Month: January 2021

At this point, all of the major networks should be paying Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fetterman to trademark his savage Trump takedowns because they’re always good. Case in point: his recent appearance on MSNBC. Fetterman came on the network earlier today to drag GOP Senators for supporting Trump’s Electoral College challenge, he used some harsh words to do it.

“Everyone knows this is going down in a big hot flaming pile of garbage,” Fetterman said when discussing Republican’s push to contest the results of the 2020 Presidential Election by refusing to certify Electoral College votes on Jan. 6th. “I encourage all of them to vote for it. They’re setting themselves up for a moment decades from now where it’s like, ‘Grandpa, what did you do during 2020?’ And it’s like, ‘Well grandson, I told people not to wear a mask during a pandemic and I chose to simp for a president through seditious, meaningless performance art on the floor of the United States Senate.’”

Fetterman went on to reveal that the same type of calls Trump made to Georgia election officials that were leaked to the press earlier this week have also been made to Pennsylvania officials, trying to get those in charge of counting and certifying the vote to find a path to victory for the disgraced president. But he didn’t seem too worried about Trump’s push to suppress the vote in his home state.

“This is a mathematical certitude,” he said. “All of this sound and fury is going to end with Joe Biden being inaugurated on January 20th. It’s going to end in a supernova of supreme humiliation for them and that’s going to be a stain on their record for the rest of the time they’re in public service.”

Moral of the story — don’t try to rig elections and definitely don’t come for John Fetterman. He and his neck gaiter give zero f*cks.

Welcome to the very first edition of N(ot) B(ad) A(dvice)! The advice column that hopes to answer your basketball questions as much as make sense of the feelings you are working out around those questions. Am I concerned with the stats your favourite player is or isn’t currently putting up? Very much. But I am also concerned with working through what it’s doing to you to watch a triumphant make or clanking miss.

Thank you, already, for the questions you sent in if you did! A perfect mix of x’s and o’s and agony over the behaviour of superstars. There are plenty more to get to so sit tight if you don’t see yours in this first round — it’s a long season.

Just know, my inbox made up for this column specifically is always open so please, keep the head and heart-scratchers coming to: [email protected]. Let’s begin.

Can you please explain the Spurs offense/Pop’s approach to scoring?

– Baked Griffin

Well, Baked, while this questions runs a little closer to “What is the meaning of life?” in terms of straightforward explainability, I will do my best. Also, I asked for tough questions so, much like life, this is a prison of my own making.

The Spurs are disciples of an offensive system called Motion Offense, the ethos of which is actually fairly easy to explain because your brain is probably already picturing it. Players move in transition from the defensive to offensive end of the floor and rather than an ISO play or a pick and roll, the entire lineup will touch the ball as it swings around the paint in many, many dizzying sequences that stem from two basic parent plays — Motion Weak and Motion Strong.

Motion Weak concentrates on the offensive players’ movement around the weak side of the floor, basically everybody zipping around like demons in order to tie up and turn around the defence, and Motion Strong is literally called that because the point guard coming down the floor, at some point, held their bicep and occasionally flexed.

Motion Offense is also kind of like a protolanguage for the rest of the NBA, parts and pieces of it have been carried away and cobbled into pretty much every other team’s offensive strategies. Gregg Popovich’s version was predicated on Bob Knight’s version, and if both versions seem weird and secretive or overly complicated at times, it’s worth noting that Knight spent 40 years using it at West Point, and Pop also has a background in the military and initially considered a career with the CIA. A fun and roundabout fact is that Knight rejected Popovich during tryouts for the 1972 U.S. Olympic basketball team, a team that would go on to lose to the Soviet Union (the first loss after seven consecutive gold medals since the sport’s introduction in 1936), a team that had dogged the U.S. throughout the Cold War and its tense socio-political fallout.

When it’s done well, Motion Offense is pretty beautiful. It’s propulsive but fluid and every player is working in such a seamless tandem it feels like they have broken free of time for how things appear to speed up and slow down simultaneously. The team dispatching it is humming with confidence, connected by a near-etherial psychic cord of communication and trust. To hit on the second part of your question, this is what Pop’s approach to scoring is, which is way, aside from the mechanics of the Motion system, it can seem so nebulous.

Because it only works when it’s done right. When every player is talking, trusting, carrying their weight and holding that psychic equilibrium up. Otherwise it drags and grinds and nothing gets started. Because of this, the Spurs offence and Popovich’s approach to scoring can be totally complimentary or at direct odds, and that frustrating latter is my guess to where you were coming from with this question.

Given the schedule over the next couple of weeks, it seems very likely the Bulls will get off to yet another poor start from a win-loss perspective. Given this, how long will it take for the new front office to start to make moves?

Relatedly, other than Pat Williams, are there any other players which are or should be viewed as untouchable? My view is maybe Coby White but that’s pretty much it.

Yours truly,
Semi-Optimistic Bulls fan in Austin

Would it surprise and delight your past self that my future self, in answering your question, will remind you that your Chicago Bulls have a current better win record than two former NBA Champions, the Raptors and the Spurs? I hope so. And with players out due to COVID-19, and not the easiest schedule to start as you pointed out, it’s not as if the club’s 3-4 record is due to fluke.

Enter Billy Donovan. Also enter Marc Eversley. And also Arturas Karnisovas.

What I like best about the Bull’s new front office is that they are prone to emotion and not afraid to show it. Karnisovas said watching The Last Dance made him so verklempt that he called Eversley up the Sunday night before the Monday morning he planned to hire him, and Eversley has said he wants to make the franchise “cool again.” There is absolutely nothing wrong with either. The Chicago Bulls are a team everyone is supposed to be excited about and a good place to start will be their own players.

You can’t really blame the deadpan reaction of Zach LaVine when he found out the team had hired Donovan, he was traded to the team in exchange for the player who had the best shot at leading him, along with Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn, and has existed in a kind of joyless Neverland ever since. But getting young players amped up is something Billy Donovan is pretty good at, that was the whole deal in OKC, and thus far he’s been a balm for relieving the itch around LaVine’s compulsive trigger finger in urging the team to stick to plays. Just like that there’s structure again.

Given that a veteran’s presence was missing these past few seasons, I’d be reticent to say Chicago’s new front office should look to ship out its young prospects in a hurry. With Thaddeus Young, Garrett Temple, Tomas Satoransky and Otto Porter shifting in and out of rotations from the bench there’s been some necessary stability added in games. I hope they keep Coby White because he deserves a shot at developing with a storied franchise the way Jimmy Butler begged for and didn’t get, the way Denzel Valentine was meant to but just sort of… existed instead, and the way LaVine had been left free but wholly idle in.

By most accounts Karnisovas is a pro who values consistency and a determined work ethic, an approach he took in his playing career as the first Soviet-born player to play college ball in the U.S. — the KGB had to sign off on his exit — and Eversley saw disaster firsthand in Toronto under Bryan Colangelo’s tenure. The two of them are going to want to get this right as a first spin in their respective chairs but more likely because they stand to lift a storied franchise back up to the light if they do. I’m glad you’re optimistic, you should be. Get a feel for the new front office the same way they’re going to be with the team, and get a feel for the team as it starts to spark and exist again under the new front office. This is the fun part, probably hard to recognize after years of just enduring, enjoy it.

My superstar is shooting 12.5% from three and looks like a 5th year senior at a fraternity who has had too much beer.

But he’s also averaging 28 ppg!

Am I overly worried about how he looks? Could being thicc work out for him?

Thanks,
Frumpy in Dallas

Frumpy, babe, I’m going to level with you — there is nothing that irks me more than body talk about basketball players. Namely, is it possible for so and so to be good because they look a certain way, mostly when that way is just sliiiightly out of some collectively held ideal based in popular thought of the time. I can admit it baffling to watch Zion Williamson move the way he does, but it’s a breath yanking, gorgeous bafflement in watching a wholly new kind of player bend physics and expectations to his will.

Luka Doncic is the same.

Who knows and who cares why he looks the way he does when he can play 32 minutes a game scoring 28 points and yank, on average, 9 rebounds from the hands of hapless, maybe more muscular opponents, all while looking so damn happy! He hurls passes like a young Hercules of our time and likely grew up on dumplings instead of ambrosia, you are lucky to have him.

I find myself pulled in two directions. As a Houston Rockets fan, I have been engaged in a monogamous basketball relationship with James Harden for the past eight years. When he was benched in 2017 against the Spurs, I defended him. When we missed 27 consecutive threes against the Warriors, and then lost to them again WITHOUT Kevin Durant the next year, I still weathered the Twitter storm. However, now he wants out and is galavanting around town going to clubs seemingly every other night? He’s clearly showing us what he wants and he doesn’t mind burning some bridges on his way out.

However, the other night against the Trail Blazers he dropped 44 points and 17 assists! Seeing him playing that well reminded me of the good times. Even though I know it’s time for me, and Rockets fans as a whole, to let him go, I can’t help but hold out hope that he’ll change his mind and we’ll win the championship just like Kobe did after requesting a trade. Am I crazy?

Sincerely,

Helpless in Houston

There’s a point in every relationship with an NBA superstar where they want more than you can give them. “You” being the team that pays them their salary, but “you” also being the perceived draw of a city, a fan base, a future, a legacy. Even Tim Duncan, stoic basketball metronome, almost left the Spurs for the Orlando Magic coming off his rookie contract when the Magic made a simultaneous move for Duncan and Grant Hill. They were so committed they had Tiger Woods help with house hunting and the Epcot sphere lit up like a crystal ball that said, “Grant Us Tim”.

The difference, big difference, between James Harden and Duncan is that Duncan flew home to think about it and eventually declined, likely finding the whole thing too ostentatious, whereas it very much feels like Harden is wishing extremely hard for a show of the same garish scope.

Because, and I know this really doesn’t help your heartache, Helpless, I don’t think Harden really knows what he wants right now.

He wanted, at least we were made to believe he did, a co-star and three times the Rockets delivered — Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, John Wall. Before that, Harden was the first one out of that joyful Thunder quadfecta. Rather than stay and see if OKC couldn’t go up against Miami and reverse their fortunes for a title, he declined an extension and was traded south. He wanted his own team, he got it. He wanted his own system, he got that too.

This is all flattening the timeline some but the point I’m trying to show is that for a long time Harden has been handed the things he wants, but the things he has wanted have largely been centered on himself. Teams are, unfortunately for Harden, many way streets. Highways, surprising cul-de-sacs, occasional frustrating dead ends, all of which have to be navigated by the equivalent of a minivan in the carpool lane, because teams win titles.

You aren’t crazy, but at the moment Harden is kind of the definition of it. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. It seems less likely a team is going to go all in on him if only because the season has started and no team can be sure he’d buy in, and any deal is going to be a two-year, tops. That’s a big risk for a rental who is maybe going to hate you. I’m also not sure that he wants out, that he isn’t just bored in the embarrassment of riches he’s built up around himself over the years, a perpetual common denominator who kind of just seems bored.

I hope, for your sake, that Harden realizes his best shot is still in front of him. And even if that isn’t with Houston, he has to deliver a solid season there after all this to build a better bridge for himself out. I also hope he realizes he has the most loyal, steadying, protective force for good in P.J. Tucker, and the opportunity to start something new and potentially interesting with Stephen Silas. But none of this can be on you, and the “you” here is really you, not the franchise, but you the Rockets fan. Let him go or don’t, but realize that you’re in the kind of relationship where you’re never going to get back all that you’re giving to keep it.

What am I supposed to do with all the shoes I bought to make myself feel better during the pandemic, since I can’t wear them to games to feel like one of the cool reporters?

Signed,

EmoG Anunoby, Alone in the short corner

As someone who deeply misses wearing the inordinate amount of jumpsuits she owns just to stand around at the sideline during pregame shooting, I feel you. I’ve also not worn a jumpsuit since the pandemic brought the dream of doing something as idle, anonymous, exhilarating and indulgent as standing at the sideline of an NBA court while guys lob shot after shot up in dazed reverie to an end because what’s the point.

Anyway, shoes are easier.

Be like an American, EmoG, and wear them around your house. They’re out of the box clean, after all. Have a pair for dunking the last of those holiday tinned cookies into coffee, have a pair for warmups by the front door (a.k.a. putting on the full gamut of outside winter clothes to go to the grocery store), and line some up like trophies in a spot you can see them while you work to remind you at some point you will squeak ‘em again as you catch a wayward ball and pass it back to the shooting coach who is for sure critiquing your form. It’s corny but it will make you happy.

When Meek Mill and Michael Rubin teamed up in 2019 to break ground on their criminal justice reform organization REFORM Alliance, their goal was to make lasting improvements in the justice system. Late last year, they assisted California in passing one of the most progressive probation reform bills in the country and now, they’re celebrating a similar win in Michigan.

Michigan state just passed SB 1048, SB 1050, and SB 1051 this week. According to press materials, the new set of laws “will reduce adult probation sentences in Michigan from five years to three years, prevent endless extensions on misdemeanor and felony probation terms, limit jail sanctions for technical probation violations, and require parole supervision terms to be tailored to a person’s risks and needs.” Prior to signing the new legislation, Michigan had the sixth-highest rate of probation in the country. Over 172,000 adults are probation and 17,000 are on parole in the state, which tallies to cost the state over $59 million each year.

About the exciting news, REFORM co-chair Michael Rubin thanked Michigan’s governor, saying, “It’s encouraging to watch bipartisan leaders from different states recognize the need for fair and rational legislation focused on creating second chances for those in the criminal justice system. We’re incredibly thankful for Governor Whitmer for signing these bills into law and for the coalition of groups that supported us throughout this process. This is a tremendous victory for REFORM and a strong way to start 2021.”

Echoing Rubin’s statements, REFORM’s National Policy Director Erin Haney said:

“Michigan’s criminal justice reforms are a positive achievement during a difficult and divisive year. The legislation provides a commonsense approach to justice reform by focusing on redemption, families, and safe communities while saving millions of dollars for Michigan taxpayers. Michigan’s efforts capstone a national movement that has seen bipartisan reform victories this year in red, purple, and blue states like California and Louisiana, and can be a model for other states seeking to fix broken criminal justice systems. REFORM Alliance is proud to have helped drive these state victories, and we look forward to working with bipartisan coalitions throughout the nation to support and pass more reforms in 2021.”

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The grocery chain Albertsons along with its subsidiaries (which include Pavilions and Vons), will discontinue their in-house grocery delivery services in late February in favor of third-party delivery apps in part of California and other states. Business Insider reports that the stores will now rely on gig contractors from services like DoorDash for future grocery deliveries, a move that appears largely influenced by the passage of California Proposition 22, which exempted app-based food delivery services and rideshare companies from having to follow existing California labor protections.

Prior to Prop 22’s passage — which was aided by a $200 million campaign paid for by DoorDash, Lyft, Instacart, Uber, and Postmates — Albertsons was required to supply its delivery drivers with a minimum wage, healthcare coverage, and provide other protections under California labor law, none of which they will now have to do for third-party workers. Albertsons spokesperson Andrew Whelan confirmed the move in a statement released yesterday:

“In early December, Albertsons Companies made the strategic decision to discontinue using our own home delivery fleet of trucks in select locations… we will transition that portion of our eCommerce operations to third-party logistics providers who specialize in that service.”

According to Knock-LA, employees were notified of the move over the holidays, making the use of the word “strategic” feel particularly ironic. In 2020, Albertsons earned $38.5 billion in revenue between the end of February and mid-September, a 17% increase over the previous year, and ended their $2 per hour extra hazard pay for workers back in June, despite the fact that coronavirus was by now means under control in the company’s key states.

Many took to Twitter to air their anger at Albertsons and its subsidiaries, but mostly at the passage of Proposition 22, which labor experts fear will continue to devastate quality jobs in favor of investor profits.

While it remains to be seen just how devastating Proposition 22 will actually be, the companies that benefit from it have wasted no time at jumping at the chance to change some of their practices. The Los Angeles Times reports that Grubhub made a recent tweak that changes how customers are prompted to tip delivery drivers, a move which many drivers feel discourages tipping, affecting their potential earnings. Grubhub’s tipping prompt — which now defaults to $0 — reads “leave an optional tip on top of Driver benefits,” and was implemented after the company rolled out new fees for customers in California to help cover the cost of the new driver benefits included in the passage of Prop 22, essentially passing the cost of “new” worker’s benefits to their customers.

Missy Elliott’s Twitter has been an occasional source of insight and delight, but today, she used the account to ruin the dreams of a generation of music fans. Replying to an… ahem… tweet about one of Missy’s fan-favorite collaborations, the genre-bending star debunked a longstanding myth about the meaning behind Tweet’s 2002 hit “Oops (Oh My).”

The original fan tweet posted an excerpt from the song, captioning it, “Tweet said Masturbation but make it a Bop.” However, Missy chimed in to clear up the accepted, 20-year-old origin story, offering up a #FunFact explaining, “This song was never bout Masturbation.” Instead, she said, “It was always about her appreciating her Dark Skin when she looked in the mirror.”

The assumption that Tweet’s song referred to self-pleasure sprung up in the minds of fans, and unwilling to shut them down, she said, “It was the listeners that thought it was about sex & just ran with it. We just let the consumer’s mind create what they wanted.”

The news was met with some disappointment from fans who’d bought into the widely-held theory to the contrary, lamenting Missy bursting their respective bubbles. Some even challenged her on it, with one questioning even more of Missy’s hits, although that fan can rest assured in the knowledge that “One Minute Man” was about exactly what it sounded like. Check out more fans’ responses below.

While we never turn down a good bottle of bourbon or rye on a cold winter’s night, it’s hard to beat the warming, comforting feeling you get from a nice glass of peated (or even unpeated) Scotch whisky this time of year. Alas, your bank account is probably still reeling from all your holiday season generosity — so an overly expensive bottle of scotch is likely out of the question.

You need to get every penny’s worth out of the juice you buy this January.

To help you along your way, we asked some of our favorite bartenders to name the best value Scotch whiskies to drink this winter. Check them all out below, pick one or two that fit your price range and passion points, and pour yourself a dram. If you don’t have a Glencairn glass, a rocks glass or even an old coffee mug will do!

Aberfeldy 12

Felipe Muñoz, head bartender Sweetleaf Cocktails in Long Island City, New York

Aberfeldy 12 has become a staple behind our bar. A favorite of our bartenders as it delivers notes of honey, vanilla, orange and spice, all rounded out nicely by dark fruit notes and the right amount of peatiness. This will get bourbon drinkers out of their comfort zone too and keep connoisseurs of the category wanting the next sip.

Price: $44.99

Lagavulin 8

Erin Delaney, food and beverage director at Barn8 Restaurant & Bourbon Bar in Goshen, Kentucky

The best “value” Scotch to drink this season is Lagavulin 8 Years Old — because it is smoky and full of peaty flavor that you don’t find in other Scotches at this price, which tend to fall flat.

Price: $57.99

Kilchoman Machir Bay

Brandon “Habi” Habenstein, beverage director at The Kitchen & Bar at Bardstown Bourbon Company in Bardstown, Kentucky

Kilchoman Machir Bay is an absolute must-have bottle this time of year. Kilchoman is a “Single Farm” Distillery and, as the name may suggest, this bottle is indeed grain-to-glass where every aspect of production is handled on-site. The peat fires used in the malting process are very present in the whisky itself but not as powerful as say, Laphroaig.

Peated scotch is the quintessential whisky to drink in the winter, with fires crackling.

Price: $60

Ledaig 10

Iain McPherson, owner of Panda & Sons in Edinburgh, Scotland

The Tobermory distillery produces exceptional Scotch. Ledaig is their peatier range of expressions. My favorite within the range would have to be the 10-year-old, which is finished in sherry casks. The marriage of sweet berry notes and smoke is one that dreams are made of. The finish keeps going and going.

This is the ideal sipping Scotch at its price and it doesn’t get its fair share of the spotlight in my opinion. That’s largely to do with the historical dominance of smoky Scotch’s coming from Islay.

Price: $54.99

Aberlour 12

Andy Printy, beverage director at Chao Baan in St. Louis

Aberlour 12 is a great single malt for the season and the money. It’s all citrus and barley on the nose. At first sip, the citrus is met with apricot, orange blossom honey, and bit of black pepper. As it finishes, the dry barley and mild oak leave you with just enough residual tannin to keep you going back for more.

Price: $49.99

Monkey Shoulder

Robbie Robinson, lead bartender at The Ballantyne, A Luxury Collection Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina

I’ve recently come across Monkey Shoulder, which is blended with several single malts. Vanilla, clove, malt, and baking spices on the nose. It has a very creamy palate consisting of butterscotch, vanilla, honey, with a bit of dried fruit. All in all, a great match for the season.

Price: $32.99

Compass Box Peat Monster

Hayden Miller, head bartender at Bodega Taqueria y Tequila in Miami

Compass Box Peat Monster is an excellent holiday (or post-holiday!) scotch for those peat enthusiasts. Similar to many bottlings, this takes best to a splash of water or some cubes for better translation of the flavors.

Price: $49.99

Glengoyne 10

Gavin Humes, bartender at Scratch|Bar & Kitchen in Encino, California

I think not enough people give credit to the Glengoyne 10-year Single Malt – finished in sherry casks, it has a nice round, lush mouthfeel to complement the flavors of vanilla, baking spices, and almost overripe apples. The 10 years in cask give it enough time to really settle into the flavor complexity to be sure.

Definite bang for the buck!

Price: $44.99

Old Pulteney 12

Dan Marlowe, mixologist at Modena in Washington, DC

Old Pulteney 12-year-old Single Malt is a relatively lesser-known “highland” style that is completely peat-less. It is however aged seaside on one of Scotland’s most northern shores and the salinity in the spirit more than replaces the peat for flavor and depth. Perfect sipping on a brisk winter day.

Price: $45.99

Kilchoman Sanaig

Eric Vincent, bartender at Sparrow in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Kilchoman Sanaig. Everyone is aging, resting, or finishing their juice in sherry barrels and when done effectively I can hardly blame them. This Scotch is an excellent blend of all my go-to flavors. Mild salinity, enjoyable peat smokiness, toasted ex bourbon barrels and a nice nuttiness from the oloroso casks to round it all out — lots of scotch for the money here!

Price: $56.99

Slowthai wrapped up 2020 by starting to roll out his next album, Tyron. Here in 2021, he’s picking up where he left off by dropping an upbeat new song today, “Mazza.” The track features ASAP Rocky, whose creative agency AWGE is releasing the album in the US. Also set to appear on the album are Skepta, Dominic Fike, and James Blake, among others.

Meanwhile, Slowthai shared a note on social media, in which he revealed that he and his team have considered delaying the release of Tyron. However, he ultimately decided that he “cannot allow this virus to keep holding us back” and will go forward with the planned February release.

Listen to “Mazza” above and check out Slowthai’s full note below.

“it’s almost a year since this virus took hold of our world and shattered the lives of thousands. deaths, unemployment, rise in domestic abuse and suicide, business closures, educational crisis and a rise in homelessness to name a few of the overwhelming negatives this pandemic has caused.

i’ve personally struggled more with my own mental health during this time and wanted to let you know that you’re not alone if you feel the same. however, i’m trying to do my best to stay positive and look forward on ways in which we can come out of this and make this whole world a better place for every one of us.

earlier today me and my team had a conversation about pushing back TYRON due to the national lockdown and not being able to bring to life all the ideas we had planned for you all but i cannot allow this virus to keep holding us back.

films, an and music have helped me most in my darkest moments and with the majority of this album being made last year i would hope that it can help someone as a distraction amongst the chaos and shift their mindset positively.

‘normality’ may not return but we do have a chance to create a new normality. one built with humanity at the core, one that is inclusive of all with compassion and love as a focus. although it’s hard I try my best to act and visualise this every day.

ALL LOVE

TYRON.”

Tyron is out 2/5 via AWGE/Method. Pre-order it here.

As more and more artists get into podcasting as an alternative outlet and become the subjects of narrative podcasts like the Tekashi 69 podcast Infamous, it was only a matter of time until an artist took on the challenge of reporting for their own documentary-style show. Now, Dreamville and Bas are partnering with Spotify for The Messenger, a podcast telling the story of Ugandan pop star Bobi Wine, who is running for president in his country’s upcoming general election — and risking his life to do so.

Bas will narrate the podcast, amplifying Bobi Wine’s social justice struggle as he challenges Ugandan dictator Yoweri Museveni, who’s been the nation’s president since 1986. Under Museveni, Ugandan leadership has suppressed dissent, threatened to punish homosexuality with the death penalty, removed term and age limits on the presidency, and oversaw multiple humanitarian crises, including involvement in Congo’s civil war and the insurgency of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda.

Bobi Wine, who led multiple humanitarian aid projects throughout his tenure as both a musician and a member of Uganda’s Parliament, was banned from radio for speaking out against the government’s policies, arrested after his nomination for president, and allegedly mistreated while in police custody. The Messenger seeks to bring light to this artist’s struggle ahead of his challenging Museveni this year, spearheaded by Bas, who is also of African descent, although he hails from Sudan rather than Uganda.

Listen to the podcast on Spotify and check out its theme song, “Smoke From Fire,” above.

Meghan McCain has been back on The View for all of two days after taking a months-long paid maternity leave (which she only now realizes should be mandatory), and already she’s pissed off the internet and her co-hosts. On Monday, it was telling Whoopi Goldberg that the “media needs to be more respectful of Trump voters,” to which the EGOT winner replied, “You’re not allowed to kvetch and poop all over this!” (Don Lemon agrees). During Tuesday’s episode, she got into it with Joy Behar, who straight-up said what many others are thinking: Meghan’s contrarian takes were not missed.

During a discussion about America’s two-party system, Behar said that compared to the Democrats, the “Republican Party is in much more trouble right now because you have, really, traitors.” This was too much for McCain, who interrupted her co-host to bring up Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez not having the “full support” of Nancy Pelosi, and so on. “Excuse me, am I done? I’m not done!” Behar fired back. She was only getting started.

“You missed me so much, Joy. You missed me so much when I was on maternity leave. You missed fighting with me,” McCain joked. But Behar wasn’t joking when she said, “I did not. I did not miss you. Zero.” Harsh, but fair. McCain called Behar’s response “so nasty,” and that she was only “teasing because you said something rude,” but based on the reactions to the clip on Twitter, it seems most people are on Team Joy.

Sturgill Simpson may not have been keen on late-night talk show performances in the past, but since he can’t tour behind his recent music, the singer has made some exceptions. After appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Show this year, Simpson brings his bluegrass tunes to a performance on The Tonight Show.

Taking the stage backed by a full band, Simpson delivers an upbeat rendition of “Life Of Sin.” A reworked bluegrass version of the song appears on his 2020 album Cuttin’ Grass – Vol. 1 (Butcher Shoppe Sessions), one of two LPs he released last year. Simpson debuted the album’s follow-up, Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 2: The Cowboy Arms Sessions, in December as a way to “[take] more chances” with his sound.

Ahead of his The Tonight Show performance, Simpson sat down with Uproxx to chat about his music. Simpson also revealed that, along with having a bevy of music in his back pocket, he is also working on a manuscript about navigating the music industry. “I’m always writing. I wrote a book. I’m working on a couple of scripts,” he said. “I’ve gotten really into film. Not just acting, but the whole art of it. I think it’s a very powerful medium for storytelling, without as many restrictions as a three-and-a-half minute song. But I definitely wrote a book. Still working on it. […] As somebody starting at 35 and just sort of learning to navigate the waters and all the real ins and outs behind the curtain. The kind of stuff that fans probably deserve to know, but you don’t really want to say while you’re still actively engaged in the business. So, I’m going to save that.”

Watch Simpson perform “Life Of Sin” on The Tonight Show above.

Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 2: The Cowboy Arms Sessions is out now via High Top Mountain Records. Get it here.