Month: December 2020

Taylor Swift shocked the world again — her ninth album Evermore is out tonight, and it’s another folksy doozy with collaborators from The National and Bon Iver. It also includes plenty of other members of indie music royalty, like even more members of The National, Haim, and lots of other familiar and brand new additions to the Swift Industrial Complex. Check out the full credits for every song on the tracklist below, to be perused at your leisure as you’re up all night listening and realizing she’s already been hinting at this record.

1. “Willow”
Written by Taylor Swift & Aaron Dessner
Orchestration by Bryce Dessner
Drum machine programming, percussion, keyboards, synthesizers, piano & electric, bass & acoustic guitars by Aaron Dessner
Synthesizers and drum machine programming by James McAlister
Percussion & drum machine programming by Bryan Devendorf
Violin by Yuki Numata Resnick
Electric guitar by Josh Kaufman
Cello by Clarice Jensen
Glockenspiel by Jason Treuting
Flute by Alex Sopp
French Horn by CJ Camerieri
Keyboards & synthesizers by Thomas Bartlett

2. “Champagne Problems”
Written by Taylor Swift & William Bowery (Joe Alwyn’s pen name)
Piano, synthesizers, acoustic guitar, & synth bass by Aaron Dessner
Upright bass by Logan Coale

3. “Gold Rush”
Written by Taylor Swift & Jack Antonoff
Drums, percussion, bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, slide guitar, piano, mellotron & backing vocals by Jack Antonoff
Dx7, electric guitar, nylon guitar, Rhodes & Celeste by Mikey Freedom Hart
Drums by Sean Hutchinson
Drums by Michael Riddleberger
Horns by Evan Smith
OP-1 by Patrik Berger
Violin by Bobby Hawk

4. “‘Tis The Damn Season”
Written by Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner
Orchestration by Bryce Dessner
Drum machine programming, piano, synthesizers, and electric, acoustic * bass guitars by Aaron Dessner
Violin by Yuki Numata Resnick
Cello by Clarice Jensen
Keyboards & synthesizers by Thomas Bartlett
Hammond B3 organ by Nick Lloyd
Harmonium & lap steel by Josh Kaufman
Trombone & horn arrangements by Benjamin Lanz

5. “Tolerate It”
Written by Taylor Swift & Aaron Dessner
Orchestration by Bryce Dessner
Piano, drum machine programming, bass guitar & keyboards by Aaron Dessner
Percussion, drum machine programming, keyboards and synthesizers by James McAlister
Drum machine programming by Bryan Devendorf
Violin by Yuki Numata Resnick
Cello by Clarice Jensen
Percussion by Jason Treuting

6. “No Body, No Crime” Feat. Haim
Written by Taylor Swift
Vocals by Danielle Haim and Este Haim
Mandolin, synthesizers, piano, field recording & bass, acoustic & electric guitars by Aaron Dessner
Lap steel, electric guitar, organ & harmonica by Josh Kaufman
Drum kit by JT Bates

7. “Happiness”
Written by Taylor Swift & Aaron Dessner
Orchestration by Bryce Dessner
Drum machine programming, keyboards, synthesizers, piano & acoustic, electric & bass guitars by Aaron Dessner
Allovers hi-hat generator by Ryan Olson
Violin by Yuki Numata Resnick
Synthesizers & keyboards by Thomas Bartlett
Drum kit by JT Bates

8. “Dorothea”
Written by Taylor Swift & Aaron Dessner
Bass, electric & acoustic guitars, piano & tambourine by Aaron Dessner
Drum kit & percussion by JT Bates
Piano, keyboards & synthesizers by Thomas Bartlett
Modular synth by Benjamin Lanz
Electric & acoustic guitars by Josh Kaufman

9. “Coney Island” (Feat. The National)
Written by Taylor Swift, William Bowery (Joe Alwyn’s pen name), Aaron Dessner & Bryce Dessner
Vocals by Matt Berninger
Orchestration by Bryce Dessner
Drum machine programming, synthesizers & bass, acoustic, high string and electric guitars by Aaron Dessner
Piano & pulse by Bryce Dessner
Drum kit & drum machine programming by Bryan Devendorf
Bass guitar & pocket piano by Scott Devendorf
Violin by Yuki Numata Resnick
Cello by Clarice Jensen
Drum kit & percussion by Jason Treuting

10. “Ivy”
Written by Taylor Swift, Aaron Dessner & Jack Antonoff
Orchestration by Bryce Dessner
Drum kit, drum machine programming, synthesizers, percussion, synth bass & bass, acoustic, high string, rubber bridge & electric guitars by Aaron Dessner
Backing vocals, triangle, drum kit, banjo & electric guitar by Justin Vernon
Upright bass by Logan Coale
Lap steel by Josh Kaufman
Violin by Yuki Numata Resnick
Trumpet by Kyle Resnick
Cello by Clarice Jensen
Trombone & modular synth by Benjamin Lanz
Synthesizers by Thomas Bartlett
Drum machine programming, keyboards & synthesizers by James Mcalister
Drum kit by JT Bates
Percussion & drum machine programming by Bryan Devendorf

11. “Cowboy Like Me”
Written by Taylor Swift & Aaron Dessner
Orchestration by Bryce Dessner
Drum machine programming, percussion, synthe bass, piano, keyboards, synthesizers & acoustic & electric guitars by Aaron Dessner
Backing vocals by Marcus Mumford
Drum kit & electric guitar by Justin Vernon
Violin by Yuki Numata Resnick
Cello by Clarice Jensen
Lap steel, harmonica & mandolin by Josh Kaufman
Upright bass by Logan Coale

12. “Long Story Short”
Written by Taylor Swift & aaron Dessner
Orchestration by Bryce Dessner
Drum machine programming, synth bass, percussion, keyboards, synthesizers & bass, acoustic & electric guitars by Aaron Dessner
Drum kit by Bryan Devendorf
Drum machine programming & synthesizers by James Mcalister
Violin by Yuki Numata Resnick
Trumpet by Kyle Resnick
Cello by Clarice Jensen
Crotales & metal percussion by Jason Treuting
Electric guitar by Bryce Dessner

13. “Marjorie”
Written by Taylor Swift & Aaron Dessner
Orchestration by Bryce Dessner
Drum machine programming, drone, synth bass, piano & acoustic guitar by Aaron Dessner
Backing vocals & Prophet X by Justin Vernon
Backing vocals by Marjorie Finlay
Drum machine programming & percussion by Bryan Devendorf
Allovers hi-hat generator by Ryan Olson
Chord stick & percussion by Jason Treuting
Vermona pulse by James Mcalister
Violin by Yuki Numata Resnick
Cello by Clarice Jensen

14. “Closure”
Written by Taylor Swift & Aaron Dessner
Orchestration by Bryce Dessner
Piano, bass guitar, drum machine programming & synthesizers by Aaron Dessner
Drum kit & synthesizers by James Mcalister
Upright bass by Logan Coale
Piano by Bryce Dessner
Trumpet and no-input mixer by Trever Hagen
Drum kit & messina by Justin Vernon
Trumpet by Kyle Resnick
Cello by Gabriel Cabezas
Chord stick by Jason Treuting
Trombone by Dave Nelson

15. “Evermore” (Feat. Bon Iver)
Written by Taylor Swift, William Bowery (Joe Alwyn’s pen name) & Justin Vernon
Orchestration by Bryce Dessner
Vocals by Bon Iver
Drum machine programming, synthesizers & piano by Aaron Dessner
Synthesizers & field recording by Justin Vernon
Piano by William Bowery (Joe Alwyn’s pen name)
Upright bass by Logan Coale
Lap steel by Josh Kaufman
Crotales by Jason Treuting
Cello by Clarice Jensen
Cell by Gabriel Cabezas
Violin by Yuki Numata Resnick
Alto clarinet, contrabass clarinet & flutes by Stuart Bogie
Flutes by Alex Sopp

While many artists have spent the past few weeks preparing their best cover of a number of Christmas season classics, Dave Grohl has opted to spend the next week covering songs by Jewish artists as a way to celebrate Hannukah, which officially began at sunset on Thursday. The Foo Fighters frontperson will share a cover on each of the eight nights of the Jewish holiday as a part of The Hannukah Sessions and he began the series with a performance of Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” with Greg Kurstin.

The two resorted to what appears to be a fairly small room to debut their performance of the group’s 1994 album Ill Communication. With Grohl on the drums and Kurstin on the keys, the two got busy for the electric performance that kicked off The Hannukah Sessions.

In a tweet that he posted to share the new cover, Grohl said, “As the only Rock and Roll Hall Of Famers with a lyric about kugel, we thought it would be a shanda to not kick off this party with New York’s (and Abraham’s) finest.” He added, “known by some as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedenego known by their Imas & Abbas as @beastieboys !”

In other news, Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters also have their own taco. The band teamed up with Casa Vega Restaurant in Sherman Oaks, California for the limited-time-only tacos which launched on December 1. You can watch the duo’s first cover in the video above.

Disney’s big news Thursday had plenty of things to get excited about if you like, well, Disney things. But one of the more interesting, and mind-warping, was a new Buzz Lightyear movie that’s, at least in theory, from a canon that merely inspires Toy Story.

On Thursday, Pixar was part of the glut of new shows, movies and other content that Disney announced to the public. And while the movie is technically a new concept, it’s something many longtime Pixar fans are familiar with. The company dropped a 30-second teaser for Lightyear, a movie about a young test pilot who wants to go to infinity and beyond.

The tweet that followed the trailer showed a slightly different-looking Buzz Lightyear, most notably in that he did not look like a toy. And the news that he was voiced by Chris Evans was a bit of a surprise to Toy Story fans. Evans said “I don’t even have the words” when retweeting the announcement, which is a funny thing for a voice actor to say about a new gig. But he also did have some words to add, noting that the role is not the toy but the “origin story” of the “human” that the Buzz Lightyear action figure from Toy Story.

Bear with me for a second here if you’re confused: the film Disney announced with a June 17, 2022 release date is technically an origin story for a character that first appeared in 1995, but in toy form. In theory, this is the kind of movie about a humanoid that would inspire the kind of toy line you see Tim Allen voice in the original Toy Story. So Evans isn’t taking Tim Allen’s job, he’s taking the role that would inspire Allen’s toy to exist in the first place.

It’s important to note that character, a toy, spends most of the film not understanding that he’s even a toy, which has in-canon commercials and supporting characters and an extensive line of toys and memorabilia that was then replicated in the real world thanks to the Toy Story movie. Allen has voiced Buzz Lightyear in four Toy Story films, but now there’s finally a standalone Buzz Lightyear. He’s just, you know, a human. Who does things that will inevitably justify a toy get made of him that happens to become a blockbuster star all on his own.

The 2020 Game Awards have come and gone! As time has gone on these awards have become more and more focused on the trailers that take place during the awards show rather than the awards themselves. Especially in a year like 2020 where the biggest showcase event of the year, E3, was cancelled.

Of course, there’s still a lot of excitement on who will win Game of The Year so it still lives up to its name. What’s important to remember is that this night is meant to be fun. Trailers are teasers more built to create excitement over what’s coming rather than showing us any real gameplay. This is a celebration of games and the hard work that goes into them. So let’s look back at some of the best trailers and moments that occurred during the show itself.

Game of The Year: The Last of Us Part 2

There was a little bit of controversy with this one as many people were fans of Ghosts of Tsushima and Hades, but The Last of Us Part 2 won multiple awards throughout the night and was the clear favorite game going in. Critically acclaimed and well enjoyed by many, it’s one of those games that many will use as an example of how games should be taken more seriously as an art based medium. To say any more would be going into spoiler territory, but you should go play The Last of Us, or Hades, or Ghosts of Tsushima, or Animal Crossing! All the games nominated were great and worth your time.

The Return Of Mass Effect

The definition of a teaser, this trailer showed us only one thing. “Mass Effect will return.” and despite that, it was one of the most exciting moments of the entire night. Mass Effect as a franchise felt like it was never going to come back after the disaster that was Mass Effect: Andromeda. While we have no idea how long it’s going to be before another game in the series is released, or if it manages to make it through development, we can be excited for the future of the franchise again. That’s something many Mass Effect fans haven’t had for a long time.

Sephiroth in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

The Game Awards led off with a bang by unveiling the next character for Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Despite originally being a crossover of Nintendo franchises the title has grown beyond that with the most recent iterations. Games that aren’t known for being on Nintendo consoles have been joining the roster ever since Final Fantasy 7‘s Cloud broke that barrier on Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Well, this year saw the release of Final Fantasy 7 remake, and maybe Nintendo saw that as a sign to dip back into that franchise to bring in another extremely popular character. Sephiroth, the main antagonist of Final Fantasy 7 is making his debut in Smash Bros. and while this may have been an odd choice in the past it is oddly fitting these days. With Super Smash Bros. going from a Nintendo crossover to a video game crossover in general it really does fit even if an image of what appeared to be Sephiroth impaling Mario, in that trailer, is unintentionally one of the funniest pictures ever.

New Perfect Dark

Perfect Dark is one of the original console first-person shooters. It was made by Rare for the Nintendo 64, and for some fans of that era, it’s an even better game than the legendary Goldeneye. Long thought to be a dead franchise it looks like we’re finally seeing a return. FPS games have changed a lot over the years. Let’s see if they’re up for the challenge of modernizing it.

Back4Blood

You know what rules? Left 4 Dead. You know what doesn’t rule? The overabundance of zombie games we’ve been getting for over a decade now. So when you first see the trailer for Back4Blood your first indication might be to zone out and wait until it ends. That is until you realize it’s actually a spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead, a franchise we haven’t gotten a new game in since 2009.

This looks exactly like a modern day version of Left 4 Dead which is really all we wanted. With so many zombie games it can be so easy to forget the fun of just mowing down an army of zombies with friends. Many of the devs working on this worked on Left 4 Dead all those years ago so if anyone remembers the spirit of those games it will be them.

Dragon Age

Probably one of the worst kept secrets in games, a new Dragon Age has finally been unveiled. We last got one of these with Inquisition in 2014, but ever since then the franchise has laid dormant. During that time their developer, Bioware, has not exactly been setting the world on fire with their releases. Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem were both flops from the once legendary developer. With this being one of their major franchise they can’t afford for it to fail.

The trailer itself is cool and exciting, but its doesn’t really reveal that much. We’ll know more as time goes on, but it’s a good teaser to get us excited.

The Callisto Protocol

Fans of Dead Space should be excited for this one. A handful of the original developers have gotten together to release a spiritual successor to that franchise. While Dead Space 2 and 3 got a little too action focused for many fans liking, this one is being touted by developers as an attempt to make one of the scariest games ever made. Let’s see if they can hit on that promise.

Ark 2 With Vin Diesel

Yes, you read that correctly. Not only are they making a sequel to Ark, but it’s featuring Vin Diesel. If the trailer is anything to go by then he may have a prominent role in this one — Either him or the child.

The trailer is exciting, lots of action, and at one point Vin Diesel is taking on a T-Rex head on. It’s absolutely absurd, but one of the best trailers during the entirety of The Game Awards just because of how much it stood out.

Among Us Time Traveling

This was an odd choice. Among Us is absolutely one of the best games of this year and is an incredibly fun time. The problem? Among Us came out in 2018 and not 2020. This didn’t stop it from winning the best Multiplayer and Best Mobile Game of The Year awards. This feels like it’s bending the rules a bit to get a popular game into the awards, but the genuine excitement of the developers receiving their awards more than makes up for it.

Despite only putting out one song this year, “WAP” was such a hit that it happened to win Cardi B the honor of Woman Of The Year at Billboard‘s Women in Music event. Seems a little strange to not instead give the honor to the song’s other artist, Megan Thee Stallion, who had multiple hits this year and also released her debut album Good News… but nobody asked me. Anyway, Cardi B took her moment during the virtual event, delivering a speech that once again roasted Republican’s collective pearl-clutching over the song. Read her whole heartfelt speech below via Billboard.

This year, when it came to music, I had so many things planned. I had so many projects that I wanted to come out. Unfortunately, due to COVID, I couldn’t put out the visuals the way that I wanted, it messed up my creative space. You know, I think everyone this year was just messed up. So I’m just grateful and thankful that the song that I actually did put out this year, which was “WAP,” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, not only was it an amazing song that broke so many records, but it was a conversation that I never thought was going to be so big. I mean, it pissed off a whole bunch of Republicans for no reason, you know what I’m saying? It was just weird. [Laughs]

I want to say thank you, everybody, and I want to say to all the girls out there that are just like me, or just regular girls, when I came into the music industry, I didn’t know if these people were going to accept me. Throughout the years, if you listen to my mixtapes and you listen to my music now, I have progressed because I wanted to progress. I want to be the best I can at anything I do and, you know, you got to put your mind to it.

When I first became an adult — I always wanted to be an artist, but you know, when bills come, situations come, you’re just like, ‘Damn, what am I going to do in the next five, four years?’ And you’re just working to survive and pay bills and everything, and that’s not what life is about. Life is about making your dreams come true, but in order to make your dreams come true, don’t think that it’s gonna come and fall from the sky to your lap. You actually gotta put in the work. You gotta be ambitious. You gotta network. You gotta become great at what you do. You gotta be able to take criticism — believe it or not, y’all be saying I don’t take criticism, but yes I do. That’s why when people be like, ‘Oh, you can’t do this, you can’t do that,’ I practice so I can become better and better. There’s hope. There’s hope for your dreams.

Thank you guys for everything. Thank you for the support, thank you for the love. Thank you for always uplifting me when I’m going through stuff in the media or not, thank you for always loving my music, thank you for loving me, and I love you guys. And [click] bye! [Laughs]

Disney shared its news in bulk on Thursday night, dropping news item after news item about the future of Marvel, Star Wars and all the other properties in the mega-corporation’s grasp. But one property it had some very specific details about was Loki, the Disney+ series starring Tom Hiddleston as Thor’s trickster brother. Disney revealed a trailer for the show that gave us a bit more detail about what we’ll see streaming next year.

The six-episode first season is expected to fill in the gaps on Loki’s story between the last Avengers movies, and the opening moments of the trailer recreate the moments in the films that led up to his escape. He then wakes up in a remote desert, but is later taken captive by the Time Variance Authority (TVA), who we learn Owen Wilson’s character works for. There’s a lot of time and reality-bending hints, and quite frankly you see Loki in more suits than you might expect.
There’s even a bit of D.B. Cooper action in the closing moments, as well as a scene where Loki is wearing what looks like campaign buttons for, well, himself. It’s no WandaVision, but it certainly has a lot of intrigue and the ability to surprise. We’ll know more about Loki soon, Disney revealed the series will debut on Disney+ in May of 2021.

In nearly four full seasons of distributing a five-pack of NFL selections each week, only once had we succumbed to an 0-5 performance. That is until Week 13 of the 2020 campaign. Things went as poorly as possible last week, with a couple of embarrassing blowouts and not a lot to write home about in a positive manner.

Instead of dwelling on the past, however, it is time to press forward with resolve and focus, finding value in the number and fading the noise. Before we get to Week 14’s group of picks, let’s take a look at a maddening season-long performance.

• Week 13: 0-5
• 2020 Season: 31-32-2

Come get these winners.

Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys UNDER 21 points in the first half

This is a pure and utter fade of both offenses and, especially, that of Cincinnati. The Bengals have virtually nothing since Joe Burrow unfortunately went down, and we’re going to need some punts and field goals to get home.

Arizona Cardinals (-2.5) over New York Giants

I have not enjoyed backing the Cardinals in recent weeks, and that almost scares me away here. However, this is a classic buy-low, sell-high spot. The bandwagon is emptying for the Cardinals some struggles and, out of nowhere, the Giants are red-hot. Arizona is still the (much) more talented team, though, and we’re laying the small number.

New York Jets (+14) over Seattle Seahawks

We’re getting an extra couple of points with the “LOL JETS” factor and the notion that Seattle will “get right” after a weirdly terrible performance. 14 is too many for the suddenly pesky Jets to be getting, and we’re going back to our roots with a double-digit underdog. Circle the wagons.

Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills UNDER 48 points

The Bills were unbelievably good on offense last week, making us look silly in the process. That helps get this number to 48 but, with the way the Steelers are scuffling on offense, we like it. Oh, by the way, there is some inclement weather in the forecast, both with precipitation and wind. That is a positive for us.

Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns UNDER 47 points

The Browns absolutely annihilated the poor Titans defense, but the Ravens aren’t the Titans. Both of these teams should be grinding and, with the Ravens involved, the clock should also be moving. We’re putting some trust in both defenses, but it is also at least a slight fade of the Ravens offense and a bet that Cleveland isn’t suddenly the greatest show on turf.

Paul George projects to spend the next few seasons of his NBA career as a member of the L.A. Clippers, as the 30-year-old wing inked a four-year contract extension that will guarantee him more than $200 million over the next five seasons. Given that George was on track to reach free agency after the 2020-21 season, this was a mutually beneficial agreement, as George locked in the increased financial security and the Clippers avoided a situation in which both George and Kawhi Leonard were hitting the market at the same time.

While platitudes are expected to accompany any announcement of this magnitude, George provided a reminder that it has been a dream of his to play in Los Angeles, which is also something that drew him to ask for a trade to the Clippers before the 2019-20 campaign.

“As a kid growing up in Southern California, I always dreamed of playing in Los Angeles, where my friends and family could come watch me play,” George said as part of the Clippers’ official announcement of the extension. “I am so grateful to Steve Ballmer, Lawrence Frank, Coach Ty Lue, my teammates, and the entire Clippers organization for believing in me. I am proud to call this my home and look forward to doing my part in helping make the team a tremendous success – both on and off the court – in the years ahead.”

However, George took things a step further in speaking to the media after word of the extension broke. In fact, he said on the record that he “owes” the organization a championship trophy.

Of course, this is another thing that athletes say all the time, but George did make no bones about declaring his intentions on this one. To back up on the team side, Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank issued a statement that includes the potential to “accomplish our mutual goals” between the organization and George.

“This is an important moment for our franchise and our fans, to secure a long-term commitment from one of the premier two-way players in the NBA,” said Frank. “We aspire to create a destination for players, an environment where they can succeed and enjoy their success. We’re delighted by Paul’s pride in representing Clippers fans, honored that he trusts the organization with this chapter of his career, and share in his relentless pursuit of championships. We admire his talent, his dedication and his unwavering allegiance to this region. We’re excited for the opportunity to accomplish our mutual goals together.”

It remains to be seen as to whether this contract will be an overpay for George, especially since he is already reaching his 30’s before the extension begins. That, coupled with his playoff struggles, prompted some overreactions to the deal on the negative side and, in truth, the Clippers are very much betting that George will bounce back to the pre-bubble form that made him the third-place finisher in the 2018-19 MVP voting. Regardless, the Clippers now have the security of a star on the roster and, if nothing else, that could prove vital in the organization’s attempt to keep Leonard in the near future.

Patty Jenkins is making history in the Star Wars universe, part of a massive expansion of the franchise announced by Disney on Thursday. Jenkins, who directed the Wonder Woman films, will be the first female director of a Star Wars with the Rogue Squadron movie, which she helped announce in style as part of Disney’s Investor Day.

In a program full of reboots, reimaginations and plenty of Star Wars, Jenkins stood out by quite literally roller-skating her way to an X-Wing fighter and donning the signature rebel helmet seen in various Star Wars films over the years. The video, which Jenkins also shared on Twitter, saw the director speak about her affection for piloting and her dad’s career as a pilot.

“It ignited a desire in me to turn all of that tragedy and thrill into one day making the greatest fighter pilot movie of all time. But try as I might and look as I did, I couldn’t find the right story, ever,” Jenkins said, changing out of those skates on what looks like a runway of some kind. “I kept looking and looking but I just couldn’t find the right one. Until now.”

As Jenkins talked, she changed into the signature orange pilot suit of rebel fighters. The last shot of the video shows her walking, helmet on head, toward an X-Wing parked on the runway in the mid distance.

The Squadron moniker in the Star Wars universe is part of a beloved video game series, one that recently saw a new title released this fall, Star Wars Squadrons. As Variety noted, the news is historic and marks another milestone for the Star Wars franchise.

The news makes Jenkins the first woman to direct a “Star Wars” feature film; Victoria Mahoney was the first woman on a “Star Wars” directing team, serving as second unit director on “The Rise of Skywalker.” Deborah Chow also directed an episode of “The Mandalorian” Season 1, and is helming the upcoming Disney Plus series “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

According to Variety, the project won’t see the light of day until 2023, hopefully when people are much more willing to see movies on the silver screen. Because this one will get a lot of hype until then.

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about how I was done trying to understand Trump supporters after having spent four years at it. While I try to only write things I am proud of, I occasionally write something that doesn’t sit well with me after it’s published. This is one of those times.

I have messages in my inbox from people thanking me for that piece, saying it helped them understand their loved ones better, so I know some people found some parts of it helpful. But ultimately, I would take it back if I could. Please bear with me while I try to explain why.

My goal as a writer is to put stories and ideas out into the world that will, in some small way, help humanity progress toward a better future. Sometimes that means writing something positive that lifts people’s spirits and gives them hope. Sometimes it means writing about injustices and hardships that need to be brought into the light and better understood. Sometimes it means challenging the status quo and helping people see things in a different way.

It also means avoiding things that I think are ultimately counterproductive to progress. While I don’t shy away from tackling issues, I avoid writing about partisan politics because I see our two-party system as inherently divisive. I try to avoid writing about specific politicians as well, unless they’ve done something praiseworthy. There are more than enough political pundits putting out hot takes these days, and I have no desire to add my voice to that fray.

These past four years, however, have tested my convictions on these fronts, both internally and externally.

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Issues that should not be considered partisan or divisive have become so in the eyes of many, making it nearly impossible to have a conversation that doesn’t devolve into labels and generalizations and assumptions. When I write about racism or climate change or human rights—even basic public health at this point—I’m automatically placed into a political box, despite having never aligned myself with any political party. Even if I write about objective reality and verifiable fact, I’m placed into a political box, despite that making no sense whatsoever.

Labeling and categorizing is a natural tendency that’s easy to slip into, especially in our current climate. But all it does is create an “us vs. them” filter on everything we discuss. I think that’s the point of most political rhetoric, actually. “Us vs. them” is the simplest way to gain political power. Demonizing and “othering” make it easy to maintain.

The sneaky thing is that once that tendency takes hold, it starts to feel not just right, but righteous to “other” the people we see as on the wrong side of history or democracy or justice. It can even feel necessary and truthful to put them in the “other” category. Then it starts to feel okay to state the truth about them more and more harshly. Then we throw some potshots in, because those people deserve it. It so easily escalates from “they’re wrong” to “they’re insane” to “they’re evil.”

That’s literally how everyone justifies division, on every “side,” in every political system. But where does that lead us in the long run?

Whenever divisions seem intractable, I like to zoom out and look at the big picture. It’s not like we haven’t seen what we’re seeing now in various times and places throughout history, from toxic partisanship to populist demagoguery. So the real root of the problem isn’t the individual people or politics we keep arguing and complaining about, but something more fundamental.

In my opinion, the root cause of nearly all of our issues is people’s inability or unwillingness to recognize that we are all “us.” The lack of recognition of our essential oneness as human beings is manifested in all kinds of “othering”—racism, sexism, xenophobia, religious prejudice, political party prejudices, and so on and so on. But no matter the form, the root of most human problems is the “othering” of a group of people. My group = good. Other group = bad. So simple, but so wrong, every time.

I talked in my Trump supporters post about people wanting problems and solutions to be simple, but I should have been clearer that none of us is immune to that pull. We are all tempted to jump down the “us vs. them” hole because problems are simpler down there. It’s easier to think in dichotomous groups and “sides” than to wade through complex ideas and nuanced beliefs on an individual level. Everything in our political discourse is designed to draw us into that hole.

And I allowed myself to fall in when I wrote that piece. I made Trump supporters a “them,” and by doing so, perpetuated the very thing I see as the root of the problem. I fed the beast I was fighting while trying to fight it.

In the big picture, the beast isn’t one individual with power or one political party or the people who support both of those things, no matter how it may appear in this era. The beast is the human tendency towards prejudice—a tendency that we have to overcome in ourselves and convince others to overcome in themselves.

How to get people to understand this is the challenge. But I know that categorizing a group of people in a way that they feel belittles or insults them isn’t going to get us where we need to go, no matter how justified it feels. It’s just not.

Cynicism about the redeemability of our fellow Americans won’t get us where we want to go, and writing off millions of human beings will just have us living in perpetual limbo. Lasting solutions to our problems aren’t going to be found in political boxes, and they aren’t going to be found down an “us vs. them” hole, either.

We all have to decide how we are going to use our voice and how we’re going to contribute to humanity’s progress. I’d rather focus on the universal truths at the heart of the issues we face and work toward solutions in that way, rather than analysis of the political labels and ideological “sides” that only serve to divide us further.