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Daniel Suarez won Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the third-closest finish in NASCAR history. Suarez edged out Ryan Blaney by .003 seconds and Kyle Busch by .007 seconds in a wild three-wide drag race to the checkered flag.

The catalyst for the crazy finish was Busch, as he was the one who pushed it three-wide down the back stretch. Though he’s shifting his attention to his home race in Las Vegas this coming Sunday, he walked us through that final lap in Atlanta from his perspective in the No. 8 car.

“I thought, obviously, it was an exciting last lap. It was great for the fans. They really got a treat towards the end of that one,” Busch said over the phone on Thursday. “For us though, with our Cheddar’s Camaro, I felt like we had a fast car all day. We kept ourselves in the right positions, we stayed out of trouble, and we had that opportunity there at the end. So, I had a big push down the front stretch from Bubba Wallace and was able to get back up alongside the 99 car getting into one and two, and coming off of two, I knew I needed another push down the back stretch in order to kind of accelerate me through one more row, which would put me up alongside the 12. So, the 23 got to my back bumper off of two, gave me that push down the back stretch, and the 12 was in my lane, so I was like, ‘Well, hell, where am I gonna go?’ And fortunately, there was a pathway between he and the 99. So I was able to stick it three-wide on the entry to turn three, get alongside.”

However, the run Busch got down the back stretch and through turns three and four was too good, as he explained. As they exited four, Busch was in the lead position he was trying to avoid.

“And I kept telling myself during the caution before that last restart, I was like the only thing you can’t do is you can’t be ahead going into turn three. It will never work. You’ll never win if you’re ahead going into turn three,” Busch explained. “So, I get to turn three and I got a run and I’m not ahead of the 12, but I’m ahead of the 99. And then we get towards the exit of turn four and I am the one ahead, I’m too far ahead. And so both of those guys, the 12 on my inside and the 99 on my outside, were side drafting off of me, because I was furthest ahead.

“So, any time you were able to be side by side with somebody, the car ahead get some backwards from the draft, and so that was me [laughs] off of turn four and just didn’t come to the line with enough speed and enough nose length to be able to take the checkered flag,” he continued. “But great finish nonetheless, a lot happening and 185-90 miles an hour, and glad we we finished straight. No crash, no nothing. We just were able to put on a whale of a photo finish.”

I asked Busch whether there’s anything he would do differently in that spot if he had a chance to do it all over again, or if you just have to go with the run you’ve got. Overall, Busch wouldn’t change the move he made to jump to the middle of the track when Blaney blocked him, noting when you have a run like that, you can’t expect to get it again. However, once there, he would probably look to take a bit of a gamble to hold back and try to get the side draft to his advantage coming down the front stretch.

“One thing to try would have been just dragging a little bit of brake when I was alongside the two of them to pull me further behind through the middle of turns three and four, and get myself to where I was a nose behind coming out of turn four,” Busch said. “So, when we got straight on the front stretch, then I was able to power through the middle of them and use my car as the side draft on the each of them to pull myself through the middle, so that would have been the only other thing to try. I’m not sure if it would work, but that would have been the thought that I should have done.”

The finish in Atlanta was the type of racing NASCAR was hoping for when they re-profiled Atlanta Motor Speedway three years ago, resurfacing the old asphalt that chewed up tires and raising the banking to 28 degrees — the highest of any track on the circuit — to facilitate more pack racing similar to what we see at superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega. That decision was a bit controversial in the garage, as drivers preferred the old surface even though it was hard on tires because it required a bit more tact and skill to navigate your way around the track for 400 miles.

Busch falls into that group that preferred the old track, but with the way Sunday’s race panned out, he knows it delivered on what NASCAR was hoping for — and was glad it wasn’t just a crash-fest.

“I would definitely say I liked the old Atlanta better, just more racy for the driver, more opportunity for the driver to control his own outcome, if you will,” Busch said. “But this package here with the restrictor plate package, with the drafting package at Atlanta with the higher banking and the speeds and stuff that we carry, it puts on a good show. Overall, I felt like the race was a good race. The fans should have enjoyed it. There was a little bit of crashing, there was one huge big pile up. Some of the cars came out of that and still raced on for the day. Some of them were done for the day, which is tough for the guys that were involved in that. A couple single car crashes later in the day, some issues of guys getting into pit road, so you kind of saw a little bit of everything. And then obviously at the end there, you saw great finish, too. So, pretty exciting stuff from my standpoint, I don’t know how it could get better.”

As he shifts his attention to Las Vegas, Busch admits he’s put a little too much pressure on himself at his home track before, pushing for wins and putting himself in some bad spots. Recently, he’s tried to be a bit more patient and let the race come to him, noting that’s how he won it in 2009, and that’s allowed him to pick up back-to-back third place finishes in Vegas. As they head out to the desert, he notes those are “good, solid days,” but he’s hoping for a bit more this time around.

It’ll be his second time around at his home track driving for Richard Childress Racing, as he made the move from his longtime home in the No. 18 with Joe Gibbs Racing to the No. 8 Chevy in 2023. He’s enjoyed the opportunity of getting to work with another team and learning a new operation after 14 years with JGR, as they once again are off to a hot start, holding a one-point edge over William Byron in the early Cup Series points standings.

“I’ve had fun being able to learn the system and get to work with Richard and Austin [Dillon] and my team guys, Randall [Burnett] and everybody,” Busch said. “So, we obviously had a really good start to the season last year. We came out of the gate ready to go and then we kind of fell off and tapered off as the year went, so we want to change that, fix that, and make sure that we’re ready to go the whole year and we can be just as strong at the end as we are in the beginning, and here we are doing the same things. You know, we finished second at the Clash. We had a shot to win Daytona, I felt like I put myself in the wrong row on a restart and instead of going forwards I went backwards and that hurt us for the finish there. But then, at Atlanta, was able to obviously come out close on top there, .007 behind with our Cheddar’s Camaro. Just ready to go to Vegas and if we can run like we did the last time we were in Vegas, which was a top three finish, that’ll be a great day and it’ll help our points lead that we have and we can carry on some more good momentum.”

As Busch noted, a year ago he won three times in the first half of the year, but struggled to find the same results in the back half of the year, falling back to finish 14th in the final standings. This year, the message for the No. 8 team is to be more consistent over the full season to compete for a championship, which is a responsibility that gets shared from top to bottom on the team.

“It’s not just one thing,” Busch said. “I think there’s a bunch of little things that kind of have to add up in order to get you to where you need to be for that. So yeah, I mean, we’ve been talking about that. We’ve been working on that. I think some of it has to do with the car prep at the shop. I think some of it has to do with NASCAR kind of changing their procedures throughout the year and us just not keeping up with that. And also the competition. The competition is always looking at you and what you’re doing and how you’re doing it and how they can do it and how they can be better and making themselves out-do you. So, you just got to be ready for all of that.”

For a supposed billionaire, Donald Trump sure is having a hard time paying all the civil judgments against him. On the heels of reports that Trump can’t cover the cash bond from his New York City fraud cause, E. Jean Carroll‘s lawyers are slamming the former president for attempting to delay payment of the $83.3 million Trump owes her after repeatedly defaming her and being found liable for sexual assault.

According to Carroll’s lawyers, Trump has “no basis” for delaying the payment, particularly while offering no timeframe or explaining how he’ll cover the judgment. More damningly, Carroll’s lawyers note that the delay raises serious questions about Trump’s liquidity and how much money the supposed real estate tycoon actually has, if any at all.

Via The Guardian:

“The reasoning Trump offers in seeking this extraordinary relief boils down to nothing more than ‘trust me’. He doesn’t offer any information about his finances or the nature and location of his assets. He doesn’t specify what percentage of his assets are liquid or explain how Carroll might go about collecting,” reads the 36-page opposition document.

“He simply asks the Court to ‘trust me’ and offers, in a case with an $83.3 million judgment against him, the court filing equivalent of a paper napkin; signed by the least trustworthy of borrowers,” the document continues.

The rebuke from Carroll’s lawyers arrives shortly after Trump’s legal team revealed that the former president will need to sell assets to cover the bond in his Manhattan fraud case because the alleged billionaire doesn’t have $450 million on hand.

Gold toilets? Oh, sure. But actual cash? He’ll have to get back to you. Let him crunch a few numbers, we’ll talk soon.

(Via The Guardian)

Historically, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Jr are treated as opposing forces in the fight for social justice and liberation – with one being a Baptist pastor who famously advocated for non-violence and the other being one of the most vocal supporters of the Nation of Islam who popularized the phrase “by any means necessary” as a rallying cry for the oppressed. But how does that idea stand up in the new season of Nat Geo’s Genius, which is focused on MLK and Malcolm X?

“It is the impetus for the entire series, in that we are challenging the narrative that these two men were rivals and we’re challenging the narrative that you had to pick between being either Team Martin or Team Malcolm,” executive producer and co-showrunner Damione Macedon tells UPROXX of Genius: MLK/X series. “We’ve pitted these two men against each other and pitted their ideologies against one another, and what we examined in the research and what we’ve come to really understand with hindsight is we need both of them. We need both of those perspectives to not only move all of us in the right direction but also overcome the hurdles that they so accurately articulated.”

To examine the story, the series expands beyond Martin and Malcolm into their lives, focussing on the story of Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz, as well. “Part of what we hope to accomplish is putting a spotlight on who they were as human beings and allowing our audience to find something within what they see within each one of our four leads, and hopefully, become inspired and engaged and then become active out there in our society,” executive producer and co-showrunner, Raphael Jackson Jr. says.

To get their take on the project and the experience of playing these iconic women and figures in American history, Uproxx spoke with Weruche Opia and Jayme Lawson, who played Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz, touching on the impact of the experience of it all.

To start us off, I’m curious as to what kind of preparation either of you did to get into your roles.

Weruche Opia: A lot of prayer, but a lot of research, a lot of reading, a lot of searching inside and asking myself questions, ‘Yeah, am I up to this?’ I will say that one of the books that I really read was one of [Coretta’s] autobiographies called My Love, My Life, My Legacy. And I feel like that gave me an insight into who Coretta was. Lucky for me, and very much of a privilege, is that there are some similarities between myself and her. She’s a woman of faith, so am I. In the book, it states that she makes a lot of her decisions through prayer, and I was like, ‘Ooh, that’s what I do.’

So just finding the similarities between us, I think, propelled me and encouraged me to be like, ‘Okay, this is something I can do.’ But I also had to remind myself and give myself the grace that I am not the Coretta Scott King, and all I can do is lend myself to her legacy and show the world my understanding of who she was. Again, treated with the most respect, the most reverence taken, the huge responsibility. But I think all I can do is my best, and I’m hopeful that my best was good.

Jayme Lawson: It all starts with the research. It starts with, for me, finding credible sources on Dr. Betty Shabazz. Just growing up with an awareness that there was a lot of misinformation out there on Malcolm X. And so then, how much more difficult is it to then find the right tellings on Dr. Betty Shabazz? So sourcing out those papers or the books, listening to her interviews, and all of her speaking publicly, was after Malcolm was taken from her.

So starting there and figuring out, ‘Well, how do I backtrack and craft the woman before Malcolm, and track her throughout?’ I would listen to different recordings at different points of her life to also craft her voice. What does her voice sound like pre-Malcolm? After she’s given birth to six children? And then, after he’s taken, what does grief do to the body and the voice? So it was all-encompassing research. Even getting to set and talking with the costume designers about, ‘Okay, let’s add padding in the evolution of her, right?’ Because this is a woman who gave birth to six children, so I need to look like I’ve got some hips. You know what I mean? If we’re going to go for the truth, let’s go for the truth. It was subtle, it’s not noticeable, but it was something to just help me sit in her differently, at different points of her life.

Was there a particular moment where you felt that you really locked in and had what you needed, to really get this role accomplished and really get into it?

Opia: I honestly felt like that the first day on set, I would say. I remember the first day clearly, and I think we were the first camera up, I think, me and Kelvin [Harrison]. And we were both terrified.

But once it’s all together, and I look at myself in the mirror, and I don’t see myself, it is like, ‘Okay, it’s go time.’ And I would say the very first scene, which is actually the very first scene that we have in the show. It was the first scene that we shot. And so, even watching it back, I’m like, my accent hadn’t settled yet, but I remember being in the costume, being in the head, being at that hotel that felt like it was back then. That was a moment. It was like, ‘Yo, this is happening for real. Let’s get it, Coretta.’

Lawson: I’d say similar, honestly, when we all come together, that’s the beautiful thing about what we do. It’s really a collaboration of all artists.

Putting on the hair and the makeup and the costuming, and all the work that I did with the dialect coach, everything. Even what the grips are doing, and the lighting, and everything comes together, and you start to see the world that’s been built from the designers, and you step into it, and it’s like, ‘Okay, now I can begin to start taking some ownership.’ Because I’m not just on an island by myself kind of crafting it. Now, I can take on everybody’s involvement and investment in these figures.

Opia: It’s a beautiful song. I was just sitting here, as you were speaking about this, I just saw this imagery of different instruments coming in at different points, and it all comes together, and it’s one beautiful sound, a beautiful song. And that is honestly how I feel this project has turned out. It’s a beautiful song.

When we see a story about Malcolm or Martin, it primarily focuses on one of them. And then, if anything, we get a cameo for the other one or something along those lines. What do you think is the benefit of telling their stories simultaneously, like in this series?

Lawson: It’s huge, honestly. Because I think what the show will do, what it did for us reading it, is dispel the narrative that they were against each other.

Opia: Diametrically opposed.

Lawson: Yeah. And that, for some reason, we have to feel as though we have to choose one or the other, right? We’re cutting that out. It’s not an either/or. It’s a both/and, right? We don’t have the movement at the height of what it was and is, we don’t get to where we are, any of us if we had one and not the other. And so the benefit of this show is showing them side-by-side, and how they were both fighting for the same exact things. They just had different means, and they reached different audiences. Malcolm couldn’t reach Martin’s audience, and Martin couldn’t reach Malcolm’s. In doing so, it brought the entire community together.

There was a fight, a communal fight, for dignity and respectability, and a restoration of self and community. They weren’t against each other. And that’s what I am hopeful that a lot of people will see. And also, that they were young men. These were young men who started these movements in their twenties. They didn’t have it figured out, they didn’t fully know themselves.

While the series definitely does focus primarily on Malcolm and Martin, it also gives us a very intimate look into their inner circles, including the characters that you both played, Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz. What was it like to be able to depict those more private, intimate moments in this case, that we don’t typically get to see?

Opia: It was beautiful, and it was lovely to enjoy. Like Jayme said, seeing these men as young men, and as young men who achieved great things, and they weren’t waiting for a perfect moment. I loved the fact that we got to explore them, because a lot of the times, what we see of them in portrayals of them is mostly just the big moments. But I think in showing the little moments; having dinner, dancing with your wife, eating ice cream, it shows and highlights the humanity of these larger-than-life people. It shows their complexities. Even though they have managed to achieve all these great things, they also had issues that they dealt with, they might have had mental health struggles. They were struggling with fear. They definitely had imposter syndrome, you know what I mean?

And so, being a part of it, to show the humanity of them, to show the everyday parts of them, showing them as wives, as lovers, as friends, and showing the men as sons, as brothers, because they were human. It was just beautiful to have been able to portray that and show that. And hopefully, that will affect people. Like Jayme said, to realize that you don’t have to wait. There’s this thing about waiting for a hero to come and rescue us, but we are actually heroes ourselves. It just takes a matter of commitment, unwavering decision, and unwavering desire to do something great, or fight for a great cause, and great things happen.

How would each of you define success for this project? Is it something that you’re particularly looking for, as far as impact? Or is there something that can even be measured, in that sense?

Opia: Look, just as we said, people looking within themselves and realizing they don’t have to wait for a hero. If you have a burning desire, if you have a burning purpose, no, you can’t wait to have it all figured out.

Lawson: Because then your time will pass.

Opia: Do you know what I’m saying? And these men, I don’t think they knew they were going to… They were just so convinced, and they were so busy minding their business and focusing on their business, and this is what happens when you mind your business.

Lawson: Mind your business, stand on business.

Opia: Stand on business. And it’s that conviction of knowing that something is a greater purpose, and you’re so convinced about it, and you’re willing to do whatever it takes. And I hope that people encompass that in their lives, and just give themselves the grace to chase whatever it is that they feel they’re here on this earth to do, and let everything else fall into place.

Lawson: Yeah, I think I’m actually getting to witness the success of this show already. Because for me, a big win is the fact that it’s reaching different generations, that I’m already getting calls from family members and friends, where the grandmother and the grandson are sitting on the couch watching the show together, and both are able to enjoy it.

Opia: I love that.

Lawson: And that is a big win for me, especially because, honestly, I was nervous about the older generation wanting to even watch this show, or have any acceptance of it. Because rightfully so, they have a different level of protection over Malcolm and Martin, and Betty and Coretta, because they grew up with them, and knew them in a different way than the rest of us do.

And so to know that they are actually looking forward to the new episodes each week, and wanting to watch, and feel like they’re actually learning some things that they didn’t know, that is a major win, and I’m very happy about that.

Opia: Unification.

All episodes of ‘Genius:MLK/X’ are available to stream on Hulu and Disney+ now.

There are so many fantastic (and mediocre) tequilas on the market right now that it can create some mild anxiety while you’re scanning the store shelves. As always, there are two key elements when shopping: flavor and price.

While it isn’t necessarily true that you have to spend more money for better tequila it certainly helps. Having said that, there are plenty of bottles out there that aren’t quite worth their hefty price tags. Plus some cheaper bottles that punch way above their weight.

To help ease your shopping experience, we decided to see how well bottles $50 and under would perform against bottles $100 and over in the only fair way we know how. That’s right, we’re talking about a blind taste test!

Methodology

I’ll admit this isn’t a perfect test. There are plenty of bottles that are above $50 but don’t reach that triple-digit price point which would’ve been good candidates to go against the more expensive bottles, but I think this will be an interesting way to see how well more budget-minded bottles perform against the luxurious stuff.

For this blind taste test, I sectioned off my collection of tequila into two groups: below $50 and above $100. I didn’t separate the bottles by expression and instead had my girlfriend choose four bottles from each group at random. This ended up giving me a selection of blanco, reposado, and añejo tequilas.

It was a wild ride for my palate, but I love a challenge. Here is our tasting class, along with the prices from low to high.

• Espolòn Reposado — $24.99
• Teremana Blanco — $23.99
• Hijole! Silver — $36.99
• Tres Agaves Añejo — $37.99
• Cierto Private Collection Reposado — $119.99
• El Tesoro Knob Creek Añejo Mundial 2023 — $169.99
• Casa Noble Marques De Case Noble Añejo — $164.99
• Patron El Alto Reposado — $154.99

Once the bottles were shuffled, I had my girlfriend pass me one pour at a time (again, at random). Here are my tasting notes and first impressions.

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Part 1: The Tequila Blind Taste Test

Taste 1:

Nose: Heavy on the vanilla, almost overwhelmingly so with a warm and inviting kiss of oak to balance it out.

Palate: There is a corner store chocolate bar quality to this. Makes me think of Hershey with a bit of vanilla. I’m not tasting any agave here, unfortunately.

Finish: Incredibly smooth. Almost no burn here.

Taste 2:

Nose: Very mellow and warm and completely dominated by caramelized agave.

Palate: More roasted agave on the palate with a mix of rich caramel and zesty citrus.

Finish: A nice buttery finish with a bit of a burn and a lingering oak flavor.

Taste 3:

Nose: Raw agave on the nose, a bit of cracked black pepper, and a wet grassy earthiness. There is a juiciness to the nose that I’m loving.

Palate: All of that interest on the nose is missing from the palate. I get some gentle agave flavor, but what I’m tasting here is mostly neutral with a bit of an alcohol burn.

Finish: That grassiness returns on the finish, but I’m not tasting a whole lot here. So far this is our bottom.

Taste 4:

Nose: Warm and lush roasted agave on the nose, rich oak, and a tiny bit of smoke. The aroma is truly delightful, it has a level of complexity none of the bottles have given us so far.

Palate: Despite its oak and smoke aroma, there is a surprising fruity juiciness to this tequila. In addition to some pear, I’m tasting citrus peel, black pepper, and cinnamon with a kiss of floral honey.

Finish: Slight minerality with a soft oak finish and some spicy cinnamon.

Taste 5:

Nose: Completely dominated by chocolate and vanilla. I know this is an añejo but I’m not getting any oak here.

Palate: Warm and spicy with more vanilla and chocolate.

Finish: Smooth and neutral. There is an unfocused quality about this tequila. I wouldn’t call it bad, but it’s not doing much for me.

Taste 6:

Nose: A nice balance of caramel and agave. I’m getting a sense of cinnamon. Overall there is a soft inviting quality to this one.

Palate: Rich roasted agave, a touch of vanilla, some chili and black pepper, and bright and juicy mango.

Finish: Spicy cinnamon and bitter coffee with a light oakiness.

Taste 7:

Nose: Roasted agave and sweet delicate floral honey offset by some spicy cinnamon sticks.

Palate: A gentle black pepper flavor balanced with juicy tangerines. There is a nice sense of balance here.

Finish: More citrus on the finish, but the zest rather than the juice with a strong wet oak flavor.

Taste 8:

Nose: Finally something that is nice and vegetal. There is a sharp brightness here. It’s warm and sings the nostrils in the best way.

Palate: Some agave and a bit of funk. The nose kind of misled me here. I was expecting something that would bloom on the palate, but this is kind of one note.

Finish: There just isn’t a lot here. It may work as a neutral base for a cocktail but there isn’t much of a flavor to latch onto.

Part 2: The Tequila Ranking

8. Hijole! Silver (Taste 3)

ABV: 40%
Price: $36.99

The Tequila:

I always feel bad for whatever bottle snags the last-place spot, but it is what it is. The reason this bottle fell short was because it lacked character. Compared to the other bottles we tasted, this just didn’t have anything that memorable.

Hijole! Silver is produced at NOM 1614, Tequilera Tap, using agave harvested at six years maturity and cooked in an autoclave for 24 hours before being roller mill extracted, and fermented in a stainless steel pot.

The Bottom Line:

It does not have a strong enough character to really compete with the other bottles in this tasting.

7. Patron El Alto (Taste 1)

ABV: 40%
Price: $154.99

The Tequila:

This was the biggest surprise of the tasting. Patron El Alto is not cheap, it’s a luxurious blend of extra añejo, añejo, and reposado tequilas, but the flavor is so stamped out that it couldn’t cut it in a blind taste test. It’s smooth to the point of being characterless.

The tequila is produced at Patrón’s distillery, NOM 1462, using agave cooked in stone brick ovens that is then tahona extracted and rested in American white oak barrels.

The Bottom Line:

Smooth and luxurious, but lacking any agave bite.

6. Teremana Blanco (Taste 8)

ABV: $40%
Price: $23.99

The Tequila:

Teremana, aka The Rock’s tequila, is made from agave sourced from the highlands of Jalisco. The pinas are roasted in brick ovens and distilled in copper pot stills. I’m not that familiar with this expression and I was delighted by the bright juiciness of its aroma. Unfortunately what I got on the nose didn’t translate to the flavor, which tasted a bit too neutral to me.

The Bottom Line:

For the price it’s impressive, it has a delicate and natural quality to it but it’s missing a big flavor to have it stand out against the competition.

5. Marques de Casa Noble Añejo (Taste 5)

ABV: 40%
Price: $164.99

The Tequila:

Another big surprise here, Casa Noble’s top-of-the-line expression didn’t quite stand out the way I would’ve expected. This bottle delivered a lot of luxurious smoothness but had an unfocused flavor that didn’t resonate with me.

The tequila features a blend of añejo and extra añejo tequilas that were aged between one and five years in French oak barrels.

The Bottom Line:

Very smooth and a delightful sipper, but compared to the other bottles the flavors just aren’t strong enough here.

4. Espolón — Reposado (Taste 2)

ABV: 40%
Price: $24.99

The Tequila:

By far, this was the biggest surprise of the tasting. For the price, there is a lot of interesting nuance to the flavor. It’s mellow, rich, and smooth, but not so smooth that the bright agave flavors have been rubbed out.

Espolón is produced at NOM 1440, Campari, using agave that is aged for three months in American White oak barrels.

The Bottom Line:

For the money, you’re not going to find another tequila this nuanced and interesting. I’ll take Espolón over several expensive bottles any day.

3. Tres Agaves Añejo (Taste 7)

ABV: 40%
Price: $37.99

The Tequila:

Tres Agaves Añejo is pretty solid. This bottle performed incredibly well. Like the Espolón, I think you’re getting a lot of value out of this bottle, which offers the complexity of aged tequila without the high price that comes with spending more time in the barrel.

Produced at NOM 1614, Tequilera Tap, Tres Agaves is made using agave cooked in a high-pressure autoclave that is roller mill extracted and rested for 18 months in repurposed Kentucky Bourbon and Tennesse Whiskey barrels.

The Bottom Line:

A fantastic aged tequila that gives you a lot of deep flavor and character without the high price tag.

2. Cierto — Private Collection Reposado (Taste 6)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $119.99

The Tequila:

Cierto has had a strong presence at the International Spirits Competition NYC, Craft Distillers Spirits Competition, San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and Sip Awards. It’s a competition darling and one taste is all it takes to see why. In our little blind taste test, this bottle performed incredibly well, it doesn’t have the depth and complexity of our number one pick, but it came damn close and was clearly ahead of everything ranked before it.

The tequila is produced at NOM 1146, Tequileña, and is aged for 11 months in French Limousin oak barrels.

Bottom Line:

A premium tequila that lives up to its hype and price tag.

1. El Tesoro — Mundial Knob Creek Edition Añejo (Taste 4)

ABV: 40%
Price: $169.99

The Tequila:

This was one of our favorite tequilas of 2023 and being that it is made by El Tesoro, one of the best tequila brands right now, we’re not surprised this took the top spot. What makes this aged limited edition tequila special is that it is aged for 12 months in charred oak barrels that once housed Knob Creek bourbon, giving it a sort of savory whiskey quality. It’s a real pleasure to sip.

It has all the smooth and luxurious qualities you’d expect from an aged tequila but doesn’t come across as artificial, giving the agave room to translate through. This was far and above the best tequila we tasted today.

I wanted to come away from this tasting with a sub $100 bottle taking the top spot, but it’s just too hard for those cheaper bottles to compete with the complexity here.

The Bottom Line:

A wonderful depth of flavor and character. A true joy to sip and easily the best bottle in this blind taste test. Price isn’t always everything, but with this bottle, it truly feels worth every penny. It’s the type of bottle you bring out for specific moments.

If you’ve ever taken a sewing class then you’ve probably had the pleasure of some older woman telling you to stick the loose end of the thread in your mouth as an easy way to thread it through the eye of a needle. Even with the soggy thread mending together the fibers at the end, you hands still shake and your eyes go crossed while you try to get it through the tiny hole.

But it turns out that there’s a much easier way to thread a needle and it doesn’t involve licking it. In fact there’s more than one way to thread a needle that will save you a headache from trying to see where the thread is going. There’s one particular technique that has people thinking there may be witchcraft involved, but it’s just science.

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In the method blowing everyone’s minds, you simply lay the thread across your palm and rub the eye of the needle back and forth until a loop pops through the eye of the needle.

Then there’s there’s the toothbrush method. Yeah, that sounds weird and it probably wouldn’t be advisable to use your daily toothbrush for this. This method appears to be super easy and you can visibly see how this works. To get this to work, get a clean toothbrush and lay it flat on its back with the bristles up, lay the strand of thread on top and then push the eye of the needle down over the thread. The tiny bristles simply push the thread through the eye.

@metdaan.official

The easiest way to thread a needle! 💯 #thread #needle #hack #fyp #learnontiktok

Apparently, you can also use a paper airplane to get the thread into the needle. It seems a little more time consuming than the other methods but also gets the job done. But there’s also the tried and true method of simply using a needle threader which can be found near the thread and needles in craft and fabric stores.

Rescuing a pet is an amazing and heroic undertaking.

7.6 million pets go into shelters each year, according to the ASPCA. And of those pets, about 2.7 million pets are rescued by humans who give them forever homes.

Moscow-based comic artist Bird Born experienced firsthand the power of welcoming a pet into your family when he adopted a dog.

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Then his journey to understand his newest animal friend inspired an adorable and incredibly moving comic, too.

Follow this artist’s journey to help his new friend feel welcome in his home:

Rescuing animals is a big commitment, and of course it doesn’t come without challenges.

When adopting any animal, there’s fear and uncertainty about their past life. Were they abused? Were they malnourished? How will they respond to humans?

Despite this, Born persevered with his new dog. “It took a lot of love and care to prove this animal that she was loved and needed,” he writes in his comic.

Today, he can rest easy knowing one less dog is in need. And that’s proof enough that adopting a dog can make the world a better place.

This article originally appeared on 08.23.16.

In 2013, I found out I was pregnant with triplets.

Image via iStock.

My husband and I were in shock but thrilled at the news after dealing with infertility for years. And it didn’t take long for the comments to begin. When people found out, the usual remarks followed: “Triplets?! What are you going to do? Three kids at once?! Glad it’s not me!”

After mastering my response (and an evil look reserved for the rudest comments), I figured that was the worst of it. But little did I know I would be facing far worse comments after two of my triplets passed away.

On June 23, 2013, I gave birth to my triplets, more than four months premature.

My daughter, Abigail, passed away that same day; my son, Parker, died just shy of 2 months old. Before then, I didn’t know much about child loss; it was uncharted territory. Like most people, I wouldn’t know how to respond or what to say if a friend’s child passed away.

Image via iStock.

But two years later, I have found that some things are better left unsaid. These comments come from a good place, and I know people mean well, but they sure do sting.

Here are my top five things not to say to a grieving parent — and the thing I love to hear instead.

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1. “Everything happens for a reason.”

It’s a cringeworthy comment for those of us who have lost a child. Sometimes, there is no rhyme or reason for why things happen in life. A parent should not outlive their child. I don’t know why my body couldn’t handle my pregnancy or why I went into labor at 22 weeks.

This phrase goes along with another I often hear: “God only gives us what we can handle.” I remember talking with my childhood rabbi the night before my son passed away, and I asked her, “Why me?” Her response is something I now live by every single day. She said, “God doesn’t give us only what we can handle. He helps us handle what we’ve been given.”

2. “They are in a better place.”

Instead of comforting, this is a phrase that makes me feel down in the dumps. I longed to be a parent for so many years. And children are meant to be in the loving arms of their parents.

I think I speak for every grieving mother and father when I say, we would give anything to hold our babies again.

3. “At least you have one survivor. Count your blessings.”

I like to think of myself as a positive person. But even two years later, my heart still aches for Parker and Abby. And on the most difficult, dark days of grief, it’s hard to “count my blessings.”

Yes, I am blessed. I have a gorgeous miracle child who is the light of my life. But Peyton should be playing with her brother and sister in our home, not just waving to their pictures and blowing kisses to heaven.

4. “You are still young. You can have more children.”

It doesn’t matter whether or not our biological clock is ticking. Many people have no idea what couples go through to have a child: Some can’t have children of their own; others may face years of infertility or miscarriages. And for people like me, trying for more children may be something too scary to even think about. I came close to death after delivering my children — that’s enough to scar me for life.

5. “I don’t know how you do it. I couldn’t imagine losing two children.”

Some days I don’t know how I do it either. But we learn how to live with it. We learn a “new normal,” and in those tough moments, we celebrate that we survived the day. This comment is a difficult reminder of our grief and the children who were sent to heaven.

So, what should you say to a grieving parent?

There are no words to take the pain away, of course, but simply letting that person know you are there for them is more than enough.

For me, the best thing someone can do is to talk about my angels. Say Parker and Abby by name, and don’t be afraid to ask questions about them.

While they were only here for a short time, they left a huge imprint on this world. I love talking about my angels, and simply hearing someone else mention them by name is enough to wipe away the grief and warm my heart for days.

This article was written by Stacey Skrysak and originally appeared on 7.15.16

When I saw these incredible photos Angelo Merendino took of his wife, Jennifer, as she battled breast cancer, I felt that I shouldn’t be seeing this snapshot of their intimate, private lives.

The photos humanize the face of cancer and capture the difficulty, fear, and pain that they experienced during the difficult time.

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But as Angelo commented: “These photographs do not define us, but they are us.“

This article originally appeared on 11.5.13

Remember Brendan Fraser? 10 years ago, he was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Then, he suddenly disappeared.

If you were a kid in the late ’90s and early ’00s, chances are you saw a Brendan Fraser movie. The comedy and action star catapulted to fame behind blockbusters like “The Mummy” franchise, “George of the Jungle,” “Looney Tunes: Back in Action,” and the Oscar-winning film “Crash.”

But after 2008, he largely disappeared from major starring roles. His absence wasn’t due to drugs, a sex-scandal, or illness — despite memes and even reported articles speculating about his career arc, with many blaming it on poor career choices.

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Fraser revealed in a recent interview that an incident of sexual harassment led him to withdraw from his high-profile lifestyle.

Lately, the actor has gradually returned to more high-profile roles, and in an interview with GQ, he explained that the real reason he stepped back from the spotlight was because of being physically groped by Philip Berk, a former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

In his own book, Berk admitted to “pinching” Fraser in the buttocks after an event, but Fraser says the incident was much worse. “His left hand reaches around, grabs my ass cheek, and one of his fingers touches me in the taint. And he starts moving it around.”

“I felt ill. I felt like a little kid,” he told GQ. “I felt like there was a ball in my throat. I thought I was going to cry.”

He said it’s time to speak out, and other male victims of harassment are supporting him.

Berk has called the allegation a “total fabrication” but acknowledges he sent Fraser an apology letter after the incident when the actor complained to the HFPA. Fraser said he tried to bury his feelings about the incident, but he was moved into action after seeing actresses and actors speaking up at this year’s Golden Globes.

“Am I still frightened? Absolutely. Do I feel like I need to say something? Absolutely. Have I wanted to many, many times? Absolutely. Have I stopped myself? Absolutely.”

Despite his reservations, people seem to believe, and be genuinely moved by, Fraser’s claim. Once the target of jokes, Fraser has become a catalyst for moving praise across social media.

All these years and we discover that Brendan Fraser really is the guy you think he is, which means he’s too pure for this world and the world put some scars on him. I love him more than ever now.https://t.co/XGXV8FG5GK

— Geek Girl Diva (@geekgirldiva) February 22, 2018

I love Brendan Fraser and I am so proud of him for speaking his truth. https://t.co/Ev3seJavsf

— Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) February 22, 2018

The Brendan Fraser story is a good reminder to always side-eye established, assumed narratives. So many people have been beaten up and spit out by our major institutions, forgotten until we cycle back around to empathy.

— A.B. (@AlannaBennett) February 22, 2018

He’s also earned some public support from actor Terry Crews, who has publicly discussed experiencing a similar incident years ago.

“Brendan is amazingly courageous in telling this,” Crews wrote on Twitter. “His assault experience is extremely similar to mine — ending with the assailant explaining away his actions. One man’s ‘horseplay’ is another man’s humiliation.”

Brendan is amazingly courageous in telling this. His assault experience is extremely similar to mine— ending with the assailant explaining away his actions.

One mans “horseplay” is another man’s humiliation. https://t.co/nNjtmKq5D7

— terry crews (@terrycrews) February 22, 2018

Victims of sexual harassment and assault often face deep shame and fear in speaking out. Speaking out takes courage.

Speaking out after experiencing harassment or assault can be an incredible challenge, often full of personal and professional risk. Though the majority of assaults are against women, men face their own similar challenges in overcoming shame, doubt, and repercussions for coming forward and speaking out. When men like Fraser and Crews speak out, they help clear the path for other men to come forward with their own stories.

This story originally appeared on 08.06.19

Freddie Mercury had a voice and a stage presence unlike any other in rock music history. His unique talents helped propel the band Queen to the top of music charts and created a loyal fan base around the world.

Sadly, the world lost that voice when Mercury died of AIDS at age 45. For decades, most of us have assumed we’d heard all the music we were going to hear from him.

However, according to Yahoo! Entertainment, remaining Queen members Roger Taylor and Brian May announced this summer that they had found a never-released song they’d recorded with Mercury in 1988 as they were working on the album “The Miracle.”

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“We did find a little gem from Freddie, that we’d kind of forgotten about,” Taylor said in June, according to the BBC. “It’s wonderful, a real discovery. It’s a very passionate piece.”

That “little gem” is a four-minute ballad called “Face It Alone.” Queen released a lyric video of the song on its YouTube channel, and it’s bringing fans to tears.

The lyrics are particularly heart-wrenching, considering the timing of the song’s recording. Mercury was reportedly diagnosed with HIV in 1987, though kept it a secret from the public and even from many who worked closely with him until shortly before his death.

Comments have poured in from around the world in multiple languages, and the sentiment is universal—people are deeply moved.

“Over 3 million views in one day. To hear Freddie’s voice again is so special. You live forever, darling. The song is heart breaking but then again, Queen’s songs are from the heart and that can never go wrong. Thank you to all who made it happen.” – sweet pea

“One day Freddie said: ‘I won’t be a star, I will be a Legend’ And yes we all agree, he STILL REMAINS A LEGEND even after 31 years after his death. AMAZING.” – Gloria Sousa

“Freddie’s vocal is killing me same today as 20 years ago. Thank You Queen for this amazing gift after so many years. We love You.” – Adrian Kufel

“What to say?? A great magnificent surprise. All I know is that I cried the moment I heard this voice, these words…. Only Freddie. Love this man for eternity.. It seems as if he returned briefly to us!! To send us a message… What a beautiful present for all his fans, for this generation that has had the impact of the pandemic, this strange war, these strange times. So happy and touched to hear this now. Thank you Queen… Thank you Freddie forever !!!” – Fern 19671

“So great to see all the Freddie and Queen fans here today celebrating this song and Freddie’s amazing voice. I love how much Freddie is still treasured. I remember the day he passed away, how I cried. It’s like a gift to get this new song and have his song playing loud throughout the house today. We all love you dear Freddie.” – Sarah-Louise ASMR

Mercury was truly a legend in his own time, and hearing his voice anew almost makes it feel like he’s time-traveled to the here and now. What a lovely gift for Queen fans everywhere.

This article originally appeared on 10.14.22