“The last thing that I would ever want is for summer camp to be looked back on in history — or in the fall — as part of the reason that we have a second outbreak.”

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It’s not every day you get to write about Pete Davidson, Nick Kroll, and Princess Diana in the same article, but when the opportunity presents itself, you have to take it.

Kroll was a guest on Monday’s episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, where he discussed, among other topics, his ‎Oh, Hello podcast with fellow funny-person John Mulaney. It’s very good, with an impressive collection of guests, including Sarah Koening, John “Horny for Adam Driver” Oliver, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Davidson. What is Pete Davidson, a 26-year-old from Long Island who “truly had no idea how Princess Diana died, or that she died at all,” doing on a podcast about the People’s Princess, you might be wondering? Gil Faizon (charmed, I’m sure) has an answer for that.

“What Pete did bring to the table was what it was like to be hounded by the paparazzi,” a bathrobe-wearing Kroll told Meyers, referring to Davidson’s relationship with Ariana Grande. “In a weird way, Pete was, in fact, the most useful guest on the podcast to give a sense of what it was like for Princess Diana, because I would say that SNL… I know that you’re a former cast member and writer, but they’re kind of our royalty.”

Diana was the princess of Wales, but Davidson? He’s the KING of freaking Staten Island. Easily one of the top-five boroughs in New York.

All while making her new album How I’m Feeling Now, Charli XCX has kept her fans fully involved, from constantly updating them on the record’s progress to using their creative input in songs. Now that the record is finished and out there, she has spoken about it with Music Week, revealing what the new album means for the one she was working on before it.

Charli said that she’s not sure she will continue working her pre-quarantine music because it feels old now:

“With most pop major label artists, there’s a level of extreme planning, a lot of pre-thought, pre-consideration, and set-up. That helps in so many ways for the pitch of the album, the longevity of the album and the relationship with the people you’re pitching the album to and I understand why it happens. But that doesn’t excite me that much. I’m really into the sporadic-ness of what I’m doing right now. One thing I will struggle with is, I was making a different album before quarantine and I do love a lot of those songs, but they’re going to feel so old to me if they do eventually come out. It just doesn’t inspire me to talk about songs I made a year-and-a-half ago.”

She also discussed her hopes for How I’m Feeling Now, saying, “Sales or streams or chart positions just aren’t my priority. It’s not the reason I make music. Thinking about that doesn’t make for good music. Success for this project would be to be able to look back on it as something representative of this situation we’re all in and something that felt like an audiovisual documentation of where I’m at as an artist, but also where my fan base, my LGBTQ fan base, my fellow producers and collaborators in our left-pop scene are at this point, what we were feeling and creating. I want it to feel like a time stamp, but also to still sound relevant when this is all over.”

Read more excerpts from the feature here, and read our review of How I’m Feeling Now here.

Charli XCX is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Billie Eilish has not been secretive about her love of The Office. The singer once said that the show is “like therapy” for her. Eilish even sampled an episode of the series in her debut album’s track “My Strange Addiction.” Last year, Eilish linked up with Dwight Schrute actor Rainn Wilson to get quizzed on some trivia about the show, and she nailed it. Now, the two have united once again, this time virtually, for another trivia session.

Wilson invited Eilish to join him on Soul Pancake’s Instagram Live as part of his series Hey There, Human. Wilson had previously hosted Eilish’s brother Finneas, but Eilish now had a chance to speak about music, how she’s coping with quarantine, and, of course, The Office.

Before getting into trivia questions, Eilish detailed how she’s been treating anxieties about the pandemic. The singer said that she was at first grateful for the time off, which she has echoed in other interviews, but has ultimately gotten back to making music: “It’s been really uninspiring to create, for me at least. I’ve talked to people who agree with me on that. At least in the beginning, I did not want to make a thing. I was not creative, I didn’t want to do anything, I didn’t want to make music, I didn’t want to write anything. Luckily, that kind of switched and I got to making some stuff.”

Eilish also offered her best advice for those struggling, which she said was practicing patience: “I think patience is really important right now. […] Especially right now, the only thing we can do is wait. The only thing that’s going on right now is time. It’s also not that hard to stay home.”

Wilson then posed a series of questions about his character in The Office after the singer admitted she’s seen the show 15 times. While Eilish aced her last trivia session with him, Wilson stumped her on a few questions this time around. Eilish correctly answered which book Jim had given Dwight to help him host a garden party, but couldn’t recall what 1,000 “truth bucks” could be redeemed for in the show.

Watch Eilish and Wilson’s chat above.

The weather is turning. The outdoors are slowly opening up. But that doesn’t mean that we’re putting down our whiskey and opting for lighter spirits like vodka, tequila, or rum instead (though we’re drinking those, too!). The fact is, we drink whiskey all year long around these parts. In hot weather, there are few simple cocktails we enjoy more than a highball with soda water, whiskey, and a lime wedge.

When it comes to picking whiskeys, we definitely try not to leave anyone out. We’ll mix (and sip) bourbons, ryes, Japanese whiskies, and pretty much every other variety of the spirit from all over the world. But the fact is, we get especially amped when we get our hands on a bottle of small batch whiskey.

You may have seen this term written on a bottle of whiskey before, maybe you even know have a sense for it denotes. While there’s technically no specific guidelines, “small batch” generally means the juice inside was made by using the contents of only a specific number of selected barrels. Which also means it typically costs a little more.

Since you’re likely to spend a little more cash to grab one of these bottles, we decided to ask the pros what they prefer when it comes to these much-loved expressions. A handful of our favorite bartenders told us their go-to small batch whiskeys for spring (and summer) drinking.

Barrell American Vatted Malt Whiskey

Pete Stanton, head bartender at Ai Fiori at The Langham in New York City

American Vatted Malt from Barrell Bourbon, I love the rich nutty Tennessee whiskey barrels with a bit of age. It’s perfect for sipping or a bold stirred cocktail. They can hit that sweet spot of rich ranch flavors without being too over-extracted with wood.

Angel’s Envy Bourbon

Jim Richard, chef at Stinky’s Fish Camp in South Walton, Florida

I don’t know anyone that that can deny the flavor and character of Rip Van Winkle, however, that is usually reserved for very special occasions so my more accessible go-to is Angel’s Envy because it’s smooth layered character yields complex flavor profiles.

Glenfiddich Winter Storm

Gord Hannah, head bartender at The Drake Hotel in Toronto

Small batch always translates to a sippin’ whiskey for me. When I sit down to a sip on a whisky, it is usually from Scotland. My favorite scotch whisky of late is the Winter Storm from the Glenfiddich Experimental Series. It is a small batch of 21-year-old scotch that is finished in Canadian ice wine barrels. This is a rare bottle and has gained notoriety among collectors. I was lucky enough to try it a few times and I have been on the hunt for this elusive bottle ever since.

Widow Jane 10-Year-Old Bourbon

Ian Clark, bar supervisor at Topside in Baltimore

Widow Jane 10-Year Bourbon out of New York City is my favorite small batch bourbon that is readily available. It’s extremely rich in flavor while being quite well-balanced; very complex flavors while retaining a solid smoothness.

Old Bardstown Estate Bourbon

Tim Wiggins, co-owner and beverage director of Yellowbelly in St. Louis

Right now, I am super into the small batch Old Bardstown Estate bourbon. It’s not the most flashy or sexy, but it’s damn good. It is 10 years old and a little over 100 proof and in my opinion has an amazing balance of sweetness and heat. It’s versatile in stirred cocktails and also tastes great neat.

1792 Small Batch Bourbon

Brandi Carter, beverage manager at Elvie’s in Jackson, Mississippi

When I go for small batch whiskey, I always go for bourbon. Specifically, I like 1792 Small Batch because its fruity notes lend itself to a nice, creamy duck fat washed whiskey.

Jefferson’s Reserve Very Old Bourbon

Brooke Baker, general manager at Underdog in New York City

When I think of small batch whiskey, one immediately comes to mind. I love Jefferson’s Reserve Very Old. It has a lovely spice with subtle banana notes. It works beautifully in a boulevardier.

Blanton’s Bourbon

Catalina Borer, bartender at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia

So many to choose from. I’ll compromise and give you my top three and point out my favorite. Angel’s Envy, Blanton’s, and Whistle Pig. They are all outstanding. If I had to take my pick with all three bottles in front of me I (think) would have to go with Blanton’s. Only because I would be crazy not to have a go at it when it’s available. It has an unmistakable toasted chocolate-butterscotch overnote that is so powerful both in nose and palate with the perfect touch of smooth cherry and peppercorn hints.

Four Roses Small Batch Select

Piero Procida, bartender at The London West Hollywood in Los Angeles

Four Roses Small Batch Select. It’s aged a minimum of 6-7 years and very well balanced. It’s very smooth and easy to drink with a wonderful long-lasting aftertaste. Drink it with some dark chocolate and watch it come roaring back with even more flavor. It does not overpower you with spice and pepper typical of so many bourbons, yet instead has wonderful hints of sweet caramel and oak. It has won many accolades for a small batch whiskey and is one of the faster-moving bourbons at our hotel.

Wright & Brown Distilling Rye

H. Joseph Erhmann, proprietor of ELIXIR in San Francisco

Oakland’s Wright & Brown Distilling is making some great whiskey. Their rye whiskey is a go-to for me and my staff. It’s an excellent representation of where California whiskey distillers are today in the rye world in particular. Sonoma County Distilling, Spirit Works, Old World Spirits, and Corbin Cash round out a great list of small batch California rye distillers that continue to grow.

Noah’s Mill Bourbon

Kyle Harlan, beverage director of Mission Taco Joint in Kansas City

Noah’s Mill or the Rowan’s Creek. I like to make things like Manhattans, old fashioneds, and lion’s tails with the Rowan’s Creek. The Noah’s Mill is my celebration bottle. It is hands down my favorite all-around whiskey that I have ever tried. (I have tried a LOT of whiskey). Smooth, rich, and well worth the price.

Former WWE wrestler Shad Gaspard went missing yesterday when he was caught in a riptide at Venice Beach. Reports circulated later that the search was called off, and this morning, TMZ provided an update from the Coast Guard confirming that is the case. In TMZ’s words:

The search to find Shad Gaspard has been suspended, the U.S. Coast Guard tells us.

We know there was at least one boat still searching for Gaspard on Tuesday morning … but it’s become clear the chances of finding the ex-WWE star are fading fast.

We’re told the case will not be closed until officials find the missing person — but for now, the efforts have been drastically scaled back.

Gaspard, who had worked as a stuntman, actor, and writer post-WWE and sometimes performed on the independent wrestling scene, was last seen as part of a group of swimmers at the recently-reopened Venice Beach who were caught in a riptide. Gaspard reportedly directed lifeguards to save his son first, then was submerged under a wave later in the rescue effort.

Gaspard’s family hasn’t spoken to the media about his disappearance, but has released a statement through the social media accounts of several wrestlers who knew him, saying, “@Shadbeast‘s family appreciates all the love, support, and concern through this horrible ordeal. At this time they are not ready to make any public or official statements to any media outlet and ask all to respect their wishes.”

Sports leagues across the world are still trying to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Some, like Germany’s Bundesliga and Korea’s KBO, have managed to return, while others are mapping out roads back, many of which involve playing games in empty stadiums for the foreseeable future. That’s particularly true in the United States, where professional sports continue to be on pause.

One sports league has decided that playing in front of fanless arenas is not a tenable path forward, and as such, it will not operate during 2020. The BIG3, Ice Cube’s halfcourt 3-on-3 basketball league composed of former NBA players, announced that it will not be able to take the floor this season, but thanks to its TV deal with CBS going through 2021, there will be a season next year.

“Ultimately, we need the fan experience and the games themselves to be great,” the league said in the release. “While other leagues have more immediate financial considerations, as a rising league, we need to put the fan experience above all and ensure each season is better than the one before. While we investigated many alternative scenarios, such as playing at a single location like a Los Angeles studio sound stage, the extension of the California stay at home order, California’s constant confusion and changing of the rules when combined with the multiple other issues listed above led to us to determining these scenarios were not feasible.”

“We tried everything in our power to give our fans a nice 2020 season but with a long list of obstacles, we decided to shift our focus to having a great 2021 season with our fans in the stands. Our goal from day one has always been to provide a remarkable experience full of top-level competition and entertainment,” Ice Cube said. “With the creation of BIG3: Not in My House and more time to prepare for the season, we will definitely come back with the fire.”

It’s surely a tough pill for the league to swallow, as it is still working to get off the ground in the U.S., but this is a sensible decision, especially because the league is confident this is just a one-year bump in the road. As Ice Cube mentioned, the league still plans on having some kind of activities this year via its Big Brother-style television show.

The shape of our future travels is gradually growing clearer. BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land will be big. So will the newly opened national parks (with strict social distancing). Road trips. Microadventures. Freaking picnics.

In short, Americans are going to spend more time exploring the 50 states that make-up our country and they’re going to do so in the great outdoors. Which brings us to Alaska. The Last Frontier. 365 million acres of elbow room. When the time is right — and local populations will dictate that more than anything else — exploring state number 49 offers the chance for adventure writ large and a meaningful connection to the wild.

To add a dose of grandeur and a little wanderlust to another week in quarantine, we reached out to Nikon photographer Taylor Gray. He gladly shared some of his favorite photos with us from a recent trip through three particularly picturesque parts of the Alaskan Frontier. We also hit him up for some camping and hiking suggestions — to ensure that your own adventure looks just as amazing as his — plus some info on where to hop on a longboard and soak in the beauty of it all.

Now, let’s jump into this visual tour of the Alaskan Frontier. All italicized captions are Taylor’s!

Crescent Lake

Doug Brewer, expert bush pilot and owner of Alaska West Air, flying through rainy weather as we made our way to Crescent Lake in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. This particular lake is known for the population of brown bears often seen frequenting its sandy shores.

Doug straightening out his DHC-3T Turbine Otter after parking it on the shoreline. The lake’s beautiful turquoise water can be seen in the background.

Where can we experience some great camping in Alaska?

Hatcher Pass or a backpacking trip to Exit Glacier. There is nobody else out there, it’s about a 5-mile hike roundtrip. You can find a camping spot out there easily.

I remember waking up, it was very windy, so I didn’t get a ton of sleep because the tent was shaking the entire time. I woke up at like 2 am and II looked out, and on Exit Glacier, it was just bathed in moonlight. It was pretty much daylight because it was so reflective, and it was really really beautiful. The next morning, to see the first light on the glacier, and this huge ice field, it’s really amazing. It’s a great scenic height, tons of great wildlife. If you go camping bring some bear spray.

In fact, if you’re camping anywhere in Alaska make sure to have some bear spray and know how to use it. There are a lot of bears! You might run into one on the trail at any moment.

A mother brown bear pokes her head above the water as she fishes for a tasty salmon dinner along the lake’s shallows.

The mother brown bear paces the shoreline, keeping a keen eye out for salmon as well as other competing bears in the area.

Where are the best hiking spots?

I’d say Hatcher Pass is one of my favorite areas, it’s easy to access. A lot of backcountry camping. The first night that I got into Alaska after driving up from California, I met up with a buddy of mine and he took us to Hatcher Pass, and we camped up there and watched the moon rise over the mountains and it was really incredible.

It’s really close to Anchorage, so it’s pretty accessible for people who can’t travel too far into the state.

After a long day of photographing brown bears, it’s time to go home. Doug coming in for a soft landing on the calm waters of Crescent Lake.

Denali National Park

My buddy Daniel skating the long, empty roads outside of Denali National Park. Because Alaska is so far north, it stays light outside for a much longer time during the summer months. This shot was taken at around 11:30 pm.

If there is one thing you have to do when visiting Alaska, what is it?

Depending on the year, if it’s the end of summer, early summer and it still gets dark out, try to see the Northern Lights. In Fairbanks, you have a third of the year you’re able to see the Northern Lights up there. I stayed up until early September and got to see it a couple of times.

If you’re in the summer months, go to Russian River Falls and watch the salmon. There are millions of salmon that run upstream and you can see them jumping out of the water. You can go right to the edge of the river and if you were to reach your hand in and scoop out a handful of water, you’ll come out with 10 fish. You get to watch them jump incredible heights to make their way upstream, there is nowhere else where you can really see that large amount jumping upstream.

Take a flight, doesn’t matter where you do it — Denali is my favorite. Get in a small plane, I promise you it will be worth it to see Alaska from the air, it’s just an experience like no other.

Early September brings stunning fall colors to Denali National Park, and I couldn’t resist quickly grabbing a shot of myself skating down the park’s photogenic roads.

What makes the Denali National Park such a great skate spot and do you have any favorite areas to ride?

The Denali roads, for the most part, are pretty well maintained, The road system goes way back into the park, like 80 some miles, but you have to take a tour bus there so I didn’t take my skateboard. But just along the park entrance roads, there are a lot of great mountains and a lot of great scenes. It’s a very scenic skate, and the roads are pretty smooth as well.

I don’t really know the specifics of the roads as much, but I do know there are a lot of great hills. The image with the fall colors, that road is actually the beginning of that 80-mile road that leads all the way back into the park, and you can drive up that far to that point and just pull off to the side of the road and just skate down.

Passing rain squalls and early morning light creates unique conditions deep inside the heart of Denali National Park. The scale and grandeur of this place is hard to wrap your head around and even harder to convey in a photograph.

While visiting Denali, I had the chance to meet up with a few friends and take a scenic flight over the park and its incredible landscapes. One of my friends told me, “You haven’t really seen Alaska’s landscapes until you view them from the air…” and they were absolutely right. Soaring above the colorful valleys and expansive mountain ranges was one of my all-time favorite experiences to date.

Denali and its surrounding mountains grow closer and closer as we fly further into the park. Because of its large size, Denali creates its own weather systems and is often covered in clouds. In fact, only 1-in-3 park visitors ever get to see the top of this impressive mountain because of this, so we got extremely lucky with the weather for this flight.

What’s one of the best areas of Alaska to view aerially?

Alaska is a place where you really can’t believe how large the mountains are, how wide the landscapes are, until you’re really there. I had this feeling of smallness the entire time I was there no matter where I went. It’s overwhelmingly large. You can get in a plane, get anywhere in the air and be content with viewing the landscapes below.

I’d say my favorite spot by far was flying over Denali National Park out of the town of Talkeetna. It’s a really incredible experience, I flew with the company Talkeetna Air, and the pilots are really great, really safe, they can take you super close to the sides of the mountains. It really feels like you can reach out and touch the ridges as you’re flying by.

I think its like, 1 in 100 Alaskans have their pilot’s licenses. 90% of the state can only be accessed by air, so flying is a huge part of the culture. It helps that everything is so scenic.

Slow-moving glaciers wind in and out of the snowcapped mountain ranges that surround Denali as the late afternoon light basks the landscape in a soft glow.

A final view of Denali through the plane window as we head back to Talkeetna, the town we first took off from.

A photo of our pilot, Michael Gold, as he weaves our plane in and out of the mountain ranges. Seeing Denali and its surrounding mountains from the air is an experience like no other. It was mesmerizing looking out of the windows and see nothing but mountains both above and below me — and snow-covered ridges so close, it felt like I could reach out and touch them. I highly recommend checking out Talkeetna Air Taxi if you are ever to make it up this way.

Harding Icefield

A lot of the locations I wanted to visit during my trip throughout Alaska were very spread out, which meant a lot of long hours in the car. I put around 10,000 miles on my car’s odometer during the 5-week trip, so I found it important to get out and stretch the legs every once and while. And that’s exactly what my friend Daniel and I did here, as we headed towards Harding Icefield.

The 8.2-mile round-trip hike to Harding Icefield follows Exit Glacier, pictured here, as it slowly carves its way through the valley. Harding Icefield is absolutely massive. It is over 700 square miles across and spawns over 40 different glaciers in the area. Again, the scale of this place is not easy to convey in a photograph.

Conditions weren’t particularly favorable during this hike as we were constantly being soaked by a steady drizzle. That being said, the area was still incredibly beautiful. An alpine glacier can be seen here above several waterfalls that cascade down the steep slopes into the valley floor below.

As we neared the trail’s end, it was impossible not to stop and admire the view every once and a while.

My friend Brandon gazes out at the huge crevasses in the ice field’s surface as low clouds drift across the alien landscape. Although the weather wasn’t very cooperative, this hike was definitely one of my favorite memories from the trip.

Where is the first place you want to go once quarantine ends?

I really want to go back to Yosemite National Park. I grew up in California, Yosemite is always just a stone’s throw away and a place I always go back to draw inspiration from. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of its views. There is the valley floor, where about 90% of visitors visit, but if you get up in the high country for some backpacking it’s really an unbelievable place.

To find out more about Taylor’s approach to photography and his travels, be sure to catch him on Instagram Live on Tuesday, May 19th, where the photographer will be hosting an Instagram Live Talk as part of Nikon’s Creators Hour, on the NikonUSA Instagram.

With the future of live music unclear, many are brainstorming creative ways to put on concerts while protecting the safety of fans, performers, and staff. One LA design company cooked up a futuristic bodysuit that would protect concertgoers against the virus, while a Florida DJ decided to host a drive-in music festival. But an Arkansas venue decided to take a different approach while hosting a Travis McCready concert this week, offering a possible blueprint for the future of many live shows.

TempleLive, a concert venue in Fort Smith, Arkansas, planned extensive measures in order to maintain proper social distancing practices during a concert Monday with Travis McCready, guitarist and vocalist of Bishop Gunn. According to TempleLive’s plan, the venue sought sanitation from a third party company, masks were required of all staff and patrons, and temperatures of attendees were taken upon entry. The venue restricted bathrooms to 10 people at a time and concession stands could only sell pre-packaged goods.

The performance was originally scheduled for May 15, but Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson postponed the event due to safety concerns from the state’s Department Of Health. The show was previously slated to host 229 people, which directly went against the state’s directives to cap audiences at 50.

While large venues like TempleLive are able to re-instate live shows sooner than anticipated, the pandemic still leaves smaller independent venues across the country at risk of closure. Many beloved independent venues aren’t able to maintain the same social distancing practices due to their size and number of staff members. Organizations like the National Independent Venue Association are doing what they can to support locally-owned venues by raising funds and tapping music lovers everywhere to pressure their legislators to provide relief.

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