Month: June 2024

Spymaster Jackson Lamb will return to Apple TV+ for fourth and fifth seasons and perhaps more. The role that Gary Oldman was perhaps born to portray will continue for much longer, and that’s a damn fine thing because no shortage of demand exists for espionage-fueled shows that appeal to both the Dad TV crowd and the rest of the binge-friendly audience, too. If you want some f*cked up, subversive agents to spice up the usual spy-thriller vibes, then Oldman and frenemies have you covered.

Oldman appears as the cantankerous spymaster who has a gas problem and isn’t afraid to let it out. He heads up the Slough House faction of British intelligence screwups who have been relegated to purgatory as originally written by Mick Herronthe’s South Horses book series, which contains eight titles about MI5 agents (and a ninth to come) so far. In other words, there’s plenty of source material, and Apple TV+ has been firing off seasons in rapid succession. In fact, Slow Horses is one of the only Apple TV+ shows to be renewed for a fifth season (another one being For All Mankind starring Joel Kinnaman), so let’s get prepared for what shall come next.

Plot

The dysfunctional agents of Slough House not only endure Lamb’s bodily functions but are essentially sentenced to an unending run of dull and miserable days filled with rote administrative tasks. That would be the official plan, but that wouldn’t make a very entertaining set of books or a TV show, so they end up on missions that are essential to maintaining the fabric of British society. And you know what? These characters aren’t “with it” but are refreshing compared to the usual breed of dashing, beautiful, and perfectly coiffed spies that we usually see onscreen. As well, Gary Oldman is loving this job and would be cool with ending his career — “to be able to sort of wrap it all up” — with this show. As he further told Deadline, “I would consider myself very honored and very lucky to be able to do that.”

In the fourth season, expect the story to follow Herron’s fourth book, Spook Street, and “open with a bombing that detonates personal secrets, rocking the already unstable foundations of Slough House.” The season will provide followup on River getting his hands on the “Footprint” file, which is supposedly destroyed, but of course copies exist. First, the Slough House agents will get sucked into a terror attack carried out on a packed shopping district.

Also, will River hook up with Louisa? On that last question, showrunner Will Smith promised Decider that the subject would grow “messy”:

Yeah, we’ve definitely played with that, I would say. And I think that comes from their performance, that comes from that hug as much as anything. And I think people would want to see them together, but all I could say is we’re going to be true to the character dynamics of the books. But it’s definitely — the question will not go unanswered. Put it that way. It’ll be in a Slow Horses way. And it will be messy. I can’t give too much away.

Additionally, expect the “messy” to extend into showing the audience where (via Indiewire) Jackson Lamb lives:

“In Season 4, it will be the first time we can see inside Lamb’s flat, Lambs house. What was really fun: Will said to me, ‘What do you think? What posters would he have on the wall? Would he have any posters or anything?’ You’ll catch it, only in passing really, but books are everywhere. I said, ‘What about a leg broken on the coffee table, but he’s put the books to level it up?’”

Just a hunch: the audience is ready to see this majestic mess.

Cast

Deadline reported that the fourth season’s cast will receive several new cast members including Hugo Weaving, Tom Brooke, Ruth Bradley, Joanna Scanlan, and James Callis. They will join Oldman and regular cast members Kristin Scott Thomas, Olivia Cooke, Jack Lowden, Jonathan Pryce, Steven Waddington, Rosalind Eleazar, Saskia Reeves, and Paul Higgins.

Release Date

Smith duly revealed (back in December 2023) that the fourth season “won’t be later than this time next year. So you won’t have to wait longer than a year.” In other words, expect this to happen before the end of 2024.

Trailer

No trailer has surfaced yet, but please enjoy this joint interview of Gary Oldman and Jack Bowden discussing Lamb’s “tough love” on his underlings:

With her debut album Born In The Wild coming soon, Nigerian singer Tems is soon to ascned to global superstar status. After becoming the first African-born artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (thanks in part to Future and Drake) and penning for both Beyoncé and Rihanna, she’s ready to take the next step in her journey as an artist with Born In The Wild. Here’s everything to know about the upcoming album.

Release Date

Born In The Wild is due 6/7 via RCA / Since ’93. You can find more info here.

Tracklist

1. “Born In The Wild”
2. “Special Baby (Interlude)”
3. “Burning”
4. “Wickedest”
5. “Love Me JeJe”
6. “Get It Right” Feat. Asake
7. “Ready”
8. “Gangsta”
9. “Unfortunate”
10. “Boy O Boy”
11. “Forever”
12. “Free Fall” Feat. J. Cole
13. “Voices In My Head (Interlude)”
14. “Turn Me Up”
15. “Me & U”
16. “T-Unit”
17. “You In My Face”
18. “Hold On”

Features

Features on Born In The Wild include North Carolina rapper J. Cole and burgeoning Nigerian Afrobeats performer Asake.

Artwork

Singles

So far, Tems has released two singles, “Me & U” and “Love Me JeJe.”

Tour Dates

Europe:

6/12 — London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
6/15 — Paris, France @ L’Olympia
7/4 — Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum Scene
7/8 — Berlin, Germany @ Tempodrom
7/10 — Cologne, Germany @ Carlswerk Victoria
7/12 — Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
7/16 — Montreux, Switzerland @ Montreux

North America

8/22 — Miami Beach, FL @ The Fillmore
8/24 — Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Cafe
8/26 — Dallas, TX @ Gilley’s South Side Ballroom
8/28 — Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
8/30 — Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
9/01 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
9/03 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia
9/05 — New York City, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
9/07 — Toronto, ON, Canada @ History
9/11 — Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena
9/13 — Montreal, QC, Canada @ L’Olympia
9/15 — Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
9/17 — Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom
9/22 — Vancouver, BC, Canada @ The Queen Elizabeth Theatre
9/25 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
9/27 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
9/29 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Theatre At Virgin Hotel
10/1 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre

Africa

10/19 & 25 — TBA

Asia

11/5 — TBA

Australia

11/09 — Melbourne @ Margaret Court Arena
11/12 — Brisbane @ Fortitude Music Hall
11/15 — Sydney @ The Hordern Pavilion

When we previously checked in with Benoit Blanc, Netflix had just scooped up the rights to the then-untitled Knives Out sequels, and Rian Johnson was ready to expand the universe beyond just the normal knives we’ve come to know and love.

Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery hit the streamer in 2022, and now that Blanc has recovered from Edward Norton’s shenanigans, he’s off to solve another case with a fresh new cast of characters (and suspects).

The third installment in the mystery franchise will be titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and the film is swiftly coming together. It feels like every day we wake up with a brand new cast announcement of a potential murder suspect or comic relief sidekick.

There are a lot of things to keep track of when it comes to this movie, so here is everything we know so far about the highly anticipated sequel. Get your knife sharpener ready.

Plot

Just like the two installments before, the plot is shrouded in mystery, but will follow the same formula. According to Netflix, the installment will be a “brand-new murder mystery in an as-yet-undisclosed setting, surrounded by a new colorful cast of suspects.” It’s not giving much to go on, but that’s the mystery of it all.

We do know that Johnson looks to classic whodunits for inspiration. Earlier this year, Johnson posted about working on the third film. “I love everything about whodunnits, but one of the things I love most is how malleable the genre is. There’s a whole tonal spectrum from Carr to Christie, and getting to explore that range is one of the most exciting things about making Benoit Blanc movies.” As always, there will be some red herrings and twists, so who knows what to expect.

Cast

The Knives Out franchise has adopted a reputation for having a cast jam-packed with fan-favorites. Daniel Craig will return as Benoit Blanc, the world-famous investigator who somehow finds himself surrounded by murder suspects. So far, Wake Up Dead Man includes Thanos himself Josh Brolin, Tortured Man Andrew Scott, That ’70s and That ’90s Show‘s Mila Kunis, tennis hopeful Josh O’Conner, Civil War‘s Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, Kerry Washington, and former Cruella, Glenn Close. There’s also a good chance that more stars will be added to the cast before the production begins this summer. Also plan to see a slew of impressive cameos.

It was also revealed that Jeremy Renner has joined the cast, though it’s not clear if he will portray a new character or himself, who already exists in Benoit Blanc’s world in the form of hot sauce.

Finally, we can at least hope for the return of Hugh Grant as Benoit’s possible romantic partner who loves to bake.

Release Date

Netflix is giving a very generous release date of “2025” so it could really be any time next year. But filming begins this summer and will likely wrap by the fall, so it’s likely that the third Knives Out will be released some time next summer or early fall.

You might remember that Glass Onion had a limited theatrical release a month before landing on Netflix, but due to its massive success, Netflix might opt for a longer release, though it has not been confirmed.

Trailer

Still no trailer quite yet, but feel free to study this clip for clues:

You can catch Glass Onion on Netflix, while the first Knives Out is available to rent on demand.

“Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh.”

—Henry David Thoreau

No one escapes this world without a regret or two.

Time and time again, when we hear the final regrets of the dying, they’re not about wishing they’d made money or worked more hours.

They’re almost always about wishing they had the self-confidence to pursue their dreams or the time to stay in touch with loved ones.

Recently, A Plus in partnership with Strayer University’s Ideal Year Initiative, put up a chalkboard on a New York City street and asked passersby to write down their biggest regrets. The people who wrote on the blackboard were from different walks of life, but their regrets were alarmingly similar.

Watch the full video below:

This article first appeared on 9.16.17

An English doctor named Edward Jenner took incredible risks to try to rid his world of smallpox. Because of his efforts and the efforts of scientists like him, the only thing between deadly diseases like the ones below and extinction are people who refuse to vaccinate their kids. Don’t be that parent.

Unfortunately, because of the misinformation from the anti-vaccination movement, some of these diseases have trended up in a really bad way over the past several years.

---

Wellness involves a lot of personal choices and the tradeoff between personal liberty and shared public good.

Measles is the starkest example. There were about 61 cases of measles in all of 2012, but in just the first seven months of 2014, there have been nearly 600.

As this chart shows, vaccinations are not like taxes rates or even freedom of speech. The impact of one’s personal health choices can have a significant impact on the population around them, in their communities and even on a national level. It makes that trade-off all the more complicated and one not easily distilled into one convenient political or religious ideology.

Obviously, the topic of vaccinations has become immensely more complicated since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020. But history teaches us valuable lessons and information is power. No matter how you feel about vaccines today, this chart is a reminder that medical science can be used for incredible good. Without breakthrough vaccinations in the past, many of us would likely not be here to have the debate about our personal choices now and into the future.

This article originally appeared on 11.21.14 and this infographic is based on data from 2012.

Self proclaimed feminist killjoy Rebecca Cohen is a cartoonist based in Berkeley, California.

Here’s what she has to say about her role as an artist taken from her Patreon page.

---

She says:

“In these trying times, the world needs a hero to resist the forces of tyranny.

That hero is definitely not me.

I just draw funny pictures and like to share my opinions. I’m Rebecca, also known as @gynostar.”

Enjoy one of her comics below.

This article originally appeared on 10.19.16

There’s not a woman alive who hasn’t suffered through an unwanted come-on from a creep. Some women are so afraid of these encounters they feel they can’t be as nice to men as they’d like, for fear their friendliness will be mistaken for flirtation.

One woman’s encounter with a creepy come-on has received over 110,000 likes on Twitter because of her flawless response.

Twitter user @LovableAndKind recently shared screenshots from a text exchange between her sister and a Jiffy Lube employee who found her phone number and sent her an unsolicited text.

---

The woman received a text from an unfamiliar number that read: “You are gorgeous.” When she asked who it was he responded, “Your favorite oil change guy.”

The woman could have responded with anger or ignored the creep and blocked him, but instead she decided to create a teachable moment.

“While I know you were wanting to give me a compliment, it was completely unnecessary and unsolicited,” she replied. “I am a customer, you are a service provider, and there should be no communication outside of that unless I, the customer, express interest.”

She then explained why his text was so violating.

“It is a violation of my privacy for you to contact me from your personal phone with information that you got without my permission,” she continued.

“And now I know that you are the type of person to go back in someone’s file to find their personal information, what is to keep you from going back and getting my address? There are men who stalk, rape and murder women this way.”

She then wrote that she could call Jiffy Lube human resources to report his actions, but she’d rather he learned from the incident.

“Sorry about that yes ma’am,” he responded.

Then she hit him back with one final diss.

“Oh, and you didn’t tell me what the tire pressure was on the rear passenger tire like I asked, so you’re definitely not even in my top five favorite oil change guys,” she wrote.

Here’s the entire exchange.

This article originally appeared on 08.09.19

We’ve debated about how often to shower, what time of day to shower, which direction to stand in the shower and whether or not shower snacks are appropriate.

But today, the hot topic of shower conversation is this: is using a washcloth the superior way to get clean, or just completely gross? You better believe people have strong opinions.

Though of course people have had this debate before, it recently went mainstream again thanks to a viral soundbite from “Causing a Scene with Sarah and Natalie.” Though hosts Sara Gretzky and Natalie Buck typically discuss pop culture topics, personal hygiene got thrown into the mix when Gretzky asked Buck if she was for or against washcloths.

---

“Do you use a washcloth?” Gretzky asked. Buck replied with a passionately whispered “no,” to which Gretzky agreed, “Me either… That is disgusting.”

Buck went on to joke that using a washcloth to clean her body was a “UTI waiting to happen,” before Gretzky informed her that they were likely “in the minority” with this opinion.

She then asked her co host the all important question “what are you washing your butt with?” Unapologetically, Buck answered, “My hands” and declared she’d “burn” her washcloth after using it.

From there, the comments section was all a flutter. Many could not understand why Gretzky and Buck were pro-hands and anti-washcloth.

@causingascenepodcast1 Do you use a wash cloth? #causingascene #podcast #shower ♬ original sound – Causing A Scene

“Hands? That’s like using your finger to brush your teeth,” one person wrote.

Another retorted, “NOT using a washcloth is a UTI waiting to happen.”

But, as adamant as viewers seemed to be that washcloths are superior to hands, experts seem to think differently.

Both washcloths and loofahs are breeding grounds for bacteria since they are likely to never fully dry out in between washings, nor is someone likely to sterilize them often enough in between showers. If you are this diligent, kudos to you.

Of course, washcloths do beat out loofahs since you can more easily throw them into the washing machine after each use, but simply using your own hands (once they are washed, that is) will not only get the dirt off, but do it in a way that’s gentle for sensitive skin. So…sorry washcloth folks, but hands are technically the superior hygiene tool.

But what about exfoliation? you might ask. There are ways to get a good scrubbing without a washcloth, including cleansers with chemical exfoliants like salicylic or glycolic acid and dry brushing. Exfoliating mitts, which obviously still need to be dried and cleaned in between washes, are also a good option because they have a low carbon footprint,” according to Dr. Elizabeth Trattner in an interview with Oprah Daily.

The overall verdict seems to be that washcloths aren’t so detrimental to skin health that you should stop using one immediately. So if you’ve grown attached to your shower accoutrement, just be sure to dry it out, wash it regularly and maybe avoid using it for your face or private parts.

And still, even if expert opinion doesn’t change anyone’s mind, it’s funny to see the hills people are willing to die on when it comes to their shower routine.

There remains some mystery around what life was like in the 1800s, especially for teens. Most people alive today were not around in the Victorian era when the technologies now deemed old-fashioned were a novelty. In this rediscovered 1970s clip from the BBC, two elderly women reminisce about what it was like being teenagers during a time when the horse and buggy was still the fastest way to get around.

---

While cars were just around the corner from being the common mode of transportation toward the end of the 19th century, it’s pretty wild to imagine what these women experienced. Frances “Effy” Jones explained how, at age 17, she was encouraged by her brother to check out this new machine in a storefront window. Turns out that machine was a typewriter and, after being trained on how to use it, Jones would sit in the store window typing while people outside gathered to watch. Before long, classes began popping up for women to learn how to use a typewriter, starting a new movement for women of that era.

The second woman, Berta Ruck, told the BBC that she would get into a bit of trouble at boarding school for drawing instead of completing school work. This talent took Ruck to art school in London where she rode buses around town, attempting to avoid mud getting on her long skirt. But the woman explained that it never worked and she would spend hours brushing the mud from her skirt before wearing it out again. I’m sure you’re thinking, buses? They weren’t the buses we would see nowadays. These were double-decker horse-pulled carriages.

I know, that’s hard to imagine. That’s why you should check out the video below:

This article originally appeared on 08.29.22

On Saturday (June 1), Megan Thee Stallion’s Hot Girl Summer Tour rolled into Atlanta, where she reunited with local hot girl Latto. The “Budget” collaborators used the opportunity to debut a remix of Latto’s spring single, “Sunday Service,” leaving fans on social media clamoring for an official release.

When Is Megan Thee Stallion’s Remix Of Latto’s ‘Sunday Service’ Coming Out?

It should be noted that another high-profile remix track involving Megan Thee Stallion was also debuted at a live show shortly before its release. Megan & GloRilla brought out Cardi B to perform the “Wanna Be” remix ten days before its official release during their show in New York City. They later teased the track on social media before dropping it the day before their Atlanta show.

Megan also announced the impending release of her third studio album, Megan, on June 28 — which would also be a convenient time to release the “Sunday Service” remix, capitalizing on the release day buzz, especially if the song actually appears on the album. If not, a release anytime in the next three weeks would make great promotion for the album, as it’d increase Meg’s visibility without having to release a single and risk spoiling the surprise.