Month: February 2022

Late last year there finally came some good news: Magic Mike will be getting a threequel. Apart from star Channing Tatum and director Steven Soderbergh, it’s not clear who will be returning. Matt Bomer? Kevin Nash? Would Joe Manganiello grind to another Nine Inch Nails number? One name evidently not on the call sheet so far is Matthew McConaughey, who played the Master of Ceremonies in the first, darker film in the male stripper saga. But evidently he’s down for it if it’s not too late.

In a chat with Variety, the former potential gubernatorial Texas candidate was asked if he’d be game to have his still perfect abs be once again ogled by randy viewers. His reply: “Channing Tatum, call me, bro! I haven’t heard from ya!”

When pressed, McConaughey was a bit more restrained “I don’t know,” he said, “I’d have to read [the script] first. It was a helluva lot of fun doing the first one.”

In the first Magic Mike, which came out a decade ago this June, McConaughey played the owner of former stripper who ran and emceed at his own club. He did some stripping of his own, ribbed his real-life naked bongo playing, and, of course, busted out his patented “Alright alright alright.” He was AWOL for the much lighter sequel, Magic Mike XXL, which took Tatum’s titular hero and the gang on a road trip for what was supposed to be one last dance. Turns out that was only the penultimate final spin for some guys who get older while their fanbase…well, also gets older, too.

While the a thirsty people await Magic Mike’s Last Dance, you can catch up with Soderbergh’s most recent output, Kimi, which bowed last weekend on HBO Max.

(Via Variety)

Kids’ play fads come and go, but there are certain classic toys that never get old. Of such timeless toys, the simple LEGO brick stands out as it has spanned multiple generations and is still going strong. In fact, LEGO building sets have only seemed to get better and more popular in recent decades. (Full disclosure: Huge LEGO fans in my household.)

As the Danish company celebrates its 90th year in business, it’s re-upping its dedication to early childhood development. The LEGO Foundation is launching a whopping $143 million grant challenge—its largest public grant ever—to help mitigate issues facing young kids, many of which have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Build A World of Play Challenge is a global grant competition for organizations around the world that are “exploring evidence-based innovative solutions to the biggest problems” affecting early child development, including “access to quality early childhood education and care, adequate nutrition, eradication of toxic stress in homes and communities, reduction of violence in homes and communities, protection from pollution, and supporting the social and emotional well-being of the whole family.”

The competition is now open, and participants enter by registering first (via this link before April 7, 2022) and then submitting a full application prior to May 17, 2022. Submissions will be evaluated on how impactful, feasible, sustainable and community-oriented their work is. Three winning organizations will receive approximately $30 million and two will receive $15 million. Ten additional finalists will receive approximately $1 million each to “strengthen their proposed plans, start building the team, and skill up to successfully implement their innovation.”

Introducing: the 900 million DKK #BuildaWorldofPlay Challenge. Itu2019s an open call to share impactful solutions that centre on children from birth to six. We encourage organisations around the world to join this challenge. Click here to find out more: http://ow.ly/u4Io50HUkGMu00a0pic.twitter.com/kXJ8sSv8Tp

— The LEGO Foundation (@The LEGO Foundation)
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Thomas Kirk Kristiansen, chair of the board of directors at The LEGO Foundation (and fourth-generation member of the LEGO owner family), emphasized that children have the right to safety, quality education and healthcare, but early childhood development has been grossly underfunded.

“Children are the builders of tomorrow,” he said in a statement. “To build a better world for future generations—focusing on innovation and action—we must work together. If we do not invest in the youngest children in our society, we don’t invest in our collective future.”

The LEGO Foundation CEO, Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, explained why the organization is focusing so intently on kids from birth to age six:

“We are currently facing the biggest global early childhood emergency that the world has ever seen. The quality of experiences in the first few years of a child’s life is where brain development is in its most adaptive and rapidly developing state. They also provide the foundations for learning, health and behaviour in the long-term – investment in which we know improves educational outcomes, develops holistic skills, and enhances quality of life. Providing whole-child support through early childhood development interventions is one of the most powerful and cost-effective equalizers we have at our disposal. Through the Build A World of Play Challenge, we want to join forces with others to urgently address the biggest challenges societies globally face, with creative, actionable ideas that put children at the centre of global decision making. We must start building a world that puts the youngest in society first: building cities, education systems, healthcare systems and solutions to save our planet, at the forefront. This competition is an opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of the youngest children.”

Kudos to LEGO for putting a flood of resources toward the well-being of the youngest among us. Children truly are our future, and if we neglect their needs and their potential in their earliest years, we are harming not only them but ourselves.

Last year was a special year for Coi Leray. The musician had a viral moment with “No More Parties,” which was later remixed by Lil Durk. She also earned a spot on the 2021 XXL Freshman Class list. However, her highs have also come with lows. Leray has seen her body and rap skills often criticized and she may have reached a breaking point with a message she posted and deleted.

Leray’s message began with a tweet that read “Brain dead.” However, in a second post, which she later deleted, she went in-depth about her mental state. “To all my trendsetters, I’m sorry I let you down,” she wrote. “I don’t have it in me to keep pushing. I feel like I’m brain dead. I pray that everyone continues to keep setting trends and striving.” She added, “Don’t know when I’ll be back but I don’t even want to think about it. I love you for life. -coi.”

Her message comes a few months after she revealed that Lil Durk stopped her from quitting rap. “Almost gave up one day and he told me don’t ever stop,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. “Most artist show love from a distance on some weird sh*t, but this man right here believed in me, believe[d] in ‘No More Parties’ and been behind me ever since. He know a star when he see one, and I just wanna thank you for all your support. OTF FOREVER.”

Conservatives rail against “cancel culture,” but right now they’re the ones doing the cancelling. Outraged parents across the nation have been calling for hundreds of books to be banned from public school library shelves — an “unprecedented” number, according to the American Library Association. Which books are they appalled by? Ones about race, sexuality, even the Holocaust. Art Spiegelman’s Maus, the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the latter, recently became a bestseller again due to the controversy.

On Tuesday’s edition of The Daily Show, Trevor Noah looked at the “latest culture war that’s tearing America apart,” making sure to point out that multiple books about Ruby Bridges, the first Black child to desegregate an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960, came under parents’ ire. (Ditto a biography about Michelle Obama.)

Noah had some reinforcements, namely LeVar Burton, the Star Trek: TNG alum, Reading Rainbow host, and almost-Jeopardy! emcee. Burton helped drive the segment’s point home, doing a version of Reading Rainbow in which every book he tried to introduce to kids got banned. Those included a book about civil rights icon Rosa Park, a book about gay penguins (And Tango Makes Three), even Dr. Seuss’ Hop on Pop, whose inclusion was no doubt a nudge to conservatives getting outraged over books by the author containing racist imagery being pulled from circulation (but not library shelves).

“There are plenty of books to choose from,” Burton told viewers at the end of his segment. “But you know what? No. Read the books they don’t want you to. That’s where the good stuff is.”

You can watch the segment in the video above. Burton’s section starts around the 8:30 mark.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Disclaimer: While all of the products recommended here were chosen independently by our editorial staff, Uproxx may receive payment to direct readers to certain retail vendors who are offering these products for purchase.

Welcome to SNX DLX, your weekly roundup of the best sneaker drops of the week. This time around we’ve got another packed SNX, the big brands aren’t playing around anymore and we’re now dealing with more dope sneakers than we know what to do with. That’s never a bad thing — unless you ask your wallet — especially as the weather starts to warm up.

Depending on where you’re located in the country, you can now comfortably ditch those bulky winter sneakers and layered fits for something a bit less constricting — which means it’s time for a wardrobe refresh. This week makes that easy to do, with fresh Jordan colorways, a few new silhouettes, a major Yeezy launch, and a psychedelic Air Max 90.

Let’s dive into this week’s best sneaker drops.

Air Jordan 1 — Dark Marina Blue

It’s almost criminal that you can only buy a set amount of colorways for Nike’s Jordan 1 at a time, especially when they have so many chilling in the vault, like this week’s Dark Marina Blue. It’s a sort of flip of the legendary Royal colorway, featuring a black leather upper and black leather toe box with Marina Blue overlays. It’s not as regal as the Royal colorway, but it’s still dope. The way the blue plays with the white midsole and smooth black leather upper is straight-up eye-candy.

It’s sad that Nike made us wait over six weeks into the year to drop a Jordan colorway this good. But better now than never, we guess!

The Air Jordan 1 Dark Marina Blue is out now for a retail price of $170. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app or your favorite aftermarket site.

Nike Air Force 1 Luxe — Providence Purple/Summit White

It’s animal print, it’s monochromatic, what’s not to like here? Dropping in both a Providence Purple and Summit White colorway, the Air Force 1 Luxe features a leather upper with an animal print design obfuscated by a cloudy layer of purple or white with a suede exposed stitched swoosh and a Cavestone outsole.

It’s an interesting take on a silhouette that we’ll never get tired of seeing reinterpreted.

The Nike Air Force 1 Luxe Providence Purple and Summit White are out now for a retail price of $130. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Nike Air Max 90 SE

As much as we love the ambition of the Air Max Terrascape, it’s hard to beat the classic, and the Air Max 90 is that. This iteration of the sneaker features a classic waffle sole, stitched overlays, and a mixed upper of psychedelic hairy suede, fine forest teal suede, and canvas with a Roma Green and Sail Orange colorway. It’s a bit ‘70s, a bit ‘90s, a whole lot of fun.

The Nike Air Max 90 SE is out now for a retail price of $153. 57. Pick up a pair exclusively at Hanon.

Nike Air Max Terrascape Plus — Sail and Sea Glass

Anytime a sneaker brand wants to push sneaker design forward, we’re all for it. It’s the only reason why we’re big Yeezy fans even though it’s getting harder to like Kanye West by the day. Nike’s new Terrascape Plus is their way of mixing up the Air Max silhouette and pushing it into a new era of sneakers. The Terrascape is made out of 20% recycled material by weight, including recycled TPU on the Swoosh cage, 75% recycled polyester on the vamp, a recycled rubber outsole, and 100% recycled laces.

It’s a combination of Nike’s performance-focused sneaker design ethos, and their efforts to make sustainable sneakers cool in look, not just theory. Design-wise, we’re into it, it’s weird and alien-esque and fits in with the other more forward-thinking footwear staples (think Yeezy 550s) but I have to admit, I’m not loving the colorway. It’s a bit too bright and shows off a little too much of the weird and wavy lines of this sneaker. It needs a sleeker and darker colorway to really shine, once this sneaker gets dirty it’s going to look like actual trash.

The Nike Air Max Terrascape Plus Sail and Sea Glass is set to drop on February 17th for a retail price of $185. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

WMNS Air Jordan 1 LV8D — BRED

The hits just keep coming from Nike this week. How do you guarantee that a platform version of the Jordan 1 sells? Drop it in the BRED colorway. The LV8D is a women’s size exclusive platform sole-equipped version of the low-top Jordan 1. It features a boosted foam midsole with a cork sockliner for increased comfort — which is nice because Jordan 1s, beautiful as they are, aren’t comfortable — a premium leather upper and that classic black and red color combo.

The women’s exclusive Nike Air Jordan 1 LV8D BRED is set to drop on February 18th for a retail price of $140. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Air Jordan 3 — Cardinal Red

It feels particularly cruel that Nike would drop the Dark Marine Blue Jordan 1s and this Cardinal Red Jordan 3 in the same week. How is anyone supposed to choose between these two? If you forced us to pick a favorite, I’m not sure we could! The Cardinal Red colorway isn’t original to the Jordan 3 silhouette, it’s more commonly associated with the Air Jordan 6, but it works just as well here.

The sneaker features a leather upper with a cement elephant print mudguard, deep red accents throughout, and sits on top of a grey outsole. For an extra bit of color, the Jumpman logo at the tongue features a Curry colorway that is further accented throughout the shoe. It’s a great design on of the best Jordan silhouettes in existence.

The Air Jordan 3 Cardinal Red is set to drop on February 19th for a retail price of $200. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app or aftermarket sites like GOAT or Flight Club.

Adidas Yeezy 350 V2 CMPCT — Slate Red

The CMPCT is, as the name would suggest, a compact version of the Yeezy 350 V2. It has a lower profile and really leans into the 350’s slipper-like characteristics. It’s slightly less loud than the OG 350, which makes this super bold Slate Red colorway kind of funny to me. It’s kind of hard to be low-key in this Yeezy with an all-over crimson red colorway.

But red Yeezys will always be a desirable thing in the footwear community. It reminds us all of the shoe we really want, the Nike Air Yeezy.

The Adidas Yeezy 350 V2 CMPCT Slate Red is set to drop on February 17th for a retail price of $230. Pick up a pair via the Adidas Confirmed App.

Adidas Yeezy 500 — Blush

If you took the L on the original drop of the Yeezy 500 Blush you’ll be happy to know it’s officially back in stock this week. As is the case with modern Yeezys, this sneaker is sure to drop in higher numbers, which means it should be relatively easy for everyone who wants a pair to be able to cop one, so long as you aren’t wearing a massively popular sneaker size.

Lately, Yeezys have been miss-sized so the brand has been suggesting you order a half size to a size up, but the Blush runs true to size so don’t take any chances on the fit here.

The Adidas Yeezy 500 Blush is set to drop on February 19th for a retail price of $210. Pick up a pair via the Adidas Confirmed App or Yeezy Supply.

The Vesper Martini (pronounced “ves-pa”) is a literary and later a cinematic classic. The martini variation is all about packing a big punch while carrying some serious flavor notes from the gin, Lillet, and lemon. It’s also one of those recipes we have that are very clearly dictated — there’s no room for interpretation.

Back in 1953, Ian Fleming laid out the recipe very specifically via James Bond in Casino Royale. Bond ordered a dry martini in a “champagne goblet” with “three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel.” That’s a pretty easy recipe to follow even though it’s, gasp, shaken, and not stirred (brass tacks, vodka martinis are perfectly fine shaken but gin contains oils that separate from the alcohol and that clouds the drink and dulls the gin when shaken instead of stirred).

That aside, this drink still rules. So who cares? Let’s just make one and enjoy it because, again, this is a classic.

Also Read: The Top Five Cocktail Recipes of the Last Six Months

• The Corpse Reviver No. 2 Is The Best Gin Cocktail For Winter — Here’s Our Recipe
• The Black Manhattan Is Our 2021 Thanksgiving Cocktail, Here’s The Recipe
• The Vieux Carre Is The Perfect Whiskey Cocktail For The Holidays
• Celebrate Negroni Week With These Two Iconic Recipes
• The Only Dry Martini Recipe You’ll Ever Need. Period.

Vesper Martini

Ingredients:

• 3 oz. Gordon’s London Dry Gin
• 1 oz. vodka
• 0.5 oz. Lillet Blanc
• Lemon peel
• Ice

Naturally, we’re starting with Gordon’s London Dry Gin since that’s specifically called out for this recipe. I’m using a Beluga Transatlantic Vodka because it has that adventuring, Bondian, Russian espionage vibe. It’s also a delightfully subtle Siberian vodka. Lastly, there’s the Lillet Blanc. This is pretty easy to find at any liquor store and works wonders as a more deeply-nuanced alternative to dry vermouth in any cocktail that calls for that ingredient.

What You’ll Need:

• Champagne coupe or “goblet”
• Cocktail shaker
• Cocktail strainer
• Fruit peeler
• Paring knife
• Jigger

Method:

• Prechill your glass in the freezer.
• Add the Gordon’s, vodka, and Lillet to a cocktail shaker.
• Fill the shaker with ice (about 2/3 full), affix the lid, and shake gently for about 15 seconds or until the shaker is completely frosted over.
• Strain the cocktail into the prechilled glass.
• Allow the cocktail to settle to clear up (see cloudy image above). In the meantime, peel a long thumb of lemon peel. Express the oils over the cocktail. Lastly, trim the edges of the peel to create a long and thin lemon twist.
• Garnish with the lemon twist and serve.

Bottom Line:

This opens with a bright rush of those lemon oils. Then there’s a bit of a magic trick. The first half of the sip feels and tastes like a very soft and mineral-forward vodka martini that then starts to slowly warm as the mild botanicals and barks kick in on the finish of the sip and warm you to your soul. So, it starts as a vodka martini and then ends as a subtle gin martini.

That gin-y nature builds as you drink the cocktail but it never overwhelms. The lemon plays a crucial role in both brightening and mellowing the sharper aspects of the gin. The Lillet adds a very slight sweetness that acts as a sort of bridge between the minerally vodka and the botanicals of the gin.

This really is a delightful yet very strong cocktail. This is four ounces of straight booze in a glass. Yes, it’s slightly diluted with some water from that ice, but it’s still a wallopping cocktail that could get you in trouble if you forget how much booze is in it. So just go by Bond’s own advice: Drink (only) one before dinner and drink it slowly to really savor it.

Last week, a video surfaced of DaBaby and his crew in a fight with DaniLeigh’s brother Brandon Bills, who was born Brandon Curiel. The incident took place at Corbin Bowl, a bowling alley in Topanga, California, and it came after multiple disputes between DaBaby and DaniLeigh, who have a child together. During the fight, Bills was punched, grabbed and swung around by his hair, and repeatedly thrown to the ground. Now, Bills is seeking compensation, suing DaBaby for assault, battery, emotional distress, and negligence, according to court documents obtained by TMZ.

In the documents, Bills said he was attacked by DaBaby and his crew without warning after walking by them in the bowling alley. Before the fight, Bills threatened to fight DaBaby due to his ill treatment of DaniLeigh. “When you come to the West Coast, bro, which I know you be out here, you’re going to catch this one-on-one fade, bro,” Bills said in a video he shared back in November. “One-on-one fade to see what happens between me and you. I want to see how gangsta you are, to see how much of a real man you are.”

Bills’ lawsuit comes after DaBaby was reportedly placed under investigation as a result of the incident. Local authorities are investigating DaBaby for assault with a deadly weapon, focusing on him allegedly kicking Bills in the head during the fight.

We will never get tired of new chicken sandwiches. Back before Popeyes dropped their internet-breaking sandwich (which started an aftermarket for fast food, for Christ’s sake), the menu item sat comfortably on the sidelines. Don’t get me wrong, the chicken sandwich has always had its fans — look at the success of Chick-fil-A — but it’s never been in the culinary spotlight the way it is now.

Things are different in 2022. With the entire country infected with chicken sandwich fever, big brands can’t stop giving us new chicken sandwiches. And, frankly, we won’t stop eating them, desperately chasing that first Popeyes high. Arby’s, Panda Express, McDonald’s, Burger King… they’ve all made valiant attempts to change the game.

Sadly, most of the new chicken sandwiches aren’t terrific. They’re interesting and some even manage to be a breath of fresh air, but nothing really competes with the current GOAT. Not much can even manage to match the former GOAT, Chick-fil-A.

Until now.

Wendy’s freshly launched line of sandwiches — a trio that includes a Hot Honey Chicken Biscuit, Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich, and something called the Classic Big Bacon Cheddar Chicken Sandwich — is the first drop that Popeyes might actually be worried about. These new sandwiches won’t be the cultural phenomenon that was the Popeyes sandwich rollout, I can guarantee you that. I’m not sure fast food will ever have a moment like that again. But what Wendy’s has done has vastly expanded its chicken sandwich options (six different varieties, not including spicy, classic, and grilled variations), something Popeyes seems too scared to do.

This means in 2022, the best chicken sandwich might still be found at Popeyes. But the best place to buy a variety of chicken sandwiches is Wendy’s. No cap. Here is what makes the new sandwiches great, starting with the least exciting of the three.

Hot Honey Chicken Biscuit

I love the idea of the chicken biscuit. It helps the chicken sandwich fit in with the world of fast food breakfast, and more chicken sandwiches is always a good thing. My issue with Wendy’s line of breakfast chicken sandwiches is the chicken itself. It’s garbage. Wendy’s chicken breast filet is good, it’s the only reason why Wendy’s is in the top five of fast food chicken sandwiches, but the smaller version they use for their breakfast sandwiches tastes like a different bird entirely. It’s chunky and full of hard-to-chew bits that just taste really low quality.

I know we’re talking about fast food here, but trust me on this one — Wendy’s breakfast chicken filet is no good. And that alone is enough to break the Hot Honey Chicken Biscuit. The flavors are great, I’ll get to that when we talk about the lunch version, and the way the semi-sweet biscuit complements those flavors proves that the people behind the Wendy’s kitchen are actually attempting to make good food, not just jumping on trends, but none of it matters when the chicken is this bad.

Do better Wendy’s, we know you can. In fact, that’s what makes this so frustrating.

The Bottom Line:

If you like Wendy’s breakfast sandwiches, you’re going to like this sweet and spicy version. But if you actually have tastebuds, wait a few hours and hit Wendy’s for lunch.

Classic Big Bacon Cheddar Chicken

We’re going to take a quick detour to talk about Wendy’s other new sandwich, the Classic Big Bacon Cheddar Chicken before we talk about the much more exciting Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich. This is essentially a chicken sandwich version of the Wendy’s Classic Big Bacon Cheddar Burger that is currently on the permanent menu. In a sense, it was already a menu hack, and now Wendy’s is making it easier to order.

Personally, this sandwich isn’t really for me. But if you love big cheesy salty chicken sandwiches, this is your jam.

The sandwich features a chicken filet topped with bacon, onions rings, American Cheese, and a cheddar cheese-based bacon jam on a toasted cheddar bun. It’s probably the saltiest sandwich I’ve ever eaten. The sauce is salty and smokey, the bacon is salty and smokey, the cheese is salty, the onion rings, saltY — every goddamn thing about this sandwich is so salty that it’s hard to taste anything else. I can’t say it doesn’t taste good, but I can say that eating it made me feel terrible.

Not morally, I mean physically terrible. It’s the sort of sandwich you eat when you don’t give a single fuck.

I think if any ingredient feels excessive in this sandwich, it’s the onion rings. I love the crunch they provide, but the flavor kind of clashes with the fried chicken filet. It makes sense in the burger version of this sandwich — where its aromatic qualities and sharp flavor play off the deeper savory qualities of beef — but with the chicken, the onion flavor dominates too heavily.

The Bottom Line:

Eat it after you smoke a fat bowl. Otherwise, it’s a slightly worst version of Wendy’s Big Bacon Cheddar Burger.

Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich

All that stuff I said about the onion rings in the big bacon cheddar burgers? Wendy’s fixed it in the Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich. This sandwich features a spicy, classic, or grilled chicken filet topped with pepper jack cheese, bacon, a habanero-based hot honey sauce, and what is perhaps Wendy’s best culinary creation since the spicy nugget — crunchy dill pickle chips. These pickle chips deliver all of the crispy crunchy mouthfeel of fried onions, but with a flavor that actually works with and elevates fried chicken.

The pickles also add a lot of depth and complexity to this sandwich, supplying a hint of sour tang that plays well with the citrus-y habanero honey sauce. I’m telling you, they’re really good.

The sauce hits you first, it’s sweet, but unlike all the other fast food hot honey chickens out there, it’s not sweet to the point of tasting like candy. Instead, that sweetness acts as a pleasant introductory note. It presents itself gently before ratcheting up to simmering heat, which is reigned in between bites by the brine-y/ earthy flavor of the pickles. It’s a well-thought-out combination of flavors, and it’s really one of the best chicken sandwiches I’ve had since Popeyes first dropped their iteration.

Having said that, Wendy’s needs to up its quality control. The sandwich lacks the consistency it needs to truly be a standout. I guarantee that after pubbing this review, someone is going to tweet a very ugly sandwich at me and that’s on you, Wendy’s, not me. The honey sauce is drizzled onto the sandwich, it’s fine, but tossing the filet in the sauce would probably work better and result in a more consistent sandwich and a less messy bun. The pickle chips, while great enough to be a menu item on their own, are also terribly inconsistent. Few of the pickle chips have that perfect ratio of pickle to batter — most of them are more chip than they are pickle, and you’ll find that those particular chips are completely lacking in flavor.

Wendy’s really has something here, but they need to figure out how to put it together better so that it’s good all of the time, not just some of the time.

The Bottom Line:

This is absolutely worth jumping in your car and picking up for lunch or dinner tonight. Wendy’s may have been late to the undeniable hot honey chicken trend that is fast food’s current obsession, but they’re the best to do it so far.

It’s not often that a show gets a second season before the public has even seen it. But so it goes with Super Pumped, an anthology docudrama series whose first season chronicles the rise and not-quite-fall of Uber…and which doesn’t even debut until Feb. 27. But it already has a great subject for round two: Facebook. And it even has a great narrator.

As per Deadline, no less than Quentin Tarantino — the motormouthed auteur, whom Brad Pitt once joked is “the only guy I know who needs cocaine to stop talking” — will serve as information-giver on the show’s as-yet-untitled second season. It won’t be the first time he’s served as narrator: He performed those duties for 2015’s The Hateful Eight, which he also happened to write and direct.

The show will actually serve as a kind of reunion. Also on board for the show’s second go is Uma Thurman, who will play media titan Ariana Huffington and who scored an Oscar nomination for Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and took out lots and lots of people in his Kill Bill diptych. (Sadly, they will continue to never share an actual screen together.)

Super Pumped’s second season will, as per THR, be a “deep dive into Facebook’s transition from groundbreaking startup to the power it has become.” As for the (again) not-yet-aired first, that will look at the car-sharing service, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt as ousted CEO Travis Kalanick.

Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber debuts on Showtime on Feb. 27.

(Via Deadline)

Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson is one of the most decorated fighters in MMA history, but with Johnson clearly in the latter half of his fighting career, plenty of folks have wondered what his next step is. For a long time, Johnson already knew exactly what it was going to be: a full time Twitch streamer.

Johnson has been an avid streamer on Twitch for years. When he’s not training, it’s not uncommon to see him on online playing the next big thing. He recently checked out the hottest game on Steam, Lost Ark. For awhile, he was streaming so often that it was essentially a second job for him, and in a lot of ways, it was. While talking with the Washington Post, Johnson explained how he was fully prepared to make the jump to becoming a full-time Twitch streamer after his MMA career was finished. Eventually, though, he decided it wasn’t for him because of the absurd schedules that Twitch streamers typically have.

“Wake up every day and stream full time? … Oh god no. I couldn’t do it,” Johnson said during an interview on The Washington Post’s Friday live stream, Press Play.
…

“My schedule basically consisted of this: I would go to the gym, train for a session, stream afterward, then get my second session in, come home, eat dinner, kiss my wife, and then go downstairs and stream for another two hours,” Johnson said. At the time, he was making around $3,000 per month from streaming, enough to cover his mortgage. “But then it came to a point where I was like, ‘Why am I doing this? I don’t get to go to bed with my wife. I’m absolutely exhausted. It’s just not worth it.’

Johnson’s love for gaming is very real. He’s never been shy about that, but the level of work and luck required to be successful on Twitch is just as exhausting as Johnson said. It takes over a person’s life and it can feel like they don’t have time to do anything else besides work on their stream, just to make a career out of it.

For now, Johnson is going to continue letting Twitch streaming be a hobby. Perhaps he will find a way to turn his love for gaming into a career after his days in MMA are done.