One of the network’s longest-tenured figures is out at the Worldwide Leader. In a post on his Twitter account, Kenny Mayne announced that he’s a “salary cap casualty” at ESPN, and as a result, his nearly three decades as a SportsCenter host and personality across a number of platforms has come to an end.
Mayne thanked a number of individuals who played a role in getting him to ESPN back in 1994 and listed a handful of things he’d miss, including “the vending machine set up over by the old Van Pelt joint.”
I am leaving ESPN. Salary cap casualty. Thanks for the opportunity Vince Doria & Al Jaffe & for taking my solicitations Herman/Stinton/Lynch.
I will miss the people. I will miss the vending machine set up over by the old Van Pelt joint. We had everything.
Mayne began his tenure at ESPN back in 1994, and in the years since has endeared himself to viewers with his dry sense of humor and lighthearted approach to sports. This was evident whenever he’d man the SportsCenter desk over the years, or whenever he’d take on another project at the network to show off his personality — he was the host of the web series Kenny Mayne’s Wider World of Sports and was star of the scripted online series Mayne Street, which featured Mayne playing an exaggerated version of himself.
Beyond his television work, Mayne authored the book An Incomplete And Inaccurate History Of Sports in 2008. A popular personality during his time at Bristol, there is no word on what the future holds for Mayne.
If you’re not from the East Coast, hearing the phrase “New York” might conjure visions of crowded streets, the glittering lights of Broadway, neighborhoods that you’ve seen a thousand times in movies from every era of American film, and big slices of greasy-cheesy pizza. But that’s actually just New York City, ya know? Merely 302.6 square miles in a state of 54,556 square miles.
Meaning that limiting your ideas of New York to the five boroughs leaves you with a woefully inadequate picture of the state. And ignores a whole lot of natural beauty.
Evan Dorfman and Ben Cronin of indie electronic duo Gilligan Moss don’t buy into any narrow view of what defines New York. They’ve spent the last three years exploring everything upstate has to offer while crafting their self-titled debut album, letting the serene environment inform the soundscape.
“We spent a lot of our time in a house with open windows,” Dorfman says. “We began our mornings by writing material in two separate stations and in the evenings we could come together to play the ideas loudly into the garden. By the end of the trip, the outside and inside spaces felt continuous and our sense of location began informing a lot of the sounds and feeling the music. Lots of flowers, tall grass, and birds abound.”
That might lead you to believe Gilligan Moss is full of chirping birds and the hippie, back-to-basics vibes of ’70s upstate New York, but that couldn’t be further from the actual sound of the record. Instead, the album is full of driving rhythms, funky bass lines, and sparkling synths that build off of the group’s two previous eps, as well as the visually-inspiring qualities of their 13 track mix for Adventure Time: Distant Lands.
On the heels of last Friday’s release of Gilligan Moss, the indie duo set us up with a guide to the New York countryside sights that helped to inspire their debut album. Their tips make for one hell of an adventure, and it all ends as it should — back in the outer reaches of NYC, crushing a slice of pizza.
Baxter Preserve holds a special place in our hearts; we’ve done a lot of writing retreats nearby, and it’s a staple for us as far as pastoral NY goes. It’s a giant loop with tall grasses and a nice sized pond, for pondering. It’s bordered by some beautiful farms and feels historic in a way. Old stone walls line many of the walking paths, and there’s even a neat little creek. Great for working out a creative idea.
A Westchester park, and the biggest one at that. We’ve done some camping here — get in line for a permit early! — and a fair amount of hiking. The trails are gorgeous, and the reservation feels ecologically emblematic of a pre-human New York. 10/10 would recommend checking out the Bear Rock Petroglyphs.
Also, it’s the only place on our list that is home to Jeopardy champion Austin Rogers.
Shelter Island is probably most well-known for Sunset Beach, and the summery party-forward vibe that comes with it. But there are some “hidden gem” walking trails on the island, too. It’s a coastal marsh, and the wildlife is really vibrant. If you like walking around and watching birds do their thing, it’s a place to go. Take the Jitney out, or drive and take a ferry.
Equal parts party and nature — our album is the same vibe.
We did a writing camp near here, too. We’re trying to hone our mushroom hunting skills, and so far the only success we’ve ever had has been on the Appalachian Trail. Up near Wingdale — two-ish hours from the city — there are a lot of access points to the trail. The trails feel connected to an older time.
Bring some turkey sandwiches a la Evan — mayo and cucumber — and enjoy some walking in the outdoors.
Gilly Day Trip: Get 15% stoned, grab a bike, and charge your way up to Wave Hill. It’s really strange and beautiful, and if you are a fan of flowers then this place has some delights in store for you. There are tables and benches to eat if you pack a lunch, and the grounds will put NY in a different perspective. It’s kind of the opposite of wilderness though — very well manicured and prim.
Be aware — there is an entry fee. If you’re tired after a long bike ride, you can take the train back to Grand Central very easily.
A tiny little park with an even tinier little beach looking out over the Hudson. We love this one for a number of reasons:
It’s about an hour from Brooklyn.
It’s not super crowded.
It’s great if you have a dog with crippling anxiety — she doesn’t have to be around a lot of people and can go swimming at the little mini beach.
It’s right across the street from Peekskill Brewery — the move is to grab some food and beer, walk across to the park, let the dogs go swimming while you swig back a cool IPA, and take in the beauty of the Hudson River.
This is another little gem of a beach that never has a ton of people at it — our dogs run our lives here at Gilmo HQ, and when you have an anxious dog, you have to bookmark all the quiet beaches around New York.
This is a nice little day trip if you want to explore the north fork. You can hang at the beach, check out some of the surrounding towns, and make your way out to Greenport at the end of the island.
The Japanese have the term Shinrin-yoku — taking in the forest or “forest bathing” — and at Gilmo HQ we need a similar term for Rockaways Bathing. It may not be a day in nature, but it definitely cleanses the soul. We’ve done it all down in the Rockaways — weddings, album photo shoots, birthdays, we’ve even played a show sponsored by the Parks Department on the beach.
We could go on, but we must give a special shoutout to Howard Beach’s New Park Pizza — the best slice in the city, hands down. You have to order it well done.
For the past decade, Marvel has continuously pushed the limit on just how many A-list caped crusaders a studio can fit on a movie screen. In Endgame‘s final battle alone, over 30 of Earth’s mightiest heroes stood ready to lay down their lives in order to stop Thanos and restore order to the world. However, this raises the question of when will we see Marvel properties round-up a bunch of folks who don’t play nice together. While DC has their Suicide Squad and Sony’s X-Men tackled The Brotherhood of Mutants, outside of Hydra (which while an evil organization feels unfair to call a “supergroup”), Marvel movies haven’t created a formidable organization of villains — at least not yet.
On Sept. 24, Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage hits theaters, and based on the new trailer, what we know about the next Spider-Man film, and even the short Morbius trailer that dropped last year, it could mark the start of a multi-dimensional Spider-Man show-off against the most iconic super-villain group in comics: the Sinister Six.
Created in 1964, The Sinister Six are an organization of six supervillains that really don’t care for Spider-Man and all his do-goodery. In the first incarnation of the group (as well as in many of the versions that follow), Doctor Octopus, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Sandman, and Vulture are the ones to band together and take on Spidey. However, several other of Peter Parker’s foes have played a part in Sinister Six, including Rhino, Green Goblin, Lizard, Morbius, and even Eddie Brock’s Venom.
So, what makes this all seem so likely? In the upcoming Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Alfred Molina is reprising his role as Doctor Octopus, and Jamie Foxx is returning as Electro, two major players in the Sinister Six. What makes this so unusual — and exciting — is that both of these actors worked in Sony movies by different directors, featuring different Peter Parkers, leading to speculation that a multiverse event is incoming. While this might seem farfetched, Marvel Studios already has an established multiverse (Earth-616 being the most commonly used and “normal” dimension) and is seemingly leaning harder into it with WandaVision and Doctor Strange 2: In the Multiverse of Madness, the latter of which is directed by first Spider-Man director Sam Rami.
Pretty interesting, right? It gets better!
Now, unlike Spider-Man, both Let There Be Carnage and Morbius (coming early 2022) have not been invited to the MCU Phase Four parties — but both trailers prove that might not matter. In the Morbius trailer, there are two huge indicators the movie takes place in the primary MCU: graffiti on a wall calling Spider-Man a murderer (which checks out with how Spider-Man: Far From Home ends), and an appearance by an incarcerated Vulture, reprised by Spider-Man: Homecoming’s Michael Keaton.
In the trailer for Let There Be Carnage, a parallel comes in the shape of The Daily Bugle — the in-comic newspaper Spider-Man is persecuted by and works for. You see, the version of the Daily Bugle we see looks identical to the one in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man series. In addition, the story shown in the newspaper in the trailer has the headline “Avengers Lose to Nightmare.” This could mean two interesting things: there is a universe where the Avengers lost, and we might see that universe in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, in which Nightmare is rumored to be a villain. Oh, and did we mention Sam Raimi is directing that? This man just keeps popping up.
While director Andy Serkis said, Venom is “unaware at this point of other characters like Spider-Man,” and the studio is treating his story very separately from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he also remarked there are “little things you can pick out of it.” This leads us to believe the connections exist and will be abundant in Let There Be Carnage, and man, we can’t wait to see them.
The Crime of the Century (HBO, 9:00pm) — Alex Gibney’s recent successes include skewering the botched pandemic response (which continues to disastrously reverberate) as well as Elizabeth Holmes and the Church of Scientology. He’s now taking aim at Big Pharma for a two-part HBO documentary called Crime of the Century. Tonight, Part 1 dives into how Purdue Pharma aggressively marketed OxyContin to get the highly profitable pill pushed through the FDA approvals for wide use without sufficient studies and evidence. The project also argues that this OxyContin-paved crisis made it much easier for even more dangerous prescription drugs to achieve the same results.
Running Wild With Bear Grylls (Nat Geo, 9:00pm) — Model and actress Cara Delevingne joins Bear to do the daredevil-in-nature thing.
9-1-1 (Fox, 8:00pm) — The gang just respond to sheer chaos after a mystery writer dies, and the entire city goes on the hunt for the author’s buried treasure.
9-1-1: Lone Star (Fox, 9:00pm) — Owen’s suddenly the prime suspect in the serial arsonist case while a fiery situation also plagues T.K. and Carlos.
Debris (NBC, 10:00pm) — Bryan’s past comes to light due to knowledge held by a woman affected by the Debris, which leads to Bryan working to confront his trauma.
Breeders (FX, 10:00pm) — Martin Freeman’s starring turn in this comedy enters the sophomore season with new parenting challenges. This week, a power outage strikes at As Jim and Jackie’s golden wedding anniversary party.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Jake Tapper, Billie Eilish
Jimmy Kimmel Live — Ewan McGregor, George Wallace, LuckyDaye Ft. Yebba
The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Leslie Jones, X González, Weezer
Late Night With Seth Meyers — Tracee Ellis Ross, Paula Pell
The Late Late Show With James Corden — David Oyelowo, Maisie Peters
In case you missed these streaming picks:
Mythic Quest: Season 2 (Apple TV+ series) — Two pandemic specials sustained viewers between seasons of Rob McElhenney’s workplace comedy, which shall see plenty of awkward maneuvering while the crew comes back to the office after you-know-what happened. In short, sometimes the bigger battle than the work itself is learning (and in this case, relearning) how to achieve harmony with one’s coworkers, but here’s great news: Snoop Dogg stops by this season to spread his feel-good… vibes.
Jupiter’s Legacy (Netflix series) — Kick-Ass and Kingsman creator Mark Millar is to thank for this epic superhero series, starring a heavily bearded Josh Duhamel as The Utopian. He’s the head of a superhero family that’s hoping to pass the torch to a new generation, but (no real surprise) things aren’t going well. Yes, this description does evoke shades of Robert Kirkman’s Invincible (on Amazon), but the vibe is less R-rated and also entertaining on its own merits. No spoilers here, but there are twists involved with this family’s ethics as heroes, and the show answers a lot of questions left open by Marvel Studios’ The Avengers with all of its collateral damage.
As Rudy Giuliani continues to face mounting legal problems including the recent raid on his apartment by federal investigators, two competing documentaries have been announced that will explore the downfall of the man who was once referred to as “America’s Mayor.” The first documentary is from Campfire Studios, the team behind the critically-acclaimed WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn for Hulu. That project will take a longer look at Giuliani’s career including his time in the 1980s as one of New York City’s top federal prosecutors. While we mostly know him as the shout-y guy leaking hair dye from his skull while pushing Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” about the 2020 election, the Campfire doc will explore the almost forgotten time when Giuliani was legendary for his skills at bringing down mafia bosses.
The other doc will be a collaboration between MRC Non Fiction and Rolling Stone that takes a more recent look at Giuliani’s fall from grace. While lauded for his leadership in the aftermath of 9/11, Giuliani’s star began to fade as the terrorist attack became too large of a focus during his attempted runs at the Republican presidential nomination, and things didn’t improve as he continued to get sucked into the GOP’s orbit before becoming latched to Trump. Via Deadline:
“Rarely has a public figure in America fallen so far so fast in the public eye,” says Jason Fine, Rolling Stone’s Director Content Development. “As we’ve reported on Rudy’s downfall — his bizarre political maneuvering, shady business dealings, and now, being under criminal investigation by the same U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan that he once ran — we see his story as a parable for the dark forces that have shaped American politics.”
Of course, the most important part of any Rudy documentary is making sure to include his wild wine lady witness Mellissa Carrone. We’re guessing both docs will have a lengthy segment on the former dancer turned political “whistleblower.” You honestly can’t tell Giuliani’s story without her.
Tucker Carlson has spent the last few weeks pushing some fear-mongering nonsense related to the Covid vaccine, but do the rest of his Fox News cohorts share that same irrational aversion to protecting themselves from the deadliest pandemic in our lifetime? Apparently not.
On Monday morning, just a day after the hashtag #TuckerVaxxed was shared around social media, the gang on Fox & Friends — Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade — used their airtime to reveal that all three of them have been vaccinated, and they’re pretty damn relieved about it. Carlson, who’s shared plenty of disinformation with his viewers (citing unconfirmed death tolls and encouraging his viewers to harass mask wearers), faced criticism from CNN medical advisor and analyst Jonathan Reiner for failing to be transparent about his own vaccination status. Reiner demanded to know if Carlson had actually been vaccinated, which would make his conspiracy-laden, anti-vax campaign on the network not only dangerous but hypocritical as well.
Carlson has yet to fess up about whether he got stabbed or not, but his colleagues at Fox News did this morning as Earhardt admitted all three Fox & Friends hosts had gotten the shot and were happier for it.
“I understand there are people that have vaccine hesitancy but we all three are vaccinated and I tell you when I got it it was like, ‘okay…relief,” Earhardt said on-air. Doocy agreed with her, adding that those who haven’t gotten the shot yet are the ones “in peril.” The trio was discussing recent CDC mitigation efforts focused on masking indoors and social distancing measures that may stay in place longer than we’d hoped, but the timing of this vaccination confession feels a little suspect considering all the heat Carlson got over the weekend. Does this signal a rift at Fox? Are the ultra-conservative, right-wing pundits at the news network actually advocating for wildly liberal concepts like “science” and “facts”?
“I understand there are people that have vaccine hesitancy, but we all three are vaccinated.”
The hosts of Fox & Friends revealed this morning that all three of them have been vaccinated and described feeling a sense of “relief.” pic.twitter.com/OQPRF4UQ2N
Probably not. After all, Kilmeade was quick to point out that it was the individual’s choice of whether to receive the vaccine or not though all three seemed to suggest that if their viewers chose not to get the shot, they should expect to have to continue following mask mandates and social distancing policies. Still, even hinting at the possibility that their freedom to choose might come with consequences — and that it is probably safer and easier to just go ahead and get vaccinated already — is in stark contrast to the panic-peddling that Carlson seems to be doing on his own show.
While childcare challenges facing women in the workplace have come under the spotlight during the pandemic, the issue isn’t new. As one of the only nations in the world without guaranteed paid parental leave as well as one without broadly subsidized childcare, parents often have to weigh childcare costs with their earnings and make tough choices between work and family.
In academia, where graduate students are working toward a career but aren’t fully into one yet, figuring out how to balance family and studies on a limited income is also a challenge, which is why one MIT professor’s photo of an addition to his lab has people cheering.
Troy Littleton, professor of biology at MIT, shared a photo of a portable crib squeezed in between a desk and a cabinet and wrote:
“My favorite new equipment purchase for the lab – a travel crib to go in my office so my graduate student can bring her 9-month old little girl to work when necessary and I get to play with her while her mom gets some work done. Win-win!!”
My favorite new equipment purchase for the lab – a travel crib to go in my office so my graduate student can bring… https://t.co/y67A78h6ei
A flood of comments praising the professor poured in, as people shared how their own professors or bosses had similarly supported them and their children.
@heatherfarmer__ @JTroyLittleton Mine did the same! And got slightly annoyed when we found daycare. 🙂
— Dr Hanne (not that type of doctor – no seriously) (@StandingHannah) 1620470113.0
The praise reinforced the fact that pursuing a profession and building a family are not mutually exclusive endeavors and that creating ways to help parents—especially mothers, who tend to be the primary caregivers during the earliest years of a child’s life—balance both things is a valuable move. While bringing a baby to work wouldn’t work under all circumstances, allowing for the option when it can work can make all the difference in the world.
@Dr_Perreault @JTroyLittleton It takes a village to raise a baby!! 💪🏻💪🏻
Interestingly, sprinkled throughout the comments of praise were comments of befuddlement from people outside of the U.S. Questions like “Don’t you have paid leave when you have a baby?” and “You mean there aren’t free childcare facilities on-site?” from Europeans, Australians, etc. brought home the fact that this childcare/career conundrum is largely a uniquely American thing.
@ferruz_noelia @JTroyLittleton You’re not an American, are you??
(University-provided daycare at my university cos… https://t.co/HuMUFJBiGL
Like many “feel good” stories of individuals stepping up to fill a hole where a social safety net should be, professor Littleton’s post almost seems a bit sad in light of these comments. It would be great if we could structure our systems to be more family-friendly as a matter of policy. At the same time, his offering a way for his student to continue her studies while taking care of her baby illustrates a sense of understanding and compassion our society needs more of.
Thank you, professor Littleton, for serving as an example and opening people’s minds to what is possible.
Dave Chappelle is all about the Texas life these days. He even decided to tour in the Lone Star State with Joe Rogan during a pandemic, a development that led to Chappelle contracting COVID, but the pair’s friendship doesn’t appear to have hit a similar bump at all. Rather, Chappelle stopped in for Friday’s edition of The Joe Rogan Experience (on Spotify), and they (naturally) shot the sh*t for over three hours.
In the process, the two chatted about Elon Musk’s (then-upcoming) controversial booking on SNL, but another nugget of interest surfaced: the (alleged) revelation that Chappelle used to purchase weed from Idris Elba, long before the Luther star became famous. Really, that’s exactly what Chappelle said: “Idris Elba, the famous actor, used to be a security guard at [comedy club] Caroline’s… I used to buy weed from him.”
This isn’t too hard to believe, right? Idris became quite the club guy, not only on the comedy front but while moving into DJ territory as well. If only one could have stopped the weed-fever dream that may have led to Turn Up Charlie on Netflix.
Meanwhile, format of the Rogan-Chappelle episode was as non-formatty as was to be expected. The rambling topics included life in post-Trump America, cancel culture, and the controversy over some of Chappelle’s old comedy specials that are now streaming on Netflix. “Everyone was saying that the specials were dated, because there were jokes in there that they considered transphobic,” Chappelle said. “I still don’t think those jokes are transphobic, I’m not gonna have that discussion but if I ever have to, boy I’m ready.”
At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, one of social media’s most prevalent tropes was people encouraging each other to use the quarantine to finish their respective projects such as books, albums, or other heavy works. As it happens, it appears plenty of authors did just that; not only are there two books about Mac Miller coming out in the next year or so, but there are also books coming from Questlove, Dave Grohl, and more. Today, Simon and Schuster made another book available for pre-order: Changes: An Oral History of Tupac Shakur by New Yorker writer Sheldon Pearce.
According to the promotional copy on the publisher’s website, Pearce interviewed “dozens” of people who knew Tupac in life, from the bold-faced marquee names to lesser-known individuals who interacted with the revolutionary rap icon. Pearce spoke to such individuals as Tupac’s high school drama teacher, one of his co-stars from a 1983 production of Raisin In The Sun, and one of his partners in a nonprofit devoted to nurturing young artists.
Changes is timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of ‘Pac’s death in 1996, and well as what would have been his 50th year of life. It’s due June 8, 2021 via Simon & Schuster and you can pre-order it here.
Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm and blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B songs that fans should hear.
This week, TeaMarrr released her new song “Specific” with Duckwrth, Anthony Hamilton offered a new one with the assistance of Jermaine Dupri and Bren Joy‘s deluxe version of Twenites made it’s way to DSPs.
TeaMarrr — “Specific” Feat. Duckwrth
On TeaMarrr‘s latest release “Specific,” she tapped in with Duckwrth for the song and it’s a perfect match. “Specific” is the first single release off the Raedio singer’s forthcoming project.
Anthony Hamilton — “You Made A Fool Of Me”
Anthony Hamilton shared his new track “You Made A Fool Of Me,” with the help of Jermaine Dupri as he gears up for his next album. The song is reflective of a time when a woman betrayed Hamilton’s love by sneaking around with another man and every word is sung with depth and soul.
Bren Joy — Twenties (Deluxe)
Nashville singer Bren Joy kicked things up a notch this week with the deluxe version of Twenties. The Nashville talent recently held a YouTube live stream where he intimatley performed songs off the release at the city’s Brooklyn Bowl in preparation of his Bonnaroo performance this fall.
Inayah — “What Are We”
Inayah is questioning her friends with benefits status with her soulful single “What Are We,” and it’s accompanied by a nostalgic music video. “What Are We” is the follow-up to her first release of 2021, “Fallin” back in February.
Njomza — “Winter In Atlanta” Feat. Russ
Talented singer-songwriter Njomza’s forthcoming EP LIMBO was recently announced with a release date of June 18 and “Winter In Atlanta” featuring multi-platinum artist Russ is a first taste of what’s to come.
Emanuel — “Worldwide”
Motown‘s Emanuel has a new single, “Worldwide,” and it’s is a manifestation song. The R&B singer describes creating the song naturally in his basement. “During that time, we were really dreaming out loud in the way that we would talk about our futures and in the way that we were trying to summon this grand reality,” he revealed in a statement. “This song was really born from the deep want to take the music to the world.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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