Category: News

Taylor Swift’s Midnights has been out for a week now, which means it’s time for chart results to start coming in. We still have a couple days of waiting to see where the album will place on the Billboard 200 and where its songs will debut on the Hot 100, but Spotify’s weekly data is out now. On it, Swift dominated: “Anti-Hero” had about 82.9 million streams on the platform, easily the most of any song this week. Pop Crave notes this is the third-biggest week ever for a song on the platform, behind Adele’s “Easy On Me” (84.9 million streams) and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” (84.1 million).

Similarly impressive is how Midnights has dominated the weekly chart overall: 13 of the top 14 songs are from the album. “Anti-Hero” is No. 1, “Lavender Haze” is No. 2, “Snow On The Beach” is No. 3, “Midnight Rain” is No. 4, “Maroon” is No. 5, “You’re On Your Own, Kid” is No. 6, “Karma” is No. 8, “Vigilante Sh*t” is No. 9, “Question…?” is No. 10, “Bejeweled” is No. 11, “Labyrinth” is No. 12, “Mastermind” is No. 13, and “Sweet Nothing” is No. 14. Interrupting the streak at No. 7 is Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy.”

While Billboard chart data remains to be seen, some estimates indicate Swift will actually occupy all spots on the Hot 100 top 10 next week. That would be the first time that’s ever happened, so that’s a situation worth keeping an eye on in the coming days.

The Daily Show is considering pulling a Jeopardy! and replacing Trevor Noah, who will step down on December 8, with multiple hosts. But someone who knows the inner-workings of the Comedy Central series as well as anyone not named Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah (or, uh, Craig Kilborn) has another idea: hire Roy Wood Jr., you cowards.

Appearing on Thursday’s episode of Hell of a Week with Charlamagne Tha God, Stephen Colbert was asked to predict the next host of The Daily Show. “I like Roy Wood Jr.,” he said after joking that Jon Stewart only does 10 episodes of The Problem with Jon Stewart a year so he’s probably available. Colbert also thought Jessica Williams would be “great,” and while Amber Ruffin would be a fun choice, she’s got a “good gig” already. He specified that he only thought of people who don’t already have a nightly show.

Along those lines, Colbert discussed the lack of diversity in late-night TV. It’s one of the reasons why he agreed to executive produce Hell of a Week. “You used to come on my show,” he told Charlamagne Tha God (who, like Colbert, grew up in South Carolina), “and you were a great guest. The audience loved you. You had a different perspective. You’re honest. You’re shocking. You don’t mind upsetting people. You’re funny.”

You can watch clips from the episode below.

Michael J. Fox has opened up about the acting advice he gave River Phoenix when the late actor starred on an episode of Family Ties early in his career. According to Fox, Phoenix had a palpable hunger as an actor, but he was noticeably struggling with a particular scene.

“I said, ‘Look at this kid working. This kid is taking this 10 ways from Sunday and he is really coming at it’ … I mean, kids don’t act like this,” Fox recalled. “He really knew how to be an actor but he was struggling on this one scene.”

Realizing he should step in, Fox offered Phoenix some helpful advice that led to a deep friendship built on kindness. Via PEOPLE:

“So I went up to him and I said, ‘What’s the problem?’ And he said, ‘I feel like a d—,’” Fox recalls. “And I said, ‘You feel like a d—? Why?’ He said, ‘I feel goofy, I feel like a d—.’ And I said, ‘Welcome to the business. That’s it. That’s the highest level of accomplishment you’ll get is to feel like a d—.’ It’s stupid. It’s a stupid thing to do for a living.”

Fox continued, “We pretend we’re other people for a living. We use things that we’re not really using and we eat things that we’re not really eating and we stand in a place because the light’s better there and it’s all goofy, but if you stick with it, you can find a way to tell a story that other people can’t.”

The advice worked and Phoenix’s career took off like a rocket. While filming Doc Hollywood in Florida, Fox recalled that Phoenix would make it a point to come “scoop him up” and bring him to his nearby place for a barbecue.

“It’s funny because that was an act of kindness that was built on an act of kindness,” Fox said.

(Via PEOPLE)

To be considered “prolific” in the music world, an artist usually puts out an album every one or two years. But what about bands who routinely release several albums a year? On this week’s Indiecast episode, hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen deep dive into King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard‘s wildly fruitful career (they’ve put out 23 albums since 2012, including five albums this year). Plus, Indiecast shares their forecast for which bands will make the rounds on 2022 Albums Of The Year lists.

In terms of music news this week, Taylor Swift’s new album Midnights once again seemed to have the internet in a chokehold so Steven and Ian discuss how each Swift album cycle sparks the same debate about stans. Plus, Indiecast names bands they consider to be the Velvet Underground of this generation.

This week’s Recommendation Corner has Ian telling listeners to check out Sam Prekop And John McEntire’s recent album Sons Of, which is surprisingly melodic. Steven recommends Dazy, the project of Virginia-based singer-songwriter James Goodson, whose debut LP OUTOFBODY is fun, catchy, and bedroom pop-adjacent.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 112 here or below and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

Even though Ken Jennings has basically become a millionaire by competing (and hosting) Jeopardy! throughout the years, as it turns out, the show does not make it easy for first-time contestants trying to score some cash.

On this week’s episode of the Inside Jeopardy podcast (via Fox News), producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss revealed that the contestants actually have to pay for their own airfare in order to try to win some money on air. “Our contestants are asked to fly themselves out to Los Angeles for their first appearance,” Foss explained when a fan asked about the process. “If they end up being a returning champion then we do provide travel for them on their return trips out here.”

Foss also said that the turnaround time for some can make it even harder. “We hope to let them know a month in advance, but sometimes it’s a shorter window,” she explained. If you’ve ever tried to book a flight to LAX on short notice, you could understand that this task is not for the faint of heart.

Contestants have actually spoken about the cut corners in the past. Ryan Long, the Uber river from Philadelphia, mentioned that he had to save up money just to be able to get on the show. He also applauded the show for helping him style his two shirts since they don’t provide any type of wardrobe, which could be worrisome for some contestants. “I have to give a shout-out to the wardrobe people because they did wonders with what I brought: two shirts and two sweater vests,” said Long. “That’s all I had. That’s all I could afford. I figured I wasn’t going to be there longer than a day.”

Long did end up being there longer than a day, but this is surprising news. The show has a lot of money, right? Surely they can afford some Spirit Airlines flights.

(Via Yahoo!)

Dolly Parton is having a good year after being voted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and collaborating with Kelly Clarkson for a new version of “9 To 5.” However, she just revealed in an interview with Pollstar that she’s going to be taking things down a notch when it comes to playing live shows.

“I do not think I will ever tour again, but I do know I’ll do special shows here and there, now and then,” she said. “Maybe do a long weekend of shows, or just a few shows at a festival. But I have no intention of going on a full-blown tour anymore. I’ve done that my whole life, and it takes so much time and energy. I like to stay a little closer to home with my husband. We’re getting older now, and I don’t want to be gone for four or five weeks at a time. Something could happen. I would not feel right about that, if I were gone and somebody needed me. Or I would feel bad if I had to leave a tour if somebody got sick at home and needed me and then I had to walk out on the fans.”

Check out the full interview here.

No one knows how Vladimir Putin’s Army is hanging on in Ukraine, although it still doesn’t sound like it’s going well for Russia. The past several months have given Ukraine a lot of unplanned firepower after Russian troops simply abandoned artillery while fleeing for the horizon. And it’s no wonder, considering that half of Putin’s initial drop-ship of fighters quickly ended up dead or seriously injured by mid-summer.

Fast forward a few months, and Putin sent 300,000+ drafted troops to Ukraine. They were told to bring tampons to stuff into bullet wounds due to lack of legit medical supplies. From there, Ukraine’s been taking back territory and enjoying their new-old tanks, and the Daily Beast now relays word from the British defense ministry that Russian numbers are shockingly low.

The intelligence update notes that reservists came to fill in some blanks, but “this is from an extremely low level of manning.” Then come the grim details: “In September 2022, Russian officers described companies in the Kherson sector as consisting of between six and eight men each. Companies should deploy with around 100 personnel.”

It’s no wonder that we’ve heard leaked audio from a Russian frontlines soldier who called Putin as a “f*ck face.”

In response to shortages, Russia’s been shipping over more and more warm bodies while essentially sending them to die and abandon even more tanks and cannons, so yes, it’s not great. The soldiers aren’t even being treated humanely by Russia, and one fleeing draftee (according to The Atlantic) has referred to this as an “army of zombies.” Meanwhile, the private mercenaries hired by Russia have apparently been apparently accidentally shooting Putin’s actual draftees. One wonders how long this can carry on before Russia finally admits defeat, or before Putin ratchets up his nuclear threats.

(Via Daily Beast)

The two biggest questions following Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter seem to be:

1) How do you delete Twitter?
2) Will Donald Trump be returning to Twitter?

You can find the answer to the first question here; as for the second, Musk fired the executive who played a key role in banning the former president from the social media platform. The world’s richest person has also said, “I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump, I think that was a mistake,” and that it would be “great to unwind permanent bans, except for spam accounts and those that explicitly advocate violence.” (Also, elf-like ex-girlfriends.) So, yeah, Trump is probably coming back, but he hasn’t returned yet — but some right-wing commenters, like “stupid” conspiracy theorist documentarian Dinesh D’Souza and Fox News contributor Leo Terrell, and a Russian-owned news agency fell for a hoax announcement about Trump’s ban being lifted.

A statement from former president Donald Trump hailing his imminent return to Twitter was roundly hailed by right-wing commentators and even Russian state media Thursday — until it turned out to be fake. The fake statement appeared shortly after Elon Musk sealed his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter. Musk has said previously that he intends to reinstate Trump’s account.

“Congratulations to Elon Musk on his purchase of Twitter. Many people are saying that change was needed, as the old management was too concerned with the woke agenda,” the bogus statement reads. “I have been told that my account will be back up and running on Monday — we will see. Happy to be able to engage with an African-American owned business.” You can tell it’s fake because he doesn’t say “haters” or “losers” even once, but that didn’t stop folks from both sides of the political spectrum (but mostly right-wingers) from falling for it.

(Via Business Insider)

This summer, Stranger Things actor Noah Schnapp found himself in the middle of an unexpected controversy involving DMs with Doja Cat. It turns out she’s not the only famous musician he’s gotten in touch with on social media, as he says he once “guilt-tripped” Shawn Mendes into following him back on Instagram.

Millie Bobby Brown was a guest on The Tonight Show yesterday (October 27), where she, Jimmy Fallon, and Schnapp played a game called “True Confessions.” In it, the three each shared a personal anecdote that may or may not be true, then the other two asked questions and try to guess if the person is lying. Schnapp’s story was, “I guilt-tripped Shawn Mendes into following me back on Instagram.”

Quickly, Brown said, “This is something he would do.” Schnapp eventually revealed it was true and during the interrogation preceding that, he said this happened “a year or two ago.” Schnapp noted Mendes followed “everyone else on the cast” of Stranger Things but not him, saying, “And I was like, ‘What the heck? Why does he follow everyone but me?’” He added with a smile, “He has beef with me.”

As for the confrontation, Schnapp explained, “I DM’d him and I was like, ‘I’m low-key offended. Why do you follow everyone [else]?’” Schnapp eventually continued, “He said, ‘Oh, what’s up, man?’ Like, ‘I love you so much.’” Schnapp also noted he called Mendes “the other day,” which made Fallon and Brown think we was lying.

Check out the full segment above.

If you spend many, many hours a day staring into the glowing light of a phone or computer screen, you’re not alone. Our world is increasingly dependent on technology, and our bodies are struggling to adjust.

Spending so much time on screens can cause tired eyes, headaches, or blurred vision. Sometimes you might feel like closing your eyes or mashing the palms of your hands into your eye sockets, or lying on the floor underneath your desk and waiting for Friday to arrive. These symptoms are otherwise known as Digital Eye Strain – and research shows¹ that many Americans—including kids!—are suffering from this but don’t know how to alleviate it!

Think about how many hours per week you spend on digital devices. Chances are, it’s more than you’d like to admit! Don’t worry, you’re in good company. Research shows that people over the age of 18² are spending the majority of the day engaged with some form of media, and most are unaware that their headaches may actually be due to all that screen time, not the content on the screen itself.³

The increase in screen time is especially hard on our eyes because we’re blinking less, which can lead to eye dryness, and our eyes can start to show signs of strain after just 2 hours of looking at screens.⁴ This is where Biofinity Energys^® contact lenses come in: lenses that help address symptoms of digital eye strain like eye dryness and tiredness.

Whether you are a student, a working professional or simply a person who enjoys streaming shows, Biofinity Energys^® could help your eyes feel less tired at the end of the day.⁵ While Biofinity Energys^® is not a cure for the pile-up of emails or the headaches caused by the world events covered on the screen, it may help with eye tiredness and dryness associated with digital eye strain.

A study conducted by CooperVision revealed that a whopping 77% of patients fit with Biofinity Energys^® say the lenses help their eyes feel less strained at the end of the day, even after a long day of using digital devices.^6,7 Additionally, 8 out of 10 digital device users agreed that Biofinity Energys^® contact lenses made their eyes feel less tired.⁸ These unique lenses feature Aquaform^® Technology to lock in moisture and can help your eyes feel less dry. They also have a proprietary Digital Zone Optics^® lens design to help with eye tiredness. These contacts are also made to work for day-to-day non-digital activities, making it easier to shift from online to offline events.

It’s time to level up your contact lenses! Talk to your eye care professional today to see if Biofinity Energys^® contact lenses are right for you, or visit BiofinityEnergys.com to learn more and to download a free trial certificate.

References:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6020759/
2. https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2018/time-flies-us-adults-now-spend-nearly-half-a-day-interacting-with-media/
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6020759/
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6020759/
5. https://www.reviewob.com/how-many-americans-experience-digital-eye-strain/
6. Prospective, multi-center cross-over dispensing study, with bilateral wear of both Biofinity® sphere and Biofinity Energys® lenses. Sites: CCLR, University of Waterloo; CORL, Indiana University; CRC, UC Berkeley.
7. After one month of wear
8. Among patients who use digital devices at least 4 hours per day at least 5 days per week and self-report symptoms of eye fatigue at least once per week.