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All The Best New Indie Music From This Week

Best New Indie
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Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week, we got new music from Waxahatchee, DIIV, Hana Vu, and more.

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Laura Jane Grace – Hole In My Head

Each Laura Jane Grace song is its own contained world. But the Against Me! frontwoman and punk dignitary bridges her stories together through universal themes of redemption, political unrest, abuse, and fascism. That’s the vision she attains on her second solo album, Hole In My Head. On songs like the Springsteenian, jaunty “Keeping The Faith” and the penultimate acoustic number “Hard Feelings,” Grace acknowledges the pain she has endured and finds a way through. Hole In My Head is another showcase for Grace’s gift as a talented songwriter, one in which she looks both inward and outward.

Grandaddy – Blue Wav

On social media and in recent interviews, Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle has quipped about how nearly every song on Blu Wav, the first album from Grandaddy since 2017, is slow and boring. It’s a slow-paced record, sure, but it is never boring. Named after Lytle’s amalgamation of bluegrass and new wave, Blu Wav is a contemplative record. It’s about taking your time. It’s about retreating to a quiet place, how your imagination can transport you somewhere comforting, distressing, or even both at once. From the gorgeous pedal steel on “East Yosemite” to the instrumental, piano-based denouement “Blu Wav Buh Bye,” Lytle’s latest work is a marvel. It’s easy to say that he’s still got it.

Snarls – “Heavy Drinker”

On the cusp of their second full-length album, With Love, Snarls are poised for a breakout moment. If lead single “Heavy Drinker” is anything to go by, then the Columbus trio are about to release one of the best indie-pop records of 2024. With production assistance from former Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla, Snarls takes on a new sheen of polish on “Heavy Drinker,” sparkling to life with bright guitars, hooky ebullience, and buoyant vocals.

Waxahatchee – “Bored”

Katie Crutchfield is one of the greatest contemporary songwriters we have. “Bored,” her new single as Waxahatchee, buttresses that title. Featuring Crutchfield’s conversational delivery and country-fried electric guitars, the latest preview of her sixth album, Tigers Blood, is another excellent addition to the indie-folk musician’s catalog. Yet its title is something of a misnomer; it’s hard to imagine being bored in the slightest when there’s a song this fantastic blasting out of your speakers.

DIIV – “Brown Paper Bag”

The famous metaphor about a frog in boiling water holds a lot of weight today. By placing a frog in a pot of room-temperature water and slowly turning up the heat, it will die. Given the current political landscape, one in which genocidal murders, U.S. gun violence, and capitalist exploitation occur on a daily basis, it feels like we’re all frogs in boiling water, further dissociating with every waking hour. DIIV’s upcoming record, Frog In Boiling Water, out May 24 and named after this analogy, speaks to that collective dread. “Brown Paper Bag,” its lead single, is a powerful thesis statement. “My mind’s at ease / When I’m in pain,” sings frontman Zachary Cole Smith, his voice scarcely above a murmur as noisy guitars envelop him. The Brooklyn-based shoegaze band may not offer a balm, per se, but acknowledgment is always better than willful ignorance.

Jessica Pratt – “Life Is”

The first instrument you hear on Jessica Pratt’s new single may come as a shock: drums. The Los Angeles-based indie-folk songwriter has largely shied away from percussion altogether, opting for nothing more save for her acoustic guitar, an occasional piano melody, and her entrancing voice. “Life Is,” the first taste she has given us of her fourth record, Here In The Pitch, takes her to what was once unmapped territory, but Pratt sounds right at home. Backed by the ‘60s-esque drums and acoustic guitar strums, she pontificates on the paradox of time: how it is simultaneously infinite and finite. “Time is time and time and time again,” she sings in the chorus. It’s a heady concept, but Pratt’s soothing voice provides the solace you didn’t realize you needed.

Hana Vu – “Care”

“Care,” the lead single from Hana Vu’s second album, Romanticism, documents the isolating experience of introspection, how our thoughts and emotions can feel like an internal burden that no one else can truly understand. “The more I think about it now / I’m just a book you throw away / ‘Cause you don’t know what I’m about,” the Los Angeles-bred songwriter sings in her lower register. Working again with Day Wave’s Jackson Phillips, Hana Vu’s latest song is another indie-pop gem, the shimmering production complementing her self-reflective musings.

Bess Atwell – “Release Myself”

Long Pond, New York, has become a hotbed for songwriters recently; everyone from indie darling Sharon Van Etten to pop-culture juggernaut Taylor Swift has secluded themselves there to record music. Add Brighton musician Bess Atwell to that list. She recently paid a visit to Aaron Dessner’s remote studio to make her latest album, Light Sleeper. Alongside the announcement comes lead single “Release Myself,” a ruminative indie-folk tune akin to the softer sides of bands like Big Thief or Dessner’s own band, The National. On “Release Myself,” Atwell chronicles her experiences with panic disorder: “I don’t wanna be scared anymore / I’m tired of being tied up,” she sings in the first verse. When the chorus arrives, she makes her triumphant declaration: “I can only release myself.”

Babehoven – “Birdseye”

Mixing indie-folk, slowcore, and shoegaze, Babehoven craft a sonic environment that is entirely their own. The New York-based duo of Maya Bon and Ryan Albert accomplish a similar feat on “Birdseye,” a hypnotizing single from their new record, Water’s Here In You, which releases this April. The song itself explores reconciliation with an estranged loved one after that person was diagnosed with a near-fatal illness. In its gentle instrumentation, featuring melodic acoustic guitars and tender percussion, “Birdseye” examines love from a distance and how reunion can heal old wounds.

Idles – Tangk

The Bristol post-punk band Idles used to operate in one mode: loud, abrasive, and often furious. Their sheer volume was their main signifier, but now they’ve partially softened up, adding more subtlety to their anthemic tunes. On Tangk, their fifth record, the intensity remains, but rather than going in a purely punk direction, they make their noisy guitars and unrelenting drums a bit more rhythmic. They’re embracing early-aughts dance-punk so much that LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy and Nancy Whang themselves make a cameo on (wait for it) “Dancer.” There’s also opening track “Idea 01,” which sees frontman Joe Talbot crooning like he’s Thom Yorke (Nigel Godrich did work on it, after all), and late-album cut “Jungle” mostly goes by at a steady pace, the toms locking into an insistent groove that lets up steam toward the end.

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Usher Is Finally Returning To Europe To Play Shows For His ‘Usher: Past Present Future Tour’ This Spring

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On the heels of his massive halftime show and dropping a short film tied to it, Usher has even more exciting news for fans. He will be heading to Europe in the Spring to perform a few shows of his Usher: Past Present Future Tour.

“Europe, you ready?” he shared in a statement. “After the epic experience at the Super Bowl and the huge demand for shows across North America, I’m happy to announce I’m coming your way as well – for shows in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. This tour is both a celebration of the past 30 years and a glimpse into the future. We are just getting started!”

According to a press release, fans can expect Usher to perform a mix of his classic hits, and selections from his new album, Coming Home. This will be also his first time touring there since 2015, outside of the Paris residency he did last year.

Tickets for Usher’s Europe tour will go on sale this Thursday, February 22 at noon local time. Additional information can be found on his website.

Continue scrolling for a complete list of Usher’s upcoming dates in Europe.

Usher 2024 European Tour Dates: Usher: Past Present Future Tour

04/01 -– London, UK @ The O2 Arena
04/02 — London, UK @ The O2 Arena
04/05 — London, UK @ The O2 Arena
04/15 — Paris, France @ Accor Arena
04/22 — Amsterdam, The Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome
05/01 — Berlin, Germany @ Uber Arena

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Chet Holmgren Explains Why The Thunder ‘Have Nothing To Be Happy About Yet’

chet holmgren
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INDIANAPOLIS — It’s hard to imagine that Chet Holmgren‘s rookie year in the NBA could be going any better. While an injury kept him from suiting up during the 2022-23 campaign, Holmgren has been a revelation for the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder. The team entered the All-Star break with a 37-17 record, good for the second-best mark in the Western Conference. If you said you saw that coming at the beginning of the season, absolutely no one would believe you.

Holmgren, meanwhile, is a near lock to earn an All-Rookie First Team selection, he has a real case to be named the league’s Rookie of the Year (he’d be the first player to win it since the Thunder moved to OKC), and he’s fit like a glove as the starting center for an exciting young team spearheaded by an MVP candidate. And yet, in the face of all of this, there is one overarching thing that Holmgren believes.

“We have to continue focusing on getting better, understanding that the job’s not finished,” Holmgren told Dime at the Panini Prizm Lounge during All-Star weekend. “We have nothing to be happy about yet. We haven’t accomplished anything in the grand scheme of things. You look around the league, there’s people that have done a lot more than we’ve done. So, we understand that. We know that 54 games doesn’t mean anything. What really means something is what you do after those 54 games and all the way to the end of the season.

“So, we’re focusing on getting better every single day,” he continues. “And hopefully, that puts us in a good spot.”

There’s a near-impossible balance for teams like the Thunder to strike. Not every team can resist the urge to feel excited about anything and everything when they’re exceeding expectations and suddenly hear themselves mentioned as a championship contender. The sobering reality that perspective brings isn’t always welcomed, and yet the 21-year-old Holmgren has plenty of it — for example, when I misspoke and already said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is an MVP, he quickly asked if I’ve “seen the script already” before pointing out that I was “speaking as if it was a done deal already.” (For the record: He had the kind of smirk that comes when an athlete knows they can mess with the person shoving a recorder in their face, even if he was being serious about not putting the cart before the horse.)

As Holmgren tells it, the Thunder take an egalitarian approach to making sure everyone keeps that perspective, which falls in line with how they approach most things.

“No one person’s most responsible for anything on our team,” Holmgren says. “We have a great group of guys and a great group of leadership on our team. Everybody holds everybody accountable, and everybody starts with themselves, too — making sure that we’re all prioritizing the right things, from winning, getting better, working hard, making smart decisions on and off the court, whatever it might be. We don’t wanna do anything that’s gonna take away from the goal that we’re gonna reach.”

During our conversation, Holmgren autographed cards for Panini as part of his partnership with the brand — “Hopefully they get to the right and most deserving fans,” he says, while noting seeing his cards is, “pretty cool.” It was all part of a busy weekend for the former Gonzaga standout, who also competed alongside Thunder teammate Jalen Williams in the Rising Stars Game as part of the team led by Jalen Rose which won the whole competition.

All of this is coming on the heels of the NBA’s version of a redshirt year. After getting taken with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Holmgren suffered a foot injury during an appearance at Jamal Crawford’s CrawsOver Pro-Am league that sidelined him for the entirety of the season. Like Ben Simmons in 2017-18 and Blake Griffin in 2010-11, Holmgren is the rare rookie who got a year in the league to prepare himself for when he stepped onto the floor — which let him get healthy and refine his craft as a basketball player.

“I worked extremely hard last year, day in and day out,” Holmgren says. “I didn’t waver from the plan or the vision, I stuck true to it. And at the end of the day, the process is always gonna win. If you cheat it, it’s gonna bite you on the rear. So, I tried my best not to cheat it at all and I felt like I did a really good job of that, and it’s helped me this year.”

So far, the results speak for themselves. He’s averaging 16.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.6 blocks in 30.1 minutes per game while shooting 39.3 percent from behind the three-point line. The list of rookies that can say they’ve averaged 16 points, seven rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.5 blocks a game is Holmgren, Tim Duncan, and Victor Wembanyama. The list of players who can say they’ve hit those benchmarks while shooting 39 percent from three is Holmgren and Hakeem Olajuwon in 1993-94, when he was named NBA MVP and led the Houston Rockets to a championship.

If Holmgren’s going to end up being an MVP candidate, that’ll come a little farther down the road. Right now, Gilgeous-Alexander is the Oklahoma City player in the hunt for that individual honor — in the latest version of ESPN’s MVP straw poll, Gilgeous-Alexander is comfortably in second behind only Nikola Jokic.

Basketball is a game of five players working in unison to make one another better, and that’s particularly true when it comes to the relationship between a point guard and a center. Holmgren has played with some exceptional guards in his basketball career — in high school, he played alongside Orlando’s Jalen Suggs, and at Gonzaga, he was teammates with Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard. He knows what great guard play looks like, and is quick to note “it’s always easy to play with great players who have the want and the will to do what they do.”

Even with that acknowledgement, Holmgren understands that there’s a uniqueness to Gilgeous-Alexander’s game.

“He has such a different play style,” Holmgren says. “He’s really Kobe-esque in the way he plays, it’s a lot of self-creation, tough shot making, a lot in the midrange, which, you don’t really see that archetype anymore. On top of that, he plays at a really high level on the defensive end. It’s just a combination of things that you don’t really find in many players, and I think that’s what makes him so tough to guard and makes him such a good player.”

It’s difficult to not be optimistic about what the future holds for the Thunder in just about every respect. At the same time, there’s no guarantee that success is an inevitability, something that Oklahoma City understands better than any other franchise. The last time they had a young team filled with homegrown stars in Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook, that trio made the NBA Finals once and lost, then Harden got traded, Durant eventually left in free agency, and despite his best efforts, Westbrook couldn’t bring them back to those heights before he was likewise traded.

Perhaps things will be different for this group of young Thunder stars. It’s hard not to get excited and think about what could happen in the future. Maybe Gilgeous-Alexander will win an MVP or two, Holmgren will bring home the Rookie of the Year award, and those two will be joined by other teammates like Jalen Williams on All-NBA teams for the next 15 years. Maybe the NBA Finals will return to Oklahoma City. Maybe this group will be the one to finally raise a banner in Paycom Center. Maybe we’re witnessing the early days of a dynasty that will come to define the next decade-plus of professional basketball.

That’s all impossible to know right now, though. All anyone can do is take things day-by-day and watch one of basketball’s most exciting young teams continue to grow alongside one another. It’s what Chet Holmgren would prefer we do.

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Move Over, ‘Suits’ And ‘The Office,’ Here’s How Peacock Helped Score The Biggest Streaming Day Ever

Travis Kelce Kansas City Chiefs Miami Dolphins AFC Wild Card Playoff
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The month of January is always huge for football, but Peacock scored an impressive win thanks to the AFC Wild Card game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins.

The showdown marked the first time that an NFL playoff game was exclusive to a streamer, and it paid off huge for Peacock as it became the “biggest day on streaming platforms that Nielsen has ever measured.”

Via The Hollywood Reporter:

The Jan. 13 game, which averaged close to 23 million viewers, accounted for 3.9 billion minutes of watch time (including over-the-air broadcasts in the teams’ local markets) — almost 10 percent of all streaming viewing that day.

The NFL game also drove Peacock to its largest share of viewing for a month in the Gauge rankings. The NBCUniversal streamer had 1.6 percent of all TV use for the month. YouTube (8.6 percent) and Netflix (7.9 percent) remained the top individual streaming platforms.

As for the obvious question: Was Taylor Swift at the wild card game cheering on her boyfriend Travis Kelce? You bet. The pop star attended the freezing cold game where she debuted her custom-made jacket bearing Kelce’s number.

Much to the consternation of right-wingers who were convinced that the CIA was engineering the Chiefs’ Super Bowl run, Swift has been a constant presence at Kelce’s game and an absolute ratings boon to the NFL as her legion of fans started tuning into games to catch a glimpse of the singer.

Did Swift’s presence help Peacock put up record-breaking numbers for the AFC Wild Card game? We can’t say for certain, but we wouldn’t be surprised if a Swiftie boost was in the mix.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

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Khruangbin’s Mellow ‘May Ninth’ Video Highlights The Connection In All Things

Texas trio Khruangbin continues the rollout for their new album A LA SALA with a psychedelic animated video for the project’s second single, “May Ninth.” The video evokes impressionist pencil sketches, environmentalism, and the works of Studio Ghibli to tell a funky short story about the circle of life and the interconnectedness of all things.

The band is also due to hit the road for their A LA SALA Tour, beginning with a pair of performances at Coachella and continuing through early October. You can see the tour dates below.

Watch Khruangbin’s “May Ninth” video above.

A LA SALA is out 4/5 on Dead Oceans. Get more info here.

Khruangbin 2024 Tour Dates

04/14 — Coachella @ Indio, CA
04/18 — Alex Madonna Expo Center @ San Luis Obispo, CA*
04/21 — Coachella @ Indio, CA
04/23 — Brooklyn Bowl @ Las Vegas, NV*
04/24 — Brooklyn Bowl @ Las Vegas, NV*
04/26 — Revel @ Albuquerque, NM*
04/27 — Revel @ Albuquerque, NM*
05/22 — The Met @ Philadelphia, PA^
05/23 — The Met @ Philadelphia, PA^
05/25 — Boston Calling @ Boston, MA
05/26 — Saratoga Performing Arts Center @ Saratoga Springs, NY^
05/28 — Rockin’ At The Knox @ Buffalo, NY^
05/29 — Jacob’s Pavilion @ Cleveland, OH^
05/31 — History @ Toronto, ON^
06/01 — History @ Toronto, ON^
06/02 — History @ Toronto, ON^
06/04 — The Masonic Temple Theatre @ Detroit, MI^
06/07 — The Salt Shed @ Chicago, IL
06/08 — The Salt Shed @ Chicago, IL^
06/09 — The Salt Shed @ Chicago, IL^
06/11 — Red Hat Amphitheater @ Raleigh, NC
06/14 — Bonnaroo @ Manchester, TN
08/15 — Greek Theatre @ Berkeley, CA%
08/16 — Greek Theatre @ Berkeley, CA%
08/18 — Edgefield @ Troutdale, OR%
08/19 — Edgefield @ Troutdale, OR%
08/21 — Kettlehouse @ Bonner, MT%
08/22 — Kettlehouse @ Bonner, MT%
08/24 — Granary Live @ Salt Lake City, UT%
08/27 — Red Rocks @ Morrison, CO&
08/28 — Red Rocks @ Morrison, CO%
09/20 — Forest Hills Tennis Stadium @ New York, New York+
09/21 — Forest Hills Tennis Stadium @ New York, New York+
09/23 — The Anthem @ Washington, DC$
10/02 — The Factory @ St. Louis, MO$
10/03 — The Factory @ St. Louis, MO$
10/09 — Saenger Theatre @ New Orleans, LA$
10/10 — Saenger Theatre @ New Orleans, LA$

* with Hermano Gutiérrez
^ with John Carroll Kirby
% with Peter Cat Recording Co.
+ with Men I Trust
$ with Arooj Aftab

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Usher Puts His All Into Rehearsing For The Super Bowl Halftime Show In A New Short Film Directed By Jay-Z

Just nearly a week after Usher killed it at the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, fans are getting another glimpse into how exactly he pulled off all the surprises.

In a new short film that dropped via the music platform, it provides a look at Usher’s rehearsals and the changes that were made to the setlist and production. Oh, and it was directed by Jay-Z and Hamish Hamilton, as they shot the footage entirely on an iPhone.

“As I put together the songs, like a puzzle piece to represent this type of soulful music, R&B and mixture of this pop that is my own, I think God really blessed me with the right people to help build the artist that I am,” Usher shared in the ten-minute film. “I’m happy that I’m able to share this moment with them.”

“If you put in the work, people will respect what you do,” he added.

Throughout the video, he runs through the routine repeatedly with his backup dancers. Usher also takes some time to do vocal warmups, as he rehearses to pronounce the consonants a little stronger. It is also split with high-quality footage taken up close during the actual show.

Check out Usher’s behind-the-scenes film of his Super Bowl Halftime Show above.

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Usher Admits His Bootylicious Dance Moves Featuring Nicki Minaj’s Butt At The 2014 VMAs Were Inappropriate

Above all else, Usher Raymond IV is a showman. The “Ruin” singer’s memorizing capabilities have been on full display in the last few years alone. Just look at the clips circulating from his record-setting My Way Residency in Las Vegas. But sometimes he’s so caught in the theatrics, he could overstep a few boundaries. Although Usher doesn’t find anything wrong with his passionate embrace of Alicia Keys during the Superbowl LVIII Halftime Show, he has voiced some regret over another performance.

On February 19, while chatting with Power 105.1 FM’s The Breakfast Club, Usher admitted that he crossed the line when he slapped Nicki Minaj’s butt back at the VMAs over a decade ago. As the pair performed their 2014 song “She Came To Give It To You,” off Usher’s album Hard II Love, he went overboard as he attempted to make Minaj’s derrière a focal point of the set.

“That was Jamaican culture,” he said. “So you gotta go to Jamaica. That was just a moment that was fun. By the way, it was me playing my bass, so I probably would’ve bumped my shoulder or my hand, but I had my bass in my hand, and I was playing, so I kind of bopped off her body a little bit. If you go back and look at the video, you’ll understand because I did it there for the first time. That was a little bit of Jamaican culture.”

Initially, Usher didn’t appear to be apologetic, but he eventually noticed the flaws in his actions. “I think I was reaching a bit when I smacked her, though,” he said. “I shouldn’t have smacked her butt. I shouldn’t have did that.”

On stage, Minaj visibly showed that she did not appreciate being inappropriately touched in that manner. Instead of making a scene during the performance, she took it to the booth taking a few jabs at him on her 2020 song, “Trollz” with 6ix9ine.

Watch the full interview above.

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The Beatles Cinematic Universe Is Coming With Four Movies, One For Each Band Member, On The Way

The Beatles John Lennon Paul McCartney Ringo Starr George Harrison 1967
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The Beatles: Get Back was one of 2021’s biggest documentaries, and now we have more Beatles content on the way: It was announced today (February 20) that Sam Mendes is directing a series of four theatrical feature films about the band, with each one capturing a different band member’s — Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr — point of view. A press release notes this is the first time The Beatles “have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film.”

The four movies “will intersect to tell the astonishing story of the greatest band in history,” and they’re currently expected to have a theatrical release in 2027.

Mendes says, “I’m honored to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time, and excited to challenge the notion of what constitutes a trip to the movies.”

Mendes’ Neal Street Productions partner Pippa Harris also notes, “We intend this to be a uniquely thrilling, and epic cinematic experience: four films, told from four different perspectives which tell a single story about the most celebrated band of all time. To have The Beatles’ and Apple Corps’ blessing to do this is an immense privilege. From our first meeting with Tom Rothman [chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group] and Elizabeth Gabler [president of Sony’s 3000 Pictures], it was clear that they shared both our passion and ambition for this project, and we can’t think of a more perfect home than Sony Pictures.”

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Jon Stewart Gloriously Unloads On Tucker Carlson For Slobbering All Over Putin: ‘Really, Truly, A D*ck’

Jon Stewart famously took down Tucker Carlson in 2024, and the late-night comedian hasn’t lost his touch. During his second night back as (part-time) host of The Daily Show, Stewart went to town on Tucker Carlson‘s lapdog interview with Vladimir Putin.

While acknowledging his controversial return where he was roundly criticized for equating Joe Biden and Donald Trump, Stewart promised he’ll do better.

“I can haz learning. I can haz it. But I don’t even know where to start with that,” Stewart mused. “Where do I go to study the particulars of unquestioning propaganda? I would need mentorship.”

And with that, Stewart turned to “Professor” Carlson’s trip to Russia that ended in humiliating fashion as even Putin mocked the former Fox News host for not being more “aggressive” with his questions.

Via Rolling Stone:

Stewart broke down Carlson’s reporting, taking notes on important components of journalism like “disguise your deception and capitulation to power as noble and moral and based in freedom.”

“Now, obviously Tucker’s strategy is going to work when there’s some ambiguity in what Putin says,” Stewart noted. “But what if Putin starts saying shit like ‘World War II was Poland’s fault because they forced Hitler to invade them’?” He cut to footage of Carlson replying “Of course” to Putin’s assertion.

“You know, that’s so hard to do when your face says, ‘What the f*ck?’ and your mouth says ‘Of course,’” Stewart said. “How do you do that?”

Stewart then turned his attention to Carlson’s now-viral trip to a Russian grocery store and subways where he marveled over the cleanliness and prices. At that point, Stewart could no longer hide his disdain.

“I know I’ve said this before: you’re such a dick. Really, truly, a dick,” Stewart said. “Because the difference between our urinal-caked, chaotic subways and your candelabra-ed, beautiful subways is the literal price of freedom.”

It was another fiery installment for Stewart’s return to The Daily Show, which has delivered huge ratings for Comedy Central. His first episode back averaged three million viewers, and it continued to have a “halo effect” on the rest of the week. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the following episodes put up higher than usual numbers thanks to Stewart’s return jump-starting the week.

(Via Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline)

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Olivia Rodrigo Is Done With Underage Drinking (‘Hypothetically,’ Of Course) As She Rings In In Her 21st Birthday

Olivia Rodrigo 2024 Grammys
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Olivia Rodrigo is celebrating her 21st birthday today (February 20). However, before she continued the party, the pop star made a hilarious Instagram about her festivity plans last night.

“Today is my last day of being able to underage drink (hypothetically) !!!!” Rodrigo posted.

It featured a slideshow of the singer in a party dress, along with snaps of her with friends like Uproxx cover star Conan Gray, Iris Apatow, and more who were at her birthday party. The cakes even suited Rodrigo’s vibes, as one was a light purple color with some star decals, and the other was entirely covered in sprinkles.

“her first drink ever!!!” Gray hilariously joked in the replies.

Over the past few months, Rodrigo hasn’t tried to hide the fact that she (like most of us) has had a drink or two while being underage. During an interview with The Guardian, she described how she worries about being carded. Apparently, it even happens to massive pop stars.

“I’m just so scared,” she said. “I am such a goody two-shoes. If someone gives me alcohol at a restaurant, I’ll be like, ‘Thanks!’ But if they’re like: ‘Do you have an ID?’ I’m like, ‘No, no, I’m 20, I promise, I’m sorry!’ I’m such a bad liar.”

Check out Rodrigo’s birthday post above.