Over the past few years, there has been a growing number of people who believe the Earth is flat. A recent YouGov survey of more than 8,000 Americans found that as many as one in six are “not entirely certain the world is round.”
Maybe there wouldn’t be so much scientific illiteracy in this world if we still had Carl Sagan around.
Sagan hosted the original version of TV’s “Cosmos” in 1980. It would be revived in 2014 with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson at the helm.
In the first episode of “Cosmos,” Sagan easily proved the Earth was a sphere using a piece of cardboard, some sticks, and the work of an ancient Libyan-Greek scholar, Eratosthenes.
Carl Sagan explains how Eratostenes knows the earth is curve
“How could it be, that at the same moment, a stick in Syene would cast no shadow and a stick in Alexandria, 800 km to the north, would cast a very definite shadow? Sagan asked.
“The only answer was that the surface of the Earth is curved,” he added. “Not only that but the greater the curvature, the bigger the difference in the length of the shadows.”
Considering the distance between the two cities and the lengths of the shadows they produced, Eratosthenes was able to determine that the Earth had a seven-degree curve. He used that calculation to speculate the Earth was 25,000 miles in circumference.
These days we know that the earth is 24,860 in circumference, so Eratosthenes was 140 miles off, not bad for over 2,000 years ago.
Videos are more than an afterthought to Moses Sumney. He and his collaborators always put a ton of effort into the visuals that accompany his songs, and consequently, the videos from Sumney’s new album, Grae, have been a spectacle. Now, he is back with another clip, this time for “Me In 20 Years.” As the title suggests, the clip sees Sumney looking to the future and what it might be like, warts, surrealism, and all.
Like a number of other tracks on Grae, this one was co-produced by Daniel Lopatin (aka Oneohtrix Point Never). The visual was directed by long-time collaborator Allie Avital and shot in Kiev, Ukraine. Press materials call it “an emotionally devastating and achingly personal look into Moses’ visions of the future, with an added twist of subtle and dreamlike visual elements.”
Sumney previously said of the track, “Upon playing the demo for ‘Me In 20 Years’ for Dan Lopatin, he told me it sounded like an old lady screaming to herself in the middle of Whole Foods. I knew then and there that he was the right collaborator to take [the song] to a catastrophic level.”
Although concerts and festivals have been canceled for pretty much the remainder of 2020, there’s still some decent news on the horizon. Should new COVID cases fall to manageable levels or an effective (and inexpensive) vaccine be discovered, 2021 is looking stacked. One festival with an attractive 2021 lineup is Mexico’s Baja Beach Fest, billed as “the world’s biggest Latin Trap & Reggaeton festival,” which is aiming for an August 13-15 weekend in Rosarito for its official third edition.
Aside from the obvious benefits of the sunny seaside venue, the lineup is packed to the gills with the top talent in contemporary Latin music, with Anuel AA, J Balvin, and Ozuna headlining a roster that includes international superstars like Becky G, El Alfa, Farruko, Guaynaa, Kali Uchis, Karol G, Lunay, Myke Towers, Sech, and Sky Rompiendo, among others. It’s a prime opportunity to catch up on the burgeoning Latin music scene which has reached new heights of popularity in recent years as stars like Bad Bunny and J Balvin have released bigger and bigger hits. The full rosters and tickets can be found here.
Ticket holders for the canceled 2020 edition of the festival will have their passes honored, while those who cannot attend can request a full refund. The refund must be claimed within the next week.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
After spending all of 2019 refining and workshopping her music with indie musicians like Hippo Campus, Samia is gearing up to release her debut album, The Baby. So far, Samia has previewed the record with “Is There Something In The Movies?” and “Fit N Full.” Now the singer returns with two new tracks and a quarantine-style video.
Directed by Noah Rauchwerk and animated by Granger Wilson, Samia’s “Big Wheel” video seeks company from a handful of virtual clones. The singer directs her new friends in a work-out tape and implores them to join her in a flash mob at a park.
In a statement about the song, Samia said she penned it as a reflection on shying from confrontation: “‘Big Wheel’ is about avoiding conflict at any cost. I wrote it after a few hours of laying in bed imagining hypothetical conversations with people that I was too scared to have in real life. It’s a passive confession of harbored resentments buried in a laundry list of gratitude.”
Along with debuting her “Big Wheel” video, Samia shared the bonus single “Stellate,” which further struggles with confrontation. “‘Stellate’ and ‘Big Wheel’ are both love letters to people/parts of my life I had trouble confronting conversationally,” Samia said. “‘Stellate’ is a note to myself trying to make sense of old traumas and ‘Big Wheel’ is a plea to the people around me, but releasing them together feels like closing a chapter.”
Watch Samia’s “Big Wheel” video above and listen to “Stellate” below.
The Baby is out 8/28 via Grand Jury. Pre-order it here.
Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek’s ongoing battle against stage IV pancreatic cancer appears to be going remarkably well, all things considered, and he hopes mark two years of survivorship next February. He previously stated, “I expect to be around,” but 80-year-old Trebek did concede to Good Morning America earlier this week that if this treatment fails, he won’t undertake any more “extraordinary measures” to ensure his survival.
More of Trebek’s GMA interview is now circulating, and one particular bit has to do with his suggestion of a new host, should the unthinkable happen. He is very much kidding in making this call, but here it is: “I joke with the audience all the time and I say, ‘Betty White,’ because they want somebody younger, somebody funnier.”
White may be funnier, but she is equally beloved and, of course, 98 years young, and people already worry about her every time her name trends on Twitter. No one could probably handle the sight of her taking the podium, and naturally, no one wants to even think of Jeopardy! needing a replacement host at any point.
Meanwhile, Trebek has already revealed changes to the schedule, and he further noted here that the set has been revamped to “separate the contestants and myself a little bit more from them.” They’re also doing online Covid-19 testing for all contestants as the pandemic continues. Watch the latest GMA snippet with Trebek below.
The series finale is the most-discussed episode for many shows, but especially for The Sopranos, considering people are still talking, 13 years later, about what happened to Tony inside Holsten’s. All we know for sure is, those onion rings? Best in da state. Creator David Chase has started to open up about the final scene in the final episode of one of TV’s greatest shows (which has seen its popularity skyrocket during quarantine), but for years, he was hesitant to reveal too much about “Made in America,” not to mention sick of answering questions about the man in the Members Only jacket. So, it’s no wonder that his favorite scene from the episode doesn’t involve Journey.
“Something that nobody would care about was when they were going to the mattresses, there was a Twilight Zone episode playing about a TV writer,” Chase said during the Television Academy’s “Quaranstreaming: Comfort TV That Keeps Us Going” panel, via Entertainment Weekly. “That was one of my favorites. That Twilight Zone [“The Bard”], it was a critique and a slam of network television, and it was very funny.” He also highlighted the scene “with Junior at the end. I loved everything with Junior, especially in that episode. When Janice tells Junior, ‘Bobby’s dead,’ and Junior says, ‘Ambassador Hotel!’ And she says, ‘Your Bobby!’ That was one of my favorite moments.”
Focus on the good times, a wise man once said, like the time AJ tried to impressed a girl by playing her a Bob Dylan song, only for the car they’re in to catch on fire and explode.
Coincidentally, my favorite moment from the finale.
The Weeknd dropped his highly-anticipated record After Hours at the onset of the pandemic lockdown and has wasted no time in giving fans new content. A few weeks ago, the singer shared a trippy tour of a cityscape through his animated “In Your Eyes” video with Doja Cat. Now The Weeknd returns with yet another animated video, this time accompanying the slow-burner “Snowchild.”
For the cartoon visual, The Weeknd takes a surreal journey down memory lane. It opens with the singer walking through the streets of his Toronto hometown. The Weeknd sings of his former goal to make it to Hollywood as the visual distorts the city skyline. Reflecting on his success, the singer arrives to his California mansion only to discover the darkness that lies there. The visual then depicts the singer walking through the wilderness and undergoing a necessary transformation before he eventually arrives at a theater where he is set to perform.
The dreamlike video arrives after the singer was snubbed for a Polaris Prize nomination, one of Canada’s most prestigious musical awards. The singer first appeared on a list of over 40 potential nominations but once the list was pared down to just ten, The Weeknd didn’t make the final cut.
Friends and Team USA teammates Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Paul — three of the most engaged philanthropists in the NBA family — announced they are coming together to raise money for the Social Change Fund, a joint project that will steer resources toward Black representation and equality.
“When all else fails to organize us, conditions will,” said Anthony, who has worked in this space for 15 years through the Carmelo Anthony Foundation, in a statement. “We established the Social Change Fund to invest in and support organizations working to champion criminal justice reform, enact policy solutions, and advocate for the human rights of all Black lives now and for generations to come. I stand for everything this Fund and its beneficiaries support and will not stop pushing for progress until we see an end to the systemic racism that the Black community has faced for too long. We will keep on pushing. We will not lose focus.”
Anthony had been publicly hesitant about participating in the NBA restart in Orlando while his close friend Paul led the players’ association effort to finish the season. Paul’s work outside basketball to provide better educational and financial resources to HBCUs lends itself to the work the new Social Change Fund will lead.
“Our mission is to address social and economic justice issues facing Black communities and break down the discriminatory barriers to success,” Paul said. “The Social Change Fund will help advance racial equality and opportunity. We will unite with other individuals who share our vision and commitment to use our collective voices and resources to advocate for change and foster a more equitable future.”
Anthony, Paul, and Wade will serve as the Founders Council for the Fund, finding partners and beneficiaries. Companies from Beyond Meat to CAA have already signed to create the first pool of funding and support the founders.
All three NBA stars see this as a long-term project.
“The magnitude of racial inequality is staggering with Black lives socially, politically and economically marginalized,” Wade said. “We are committed to supporting organizations that directly represent and benefit the Black community with the Social Change Fund. Our goal is to create a pathway for inclusion and success by deploying the necessary funds and resources to invest in long-term change.”
The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
Pure and simple is the best way to describe Pink Sweats’ first two projects, Volume 1 and Volume 2. The Philly native arrived in the summer of 2018 with his breakout single, “Honesty.” Finding success in the mainstream world, Pink Sweats would thrive with his acoustic sound, filling the room with nothing besides his falsettos wrapped in the lulling strums of his guitar. It’s these songs that delivered the warmth and comfort provided by a campfire that registered well with fans and helped him stand out in the trapsoul-driven genre.
Prolonging the wait for his debut album, which he revealed is titled Pink Planet, Pink Sweats recently shared his third EP, The Prelude. Departing from his acoustic sound, he makes use of the other instruments that lay around the studio for a more balanced and fulfilling body of work.
Seconds into The Prelude, Pink Sweats causes the ear to perk up with its intro track, “Give It To Me.” Bringing trumpets and drums into play, the joyous and groovy track wishfully reaches for the first tease at true love. Begging his lover to embrace the potential of their growing romance, he also promises to deliver the fruits that deep down she longs for in a relationship. “Tell me where you wanna go,” he sings. ‘You know I’ll be right there for you.” The once soft-spoken and gentle lover returns a year removed with a new dose of confidence and wistful charm to steer the way.
While expansion is in order for The Prelude, Pink Sweats achieves it while bringing the sound that originally brought him success. In the backend of the album, “At My Worst” and the closer “Lows” challenge the possibilities of love when either side is not at their best or most perfect. On the former, he poses many questions, including “can you be my lover up until the very end,” all to quench insecurities before the relationship begins. The EP’s closer “Lows” presents a return of the falsettos and guitar strums as he looks to calm the fears of his lover.
Balancing the new with the old, the brightest moment on the EP comes on “Icy.” The saucy track explodes with “24K Magic”-esque charisma and leaves debris of confidence all over the song. It finds him showering himself with flattering compliments and boldly wears a clean suit of confidence to match the boastful chains that dangle from his neck. “Diamond in my soul, I can never break,” he boasts. “Pinkie off the glass, really change the taste.”
Pink Sweats succeeds by reshaping the horizons and pushing the limits his fans once believed he was enclosed in. For what it’s worth, the Philly singer stayed clear of any criticisms of a repetitive sound, making the well-timed choice to leap towards expansion. The Prelude is the epitome of ideal progression from project to project. Pink Sweats shows clear growth as an artist and the drive to widen his artistic territories in order to provide a varying experience. The EP is unique in the sense that rather than presenting fans with all that resides on his Pink Planet, he opts to prepare them as best as he can with one last body of work that adds color to a work of art he will soon present.
Nilüfer Yanya was last seen in NPR’s DC studios for a Tiny Desk concert last September and now the singer has returned to the series once again, this time from the comfort of her home. During her performance, Yanya gave renditions of tracks from her 2019 debut album Miss Universe, unveiled an unreleased song, and shared a poignant statement about racial injustice.
Armed with a bubblegum pink electric guitar, Yanya opened her performance by sharing the fan-favorite “Heat Rises.” The singer then moved into a rendition of “Paralyzed,” a song she has never played live before. Ahead of closing the concert with “Heavyweight Champion Of The Year,” the singer unveiled the brand-new track “Day 7.”
Along with performing her music, Yanya paused the show to share a statement about racial injustice in light of recent protests across the US and the world. “One of the things that’s been on my mind recently a lot is the racism and violence and injustice going on towards Black people and people of color,” Yanya said. “Not only in America, but here in the UK and all over the world. As a person of mixed heritage, this is an issue is something very close to my heart. I see the people being hurt as my family and my friends. I urge you to see it the same way. I think that’s the only way we can work towards solving it.”
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