The latest episode of The Joe Budden Podcastbegan with a discussion around J. Cole’s Might Delete Later. Co-host Lamar “Ice” Burney was reviewing “Pricey” and noted the song features Gucci Mane and Young Dro. Budden interjected, “And Ari Lennox. Don’t do that to Ari. Ari Lennox is on track one as well. Shout-out to her.” It seemed like a well-intentioned shoutout for a split second before Budden added, “Don’t need her to go grab a football helmet again.”
What Did Ari Lennox Say About Joe Budden?
It would appear Lennox did not take kindly to her name coming out of Budden’s mouth. On her Instagram Story, Lennox posted a video of Consequence punching Budden backstage at a Love And Hip-Hop: New York reunion taping in 2013. After 24 Instagram Story posts of the same video, Lennox wrote, “Knocked your little glasses off and everything. Keep my precious name out of your psychotic, animal-abusing, women-terrorizing, demonic trolling, nicotine-encased mouth. All this meth smoke for a woman but not for any man beating your ass in real life. Bald b*tch!”
Ari Lennox’s IG story is just Joe Budden getting punched by Consequence on loop pic.twitter.com/GG0JQsxAmw
Budden dismissed Lennox’s feelings — emphasizing that “it’s a blessing” to be able to tour as a musician and suggesting that Lennox should have told her team that she didn’t want to open for Rod Wave. For reference, Budden’s “football helmet” comment this week was a callback to mocking Lennox’s response to having a bottle thrown at her during one of her Nostalgia Tour sets.
Lennox also clapped back in January. “Y’all, I don’t know what Joe Budden’s obsession is with me, but what I will say is that somebody needs to tell him to stop touching them dogs,” she said on an Instagram Live, as captured here. “I don’t understand why he’s so obsessed. Like, why are you so obsessed?” Budden apologized (sort of).
The Boston Celtics made a few major trades this past offseason, one of which involved acquiring Jrue Holiday from the Portland Trail Blazers in the aftermath of the Blazers sending Damian Lillard to Milwaukee. It was quite the coup for Boston, because while Holiday is a perfect fit in their backcourt due to his ability to impact winning on both ends of the floor, there was no chance the team could acquire him from the Bucks, which were viewed as their top challenger at the top of the Eastern Conference coming into the year.
Instead, Boston swung for the fences with the Blazers and made a deal happen. The next question: What would the future hold for Holiday, who had a player option for 2024-25? That got answered on Wednesday night, when Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that the two sides agreed to a 4-year extension worth $135 million.
BREAKING: After arriving in a blockbuster offseason trade, Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday has agreed on a four-year, $135 million contract extension, his agent Jason Glushon of @GlushonSM tells ESPN. pic.twitter.com/Llln2yczSI
Wojnarowski noted that Holiday is making history in becoming the fourth player who is 33 or older to get more than $100 million guaranteed.
Holiday will become the fourth player to sign a fully guaranteed deal worth more than $100 million at 33 or older – a list that also includes LeBron James, Steph Curry and Al Horford.
Holiday has been fantastic for the Celtics during his first year in Boston, as he’s continued to play at an All-Defense level and is in the midst of the most efficient offensive season of his career. While his counting stats have fallen on an absolutely loaded Celtics squad, he’s shooting a career-best 43.1 percent from behind the three-point line.
It feels good to be the new kid on the block. Mainly because everyone has their eye out and wants to know what you’re all about. What makes you you?
Well, I’m ready to answer that question by laying out my 10 favorite sips of bourbon ever. It’s a big ask, but I’m up to the task.
For a bit of background, I’ve been enjoying bourbon for well over 10 years and doing so professionally for the past four. Over that time… let’s just say I’ve had a lot of bourbon. Whether it was straight from the barrel at Buffalo Trace Distillery, in the gallery for Sotheby’s first exclusive American whiskey auction, or on the edge of the Grand Canyon with Uproxx’s previous whiskey critic, Zach Johnston, I’ve been on a coast-to-coast quest to determine the best.
Fair warning, you may have to search high and low for a mere sip of some of these bottles. Rarity may not be a prerequisite for excellent bourbon but when we’re talking about whiskey as good as the ones listed below, well, they certainly tend to be hard to find. Hell, one of them was famously christened “the best bourbon you’ll never taste.” But this whiskey critic has tasted them all more than once, and I assure you the risk (to your wallet) is worth the reward.
Here’s my list of 10 bourbons that I think are simply the best.
10. 2017 Al Young 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Small Batch
The late Al Young is one of the most famed names ever tied to the Four Roses brand. The Kentucky Distillers’ Association Hall of Famer was honored with his own limited edition expression for his 50th anniversary with the brand in 2017. Among Four Roses connoisseurs it’s considered some of the best whiskey they’ve ever bottled.
Limited to just 10,000 bottles, it’s also one of those special releases that send the secondary market into a frenzy as fans try desperately to purchase the dwindling number of unopened bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The aromas of honeysuckle and fruit parfait are accented by a sprinkle of cinnamon and sweet leather, which is the primary indication that there is some older bourbon in this blend.
Palate: The liquid is immediately lush with bright fruits, think of apricots and pears, along with some vanilla bean ice cream and a gentle backbone of oak and mellow spices.
Finish: The honeysuckle and fruity notes linger on the back end of every sip and they’re joined by a healthy dose of allspice making for a long-lasting, albeit mellow, finish reminiscent of caramel-drizzled fried apple pie.
Bottom Line:
After trying Al Young 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Small Batch on several occasions (and being one of the lucky few to own a bottle) it remains my standard bearer for how excellent Four Roses bourbon can be. The ABV isn’t overwhelming but it delivers flavor in spades which is proof positive that bourbon doesn’t need to be big and bold to remain full of flavor.
Since 2018 King of Kentucky has been an annual release from the folks at Brown-Forman that showcases the very best of their well-aged stock. Because each of these expressions are bottled as single barrels you can expect slight variations between them, but versions in the 14-15 year age range are truly the best of the bunch. While the contemporary expression is a highly sought-after bourbon, it was created to honor a fairly quotidian blended whiskey of the same name which was originally produced way back in 1881.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Cinnamon bark and figs are evident but rich leather and juicy black cherry notes are the stars of the show here.
Palate: A big wallop of polished leather and barrel char envelopes the tongue before tart cherries, fig, and dark chocolate find their footing. This is a pour that comes across as complex and dense from the first sip and forces you to lean forward and appreciate every rich layer. Gooey caramel, coconut rice pudding, and pops of Aleppo pepper flakes aren’t uncommon either.
Finish: Can you say, long-lasting? Sure, but you won’t want to speak as you savor just how decadently sweet this finish is while it hangs around well after your final sip.
Bottom Line:
What makes King of Kentucky reign supreme is the unapologetic boldness of its performance on the palate coupled with an intoxicating bouquet of aromas on the nose. It simply captures all there is to love about high-proof, full-bodied bourbon of a certain age. It’s no cliche to say these bottles are fit for a king.
Eagle Rare 25, which was first released by Buffalo Trace Distillery in 2023, represents the pinnacle of their celebrated Eagle Rare Bourbon lineup. To create this whiskey they took barrels that were initially earmarked for their Double Eagle Very Rare expression and began aging them in the experimental Warehouse X for an additional 5 years beginning in 2018.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Cocktail cherries, gooey caramel, and freshly cracked black pepper greet the nose along with a robust yet refined aroma of oak which serves as an indication that this is well-aged whiskey.
Palate: Resplendent with mixed-berry tarts – raspberries and blueberries chief among them – you can also expect to find brown butter, candied ginger, and a surprisingly restrained sweet oak presence undergirding the entire affair.
Finish: While it isn’t the lengthiest finish of all time, those mellow spice notes fuse well with the brown butter and fruit-forward character of its flavors which allows each sip to gently recede from the palate.
Bottom Line:
What makes Eagle Rare 25 so exceptional is the innovative aging technique that Buffalo Trace Distillery uses to decelerate the impact of bitter and tannic notes while reaping the benefits of more favorable flavors that can only be achieved through maturity. The result is a stunning whiskey on its own merits that is even more remarkable for the fact it retains an impressive vibrancy in its old age.
It’s been a joy to witness (and taste) the incredible whiskey that Rare Character has been releasing since they were founded in 2021. The first of several show-stoppers for the brand might go down as their best bourbon ever – Obliteration. Limited to just 36 bottles, this 14-year hazmat bourbon of undisclosed origin disappeared in a puff of smoke when it was initially released online. Since then the spark of interest has grown into a roaring flame of approval as the folks who were bold enough to open those bottles tasted what was inside.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Be forewarned, when nosing this whiskey you will face the fire as a rush of ethanol greets you at first. However, once you get acclimated to the ABV you’ll find peanut brittle, decadent dark chocolate, and savory cooked dates wafting out of the glass for your approval.
Palate: Again, the high heat of this bourbon will sting at first but once your palate is properly adjusted there are gobs of sticky caramel, syrupy black cherry, tobacco leaf, and freshly oiled leather like you might get on the tip of your tongue during the first game of spring training.
Finish: This is as long as a finish as you can expect from a bourbon. Enjoy it as baking spice detonates and those little flavor particles crash into chunks of fruity sweetness that cause a chain reaction you can still taste 20 minutes later.
Bottom Line:
While certain bourbons excel with finesse, Rare Character Obliteration barrels over your tongue leaving no prisoners behind. You can expect your palate to be on the receiving end of a dense and complex pour, capable of astounding and obliterating your taste buds in equal measure.
What’s the most famed name in bourbon history? Pappy Van Winkle? No, the other most famed name – Stitzel-Weller. That fame was birthed by the incredible whiskey that Julian Van Winkle was bottling for his Pappy lineup but he wasn’t the only one to find a home for such legendary liquid. Enter Marci Palatella who created the Very Olde St. Nick brand specifically for the export market in the late 1980’s. This particular 114.8 proof, 15-year version is believed to have been bottled between 1988 and 1991 by Julian Van Winkle III himself which adds a level of intrigue.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The aromas immediately take a sweet approach with dried cranberries and toffee filling the air before warm vanilla and toasted oak begin to blossom. Think of the scent of campfire roasted marshmallows that have just turned light brown and slap that between two layers of graham cracker.
Palate: The oily viscosity is immediately striking but what follows is a rush of lush and refined flavors with cocktail cherries, bourbon balls, butterscotch, and boozy vanilla melding well with the gentle influence of clove and walnuts.
Finish: The finish clings to your palate and picks up a bit of maple syrup, black pepper, and a flaky croissant note that really ups the ante providing a notable butteriness to each sip that helps to hold the disparate parts together.
Bottom Line:
Dusty bourbons are often heralded for exhibiting a level of richness that isn’t matched by today’s offerings. Simply put, old Stitzel-Weller bourbon is the finest example of this. Look for the bright cherry and butterscotch notes to be particularly unique when compared to contemporary expressions then settle in for the decadent finish – another hallmark of what the best vintage bourbons can offer.
First dubbed “the best bourbon you’ll never taste” by a writer back in 2012, the legend of A.H. Hirsch’s 16-year “Gold Foil” has only grown since then. Initially distilled at Pennco Distillery, the man who ordered the whiskey – namesake Adolph H. Hirsch – never actually bottled it. That task fell to Julian Van Winkle III who did so with this 16-year-old bourbon at the behest of liquor store owner Gordon Hue in 2003. While there are several legendary releases of A.H. Hirsch bourbon floating around, the 16-year gold foil version featured the widest release (2,500 cases) and so inspired the popularity of the brand plus an entire book espousing its elusiveness and superlative quality.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The effusive aromas of salted caramel, golden raisins, and a healthy sprinkle of nutmeg all show well here. Given some time there’s a bit of well-aged oak that develops in lockstep with a note of vanilla custard.
Palate: The density of flavors on the palate is immediately impressive considering its relatively mild proof. The tip of the tongue is where the taste of custard and golden raisins take hold, allowing salted caramel, a touch of sweet oak, and several dashes of nutmeg to accentuate every viscous sip.
Finish: Balance is the name of the game here, as each taste foregoes a drawn-out experience for a medium-length finish that encourages return trips to the glass (and the bottle) as you appreciate its simple sophistication.
Bottom Line:
A far cry from the punch-’em-in-the-face bourbons of today, A.H. Hirsch 16 Year opts instead to display the efficiency of a well-oiled machine. With a sumptuous flavor profile that instantly stuns and a bouquet of aromas that showcases beautiful balance, this is a bourbon that best exhibits the mantra “less is more.” Good luck finding it at its original suggested retail price of $45, though.
The present-day Michter’s Distillery is led by President Joe Magliocco who, from day one, has employed some of the most knowledgeable folks in the industry with a single aim in mind – to create the best American whiskey possible. When it comes to America’s native spirit, the brand’s most successful effort can surely be considered Michter’s 20-Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Oh, yeah…this is mature bourbon. It plays all of the classics – black cherry sweetness, deep leather aromas, and refined oak – and does little to stray from them.
Palate: Again, Michter’s 20 is a straightforward sipper with black cherries, leather, and well-aged oak taking the reign and refusing to let go. Along the periphery, there are clove and black pepper aspects to be found in the spice department and sweet bits of butterscotch and vanilla extract to enhance the sweetness.
Finish: The lengthy finish is where those guest appearances recede and we’re back showcasing the three main flavors which impress due to their ample richness.
Bottom Line:
Featuring a blend of sourced bourbon that is painstakingly mingled and undergoes a proprietary filtration process, Michter’s 20 might just be the quintessential bourbon. Full of rich oak, mature leather, and black cherry, this is the whiskey above all others that demonstrates what well-aged bourbon should taste like.
Imagine, if you will, a time when Jimmy Russell isn’t playing a pivotal role in the Wild Turkey brand. It’s that very (harrowing) thought that inspired this limited edition which was comprised of 23 hand-selected barrels that Eddie Russell set aside in 1998. The idea was that they would eventually be bottled as a tribute to his dad Jimmy on the eve of his retirement. Well, 15 years later those barrels had reached the peak of their maturity but Jimmy wasn’t going anywhere. The barrels were dumped into steel tanks to preserve their flavor before being bottled and released in 2015. Despite its limited quantity and what was then an eyebrow-raising asking price of $250 the 2,070-bottle batch sold out quickly and is commonly cited as the very best bottle of Wild Turkey ever sold in America.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Wild Turkey at its finest, which means a healthy helping of allspice and apple pie spices (with nutmeg and cinnamon leading the way) along with stewed red apples and an abundance of sticky caramel.
Palate: The red apples from the nose turn into more of a black cherry note here, developing a deeper sweetness that combines with the apple pie spices and adds some vanilla ice cream. The influence of oak sets a solid foundation for all of these flavors to reach their full potential as none of them manages to outshine the others, instead allowing them to crest in glorious harmony.
Finish: Here the oak influence grows and provides more of a platform for the baking spices to strut their stuff. The finish is satisfyingly lengthy which makes parsing each layer of flavor all the more enjoyable.
Bottom Line:
Not only is Russell’s Reserve 1998 a quintessential Wild Turkey bourbon, but it dials all of those prototypical flavors up to the umpteenth degree. Skewing delightfully on the dark end of the sweetness spectrum it contains a complexity that its single-barrel likeness hints at but never fully achieves.
We’ve talked a bit about Julian Van Winkle III but Old Fitzgerald was the flagship brand for his grandfather, Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle’s Stitzel-Weller Distillery. While the whiskey produced by Stitzel-Weller made its way into several other brand’s bottles over the years (many of them fetching tens of thousands of dollars on the auction market) there’s simply no topping the stuff they kept for themselves. In 1964 all bottles of Old Fitzgerald that were aged for at least 12 years received the “Very Very Old” designation, and for my money, they’re the best wheated bourbons ever to be produced.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Candied walnuts, honey, and slightly musty oak make their way out of the glass at first. After a few waves of the hand, the aroma of honey only becomes more refined, and it is joined by a bit of orange peel, plenty of brown sugar, and a touch of leather to boot.
Palate: This is a spectacular bourbon from the first sip as candied walnuts and sweet oak fan out over the tongue and make way for pops of clove and nutmeg along the roof of the mouth. It’s oily and dense, allowing those flavors to take root on the palate and slowly grow over time.
Finish: Again, the finish benefits from its robust viscosity which holds all of the rich, sweet notes close and allows the earthy flavors of oak and leather to provide a superb balance on the back end.
Bottom Line:
With remarkable balance and considerable gusto, Very Very Old Fitzgerald 12-Year bourbon is a pure delight from start to finish. When it comes to wheated bourbons there are none finer as this Stitzel-Weller-produced bottle puts them all to shame. The Pappy Van Winkle of today is merely a shadow of what the man himself was producing, and that says it all right there.
While Russell’s Reserve 1998 may hold the title of being the best Wild Turkey bourbon ever sold in America, Wild Turkey 14-Year Master Distiller Selection is the intercontinental champ. Reserved for the Japanese export market, bottled at 107 proof, and limited to roughly 6,000 bottles, Master Distiller Selection was said at the time to be, “Jimmy Russell’s vision of the ultimate bourbon.” With one sip I was immediately inclined to agree.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Where Russell’s Reserve 1998 is more reminiscent of the dark sweetness Russel’s single barrels are known for, Master Distiller Selection is a masterclass of balance that allows the influence of oak, subtler baking spices like nutmeg and clove, and semi-sweet aromas like chocolate wafers and hazelnut to shine.
Palate: Dark chocolate and hazelnut gently wash away to reveal apple chips, butterscotch, and a faint touch of rosemary. Oak is evident but not overpowering which leaves enough room for those subtle spices from the nose to make themselves heard.
Finish: Absolute harmony between the subtle spice notes, semi-sweet flavors, and the earthy oak influence linger long after the last sip making for an awe-inspiring finish.
Bottom Line:
Come for the depth of flavor but stay for the way Wild Turkey 14 Year Master Distiller Selection remarkably balances everything that makes bourbon great. After I first tried this bourbon I tirelessly sought out a bottle of my own and paid a mint at an auction house to do so. While I rue the last-minute bidder who pushed the price of this bottle north of my ordinary bourbon budget, this is anything but ordinary bourbon. Wild Turkey 14-Year Master Distiller Selection is the best bourbon I have ever had the pleasure of sipping.
The Boston Celtics locked up the top seed in the Eastern Conference with nearly a month to play in the season. They currently hold a 14-game lead on second with three games to play, and will be the heavy favorites to reach their second NBA Finals in three years.
Even with their regular season dominance, there are just enough lingering questions about the Celtics in the playoffs — particularly their struggles closing out games in recent years — that would normally lead to some pundits cautioning against predicting a romp through the East. However, this year there is not just a gulf between Boston and the rest of the conference, but there are very few teams that even look like they’re rounding into their best form as the regular season comes to a close.
Because of that, the Celtics have incredibly high odds to make the Finals, both at sportsbooks and in probability models. They’re -140 to win the East, with ESPN’s BPI giving them a 54.6 percent chance at making the Finals. Others, like Playoff Status, are up at 69 percent. Things are rarely that simple, but finding East teams capable of threatening them in a 7-game set is pretty difficult right now. Let’s go down the list and see who might give Boston a scare, going from least to most imposing threat.
9. Chicago Bulls
Respectfully, no. I could see a gentlemen’s sweep in the first round on the backs of a hot shooting night from the Bulls but, c’mon. No.
8. Atlanta Hawks
They did win two games against the Celtics recently, one in rather hysterical fashion with Dejounte Murray scoring 44 points on 44 shots, so I can’t say they don’t have a chance. Trae Young is coming back which, in theory, should help Atlanta — remember, Young gave the Celtics all they could handle last year in their series that went six games. But with their perimeter defense, I just cannot see how they pull more than a game or two off of Boston, even if they get back to full strength.
7. Cleveland Cavaliers
I’m sorry to the good people of Cleveland, but I cannot take this Cavs team seriously right now. I’m not sure this Cavs team takes themselves seriously right now. It’s not easy to be the worst vibes team in the East right now with the way Milwaukee’s going, but I think Cleveland currently holds that title. There are a lot of very good players on this team, but it is just not working and they have suffered some dreadful losses of late, while Donovan Mitchell just does not look right due to his knee issues. Add in how they performed in last year’s playoffs and I’m just out on the Cavs as a threat this year, which is a shame because I really thought they’d made themselves better in the offseason.
6. Indiana Pacers
The Pacers can score with anyone. Can they stop the Celtics? Probably not. But I will say this, if Indiana — which has some impressive wins of late — is shooting well, they can at least apply some pressure to Boston. I don’t think it’s enough to win four times in seven games, but with Tyrese Haliburton finding his shooting form again (40.5 percent from three in the last 10 games) after a slump when he rushed back from a hamstring injury and Pascal Siakam playing very well in the space provided, they could pick off a game or two. I have a hard time seeing how they keep up for a full series because of their defense, but they could certainly avoid a sweep and make a few games very interesting with their shooting.
5. Orlando Magic
Orlando has been one of the NBA’s best defensive units all season, and can send waves of length and size at Boston at every position. The question for the Magic is on the other end. Paolo Banchero has grown tremendously as a scorer and playmaker this year and Franz Wagner, even in a down shooting year, creates problems for defenses with his physicality and ability to get downhill. I’m fairly confident those two will continue their strong play because their styles seem to fit well with how playoff basketball is played. That said, there are legitimate questions about how the guard play will hold up against a team like Boston, and there will be a gigantic gulf in three-point shooting between the two teams. The margin for error for Orlando would be razor thin because most nights they’re going to get beat from the three-point line, and for a young team getting their first taste of playoff basketball, it’s hard to buy into them in a whole series.
4. Miami Heat
I’ll be honest, I don’t know what to think of the Heat. They’ve been a middling team all year, but we also know the regular season is, as Josh Hart noted, just used by Jimmy Butler to do side quests before locking in for the playoffs. As long as Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Erik Spoelstra are there, Miami is going to have a high floor in the playoffs. They have proven capable of designing and executing a plan to frustrate the Celtics stars in the past. That said, their ceiling certainly isn’t as high as Boston’s, and the makeup of the rest of the team is a bit different.
The Heat would need another incredible shooting stretch from the supporting cast and Boston spent this offseason building a roster with the sole focus of covering up the holes Miami exposed a year ago. That said, it would be an incredible test of Boston’s mental fortitude as much as anything else if they ran into the Heat in the first round, because Miami would absolutely ask the same questions as last year and see if Boston has learned the answers. And if the Heat took a Game 1 off of the Celtics? That would be one hell of a test for a team has been criticized in the past for struggling when they get punched in the mouth.
3. New York Knicks
The Knicks will have to go through the postseason without Julius Randle, which leaves them without the frontcourt scoring punch to serve as a balance to Jalen Brunson’s brilliance on the perimeter. That is a real concern against the Celtics offensive firepower, but I still think the Knicks could be a thorn in Boston’s side, plus Randle’s playoff history isn’t exactly sparkling, so it’ll be fascinating to see how big of a deal not having him in the playoffs is. New York has the defense to muck things up and have the length and versatility to create some interesting problems for Boston’s stars, particularly with OG Anunoby back in the lineup. That would make for a fascinating matchup on that end of the floor, but Boston also has the ability to present more problems to Brunson than any other team with their strength at the point of attack thanks to Jrue Holiday and Derrick White.
The Knicks ability to really push the Celtics in a series would be dependent on their wings knocking down threes at a high rate to keep Boston’s defense honest, but if they can hit shots, New York has the size and physicality on defense to try and mimic the Miami gameplan that bothered the Celtics a year ago. Boston, of course, hopes they’ve made the right additions in Holiday and Porzingis to create alternate pressure points and make it harder to execute that type of plan. Of the likely second round opponents, I think New York is the one that can create the most stress for Boston.
2. Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers are getting healthy and are the only team in the East that you would really say is peaking at the right time. Tyrese Maxey is on a heater, Joel Embiid is steadily finding his footing and looking like his regular self, and De’Anthony Melton just came back and gives them some needed backcourt depth. We saw last year that Philly is certainly capable of giving the Celtics problems, as they probably should’ve won that second round series. With a healthy Embiid-Maxey combo, Philly presents a unique challenge from any other team in the East, and if they can hit shots around those two, they are certainly dangerous.
That said, they also are one of the few teams with more playoff scar tissue to overcome than Boston. While the Celtics have to prove they can get over the hump and win a title, the Sixers will feel pressure just to get past the conference semis. As such, when these two teams meet would likely factor heavily into who feels the most pressure. If it’s a first round series — meaning the Sixers wouldn’t get through until the second Play-In game — I think the pressure would be felt by Philly because of their many early exits. If it’s a Conference Finals, then Philly will have gotten over the proverbial hump of the second round and would be playing freed up, while Boston would feel the pressure to get to the Finals in a year where that’s the baseline expectation.
1. Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks were supposed to be their top challenger and may still be, but even with Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the way, Milwaukee seems to be actively trying to make sure no one is buying them as a threat as the regular season comes to a close. Prior to Tuesday’s win in Boston, they lost four straight games to the Wizards, Grizzlies, Raptors, and Knicks, with Doc Rivers having to invent new ways to shift blame off of himself after each loss. Milwaukee has been a .500 team under Rivers’ guidance, and while they certainly have the clearest upside with their star duo, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez, they also have proven they can lose to anyone on any given night.
Even so, they’ve shown they can play up to the level of their competition as often as they play down to it. They’re 8-4 against above .500 teams since the All-Star break and showed on Tuesday they do have an extra gear to find (aided by some hot three-point shooting). It must be noted that Boston had little reason to be as invested in that game, but even so, the Bucks remain the biggest threat provided their top stars are healthy, which is of course a real question after Giannis went down with a calf strain. If he is able to fully recover and be back to his normal availability by the time these two teams meet in the playoffs, Milwaukee poses the biggest threat to the Celtics in the East. If he cannot, the door opens even further for Boston.
When the 2022 Dobbs decision overturned the federal protection of medical privacy in reproductive decisions, leaving abortion law up to the states, experts warned of the legal and medical consequences to come: People in states with old laws on the books would find themselves facing abortion restrictions the likes of which had not been seen in over 50 years since Roe vs. Wade became “settled as a precedent of the Supreme Court,” and medical providers would face legal conundrums that threatened patient care.
There is only one abortion exception allowed for in the law—to save the life of the mother. As medical providers have made clear, that kind of exception is a murky gray area that leads to impossible questions like “How imminent does a mother’s death need to be?” for a doctor to take action without fearing legal repercussions.
Civil War-era historian Heather Cox Richardson shared some of the details about how the law came about and the context in which it was written on Facebook, and the historical facts paint a picture of how utterly absurd it is for the law to go into effect in 2024.
“In 1864, Arizona was not a state, women and minorities could not vote, and doctors were still sewing up wounds with horsehair and storing their unwashed medical instruments in velvet-lined cases,” wrote Richardson. She pointed out that the U.S. was in the midst of the Civil War, and that the law didn’t actually have much to do with women and reproductive care.
“The laws for Arizona Territory, chaotic and still at war in 1864, appear to reflect the need to rein in a lawless population of men,” she explained, sharing that the word “miscarriage” was used in the criminal code to describe various forms of harm against another person, specifying dueling with, maiming and poisoning other people.
Richardson offered that detail as the context in which the law states that “a person who provides, supplies or administers to a pregnant woman, or procures such woman to take any medicine, drugs or substance, or uses or employs any instrument or other means whatever, with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage of such woman, unless it is necessary to save her life, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than two years nor more than five years.”
How did the law even come about? At that time, the newly formed Arizona Territorial Legislature was composed of 27 men. The first thing they did was authorize the governor to appoint a commissioner to draft a code of laws, but a judge named William T. Howell had already written one up. After some discussion, the legislators enacted Howell’s laws, known as “The Howell Code.”
The code included laws like, “No black or mulatto, or Indian, Mongolian, or Asiatic, shall be permitted to give evidence in favor of or against any white person,” as well as “All marriages of white persons with negroes or mulattoes are declared to be illegal and void.”
Richardson also pointed out that the code set the age of consent for sexual intercourse at 10-years-old.
Arizona wasn’t admitted to the union until 1912
— (@)
Essentially, a law written by one man, 48 years before Arizona was officially a state, over half a century before women were allowed to vote, when it was perfectly legal to enact and enforce racist laws and see 10-year-olds as old enough to consent to sex, is now considered “enforceable” by the Arizona Supreme Court.
Americans pride themselves on living in the “best country in the world.” However, the American way of life isn’t for everyone and some prefer the more laid-back approach to life that people enjoy in Europe.
Four years ago, a writer named Roze left her tiny apartment in Los Angeles, booked a one-way flight to Turn, Italy and never looked back. Now, she documents her new life in Europe on TikTok to inspire others to pursue their dreams.
Recently, she posted a video in which she counts down 5 things that she’ll never do now that she lives in Italy. These are examples of the relief some Americans feel when they move to Europe and settle into their new, stress-free lifestyle.
1. Rush
“One of the first things that attracted me to Italian culture is the fact that people don’t seem to be in a rush. There are no drive-thrus. People don’t walk and eat. If you need a coffee, you sit down and drink a cup of coffee. There’s always time for that.”
2. Own a car
“I don’t plan on ever living in a place where you need a car to get around. I don’t like the expense of a car and it’s just bad for the environment.”
3. Live for work
“I’ll never obsess about work as much as I used to do in the U.S. Now, I’m not saying that people don’t work here. People work very hard, but there’s not as many people who make working hard their whole personality.”
A few ways my perspective has changed since moving abroad, maybe some other American immigrants can relate? #fivethingschallenge #5thingsiwouldneverdo #5thingschallenge #americanimmigrant #movingabroadtips #expatsinitaly #italylifestyle #lifeinitaly🇮🇹
4. Trust the internet for business hours
“If you look it up on Google Maps, it says that it’s open from 10 am to, I think, 7 or 7:30 pm. Does that mean I can go there at like 2:30 3 o’clock? No. What is not listed on there is that they are closed from 1 to 4 for lunch.”
5. Worry about medical bills
“I just don’t plan on living anywhere where there is not some kind of universal healthcare.”
On Kabutomushi, the latest EP from math rock-meets-bossa nova artist Mei Semones, tales of strife and utopia coexist. Whether the Brooklyn-based jazz guitarist lets go of a long-term friendship on “Wakare No Kotoba” (Japanese for “parting words”) or envisions a pastoral paradise on “Inaka,” (Japanese for “countryside”) Semones allows the space for a wide spectrum of emotions and styles. As she reconstructs her warm, comforting arrangements to suit complex, proggy time signatures, it never seems forced. Instead, it just sounds natural.
Kabutomushi is the name for the Japanese rhinoceros battle, an insect that Semones would try to find whenever she visited her grandmother in Japan as child. As a whole, this EP is an homage to her late grandmother, both in its wistful, commemorative lyrics, as on the title track, and in spirit.
Following the EP’s release this past Friday, Semones sits down with Uproxx to discuss those precious memories of her grandmother, her admiration of John Coltrane, and why her mother is her favorite person to follow on social media in our latest Q&A.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
I would like my music to be remembered as something comforting, something that helped people feel less alone. I also would like it to be remembered as something new and different.
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
John Coltrane — obviously my music sounds nothing like him, but I love his music & playing.
Where did you eat the best meal of your life and what was it?
At my parent’s house in Michigan, my mom’s nabe (hotpot) 🙂
Tell us about the best concert you’ve ever attended.
I really enjoyed seeing Ravi Coltrane at Village Vanguard!
What song never fails to make you emotional?
“Monk’s Mood.”
What’s the last thing you Googled?
“What time is it in California?”
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
I honestly haven’t stayed anywhere too weird on tour — one of my favorite places recently was my friend Natalie’s place in Chicago. A really nice living room & really cute cats :,)
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform and what’s the city you hope to perform in for the first time?
New York City is my favorite city to play. And I’ve played solo in Tokyo before, but we’ve never played there as full band, so I hope to do that soon 🙂
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
You should practice more.
What’s one of your hidden talents?
Unfortunately I don’t think I have any… I used to be pretty good at drawing.
If you had a million dollars to donate to charity, what cause would you support and why?
Right now, I would donate to humanitarian aid in Gaza.
What are your thoughts about AI and the future of music?
I don’t think about it too much… I’m going to keep making music in the way that I like to, and I’m sure other people will too.
You are throwing a music festival. Give us the dream lineup of 5 artists that will perform with you and the location it would be held.
John Roseboro, Nebulous Quartet, Nirvana, John Coltrane, and Thelonious Monk at Myrtle Ave Broadway.
Who’s your favorite person to follow on social media?
My mom — she posts great photos of our dogs & food pics.
What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?
I don’t have any tattoos. I promised my grandma I would never get tattoos in exchange for her Gucci watch. Also I don’t want tattoos because then I wouldn’t be able to go to the onsen.
What is your pre-show ritual?
Write out setlists, collect & distribute drink tickets, say hello to my friends at the show 🙂
Who was your first celebrity crush?
I think it was River Phoenix in Stand By Me.
You have a month off and the resources to take a dream vacation. Where are you going and who is coming with you?
I would take my family, my boyfriend, and my band all over Japan to a bunch of different hotels/resorts & sightseeing.
What is your biggest fear?
Being mean to someone or hurting someone’s feelings by accident.
Kabutomushi is out now via Bayonet Records. Find more information here.
Maybe you’re one of those elite travelers who’s mastered packing for an entire trip using only carry-on luggage. If so, you’re likely haughty and won’t stop crowing about the convenience of hopping off the plane and jetting to your destination.
We know: The airlines lost your bag in 1986 and you vowed never again. So, now you roll three garments, one pair of shoes, a tiny bottle of 5-in-one body wash, and a Kindle into your backpack, and you’re good to go.
For the rest of us mere traveling mortals, especially those with kids, checking bags is a necessary evil—a necessary and costly one.
If it seems to you like checked bag fees have been steadily climbing, that’s because checked bag fees have been steadily climbing. According to this article, bag fees on American Airlines rose 33% just last year from $30 per bag to $40 and 5 of the 6 biggest carriers raised their fees last year.
Why is the entire industry upping their checked-bag fees? There’s a specific reason involving an arcane bit of tax code, which accounts for why the fees are tacked on separately versus rolled into the price of the ticket.
Jay L. Zagorsky, a business school professor who studies travel, says 7.5% of every domestic ticket goes to the federal government. Airlines dislike this, claiming it raises ticket prices for consumers. But as long as the bag fee is separate, it is excluded from the 7.5% transportation tax.
Estimated bag fees for 2023 topped 7 billion. By making the bag fees separate, airlines saved themselves about half a billion dollars. If that savings has been passed down to the customer, then we all got a bit of a break, too.
Perhaps you automatically dislike the separate fees because you’re Gen X and remember a time when a ticket was all-inclusive. Now, it feels like you’re paying for stuff you used to get for free.
Turns out that more and more travelers actually like the separate charges.
“One thing that our research has shown,” Henry Hartevedlt, president of travel industry analytics firm Atmosphere Research told USA Today, “is that more than two-thirds of U.S. leisure airline passengers now feel that the unbundling of the coach product and letting people buy what they want and need on an à la carte basis is actually something they like because it helps them stick to their budget.”
This is a positive way to look at something that’s undoubtedly here to stay. And now if you hear someone complain about bag fees at the airport, you’ll know why it’s done the way it’s done, which is really sweet satisfaction in itself.
Of course, there’s always this unusual workaround courtesy of Reddit user Old_Man_Withers, “I Fedex my luggage to the hotel and carry nothing on the plane but my laptop for work. It doesn’t matter if it’s 2 days or two months, I ship it. The hotel has it waiting in my room when I get there and I ship it back home from there when I’m done. No random inspections, no chances of loss without recompense, fully trackable… I see no downside that isn’t worth the 50-100 bucks it costs.”
Conan O’Brien had a blink-and-you-missed-it run as “Tonight Show” host. After only a year, he was unceremoniously laid off in 2010 by NBC due to a contractual dispute and replaced by former host Jay Leno, followed by Jimmy Fallon in 2014.
But despite his short-lived reign, O’Brien cemented himself as a wickedly funny and whip smart performer, as well as a master of recurring gags, self-deprecating humor and engaging conversation…not to mention developing a reputation for being a pretty great guy off the air.
Which is why fans were excited to see O’Brien appear as a “Tonight Show” guest for Tuesday’s episode, marking a return to his old stomping grounds for the first time in 14 years. And let’s just say…O’Brien’s comeback did not disappoint.
During parts of the interview, O’Brien exuded that same amount of candid poise that he famously maintained throughout the 2010 controversy. Like when he talked about podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” the project that followed his “Tonight Show” exit, he said he still considered hosting a late-night show “the best job in the world,” but shared his appreciation for the podcast format since it allows for longer, more in-depth conversations with guests.
But along with all the sentimentality were trademark rapid fire zingers and absurdly dramatic outbursts, especially when talking about how “weird” it felt to be back at Rockefeller Center.
“I was here for 16 years doing the ‘Late Night’ show,” O’Brien told Jimmy Fallon (both “Late Night” and “The Tonight Show” filmed in the same building.
“When someone else is in your studio it feels weird. So I walked in and said, ‘Who’s in my old studio?’ And they said ‘Kelly Clarkson’. And I love Kelly Clarkson, who doesn’t love Kelly Clarkson? But still I felt like, IT’S NOT RIGHT! BLASPHEMY! THEY SHOULD HAVE BURNED IT TO THE GROUND!”
“And then Kelly came out to say hi and I said, DON’T TALK TO ME! YOU MAKE ME SICK!!”
Man, O’Brien really knows how to commit to the bit. Watch:
O’Brien’s interview was so well received that fans seemed to fall in love with him all over again.
“Conan returns to the Tonight Show in TRIUMPHHH being one of the greatest of all time.”
“Conan is going down in history as one of the greatest to ever do it!”
“Conan’s career is a true testament to the saying ‘Everything happens for a reason.’”
“This hit me right in the feels.”
“The man’s a national treasure, give him everything.”
If you’re left wanting even more Coco, O’Brien has a new series, “Conan O’Brien Must Go,” which debuts on April 18 on Max. Talk about a full circle moment.
If you haven’t spent time in a middle school classroom, you may not fully grasp the intensity of it on every level, from awkwardness to body odor to the delightful hilarity that tweens bring to the table. When you connect with your students, it can be incredibly rewarding, and when you don’t…well, we all read “Lord of the Flies,” right?
Skilled teachers bring out the best in young people, and that can be done in many different ways. For Amy Allen, it’s by making her classroom a fun, welcoming place for kids to learn.
She plays games with them, gets rambunctious with them and creates opportunities for them to expend some of that intense pre-and-early-teen energy in healthy ways. For instance, she shared a video of a game of “grudgeball,” an active trivia game that makes reviewing for a quiz or test fun and competitive, and you can see how high-energy her classroom is:
If this looks like fun to you, pick up my grudgeball template (🔗 in bio) #qotc #grudgeball #10outof10recommend @Amy Allen ☀️ @Amy Allen ☀️ @Amy Allen ☀️
Allen clearly enjoyed the game as much as her students (“I love the chaos!” she shared), and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Fun keeps teachers sane, too. But one person took issue with her classroom behavior and commented, “your a teacher act like it.” (Not my typo—that’s exactly what the person wrote, only with no period.)
Allen addressed the comment in another video in the most perfect way possible—by acting exactly like a teacher. Watch:
Replying to @كل الكلبات تريد مني Come see me if you have any further questions. #qotc #iteachmiddleschool #weDEFINITELYdonthavefuninhere @Amy Allen ☀️ @Amy Allen ☀️ @Amy Allen ☀️ #Inverted
There are two solid ways to handle a rude comment without making things worse—you can ignore it or you can craft a response that makes the person look like a fool without being cruel or rude yourself. Allen’s grammar lesson response was A+ work, right down to the “Come see me if you have any further questions” caption.
In fact, the person apparently went back and deleted their comment after the comeback video went viral, which makes it all the more hilarious.
The irony, of course, is that Allen was acting like a teacher in her video—an engaged teacher with engaged students who are actively participating in the learning process. Just because it doesn’t look like serious study doesn’t mean it’s not learning, and for some kids, this kind of activity might be far more effective at helping them remember things they’ve learned (in this case, vocabulary words) than less energetic ways of reviewing.
Teaching middle school requires a lot of different skills, but perhaps the most important one is to connect with students, partly because it’s far easier to teach someone actually wants to be in your classroom and partly because effective teaching is about so much more than just academics. A teacher might be the most caring, stable, trustworthy adult in some students’ lives. What looks like silly fun and games in a classroom can actually help students feel safe and welcomed and valued, knowing that a teacher cares enough to try to make learning as enjoyable as possible.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
pic.twitter.com/GG0JQsxAmw
