Category: News

Beloved Today co-host and weather anchor Al Roker is battling prostate cancer, and he discussed his prognosis on Friday morning’s edition of the NBC morning show. As seen in the above clip, Roker announced that he’ll be taking some time away from work to treat the cancer, and the 66-year-old icon is wasting no time, given that he’s scheduled next week for surgery to remove his prostate. As far as his health outlook is concerned, Roker didn’t hold back on the positive or negative front.

“It’s a good news-bad news kind of thing,” Roker explained. “Good news is we caught it early. Not great news is that it’s a little aggressive, so I’m going to be taking some time off to take care of this.” He does remain optimistic that “hopefully in about two weeks,” he might be able to return to America’s TV screens. Roker also pushed back at the notion of anyone feeling sorry for him and definitely doesn’t “want people thinking, ‘Oh, poor Al’ because I’m gonna be OK.”

While breaking the news of his own diagnosis, however, Roker wished to shine light on how Black men are at increased risk for prostate cancer, given that 1 in 7 Black men will receive a similar diagnosis to his news. “The problem for African American men is that any number of reasons from genetics to access to health care,” he declared. “So we want to make it available and let people know they got to get checked.”

All well wishes are going out to Al Roker for a full recovery, along with a speedy return to our living rooms.

With Wilco’s Summerteeth reissue coming later this month to (belatedly) celebrate its twentieth anniversary, Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen are looking back to 1999. While it might not have necessarily been a more innocent time, it was certainly a simpler time where teen pop and nu-metal ruled the radio waves and alternative rock was starting to become plain old indie rock.

In the new episode of Indiecast Hyden and Cohen revisited their five favorite albums from the era to determine what still holds up today. While Hyden’s top five albums walks that line between alt-rock and indie rock with albums like Summerteeth and Nine Inch Nails’ The Fragile, Cohen was more focused on the emo rock scene, remembering albums from Jimmy Eat World and American Football.

In this week’s Recommendation Corner, Cohen supports the new album from Philadelphia band The Goalie’s Anxiety At The Penalty Kick. Hyden, on the other hand, is still looking to the past to sing the praises of Foxygen’s 2013 album We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 15 below and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts here. Stay up to date and follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Georgia is one of a handful of states currently without a confirmed winner in the presidential election. If Joe Biden triumphs over Donald Trump in the state, though, Jason Isbell has promised a treat: A covers album of songs by Georgia artists.

Isbell wrote on Twitter last night, “If Biden wins Georgia I’m gonna make a charity covers album of my favorite Georgia songs- REM, Gladys Knight, Vic Chesnutt, Allmans, Cat Power, Precious Bryant, Now It’s Overhead, etc… And damn is that gonna be fun.”

Isbell got a stamp of approval from R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, who tweeted, “Sounds great, Jason!” Isbell replied, “Blessing much appreciated, Mike.” He also got input from Brandi Carlile, who expressed interest in joining Isbell on the project and offered some suggestions: “And I will happily sing harmony. Oooh!! Can we also do kid fears by the indigo girls and you be Michael Stipe???” Isbell responded, “Ohh I love that song so much. Good thinking- I can give it my stipiest shot that’s for sure.”

Aaron Lee Tasjan also chimed in, “Just got chills thinking of you and the band playing a Drivin n Cryin song.” Isbell answered, “Man hell yes gotta do Honeysuckle Blue.” Joe Henry also responded, “Would love to hear you sing something of Vic Chesnutt’s, truly. Not that there aren’t other reasons why GA ought to bring this home.” Isbell replied, “Vic was so brilliant. It’ll be hard to choose but I definitely will.”

Somebody else asked, “Can you do it in time to donate a portion to @GeorgiaDemocrat in time for the runoff elections,” to which Isbell responded, “Ahh brilliant maybe so.” The runoff election is scheduled for January 5, 2021, so if Isbell takes that idea to heart (and if Biden wins the state), his Georgia covers project could arrive at some point in the next couple months.

Former Trump chief strategist and conspiracy podcaster Steve Bannon has dug himself a ditch on Twitter. Mind you, this is happening after Bannon got arrested on a boat by U.S. Postal Service Police in August (and posted bail) for mail fraud tied to a We Build the Wall crowdfunding campaign (which Bannon allegedly used for personal expenses). So, Bannon is out on bail, which presents its own issues, including the possibility that he violated bail conditions by calling for the beheading of Dr. Anthony Fauci (who has been the target of repeated recent attacks by President Trump) and FBI Director Chris Wray.

Not a wise thing to do. Bannon made these comments on his podcast-y online program, War Room: Pandemic, which is as much of a far-right-wing affair as one might expect. Prior to the comments that got him banned, Bannon echoed President Trump’s claims that he’d won reelection. Then he made the beheading remarks and posted the video clip to Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Here’s what CNN reports on the situation:

CNN relays that Bannon spouted the following violence-inciting rhetoric: “I’d put the heads on pikes. Right. I’d put them at the two corners of the White House as a warning to federal bureaucrats. You either get with the program or you are gone.”

Fauci has previously discussed death threats upon himself and family members. Bannon’s further encouragement of violence, particularly as the presidential election is about to be called (with many MAGAs), certainly deserves a ban and more. Really… is this a bail violation?

(Via CNN)

This morning, multiple topics related to Georgia, Ray Charles, the song “Georgia On My Mind,” and John Legend were trending on Twitter. That’s because as election votes continue to be counted in Georgia, a lot of people are thinking about the Charles classic, including Legend, who shared a video of himself singing the song. The song was written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell but most famously recorded by Ray Charles, whose version of the track is Georgia’s official state song.

Legend took on the song a capella, and at the end of the two-minute clip, Legend said with a smile, “I love you, Georgia!” Legend’s video came after reports that Joe Biden had taken the lead in Georgia as well as Pennsylvania.

The musician has of course been a vocal supporter of Biden and critic of Donald Trump. He performed at Biden’s pre-election rally and discussed Trump’s “Platinum Plan,” saying, “But Trump’s Platinum Plan for Black folks is nothing but fool’s gold, because you can’t bank on a word he says. Ask the students of Trump University. Ask all of the contractors he stiffed. Ask the people his charity was supposed to help before it was shut down for being a fraud. Ask all the Black and brown Americans who are dying from this virus and losing their jobs under his watch. The president isn’t strong: He’s a coward, and his career in business and in government has been failure after failure after failure.”

Watch Legend sing “Georgia On My Mind” above.

All three seasons of Chappelle’s Show were added to Netflix and HBO Max on November 1, but not every episode is available. Season two goes from episode five (“True Hollywood Stories: Prince & Red Balls Energy Drink”) to episode seven (“World Series of Dice & Mooney on Movies”), with no explanation for why episode six, “The Internet & Moment In the Life of Lil Jon,” is missing. That’s the one with Lil Jon at the airport and Chappelle imagining if the internet was a real place, featuring a cameo from Ron Jeremy. The porn star is the reason why the episode was quietly left off Netflix and HBO Max, as he’s been accused of sexual assault by numerous women.

The Daily Beast reports that when “ViacomCBS signed over the non-exclusive streaming rights for Chappelle’s Show to Netflix and HBO Max later in the year, the episode was excluded from the licensing deals altogether due to standards and practices.” The streaming services were “notified in advance by ViacomCBS that this specific episode would not be made available” as part of the deals. “The Internet & Moment in the Life of Lil Jon,” which first aired on February 25, 2004, is available on YouTube and Amazon.

Jeremy is “looking at a total of 11 counts of forcible rape, eight counts of sexual battery by restraint, six counts of forcible oral copulation, five counts of forcible penetration by a foreign object and much more,” according to Deadline. If found guilty, he faces up to 330 years in prison. Jeremy’s next court appearance is scheduled for December 14.

(Via the Daily Beast)

Miley Cyrus has been forthcoming about the fact that her new single “Midnight Sky” draws inspiration from the Stevie Nicks classic “Edge Of Seventeen.” Now those songs have become one on a new remix called “Edge Of Midnight,” a mash-up of the tracks for which Cyrus recruited Nicks herself to contribute. The track combines parts of both songs, beginning with the classic “Edge Of Midnight” opening riff as the songs organically merge from there.

Cyrus recently discussed her relationship with Nicks and how her song inspired “Midnight Sky” on The Tonight Show, saying, “I have the coolest letter ever from Stevie. I sent her the song and I said, ‘You know, I have an alternate melody if you don’t want me to pay tribute to you and your greatness and how much you’ve inspired me,’ and she said, ‘You can borrow from me any time.’ Now, you ask me about new artists and what my advice would be for them, and one thing that I’ve just learned from her, from Dolly, Joan, all in the same, is that they’re so open and welcoming to the younger artists coming up and they offer their mentorship. It’s just been really incredibly important in my career, having someone like her to look up to. Everyone looks up to Stevie Nicks, but having that direct relationship, it’s been kind of life-changing and just so important.”

Meanwhile, in a recent interview, Nicks found a way to relate to the overnight success of TikTok star Nathan Apodaca, who sparked the new Fleetwood Mac revival, saying, “We all do silly, creative dumb things that we never think anybody is going to care about, and the fact that [Apodaca] just reached out to the entire world with his 10-second ride… his life will never be the same. In a strange way, it’s kind of like when Lindsey and I joined [the band] and we had no money — and I do mean no money — and within eight months, together we were almost a millionaire.”

Listen to “Edge Of Midnight” above.

Did Netflix know we’d all be racked with anxiety over the presidential election days after voting polls closed? Probably not, but they had a contingency plan in place and it’s this content line-up.

The platform dropped all six seasons of cult TV teen drama Dawson’s Creek, debuted another holiday rom-com, and ushered in plenty of blockbuster films to keep fans distracted from the political chaos. Here’s everything coming to (and leaving) Netflix this week of Nov. 6.

Dawson’s Creek: Seasons 1-6

Opening theme song or no, Netflix dropping this beloved teen drama is exactly what we need this week. Dawson’s Creek is the reason shows like The O.C., One Tree Hill, and Gossip Girl even exist and yet somehow, it still feels fresh and timely. It gave us an epic love story, likable characters, Katie Holmes, an unhealthy obsession with a young Joshua Jackson, and of course, the James Van Der Beek crying meme that just keeps on giving.

Operation Christmas Drop (Netflix Original)

Kat Graham and Vikings star Alexander Ludwig lead this latest holiday rom-com from the streaming platform. Graham plays a business-minded congressional aide who gives up spending the season with her family and friends to, what else, work. That work involves traveling to an Air Force base in the tropics to find reasons to defund it, pitting her against the charming, roguish captain played by Ludwig. You know how things play out from here, right?

Here’s a full list of what’s been added in the last week:

Avail. 10/31
The 12th Man

Avail. 11/1
M’entends-tu? / Can You Hear Me?: Season 2
60 Days In: Season 5
A Clockwork Orange
Boyz n the Hood
Casper
Christmas Break-In
Dawson’s Creek: Seasons 1-6
Easy A
Elf Pets: A Fox Cub’s Christmas Tale
Elf Pets: Santa’s Reindeer Rescue
Elliot the Littlest Reindeer
Forged in Fire: Season 6
Jumping the Broom
Knock Knock
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath: Seasons 1-3
Little Monsters (1989)
Mile 22
Ocean’s Eleven
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Piercing
Platoon
School Daze
Snowden
The Garfield Show: Season 3
The Impossible
The Indian in the Cupboard
The Next Karate Kid
Wheels of Fortune
Yes Man

Avail. 11/2
Prospect

Avail. 11/3
Felix Lobrecht: Hype
Mother

Avail. 11/4
A Christmas Catch
Christmas With A Prince
Love and Anarchy

Avail. 11/5
A New York Christmas Wedding
Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta?
Midnight At The Magnolia
Operation Christmas Drop
Paranormal

Avail. 11/6
Citation
Country Ever After
La trinchera infinita / The Endless Trench
The Late Bloomer

And here’s what’s leaving next week, so it’s your last chance:

Leaving 11/7
Hit & Run
Hope Springs Eternal
The Sea of Trees
Sleepless

Leaving 11/8
Bathtubs Over Broadway

Leaving 11/11
Green Room

(SPOILERS will obviously be found below.)

It’s been a long, tense couple of days and everyone, myself included, is on edge about the presidential election and surging COVID-19 cases and The Bachelorette drama, the biggest stressor of all. So I want to thank “Chapter 10: The Passenger” for being the best episode of The Mandalorian yet. It had everything I needed at the end of a four-month-long week. It didn’t move the overall story along much, but it was thrilling, funny, and felt like a Monster of the Week episode of The X-Files, which were always my favorites. Also, and this is crucial, there was a talking ant (in an episode directed by Ant-Man‘s Peyton Reed) playing sabacc against Amy Sedaris, snow-spiders, Galaxy’s Edge homages, a frog lady, X-wings, Baby Yoda going to town on some admittedly delicious-looking eggs, and the return of Mos Eisley Cantina. Speaking of scum and villainy…

“Chapter 10” also introduced the most-evil (and my most-hated) character to Star Wars.

That might sound hyperbolic, considering Darth Vader blew up a planet, Sheev Palpatine was the mastermind behind Order 66, and Jabba the Hutt licked Leia’s face, which is just gross. But at least they never PUT A KNIFE TO BABY YODA’S THROAT. At the beginning of the episode, a trio of no-goodniks stretch a rope across Mando’s path, so that when he comes flying by on his speeder, he’ll be decapitated or at least immobilized. It works, briefly, until Mando takes out two of the goons. As for the third:

Reader, I gasped.

I would love to know how many boardroom meetings Jon Favreau, who wrote the episode, had with Disney brass about how close the knife could be to Baby Yoda’s throat. He might be the only person on the planet who could threaten to Red Wedding the Child, and all it took was making a billion-dollar-grossing movie for the company and kicking off the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As for the alien holding the blade, there’s no information about him yet. But that’s fine, because a) he’s a monster (even if Baby Yoda is the one who eats multiple babies this episode, making him an actual murderer, but he’s sooo cute), and b) he’s killed due to some jetpack shenanigans from Mando. Another reason I liked this episode: jetpack shenanigans. Mad Men never had those.

Jason Sudeikis is forgiven for punching Baby Yoda (and because Ted Lasso rules).

We’re all somewhat used to late-night hosts reacting to the news of the day in ways that veer away from the usual silliness of the form, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when the look and feel of late-night has changed so completely. But it’s not just a recent thing or even a Trump era thing. Recall Craig Ferguson finding empathy when Britney Spears was getting mocked everywhere for concerning public behavior. Or how hosts responded following 9/11.

Still, it does seem to have grown in frequency over these last few years and Stephen Colbert has been unafraid to lead that charge, bringing authenticity and a sense of general concern for the state of things in his nightly dispatches. And on Thursday, with this seemingly interminable election cycle captivating all of us and norms getting pushed to the side, it’s no surprise that Colbert went to a very real place following Donald Trump’s latest barrage of false claims about voter fraud and ballot counts.

Lasting about eight minutes and recorded just after Trump’s speech at The White House, a black-clad Colbert started by saying that he was, “dressed for a funeral because Donald Trump really tried to kill something tonight.” He then ran through Trump’s batch of boasts and groundless assertions, challenging the president to find fresh material.

Colbert then paused for a moment after being overcome by emotions and talking about not realizing that he’d feel so heartbroken over Trump’s predictable response to potential defeat. Which is understandable. With so much of this, it’s not the surprise that gets you but the surprise that you can still be surprised.

Colbert went on, dropping a joke about butt bronzer, but this wasn’t built for laughs, it was built (or conjured from the heart) to deliver a message to Republicans whose silence Colbert views as complicity. It was a message Colbert admitted he wished he could lace with curse words. Because apparently, some norms are still in place for some of us.

Press play on the clip above to hear and absorb the whole thing and see the creative way Colbert gets around his inability to F-bomb on network television.