’s new crush — Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Congress that pushing to reopen too quickly would reverse progress made through social distancing and trigger another outbreak.

While Ferrer’s comments don’t signify an official order, it’s unlikely that LA County will further lift restrictions considering California’s aggressive science and data-driven approach to mitigating the virus thus far. In Los Angeles, new coronavirus cases have been averaging between 500 and 1,000 new cases per day for the last two weeks, and while new cases and deaths in the county are trending downwards, it still doesn’t meet the criteria of a 14-day decline in cases that Dr. Fauci has signified as a major checkpoint states should watch for when reopening.

Just this week, LA County lifted restrictions on hiking trails, parks, and golf courses, and will be expanding curbside pickup at various nonessential businesses that had remained closed until recently. Ferrer has indicated that a further loosening of the rules will continue, but it will be a slow and gradual process throughout the next three months.

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Lil Uzi Vert has turned out to be one of the more personable superstars in hip-hop, always ready to chat with fans, pay their bills, or trade rhymes in gas station parking lots. While many rappers like to keep mostly to themselves outside of shows and fan meet-and-greets, Uzi is always active on social media, revealing tidbits about upcoming music, teasing his collaborators like Playboi Carti, and talking anime — one of his biggest inspirations. However, when he’s out and about, he never seems to be too busy shopping to do those same things in real life.

There isn’t a whole bunch of information about what he was doing on the day depicted in the freestyle video, but the young fan in question seems to be having the time of his life showing off for the star as a small crowd looks on. The best part is the ear-to-ear grin on Uzi’s face as well — it’s plain to see that he’s having just as much fun being able to “perform” during the ongoing lockdown, which has prevented him from headlining at festivals like JMBLYA, or touring behind his recently released album, Eternal Atake.

https://www.instagram.com/dre.havik/

Watch Lil Uzi Vert’s impromptu freestyle session above.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Over a decade before Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill duked it out on the big screen, Warner Bros. was hard at work trying to get a somehow even darker Batman vs. Superman movie into theaters.

While sitting down for a lengthy interview with Collider, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman opened up about his short time on the abandoned film, which would’ve featured Jude Law‘s Superman facing off against Colin Farrell‘s Batman, which is an ironic bit of casting given Farrell’s current role as the Penguin in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. According to Goldsman, he was brought in after Se7en screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker left the project, but while director Wolfgang Peterson was still attached.

We were in prep and it was the darkest thing you’ve ever seen. It started with Alfred’s funeral and Bruce has fallen in love and renounced being Batman, the Joker kills his wife, and then you discover it was all a lie. Just that the love itself was constructed by the Joker to break [Bruce]. It was a time where you would be able to get these sort of stories together in script form but they couldn’t quite land in the world. Somehow, the expectations of the object — whether they be audience or corporate or directorial — it wasn’t landing quite in the way I think we imagined when we put them on the page.”

In Goldman’s defense, Zack Snyder’s later attempt to pit the Dark Knight against the Man of Steel didn’t have the smoothest jump from page to screen either. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice received mixed reviews for its exceedingly dark take on the iconic heroes, and its box-office disappointment led to a difficult production for Justice League. As we now know from recent interviews, the back-to-back debacle led to Ben Affleck walking away from directing The Batman and ultimately quitting the role altogether.

(Via Collider)