Category: News

Body autonomy means a person has the right to do whatever they want with their own body.

We live in a world where people are constantly telling women what they can or can’t do with their bodies. Women get it form all sides — Washington, their churches, family members, and even doctors.

A woman on Twitter who goes by the name Salome Strangelove recently went viral for discussing the importance of female body autonomy.

Here’s how it started.

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She continued talking about how her mother had a difficult pregnancy.

Her pregnancy with me was utterly miserable. She actually lost weight while pregnant. The delivery was problematic… https://t.co/YhWLFi3Deo

— Salome Strangelove (@salstrange)
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Her mother asked her doctor about the possibility of sterilization.

As was typical of the times, she was chastised by her male, Catholic doctor.

Over the next five years my mother was pregnant three more times. Two were horrific miscarriages that caused her a… https://t.co/NZphouv5if

— Salome Strangelove (@salstrange)
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Her mother was made to feel guilty about simply exploring the medical options about her own body. But later on, a new doctor made her feel more comfortable about her situation.

Following my brother’s birth, she mustered the courage to ask him about having a tubal ligation again. She did so i… https://t.co/6LeW3SpnzN

— Salome Strangelove (@salstrange)
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How this one man’s arrogance and indifference to my mother’s body autonomy influenced my entire primary family unit… https://t.co/6pHNBDVRDB

— Salome Strangelove (@salstrange)
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Once her mother had the courage to speak up, her own family members supported her.

But here’s the most horrific footnote. Before my mother was deemed healthy enough to have her tubal litigation surg… https://t.co/4HuRcpTHHo

— Salome Strangelove (@salstrange)
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I like being alive. Love my family and friends. Love my brother. And I believe my mother had every right to never h… https://t.co/KLG3o8pnjc

— Salome Strangelove (@salstrange)
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In closing, fuck every arrogant forced birth pontificator that walks the earth and thinks they get to rule over som… https://t.co/SdFbyFOQmT

— Salome Strangelove (@salstrange)
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Amen.

Heidi Johnson’s son was 13, deeply in adolescence, and in that stage where he lashes out. He told her he shouldn’t have to deal with her rules and should be independent. So she wrote a strict but loving “Mom’s not a fool” letter.

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She wrote on Facebook how her son reacted to the letter:

“He came home, saw the note, crumpled it on the floor, and stormed out of the apartment. I have always encouraged him to take a walk when he is upset so that he can collect his thoughts so when we try to talk, we are able to talk, and not just yell at each other. I do the same thing — sometimes, I just need to walk away and collect myself. I am not above admitting that. He was still livid when he got home. He decided to stage a ‘sit in’ in my room, where he did laugh at me and repeat, ‘Really? What are you going to do? You can’t take my stuff,’ etc. He was asked to leave my room, and when he could be respectful, and I was more calm, we would discuss it further. He went to his room, and after about an hour, he had removed some electronics and items I missed that he felt he should have to earn back for his behavior. He apologized, and asked what could he do to make things better and start earning items back. He earned his comforter and some clothes right back. I did leave him some clothes to begin with, just not the ones he would want to wear every day. He also had some pillows and sheets, just not his favorite ones.”

She decided to post it on Facebook, the way one does to friends for a laugh and connection. She neglected to make it “private,” and soon comments and shares proliferated, including admonishments from strangers who thought she was a bad parent.

Now she had to deal with a bigger teenager: the internet and its commentariat. But Johnson remained level-headed and wrote another Facebook post, clarifying.

“It’s out there; and I am not ashamed of what I wrote… I am not going to put my 13-year-old on the street if he can’t pay his half of the rent. I am not wanting him to pay anything. I want him to take pride in his home, his space, and appreciate the gifts and blessings we have.”nShe explains that he is more grateful because of it, and also that he has slowly earned back things and dealt with sacrificing others. Then she lists her very organized and succinct rules of the house:

1 – Do your best in school! I don’t expect a perfect 100%, but I do expect that you do your best and ask for help when you don’t understand something.

2 – Homework and jobs need to be done before you can have screen time.

3 – Jobs are emptying the trash, unloading the dishwasher, throwing away trash you make in the kitchen, rinsing dirty dishes, making your bed daily, pick up bedroom nightly, and cleaning your bathroom once a week.

4 – You must complete two chores a day. Each day of the week with the exception of Sunday has a room that we work on cleaning. He has to pick two chores for that room. For example, if it is the living room he can choose two of the following options: dust, vacuum, polish furniture, clean windows, mop the floor.

5 – Be respectful and kind with your words — no back talking, no cussing at me.

6 – Keep good hygiene.

7 – Make eye contact when being spoken to, and be an active listener.

8 – Use proper manners.

“You know what.. this hasn’t hurt our relationship. He and I still talk as openly as ever. He has apologized multiple times… And… he is trying harder.” Her son is earning things back little by little, and appreciating it more than he did before.

“This came down to a 13-year-old telling his mother she had no right to enforce certain rules, and had no place to ‘control’ him. I made the point to show what life would look like if I was not his ‘parent,’ but rather a ‘roommate.’ It was a lesson about gratitude and respect from the very beginning. Sometimes, you have to lose it all to realize how well you really had it.”

A couple of months after announcing a fall 2021 tour with Tame Impala and Death Cab For Cutie, Perfume Genius (aka Mike Hadreas) has shared a haunting cover of Gloria Gaynor’s disco classic “I Will Survive.”

“I recorded this at home for a commercial pitch, but they didn’t give me the money,” Hadreas wrote in his newsletter, where he shared the track. “I suppose the cover is a little deathbed-y, I was very serious that day, but I like how it turned out. In particular the last moment … I might stretch that in to something new. I dug around online for a while, looking for video to pair it with, and ended up with an old bowflex commercial and forest fire footage that I spliced together. Happy to share it with you.”

Perfume Genius’ most recent studio album, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, came out last year. This past spring, he unveiled a remix compilation, Immediately Remixes, featuring contributions from artists like Actress, Jenny Hval, and, Danny L. Harle.

“The whole record, I was imagining performing it live,” he told Uproxx last year about Set My Heart on Fire Immediately. “It’s about being outside and it’s about connection; it’s about the people, and all the ideas that are formulating around performance, and how I was going to get the music to people beyond just releasing it. It’s hard. That’s how musicians sustain themselves really, touring is how you make money. I’m sure there’s a way for me to perform here, inside. Some people are more natural at pointing the camera at themselves in their house and going. And I can still do that. But I just had different ideas for what it was going to be.”

Listen to Perfume Genius’ cover of “I Will Survive Above.”

Immediately Remixes is now via Matador. Get it here.

Chance The Rapper is one of the better-established artists in rap right now, which begs the question: Why doesn’t he have a label with a roster full of little homies like so many of his peers? “Young Thug is the king of that sh*t,” he tells Showtime hosts Desus & Mero. “He got 50 people in this sh*t, put them in great positions.”

However, as he explains, “I’m in a position where I can’t sign anybody. I can’t put nobody on.” He elaborates, “You get to a certain space in the industry, and then people are like, ‘Okay, who are your underlings?’ … I’ve never been a person that signed anybody, so when somebody is hot and people are like, ‘Yo check this person out,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I listen to this person every day.’ I don’t have anything for them. I can’t advance their career. I can tell them not to sign. That’s the best I can do for n****s right now.” One such rapper he does shout out though is Beaumont, Texas’ Teezo Touchdown, with whom he’s performing at Summerfest in September.

Desus also challenges Chance to answer the age-old question of which city’s pizza is better between Chicago and New York. Chance goes with his hometown, but he offers an intriguing rationale: “I think the problem with New York pizza is you have too much of it.”

Watch Chance The Rapper’s hilarious interview with Desus & Mero above.

(SPOILERS for HBO’s The White Lotus will obviously be found below.)

The first season of The White Lotus (a HBO’s extreme-wealth satire that isn’t Succession) ended with a (literal) deuce worth celebrating, although even star Murray Bartlett was shocked at the realism of that moment (RIP, Shane’s suitcase). Sadly, Armond was revealed to have been the murder victim teased very early on in the season, and showrunner Mike White sat down with New York Magazine‘s Vulture blog to hash it all out.

White called Armond’s death necessary after “his last act” (taking a dump in Shane’s suitcase), which White characterized as “an operatic end for him.” The showrunner insisted that “I wanted Armond to die,” and it’s a death that maybe not everyone wanted, but there’s one part of The White Lotus that felt even more disappointing. That would be the decision of Rachel (Alexandra Daddario) to get back together with Shane (Jake Lacey). That’s bad news all around, but White says that this act, too, was inevitable and “true to life.” Yep, and here’s how White addressed the subject:

“I always knew she’d go back to him. There was something about her, even in the way she’s approaching him; it’s like someone who wants to get a response. Honestly, it feels true to life for me. I’ve seen peers who may not have been in this exact situation. She’s started to feel the limits of what she thinks she’s capable of, and it’s the reality of the seduction of a lifestyle. Some people read it as cynical; to me, the thing that I feel about Shane is that even though he is a privileged a**hole, he does really love her. Even if it’s just an idea of her.

White further described how perhaps Rachel is “weak,” but sadly, this his also part of the show’s satiric approach. “[S]he wants to be independent and have power in the relationship,” White explained. “[B]ut she doesn’t have the money, she doesn’t have the power. I do see women making that choice sometimes.” He added that he’d find it interesting to explore their marriage’s future, but we’ll see whether that rolls, since Season 2 will feature a new cast in a new location. In the meantime, I’ll cross fingers for the powers that be to dream up an Armond prequel. Make it happen.

(Via Vulture)

Last week, The Kid Laroi earned his first No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart last week with his Justin Bieber collaboration “Stay.” Now, the single has lived up to its name: On the Hot 100 chart dated August 21, the track has remained in the No. 1 spot for a second consecutive week.

Meanwhile, a notable debut on the chart is the latest single from The Weeknd, “Take My Breath,” which premieres at No. 6. Elsewhere, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” remains at No. 2, where it has been for some time. In fact, it’s held that spot for a record-tying amount of time: The only ever song to spend at least 11 weeks at No. 2 is Whitney Houston’s 1995 single “Exhale (Shoop Shoop).”

When “Stay” debuted at No. 1, Laroi and Bieber made their home countries proud: The song is Bieber’s eighth No. 1, which ties him with Drake for the most all-time among Canadian artists. Meanwhile, as for Laroi, “Stay” is the first song by an Australian-born solo male artist to top the Hot 100 in 40 years, since Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl.” He’s also the first Australian-born artist to top the Hot 100 since Sia, who was No. 1 for four weeks in August 2016 with the Sean Paul collaboration “Cheap Thrills.”

Like the rest of society, vaccines and coronavirus will once again be a focal point of the upcoming NFL season. And while some in the league have hidden behind a misunderstanding of HIPAA and the phrase “personal choice” when refusing to discuss whether they’ve been vaccinated or not, one NFL coach is not afraid to criticize those spreading misinformation about coronavirus and its deadly impact on the world.

While some athletes like Buffalo Bills wideout Cole Beasley simply feel you must be stronger than the highly contagious and deadly disease that can lead to serious health complications, even in the young, Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera is a much different case. Currently battling cancer, Rivera is at much higher risk that some who may not have taken getting protection against COVID-19 as seriously as the 59-year-old head coach has.

On Monday, Rivera lamented that lax attitude he’s seen among others in the league and expressed frustration for one unnamed news outlet about its willingness to spread misinformation that’s harming the nation’s ability to get people vaccinated and closer to the pandemic’s end. As Sports Illustrated detailed, Rivera is furious that he’s seeing vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories putting his and others’ health at risk in a very real way.

“I had a player come to me when we first got back and we’re getting ready to go to camp,” Rivera said. “He came to me, and he had a big smile and said, Hey coach, just got my second vaccine. I said, Right on. He said, Had to, mama, new baby, got to, coach, gotta be careful for others. I said, That’s great, plus with that variant … He looked at me and said, What variant? I said, You know, the new delta variant, you know about that?”

The player in question had no idea. Rivera asked if the player watches the news. The player said no, and raised his phone to say, “I get all my information from here.” Which, right there in the moment, Rivera recognized as the problem.

“Gen Z is relying on this,” said Rivera, now holding up his phone. “And you got some, quite frankly, f—— a——-, that are putting a bunch of misinformation out there, leading people to die. That’s frustrating to me, that these people are allowed to have a platform. And then, one specific news agency, every time they have someone on, I’m not a doctor, but the vaccines don’t work. Or, I’m not an epidemiologist, but vaccines are going to give you a third nipple and make you sterile. Come on. That, to me? That should not be allowed.”

Rivera’s full discussion of healthcare in America is revealing: he expressed frustration that he was initially denied a treatment for his cancer and called out the wide gulf in healthcare benefits in the country despite it being the richest in the world. It’s an astute point, and a conclusion he’s reached after his own struggles in what’s an increasingly broken marketplace. But it’s also one that, unlike many concluding that the vaccine isn’t for them, also weighs what’s best for everyone in wider society, not just himself.

[via SI]

With the 20-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11 upcoming, a number of retrospectives will hit the airwaves as the nation looks back on an event that set the course for two decades of foreign policy and forever altered American life. On Monday, HBO announced that their retrospective is a project helmed by legendary director Spike Lee that will take a look at New York City, the site of the tragic attacks on the World Trade Center towers.

HBO announced on Monday a four-part documentary series called NYC Epicenters: 9/11 → 2021 ½ that will detail the attacks and its aftermath through the stories of those living and working in the city when it happened. Lee, who has chronicled American tragedy with HBO in his When the Levees Broke docuseries about the devastation in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, will take the same approach here.

Touting hundreds of interviews and with 20 years of hindsight, the series is primed to re-examine the impact that event had not only on America as a whole, but its most famous city. Here’s the description from HBO:

Lee conducted over 200 interviews for the documentary series which features first-hand accounts from residents of all walks of life, including first responders, politicians and journalists alongside Lee and his own family and friends, complemented by a treasure trove of visual imagery. The quintessential New York filmmaker uses his unique sensibilities to craft a multi-faceted mosaic of the city as it deals with some of the most life-changing events of the last twenty years. Beginning with the ongoing global pandemic and the urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement, Lee traverses through time to the devastating terrorist attacks of 9/11. This provocative series is an epic chronicle of life, loss and survival in what Lee calls “the greatest city on this God’s earth.” NYC EPICENTERS 9/11➔2021½ captures the flavor and heart of New York City, exploring its resilience and grit and affirming its innate ability to rebound, rebuild and endure.

The YouTube trailer’s description confirms some big names involved, some of which are featured in the trailer. Expect to see interviews with Jon Stewart, Rosie Perez, Jeffrey Wright, and John Turturro as well as musicians, politicians such as Chuck Schumer, Bill De Blasio and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. There are also interviews with members of the New York Fire and Police Departments as well as with those who worked at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the attacks.

The first episode of NYC Epicenters: 9/11 → 2021 ½ will hit HBO on August 22, with the next two airing the following Sundays and leading up to a finale debuting on September 11 at 10 pm.

Over the weekend, Brandi Carlile brought up the surviving members of Soundgarden — Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd, and Matt Cameron — to perform with her at the Gorge Amphitheatre in the group’s home state of Washington. During the set, they performed the Soundgarden classic “Black Hole Sun” and the fan-favorite “Searching With My Good Eye Closed.”

This isn’t the first time Carlile has teamed up with Soundgarden to pay tribute to the grunge leaders. Last year, the group re-recorded both tracks at Seattle’s London Bridge Studio for a Record Store Day 12-inch. Back in April, Carlile talked to the Seattle Times about collaborating with Soundgarden for Record Store Day, saying, “We’re big Easy Street people and we’re big on all the indie record stores here. It’s one of those things that make us feel most proud to be from where we’re from. If you trigger it, man, we can get some big chest-pumping Seattle pride, and that Record Store Day Ambassador, it triggered it.”

In 2019, Carlile also performed at a giant Los Angeles Chris Cornell tribute concert, where she sang Audioslave’s “Like a Stone” and joined Chris Stapleton to duet Temple Of The Dog’s “Hunger Strike.” “I was getting to sing Chris’ songs in the original keys,” Carlile added to the Times. “It was still hard for me to sing, and I’m a woman. That’s how miraculous of a singer Chris Cornell was.”

Watch the fan-shot video above.

Brandi Carlile is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Damian Lillard stays plenty busy in his offseasons and 2021 is no exception, as the Blazers All-Star guard joined Team USA for the Olympics as they won gold and, while in Tokyo, he debuted his first track off of his upcoming album.

In addition to continued on-court work and advancing his music career, Lillard also looks to use his offseasons to give back. Lillard’s Visionary Academy, launched last year as part of the adidas Dame 7 release, is in its second year of working with student-athletes at 27 high school basketball programs (boy’s and girl’s) in L.A., New York, and Chicago. The program provides six players (three boys and three girls) selected from those schools with a local, paid internship each year, working with adidas, SLAM, Modern Notoriety, and In The Lab to work on sports media and digital marketing projects — with the help of an adidas basketball staffer as a mentor for each.

On Monday, the six interns for 2021 were announced, with Lillard speaking with them on a Zoom call to take some questions and offer some advice — with each getting some gear and a new laptop so they can be appropriately outfitted for their new gig.

It is the latest project for Lillard that aims to give back to the community, as he expands to New York, L.A., and Chicago on top of the work he does in his native Oakland and adopted home of Portland. Providing young athletes with an opportunity to see how the media and marketing mechanisms work from the inside is a great way to offer not just insight into something that is important to be able to utilize as an athlete, but experience in an alternative career path that could keep them in sports even if not turning pro.