Wheel of Fortune is a game that looks much easier than it probably is once you’re on a soundstage begging to purchase vowels, which is why turning that experience into an online casino will probably be a safe bet for MGM and Sony TV. In other words: if you’ve always thought you could do better than those jamokes flubbing puzzles in syndication, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is.
As The Hollywood Reporter detailed on Tuesday, Sony is partnering with BetMGM to open an online Wheel of Fortune-branded casino out of the great state of New Jersey. It’s the latest addition to an astonishing 250 different slot machine versions of the syndicated game show’s format that already exist in gambling meccas across the world.
Gambling and game shows have a long history, but the news here is admittedly thin on how it will all actually work. Though the announcement does tease “additional, new ways” to play the Wheel. Presumably with the looming threat of losing a lot of money if you struggle to come up with phrases and things:
“We are delighted to be partnering with BetMGM for the launch of Wheel of Fortune’s very first online casino. With Wheel of Fortune celebrating its 40th season this year, we are pleased to continue offering players additional, new ways to play the games they know and love,” Suzanne Prete, executive vp of game shows at Sony Pictures Television, said in a statement.
The expansion into online gaming certainly makes sense in theory, and the brand is no stranger to gambling as it’s been a mainstay on casino slot machine floors for years. But exactly how to gamble on your own puzzle solving skills will certainly be interesting to see once it debuts. Does this mean live odds on your own ability to solve a puzzle? Or a more roulette-style game with Wheel-branding? Does digital Pat Sajak roast you when you guess “another feather in your map” instead of “cap?” or do you still need to fly to California to endure all that?
Only time will tell here, but it’s certainly something to ponder if you find yourself in the Garden State later this year.
Top Dawg Entertainment artists Zacari and Isaiah Rashad team up to list a few of their favorite things on “Bliss,” a punchy new single that could signal an upcoming project from the California label’s resident R&B singer. Although Zacari is known more for his slick vocals than the sort of heady raps his labelmates are known for, he delivers his lines with a staccato cadence that fits perfectly alongside Rashad’s more traditional flow.
Zacari isn’t the loudest or flashiest member of the crew, but he’s been more visible of late thanks to a recent collab with another rap-influenced West Coast singer, Blxst. The two rhythmic crooners connected for the smooth single “Sometimes” from Blxst’s new album, Before You Go, earlier this year and while Blxst isn’t exactly a superstar either, the track definitely resulted in added exposure for the normally low-key TDE member.
Meanwhile, Isaiah Rashad has gotten a lot of attention this year, but not for his music. Although he’s less than a year removed from his well-received sophomore album, The House Is Burning, Zay’s drawn the most publicity from the leak of a sex tape which also unfortunately outed him at the same time. However, in an interview with Joe Budden, he seems to have taken things in stride and turned the experience into a teachable moment for the hip-hop audience — and his bemused host.
The Los Angeles Clippers will hope that the 2022-23 season is finally the year they put the pieces all together and stay healthy enough to make a real championship push, headed by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
The Clippers have invested a huge amount into their roster, handing out extensions to Marcus Morris, Luke Kennard, Norman Powell, Terance Mann, and Robert Covington to ensure their window stays as open as possible — and, also, that they can pounce on a potential trade for a disgruntled star should one come available. This summer, there aren’t many free agents on the Clippers roster but one very important piece they need to work out a deal with in Nic Batum.
The veteran forward had a player option worth just over $3 million to consider, but will reportedly turn that down to become a free agent, with hopes to stay in L.A. on a larger contract, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Clippers F Nic Batum will decline his $3.3M player option and become a free agent, sources tell ESPN. There’s expected to be mutual interest with Clippers and Batum on reaching a new deal in July.
The Clippers can offer Batum a contract of up to $10.9 million per year for a minimum of two years thanks to holding his early Bird rights, but that pushes them ever closer to the hard cap. Batum, like PJ Tucker, figures to have plenty of interest should from other contenders should he open up his free agency beyond just renegotiating in L.A., but for now it seems the Clippers will retain him and just push Steve Ballmer’s luxury tax bill a bit higher.
Although Ari Lennox has several performances and festival slots lined up for the summer, she may have to pull out of those soon. Last night, the “Pressure” singer took to her Instagram Story to reveal that she has a fear of flying and wants out of shows that will require her to board a plane.
“For my mental health and my sanity I will not be doing any shows that require me to fly,” said Lennox. “I can not keep torturing myself with this huge fear of mine. It is literally destroying my health. Enough is enough. I’m so sorry to all that are inconvenienced by this. Don’t know what this will mean for my career, but I just can’t do it.”
Neither Lennox nor any of the festivals, including London’s Wireless Festival and the Cincinnati Music Festival, have confirmed that she is pulling out. However, Lennox revealed she is hoping she can conquer this fear.
“On the plane to Minneapolis now,” she said in her story. “I’ll be there [at the scheduled tour stop]. If there’s any peers or anyone out there who knows of a great hypnotherapist, therapist and/or fear of flying solutions, I would be so grateful. I want to beat this.”
The creators of Stranger Things have been teasing the movie-length season four finale for some time now, as they were just finishing up edits as the first half of the season began airing in May. It seems that they have finally edited it down, though it’s still basically the same runtime as your average Marvel movie.
According to Collider, Episode eight will run an hour and 20 minutes, which is still massive for a television show without commercials. The season finale comes out to two hours and twenty minutes (!), just three minutes shy of beating out Avengers: Endgame. Though hopefully, it will not beat out Endgame in total deaths.
The final two episodes will presumably conclude with the gang of teen misfits destroying a slithery demon in the alternate universe known as the Upside Down. The final trailer just dropped, which shows a lot of demonic drama and even more Kate Bush, as the teen sleuths try to save Hawkins from being taken over by the underworld. Or something like that. Do we even really know what the Upside Down is at this point? Oh, and Joyce is in Russia.
While this won’t be the end of the show, the series will conclude with season five, whenever that may be. So, even if your favorite character survives this season, there is still more destruction to come.
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers is set to hold its 35th annual ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards this week and Lil Baby is one of the Society’s big winners. He’s billed to win songwriter of the year — his second such honor in as many years — for a year in which he co-wrote for Drake, Kanye West, and more. Lil Baby’s discography over the past year includes his joint album Voice Of The Heroes with Lil Durk, his Space Jam: A New Legacy soundtrack contribution “We Win” with Kirk Franklin, and two all-new singles with Nicki Minaj, “Bussin” and “Do We Have A Problem?”
In addition, Lil Baby has featured on Billboard-charting singles from the likes of DJ Khaled (“Body In Motion” featuring Bryson Tiller and Roddy Ricch), Drake (“Girls Want Girls“), Kanye West (“Hurricane“), Nardo Wick (“Me Or Sum“), and even Ed Sheeran (“2step“). He also appeared on Vince Staples’ “East Point Prayer,” with the Long Beach rapper praising him for doing the feature for free out of respect.
More recently, he kicked off his own new music campaign with the dual-single release “In A Minute” and “Right On,” following up with “Frozen” a few weeks later. He’s set to begin his Rolling Loud-backed One Of Them Ones Tour with Chris Brown next month, and he apparently has a follow-up for his 2020 album My Turn in the works. That should drop sometime this year.
The ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards take place from today, June 21, through Friday, June 24, with announcements appearing on ASCAP’s social media channels.
Contrary to popular belief, Donald Trump is not “daddy.”
Last November, former-president Trump endorsed Arizona senator Wendy Rogers, who he called a “MAGA warrior” for her help spreading easily debunked lies about the 2020 election. “She has a truly great fighting spirit, is strong on Law and Order, securing our Border, and gun rights. Wendy Rogers has my Complete and Total Endorsement for reelection to the Arizona State Senate because she FIGHTS!” he continued.
Rogers, who proudly boasts of her endorsement from a pillow salesman on her website, recently repaid the favor to Trump — or should I say “Daddy T”? No, I shouldn’t, but Rogers did. “We miss Daddy T!!! There are many pretenders but there is only one Daddy T! #TrumpWon2020 #Trump2024,” the senator wrote on Facebook over the weekend.
But “Daddy T,” somehow, isn’t the worst thing that Rogers has written on social media. After a white gunman shot 13 people, 11 of whom were Black, at a Buffalo grocery store earlier this year, she wrote on Telegram, “Fed boy summer has started in Buffalo.”
Rogers also appeared at a white nationalist conference in Florida, and as chronicled by the Arizona Republic, “she attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose country was then under Russian invasion, calling him a ‘globalist puppet’ for George Soros, the philanthropist and businessman. Both Zelenskyy and Soros are Jewish.” Does she also have thoughts on the “woke” agenda of Lightyear? You better believe it.
Meanwhile, Daddy T recently threw his actual daughter under the bus.
In today’s rapidly changing world, most parents are concerned about what the future looks like for their children. Whether concerning technology, culture, or values, young people today are expected to navigate—and attempt to thrive in—a society that’s far more complicated than that of their parents. It’s one of the reasons why parents are keen to involve their kids in activities that will help them become more resilient, well-rounded and better prepared for life when they enter adulthood.
One such activity is FIRST®, a volunteer-based global robotics community that helps young people discover a passion for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through exciting, multifaceted challenges. FIRST helps kids ages 4 to 18 to build confidence, resilience, cooperation and empathy as they compete and collaborate with one another.
You may have seen the transformative power of FIRST programs featured in the new 2022 Disney+ documentary “More Than Robots.”
Through FIRST, students develop skills to help them thrive in changing times while connecting them with skilled mentors from as many as 200 Fortune 500 companies. These connections often lead to job placements in high-paying and rewarding STEM careers.
“If you want your child to be ready for the real world in ways that school and classroom experiences won’t necessarily fully prepare them for, FIRST is the program for you,” Erica Fessia, vice president of global field operations at FIRST, told Upworthy.
A wonderful example of the impact FIRST has on students is Aaron, who lives in Watts, an underserved neighborhood in south Los Angeles. Aaron was a reserved kid until he joined FIRST, where he developed a passion for robotics that pushed him to become a leader of his team, the aptly named TeraWatts.
Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, a schoolteacher and TeraWatts mentor, has seen Aaron make tremendous strides over the past two years. “He’s one of the most technologically competent students on our entire team. But I am 500% more proud of his growth as an individual in his confidence and his leadership,” she said, noting it’s the type of growth she rarely sees through traditional educational settings.
Aaron believes he has learned resilience through the program due to its fail-forward approach to engineering. “Normally, I get really frustrated when I can’t solve a problem,” he told Upworthy. “Robotics helped me to calm down instead of getting angry. If you don’t get it right the first time, you just keep trying, trying until you do.”
Problem-solving is an important goal of engineering and FIRST inspires students to stretch the limits of their innovation and imagination to reach their goals. When each annual FIRST season begins, student teams are assigned a sport-like challenge, typically themed around a critical global issue like recycling, transportation or energy, and are asked to build a robot that can compete in that challenge. They are given a kit of materials with limited instructions. It encourages them to experiment and attempt new iterations until the robot works.
When the students hit a roadblock, they can get help from adult mentors with either educational or professional experience in STEM fields. This provides the invaluable experience of working with positive role models who’ve made STEM their life’s work. It’s a big reason why FIRST students are better prepared for STEM careers than those who’ve only studied the subject in school (that is, if they even have access to STEM education in their school).
Afzaa Rahman has been a FIRST student for seven years as a member of the Durham, North Carolina-based Zebracorns. After high school, she hopes to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering.
“The Zebracorns have a special place in my heart as they have provided me with a community of individuals who stood by my side, willing to assist, support, encourage and motivate me in my endeavors,” she told Upworthy.
She hopes that being part of FIRST will inspire other girls to do the same. “It’s important that we leave our mark and continue to make meaningful contributions to STEM fields,” she said. “By participating in STEM, today’s girls and women will inspire future generations to do the same until we are no longer a minority.”
Afzaa’s father, Mujib Jinnah, encourages other parents to involve their children in the program, too. “I think other parents should definitely consider having their child participate in FIRST. In addition to STEM learning, FIRST encourages the development of teamwork and soft skills, which are essential qualities to enhance from a young age,” he told Upworthy.
One of the most important goals of FIRST is to recruit women and students from underserved or underrepresented communities into the program to help bridge the gap in STEM participation. This can help uplift individuals and communities by putting their issues directly in the hands of a new generation of problem-solvers.
“When we talk about diversity in technology, we talk about bringing more voices into technology,” Fazlul “Fuzz” Zubair, systems engineering department manager at Raytheon Technologies and mentor of FIRST team The Vitruvian Bots, told Upworthy.
“When young people of all backgrounds learn they can get into technology, they bring the issues they see to the forefront and say, ‘I can solve this with technology.’ That way you don’t just get technology that’s developed for one class of people,” said Zubair. “We need more developers from underserved areas because they understand the issues.”
FIRST robotics challenges inspire competition and cooperation—what it calls Coopertition®. Two teams may be competing alongside one another in a challenge and then later compete against each other. To make this work requires another FIRST value: Gracious Professionalism®, a term coined by the late Dr. Woodie Flowers, a distinguished MIT professor emeritus and a pioneer in hands-on STEM education, including many years spent tirelessly supporting FIRST.
“The ethos of Coopertition and Gracious Professionalism encourages all who participate in the FIRST community to emphasize and respect the value of others and their opinions, including those that might differ and differ strongly from yours,” Fessia said.
Iqbal-Zubair says that, win or lose, the unique nature of the competition builds practical empathy that students won’t learn elsewhere.
“You can be kind to a team and understand what they’re going through in one competition. Then, work against them in the next and be gracious in both situations. That takes a lot of empathy,” she said. “FIRST requires technical empathy, emotional empathy and strategic empathy,” she added.
Keys to thriving in a world where change is happening at a breakneck speed are resilience and flexibility as well as the 21st-century skills of cooperation and empathy. FIRST students are developing those skills while building some pretty amazing robots, too!
FIRST is open to students from the ages of 4 to 18. To learn more about FIRST programs in your area and how to become involved, go to firstinspires.org.
With a little over a week to go until the finale, Netflix has dropped a new trailer for Stranger Things 4 Volume 2 that sets up an all-out war in Hawkins as the crew go up against this season’s big bad, Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). From the looks of things, the Hawkins kids are going to take on the psychic monster without the aid of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) who’s still in the desert regaining her powers with the help of Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) whose motives are as murky as ever.
Adding to the tension is both The Duffer Brothers and cast members like Noah Schapp have hinted that some of the crew might not make it out alive. In fact, the Duffers have said the mammoth episodes will be “extremely emotional.” It also doesn’t help that the trailer is definitely leaning on the ominous vibes that someone’s definitely going not to survive the sprawling war with the Upside Down.
Naturally, this latest preview leans heavily into Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” which has been crushing the charts thanks to ’80s banger being a key element in Stranger Things 4. The song saved Max (Sadie Sink) from nearly becoming one of Vecna’s victims in a powerful scene that sparked millions of “Running Up That Hill” downloads, and she’s shown loading up her Walkman again to take on the dark wizard with or without Eleven at her side.
Stranger Things 4 Volume 2 starts streaming July 1 on Netflix.
Kid Cudi has his Entergalactic album on the way and it turns out he’ll be supporting it on the road this summer and fall, as he just announced a run of tour dates, the To the Moon World Tour, for later this year.
— The Chosen One : I YOU FRESHIE 4EVER (@KidCudi) June 21, 2022
The trek kicks off in North America in mid-August before a Japanese show in October and European/UK dates in November. The list of openers is strong, too, as joining Cudi on tour are Denzel Curry, 070 Shake, Don Toliver, and Strick.
Check out the full list of tour dates below.
08/16 — Vancouver, British Columbia @ Rogers Arena *$#
08/18 — Portland, OR @ Veters Memorial Coliseum *$#
08/19 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena *$#
08/21 — Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena *$#
08/23 — San Diego, CA @ Pechanga Arena *$#
08/24 — Inglewood, CA @ Kia Forum *$#
08/25 — Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center *$%
08/27 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena *$%
08/30 — Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center *$%
08/31 — Austin, TX @ Moody Center *$%
09/01 — Houston, TX @ Toyota Center *$%
09/04 — Miami, FL @ FTX Arena *$#%
09/06 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena *$%
09/08 — Washington, D.C. @ Capital One Arena *$%
09/09 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center *$%
09/10 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden *$%
09/12 — Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center *$%
09/14 — Toronto, Ontario @ Scotiabank Arena *$%
09/16 — Chicago, IL @ United Center *$%
09/17 — Cleveland, OH @ West Bank of the Flats (Moon Man’s Landing Festival)
10/07 — Tokyo, Japan @ Toyosu Pit
11/12 — Berlin, Germany @ Verti Music Hall
11/13 — Amsterdam, Netherlands @ AFAS Live
11/15 — London, England @ The O2
11/17 — Brussels, Belgium @ Palais 12
11/20 — Paris, France @ Zénith Paris
11/22 — Milan, Italy @ Fabrique
* with Don Toliver
$ with Strick
# with Denzel Curry
% with 070 Shake
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(@patriottakes) 
