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It’s the calm before the storm on the show this week — Steven and Ian are working on their year-end albums lists ahead of the big reveal in early December, so in the meantime they decided to answer to some listener questions. But before that, Ian shared the shocking news that he watched The Last Waltz for the first time over the Thanksgiving break. What did Ian think of this foundational film in Steven’s life? Naturally, he gravitated to Van Morrison’s purple suit. The guys also commenced a brief Bookcast segment to talk about the hellacious new book about southern fraternities (and how they coincide with southern rap), Among The Bros by Max Marshall.

In the mailbag, Steven and Ian address topics as diverse as Gen Z’s obsession with personal listening statistics, whether an artist sounding a lot like another artist is a distraction, the value (or not) of demos being added to reissues and box sets, and a “yay or nay” verdict on Belle And Sebastian.

In Recommendation Corner, Ian talks up the latest from Quannic and Steven recommends the extremely long in the works new album by Peter Gabriel.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 166 here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

It’s all but official that Donald Trump will be the Republican candidate for president in 2024. Less certain is who will be his running mate. It won’t be Mike Pence, obviously, but possible sold-their-soul-to-the-devil candidates include Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kari Lake, and… George Santos?

That’s who Jimmy Kimmel thinks it should be, at least.

Santos (R-NY), the confirmed weirdo who faces expulsion from Congress, told reporters this week that he “won’t rest until I see Donald Trump” back in the White House in 2024. “He also won’t rest because of the diet pills,” Kimmel joked during Thursday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. Don’t forget the OnlyFans!

The House Ethics Committee alleges that a $50,000 campaign donation was deposited into Santos’ personal accounts, with the funds then being used to “pay down personal credit card bills and other debt” and make unrelated purchases — reportedly including on OnlyFans, a subscription-based social media platform most commonly used for pornography. The campaign donation also allegedly funded meals, parking, items from Sephora, and — in one case — a $4,127.80 purchase at luxury brand Hermès, according to the House Ethics report.

Returning to Santos’ 2024 vow, Kimmel said, “Wow, the coveted George Santos endorsement. Trump must be ecstatic. I think maybe we found his running mate. Wouldn’t that be great?”

You can watch the Jimmy Kimmel Live monologue above.

December is here to admit that Hollywood has had a rough year, and 2024 should be much better (more House of the Dragon is coming, obviously). However, 2023 is not done with us yet. There’s still more TV on the way, and that includes several returning shows (the latest in 50 Cent’s Power universe, more Slow Horses, Dr. Death, Reacher, and so on) while those November debuts (including Invincible and Lawmen: Bass Reeves) keep kicking through the rest of their seasons.

Meanwhile, Percy Jackson and the Olympians takes a swing at the small screen, and two marathon-esque shows — The Crown and Letterkenny — will come to a close this month.

Here are the must see shows for December.

Slow Horses: Season 3 (Apple TV+ series streaming 12/1)

If you enjoy Gary Oldman farts, then this series has something for you. Beyond that highlight, this series showcases the failed spymastering of Jackson Lamb (Oldman) and his group full of British intelligence f*ck-ups. Olivia Cooke (in case you need a fix of her before House of the Dragon returns) and Jack Lowden co-star, and maybe, just maybe, they’ll move past their collective “slow horse” reputation through a series of crises. Yet mainly, it’s nice to see an espionage-focused dark comedy show that puts a fresh, and bumbling, spin on the Slough House series of novels (Season 3 is based upon the Real Tigers book) by Mick Herronthe as well as the genre as a whole with all those super Krasinski-spies running rampant on streaming.

Power Book III: Raising Kanan: Season 3 (Starz series streaming 12/1)

Do you need to watch Power before watching Power Book III: Raising Kanan? We’ve got you covered on that question, and this season of revolves around an existential crisis for everyone in the Thomas family. 50 Cent’s executive producing endeavors never miss with his audience, who will be tuning in to watch these characters search for redemption and freedom, all while looking to redefine themselves while also realizing “the most terrifying secret of all,” according to the show’s most current synopsis.

Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie Peacock (Peacock film streaming 12/8)

Alright, so this is technically a film, but it’s essentially going to be a longish episode for those who have missed Tony Shalhoub’s OCD-afflicted homicide-detective-turned consultant. This time, the case is incredibly personal and happens to involve Molly, the beloved and about-to-be-married stepdaughter of Monk. Sadly, this involves a bungee-jumping debacle, and Monk must confront yet another massive fear of his beyond the whole germ thing.

The Crown: Season 6 Part 2 (Netflix series streaming 12/14)

(No trailer exists for Part 2 yet, so here’s ^^^ Diana again.) The final season of this royal soap opera is winding down its latter half. The story will partially focus upon the courtship of Prince William and Duchess Kate after they met at university. Charles will marry his former mistress, Camilla, and Diana will move on as well. Sadly, the world already knows how a car chase between the paparazzi and Diana/Dodi Fayed ended. Thus, the Queen will enjoy her Golden Jubilee while looking towards succession.

Reacher: Season 2 (Amazon Prime series streaming 12/15)

Good news for dads and possibly you, too. Lee Child’s bestselling novels came to more vivid life in this series (starring the 6’2″ Alan Ritchson) as opposed to the Tom Cruise movie, and Amazon was quick to greenlight a followup season, in which Reacher re-teams with three former colleagues, including Karla Dixon, Frances Neagley, and David O’Donnell. Together, they continue to dive into a high-stakes mystery full of betrayal and revelations, and lest you think that Reacher is all brains and no brain, well, think again. He’s loyal and fierce to defend those who fight against him, and he and the 110th will strike back with all possible force in this second round of episodes.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Season 1 (Disney+ series streaming 12/20)

The movie series didn’t continue through all five Rick Riordan books (only The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters), but perhaps this series will swing through the entirety of the beloved novels. Riordan’s confidence in the series (he famously did not appreciate the movies’ take on his source material) and his presence as writer certainly sounds promising. As readers know, this show will follow a 12-year-old demigod who gets accused of stealing Zeus’ favorite lightning bolt. That leads to a quest to actually find that bolt and put Olympus back on track.

Dr. Death: Season 2 (Peacock series streaming 12/21)

Joshua Jackson’s unsettling physician steps out of the limelight in favor of a new “Dr. Death” portrayed by Edgar Ramirez. The show continues to follow the Wonder podcast and moves into the story of “Miracle Man” Paolo Macchiarini, who harbors dark secrets that have remained under wraps until an investigative journalist, Benita Alexander (Mandy Moore), begins to suspect that something is up. She, unfortunately, gets involved with Macchiarini in more ways than one before bringing truths to life.

Letterkenny: Season 12 (Crave series streaming on Hulu 12/26)

This series doesn’t exactly lend itself towards easy description, so perhaps that’s why Miss Katy is here with the announcement video, which might distract you from the desire for any narrative at all. This final season of the Canadian comedy (from star and creator Jared Keeso) returns to the realm of the the hicks, the skids and the hockey players. The very short description promises/threatens “a comedy night at Modean’s, a country music hit, the Degens’ bad influence, a new nightclub, and an encore at the Ag Hall. And that’s just for starters.” Oh, and don’t forget about Michelle Mylett’s Miss Katy.

As far as the public knows, Taylor Swift has never been married. That hasn’t stopped celebrity gossip social media account Deuxmoi from claiming she and Joe Alwyn had some sort of arrangement that had apparently been described as a “marriage.” Tree Paine, Swift’s longtime publicist, caught wind of this, and she’s not happy.

In an Instagram Story, Deuxmoi shared a message sent to them, which criticizes them in part for claiming Swift and Alwyn were “secretly married.” The account responded, “She DID have a ceremony in either 2020 or 2021 in the UK and it was described to me as a ‘marriage’ by more than one person. It was NEVER made legal. I will die on this hill! Put it on my tombstone! I have no reason to lie, I could give a sh*t what she does!!!!! I’m sorry she didn’t tell you guys about it in a song but just because she doesn’t sing about something doesn’t mean it didn’t happen!!!”

Paine, who was clearly frustrated, shared a screenshot of Deuxmoi’s Story and tweeted, “Enough is enough with these fabricated lies about Taylor from Deuxmoi. There was NEVER a marriage or ceremony of ANY kind. This is an insane thing to post. It’s time for you to be held accountable for the pain and trauma you cause with posts like these.”

Swift, meanwhile, is presumably more focused on spending quality time with Travis Kelce.

Noah Kahan has emerged as a star in 2023, but his name might be a cause of confusion for some, especially if it’s one of those things you’ve only read and have never heard spoken out loud: How do you pronounce “Kahan?” Is it “kay-han?” (That was my initial thought.) “Kuh-hahn?” According to Emma Stone in a promo video for this weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live with Kahan as musical guest, it’s pronounced like “con.”

After Stone introduced Kahan, SNL‘s Sarah Sherman chimes in, “And I Kahan’t wait for the show,” a joke that wasn’t received too well by Stone or Kahan. She got a better reaction with, “Kiss her? I hardly Noah!”

Kahan himself previously addressed the pronunciation question in a TikTok Story video from October. He gave a pronunciation tutorial after noticing people were “having trouble” with saying “Kahan” properly. He explained, “It’s ‘con,’ one of the A’s is silent, so kind of like ‘Genghis Khan’ but not related at all.”

Kahan is one of the final SNL musical guests of 2023. Earlier this week, the show announced its musical guests for the two episodes after Kahan’s turn tomorrow, the last two shows of the year: Rodrigo will perform on December 9 and Billie Eilish will close out the year on the 16th.

(WARNING: Spoilers for the most recent Power Book III: Raising Kanan episode will be found below.)

Season three of Power Book III: Raising Kanan picked up right where season two left off. Raq and Marvin are reeling from their gunshot injuries after the attack by the Mafia. The police have questions about the shooting, and to cover their tracks, Raq and Detective Howard concoct a story that places the blame on the now-deceased Crown Camacho, and for now, investigators seem to buy that story.

While Raq and Marvin suffered physical injuries, Kanan and Lou-Lou are dealing with emotional pain to start the season. Kanan no longer trusts his mother after he discovers she’s been lying to him his whole life about his father, who is Detective Howard and not Rondell “Def-Con” Stark. As for Lou-Lou, he’s dealing with guilt and frustration after Raq lets him know that Scrappy was wrongfully killed in season two as he did not snitch on them. Lou-Lou’s frustration is also tied to Raq’s refusal to let him walk away from the drug game in favor of pursuing his dreams of a record label. This frustration brings Lou-Lou to his lowest as he wallows in a bottle of bourbon in multiple scenes in “Home Sweet Home.”

Elsewhere, Detective Howard killed Detective Burke in what he felt was a necessary move to protect Raq and Kanan. Burke connected the dots about Howard’s past and that was all Howard to pull the trigger against her. Marvin and Jukebox continue to fix their relationship, and they must now do that while grieving the death of Kenya, Jukebox’s mother, from season two. We’re also introduced to Unique’s brother Ronnie was released from prison, and speaking of Unique, a sex scene between him and Raq served as a surprising end to the first episode in season three.

Here are some of the biggest questions we had after the first episode of season three:

Where Does Kanan Go From Here?

Raq and Kanan’s relationship is as good as dead at the start of season three. Season two confirmed that Detective Howard is Kanan’s father after Howard gave him a paternity test as proof following weeks of speculation. This reveal ruined the relationship between Kanan and his mother as he’s lost all trust in her. While Raq moves into a new house in “Home Sweet Home,” Kanan wants no part of the new house and decides to move in with Famous for now. He also pays a visit to Famous’ plug in hopes of being able to sell product for him, but is turned away. As a mere teenager, Kanan has limited options, and without protection from his family, heading into the streets on his own is risky. Yet, Kanan is a crafty kid and you can bet he has a trick up his sleeve.

Is Raq Really Done With The Drug Game?

In this episode, Raq announces that she’s leaving the drug game. Her decision comes as she heals from the gunshot wounds she suffered to conclude season two. In her opinion, the rewards of the drug game aren’t worth the risks it also pretends. However, knowing how dedicated she was to the game, the announcement of her departure sounded like my promise to “never drink again” after waking up with a bad hangover. I don’t need alcohol nearly as much as Raq needs the drug game — she’s quite literally built her life on it. It’s for that reason I doubt she’ll walk away from the game for good. Kanan isn’t buying her “retirement” either, but we’ll just have to see if she really sticks to her word.

Will Kenya’s Death Bring Marvin & Jukebox Back Together?

Raq and Kanan’s shattered relationship is the second instance of a broken parent-child connection in Power Book III: Raising Kanan. The first came in season two with Marvin and Jukebox. Marvin attacked Jukebox after he discovered her relationship with Nicole. Marvin eventually apologized for his actions and also put his words into action by attending anger management classes. Slowly but surely, Jukebox began to forgive Marvin as season two came to an end. In the season two finale, Jukebox’s biological mother Kenya is shot and killed during an ambush at Raq’s house. Kenya’s death hurt both Jukebox and Marvin despite their respective broken relationships with her. The two seem to lean on each other as they grieve Kenya’s death. They even share an emotional embrace during “Home Sweet Home.” It’s unfortunate that this had to be the catalyst for it, but Kenya’s death and healing from it could be the thing that fully brings Marvin and Jukebox back together.

Did Detective Howard Go Too Far?

One thing becomes abundantly clear just minutes into “Home Sweet Home”: Detective Shannon Burke is a problem for Detective Howard, Raq, and Kanan. Burke has successfully pieced together the story of Howard and Raq’s relationship, her pregnancy, and how they hid the truth from Kanan and others. She also knows that Kanan was the one who shot Detective Howard back in season one. Burke’s pursuit of Howard’s dirty background led to her being suspended from the police force as she also cut corners and broke rules to get answers. A frustrated Burke eventually meets with Howard who pretends to be interested in her well-being after her suspension. However, when Burke reveals that she’s connected the dots of Howard’s past, he fires a gunshot into her head and effectively kills her and her plans of exposing his past. Sure, Howard has to do what it takes to protect himself, Kanan, and Raq, but could the decision to kill Burke have been a bit too far? Is there a chance that her death could raise more questions about Howard than the ones that existed when Burke was alive?

New episodes of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ are available on the STARZ app on Fridays at 12:00 am ET/PT and on the STARZ TV channel at 8:00 pm ET/PT.

It seems like Lana Del Rey never takes a break. Tonight (December 1), the illustrious singer has shared a cover of a country classic. Taking on John Denver‘s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” Del Rey gives the musical standard a charming, Americana-style update

Driven by old Western-style piano patterns, Del Rey’s cover of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” features the singer delivering her signature, sultry vocals, as her version feels not only like a cover, but rather, a companion to Denver’s original.

Del Rey has maintained a consistent output since releasing her major label debut Born To Die back in 2012. Nearly 12 years after the fact, Del Rey has nine full-length albums to her credit.

In a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Del Rey credited her work ethic to bad reviews of Born To Die, which prompted her to keep making music to the best of her ability.

“I’m sure my intuition in my everyday life was still pretty strong,” she said. “But with the career, I think it was like ‘Let’s just try and see if we can make this work’ instead of having it come to a brutal end.”

You can listen to the cover of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” above.

The James family got some terrific news on Thursday. Bronny James, the eldest son of LeBron and Savannah James and a freshman with the USC Trojans basketball team, got fully cleared to return to basketball following an incident in July where he went into cardiac arrest. While all the updates that came out about Bronny indicated that he was doing well and his dad said he planned on playing for the Trojans this season, getting the all clear was still a gigantic bridge to cross, and fortunately, that day has come.

As you can guess, his old man is pretty excited about this development. In the aftermath of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 133-110 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, LeBron told the media that nothing will keep him from missing Bronny’s first game in a Trojans uniform, and if that means he has to leave his team on the day of a game, so be it.

“He loves playing it, he loves competing, he loves being out there just having a good time, having fun, been doing it for a long time, and he’s put the work in,” James told the press. “It’ll be exciting. Looking forward to his first game whenever he’s cleared and whenever he’s ready to have his first game. I already told my teammates that if they play on the same day we’re playing, then I’ma have to catch them next game, so.”

James went on to say that it’s “family over everything,” and stressed that he has to be in attendance when Bronny takes the floor for the first time in his collegiate career.

There’s still no word on when Bronny will make his debut, but as McMenamin mentioned in his tweet, there are a few possibilities for overlap between Lakers games and Trojans games. The first game to fit that bill comes on Dec. 28, when the Lakers host the Charlotte Hornets and the Trojans travel to Eugene to take on the Oregon Ducks.

Flo Milli continues to make a case for why you want her on your team. Tonight (December 1), the Alabama native has dropped her catchy new bop of a single, “Never Lose Me.”

On “Never Lose Me,” Flo reminds us that she’s hard to woo, and she’s even harder to keep.

“How you gon’ prove you could treat me right? / You stole my heart like a thief in the night / Yeah, he my man, he was never your type / If you try me, ho, it’s on sight,” she raps on one of the song’s verses.

On the chorus, she hammers home to a romantic interest, “Tell me you don’t ever wanna lose me.”

This particular single is one of Flo’s more melodic songs, as she showcases both her rap skills and her soft, R&B vocal stylings. In an interview with The Forty Five, which took place earlier this year, Flo said we can expect her upcoming second album, Fine Ho, Stay to demonstrate more rawness.

“I’ve been [exploring that vulnerability] a little bit more,” said Flo. “But I’ve been exploring lots of different pockets. Y’all will see on the new album the versatility that I bring.”

You can listen to “Never Lose Me” above.

South African Afro-fusion singer Tyla has made quite the wave this year. The global sensation just reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 with her breakthrough single, “Water.” Tonight (December 1), Tyla followed up with an equally catchy and groovy single.

On her new song, “Truth Or Dare,” Tyla revisits a past lover, however, she is older, wiser, and more principled this time around. She lays down the law, and informs him that she won’t fall for his charm so easily again.

“So let’s play truth or dare / Dare you to forget that you used to treat me just like anyone / Truth or dare? Is it true you care? / Now that you can see the love from everyone,” she sings on the song’s chorus.

“Truth Of Dare” follows the announcement of Tyla’s self-titled debut album, which she announced via social media yesterday.

“Everything that’s happening has surpassed anything I could have dreamt of,” she said in the post’s caption. “African music is going global and I’m so blessed to be one of the artists pushing the culture. I’ve been working on my sound for 2 years now and I’m so ready for the world to hear it.”

You can listen to “Truth Or Dare” above.

Tyla is out 3/1/2024 via Epic. Find more information here.