Netflix’s October roster of content is almost unbelievably jam-packed, and one of the most intriguing titles (believe it or not) is about chess. Actually, it’s a limited series and coming-of-age story about a chess-playing prodigy. Anya Taylor-Joy stars in The Queen’s Gambit (so named for the opening move but arriving with other connotations) as a narcotics-fueled orphan, Beth Harmon, who strikes out into the male-dominated 1950s subculture of competitive chess playing and emerges as a troubled champion.
What results is an unnerving and surprisingly suspenseful tale about the true cost of genius that’s based upon the Walter Tevis novel of the same name. It’s also a meditation on addiction and danger, given that Beth becomes dependent upon tranquilizers, booze, and well, you name it, while battling towards a world title. It’s a bit of an underdog tale, the likes of which we haven’t seen before since it doesn’t revolve around contact sports, but around a young woman who lives and breathes by the fall of the pawns. The series hails from Godless director Scott Frank, who’s co-creating, showrunning, directing, writing, and executive producing. From the synopsis:
Abandoned and entrusted to a Kentucky orphanage in the late 1950s, a young Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) discovers an astonishing talent for chess while developing an addiction to tranquilizers provided by the state as a sedative for the children. Haunted by her personal demons and fueled by a cocktail of narcotics and obsession, Beth transforms into an impressively skilled and glamorous outcast while determined to conquer the traditional boundaries established in the male-dominated world of competitive chess.
The Queen’s Gambit (which also stars Marielle Heller, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Moses Ingram, Harry Melling, and Bill Camp) streams on October 23.
Like The Macallan, Glenlivet, and The Balvenie, seeing the name “The Dalmore” on a bottle of scotch whisky means you’re in for a special experience. Drop $50 to purchase The Dalmore 12? You’re getting an interesting expression — worth every penny. But what about a bottle that sets you back between $6,000 and $14,000 dollars? Is there any way to get your money’s worth on an expression like that?
Recently, The Dalmore announced the release of its Rare & Aged expressions. The offerings are The Dalmore 35, The Dalmore 40, and The Dalmore 45. If you were to buy all three, you’d be left with three 750ml bottles of scotch and a $30,000 bill.
These limited-edition expressions were hand-selected by Master Distiller Richard Paterson. If you can afford them, you’ll have three of the best bottles of Scotch in the world. But those prices are no joke. Still, for those interested in the good life (does 2 Chainz like scotch?), each expression is held in a Baccarat crystal decanter emblazoned with a solid silver stag, crafted by silversmiths Hamilton & Inches.
For some reason, we were lucky enough to sample these very exclusive whiskies. Here are our notes.
The Dalmore 35
The Dalmore
ABV: 40%
Price: $6,000
The Story:
Where to possibly start with this one? This expression is aged in a combination of ex-bourbon, Matusalem sherry butt, and Port Colheita pipe. The time spent aging is a whopping 35 years. The result is an 80 proof, highly nuanced, mellow whisky that literally deserves to be treasured.
Tasting Notes:
Don’t disrespect this whisky by not nosing it first. The first aromas that will swirl around your nose are those of almond cookies, sweet cherries, and toasted honey. The first sip delivers bananas foster, sticky toffee pudding, spicy cinnamon, and indulgent sweet cream. The finish is medium in length, comfortably warming, and ends with pleasing final notes of candied orange peels and brown sugar.
Bottom Line:
We don’t have to tell you that a whisky of this magnitude deserves to be enjoyed in a dram — taken slowly, while you sit in front of a roaring fire.
The Dalmore 40
The Dalmore
ABV: 42%
Price: $8,800
The Story:
To say this bottle is rare is an obvious understatement. If you even have the scratch to buy one, good luck finding it. This whisky was first aged in ex-bourbon American oak casks before maturing in 30-year-old Gonzalez Byass Matsualem oloroso sherry butts, then finished in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels. The result is an 84 proof, complex, deeply indulgent whisky.
Tasting Notes:
The nosing of a whisky of this level is like an epic drum roll before a big announcement. The scents of sweet sherry, caramelized sugar, candied orange peel, and butterscotch waft up through your nostrils. The first sip delivers flavors of maple syrup, cinnamon, fruit cake, and pleasing caramel and vanilla notes. The finish is short, slightly warming, and almost unfathomably mellow and creamy.
Bottom Line:
This whisky was aged for 40 years. Four decades. You should take your time sipping it. Not 40 years, but long enough to pick up all of the different flavors and appreciate the complexity.
The Dalmore 45
The Dalmore
ABV: 40%
Price: $14,600
The Story:
When it comes to rare whiskies, it’s hard to beat The Dalmore 45. This super old whisky was first aged in ex-bourbon American white oak casks before being moved to two varieties of Vintage Graham’s Port Colheita pipes. The two liquids are then married together in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels to finish.
The result is an 80 proof whisky that is so sublime you’ll think your soul has left your body for a few moments while you’re sipping it.
Tasting Notes:
We’re not going to lie, we were really excited to finally taste this expression. We lingered for a long time breathing in the various aromas. This sounds overly dramatic, but you can smell the tireless work and the long aging that went into this dram. It’s a slightly musty, warming, welcoming smell of the barrelhouse itself. Following these notes comes the scent of sweet plums, candied cherries, and almond cream. The first sip yields rich honey, subtle Christmas spices, toasted marshmallow, chocolate, and sweet cream. The finish is short, gently warming, and filled with caramel plus a slight kick of warming spice at the very end.
Bottom Line:
While we’re not sure we can justify spending almost $15,000 for a bottle of whisky, we understand why it carries this lofty price tag. This is quite possibly the most mellow, easy to drink, complex whisky this taster has personally have ever tasted.
It’s been an emotional day around the NBA. The Black Lives Matter movement has been fighting for social justice reform for years, with the police killings of unarmed black people in America reaching a tipping point in 2020, as George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and many others becoming the faces of the movement.
On Wednesday, after six months without any arrests, police in Kentucky finally filed charges against one of the officers who killed Taylor, a “wanton endangerment” charge that many saw as a slap in the face to Black people everywhere who fear for their lives against a police system that continues to operate with relative impunity.
The NBA and WNBA world, sports media hosts, and LeBron James all sounded off on that development on Wednesday, decrying the lack of accountability for police officers who were able to enter a Black woman’s home while she was sleeping and shoot her to death while receiving little more than a slap on the wrist.
After Game 4 of the Celtics-Heat series, ESPN’s Malika Andrews was the latest to sound off about the Taylor case, using her time on SportsCenter to give us a tearful and powerful reminder that, as a Black woman who is the same age as Taylor was, she’s in the same position as so many Americans who fear for their lives against a police system that is supposed to protect us.
Andrews reiterated the fact that, while players didn’t consider sitting out Wednesday night’s game, they vowed to use their platform to continue to bring their message to the masses. The league, its players, and its owners have created a massive social reform campaign that seeks to bring education, money, and awareness about various equal justice initiatives. Wednesday’s news in the Taylor case only underscores the need for that now more than ever.
The Boston Celtics have once again found themselves in a dark place in their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Heat. After going down 2-0 to Miami last week, a high-profile locker-room dust-up after Game 2 dominated the headlines and raised serious questions about team morale.
They bounced back in Game 3 and had an opportunity on Wednesday in Game 4 to even the series, but that was not to be, as Heat rookie Tyler Herro had the game of his life, leading his team to a 112-109 victory over the Celtics and bringing them just one win away from the NBA Finals.
Here’s what we learned from a hard-fought Game 4.
Tyler Herro Submitted An Instant Classic Performance
The NBA Playoffs are where superstars are born, but they’re also the place where young players can announce their arrival, and few rookies have done so in more spectacular fashion than Tyler Herro did on Wednesday in Game 4. The 20-year-old sensation was unstoppable against the Celtics, leading all scorers with 37 points on the night, giving him the most points by a rookie in a conference finals game in league history.
Herro got it going almost from the opening tip, scoring 15 points before halftime, and was one of the only players on either team to find any sort of rhythm to start the game. From there, he was lights out, knocking down threes and getting to the basket at will to lead the Heat to a tough victory and prevent Boston from evening the series at 2-2.
Down the stretch, Miami continued to put the ball in Herro’s hands, allowing the rookie to take them to the finish line, with some help from timely Jimmy Butler buckets as well. It was an impressive showing and one that put all of Herro’s offensive talents on display, and his on-ball skills just add another dimension to the Miami offense.
Boston’s Bricks & Turnovers
We live in the age of the long ball, and as such, teams sometimes live and die by the three. That’s a given, but in this one, both teams struggled dreadfully from behind the arc. The Celtics shot just 40 percent from the field overall in the first half and 5-of-19 from three, and Miami wasn’t any better, shooting 4-of-18 from three and just over 40 percent overall before halftime. Herro was just about the only one with any consistency from the outside, and while Jayson Tatum and the Boston offense woke up to charge back to a brief lead, they simply couldn’t execute well enough offensively to stay on the front foot.
The shooting woes were one part of the problem, but turnovers ended up being Boston’s Achilles heel all night long. They coughed the ball up 19 total times in the game, 11 of which came in the second half, with several coming down the stretch. Credit some of that to Heat’s zone defense, which pestered the Celtics all night into poor decision making and contested shots.
Miami, meanwhile, didn’t commit a turnover in the fourth quarter until under a minute remaining and had just two total turnovers in the second half and nine for the game overall. Turnovers and rebounds are often looked to as key stats for good reason, and Miami’s ability to force turnovers and avoid them themselves allowed them to overcome a poor shooting night to get a win.
Jayson Tatum, Sleeping Giant
Jayson Tatum was at the center of the Celtics shooting drought through the first two quarters, going scoreless before halftime on 0-of-6 shooting, four of those misses coming from behind the arc. It was the first time that’s happened to Tatum all season.
Yet, Boston somehow managed to trail by just six points at the break, 50-44. That gave Tatum the room he needed to wake up and remember that there was a playoff game going on. And that’s exactly what he did, scoring 16 points in the third quarter and helping cut the deficit to 77-76 going into the final period.
He kept it rolling in the fourth quarter, finishing with a team-high 28 points to go along with nine rebounds and four assists, but ultimately, it wasn’t enough. Jaylen Brown (21 points, nine rebounds) and Kemba Walker (20 points, five assists) did their best to keep the Celtics afloat, but a nightmarish game from Marcus Smart, who shot 3-of-12 and committed four turnovers, only compounded matters.
The Celtics will try to keep their season alive when Game 5 tips off on Friday at 8:30 ET on ESPN, while the Heat will have a chance to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals.
DaBaby came flying into the mainstream music world in early 2019 thanks to his breakout hit, “Suge.” The song helped bring the Charlotte rapper a nationwide fan base, one that he kept beyond satisfied with new music, as he went on to release three albums in the following 13 months. While the success continued for DaBaby, a major criticism of his grew to be the lack of diversity within his music, a critique that has also grown to be a running joke about the rapper on social media. Nearly two months removed from his deluxe re-issue of his latest album, Blame It On Baby, DaBaby addressed the critique and discussed his future plans in a recent interview with Rolling Stone.
When asked about whether or not he felt the pressure from critics to diversify his sound on Blame It On Baby DaBaby said, “The fact of the matter is, I’ve been making records like that since before the first record.” He added, “I’d been making crossover records, diverse records. With this being my third album in 12 months, I thought at that point fans would be ready. At the end of the day, they take it in how they take it in. I’ve never been afraid to jump in the water. If there’s a style of music I can take it to, I’ll do that. I want to push the envelope and grow as an artist.”
Later in the interview, DaBaby would be asked about his decision to not slow down in the near future. “Some people wait because they have to. Fortunately enough, I wasn’t put in that position,” he replied. “I had the green light, and everything I’ve dropped was hot. If I didn’t put out new music, there wouldn’t be ‘Rockstar.’ I’d still be trying to beat out ‘Suge.’”
In the closing months of 2019, Selena Gomez earned the first No. 1 song of her career with “Lose You To Love Me,” which many believed referred to her past relationship with Justin Bieber. The song was also her first solo release of 2019, which helped the rollout of her third album Rare, released in early 2020. At the time of the album’s release, Gomez said the track was inspired by life events that occurred after her previous album, Revival, from 2015. Joining the Song Exploder podcast on Tuesday along with songwriting friends Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter, Gomez opened up about the part of recording the song that “killed” her the most.
“This song alone represents what a lot of people who are heartbroken have gone through,” she said. “One of the hardest parts for me to sing in the song was the bridge. It’s the ending of the song, and that’s the part where it’s like, ‘You know, I guess this is goodbye forever for us.’ And that killed me.”
Michaels then revealed that it was she who suggested the song be a ballad, which made Gomez emotional. “She just started crying. She was like, ‘This is so beautiful. This is exactly what I wanted,” Michaels recalled. Tranter praised the pop singer for her ability to be honest in her music. “One of her superpowers is being so honest, and she’s going to give you her life in the lyric, but then when she gets on the mic, she does the same thing,” she explained. “She tells you the story, she brings you through her truth, and that is what makes great art.”
Fans can check out the full Song Exploder episode here.
It’s been over six months since Tiger King hit Netflix’s coffers, and yet it’s still a subject of not infrequent tabloid-y speculation and hairpin plot twists. Surely if you’d been told in March that animal rights activist Carole Baskin would wind up being in the news more than its ostensible protagonist, jailed former zookeeper Joe Exotic, you wouldn’t believe it. And yet here she is, on Dancing with the Stars. And — why not? — not she’s being sued for defamation of character.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, Anne McQueen, the former assistant of Baskin’s long-missing former husband Don Lewis, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Baskin, claiming that Baskin had smeared her name on a YouTube video released earlier in September. Baskin is said to have claimed McQueen played a role in Lewis’ disappearance. Since Tiger King’s release, there has been mostly baseless speculation that Baskin played a hand in what happened to him, spurred on by her nemesis Joe Exotic. Baskin has repeatedly denied these allegations.
But there’s more! Attached to the lawsuit is an amendment involving Lewis’ three daughters, formally demanding more information on what happened to their missing father, who was presumed dead two decades back. Back during Baskin’s maiden voyage on Dancing with the Stars, the daughters, McQueen, and the family attorney bought ad space during the broadcast, airing a commercial in which they asked the nation for information on Lewis’ disappearance. So, yes, yet another plot twist in the nonstop tale of Tiger King, the seven-part Netflix documentary series that won’t die.
Days after the release of Code Red, his joint album with Blac Youngsta, Moneybagg Yo was in Las Vegas to celebrate his 29th birthday with family and friends. Things were smooth sailing for much of the night when things took a scary turn: There was a shooting outside of the Aria Resort & Casino, where Moneybagg and friends were holding their soiree. According to Las Vegas police Capt. Dori Koren, the shooting, which took place around 11:08pm on Tuesday, occurred when the rapper went outside to receive a gift, prompting 80 to 100 people to join him. Koren says that as the group gathered, a fight broke out, which resulted in the shooting.
“Ultimately what we understand happened at this point and time was there was a rapper personality, goes by Moneybagg Yo, who was having some type of event at the Aria,” Koren said to Review Journal. “That fight, it turned into a shooting where one person was struck with gunfire in the leg. A non-life-threatening injury.” Despite what happened, Moneybagg doesn’t believe that he was target of the shooting.
“Shot at who? Ain’t no motherf*cker shot at us,” the rapper wrote in a post to his Instagram story. “I’m in a Maybach right now… my shoes off as I speak.” Thankfully there were no life-threatening injuries, and Capt. Koren believes that an arrest will soon be made. “We do have some really good leads that we are pursuing at this time,” Koren said. “And we are confident we will hold this person accountable for the shooting.”
The shooting arrives after Moneybagg debuted a new “Said Sum” remix with DaBaby and City Girls, which appears on Code Red.
On Wednesday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced the results of the grand jury investigation into police shooting and killing Breonna Taylor in her apartment while she slept. The result was just one of the three officers involved being indicted on any charges, and the “wanton endangerment” charge was for firing shots into other apartments, not for the shots that killed Taylor.
The reaction from around the country was one of frustration and disappointment, as it was the latest example of police officers not being held accountable for the shooting of a Black person. For those in the NBA and WNBA communities, who have spent months calling for justice for Breonna Taylor, the news was disheartening, with many expressing their frustration with the lack of charges for her killing. ESPN hosts Stephen A. Smith, Michael Wilbon, and Maria Taylor all offered thoughts on the situation and their disappointment in the continued insistence of the system to not bring officers who perpetrate violence towards Black Americans to justice ahead of the telecast of Game 4 between the Celtics and Heat on Wednesday night.
While some players from the Nuggets and Lakers spoke after their practices on Wednesday, LeBron James did not as he continued to process the news, but on Wednesday night he offered some thoughts on Twitter, offering his condolences to Taylor’s family and friends and expressing his devastation at the lack of charges — but that he was not surprised at this point.
I’ve been lost for words today! I’m devastated, hurt, sad, mad! We want Justice for Breonna yet justice was met for her neighbors apartment walls and not her beautiful life. Was I surprised at the verdict. Absolutely not but damnit I was & still am hurt and heavy hearted! I send
The most DISRESPECTED person on earth is THE BLACK WOMAN! I promise you I’ll do my best to change this as much as I can and even more!! LOVE to you QUEENS all over this country and beyond!
James, like many players in the league, has used his time in front of the microphone before and after games to call for justice for Taylor and speak out on the various issues facing Black Americans, from police violence to voter suppression, an issue he’s taken as his chief cause with More Than A Vote. The Taylor news felt like another setback and another example of how the system is skewed against Black Americans, despite plenty of external pressure and the attention of the entire country on the case to bring charges against the officers involved.
For much of the summer, Kanye West‘s main goal seemed to be securing a position on this year’s presidential ballots. However, as the seasons changed, so has his main pursuit. Now, Kanye seeks to spark an enormous change in the music industry, having spent the last week calling for changes to be made to the recording contracts that labels give their musical acts. He arrived at this obsession after discovering issues with his own contract with Sony and Universal. In a new interview with Billboard, Kanye elaborated on his new pet cause.
When asked if Universal has reached out about his contract complaints, Kanye replied, “We are in discussions but I don’t want them to just fix my situation.” He added, “I want this to be about fixing everyone’s situation.” He also argues that due to new elements in the music industry, such as apps, DSPs, and more, the old construct of recording contracts is no longer:
The music business is new now. You sign to a major, you put your songs in a huge pot of titles they use to negotiate with. Their power now comes not only in selling but INVESTING our songs into Apps, DSP platforms and so on. We create their value in getting our songs to earn us sales, but also equity. Removing things like [label-wide licenses] is just me pointing out the old deals cannot just [change] by adding the word “streaming” in the sales section. The business changed. Our catalogs, combined with other catalogs, equals POWER. If we contribute to that power, we get paid […] You have to adapt. You can’t have old rules for new games. No other business in the world would suggest you don’t adapt to a completely new supply chain and income sources. And yet we are tied to a contract formula for vinyl.
While some commend Kanye on his new fight, many believe he’s only in it for himself and not the rest of the industry, a claim he denies. “I will help set precedents, I will help develop better royalty portals and deal shapes. I will design how this flows with them. It won’t just be an ecosystem & numbers,” he said. It should be noted that Kanye announced Wednesday that GOOD Music artists will receive the 50% share of their masters that he owned.
He went on to reveal his strategy towards creating an improved industry.
Free All Artists by any means necessary. I will work to rip apart the structure we are attached to that pays people for music. We cannot have designed streaming, but not designed a new method for payment and ownership around it where we all benefit […] The balance of power is too off, the gap between major label profit and artist profit too wide; and I will work to re-think the design of the entire way we move in this space. Streaming re-invented the wheel and we all stuck on the sidewalk wondering if we have cab fare. We have to get out the Matrix.
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Most playoff PTS ever by a Heat rookie. 
