Month: August 2023

From awkward phone calls and impostor syndrome, to depression and anxiety, at some point all of us have experienced challenging feelings and self-doubt.

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, those worries and fears can strike at any moment.

That’s why Beth Evans’ comics feel so familiar and honest.

The 26-year-old from the Chicago area started doodling and drawing in college and now works on her comic full-time. Through uncomplicated line drawings and simple stories, Evans reveals a slice of her daily life, including some of her anxieties, brushes with self-doubt, and small victories. Working on the comic has helped Evans manage some of these thoughts and feelings too.

“Sometimes I’m not always able to express those feelings in my real life,” she says. “Sometimes it’s easier just to say ‘Here’s the awful emotion of the day, we’re just going to put it down, put it out there. Maybe someone else feels that way so we can feel awful together.”

Her work has clearly struck a chord, as she’s amassed more than 216,000 followers — including some fans so dedicated that they’ve gotten tattoos of her work.

Evans is flattered by the gesture, though she’s a little nervous too. “I just hope they like it,” she says.

Her mindset speaks to the honesty and authenticity of her work — just like the rest of us, Evans experiences feelings of self-doubt. The common feeling just seems to be part and parcel of life as an adult. If we can’t make it go away completely, at least we can commiserate together.

Here are 15 more of Evans comics that may have you saying, “It me.”

1. When you make plans at night versus when you wake up.

2. You still earn a ribbon, even if you have nothing to show for it.

3. And don’t get me started on impromptu small talk.

4. If you can limit the internal screaming to 5%, you’re ahead of the curve.

5. This is how it goes down every. single. time.

6. Just in case you needed a reminder.

7. Though compliments can bring their own kind of anxiety.

8. Adulting isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, kids.

9. And why is saving money so, so hard?

10. You know what’s more awkward than feeling all the feelings? Talking about the feelings.

11. But it’s good, especially if you need to.

12. Raise your hand if you’ve played any of these before.

13. Even the love chart is easy to love.

14. It’s totally OK not to know, btw.

15. And, finally, don’t forget to give yourself a break.

No matter your worries, fears, “weird” thoughts, or wild ideas — remember, you’re not alone.

Talk it out, or keep it to yourself. Feel free to laugh, cry, scream, or do something in between. Just remember you are enough, and you are pretty darn great right this second, OK?

And if you enjoy Evans’ work, be sure to follow her on Instagram and Twitter.

This article originally appeared on 09.15.17

Since launching his presidential campaign in early June, Chris Christie has mostly talked about one thing: Donald Trump. He has nothing good to say, and why should he? He’s known the guy for two decades. He’s kept up his attacks at about the same level of intensity. In return, Trump has made fat jokes. But that’s okay because Christie is basically calling him a pussy.

At a recent town hall in New Hampshire, the former New Jersey governor tried to disabuse any MAGA heads of the notion that Trump is some tough guy who would have joined the Capitol rioters on Jan. 6.

“Now let me tell you everybody,” Christie said, “I’ve known him for 22 years, if there is the slightest danger that he would break a fingernail, he ain’t going. Not going.”

Christie also dragged the big guy for one of his more bizarre lines about his ever-growing list of indictments: that they’re really coming for them, but he’s in the way. Christie began by talking about how he spent last Thursday, namely observing Russian war atrocities in Ukraine. What was Trump doing then? Getting arraigned, again.

“As I’m walking around Ukraine, he’s waltzing into a courtroom in Washington, D.C. to tell us that he’s being indicted for us,” Christie told the crowd.

“For us,” he said, emphasizing that last word. “How lucky are we that we have such a selfless, magnanimous leader that, because you know that the government was coming to get you, and on their way to get you, low and behold they came across Donald Trump, and they said, ‘OK, we won’t get you, we’ll take him, for you.’”

Christie then reminded the crowd that none of them had been accused, much less committed, the crimes for which Trump has been indicted.

“Except I don’t think anybody in this room tonight I suspect, invited people to come to Washington on January 6, 2021, and told them it was going to be wild,” he said. “I don’t suspect anybody in this room stood in front of that audience that day and told them that the 2020 election had been stolen when he knew that it happened. I don’t suspect any of you in this room, told the people gathered there that day, to march to Capitol Hill, that he was gonna go with him.”

In the meantime, Trump is such a tough cookie that he’s skipping out on the GOP primary debates, as Christie has also enjoyed pointing out. After all, if he did he’d probably have to deal with a longtime buddy who’ll ask him to his face why he keeps ripping off his supporters.

(Via Raw Story)

In March 2022, Mark Ronson slid into Dua Lipa’s Instagram DMs, telling her that he would “f*cking love” for her to “consider” co-writing and starring in what would become “Dance The Night,” the theme song for Greta Gerwig’s billion-dollar Barbie movie.

“Dance The Night” peaked at No. 10 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 chart, and Lipa and Ronson shared new glimpses into what makes the disco-themed pop bop so resonant. Days ago, Lipa posted a five-video making of “Dance The Night” Instagram carousel.

Ronson, who executive produced Barbie: The Album, followed her lead and provided more context with a lengthy caption, which can be read below:

“The first time we worked on ‘Dance the Night,’ we wrote a whole damn song that we all loved… but we didn’t have the scene yet cause it was still being edited.

Then a few months later, we saw the scene and Dua was like ‘f**k, this is so good and so fun, we need to rewrite the whole thing to complement what’s going on’

We got back in the the studio even though she was in the middle of a massive world tour.
We went in my studio, turned the scene on and let the beat rock.

Dua started to freestyle lyrics that fed right off what Margot [Robbie] was doing. I started to get goosebumps, especially on the ‘come along for the ride’ line, but even more detailed, Dua was like, ‘I want to sing the word ‘up’ right when her hands swing to the sky’

That’s why I f**king love Dua so much: we had a whole song and she was down to spend a hundred extra hours tweaking a word and a line here of there to make not just the song but the WHOLE SCENE better.

STREAM AND DOWNLOAD DANCE THE NIGHT my people!”

See Lipa and Ronson’s posts below.

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

The Barbie soundtrack is a Warner Music release. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

There’s no shame in Flavor Flav’s Swiftie game. He used to be synonymous with wearing a massive clock chain, but now he’s just as likely — if not more likely — to rock stacks of friendship bracelets associated with Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour. In March, the rap and pop culture icon fulfilled his wish of meeting Swift at the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards. He also attended Swift’s Eras stops in June at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. He proclaimed online, “In my Red (Taylor’s Version) era and makin new friends.”

Swift is finishing out her US leg of The Eras Tour with six shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, finishing on Wednesday, August 9. It won’t be the finale it was expected to be because Swift announced a smaller 2024 North American leg last week, but it has still felt like a culmination of a monstrous 2023 run. The LA shows have welcomed the likes of Channing Tatum and the Bryant family in the audience. Of course, Flav was in on the celebration.

Flav posted a few Instagram videos from the evening, including one in which he hugged Andrea Swift and Scott Swift and another labeled his “Eras Outfit Fit Check” that incorporated Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and Midnights.

“FLAVOR FLAV::: I’m honored to meet Taylor Swift’s Mom and Dad plus Papa Swift gave me the guitar picks to hand out!!! COME FIND ME #TaylorSwift,” Flav wrote in the caption.

See Flav’s posts below.

Did you know Mike Pence is running for president? Strange but true. To most he’s the guy who could wind up sending Donald Trump to prison, should he be called to testify in court against someone who almost got him killed. Till then, he’s just one of a dozen-or-so people trying — and absolutely failing — to dethrone the aforementioned former president. But perhaps a campaign video in which he does a bad job pumping gas will help.

On Tuesday, the former veep dropped a video in which he complains about gas prices, which have risen again lately, though they’re still far short what they were this time last year. In the ad, Pence tries to ooze Everyday Joe vibes: He’s wearing an ironed button-down dress shirt — but with jeans! And he’s standing next to a blindingly bright red pick-up. But it’s when he puts that gas pump into filler neck that things truly go haywire.

As Pence waxes poetic about remembering the days of “$2 a gallon gas,” eagle-eyed viewers may notice that he forgets to do one key part of filling up gas: pressing the trigger and holding it down while gas floods into the car’s tank. Instead, he stands there holding the handle, rambling about Biden’s “war on energy.”

Listen carefully and you can even hear beeping that’s supposed to prompt Pence to select a grade of gasoline.

Still, at least he’s among august company. His GOP rivals are singularly unconvincing when they try to sound like everyday folks. As for Trump, he absolutely doesn’t give a crap that he doesn’t know what a Dairy Queen Blizzard is, and nor do his fans.

(Via Mediaite)

And even if you don’t know who Petrov was, he might be the reason you’re alive today.

In the 1980s, Petrov was a lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Union’s Air Defense Forces. He was in charge of watching the computers at one of the Soviety Union’s nuclear early warning centers. If the Americans wanted to start a nuclear war, Petrov would be one of the first to know.

At this time, the United States and the Soviet Union were embroiled in the Cold War. Each had stockpiled tens of thousands of nuclear weapons and a nuclear war, though horrific, often seemed imminent.

Suddenly, in the early morning of Sept. 26, 1983, a siren started to scream. If Petrov’s computer was to be believed, the Americans had just attacked the Soviet Union.

The word “LAUNCH” appeared in bold red letters across Petrov’s computer’s screen. Then it happened again and again — five missiles in all.

Petrov need to react. If a nuclear attack really was incoming, the Soviets only had a few minutes to save themselves and launch a nuclear counter attack of their own.

It was Petrov’s job, his duty, to alert his superiors — but something seemed off.

Petrov sat there, trying to figure out what to do. If the Americans were attacking, why were there only six bombs? Why not the thousands they were capable of? Why weren’t there corroborating reports from ground radar? Plus this particular computer system was new and unproven. It could be a malfunction.

Did Petrov really think this was enough evidence to potentially start a full-scale nuclear exchange? Kill millions of people? It was a heavy weight to bear.

“Nobody would be able to correct my mistake if I had made one,” Petrov later told the BBC.

After a few pregnant minutes, Petrov made his decision.

He picked up the phone and, though he couldn’t know for sure, told his superiors it was a false alarm. His level-headed thinking may have saved millions of lives.

He was right. It was a malfunction.

For his efforts, Petrov’s reward would be a long time coming. In the immediate aftermath, he actually got reprimanded by his superiors. It wouldn’t be until after the fall of the Soviet Union that the world learned just how close we all came to destruction and the one man who saved it.

Petrov reportedly died on May 19,2017 in a home outside Moscow. The news was not widely reported.

If you want to hear Petrov describe the incident in his own words, check out this interview with Petrov from the BBC.

This article originally appeared on 09.20.17

Have you heard the story of the girl throwing starfish back in the ocean?

It’s a parable about how some people will scoff at others trying to help because it won’t solve the entire problem. The moral of the story is that being a useful person isn’t about being able to solve entire crises, but doing your bit of good in the ways you are able and how that multiplies when many individuals do the same.

We focus so much sometimes on the hugeness of the issues in front of us that we forget we can (and should) do things because they are the right thing to do.

We can just do a little bit, and it adds up.The Avalon Theater’s surveillance camera in Milwaukee snagged footage of this unknown guy delightfully dancing down the street, picking up trash as he goes. An employee decided to set it to music and do a little zoom work (full video below).

He’s not solving all the world’s ecological problems here.

He’s just doing a bit of good in his corner of it and enjoying himself while he does.

Feeling inspired by his dancing good deed? Here are three ways we can do the same.

1. Sign up to do a little bit of beach or ocean cleanup.

I’ve done this before with my daughter at Lake Michigan. It’s a great way to spend a free morning on a weekend, do a little good for your environment, and commune with nature.

You won’t get the whole beach clean, but you’ll be a part of the solution. Image by Angie Aker, used with permission.

2. Be “that weirdo” who cleans things up when you see litter.

Be the friend that makes it a point to stop and throw things away when you see them. Tell people when you see them litter why it’s not cool. I told a friend that once when she threw something out the window, and she said my vehement reaction to what she did stuck with her the rest of her life and changed her habits.

3. Use your free time to give the Earth a little love.

Going for a hike or rowing around the lake? Bring some trash and recycling bags and stop at common picnic spots. You’ll be sure to find things you can throw out, and you don’t need to sign up for any official expedition to make yourself useful.

It just might put a jaunt in your step and inspire you to dance some litter over to a wastebasket near you.

Change what’s within your arm’s reach, and you just might change the world!

This article originally appeared on 06.28.16

“I don’t usually yell at my kids but he deserved it.”

This Dad gets an A++.

Actor and comedian Kevin Fredericks gave social media a masterclass in inspirational parenting.

In an Instagram video that quickly went viral, Fredericks yelled at his young son as they discussed his report card.

“I am so proud of you, you are doing amazing in school!” he tells his son, while holding a copy of his report card.

See on Instagram

What makes this video so special is most people know the fear of facing their parents after getting in trouble in school. And that fear is so rarely replaced with love and encouragement when kids are showing up, doing their homework and generally doing just fine.

And it’s not the only time Fredericks has shown off the power of positive parenting the impact it can have on children at school and beyond.

With good humor and humility, he shared a response on Twitter from a parent who pointed out it’s never a bad time to treat our children with compassion:

It’s so true that most people seeing the video are assuming it’s a video of a parent legitimately “yelling” at their child in anger for poor grades. In fact, Fredericks tagged his video with a note jokingly saying, “I don’t usually yell at my kids but he deserved it.”

It turns out there is a perfect time to yell at kids. With love, encouragement and acknowledgment of when they do the right thing.

This article originally appeared on 10.11.18

Mansplaining is not a science, but an art. It’s when a man explains to a woman what she actually means. It comes with the assumption that the speaker doesn’t know what she’s talking about, even if she’s literally an expert in the field. And it’s annoying AF.

Dr. Tasha Stanton, an associate professor of clinical pain neuroscience at the University of South Australia, encountered a mansplainer at an Australian Physiotherapy Association Conference. Her experience is pretty relatable, even if you don’t have “Dr.” in your title.

After talking with a man, he, unsolicited, told Stanton she should read a paper. A paper that she wrote. “Friends at conferences – please do not assume that the people that you talk to do not know anything. I just got told that I should read what Stanton et al found about pain,” she posted on Twitter. “I. Am. Stanton.” Mic. Drop.

u201cFriends at conferences – please do not assume that the people that you talk to do not know anything. I just got told that I should read what Stanton et al found about pain. nnI. Am. Stanton.u201d

— A/Prof Tasha Stanton (@A/Prof Tasha Stanton)
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The man had no idea who he had been talking to. Stanton said she knows she can’t expect someone to know what she looked like based on seeing her name on a paper. However, she should be able to expect that the person she’s talking to treats her like someone who knows her stuff. “Just to be clear: I would never expect people to know what I look like! The more hilarious part of this was that the earlier part of the conversation had more of a condescending tone with recommendations of what I should read, which happened to be MY paper,” she wrote.

Stanton said he was “visibly shocked. There was an “awkward silence” and “some attempted backpedaling.” But Stanton took it in good stride. “[W]e both had a laugh. I told him that it was a massive compliment that he recommended my paper, that I am glad he enjoyed it and found it useful … but that in the future he might want to be careful not to assume that other people don’t know things … especially when you are at a conference. We all make mistakes — I know I certainly have — but hopefully the message got across.”

u201cResponse: Visibly shocked, awkward silence, some attempted back-pedalling and then we both had a laugh. I told him that it was a massive compliment that he recommended my paper, that I am glad he enjoyed it and found it useful,u201d

— A/Prof Tasha Stanton (@A/Prof Tasha Stanton)
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u201cThis was the paper – actually a small proof of concept study about the possibility of cross-modal modulation (ability of one sense – vision – to modulation another sense – nociception- to reduce pain) in people with osteoarthritis. https://t.co/6bfh4KakyJu201d

— A/Prof Tasha Stanton (@A/Prof Tasha Stanton)
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After Stanton posted her experiences on Twitter, other women chimed in with their own experiences of getting mansplained.

“@Tash_Stanton As a graduate student, I was once standing at my poster, with my name tag on, and was basically asked when “Swann” would be coming. When I said I was “Swann” the person said “Oh, from your work I thought you would be a man.” He didn’t seem the least bit troubled or embarrassed.”

u201c@Tash_Stanton As a graduate student, I was once standing at my poster, with my name tag on, and was basically asked when “Swann” would be coming. When I said I was “Swann” the person said “Oh, from your work I thought you would be a man.” He didn’t seem the least bit troubled or embarrassed.u201d

— A/Prof Tasha Stanton (@A/Prof Tasha Stanton)
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u201cThis happened to me. nnWM prof: are you an undergrad or grad student?nnMe: professor. nnHim: whatu2019s your specialty? nnMe: courts, law & sociology. nnHim: You should really read the book u201cCrookCounty.u201dnnMe: i know. I wrote it. ud83euddd0ud83eudd28nn*gives Clair Huxtable stare*u201d

— Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve (@Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve)
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u201c@gal_bread @Tash_Stanton I created the first Child Impact Statements in the United States. Cities now adopt them and add pink or blue pages to policies to say how laws or policies will impact their children. It’s modeled after the UN rights of the child.u201d

— A/Prof Tasha Stanton (@A/Prof Tasha Stanton)
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u201c@Tash_Stanton Something like that happened to me once. Someone telling me that their organisation was doing this important thing. Went into the detail of it in quite a condescending way. I am the founder of this thing. nI kept my cool! ud83dude44ud83dude0fud83dude0eu201d

— A/Prof Tasha Stanton (@A/Prof Tasha Stanton)
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Stanton said it’s important to speak up when someone cuts you off by saying, “Well, actually…” It’s the only way we can grow. “It’s really important to be able to stand up and call it as it is because that’s not a great way to interact with someone at a conference,” Stanton told Good Morning America. “People will never learn if you don’t call it out.”

Why should someone refrain from mansplaining? If anything, it’s just good manners. “It’s not about trying to be the smartest or showing anyone up. It’s literally about connection and the best way you’re going to connect with someone is by actually asking questions about them. … that can result in an amazing collaboration that you might never have thought!” Stanton told GMA. “Don’t be that guy.”

It is astounding that this many women were able to chime in with their own experiences of being told to read something they wrote. The only silver lining to this story is that the mainsplainer didn’t chime in with, “Well actually, what happened was…”

This article originally appeared on 10.31.19

On July 28, Travis Scott finally delivered Utopia, and the reward was a No. 1 debut on this week’s Billboard 200 albums chart.

“I can’t help but wonder if, should we wait another decade, we’ll finally start to see the true influence of Utopia — even if the world itself seems further away from the concept than ever,” Uproxx‘s Aaron Williams wrote in his album review.

Scott will be able to gauge the album’s influence during his newly announced Utopia – Circus Maximus Tour, beginning at Chicago’s United Center on September 25 and winding through North America before a grand finale in Miami, Florida on November 27. But it seems that fans will have to wait to make plans to attend.

Hours after the tour announcement, The Detroit News reported that tickets will no longer go on sale this Friday, August 11, at 10 a.m. local time as planned.

“The tour has now shifted their timeline and tickets will NOT go on sale this week,” an unnamed venue represented confirmed to The Detroit News via email. “More information to come once we have new details.”

Scott billed a show in Rome, Italy on Monday (August 7) as the “first stop” of his Circus Maximus run, and it included a surprise cameo from Kanye West to perform “Praise God.”

Scott’s headlining North American Utopia – Circus Maximus Tour will be his first tour since the 2021 Astroworld tragedy, which resulted in 10 deaths and countless more injuries due to a crowd surge. In late June, Scott was cleared of any criminal charges.