Category: Worldwide

The Baltimore Ravens spent the final six games of the regular season struggling offensively as they tried to navigate life without Lamar Jackson. That they were able to go 3-3 and secure a playoff spot was a rather incredible feat by their defense, which carried them home as Tyler Huntley and Anthony Brown had a hard time putting up points on the board.

In the five games prior to the season finale, a 27-16 loss to a Cincinnati team they’ll face again in the Wild Card round on Sunday night, Baltimore gave up fewer than 16 points in five straight games, but also never scored more than 17. As such, most expected their playoff hopes to rest on the left knee of Jackson, as he’s been trying to work back from a PCL sprain. Unfortunately, Thursday did not bring good news as the former MVP made a public statement on Twitter explaining his knee is still “unstable” and despite his best efforts to work his way back, he will not be able to go on Sunday.

Jackson’s absence is huge, and puts a damper on the penultimate game of Wild Card weekend. Without him, the Ravens offense simply lacks anything close to the same level of juice, but if his knee isn’t right, that also limits his ability to bring the dynamism that makes him (and Baltimore) work so well. On top of that, Jackson is entering free agency and has long-term to consider as well, and risking major injury when his knee isn’t stable isn’t a smart risk to take on.

Huntley is expected back after missing the finale with shoulder and wrist injuries, which is an upgrade over Brown but still presents an uphill task against a Cincinnati offense that has been firing on all cylinders of late. Baltimore’s defense has been among the league’s best, but they will need help if they’re going to have any chance of taking down the reigning AFC champs.

West Coast supergroup Mount Westmore — E-40, Too $hort, Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg — have proven their mettle on the mic many a time. They’re icons and legends across the board. And last week, three members of the lauded hip-hop quartet spoke about their respective rap journies on People’s Party with Talib Kweli.

During the episode, co-host Jasmin Leigh asked 40 Water, Cube, and Short Dog to speak on their personal relationships with the legend Tupac Shakur. Each of them knew Pac as he was on the rocket ship to stardom and their words offered a unique perspective into the early years of a complex mega-star.

E-40 celebrated Tupac’s diversity of skill and his kindness upon their first meeting. After telling a few funny stories he grew more circumspect.

“He was uplifting to females and the urban community as well. No other rapper spoke as highly of females as he did. “Keep your Head Up,” “Brenda’s Got a Baby,” “Dear Mama” and he had party bangers and he spoke about the trenches period. The octagon.”

Sharing the unceasing artistic drive Tupac had, E-40 described the late rapper’s work ethic and ambition, adding, “Just being a part of All Eyez on Me was amazing.”

Ice Cube talked a lot about how genuine Tupac was as an artist before reflecting on their connection through filmmaker John Singleton, who directed Cube in Boyz In The Hood and Pac in Poetic Justice.

“I didn’t do Poetic Justice, so John [Singleton] went and got Tupac to do it,” Cube explains. “So it was real cool to see John taking another rapper under his wing and making him a fuckin’ star. That is what he had did with me, Pac, he did it with Busta Rhymes… It was cool to see another rapper getting his shot on the big screen.”

Too $hort — long critiqued for how he spoke about women in songs — reflected on the wisdom of Tupac. “He never lived past 25,” $hort noted. “But every time they gave him a mic — he said some shit! How could you be that young and be that on point all the time?”

To check out more of this historic conversation with Mount Westmore on music, culture and art watch People’s Party with Talib Kweli and co-host Jasmin Leigh.

Over the last few years,
sustainability has become one of the biggest buzzwords in the fight against environmental problems like climate change, loss of biodiversity, ecosystem degradation, and pollution. But what does sustainability actually mean? And how do you make it part of your everyday life?

Broadly speaking, sustainability is the idea that we must meet our own needs
without compromising the ability of others to meet their needs, whether the “others” in question are future generations or people living in other parts of the world. But understanding the basic concept is one thing. Practicing it is quite another.

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Every single day we make dozens of different choices that impact our planet. But understanding this impact is not easy. And when it comes to green living, there is a lot of conflicting information about what’s eco-friendly, what’s not, what’s fact, and what’s fiction.

But green sustainable living is possible. With a little guidance, we can all learn to make better choices for ourselves and the planet.

And that’s where the Sustainable Living Online Course from International Open Academy comes in.

Basking in the luxury of all-inclusive resorts, indulging in Michelin-starred restaurants, and flying first class all sound great — downright fantastic, even — but the reality is that luxury travel is not always accessible to the masses. Most of us are, sadly, doing our balling on a budget. While The White Lotus-worthy hotels may not be the location of your next big trip, that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on valuable travel opportunities.

In fact, some of the most memorable adventures require the least amount of money. Just ask all the travel writers out there who started in the industry by bumming around in vans and sleeping at hostels.

Fortunately, there are a variety of ways to save a buck while on the road. So we turned to our own team of travel writers and influencers to get their take on the best ways to travel on a budget. Read on for their best money-saving hacks, from cost-friendly meals to unexpected hotel tips.

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• Lonely Planet’s Editor-At-Large Shares His Absolute Best Travel Wisdom

CHLOE CALDWELL (@chloeicaldwell) — TRAVEL IN THE OFF-SEASON

One of my favorite budget hacks is traveling to a destination during its off-season. Hotels and flights are usually more affordable in the shoulder season (just before or after high season), so you can get better deals on your whole trip. I personally like traveling during this time anyway. While you may not have perfect weather throughout your stay, there are often fewer crowds of tourists and therefore more opportunities to experience the local offerings, reserve the best restaurants in town, and get those vacation snapshots without people in the background of your photos.

BONUS: The locals are much friendlier when they’re not inundated with guests.

STEVE BRAMUCCI — (@steve_bramucci) — “CAMP” AT THE HOSTEL

Back when I was really a full-on budget backpacker, I used to always travel with my tent. And while I’ve camped in plenty of open fields and along roads, the best setup was often camping at a hostel. It was always a situation where whoever was behind the desk had seen it done a few times — so they knew it was okay — but the hostels never really knew what to charge.

I remember camping on the roof of a hostel in Jerusalem’s Old City for $3. I had access to their wifi, bathrooms, shared spaces, and woke up to some of the best sunrises of my entire life. The week before I’d been reviewing a 5-Star hotel that I could see from my “campsite” and I promise: I liked the latter scenario better.

BONUS: Your innovative situation will make it fun and easy to meet other travelers.

EMILY HART (@emilyventures) — MAKE A CAR SLEEPING PLATFORM

Social media has romanticized van life as a way to travel the country in a simple and free manner. But with converted sprinter vans regularly costing upwards of 100k, the “simple” life isn’t quite budget friendly for most of us. So when I decided to travel the west on my own I decided to convert my SUV instead. A simple sleeping platform in an SUV can cost just around $100 for supplies –- a few YouTube videos later and you have your own adventure mobile.

With my own sleeping platform, I was able to travel thousands of miles without worrying about where I would sleep for the night or if I had the energy to pitch a tent. I made window covers with inexpensive sun shades and velcro and added some mattress pads and storage under the platform –- creating an incredibly budget-friendly way to explore.

BONUS: You don’t have the constant “what if my $100K van gets broken into” fear that so many van lifers grapple with.

ALI WUNDERMAN (@aliwunderman) — BOOK A PRIVATE ROOM AT A HOSTEL

My favorite budget travel hack is booking a private room at a hostel. You get the perk of privacy, space, and most of all a quiet(er) atmosphere, with all the benefits of a hostel. You can enjoy a communal kitchen, connect with fellow adventurers, and spend minimal bucks on a place to stay all without having to pretend no one is having sex in a bunk above you.

That’s why I always stay at Old House Hostel in San Ignacio, Belize!

BONUS: You’re hanging with the cool kids but you have space to spread out.

ZACH JOHNSTON (@ztpwhiskey) — EAT FALAFEL

The falafel is the best budget meal for every traveler. It’s always under $5. It’s plant-based, filling, and a one-hander. Falafel is almost everywhere budget travelers go. Plus, it’s good for a “recovery” meal.

BONUS: Street food is generally the cleanest, safest food you can get in a city. The food under warmers at tourist traps is far more likely to be bacteria-ridden.

JANICE WILLIAMS (@browngirl_drinkswine) — PACK YOUR WINE

If you’ve ever visited wine country anywhere, then you know that the best bottles aren’t at duty-free shops. Sure, you’ll find the Ouzo you couldn’t stop drinking in Mykonos at the Athens airport, but those bottles of Assyrtiko and Xinomavro you enjoyed at that cute little taverna in Santorini won’t be found there. So how do you get those delicious wines home? Simple: stow the bottles away in your checked bag by rolling them up in your jeans. Denim is an incredibly durable fabric and can make for heavy-duty wrapping paper when transporting your favorite wines back home. The sturdy material keeps bottles from moving around and ruining the sweet juice inside while also acting as a barrier between everything else that may clash in your bag during travel. Just don’t do this with sparkling wine. Even denim can’t protect your suitcase from the explosive aftermath of bubbles interacting with air pressure.

BONUS: Feeling bold? Roll that carry-on up to the desk without divulging that you have wine (liquid) inside. Then say you have no bags to check “unless you want to check my carryon for free to save cabin space.” In my experience, people will agree to this 9/10 times.

MIKALA LUGAN (@miklugen) — BRING YOUR OWN SNACK

If you’re a snacker like me, then food is everything while traveling. While we all know you can’t bring drinks through TSA, many people don’t know that you can bring your own snacks. I always bring a couple of small bags of chips, candy, and protein bars, anything non-perishable through security with me. You’ll often pay twice or three times as much for snacks in the airport, so this saves you quite a bit of money to combat those hungry feelings on your flight.

BONUS: If those snacks are from your most recent destination and supported a street vendor or local while giving you one more chance to savor food from the place you visited… well, that’s really next level.

The 1975 is currently on tour in London after a run of US shows that found frontman Matty Healy keeping the band’s shows weird with antics like getting tattoos and devouring raw meat onstage. The tour has also seen its fair share of surprise guests, which included Phoebe Bridgers and Jack Antonoff. But they apparently saved one of the biggest surprises for the European phase of their tour, where Antonoff’s frequent collaborator Taylor Swift joined them onstage at the O2 Arena, singing an acoustic version of the band’s 2012 Facedown EP single “The City.”

She kicked things up a notch by singing one of her own hit songs live for the first time: Midnights standout “Anti-Hero,” which brought a rousing singalong from the crowd.

Swift’s only other live performance of any music from Midnights was in October 2022, when she also joined Bon Iver onstage — again in London, albeit this time at the OVO Arena Wembley — to sing “Exile,” their collaboration from 2020’s Folklore. At the time, Justin Vernon gushed that she is “the most talented person in the world,” a compliment she was quick to return.

Throughout late 2022, it was rumored that Swift had collaborated with The 1975 on Midnights — rumors that Healy himself shot down before later confirming that their collaboration had been vaulted. Meanwhile, her appearance at their concert will likely only fuel fan fervor for the unheard collaboration. Until they decide to release that, though, you can check out fan videos of Taylor at O2 Arena above.

Rick and Morty co-creator and star Justin Roiland appeared on Thursday in an Orange County court for a hearing related to two felony charges, which are based upon an alleged January 2020 incident. Roiland has pleaded not guilty to both charges, including domestic battery and false imprisonment, and he awaits a separate pre-trial hearing with further trial details pending.

As Variety reports, a Jane Doe, who wishes to remain anonymous, had been dating Roiland at the time of the alleged incident, and NBC News follows up with word that this case has already passed through at least a dozen hearings with Roiland continuing (since October 2020) to plead not guilty. In particular, the false imprisonment charge carries “menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit” language with most of the case’s court records maintaining a sealed status, but NBC News brings the available details:

[T]he available public documents seen by NBC News say Roiland was charged in May 2020. Roiland was arrested and released on a $50,000 bond in August 2020 and arraigned in October 2020.

A protective order filed in October 2020 and documented in the court minutes said Roiland is not to harass, threaten or surveil the person named in the protective order, who is not known to NBC News. Roiland cannot go within 100 feet of the person, according to the order, which also ordered Roiland to turn in any firearms he owned or possessed. The order lasts until October 2023.

As NBC News notes, representatives for Warner Bros. Discovery (owner of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, which ordered up 70 more episodes of Rick and Morty back in 2018) has “declined to comment” on the charges against Roiland. He’s been ordered back to court on April 27 for the next pre-trial hearing.

(Via Variety & NBC News)

This article originally appeared on 07.28.15

“Vocal Fry” is a term for the glottal, creaking sound of lower-register speech oscillation.

You know, like that raspy Zooey-Deschanel-type thing where your voice has that little “GuUuUuUuUuUuUuUh” crackle, instead of the smooth, consistent “Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.”

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That really didn’t help at all, huh?

OK, it’s this:

We’ve noticed women using “vocal fry” for a while now…

A scientific study was reported in a 2011 issue of Science magazine that’s generally credited with adding the phrase “vocal fry” into the popular lexicon. Before this point, according to the magazine, apparently vocal fry did not exist, although Britney Spears anachronistically employed it in the first line of her debut single, “Baby One More Time” all the way back in 1998. And she wasn’t the only pop star to do so.

The study from Science purported that women are often different than men (groundbreaking!), and thus, women talked less good with their mouth-sounds. (I’m paraphrasing, but that was the gist.) (Please excuse my rolling eyes.)

Specifically, vocal fry was said to be a trend among college-aged women of a certain social standing. “Young students tend to use it when they get together. Maybe this is a social link between members of a group,” noted one female researcher.

…but recently it’s been recognized that us dudes have been getting in on the action for a while too.

All right, guys! We’re finally getting closer to true gender parity! But the question remains: How come no one noticed that men have been using vocal fry for years?

“This American Life” host Ira Glass recently admitted that he uses vocal fry. But in a conversation with Chana Jaffe-Walt (who is not a dude), Glass also admitted that no one notices his vocal fry. And it’s not that no one notices — women are criticized for using vocal fry while men have been getting away with it for years.

“I get criticized for a lot of things in the emails to the show,” Glass said. “No one has ever pointed this out.”

Noted academic and anarcho-syndicalist advocate Noam Chomsky has also been known to employ vocal fry (presumably as a means of dismantling capitalism). Chomsky certainly has his detractors, but none of them seem to take issue with his vocal quality either. And even The Hairpin noted over 6 years ago that male vocal fry has become “a thing.”

In reality, associating the vocal fry trend only with women — both in practice and in naming — is a really just another way of trying to define gender roles.

It’s certainly interesting to observe the trends in human social interactions in the same way we observe a pack of wild capuchin monkeys. But the way that vocal fry gained traction in popular culture was, well, kind of weird.

After that Science magazine article came out, women were suddenly being judged for the supposedly abrasive way in which they spoke when they used vocal fry, even though both women and men had probably been talking that way since well before 2011.

There are many legitimate reasons — beyond gender — for why a person might develop vocal fry.

The simple truth is that vocal fry is just one way that people talk, regardless of their gender. Some people employ it as a means of being heard, as differentiating their voices from the rest of the masses. Other people really do just talk that way!

And it’s another example of the way we treat women like Goldilocks (“This one’s too sexy, and this one’s too prude, and…”). If a woman uses a higher register to speak, then it’s classified as ditzy, valley-girl uptalk. If a woman uses her lower register, it’s vocal fry. If she speaks in the middle (modal range), her words often get lost entirely.

Maybe, just maybe, we should all try to worry less about the way people speak (or dress or…) and instead try to actually listen to and hear what they’re saying.

So vocal fry? Don’t vocal fry? Do what you want! Because if our crappy earbud headphones have taught us anything, it’s that content matters more than the quality of delivery.

This article originally appeared on 4.4.13

This is short, but it definitely packs a punch.

Be sure to pay close attention from 1:34 to 2:06; it’s like equal parts “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and “Econ 101.”

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And nearly 10 years after it first premiered, the message remains as powerful as when we first shared it.

Watch the full video below:

This article originally appeared on 05.22.15

This is not news: America does pretty badly when it goes up against other countries academically.

This is true even if we take it one state at a time—no single state, no matter how wealthy or small, matches the top scoring countries. And yet, the U.S. spends more per student than many other countries in the world.

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In the image at the top, each state is mapped to a country that had similar scores on the Program for International Student Assessment, an international test of mathematical reasoning given to 15-year-olds. The top 15 countries are in purple. No, there isn’t any purple on this map.

Reporter Amanda Ripley wanted to figure out why U.S. education outcomes are so mediocre.

She started asking random people what they thought and she followed up on their ideas. The same theories came up over and over: People blamed poverty and diversity for the difference between U.S. students and students everywhere else. But when Ripley dug into the numbers, she discovered that, while those are factors, they don’t fully explain the difference.

No adult could give her a satisfactory answer, so she went to the experts: kids.

Kids spend more time in school than anyone. They’ve got strong opinions about school. They have opinions on what is working.

She talked to the only students who could have firsthand knowledge of the differences between schools in top-performing countries and those in the U.S.: American kids who were exchange students in those countries.

She surveyed hundreds of exchange students and found three major points that they all agreed on.

The students all said that in their host countries:

1. School is harder. There’s less homework but the material is more rigorous. People take education more seriously, from selecting the content to selecting the teachers.
2. Sports are just a hobby. In the U.S., sports are a huge distraction from the business of school, but that’s not the case in other countries.
3. Kids believe there’s something in it for them. The students in other countries deeply believe that what they are doing in school affects how interesting their lives were going to be. Even if they don’t like a class, they see their education as a stepping stone to their future.

To hear more from these amazing kids (and a great story about how an education reporter managed to take an international standardized test), check out the video from PopTech below:

Since Vince McMahon’s shock return to the WWE last week to help lead the sale of the worldwide leader in sports entertainment, potential suitors rumored to be interested have ranged from Disney, to Amazon, to Saudi Arabia, to even The Rock. The latest potential buyer is a doozy, with Shad and Tony Khan — owners of WWE’s primary rival, All Elite Wrestling — said to be among those interested in the company according to Barron’s.

The news comes less than a week following a report from the Wall Street Journal that “unless (Vince McMahon) has direct involvement as executive chairman from the outset of a strategic review, he won’t support or approve any media-rights deal or sale.” The move essentially holds WWE from negotiating television deals for its flagship programs, Raw or Smackdown, as well as his apparent goal of selling the company unless he is directly involved.

That led to Vince’s official return to WWE’s board of directors and Stephanie McMahon’s nearly immediate resignation from the company. In the days that followed, rumors swirled that Saudi Arabia was finalizing a deal to acquire WWE, but those reports were premature. Barron’s reports that an offer from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, which backs the golf league LIV, is “more likely” than a purchase by the Khans considering WWE’s presence in the country and its ongoing 10-year deal for premium live events.