Month: July 2022

Taika Waititi has had a string of hits in the past few years: he voiced everyone’s favorite evil droid on The Mandalorian, starred alongside Thor in Love And Thunder and he created the hit comedy-drama Reservation Dogs, which is about to enter its second season.

Reservation Dogs follows a group of Indigenous teens in Oklahoma as they navigate the pressures of their family and desire to see the world. The show made history last year by becoming the first major television show to use an entirely Indigenous creative team. It is also the only series to be set and filmed in Oklahoma (sorry, Watchmen).

The second season follows Elora (Devery Jacobs), Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Cheese (Lane Factor), and Willie (Paulina Alexis) as they intend to make the trek out to California, but first, they need to get enough money to actually leave, hence all of the petty crimes.

Here is the official season summary:

Reservation Dogs is a half-hour comedy that follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma who steal, rob and save in order to get to the exotic, mysterious and faraway land of California. The show’s first-of-its-kind Indigenous creative team invites audiences into a surprisingly familiar and funny world.

Season two premieres on August 3rd on Hulu. The first season is now available for streaming. Check out the trailer above.

Back in 2021, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor said of Machine Gun Kelly on a podcast, “I hate all new rock for the most part. I [hate] the artists who failed in one genre and decided to go rock — and I think he knows who he is. But that’s another story.” Kelly responded by dissing Taylor on stage and starting a feud.

Now, though, Kelly wishes he took a different approach. In the new Life In Pink documentary, Kelly says of the Taylor situation (as The Pit notes):

“It’s funny, the whole Slipknot issue (which really isn’t a Slipknot issue, it’s a Corey issue). That situation’s unfortunate because I think both of us let our egos get in the way. You know, I was a fan of Slipknot. I was a fan of Corey. That’s why I’d asked him to get on Tickets To My Downfall. He obviously had mutual respect, too, because he cut a verse. I kind of tried to give notes back, like, ‘Oh, you know, this wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, can we try this?’ And respectfully he was like, you know, ‘No.’ And I was like, ‘OK, cool.’ So we didn’t use it. You know, then I heard him on a podcast.”

He also addressed Taylor’s specific aforementioned comment more directly, saying, “That narrative always confused me. My most successful album was the album I just put out. Hotel Diablo, that’s a rap album that has a billion-plus streams. I could have handled it differently. I should have just picked up the phone and been like, ‘Hey dude, why would you say that?’ But instead, we all acted ridiculous.”

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

ESPN NBA reporter Brian Windhorst went onto First Take last week and very obviously knew something was going on with the Utah Jazz, which traded Royce O’Neale to the Brooklyn Nets for a first round pick in a move that was announced shortly after Kevin Durant‘s trade request hit Twitter. Despite that, Windhorst decided to take the rest of the desk and the show’s viewers down a long and winding road, speaking cryptically about the Jazz being a team to watch.

It was pretty funny, and in the aftermath, a number of folks decided to use photos and quotes from Windhorst’s monologue as a way to make jokes. What was not clear is why, exactly, Windhorst didn’t just say whatever was going on. But on the most recent episode of The Hoops Collective, Windhorst explained what happened, and anyone who has followed along with him in recent years will not be surprised to learn that he was trying to sidestep aggregation.

“It really became more popular as a meme than actually what I said,” Windhorst said. “I knew the Jazz were pretty close to trading Rudy Gobert. To be honest with you, part of what I was doing was trying to do was avoid aggregation, because if I had come out and go, ‘I think the Jazz are going to trade Rudy Gobert today,’ then everything on the internet is, ‘Windhorst, Report: Jazz Trade Gobert.’ And then maybe they don’t trade him, because they had almost traded him the day before, maybe Minnesota was only offering 34 assets and they didn’t offer the 35th that got the Jazz to finally say ok.

“In this world of aggregation, I have to get more creative, because you get pinned down on, sometimes, four words,” he continued. “You say 700 words and you get pinned down to four words, and I will continue to get pinned down to four words because it’s what I do, but I have to get creative and avoid aggregation. And so, that was me avoiding aggregation in a setting where I had some time on national television.”

Real Hoop Collective heads will know that Windhorst — along with co-hosts Tim MacMahon and Tim Bontemps — more or less took the bit on a test run before going onto First Take, where the final product was unveiled to the world.

American single malt whiskey is one of the most exciting categories in whiskey right now. The whole style is growing so fast that for the first time ever, legal definitions are about to officially codify it. New and old distilleries are releasing single malts left and right, and innovation is at the heart of it all. What better way to celebrate it than with a blind taste test?

For this blind ranking, I’m not stacking up American single malts against Scottish ones, I’m simply taking 12 bottles from my shelf and pitting them against each other in a blind, head-to-head tasting. There are some special single barrels, unique barrel finishes, and some standards, alongside a few peated and “vatted” ringers too. It’s a bonanza of American single malt. As far as the ranking, I’m going on taste alone.

Our lineup today is:

• Westward American Single Malt Stout Cask Finished
• Balcones Distilling Pilgrimage Texas Single Malt Whisky Finished in Sauternes Casks
• Virginia Distillery Co. Courage & Conviction American Single Malt Whisky Cuvee Cask
• Westward American Single Malt Pinot Noir Cask
• Boulder Spirits American Single Malt Whiskey
• Lost Lantern American Vatted Malt Edition no. 1
• Virginia Distillery Co. Courage & Conviction American Single Malt Whisky
• Boulder Spirits American Single Malt Whiskey Peated Malt
• Lost Lantern St. George Spirits California Single Malt Whiskey
• Lost Lantern Balcones Distilling Texas Single Malt Whiskey Aged in a Tequila Barrel
• Boulder Spirits American Single Malt Whiskey Bottled in Bond
• Lost Lantern McCarthy’s Peated Oregon Single Malt Whiskey

Let’s dig in!

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months

• We Blind Tasted A Whole Bunch Of $30-60 Bourbons To See If Any Could Beat Weller
• We Blind Tasted Classic Bourbons And Were Shocked By The Winner
• The Best Ten-Year-Old Bourbon Whiskeys, Tasted Blind And Ranked
• We Tasted Bourbon Whiskeys ‘Double-Blind’ And Tried To Guess Each Bottle
• All The Double Gold-Winning Straight Bourbons From This Year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition

Part 1: The Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

The nose opens with hints of apricot and butter next to soft leather and a hint of buttermilk biscuit. The palate opens up toward sugar-glazed doughnuts topped with cinnamon and pecan next to apple wood and creamy dark chocolate with a hint of date in the background. The end dries out a bit toward a solid finish full of warm malts with a hint of clove and that apricot from the nose.

Well, this was just a lovely first dram. It’s deep, delicious, and delightful.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this one is big with soft leather, peach pie, stewed pear, creamy honey, and a dash of something savory. The palate leans into lush milk chocolate with woody pears and sweet and fresh honey next to orange blossoms with a hint of salted caramel. The end is equally big with chili-spiked chocolate bars next to orchards full of fruit, blossoms, and soft woods with a sharp dark spicy malted end.

Goddamn, this is good stuff.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

Lemon oils and apple candy mix with a hint of dark berry and a touch of spicy malts on the nose. The palate has a bit of citrus pie next to sour berries with a thin line of winter spice. The end mixes honey, woody, and tart lemon cream on the short finish.

I’m not over the moon for all the citrus in this. It’s not bad, it’s just really not my jam.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

Big old leathery notes drive the nose toward ripe figs, dark plums, and a lot of brown sugar. The palate leans into warm and woody spices that are almost more tannic than sharp as the dark fruit fades into the background. The end is short and is more brown sugar and bitter tannic than anything else.

This was very much in the “that’s fine” column of the ol’ ledger of this tasting.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

There’s a sense of pleather and dark fruit on the nose that leads to nutty and woody maple syrup with a hint of pecan waffle. The palate has a whisper of lemon oil that immediately leads into dark fruit leather with a hint of clove and cinnamon. The end sweetens the fruit toward a grape soda with a dash of cinnamon and pecan.

This ended up being pretty nice. That pleather on the nose was a bit of a distraction though.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

This opens with a mix of old leather boots next to soft and damp grains (think oats and malts) that build on sour cherries with a hint of sharp clove and anise lurking beneath it all. The palate is a lush mix of sourdough rye crust next to spiced malts, soft and waxy cacao nibs, and an echo of oatmeal raisin cookies in some far-off cookie jar. The finish is a mix of dried tart and sour fruits that sweeten slightly with some honey as that old boot leather engulfs the end.

This is another contender. It’s pretty damn good and very easy to drink in a neat pour.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

Raw grains and leather lead to a sense of bourbon vanilla and caramel on the nose. The taste tips between tart red berries and braids of dry cedar bark before a creamy body full of chili-infused dark chocolate and vanilla sauce round everything out. The end has an echo of dried roses before sweet malts and soft leather finish the taste.

I like this in theory. It was a little “bourbon-y” for me. But it did pull that dried floral note way back. I’m on the fence.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

Fresh Band-Aids, pine resin, and sour fruit lead the way on the nose with a hint of sharp clove. The palate is super earthy with hints of dry pine, old moss, and burnt-out tree trunks next to soft toffee, almonds, and sour cherry pie. The end brings about a bushel of caramel malts with a buttery edge next to dark cinnamon and allspice and a hint of sour cherry tobacco with a twinge of old Band-Aid.

This was a rollercoaster and I kind of loved it. It’s not quite as refined as a big Islay peaty, but it’s damn fine nonetheless.

Taste 9

Tasting Notes:

Lemon, lemon candy, cheap lemon soda (that somehow tastes like it was left in a hot car in the Texas sun for a week), and instant lemon tea all come up on the nose and the palate. The finish is sweet lemon next to sweet malts with a hint of honey, at least.

Just, nah.

Taste 10

Tasting Notes:

This burst forth with a huge note of butterscotch on the nose next to rich honey, very old roasted agave piñas, soft winter spices, powdered sugar icy, and a hint of green herbs. The palate just keeps going through layers and layers of white pepper, woodruff, dried ancho chili-infused dark chocolate bars, salted caramel ice cream, old leather jackets, and this thin line of really good blanco tequila. The end sweetens slightly with creamy yet fresh honey next to a concentrated version of the chili and chocolate in espresso with a little cream on top and a whisper of grape must.

This is wild and I kind of love it. There’s just so much going on that I want to go back again and again to find more.

Taste 11

Tasting Notes:

Raw grains and Cherry Coke lead the way on the nose with hints of vanilla and dark brown sugar, which makes this kind of sweet. The palate leans into all that sugar with a nice counterbalance of licorice and sassafras with a touch of clove and allspice. The end is malty and sweet with a warming vibe that’s ultimately pretty soft and nice.

This was another “that’s nice” whiskey.

Taste 12

Tasting Notes:

Old Ace Bandages and smoldering mesquite logs greet you on the nose with lush vanilla ice cream drizzled with salted maple syrup with a hint of pecan next to old leather pouches that held pipe tobacco for decades. The palate is like licking the bottom of ashtrays in the best possible way with a sweet burnt tobacco vibe next to silky notes of vanilla cream, eggnog nutmeg, and salted caramel with a hint of waxy cacao. The end is bold with notes of old charcoal next to fatty walnuts, a hint of orange, and more of that lush vanilla rounding things out with a sharply spiced end.

This is a very love it or hate it kind of whiskey. But, wow, does it go for it. There’s no holding back and I kind of dig it for that alone. Plus, it tastes amazing and distinct.

Part 2: The Ranking

12. Lost Lantern St. George Spirits California Single Malt Whiskey — Taste 9

ABV: 53.35%

Average Price: $160

The Whiskey:

St. George — in Alameda, California — is technically America’s first (modern) craft distillery, founded all the way back in 1982. The juice in the bottle is a single barrel release of only 215 bottles. The whiskey is made with 100 percent malted barley that’s aged for a mere three years and 10 months in new American oak. The single barrel that Lost Lantern picked was then bottled as-is with no filtration, cutting with water, or fussing.

Bottom Line:

I really, really don’t like this whiskey. Sorry. If you want a lemon bomb, then go for it. But, actually, don’t. It’d be a tragedy if this turned you off American single malt forever.

11. Virginia Distillery Co. Courage & Conviction American Single Malt Whisky Cuvee Cask — Taste 3

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $85

The Whiskey:

This expression is made from 100% malted barley distillate that’s aged for three years in Cuvée wine casks in the foothills of Virginia’s Appalachia. Those barrels are vatted and proofed down with local water and bottled without filtration or coloration, letting the barrels shine in the glass.

Bottom Line:

This is leaps and bounds above the bottle above it. That bottle is more like 175th and this is eleventh. That aside, this is where we get into the “good stuff” that I’d gladly drink, but I’m not standing in line overnight to buy.

10. Westward American Single Malt Pinot Noir Cask — Taste 4

ABV: 45%

Price: $90

The Whiskey:

Westward Whiskey Pinot Noir Cask Finish teams up Westward with local friends from Suzor Wines. The expression spends time mellowing in their old Pinot barrels before small-batch bottling.

Bottom Line:

I like this for what it is, a bit of a novel finishing. It’s much better over a few rocks, in my opinion. That also means that you can use this as a solid cocktail foundation and build off that tannic mid-palate.

9. Boulder Spirits American Single Malt Whiskey Bottled in Bond — Taste 11

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $69

The Whiskey:

This Colorado whiskey is a fascinating experiment — asking what a single malt that’s treated like a bottled-in-bond bourbon might taste like. The juice is made from 100% malted barley. Then is spends four years in a bonded warehouse aging in new American oak. It’s then bottled at 50% ABV per federal regulations.

Bottom Line:

This was squarely in the “that’s nice” camp. I think it’d make a great cocktail. That’s about all there’s to say.

8. Virginia Distillery Co. Courage & Conviction American Single Malt Whisky — Taste 7

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $75

The Whisky:

This expression from Virginia Distillery Co. is a single malt blend of 100% malted barley distillate that’s aged in ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and ex-Cuvée wine casks. The blend is a split of 50% from the bourbon cask and an equal measure from the sherry and Cuvée casks.

Bottom Line:

This is a very solid whisky. I tend to reach for this a little more for cocktails but it totally works on the rocks or neat (if those tasting notes above are your jam).

7. Boulder Spirits American Single Malt Whiskey — Taste 5

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $60

The Whiskey:

This craft whiskey from Colorado is made with 100% locally grown barley and Rocky Mountain water. It’s slowly fermented and distilled in-house on an old-school Scottish copper pot still. The juice is then aged in new American oak, much like bourbon, for four years before it’s cut with water and bottled.

Bottom Line:

Once I got past that “pleather” note, this was pretty damn good. It’s not amazing, mind. It’s just very solid and, I’d argue, a good cocktail or highball whiskey.

6. Boulder Spirits American Single Malt Whiskey Peated Malt — Taste 8

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $69

The Whiskey:

This Colorado whiskey starts off with very lightly peated malts that are mixed with that Rocky Mountain water. After fermentation and distillation, the spirit ages for around three years in new American oak in the arid highlands of Colorado. Those barrels are then vatted and proofed before bottling.

Bottom Line:

This was a very nice peated whiskey, especially for anyone looking to dip their toe into the peaty world. The only reason it’s a little lower is because of that too. It’s a little reserved on the palate. It’s very nice but I wouldn’t call it bold or exciting.

5. Westward American Single Malt Stout Cask Finished — Taste 1

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $90

The Whiskey:

Portland’s Westward knows how to make a killer American single malt and how to finish that juice in a quality barrel. This whiskey was finished in barrels that held several different breweries’ stouts from all over Oregon. Those barrels were sent back to Westward where this whiskey spent another year maturing before proofing and bottling.

Bottom Line:

This was very good. It had a great depth. The only reason it’s fifth instead of, say, third or first is that it was solid but not “holy shit” good.

4. Lost Lantern American Vatted Malt Edition no. 1 — Taste 6

ABV: 52.5%

Average Price: $120

The Whiskey:

This whiskey is technically a blended malt whiskey (much like Johnnie Walker Green, which is not a blended whisky since it’s only made with single malts and not a mix of single malts and single grain whiskies). In this case, the “vatted malt” is made from 12 single malt barrels from Texas’ Balcones, Washington’s Copperworks, New Mexico’s Santa Fe Spirits, Massachusett’s Triple Eight, Oregon’s Westward, and Virginia’s Virginia Distillery Co. The whiskey was made over the course of a single day as each of the distillers and blenders from each shingle gathered together to create the whiskey, eventually bottling only 3,000 bottles.

Bottom Line:

“Vatted” or not, this is great malt whiskey. This was such an easy sipper, even neat, that I wanted to go back to it immediately. While it was very nuanced and deeply hewn, it wasn’t mind-blowing like the next three.

3. Balcones Distilling Pilgrimage Texas Single Malt Whisky Finished in Sauternes Casks — Taste 2

ABV: 58.5%

Average Price: $76

The Whisky:

This single malt starts with Golden Promise malted barley in the mash with proprietary ale yeast and local Texas water. The distilled juice is then loaded into used barrels like all of the world’s great single malts. After a few years of aging under the hot Texas sun, the whisky is transferred into French Sauternes casks, bringing a distinct dessert wine vibe to the juice. Finally, the whisky is bottled at cask strength from very small, one-off batches.

Bottom Line:

This is just f*cking good whisky. These top three are all in that realm. This was a little sweeter and “approachable” than the next two. But it still wowed.

2. Lost Lantern Balcones Distilling Texas Single Malt Whiskey Aged in a Tequila Barrel — Taste 10

ABV: 64.5%

Average Price: $120

The Whiskey:

This whisky is classic Balcones single malt made with Golden Promise malts on their old Scottish stills. The difference is that that juice then spends five years in a used tequila cask that previously held Balcones Rumble, which is a specialty spirit made from honey, figs, and turbinado sugar (think of it as a cousin to rum). Lost Lantern got their hands on that single tequila barrel of single malt and then bottled it as-is with zero fussing.

Bottom Line:

This is spectacular whisky. This did truly blow me away. It was deep and funky and interesting and enticing. I really wanted more of this. That said, I wrote a “one” next to the next pour without hesitation.

1. Lost Lantern McCarthy’s Peated Oregon Single Malt Whiskey — Taste 12

ABV: 57.05%

Average Price: $90

The Whiskey:

Clear Creek Distillery in Oregon has been making McCarthy’s for about 25 years now. This juice is made from Islay peated malts that are sent to Oregon where fermentation, distillation, and aging takes place. The hot spirit is filled into a second-fill, 228 liter Oregon oak cask and left to mellow for three years and 11 months before Lost Lantern picked up the barrel and bottled it as-is.

Bottom Line:

This gave me hope. I know it’s been around for two-plus decades, but it’s spectacular, bold, and truly distinct. There’s a sense of something special here that’s saying loudly to the world that American single malts are something to be reckoned with, even the peated ones. This can easily stand up to the best from Islay, the Islands, or the Highlands of Scotland and maybe even beat them out. But that’s a blind taste test for another day.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

Well, I guess the most classic and iconic bottle of American single malt won the day. Granted, it was a special single-barrel version, but still. It goes to show that American single malt is a major category that’s growing quickly for a reason. There is some great whiskey to be found in the bottles above.

All of that said, the top six are all very recommended. The top three are all stellar. And that Lost Lantern single barrel peated malt from Oregon is in a league of its own. If you can get your hands on a bottle, you’ll be in for a bold and peaty treat.

Nenad Bach, a Croatian American recording artist, and peace activist has led an impressive life propelled by his inspiring optimism. As a musician, he’s performed alongside Bono and Luciano Pavarotti and took the stage at Woodstock ‘94. He’s recorded with legendary artists such as Garth Hudson and Rick Danko from The Band and The Grateful Dead’s Vince Welnick.

As an activist, he was highlighted by the United Nations for his World Peace in One Hour campaign.

But in 2010 his life came to a temporary halt after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a nervous system disorder affecting movement. According to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, it’s a progressive disease that slowly worsens over time.

Over a million people in the U.S. and 6 million worldwide are affected by the disease.

After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, Bach was invited by a friend to play ping pong. The next day he couldn’t believe how much better he felt. His cognitive abilities improved, his tremors were less intense, it was easier for him to walk and talk and he felt a greater “desire to live,” he told Upworthy.

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Bach immediately made ping pong part of his wellness routine. When he can’t get to a physical ping pong table. No problem. Quest by Meta allows Bach to play ping pong with players around the world through a virtual reality headset and touch controller.

Image courtesy of Meta’s Community Voices film series

“Playing ping pong to me means freedom. Free of past. Free of future. Once you observe the rotating, spinning ball in there, you don’t think about anything else,” he said in the short film, “Nenad, Who Plays Ping Pong.”

Even Bach’s doctors noted the reversal in his Parkinson’s symptoms. “They told me to ‘continue doing what you are doing because it is obvious that you are improving,’” he told Upworthy.

Bach was excited to spread the word about his amazing transformation but he had a hard time convincing people. But, ever the eternal optimist, he kept pushing forward and on March 1, 2017, he held his first Ping Pong Parkinson’s sessions and “never looked back.”

This led him to create Ping Pong Parkinson (PPP) a non-profit organization based at the Westchester Table Tennis Center in Pleasantville, New York.

The organization believes that playing ping pong increases neuroplasticity in the brain which fosters the creation of neurons and connections through physical exercise. Around 25 to 30 “Pongers,” as they call themselves, show up at the table tennis center in Pleasantville each session and Bach believes there are over 1,000 Pongers across the world.

Over the past seven years, Bach has seen people transform through ping pong. Their “facial expression changes from when they arrive ‘til they leave,” he told Upworthy. “Plus some people start walking again,” he says.

Bach plays ping pong two to three times a week, either at the center or on Quest.

Quest is a great way for Bach to keep his ping pong skills sharp without having to leave the house which was invaluable during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also finds that playing with people from other countries helps him learn new techniques and strategies. “I learned a lot from others. Like my friend Lamine from Africa. He taught me how to play with different hands on a regular basis and challenge my brain,” Bach told Upworthy.

Bach doesn’t tell other Quest players that he has Parkinson’s unless they ask about the PPP at the end of his username. The virtual reality technology has caught on with his fellow Pongers, who’ve already had a PPP World Championship played virtually over the system.

The musician is now back to playing guitar again, thanks in part to his love of ping pong. Recently, he recorded a song about his unique obsession.

Nenad Bach I Love Ping Pong Official Music VIdeo

www.youtube.com

PPP’s goal is to help people with Parkinson’s improve their health and find greater joy in life. But Bach also hopes the organization will also promote the inclusion of people with neurodegenerative disorders in the Paralympic Games.

Every facet of Bach’s life has been defined by optimism. As a musician, Bach has written uplifting songs with a wry sense of humor. As a peace activist, he has been recognized by one of the most influential institutions in the world. As a humanitarian athlete, he has worked to help himself and others slow the process of a debilitating neurological disease.

“I see the world that it could be rather than what it is,” he told Upworthy.

To keep up with Bach and his fellow Pongers, follow the Ping Pong Parkinson page on Facebook.

Joe Rogan’s no stranger to dabbling in far-right conspiracy land, but he’s done a very surprising thing by refusing to hop on the Trump 2024 bandwagon. Rather, he’s expressed support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, which can’t please Trump, given Rogan’s massive Spotify audience headcount. To add further insult to injury, Rogan recently told his listeners that Trump’s been pushing hard to be a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience, but Rogan ain’t interested in letting Trump hop onboard. Rogan added that he’s turned down Team Trump multiple times, and he emphasized, “I’m not a Trump supporter in any way, shape or form.”

Trump has managed to hold his tongue and not fire off an angry press release, but former White House Chief of Staff Steve Bannon is talking on his War Room podcast. Via Raw Story, Bannon fired off accusations of Rogan taking “blood money” while entertaining the “low information voters in his audience. Them’s fighting words:

“You know, Joe Rogan is trash-talking Trump. Where’s Joe Rogan taking the $100 million blood money from Spotify. Where’s he about Spotify putting [the alleged shooter’s] rap videos up and making money off of it?”

No offense. he doesn’t need your platform. He doesn’t need your low-information voters. OK? Trump deals with high-information people. Your audience couldn’t handle War Room, couldn’t follow it.”

So (and according to Bannon, who is reportedly very upset about people thinking he looks like a “deranged incel”), the War Room podcast is so complex that Joe Rogan’s audience simply can’t handle it. Or maybe it’s just that people can’t tolerate a constant stream of jibberish from guests like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mike Lindell.

(Via Raw Story)

On the heels of her new album, Big Time, Angel Olsen will finally share the first live performance of the LP in full. On Tuesday, July 19, Olsen will unveil the show for the inaugural Day Tripper event by Atlas Obscura, an award-winning travel and experiences company.

Olsen was accompanied by a full backing band for the album’s first-ever live performance. The concert took place in the Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon. Fans can livestream the concert through Veeps for $17.99.

“After years of canceled concerts and events, we knew one of our main priorities at Atlas Obscura was to bring people back together to experience the wonders of live entertainment in awe-inspiring, truly unique spaces, and that’s how our Day Tripper series was reborn,” Megan Roberts, Creative Director of Brand Partnerships at Atlas Obscura, said in a statement. “Working with Angel Olsen and her team to put on this spectacular concert was the perfect way to kick off our new event series, and having an opportunity to highlight Topanga Canyon’s historic Theatricum Botanicum made it even better. As the series continues to grow, we’re thrilled to be working with Veeps to bring Angel’s incredible performance to fans around the world to celebrate her first full performance of Big Time.”

A new wedding comedy starring Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon has been scooped up by Amazon after a bidding war across the various streamers. The untitled pic will be directed by Nick Stoller, who recently directed the upcoming Bros, as well as comedy favorites Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Neighbors. While details are being kept hidden like the bride’s gown before the wedding day, the film will reportedly center on two weddings accidentally booked for the same venue on the same day.

Naturally, Ferrell, Witherspoon, Stoller’s production companies will be heavily involved. Via The Hollywood Reporter:

The trio are also producing via their respective banners: Ferrell is producing with Jessica Elbaum via Gloria Sanchez; Stoller will produce with his Global Solutions shingle partner Conor Welch; and Witherspoon is producing with Lauren Neustadter via Hello Sunshine, with the company’s Ashley Strumwasser exec producing.

The untitled wedding film marks an increased dip into streaming content for both Ferrell and Witherspoon, who each have projects on Apple TV+. Ferrell was recently seen on The Shrink Next Door while Witherspoon can be seen alongside Jennifer Aniston on The Morning Show. However, this marks the first time the actors will headline a project together after both were marquee stars during the 2000s thanks to hit films like Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Legally Blonde, Walk the Line, and countless others.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro have worked together so many times that they have their own Wikipedia page. Not the Martin Scorsese Wikipedia page or the Robert De Niro Wikipedia page, although those both obviously exist, but the “Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro” Wikipedia page. The collaboration began with 1973’s Mean Streets — since then, they’ve made nearly a dozen films together, including Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, and The Irishman.

Jordan Peele wants for him and Daniel Kaluuya what Scorsese and De Niro have.

“It’s so funny,” the Nope writer and director told Empire, “but by the point I was in the middle of [shooting] Get Out, that’s what I was telling him. I was like, ‘You’re my De Niro, man. You’re my De Niro.’ I was like, ‘I need you to be in the future ones too, man!’ You could just tell what we had in him as a performer, from the very beginning.”

Peele has directed three movies, two of which star Kaluuya: Get Out and Nope.

Scorsese is still going strong at 79 years old (his next film, Killers of the Flower Moon, comes out later this year, and yes, it stars De Niro). There’s still time for him to direct a movie with De Niro, Kaluuya, and Peele (who’s also a very good actor). Or maybe Peele can remake After Hours with Kaluuya in the Griffin Dunne role. Would I watch that? Yup.

Nope opens on July 22.

(Via Empire)

Dua Lipa is a globally recognized pop star now, but before that, she worked as a model. She hasn’t entirely left that part of herself behind, and she just walked in Balenciaga’s Fall 2022 Couture Runway Show in Paris, as did Kim Kardashian and others.

Lipa shared some photos and videos from the show and behind the scenes and wrote on Instagram, “an honour and a dream to be a part of your beautiful show.” Kardashian also shared some clips on her Instagram Story and wrote in one of them, “Walked in my first Paris fashion show and a COUTURE show at that!!! Thank you @balenciaga @demna.”

Aside from those two, Nicole Kidman, Naomi Campbell, Christine Quinn, and Bella Hadid were also a part of the show. Meanwhile, Offset and Playboi Carti were in attendance.

Lipa recently celebrated the five-year anniversary of her self-titled debut album, of which she wrote in early June, “5 years ago today I dropped my debut album ~ i’m so proud of every baby step and stepping stone, every room, club and venue, every artist, songwriter and producer that i’ve been lucky to write and collaborate with and that has led me to where I am today ~ i thank my lucky stars everyday and I thank you all for being on this insane journey with me x.”

Check out the full Balenciaga show above.

Dua Lipa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.