Year: 2024

People are seriously considering switching careers after finding out how much can be made as a UPS delivery driver.

Back in October, Skyler Stutzman, an Oregon-based UPS delivery driver went viral after sharing his weekly pay stub on TikTok.

In the clip, Stutzman showed that for 42 hours of work, and at a pay rate of $44.26 per hour, he earned $2,004 before taxes, and ultimately took home $1,300 after deductions.

This both shocked the nearly 12 million viewers who saw the video…not to mention it stirred their jealousy a bit.

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Several couldn’t help but compare Stutzman’s salary to their own—especially those in professions requiring degrees and certifications.

“Not me realizing that a UPS driver makes more than I do. 20 years in my field with a degree!” one person lamented.

Another added, “$44? I’m a dang nurse only making $32 🤦♀️”

@skylerleestutzman UPS Driver Paystub Breakdown… #upspay #upswages #teamsters #ups ♬ original sound – Skyler Stutzman

Many even joked (or perhaps half-joked) about applying to become drivers themselves. But as Stutzman pointed out in multiple follow-up videos, earning his rate takes patience.

According to one of those clips, it took almost six years before he was offered a full time position, followed by a four year progression of wage increases until he started earning what he earns today. That’s around a decade, which one person pointed out was around the same time it takes to become a doctor.

Stutzman added that, depending on the location, you would be required to work in a UPS warehouse before working as a driver. So while his paycheck might have you considering taking on the job yourself, just know that it’s not exactly taking the easy route. And we haven’t even touched on the amount of manual labor that goes into the job…rain or shine.

Stutzman also said that he shared his current paycheck in the spirit of transparency, which is a value that the teamsters upheld as they fought for increased wages and better working conditions earlier this year.

@skylerleestutzman Here are my THEORETICAL thoughts… “Why would you show your paystub like that?” #upsdriver #ups #upswages #teamster #upspay ♬ original sound – Skyler Stutzman

After months of tense negotiations, as well as a threat to enact what would have been the largest single employer strike in U.S. history, disrupting deliveries across the country, the postal workers union reached an agreement with UPS.

The deal included air conditioning and ventilation improvements to delivery vehicles as well as full-time UPS drivers earning an average of $170,000 in annual pay, plus benefits. By the end of the contract, part-time union drivers would also make at least $25.75 per hour while receiving full health care and pension benefits,” according to UPS CEO Carol Tomé.

From Stutzman’s perspective, his earnings shouldn’t cause envy among those in other industries, but reflect a shared need for increased wages across the board to keep up with inflation.

Big takeaways here: earning good money doesn’t always require a degree, unions are powerful, don’t underestimate the value of skilled labor…and UPS drivers deserve respect.

This article originally appeared on 12.12.23

Americans collectively gasp reading that swaddling is frowned upon in Sweden. In the United States one of the first things the hospital does after a baby is born is to swaddle the newborn nice and snug in a receiving blanket, completing the look with a tiny hat. New moms practice swaddling on unsuspecting cats or teddy bears in preparation for the baby’s arrival.

Imagine the surprise of an American mom that gave birth in Sweden being told to never swaddle her baby again. Surely the midwife must’ve been mistaken, assuming something else was going on. Miranda Hudgens recently posted a reenactment of her experience giving birth at a Swedish hospital to social media where it went viral.

In the video, Hudgens is holding her swaddled baby when the midwife comes in and asks what she’s doing, while looking disgusted. The mom explains she’s swaddling the baby. Shortly after the midwife leaves, Hudgens’ husband tells her that the midwife said “not to do that to the baby anymore.”

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When the new mom inquires why she isn’t allowed to swaddle the baby, her husband responds, “she said it could kill the baby. Yeah, she said we don’t do that to babies in this country.”

This is the complete opposite of what Americans are taught. Swaddling is seen as a means to help the baby feel secure and calm but in Sweden it’s viewed as a dangerous practice. In the comments one mom gave insight into the reason swaddling is discouraged in the nordic country.

“I was reprimanded for it here in Sweden. She said that swaddling = too deep sleep = increased risk for SIDS,” the commenter reveals.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is an area that is continually being researched and while there are factors that increase the chances of SIDS, there is currently no definitive cause. When it comes to swaddling, the increase of SIDS and suffocation increase if the swaddled baby is placed on its stomach to sleep according to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles|The Saban Research Institute.

In another study published by the National Library of Medicine, points out that the previous study that stated swaddling increases the risk of SIDS was not peer reviewed and did not provide information on if the swaddled babies were placed on their stomachs or backs for sleep.

@mirandapandz

And this is how I found out the Swaddling is super frowned up in Sweden #swedenvsusa #americanlivinginsweden #newmom #deliveryroomstories #swaddlingbaby #swaddling #firsttimemom

In the end Hudgens decided not to swaddle, “for those wondering I decided not to swaddle after leaving the hospital and doing more research. The midwife could of been nicer though.”

Every parent has to do what they think is best with the information they have. Child birthing and child rearing practices can vary widely from country to country. While in Sweden they frown upon swaddling, co-sleeping with babies until they’re school age is commonly practiced. But in America co-sleeping is strongly discouraged while swaddling is commonly practiced.

It’s also normal for people in Scandinavian countries to leave their babies outside in freezing temperatures, whereas in America that would be considered neglect. So while it can be shocking to find out what people do in other countries and cultures, it’s important to remember not to compare. Everybody’s just doing the best that they can with children that are all going to grow into toddlers that eat lint covered snacks they found under the couch.

This article originally appeared on 12.12.23

It’s the end of an era, but also a new beginning. Today (June 5), the artist formerly known as Sturgill Simpson has revealed that he will now perform under the name Johnny Blue Skies.

In tandem with the reveal of his new stage name, Johnny Blue Skies has revealed that he will release a new album, Passage Du Desir this summer. The album marks his eighth album and his first under his new moniker.

Shortly after releasing the album, Johnny will embark on a North American tour. Fans can purchase tickets here.

You can see the Passage Du Desir cover art, tracklist and tour dates below.

1. “Swamp Of Sadness”
2. “If The Sun Never Rises Again”
3. “Scooter Blues”
4. “Jupiter’s Faerie”
5. “Who I Am”
6. “Right Kind Of Dream”
7. “Mint Tea”
8. “One For The Road”

08/11 — San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands
09/14 — Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
09/15 — Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl
09/17 — West Valley City, UT @ Maverik Center
09/19 — Bend, OR @ Hayden Homes Amphitheater
09/20 — Quincy, WA @ Gorge Amphitheatre*
09/22 — Bonner, MT @ KettleHouse Amphitheater
09/24 — Moorhead, MN @ Bluestem Center for the Arts
09/25 — Minneapolis, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium
09/27 — Lexington, KY @ Rupp Arena
09/28 — Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
10/01 — Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed
10/02 — Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed
10/04 — Brandon, MS @ Brandon Amphitheater
10/06 — Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Music Festival
10/08 — Oklahoma City, OK @ Criterion
10/09 — Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP
10/13 — Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Music Festival
10/15 — St. Louis, MO @ Fabulous Fox Theatre
10/18 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Petersen Events Center
10/19 — Asheville, NC @ Harrah’s Cherokee Center
10/21 — Cary, NC @ Koka Booth Amphitheatre
10/24 — Duluth, GA @ Gas South Arena
10/25 — Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
11/12 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met
11/15 — Hampton, VA @ Hampton Coliseum
11/18 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
11/20 — Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
11/21 — Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
11/23 — Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway

*with Lord Huron

Passage Du Desir is out 7/12 via High Top Mountain Records. Find more information here.

If there are two names who’d seem like stylistic opposites, Raveena and Jpegmafia would fit the bill. One’s a dreamy, mellow pop-soul singer who’s deeply in touch with her spirituality. The other’s a raw force of chaos whose last album cheekily nodded at the jest that his music is best for Scaring The Hoes. Somehow, on Raveena’s new single “Junebug,” they actually form a surprising chemical bond that turns out to blend better than you might expect. A big part of that is Peggy toning his energy way down and riding the jazzy groove like he stepped straight out of hip-hop’s Golden Era.

The track is the latest single from Raveena’s upcoming album Where The Butterflies Go In The Rain, and like its predecessors, continues the running theme of transformation (and bug references). In the video for “Pluto,” Raveena turns into a butterfly, while in the video for “Lucky,” she romances a giant caterpillar(?) that eventually also metamorphoses into a butterfly.

In a statement, Raveena explained the unexpected collaboration, saying, “I love inviting people with vastly different sonic landscapes to my music. To me, it is proof of our oneness and divine inter-connectedness. Jpegmafia brought the perfect energy to this summertime song — and I think we both aligned on this song with our mutual love for the tropics, with me being from India and Peggy from Jamaica.”

Listen to “Junebug” above. Where The Butterflies Go In The Rain is due on June 14 via Empire Records.

Angel Reese’s night ended early on Tuesday as the Chicago Sky hosted the New York Liberty, as the rookie star got ejected for two extremely quick (and soft) technical fouls in the fourth quarter.

Reese apparently said “that’s bulls**t” to the ref about the initial foul called on her, earning the first T, and got tossed for waving her hand at the ref in disgust, with the pool report confirming the second T was for the very minimal gesture.

The ejection was so stunning that even her opponents were confused, with Sabrina Ionescu being shocked Reese got tossed for such a mild reaction. Lonzo Ball, enjoying the game courtside, called out the ref who made the call on Twitter and told Reese to save her money by letting him get on the official for her. On Wednesday, the WNBA quickly rescinded the second T, as even the league understands waving off the ref is not worthy of a technical foul.

Now, that doesn’t help the Sky in the sense that they had to play out the end of the game without Reese, but it does take a T off of Reese’s season-long technical foul count and also takes away the fine associated with it. As happens sometimes in the NBA, the league probably needs to have a quick discussion with the officials about what constitutes a justified T, and note that, like being stared at, getting waved away doesn’t meet that criteria.

It’s fine to speculate if Harley Quinn, a fictional character, is pregnant in Joker: Folie à Deux. But maybe, y’know, don’t when it’s an actual person? On Tuesday, Lady Gaga, who plays “Lee” in the Joker sequel, responded to the rumors that she’s expecting a child on TikTok. “not pregnant— just down bad cryin at the gym,” she wrote for the caption, referring to a line from the song “Down Bad” on Taylor Swift‘s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department. Gaga also used her platform to encourage people to register to vote.

Swift shared her thoughts on the pregnancy speculation in a reply to Gaga’s TikTok. “Can we all agree that its invasive & irresponsible to comment on a woman’s body. Gaga doesn’t owe anyone an explanation & neither does any woman,” she wrote, along with the kiss mark emoji.

Swift has been outspoken in the past about people commenting on her body. “I remember how, when I was 18, that was the first time I was on the cover of a magazine. And the headline was like ‘Pregnant at 18?’ And it was because I had worn something that made my lower stomach look not flat,” she told Variety in 2020. “So I just registered that as a punishment.”

You can see her reply to Gaga’s TikTok below.

Janet Jackson is back on the road for her long-awaited Together Again Tour. With a music career spanning over 40 years, fans from of all generations are looking forward to dancing to Janet‘s many, many hits.

Janet’s shows are always unpredictable, but fans who were at the Thousand Palms stop of the Together Again Tour last night (June 4) noted via Setlist.fm that Janet went through nearly all of her iconic eras, performing the biggest songs in her catalog.

You can see Janet’s full setlist below.

Janet Jackson’s Together Again Tour setlist

1. “Night”
2. “2nite”
3. “Slolove”
4. “Rock With U”
5. “Throb”
6. “All Nite (Don’t Stop)”
7. “No Sleeep”
8. “Got ‘Til It’s Gone”
9. “That’s the Way Love Goes”
10. “Love Will Never Do (Without You)”
11. “What Have You Done For Me Lately”
12. “Nasty”
13. “The Pleasure Principle”
14. “You Want This”
15. “When I Think Of You”
16. “Diamonds” (Herb Alpert cover)
17. “The Best Things in Life Are Free”
18. “Control”
19. “Son Of A Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)”
20. “Take Care”
21. “Let’s Wait Awhile”
22. “Again”
23. “Any Time, Any Place”
24. “I Get Lonely”
25. “With U”
26. “The Body That Loves You”
27. “Make Me”
28. “All For You”
29. “Alright”
30. “Escapade”
31. “Miss You Much”
32. “Feedback”
33. “So Excited”
34. “Would You Mind”
35. “State Of The World”
36. “The Knowledge”
37. “If”
38. “Scream (Michael Jackson cover)”
39. “Rhythm Nation”
40. “Someone To Call My Lover”
41. “Together Again”

Fresh off another stellar pay-per-view at Double or Nothing, AEW is approaching arguably its biggest event of the year when the promotion returns to Wembley Stadium for All In. But when you ask AEW CEO Tony Khan about the mindset of building up to one or two tentpole events, he focuses on the high standard AEW has established for its slew of pay-per-views.

Just this year Revolution served as a backdrop to Sting’s retirement match, Dynasty gave us Swerve Strickland becoming the first Black world champion in AEW history, and Double or Nothing offered an incredible match for Mercedes Mone’s AEW in-ring debut.

There’s not one singular pay-per-view that AEW is building toward where you can expect the biggest matches and moments, rather the promotion has established a precedence that each event is a can’t miss. And it’s why Double or Nothing wasn’t solely built around Mone’s electric debut, but it had a collection of strong matches with the added surprise return of former world champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman.

“It’s a great time celebrating the five year anniversary of AEW. And five years after MJF arrived here, he returned for a great celebration at our Double or Nothing pay-per-view,” Khan tells Uproxx Sports. “He is healthy and in better shape than ever, motivated, and we’re excited to have MJF back in AEW. It’s perfect timing for MJF to return as it’s going to be a huge summer for AEW. This Wednesday night on TBS will be the first time we’re seeing MJF in AEW on television all year.”

When MJF returns to weekly television this week, he’ll face an uphill climb to overtake the likes of Strickland and Will Ospreay, who have seamlessly filled in as two of the company’s bonafide stars in his absence.

Khan says he’s a “huge believer” in Strickland as a “great champion for AEW” and calls Ospreay “one of the greatest athletes ever in wrestling.” Ospreay will face off against the winner of Wednesday’s championship match between Strickland and Roderick Strong.

“(Ospreay) has a tremendous mind for the wrestling business. Will Ospreay has great ideas. They often permeate in his matches and in his tremendous promos. I think he’s wrestling at such an elite level. And I think he’s the perfect challenger for the world title in AEW right now,” Khan says.

As stars evolve inside the ring, AEW is continuing to find new avenues outside of it as well. The promotion partnered with the TBS/TNT marketing team to release shoe championship belts while The Young Bucks launched a shoe collaboration with Reebok and Champs, selling out 3,000 pairs of the Reebok AEW Pump Omni Young Bucks Zone II.

“Matthew and Nicholas (Jackson) are very entrepreneurial particularly when it comes to footwear and the shoe business,” Khan says. “Their ideas and thoughts for the shoe release have been embraced and TBS and TNT have really enjoyed working with AEW on the release of the shoes. I think definitely it’s been very promising results for this release. And based on that, I would imagine there’d be more opportunities to do more partnerships around shoe releases for AEW.”

On the women’s side, “Timeless” Toni Storm is on one of the best runs of her career and the in-ring debut of Mone offered no signs of ring rust despite more than a year away from the squared circle. Khan says Mone has been a “home run in AEW” and called her TBS championship win over Willow Nightingale at Double or Nothing an “instant classic.”

“I know it means a lot to Mercedes to be the face of TBS and the champion of the network with the longest tradition of carrying pro wrestling of any channel in America with over 50 years since the debut of pro wrestling on TBS. And now Mercedes is a huge part of that indelible tradition,” Khan continues. “I think our fans have now seen Mercedes is one of the elite wrestlers on the planet and that’s the standard they can expect from the TBS champion Mercedes Mone here at AEW.”

The possibilities are endless with Mone on the roster, with dream matches across the board. Injuries have kept fellow stars Britt Baker and Jaime Hayter sidelined, with the former’s last match in September 2023 and the latter now missing more than a year, but Khan is looking forward to working them back into the fold.

“Dr. Britt Baker is one of our original stars and she’s been out injured for an extended period of time. I’m very eager to get Britt back here. She’s somebody that’s been part of AEW all along. And we’d love to have her back in the mix very soon,” Khan says.

“Her longtime friend, and also a former AEW Women’s world champion Jamie Hayter has also been out for an extended period of time with injury. Jamie Hayter’s timetable is still pending. But I think having Jamie Hayter back in AEW would be fantastic. And I would love to have Jamie Hayter back working in AEW anytime and whenever she’s healthy and capable of doing it would be great for us.”

Vince Staples started his world tour in Cologne, Germany, on Monday (June 4). While the US still has a few months to wait before the Black In America Tour, Vince’s Black In Europa leg of the tour gives fans a sneak preview of just what songs he’ll be performing in his 24-song set.

While there are obviously selections from his new album Dark Times, the setlist — which comes courtesy of Setlist.fm — is made up of tracks from all across his recent discography, including his 2022 album Ramona Park Broke My Heart and his 2021 self-titled album. The show concludes with a pair of fan favorites from his first two albums: “Norf Norf” from Summertime 06 and “Big Fish” from Big Fish Theory.

Vince Staples 2024 Tour Setlist

01. “Freeman”
02. “Aye! (Free The Homies)”
03. “Children’s Song”
04. “Shame On The Devil”
05. “Stay Away”
06. “Papercuts”
07. “Government Cheese”
08. “Rose Street”
09. “Player Ways”
10. “When Sparks Fly”
11. “Law Of Averages”
12. “Lil Fade”
13. “Étouffée”
14. “Taking Trips”
15. “Mama’s Boy”
16. “Lemonade”
17. “Radio”
18. “DJ Quik”
19. “Are You With That?”
20. “Black&Blue”
21. “Little Homies”
22. “Magic”

Encore:

23. “Norf Norf”
24. “Big Fish”

Vince Staples US Tour Dates

10/14 — Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern*
10/18 — New York, NY @ Terminal 5**
10/20 — Boston, MA @ Roadrunner*
10/21 — Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall*
10/23 — Toronto, ON @ History*
10/24 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem*
10/26 — Detroit, MI @ Masonic Cathedral Theatre*
10/28 — Minneapolis, MN @ Palace Theatre*
10/30 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom*
11/02 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo*
11/03 — Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom*
11/05 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield*
11/06 — Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Expo Hall*

Welcome To Derry seems like the most non remarkable set of words at first glance, until the connection clicks for Stephen King addicts (and those Constant Readers). The title, of course, refers to Maine setting of the frequent TV watcher and horror maestro’s It franchise, which first surfaced onscreen in a 1990 miniseries starring Tim Curry. Years later, director Andy Muschietti rebooted the source material in 2017’s It and 2019’s It Chapter Two with the help of scribes Gary Dauberman, Chase Palmer, and Cary Fukunaga.

Both of those films were straight-up hits, so Welcome To Derry has been birthed as a prequel series. Obviously, this means that Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jaeden Martell, Sophia Lillis, and Finn Wolfhard won’t be making appearances as the Loser’s Club unless a time machine somehow becomes canon in this story. However, a significant (and downright vital) common element was recently revealed. It’s time to get down to business on what shall come.

Plot

The Warner Bros. Television series begins in the 1960s with the origin story of Pennywise the killer clown while he begins to prey upon his first scores of victims by feeding upon their fear. Also, Andy Muschetti not only developed the series (while teaming up with Barbara Muschietti, who produced the It movies) but is also directing several episodes. That information has been public for awhile, but a key question remained: would Pennywise appear in the flesh, and if so, then who would portray the demonic entity?

There was a danger here of Pennywise being recast, which would have been a shame since Bill Skarsgård went through the paces of fan scorn due to an early costumed photo and then earned his evil-clown stripes. Now, it’s hard to imagine anybody else portraying Pennywise even though Skarsgård wasn’t the first, but some excellent news recently developed, via Deadline:

A familiar face is coming back to terrorize the children of Derry, Maine. Bill Skarsgård is set to star in and executive produce the Max It prequel series Welcome To Derry (working title). He will be reprising the title role as It/Pennywise from the hit 2017 New Line movie It and its sequel, It Chapter Two.

Notably, what happens in this series will largely be unfamiliar to previous Pennywise viewers since the story will take place before the events of the initial cinematic defeat of Pennywise and a blood oath for the Losers Club to return and vanquish the demonic clown again. Despite diving into previously uncharted territory, however, the project received a thumbs-up from King (“Red balloons all around!”), who is thrilled that Andy and Barbara Muschetti are doing the honors. Likewise, the Muschetti siblings are all over this adaptation of their almost-lifelong obsession:

“As teenagers, we took turns reading chapters of Stephen King’s It until the thick paperback fell to pieces. It is an epic story that contains multitudes, far beyond what we could explore in our It movies. We can’t wait to share the depths of Steve’s novel, in all its heart, humor, humanity, and horror.”

Cast

As mentioned already, the audience will not have to warm up to any Pennywise other than Bill Skarsgård. Additionally, expect characters portrayed by Madeleine Stowe, Stephen Rider, Jovan Adepo, Taylour Paige, Chris Chalk, and James Remar.

Release Date

Max will stream the first nine-episode season in 2025 with a specific date to come.

Trailer

Too soon for a full-on trailer, but a peek at first-look footage can be seen at the 1:30 mark below.