Sometimes in life you need a little help. Going through any major life event can be scary but to have to go through it mostly alone can be downright terrifying. April Goodman found herself in that very situation over a year ago. Goodman was diagnosed with uterine cancer and would need assistance getting to and from her appointments for chemotherapy and radiation.
But Goodman didn’t have anyone she could call on for help, which left her reliant on attempting to seek assistance through the app Nextdoor. This app is often used for neighborly things like informing people of accidents, recommendations, and sometimes help with smaller things like food or lawn equipment. It essentially brings neighbors together in one spot to allow them to communicate and look out for one another.
Goodman needed more than to borrow someone’s weed whacker, she needed a trustworthy friend to get her to and from appointments. She had no choice but to take a chance and ask a group of strangers to help her during an extremely vulnerable time in her life. Lyn Story answered the call without hesitation.
Story saw Goodman’s plea and immediately offered to get the woman to and from her appointments. Goodman tells CBS Mornings that at first she ignored the generous offer, “someone spoke up and said, ‘I’ll take you to your appointments’ and I kind of ignored it cause it was a stranger. What do you do? So she messaged me again and said, ‘I’ll take you. I mean it, I’m honest. I’m sincere.'”
That started a life-changing friendship between the two. Story has taken Goodman to over 25 appointments so far. She’s seen her graduate from chemotherapy before starting her radiation. But it turns out Story didn’t stop with answering Goodman’s call on the Nextdoor app. Another neighbor who is legally blind was forced out of retirement and needed rides to work, that’s where Story once again lended her help.
LinkedIn is primarily a platform for working professionals to connect and find employment that aligns with their skills and values. With company layoffs continuing (even increasing in some industries) people have also used the website to courageously share their layoff experiences.
While the main intent behind this is, of course, finding a new job, there have also been some lovely displays of humanity that not only challenge the stigma of being laid off but show the power of a supportive community.
Take this heartwarming story, for example.
Patrick McCarthy, Communications Management & Marketing Leader, recently posted about a layoff that quickly went viral on the platform. Not for himself—for his father.
“This is Pete. He’s my dad,” his post began. “My dad lost his job yesterday. I would tag him here, but he doesn’t have a LinkedIn.”
Pete, who has had a “starkly different professional journey” than his son, spent most of his life working in the service industry and absolutely loved interacting with customers. His empathy and knack for listening made him perfect for the role. Over his career, Pete had collected thousands of interactions from working at Walgreens, Fry’s, and (most recently) Winco, often being the reason folks came back.
And then, Pete was laid off. His job as a cashier, one that he loved and was good at, was gone.
“As anyone would be, he’s shocked. Overwhelmed. Scared. Emotional,” Patrick wrote.
Knowing his dad didn’t have the same network to easily find a new job, Patrick reached out on his behalf, wholeheartedly believing in the “magic” of the LinkedIn Community. He implored that anyone looking for a candidate with “a LOT of customer-facing, customer service, and service industry experience” send him a message so that he could put them in touch with Pete.
Patrick’s faith paid off—way more than he thought it would. In less than a week, the post was shared over 500 times, with over 600 comments from people wanting to help.
A manager at a nearby Sprouts grocery store said Pete sounded like a perfect match for a clerk position that could even pay his daily wage ahead of time. Another suggested he could be an excellent outdoor tour guide for REI. Someone else referred them to a weekly meetup group led by a career coach.
Even LinkedIn responded, writing, “Pete sounds like a top-tier employee! 💙 Keep us posted as he progresses on his journey, as well as any tips or insights either of you learn along the way—it may help those in a similar situation.”
Truly, Pete’s story already provides some helpful insight. While he might still be in the job-seeking phase, things certainly look more optimistic. And all it took (besides Pete being a lovely human being) was one simple, honest post. As Patrick told Upworthy, “Clearly something about his story connected with others. Humanity. Vulnerability. Empathy.”
The words “social media” and “job market” can elicit some pretty negative visceral responses. Of course, this viewpoint has some merit, but it’s refreshing to see the power of human connection break through the disheartening headlines. Here’s to Patrick and his father Pete, for reminding us that even when things seem bleak or uncertain, the world is full of people trying to help out one another.
The fear of needles—technically known as trypanophobia—is an extremely common fear that can range from “Eh, I’m not so comfy with the idea a needle going into my body” to full-on fainting at the sight of a syringe. For some, the idea of having blood drawn adds another layer to the fear of needles (“Wait, you mean you’re taking some of the life-sustaining blood OUT of my body?”) and can the fear can be so strong that it leads to people avoiding lab work altogether.
Perhaps that’s one reason a video of vets and/or vet techs dancing for a dog who was nervous while getting a blood draw is resonating with so many people.
The video, shared by Hawaii Kai Vet Clinic on Instagram, is delightful on its face—the music, the dancing, the commitment, the random woman in the background, the good doggo, all of it. But it’s the desire to have that kind of distraction as a human in a phlebotomist’s chair that really got people.
I mean, who wouldn’t enjoy a blood draw with this kind of entertainment?
“Distraction team ready!” they wrote. “Treats, head pats and even dancing can help keep the nervous fur babies from focusing on the treatments being done, we love doing our best to keep things fear free as much as we can.”
“Do you have to own a pet to see this performance live and where can I purchase tickets?” wrote one commenter.
“I’m hoping these kind people are available for my next Dr appointment,” wrote another.
“Can you guys come with me to MY doctor’s appointment next week?” added another.
Here’s to the vets and vet techs who go the extra mile to make their patients as comfortable as possible. Check out Hawaii Kai Vet Clinic on Instagram for more veterinary joy.
If you grew up in the U.S. from 1968 on, you’re most likely familiar with the Big Wheel tricycle. There’s a good chance that you have your own visceral memories of riding one, whether you were lucky enough to have one or just mooched from a kid in the neighborhood.
The the sound of the wheels rolling over pavement. The invincibility you felt flying down the sidewalk peddling as hard as you could. The pain in your butt when you hit a rogue rock. The smell of plastic as you skidded to a stop. The impossibility of driving that thing over grass. The Big Wheel was a portal to grown-up driving—no shaky balancing required like a two-wheeler, just pure power and speed in a flash of bright red and yellow.
Bring Your Own Big Wheel (or BYOBW) has been delighting people in San Francisco for 24 years. The event takes place at 20th and Vermont Street on Easter Sunday afternoon. While some kids go hunting for eggs in their Sunday best, others are racing Big Wheels down San Francisco’s crookedest hill. Kids 12ish and under go first (this year, they had the 2:00 to 3:00 time slot) and then the adults get their turn. It’s quite an event to witness.
The event is free, with participants being asked to make a small donation to cover the costs associated with putting on the event (permits, hay bales, port-a-potties etc.). And there is no advertising or corporate sponsorship allowed in the event—just pure, childlike fun—with helmets, gloves, knee pads and elbow pads recommended, of course.
Clearly, people take “Big Wheel” loosely, as people brought a whole range of tricycles, but the effect is still sheer delight. A former BYOBW participant called it “terrifyingly fun.” As one commenter wrote, “Ya know – society would be so much better if we just did a bunch of fun events like this. It’s certainly a lot more fun than the ‘red vs. blue’ routine we got going now.”
But sometimes optical illusions happen by accident. Those ones are even more fun because we know they aren’t a result of someone trying to trick our brains. Our brains do the tricking all by themselves.
The popular Massimo account on X shared a photo that appears to be a person and two dogs in the snow. The more you look at it, the more you see just that—two dogs and someone who is presumably their owner.
But there are not two dogs in this picture:
This is how optical illusions mess with your mind. nnFirst you see two dogs and their owner, and then…
— (@)
There are three dogs in this picture. Can you see the third?
Full confession time: I didn’t see it at first. Not even when someone explained that the “human” is actually a dog. My brain couldn’t see anything but a person with two legs, dressed all in black, with a furry hat and some kind of furry stole or jacket. My brain definitely did not see a black poodle, which is what the person actually is.
Are you looking at the photo and trying to see it, totally frustrated?
The big hint is that the poodle is looking toward the camera. The “hat” on the “person” is the poodle’s poofy tail, and the “scarf/stole” is the poodle’s head.
Once you see it, it fairly clear, but for many of us, our brains did not process it until it was explicitly drawn out.
@Rainmaker1973 That one took me AGES to see. nOwner is is a 3rd dog closer to the camera. The black fur hides the contours.
— (@)
As one person explained, the black fur hides the contours and shadows, so all our brains take in is the outline, which looks very much like a person facing away from us.
People’s reactions to the optical illusion were hilarious.
One person wrote, “10 years later: I still see two dogs and a man.”
Another person wrote, “I agree with ChatGPT :)” and shared a screenshot of the infamous AI chatbot describing the photo as having a person in the foreground. Even when asked, “Could the ‘person’ be another dog?” ChatGPT said it’s possible, but not likely. Ha.
I think there might be some confusion on what was said. I asked why he feels so comfortable calling me Mexican? I have no Mexican parents. My mom is Trini.. she came out of a whole black woman. My father is Dominican…I’m Dominican just like you. I also used other Dominicans as… https://t.co/p55fhPssMK
The above picture was taken at Vanity Fair‘s annual Oscars party this year. Ice Spice sent it to Cardi on Twitter after Cardi asked if she could see it while engaged in an intense discussion of race with an influencer, Raymonte Cole (it’s a long story).
After Cardi and Raymonte referenced Ice Spice, the “Think U The Sh*t” rapper popped up herself to offer a correction. Not appearing to take offense in the slightest, Cardi politely requested, “Can you send me that pic you took of me wit ya camera from vanity fair? Thank youuu.” Ice obliged, and with that, hopefully ended about a year’s worth of utterly nonsensical rage-farming, Twitter trolling, and Stan war flame-fanning that has honestly been tired since before anyone even know who Ice Spice was.
Same reason why you felt comfortable calling me a Mexican when I’m Dominican and I asked you why you feel comfortable calling me a Mexican when ice and jharell Jerome Zoe Saldana are Dominicans and you don’t do that to them. You do it to me because you know that’s what people use… https://t.co/sXHJJV7i4u
Of course, the primary drivers behind the discourse discord, the Barbz, are losing their sh*t, but at this point, I would hope we have all learned they deserve precisely none of our collective attention, especially because that’s all they seem to want. Y’all can, like, join a bowling league or something. Of course, some fans are STILL trying to frame the whole exchange in antagonistic terms but I guess life is either really messy or really boring over there.
Anyway, now that Ice Spice has apparently been in direct proximity with both Cardi B and Latto without violence, perhaps my dream of a “girl rap” Avengers carrying Joe Budden directly to the dumpster his podcast takes belong in is one step closer.
The first eight seasons of Suits led Netflix’s streaming summer of 2023, which was enough to not only inspire a new rewatch podcast based upon the USA Network series but a brand new show, too. That is to say, the ninth season is also available to stream on Peacock, but that’s not enough for viewers. NBCUniversal saw the promising writing on the wall, which led to a recent greenlighting of Suits: LA.
That’s the power of Netflix resurrection, streaming, and curiosity about Meghan Markle (who of course portrayed Rachel) for you. The new series will arrive for NBC, however, and surely the show will also stream on Peacock. However, many questions remain to be answered before suiting-up time, and thus far, some answers are beginning to surface.
Plot
This spin off was perhaps inevitable, given the ongoing success of NBC’s Law & Order shows along with more on the way from the NCIS realm. As with the latter, Suits is swapping locations (NYC to LA). Will California-based Suits have a breezier vibe? We’ll have to wait and see, but the actual action will be filmed in Vancouver, which is fine because the New York-based series was filmed in Toronto (as are many other shows).
The pilot episode has been fast tracked, and ideally, a full-season order will come soon. The really good news is that this “extension” will come from original Suits creator and writer Aaron Korsh. Let’s do the logline thing:
Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor from New York, has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. His firm is at a crisis point, and in order to survive he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career. Ted is surrounded by a stellar group of characters who test their loyalties to both Ted and each other while they can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives. All of this is going on while events from years ago slowly unravel that led Ted to leave behind everything and everyone he loved.
Thus far, Ted Black will be portrayed by Stephen Amell (from Starz’ recently cancelled Heels), and Josh McDermitt (Eugene from The Walking Dead) will be on hand as Stuart Lane, the old pal that helps form Black Lane Law. Together, they will conquer the worlds of entertainment and criminal law. Obviously, Los Angeles will be a good place to do both.
NBCUniversal has not even slightly confirmed that any original characters will return for the new show. However, the former cast did reunite for both a Super Bowl spot and the Golden Globes, so anything is possible. Gabriel Macht’s Harvey could always be on-call to mentor for crisis planning, and Patrick J. Adams — who might be busy with his new Netflix show before too long — has made it known that he is ready and willing to re-suit, no questions asked: “If I got the phone call, I’d be ready to suit up again. I loved the show, I loved the character and I loved working with all these people.” Make it happen.
Cast
We do know for sure that Meghan Markle won’t pop up as Rachel unless she somehow has a change of heart about revisiting acting. As mentioned already, Stephen Amell will portray Ted Black, and he will be joined by Josh McDermitt with Lex Scott Davis (The First Purge) as the leading lady.
The pilot has been held out as featuring an entirely new cast, although seriously, no one would be mad to see Gabriel Macht and Patrick J. Adams (as well as Gina Torres and Sarah Rafferty) make a cameo appearance.
Release Date
NBC will likely want to get this baby out the door as quick as possible, so look for a late 2024 debut if the pilot goes well.
Trailer
There’s no way that a trailer would exist without any footage, so please relive Mike deciding that he’s already in “love” with Rachel upon their first meeting.
There’s a new wave taking over the New York hip-hop scene, and one man is driving it forward with the sort of well-practiced panache that makes his eventual breakout an inevitability.
Bronx native Cash Cobain, who is also widely credited with the invention of so-called “sample drill” as a producer (he’s got a credit on Drake’s For All The Dogs, for instance), has sneakily become the vanguard for the next generation of artists coming out of NY’s chaotic and constantly evolving rap scene. Coining his one-man movement “slizzy,” a term he continues to throw around on song titles like “Slizzy Dialogue” to “Slizzy Talk,” Cobain has become the go-to guy for “sexy drill” — a version of the subgenre without its reputed signature focus on gang beef. As Cobain put it in a video interview with Complex, “We’re from New York. We’re gutter. We’re street. But we also wanna have a good time… We don’t wanna be on ‘kill time’ all the time.”
In case the popularity of his latest breakout viral favorite “Fisherrr” isn’t illustrative enough of this point, you only have to look at the results of his SlizzyFest concert at Irving Plaza in New York City. After fans overfilled the venue (perhaps driven by rumors of a possible Drake drop-in), getting it shut down in the process, Cash led the crowd from the venue Union Square Park, blasting his street hits “Dunk Contest,” “J Holiday,” and “Wavy Lady,” putting on an impromptu showcase without the constraints of concert hall decorum (you can read a first-hand account of the experience here).
With his penchant for indiscriminately sampling everything from YouTube videos to television theme songs, his career isn’t likely to see the sort of sudden explosion we’ve become accustomed to in the streaming era, but the grassroots groundswell he’s manifested won’t be limited to the internet for very long.
Check out Cash Cobain’s “Dunk Contest” and “Fisherrr” below.
Secretly Canadian has been a tastemaking label for years now. So, when they sign a new artist, you should probably pay attention. On that front, one of the latest additions to their roster is gglum, who Secretly welcomed aboard in late 2023.
gglum, a pseudonym for London-born songwriter Ella Smoker, didn’t waste any time making herself comfortable and dropped her debut album, The Garden Dream, a few days ago. It’s a vulnerable project that sees a now-content Smoker looking back at her sometimes-less-than-stellar early days, through the lenses of styles like serene indie-folk, lo-fi rock, and more.
To celebrate the milestone release, Uproxx caught up gglum to discuss a potpourri of topics, everything from Britney Spears to pressing flowers to the importance of good posture. Check it all out in the latest Indie Mixtape Q&A, below.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
Blue. Nylon Strings. Glum.
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 want be a niche lost artist that a cult following of teenagers from 2050 discover and can bond over. They’ll say things like “I was born in the wrong era” and wear baggy jeans and Air Forces and bum bags.
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
Phil Elverum. He was the person that made me realize I could write music in whatever way I wanted to.
Where did you eat the best meal of your life and what was it?
At Sketch in Oxford Circus. The restaurant with those egg toilets? I went for a signing celebration meal with my managers and it was the fanciest place I’d ever been. And the food was insane, I left thinking everything I could ever eat after that experience would taste like cardboard.
Tell us about the best concert you’ve ever attended.
My friends are in a band called Something In The Lake and they played a gig when we were in college at The Bread And Roses in Clapham, when they were called Helve. My favourite gigs are always when I get to watch my friends play, the energy in the room is always so much more exciting when it’s someone you know and you’re proud of.
What song never fails to make you emotional?
“All I Need” by Radiohead. It’s quite an obvious choice, but it’s well known for a reason. Listening to it feels like Thom Yorke has broken into your home and is personally ripping your heart from your chest.
What’s the last thing you Googled?
How to press flowers. When I was a kid in Finland I’d always have a look inside the books in a family members house to find pressed flowers between the pages. I’ve been needing a hobby so I thought I’d give it a go.
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
I’ve never crashed anywhere particularly weird but I did have a nap in the back room of a pub in Bristol on tour once about 30 minutes before the show started.
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform and what’s the city you hope to perform in for the first time?
The best place I’ve performed so far is Cologne. The crowds there are so energetic and get really involved which I feel is rare. I’d really like to perform in New York. I’ve had a bunch of friends go on tour in America and they said that the crowds in New York are really fun to play to.
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
Sort out your posture. It only gets worse and now it gives you headaches. Strengthen up them back muscles, it’ll make you look taller.
What’s one of your hidden talents?
I make really good buffalo wings in the oven and they come out crispy and everything.
If you had a million dollars to donate to charity, what cause would you support and why?
My first thought is a local food bank. So many people need them and I feel like not enough people support them. They’re so important.
You are throwing a music festival. Give us the dream lineup of five artists that will perform with you and the location it would be held.
Alex G, Radiohead, Paramore, King Krule, Thundercat. Somewhere pretty, like in the middle of some mountains in Greece haha.
What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?
I have a tattoo on my arm that says Sunday. On the day I got it I wanted to be really reckless or ruin my life or something and decided a better idea would be to get a tattoo to fill the impulsive void. I didn’t have any ideas for what I particularly wanted so I just got the word Sunday because I like Sundays. It’s funny because a few months later someone I know got really drunk and got an almost identical “Sunday” tattoo so now I’ve got an accidental matching tattoo with them.
What is your pre-show ritual?
Panicking, jumping around and getting my band to stop me from running away. I get really nervous before gigs so I haven’t quite managed a proper pre-show routine, its mostly just me trying to chill out.
Who was your first celebrity crush?
Britney Spears. Although I’m not sure if I wanted to be with her or be her.
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 flatmates with me to a villa with a pool or something in maybe Greece or Spain or Italy. Actually Italy would be great! I love history so it would be super cool to see the Coliseum or Pompeii or something like that.
What is your biggest fear?
My fun formative years catching up with me health-wise. I used to think it would be worth it but now I’m thinking maybe not…..
The Garden Dream is out now via Secretly Canadian. Find more information here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The 2024 edition of the Dreamville Festival is going down this weekend, on April 6 and 7. SZA, 50 Cent, Nicki Minaj, and J. Cole lead the lineup, but if you’re not going to be in Raleigh, North Carolina, here’s what to know about catching the livestream.
How To Watch The 2024 Dreamville Festival Livestream
A free livestream via the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, Prime Video, and the Amazon Music app promises to “provide unparalleled, real-time access to the weekend event,” as a press release notes. The broadcast will be hosted by hip-hop personalities Wayno, Speedy Morman, Nyla Symone, and Amber Grimes. Aside from performances from the festival, there will also be behind-the-scenes interviews with performers. Links to watch can be found here.
Adam Roy, Dreamville Co-founder and Festival President, says, “Thanks to Amazon Music, Dreamville fans from around the world can now tune in to watch weekend performances from the comfort of their own home. Efforts like this help expand the Dreamville brand far beyond just Raleigh.”
Aside from the aforementioned headliners, the festival lineup features JID, Lil Yachty, Schoolboy Q, Sexyy Red, Jeremih, Rema, Jeezy, Monica, Rae Sremmurd, Key Glock, EarthGang, Teezo Touchdown, Amaarae, Lute, Luh Tyler, Domani, Bas, Cozz, Omen, TiaCorina, and Chase Shakur.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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