Month: October 2021

Twenty years helps to put a lot of things in perspective in life, especially music. This week on Indiecast, Steve and Ian are reflecting on the musical landscape of 2001 and how it has evolved in the two decades since. The discussion revolves around four specific categories: albums they loved in 2001 that they longer care about, albums they didn’t care about in 2001 that are now important to them, the overall most important albums of 2001, and their personal favorite albums of 2001. From Daft Punk’s Discovery and Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory to Jimmy Eat World’s Bleed American and Guided By Voices’ Isolation Drills, this episode is an exercise in nostalgia and reevaluation for the music that helped to shape the 2000’s.

In lieu of this week’s Recommendation Corner, we’re taking a moment to congratulate Ian on his wedding and wish him a wonderful honeymoon! We’ll be back with more recommendations next week.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 61 on Spotify below, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts here. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

In a memo defending Dave Chappelle’s The Closer, which has been widely criticized for its transphobic jokes, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos mentioned that the streamer is “working hard to ensure marginalized communities aren’t defined by a single story.” He brought up Sex Education, Orange Is the New Black, Control Z, and Hannah Gadsby.

Gadsby wishes he hadn’t.

“Hey Ted Sarandos. Just a quick note to let you know that I would prefer if you didn’t drag my name into your mess. Now I have to deal with even more of the hate and anger that Dave Chappelle’s fans like to unleash on me every time Dave gets 20 million dollars to process his emotionally stunted partial word view,” the comedian, whose Nanette special on Netflix won a Peabody and an Emmy, wrote on Instagram. Gadsby continued:

“You didn’t pay me nearly enough to deal with the real world consequences of the hate speech dog whistling you refuse to acknowledge, Ted. Fuck you and your amoral algorithm cult… I do shits with more back bone than you. That’s just a joke! I definitely didn’t cross a line because there isn’t one.”

Netflix’s transgender employees and co-worker allies are planning a walkout on October 20 in response to the special. “I encourage us all to state clearly that we, as Netflix employees are stunning not simply when we are doing the work that our roles demand of us but also when we challenge the very principles of our company,” the message reads.

You can read Gadsby’s Instagram post below.

Donald Trump is not exactly what most people would consider a rational man. Nor is he comfortable with admitting defeat, as evidenced by the fact that he has still not conceded the 2020 presidential election. Together, those two characteristics can make for a pretty explosive combination, as Jimmy Kimmel explained on Thursday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live:

“The angry orange baby’s throwing another fit over the election he can’t admit he lost. He wrote ‘If we don’t solve the Presidential Election Fraud of 2020 (which we have thoroughly and conclusively documented), Republicans will not be voting in ’22 or ’24. It’s the single most important thing for Republicans to do.’ Did Nancy Pelosi write this for him? It seems like he’s telling Republicans not to vote.”

Which, according to the Daily Beast—who recently described Trump as “the biggest loose cannon in the world”—is exactly what he’s threatening. As Daily Beast’s Matt Lewis wrote:

“This should be interpreted as a serious threat because it speaks to the very efficacy of voting. Trump is not saying that he will tell his voters to stay home in 2022 to punish Republicans. He is making a much more furtive and veiled threat: He will tell the voters not to waste their time voting, unless, of course, other Republican politicians (a) buy into the bogus premise that the election was stolen from him, and (b) support whatever election ‘reforms’ he says will prevent that from happening again.”

To Kimmel, this “threat” is both ridiculous—and kind of hilarious—as it “brings up the age-old question, which is: How do you solve a problem you made up?”

You can watch the full clip above, beginning around the 3:30 mark.

Lorde has been open about the fact that she’s more introverted than probably most musicians who have as many fans as she does. She’s also discussed her stage fright before, and now she’s done so again, this time with David Byrne in a new Rolling Stone feature.

The publication paired Lorde and Byrne up for a chat and Byrne asked how Lorde deals with stage fright. She responded, “I don’t have a good answer for that. It’s a real problem that I’m trying to get on top of. I try to write something down. I tape little notes to the stage for myself, so I would go over and be able to read something that me from the past is trying to tell me from the future. But it’s a real struggle.”

Byrne, also a natural introvert, spoke about the things he does before shows to get himself into the right zone, saying, “I don’t have much of a ritual, that kind of a thing. I keep myself busy. I make some ginger tea. I peel the ginger, slice it, put it into a thermos, put boiling water in with some lemon or whatever else, and that’ll keep me busy for a good 15, 20 minutes. Keep my mind a little bit away from what I’m about to do.”

Lorde replied, “I like that, that’s nice. I do a lot of puzzles on tour. I’m often applying a piece right when it’s time to go, which maybe doesn’t help the stage fright. That’s too much of a change of mood. I’m still looking for the puzzle at the first song.”

Check out the full interview here.

As the NBA season approaches and training camps get underway, we’ll be taking a look at the player on each team that holds the key to unlocking their full potential.

In Charlotte, there’s a lot to be excited about. Reigning ROY LaMelo Ball looks like a legitimate, franchise cornerstone type star in the making. Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward have both been terrific since arriving from Boston, and they have plenty of young wings and power forwards like James Bouknight, Kelly Oubre Jr, PJ Washington, and Miles Bridges that provide reason for optimism. However, there is one glaring weakness when you scroll through the Charlotte roster coming into this season and that is at the center position, which could make or break this team with playoff dreams.

Mason Plumlee arrives from Detroit in a salary dump acquisition, but also filling a need for at least someone with NBA experience as a solid center. He doesn’t fit the timeline and doesn’t provide an awful lot of upside, but considering the centers on the roster beyond him are all the opposite, young players Charlotte hope can emerge but don’t know about, they are more reliant on him right now than I think they’d like. Rookie Kai Jones brings the most upside of the youngsters on the roster, but is incredibly raw and might spend more time in Greensboro with their G League affiliate than he does in Charlotte.

The most likely scenario is that PJ Washington will see more time at center after splitting his time between the four and five last year (54/46 percent splits per Basketball-Reference), possibly splitting starts with Plumlee based on matchup. He has plenty of athletic gifts, but isn’t the most imposing figure and the Hornets are going to have to make adjustments nightly based on their opponent as to how they rotate their options at the five.

Charlotte is a team in an interesting situation because they have a young star that would normally dictate a future-facing timeline, but Ball’s quick emergence coupled with the next two stars being in their prime at the moment means the playoffs are a priority now. As such, it’s possible that the answer at the center position isn’t on the roster at the moment, and that they have so much depth and so many intriguing young players stacked up on the wing means it wouldn’t be hard to make a trade happen this season. There were plenty who thought the Hornets could target Myles Turner this offseason and I’d expect them to be paired together fairly often up to the trade deadline, as Turner makes a lot of sense for what the Hornets need.

Whatever the case, that will be the swing position for this team this season. They have talent at other spots and certainly could use to see continued improvement from their young players elsewhere, but figuring out what the center rotation is and getting something approaching consistent production on both ends of the floor from that will determine if they’re able to be more than a play-in hopeful.

The Hatch Act, which has been on the books since 1939, prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activities while they’re on the job. It’s a law that the Trump administration frequently broke: Citizens for Ethics reports that in October 2020, “at least 16 Trump administration officials have violated the Hatch Act a total of more than 60 times, in an unprecedented and escalating assault on the rule of law and the democratic process.” The former-president’s press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, was also accused of “blurring lines between government and politics and violating longstanding norms, and, in many cases, the Hatch Act, which bans political activity in the federal workplace.” So it’s rich that she accused Joe Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, of doing the same.

“Why does the media not hold @PressSec accountable for potential Hatch Act violations? She has twice advocated for political candidates from the podium. There is no problem in engaging in First Amendment political activity, but it must be done separate and apart from the podium.,” McEnany tweeted, along with a brief video clip of Psaki saying that “we’re going to do everything we can to help” Terry McAuliffe reclaim Virginia’s governorship, “and we believe in the agenda he’s representing.”

Psaki has faced criticisms of potential Hatch Act violations before, but McEnany is the last person who should be crying wolf at conflicts of interest. No wonder it’s being called “the least self-aware tweet in history.”

When Kumail Nanjiani prepared for Eternals, he got jacked with a body transformation that he’s been very open about in the aftermath. As it turned out, though, Kumail had another significant challenge waiting for him when he arrived on the set of the Marvel movie. He opened on the subject during a visit (alongside fellow cast member Salma Hayek) with Jimmy Kimmel, and boy, he probably wished he was pumping iron rather than shooting the “finger guns” as Kingo. It’s much more tactile to lift heavy things than to shoot imaginary cosmic energy and look badass while doing it, right?

Following a clip where those finger guns show up, Kumail opened up about how he wrapped his head around how to feel silly but look badass. He also admitted to feeling disbelief when director Chloé Zhao told him what he’d be doing during fight scenes. This happens after the 8:30 mark above when Kimmel asks about Kingo’s powers:

“I shoot… I shoot [bleep] from my hands… finger guns.. I got to work, and I was like, ‘How do I shoot?’ And Chloe was like, ‘Finger guns!’ I was like, ‘Chloe, that’s so goofy.’ She was like, ‘It’s gonna be finger guns.’ She was like, ‘I promise it’ll look cool.’ And I felt stupid for six months, doing this [gestures] every day, and it looks pretty cool!”

Now, I’m being ridiculous when I call this an “origin story,” since this retelling clearly is not on the level of Batman: The Killing Joke or, well, any true origin story that’s about a hero or villain, rather than Kumail’s digits. However, Kumail’s undoubtedly already buried in questions about his muscles, so the finger guns are a nice switch up. Also, it’s Friday, so we can all relax a little bit.

Sean Hannity had a choice to make on Thursday night when he reported on the news that former President Bill Clinton has been hospitalized with a non-COVID infection since Tuesday: Report the news plain and simple, or be a total dick about it. The Fox News host chose the latter—and didn’t waste any time getting right to it.

With his “Breaking News” chyron blasting, Hannity began his segment to report on Clinton and give the obligatory well-wishes that any semi-professional correspondent would. But, as Mediaite reports, he really just couldn’t help himself when it came to getting in a dig on liberal Democrats:

“We have the latest breaking news report on former President Bill Clinton. He’s now been hospitalized. Fox News medical contributor Marty Makary is with us. Marty, uhhhh, we wish the president well. We… obviously have political differences. But unlike liberals, I actually care about human life. I hope he’s going to be ok. What are your thoughts on what you hear?”

That’s some serious sniper-like slighting: No hesitation, go in for the kill, and keep moving.

After discussing the seriousness of Clinton’s situation with Makary—which neither of them really know, except to say that it’s sepsis, which Hannity made sure to point out can be life-threatening—Hannity decided to spend a few minutes patting himself on the back for not wishing the former president dead:

Why isn’t everybody happy that whatever protocol [Clinton] used in conjunction with his own doctor, that he’s ok and healthy? How many times have I said, ‘I want every American in Afghanistan home’? I don’t care what their politics are. If they’re coming home to get me fired full-time and work to get me fired full-time, I still want them home. If every liberal that gets COVID wants to get well to get me fired because they don’t like my opinions, I still want them to get well. You don’t always see that from the left. You can look at comments at different times and it’s pretty brutal out there. Especially people that are anonymous in their basement in their underwear.”

Who do we talk to about nominating this man for sainthood?

(Via Mediaite)

While a good handful of Mac Miller albums can be heard on streaming services, they alone offer an incomplete picture of the late rapper’s career. Miller released more mixtapes than he did albums, after all, but due to the non-commercial nature of those releases, they’re mostly not available on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Now, though, it just became a lot easier to listen to a Miller classic: 2014’s Faces — his final mixtape, excluding the 2015 Larry Fisherman release Run-On Sentences: Vol. 2 — is now streaming, as was announced last month.

Fans are excited, but they’re also noticing that this version of Faces isn’t exactly the mixtape they remember. For example, one fan on the r/MacMiller subreddit shared a list of samples that don’t appear on the streaming version of the album, including dialogue from Bill Murray, Hunter S. Thompson, and Charles Bukowski.

One fan tried to see the positive side, though, commenting, “I mean it kinda sucks that these couldn’t get cleared but as long as all the beats and rhymes are unchanged then I’m cool with it.” However, other fans replied to note that some of the production on Faces actually is different. One said of “New Faces v2,” “Should have titled it new faces v3 lol. Really the 808s are just a bit heavier and start like 10 seconds sooner.”

Hear the changes for yourself by streaming Faces below.

Mac Miller is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Geraldo Rivera and Greg Gutfeld got into a fight on The Five. Yes, at this point that pretty much describes every episode of the Fox News panel show, but in this case we’re talking specifically about Wednesday’s show. The topic, unsurprisingly, was vaccine mandates, and the conversation eventually came around to Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, who had remained firm in his stance that he has no plans to get vaccinated—despite being told that he cannot play until he does. While Geraldo, who has somehow become the voice of reason these days, thinks that’s just plain stupid, Gutfeld has joined the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene in defending Irving’s choice.

For many people, being in agreement with MTG would be enough to make you reconsider your position. But Gutfeld forged ahead with his argument that a vaccination-for-all stance (a.k.a. a mandate) is stupid when “we know the risk factors [for COVID-19]. The key risk factors are age, the older you are, and weight, if you’re obese. But we can’t even broach these topics, so instead we have these blanket, like, mandates that are just completely wrong.”

Up until this point, Irving’s name had not actually been spoken, but it was clear who they were talking about. So when Geraldo finally said his name, Gutfeld’s immediate response was: “Do you want to call him stupid?” Geraldo, however, was doing his damndest not to rise to the bait:

“I will say this: When people make a stand like this, and it’s costing him and his family and his children $400,000 a game, there’s something else going on besides his repugnance over the vaccine”

“Yeah, it’s called bravery,” Gutfeld interjected. Twice. The conversation continued until Gufeld finally dropped his bomb of an epiphany, which is that: “We now have created an artificial division. A couple years ago it was race versus race, thank you CNN. It was gender issues. But now, Geraldo, you’re mad at this guy!”

Rivera agreed that, sure, he is mad, “Because [Irving’s] not just hurting himself.” But Gutfeld thinks that bullsh*t and that his co-host is being maninpulated without him even knowing it. “You’re being played,” he told Geraldo. “You’re being stubborn,” Rivero responded, before dropping the ultimate Peanuts-approved insult: “You’re being blockheaded!”

You can watch the full clip over at Mediaite.

(Via Mediaite)