Yesterday (November 15) was a big day for many artists, as the nominations for the 2023 Grammy Awards were announced. Taylor Swift picked up a nomination in one of the “big four” categories, as “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” is up for Song Of The Year, and she’s absolutely thrilled about it.
In an Instagram Story shared last night, Swift wrote, “So many reasons to lose my damn mind today but… All Too Well 10 is the song I’m the most proud of, out of anything I’ve written. The fact that it’s nominated for Song of the Year at the Grammys, an award I’ve never won, that honors the songwriting… it’s momentous and surreal. Just got off the phone with @lizrosemusic, my co writer on ATW, and reminisced about how we started writing together when I was 14. She believed in me then and we are nominated together now. It’s just so cute I can’t cope. I want to ramble about the magic and mystery of time and fate and reclaiming my art but instead I think I’ll go scream for ten minutes straight. And think about how this wouldn’t have happened without you.”
@taylorswift/Instagram
Previously, nominated for Song Of The Year were Swift’s “Cardigan,” “Lover,” “Blank Space,” “Shake It Off,” and “You Belong With Me,” but none of them managed to take home the award. Swift has done well at the Grammys overall, though: Not counting the 2023 show, Swift has been nominated for 42 Grammys and won 11 of them.
For 2023, Swift is also nominated for Best Song Written For Visual Media (“Carolina” from Where The Crawdads Sing), Best Music Video (All Too Well: The Short Film), and Best Country Song (“I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)”).
Find the full list of 65th Annual Grammy Awards nominees here.
Now, with the Grammy nominations announced, she’s making more history. According to Billboard, she is tied for the all-time record for most Song Of The Year nods after her 10-minute version of “All Too Well” was nominated today. She’s tied with Paul McCartney and Lionel Richie. Of course, that also means she has the most for a female artist.
Last month on Jimmy Fallon, she explained her immense productivity. “I love writing songs, poems, stories, scripts,” she said. “I love writing those things because there’s a part of it I don’t quite understand how it comes to fruition. There’s something so mysterious about writing but I’ve found that the more I write the more I keep writing. I don’t know what’s been going on but in the last six or seven years, I’ve just been constantly making things and the more things I make the happier I am. So I just continue to do it. I’m just happy you guys like that.”
Last week, one billionaire told Elon Musk to hold his beer. Sam Bankman-Fried, the young head of the Larry David- and Tom Brady-promoted cryptocurrency exchange FTX, took at least some of the press away from Twitter’s new, chaotic king. What did he do? Help tank his company overnight, losing billions in investors’ money, which was suddenly nowhere to be found. Details are still rolling in, many of them so outlandish and strange that the inevitable Hulu limited series all but writes itself. Late last week, Gawker reported that not only did some of the twenty-something higher-ups share the same home in the Bahamas, they also shared the same therapist. Now he’s talking to the press.
In new interviews with Vice and The New York Times, Dr. George K. Lerner opened up about his unusual role in the company that’s since gone under. He told Vice that was less an psychoanalyst and more of an “in-residence coach,” talking to 100 employees, including 20 to 40 on a “semi-regular basis.” These conversations were, he said, “focused on employee happiness and retention and organizational structure.” In a sense, it’s not that unusual; some have compared it to the therapist character on Billions (which Lerner says he hasn’t seen).
Bankman-Fried — who’s been mostly chilling since his company imploded, prompting multiple investigations — was simply one of his patients, and Dr. Lerner suggested he didn’t know him that well. But he thinks he knows him enough to think he’s no criminal mastermind who would fleece millions out of billions.
“I just can’t see him doing that, honestly,” Dr. Lerner told NYT. “I mean, I guess maybe I would have to sit down with him and understand why. But I have difficulties making that jump.”
Dr. Lerner shot down or minimized some of the stranger claims about the twentysomething FTX highers-up, some of whom have said they were in “polycules” with each other. Still, it was no den of vice, Lerner claimed.
“It’s a pretty tame place,” he said. “The higher-ups, they mostly played chess and board games. There was no partying. They were undersexed, if anything.” Mostly they just worked. In his chat with Vice, he even said he tried to help them find partners in a place without much nightlife.
Dr. Lerner also shot down the idea that they were powering through work high on Adderall. He prescribed them medication, but mostly for A.D.H.D. He also claims he gave Bankman-Fried, who has nervous habits, the fidget spinner that became his trademark (along with his shorts).
They also weren’t burning through money. Dr. Lerner described Bankman-Fried as frugal. “You’ve seen how he dresses,” he told NYT. “They really didn’t spend much money.”
So where does the truth lie? Were they a band of drugged-up hedonists working one of the priciest scams in history? Were they inexperienced screw-ups in way over their head? Only time will tell, but even Dr. Lerner thought he was part of a strong group of folks.
“You know, those people really felt like it was a family,” he said to NYT. “I think that’s why it’s so devastating for all of us for this to be over.”
On Tuesday night, Trump ignored pleas from his own party — and a plane carrying a banner calling him a loser — and did what he’s been threatening to do for months: He announced his third campaign for president of the United States. Even considering the GOP’s failed “red wave” during last week’s midterms (which many blamed on him), this wasn’t surprising. What was a little shocking was one of the tacks he took: He’s claiming America was doing really hot in the fall of 2020.
who can forget that the US was on the cusp of a “golden age” under Trump’s leadership in the fall of 2020? pic.twitter.com/SCuSTLJA6s
“Two years ago when I left office, the United States stood ready for its Golden Age,” a low-energy Trump told a not terribly enthusiastic crowd as he offered an alternate history of one of the nation’s worst periods:
“It was at the pinnacle of power, prosperity, and prestige, towering above all rivals, vanquishing all enemies, and striding into the future, confident and so strong. In four short years, men, women, African-Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, everybody was thriving like never before.”
All together now: What? A should-be-pointless recap: In the fall of 2020, there was an out-of-control pandemic that was poorly handled by the president in power (Donald Trump). Unemployment had skyrocketed. (It’s since gone down, thanks in part to Trump’s predecessor.) There was a massive pushback against institutionalized racism in the form of protests, but that effort was aggressively opposed by Trump and his party. The nation was a laughing stock, admired only by places like Russia and North Korea, whose autocratic leaders were Trump’s good buds. Everyone was miserable, happy only when he got the boot.
In the past, Trump has claimed the country was doing great until the pandemic began. Now he appears to be moving the goal posts way too forward, making the absurd claim that the country was doing great when it was decidedly not. He’s half-right about one thing: The nation was on the cusp not of greatness, but of something at least better: It was about to get Joe Biden.
Trump’s announcement went on for over an hour — so long most news networks, even Fox News, bailed on him prematurely. Maybe the bleakest part found him prophesizing that things in the nation are only going to get worse over the last two years, and then, and only then, will American voters want him back.
Last year, the music world was shaken up by the tragic passing of Young Dolph. The rapper was only 36 years old. People are still finding ways to hold onto his legacy: The IdaMae Foundation shared today that Dolph will be getting his own day, November 17, officially recognized by the states of Tennessee and Georgia. It’s referred to as Adolph “Young Dolph” Thornton Jr. Day of Service.
The foundation will be serving lunch, giving free haircuts, and providing free winter kits in Dolph’s hometown of Memphis. They’re encouraging everyone to perform an act of service and tag it with #DolphDay and #DolphServiceDay.
The anniversary of his death is coming up later this month, and his longtime partner Mia Jaye shared a painful, vulnerable tribute to him on social media a few days ago. “Today is a week from the anniversary of me losing Adolph, and this almost year has been the most challenging year I’ve ever had to face in my life,” Jaye said in a video. “And it’s like the closer I get to this earmark … it’s like trying to be positive about something so messed up, it comes to a breaking point to where it’s like it’s really just unfair, man.”
The Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers have had some pretty fantastic battles in recent years. The two teams met in the first round of the postseason in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns, and while the Clippers came out on top both times, the Mavericks gave them everything they could handle, with Luka Doncic using those series to establish himself as one of the NBA’s most lethal playoff performers.
But you know what neither of those series featured? That’s right: paper airplanes. The two teams squared off on Tuesday night in Dallas, and at one point in the first half, Mavs wing Dorian Finney-Smith tried to check Clippers forward Marcus Morris on the perimeter.
Morris was able to blow right past Finney-Smith, in part because Finney-Smith stopped playing defense altogether. The reason why was because someone, from somewhere in the building, threw a paper airplane onto the floor, which led to the veteran wing wondering what in the heck just happened.
As you can see, the paper airplane getting thrown onto the floor and hitting a player led to things getting stopped for a second and the Clippers getting the ball out of bounds. We will close this blog with a reminder: If you go to an NBA game, please do not throw a paper airplane at anyone.
Ja Morant is known for his absurd athleticism and entertaining playing style. In fact, Morant has one of the best highlight reels of any NBA player, and he is essentially must-see television for both casual observers and die-hard fans. On Tuesday, the 23-year-old added to his already explosive list of highlights with a one-of-a-kind play against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Late in the third quarter and with the Memphis Grizzlies trailing by a 77-75 margin, Morant drove to his right and found some extra space against the New Orleans Pelicans. That allowed him to really load up and, well, CJ McCollum’s efforts to stop him at the rim proved to be fruitless.
Morant changing hands in the air, only to be able to still dunk the ball, is preposterous on its face. McCollum is not exactly an elite rim protector, but this is the kind of play that would’ve been deeply impressive even on a layup, much less a powerful dunk from Morant.
It would be interesting to compile a list of players that would even dare to try this, and Morant would easily be the most likely of all NBA players. Still, actually doing it in a competitive game against a quality opponent is a different animal, and Morant’s dunk also came in the midst of a nationally televised contest that was hopefully seen by many, many people.
In the wake of the tragic death of Takeoff earlier this month, many musicians have been sharing tributes for the iconic rapper. His funeral was only four days ago and it included performances from Justin Bieber, Chloe Bailey, Yolanda Adams, and Byron Cage.
Gucci Mane shared a tribute to Takeoff today with his new song “Letter To Takeoff.” It starts with him rapping, “Just left another funeral, I shed a tear / I’m still in disbelief, I can’t believe it’s real. He name-drops the rapper later on, saying: “How the f*ck we lose Takeoff? Damn, he didn’t deserve it / We don’t supposed to question God but damn, Takeoff was perfect.”
After Takeoff’s funeral, one friend to share a tribute was Cardi B. “Takeoff your untimely passing has brought a great deal of pain and sorrow to so many lives,” she wrote on Instagram. “The impact you had in this world was so considerable and we have struggled to grasp this tragedy. I am heartbroken but I am grateful for all the precious memories we got to share while you were here with us. This has truly been a nightmare and the pain is incomparable.”
TMZ has reported that rapper Blueface was arrested today, November 15, outside Lo-Lo’s Chicken & Waffles in Vegas in what was possibly an undercover operation. TMZ has also posted a video of the arrest, which is on their website.
The cops had an open warrant for Blueface’s arrest, which was obtained by the publication. The charges include felony attempted murder with the use of a deadly firearm or tear gas. There’s also another charge of discharging a gun into a house, building, vehicle or craft. The alleged event of the attempt was October 8th.
Blueface is known for his hit “Thotiana,” which put him on the map in 2018. Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, Soulja Boy, Tyga, YG, and Young MA all showed loved for the track, either through appearances on its official remixes or on their own freestyles. It climbed all the way into the Billboard Hot 100 chart’s top 20. At the time of its ascension, in 2019, it was rap’s first breakthrough single of the year.
Earlier this year, Blueface teamed up with DDG for the collaborative track “Meat This.” Blueface was also one of the many guests on New York rapper Fivio Foreign’s debut album B.I.B.L.E., which arrived in the month of April.
American whiskey is a catch-all category. It’s for all of those expressions that don’t quite fall into the bourbon, rye, or American single malt categories but are often some combination of all the above. When talking about “American whiskey” as a category, we’re talking about mostly blended whiskeys (mixes of ryes and bourbon with maybe some single malt) or whiskeys that were simply aged in barrels that disqualify them from legally being called bourbon or rye.
That makes this a pretty wide category. Which is why I’m conducting a blind taste test with some new and interesting expressions.
Below, I’m blindly tasting eight American whiskeys that range from average to above average if you look at them strictly price point of view. But I’m not here for price-taggery. This is about taste. These whiskeys all offer something a little different, sure. But it’s the taste of these whiskeys that matter most, and that’s how I ranked them.
The nose opens with a leathery chocolate vibe next to plenty of fruit, mostly red tart berries and bananas with a hint of vanilla. The palate leans into chocolate maltiness (think well-roasted malted barley, not milkshakes) next to winter spice, caramel, and a hint of dried chili flakes. The end has a burnt vanilla and salted caramel feel to it with a bitter dark chocolate tobacco whisper.
This is pretty fine overall. It’s chocolatey but could have used a little more depth on the palate.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose is leathery and leans toward pound cake with a hint of almond and vanilla oils next to rye bread with a dash of caraway and tobacco woodiness. The palate is full of vanilla and cherry with a woody spice underpinning that leads to brown sugar and floral honey with a whisper of citrus and black pepper. The end opens up the almond toward marzipan with soft toffee and rum-raisin vibe.
This was pretty nice overall.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
There’s a clear sense of old porch wicker that leads to worn leather, chili-spiked dark chocolate, and dark and meaty dried dates, figs, and prunes with a hint of vanilla. The palate is darkly fruity and then blows out with intense ABVs. It’s a hot buzz that mutes everything else until it fades, revealing orange and vanilla with woody winter spice and some more dried stone fruits.
This was great until that massive alcohol rush in the middle. Adding ice will solve that, but … wow, that was a lot.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
There’s a soft sense of a pile of firewood cut from an old fruit orchard next to dark chocolate oranges with a flake of salt and a drop of honey with a hint of vanilla cake frosted with apple-cinnamon butter frosting. The palate has a lightly smoked cherry vibe next to clove and allspice with a sense of lush and creamy eggnog and vanilla-cherry tobacco stuffed in a slightly pitchy pine box. The end really leans into the cherry tobacco with a layer of mild chili spice and more of that soft and sweet orchard firewood.
This is in the “delicious” category.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Milk chocolate and spiced caramel lead on the nose with a hint of vanilla cookies and roasted chestnuts. The palate then veers into tinniness with a sense of coffee grounds and more “spice.”
This completely lost me on the tinny palate. I spit it out and moved on.
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
There’s a bold nose full of old boot leather, dried chanterelles, cedar bark, a whisper of cumin and chili powder, and creamy yet sharp mint chocolate ice cream. The palate opens with a cherry bomb that’s tempered by mild ABV warmth and buzzing before spiced apricot jam arrives with a soft scone, creamed butter, and bright Turkish Delights on the mid-palate. Those soft and fruity candies give way to meaty dates and rum-soaked raisins with a hint of vanilla candy and apple cider tobacco and a flutter of white pepper.
This is really freaking good.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a sense of old leather and cumin seeds next to salted caramel, pecan waffles, real maple syrup, and browned butter with a few woody spices thrown in alongside a date or prune. The palate sweetens the spices with a hint of sour mulled wine next to caramel apples, Cherry Coke, gingerbread, and allspice-heavy Christmas cake with candied orange rinds. The end leans into the gingerbread with a nice layer of marzipan and cedar over some mild ABV warmth.
This is another winner!
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
There’s a “woody” vibe on the nose that’s not really distinct that leads to whispers of fruit, vanilla, and spice but you really have to dig to find anything, The palate has a sense of “whiskey” with a mild Pine-Sol feel next to orchard fruit and citrus.
And… that’s pretty much it.
Part 2: The Ranking
Zach Johnston
8. Savage & Cooke Second Glance American Whiskey — Taste 8
This five-year-old American whiskey is sourced from Kentucky — with a mash bill of 95% corn, 4% rye, and 1% malted barley — and sent out to California to be finished. The final blend is a combination of whiskey aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in Napa Valley Cabernet casks. The whiskey is then proofed down with pure water from the Alexander Valley in Northern California.
Bottom Line:
This just didn’t pop on today’s panel. It’s not “pour down the drain” bad. It’s just forgettable.
Arcane Distilling out in Brooklyn is making whiskey from craft beer. In this case, the distillers made an imperial stout — hopped, barrel-aged, everything — and then distilled that. Comparatively, distiller’s beer (which all whiskey is made from) is basically the first step of beer-making before the hops go in that’s then distilled. That whiskey was then aged, batched, and proofed to highlight the imperial stout notes in the flavor profile.
Bottom Line:
This was fine. It certainly had a stout-cask-finished vibe, though the stout-iness goes deeper than that according to the label. I don’t know, this felt more like a novelty than a stone-cold killer whiskey.
This whiskey celebrates 291’s 11th anniversary of distilling out in Colorado. The juice is made from 291’s classic mash and then aged for around two-plus years in barrels with Aspen wood staves added into the whiskey barrels. A select handful of the absolute best of the best barrels was then hand-picked then batched and bottled as-is to create this cask-strength version.
Bottom Line:
This was amazing up until the ABVs blew out the flavor profile. You’ll really need a rock or two to calm this one down. Once you get there, you’ll be in for a very nice treat.
This whiskey is a match made in Colorado. The whiskey is aged in imperial oatmeal stout from Breckenridge Brewing. The brewery and distillery are only two miles apart so, there’s very little time between the beer getting emptied from the barrels and the whiskey getting filled in, adding extra layers of flavor to the final product. Once the barrels hit just the right moment of final maturation, they’re batched and bottled as-is.
Bottom Line:
This was nice. There was good nuance and balance with the stout-iness (chocolate, spice, etc.) that worked with this whiskey. I think I’d still lean towards mixing this into an old fashioned before I’d sip it though.
4. The Beverly High Rye Fine American Whiskey — Taste 2
This brand-new whiskey is rendered from a marriage of Iowa’s famed Cedar Ridge and Indiana’s MGP whiskeys. The blend balances bourbon with a majority of rye in the mix to create a “high rye” American whiskey.
Bottom Line:
This was hitting nicely today. There’s serious depth and a nice easiness to the pour. I can see this being an easy-to-drink sipper over the rocks or a solid cocktail base for fall and winter mixing. Overall, this is good stuff.
3. Five Trail Blended American Whiskey Barrel Proof Bold and Uncut — Taste 7
This new batch of whiskey from Coors’ new distillery and Bardstown Bourbon Company out in Kentucky blends six-year-old Colorado single malt with 12-year-old Kentucky bourbon. Once batched, those whiskeys go into the bottle with zero filtering or proofing.
Bottom Line:
This is pretty damn good whiskey. It has a sense of older bourbon in the nose and palate that’s very enticing, especially if you’re already a bourbon stan. The overall vibe feels like a sipping whiskey but I can see this making a pretty good Manhattan too.
This release takes Michter’s signature Kentucky Sour Mash — which doesn’t have enough corn or rye to be either a bourbon or rye whiskey — and finishes it in toasted barrels. In this case, those barrels are first air-dried for 18 months and then lightly toasted barrel before the whiskey is filled in. Finally, the booze is batched and bottled with a good dose of that Kentucky water.
Bottom Line:
I had to look at the ABVs on this one about three times. This is amazing for a low-proof whiskey. That aside, this is also very nostalgic on the nose and palate. It’s deep, tasty, and engaging.
1. Redwood Empire Lost Monarch Blend of Straight Whiskeys Cask Strength — Taste 6
This California whiskey is a blend of two whiskeys that range from three to 12 years old. The base is a rye mash of 94% rye, 5% malted barley, and a mere 1% wheat mixed with a bourbon mash of 74% corn, 20% raw rye, 4.5% malted barley, and 1.5% wheat. Once blended, that whiskey goes into the bottle at cask strength with no fussing whatsoever.
Bottom Line:
This was a great pour today. It had serious depth and really took you on a journey. The overall vibe was easy sipping with a nice balance. It was also warming enough on the palate that I know it’ll work wonders in a Sazerac or Manhattan as the weather cools.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
The top four are all fine whiskeys. You’d be in good hands buying and drinking any of them.
Still, that Redwood Empire Cask Strength really did shine the brightest today. It’s just so lush and kind of fun. The Michter’s is a killer too, but a little on the pricier side. But hey, it’s pretty much the holidays so it might be time to treat yourself to a little of the good stuff!
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