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Since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly four months ago, more than 13 million Ukrainians have fled their homeland. Some cities, such as Mariupol, have been completely destroyed—”reduced to a wasteland littered with bodies,” according to an explainer in Reuters—and may be uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.

Many families fled early in the war, when the danger became clear. But not everyone understood why they were leaving.

Children are befuddled by war, as they should be. It is nonsensical, illogical and unbelievable to think that you must leave your home and move to a country far away because a grown-up who is supposed to be a leader is trying to blow up your house. People with intellectual disabilities may also not understand a sudden uprooting, especially when the reason is something even fully abled adults struggle to make sense of.

When Liana Rohozhyn’s home in Mariupol was destroyed earlier in the war, she and her family were forced to flee. Her son Misha, a nonverbal 19-year-old with Down syndrome, was understandably distressed about having to leave Ukraine. To comfort him through the long journey across Europe to safety, Liana told Misha they were going on a trip to find the champion wrestler, John Cena.

It was a fictional story made up by a desperate mother in a dire situation. As a parent, you do what you have to do to keep your children safe. Little did Liana know that John Cena would not only see her family’s story, but go out of his way to provide a measure of comfort during a tragic and disorienting time.

Cena just happened to be in Europe when he read about the story of how Liana had motivated Misha with the hope of meeting him. Being only an hour’s flight away, Cena’s immediate response was, “We’re going.”

The WWE star met the family near Amsterdam and spent a “special” afternoon “building blocks and eating cake.”

He shared kind words about Misha and his mother.

“Misha’s ability to embrace persistence, that’s extraordinary,” he said, adding that Misha and Liana are “two great examples of how persistence can lead to joy, even through the toughest of times.”

After spending the day with the family and gifting Misha a load of WWE gear, Cena told the young man, “This was a wonderful adventure in which I got to meet a wonderful new friend. Thank you for giving me strength.”

Liana told him he had “a big heart.”

Watch:

The sweet story has touched the hearts of people the world over, with people sharing praise for Cena and for Misha’s mother.

“There are several things I find remarkable about this interaction,” wrote commenter Emily Clauson on YouTube. “How this man talks to Misha softly, with respect and love. He is not putting on a performance. He isn’t acting ‘compassionate’ for the cameras. He is connecting with a human being. They were just two guys hanging out enjoying their day. He spoke to him as an equal. I find that so admirable.”

“I’m from Ukraine and it brought me to tears!” wrote another commenter. “We Ukrainians really appreciate this support from all over the world, we need it so much at these dark times! as they say, in dark times you can see light people. Thanks for standing we Ukraine, would never expect to hear about so many people with big hearts. ❤️🇺🇦”

“I love how much he embraces Misha’s mom,” wrote another. “A lot of news reports on this story just seem to forget about how strong she is. This man is amazing!”

“Misha’s mom is an amazing woman. She kept her son going to get out. I wish them well and thank you John Cena for responding,” wrote another.

This is not Cena’s first trip to make someone’s dreams come true. According to SB Nation, he has granted more than 650 wishes through Make-A-Wish since 2004, the most on record.

Cena himself shared that Misha and Liana define his motto, “Never Give Up,” and thanked the Wall Street Journal and World Wrestling Entertainment for pulling it all together.

u201cWhat a wonderful way to spend a Saturday. Misha and his mother, Liana define #NeverGiveUp. nnThank you to the @WSJ and @WWE who helped make this special visit possible.u201d

— John Cena (@John Cena)
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Thank you, John Cena, for showing us what the best of humanity can look like.

Therapy can be intimidating for many people, especially in communities of color, where therapy and mental health is stigmatized. This alone can delay or even cause someone to avoid a diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Often, family members of individuals with a mental health condition just learn to adjust because addressing it can be a difficult, if not fruitless task. Dr. Antionette Edmonds, who also goes by Dr. Toni and “the therapist next door,” is trying to change perspectives on therapy by using humor mixed with real-life situations to show what happens behind the scenes. Her often hilarious encounters with imaginary clients gives prospective clients a chance to see that therapists are real people and are not going to judge what you come into the therapy room to discuss.

Edmonds doesn’t just talk about what clients experience, she also brings humor to what happens when clients aren’t in the room. In one video she records herself pretending to cry on the phone with her partner while a TikTok sound plays in the background saying, “I’m just literally on the verge of a mental breakdown.” She quickly hangs up the phone and puts away the tissue before going to seemingly greet her next client. Edmonds doesn’t shy away from the hard topics, but she does it in such a funny way that it remains relatable and familiarly human.

@antionettethegirlnexdoor

And then we get our fucking asses up and work 😫 #blacktherapistsoftiktok #therealtherapistsoftiktok #tiktoktherapy

Edmonds often breaks out her dance moves to participate in TikTok trends, reminding folks that just because someone has the occupation of a therapist doesn’t mean they can’t let their hair down. Her twerking skills are up on legendary, as Lizzo would say, but while she’s grooving to the beat, you can bet that she has an informational message typed out on the screen.

@antionettethegirlnexdoor

Bitch, if I had my leggings on it would have been over for you #tiktoktherapy #blacktherapistsoftiktok #therapyhumor

Edmonds achieves a unique balance of professional, informative and hilarious. Normalizing therapy for everyone should be promoted more, but especially in communities of color where increased stigma around therapy keeps people from seeking help. Access to culturally competent affordable mental health care is also a barrier for some seeking services, as communities of color are often underinsured or uninsured.

Culturally in Black, Hispanic and Asian communities, mental health issues are stigmatized by older generations, so kudos therapists like Edmonds who work to bring normalcy to therapy to combat the cultural narrative. While Edmonds doesn’t only see clients of color, her humor in approaching situations that would likely occur working with clients from an urban neighborhood hopefully sparks more interest in seeking therapy. One commenter said, “I don’t find therapists like this on Psychology Today,” complete with a defeated emoji, to which Edmonds replied, “We on there, Psychology Today just keep us on page 36 and not on the first 5 pages.” She finished her comment with several crying laughing emojis.

@antionettethegirlnexdoor

Yes, because the 1st of the month will be here soon and we need to make sure he pays the rent #blacktherapistoftiktok #therealtherapistsoftiktok

In another video a commenter said, “I wish you were my therapist,” while someone else commented “Listen!!! Imma need a session with you!” It’s clear that her approach to incorporating her profession into her social media use is changing minds about what to expect from therapy and therapists. Therapists don’t have to be cardigan wearing people who do no wrong, they can also be hilariously human.

If you’re in South Florida, you’re in luck because that’s where her practice is located. Unlike many therapists, as Edmonds confirms in one of her videos, she also weekend office hours available. Hopefully this “therapist next door” keeps dancing and laughing her way through normalizing therapy for everyone.

It’s no secret that some people born without female anatomy may be a bit unfamiliar with what goes into having a uterus. Sometimes eyes are rolled about the uninformed, but when someone goes out of their way to educate themselves so they can be a better partner in the future, it’s definitely worth celebrating. TikTok creator Darius Covington seeks out information that is otherwise kept to the owners of uteruses and he does it in the most respectful and genuine way. It’s honestly quite refreshing.

Covington asks his followers (which are mostly women) things he should learn about the female experience. His followers do not disappoint. He’s gotten requests about researching a speculum to the correct way to insert an IUD. Covington has searched it all and even tried drinking from a menstrual cup that he blindly picked up at the store. His reaction to reading the directions after placing the cup to his lips will have you in stitches.

@thedariuscovington

#answer to @spidermark790 Just a self reminder as I complain about my allergies 😭😭😂 #fyp #foryoupage #funny #fail #failarmy #trending #relabtable

The best part about Covington’s videos is how dedicated he is to getting the information correct and making sure to acknowledge his commenters’ requests and explanations. When learning about the process a body goes through to give birth, he bewilderingly looks at the camera and says, “You choose to go through this process more than once, sometimes more than twice.” It’s the honest reactions and genuine curiosity that keep people coming back.

@thedariuscovington

Reply to @amelia_arielle thanks amelia 😭#fyp #foryoupage #funny #fail #relatable #trending #failarmy #greenscreen

While the brave creator is not even close to having children of his own, it’s clear he is training to be a good father to daughters and a good partner to his future wife. Keep educating yourself Darius! We love to see it.

Thirty years ago, one of the greatest sports movies of all time (IMO), “A League of Their Own,” was released. It’s hard to believe it’s been 30 years since many of us first learned about the All-American Girls Baseball League. What people may not realize is that the story isn’t over. A new series, created by Abbi Jacobson, is coming to Amazon Prime Video in August. The promo tour has already begun and it looks like the creators of the show are featuring women who were actually a part of the AAGPBL.

One of those women is Maybelle “All the way Mae” Blair, who played for the Peoria Redwings. During a recent panel at the Tribeca Film Festival, Blair, 95, decided that was as good a time as any to come out.

“I hid for 75, 85 years and this is actually basically the first time I’ve ever come out,” Blair said to rousing chorus of cheers.

The show’s official Instagram account shared the video of Blair with the caption: “For the majority of her life, sports legend 95-year old AAGPBL player, Maybelle Blair felt like she had to hide her authentic self. Today she came out publicly for the first time. We couldn’t be happier for her, and continue to push for love, acceptance, and education on and off the field.”

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A post shared by A League of Their Own (@leagueonprime)

“I think it’s a great opportunity for these young girl ball players to come [to] realize that they’re not alone, and you don’t have to hide,” Blair said, speaking about younger generations of female athletes.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that there was a time where being “out” was actually dangerous, especially for women. In the 1940s, women were already discriminated against. If you were out as a lesbian, your options for work and survival were incredibly limited. While there is sometimes an assumption that women in sports are queer, back when Blair was playing baseball, she couldn’t be open about it. According to a league history from the AAGPBL website, “femininity was a high priority.” Yes, femme lesbians existed, but it wasn’t something they could be open about. The women couldn’t even go out without a chaperone!

Queerness is baked into the fabric of the reboot, which Blair was hired as a consultant for. Just because it wasn’t talked about in the past doesn’t mean those women didn’t exist, as Blair obviously shows.

“I thought I was the only one in the world,” Blair said during the panel, as reported by IndieWire. She added that the community of the AAGPBL allowed her a safe place.

IndieWire also reported that Jamie Babbit, director of the show’s pilot episode, spent time at the AAGPBL convention in Cooperstown, where the National Baseball Hall of Fame is, after being hired. “There was a queerness in the air and just really joyful, amazing women who I just wanted to hang out with. I really wanted to bring that joy to the show,” she said.

In addition to coming out and being a consultant for the show, Blair has another mission: getting the International Women’s Baseball Center museum built. The Los Angeles Times reported that there is land available in Rockford, Illinois, across from where the Rockford Peaches used to play baseball. But they need funds. Blair, a tireless advocate for baseball and softball for women, is determined to help make it happen.

“I hope to God that I can get the shovel going into the ground before I’m on the other side of the grass because I’ve got to live long enough to see this happen,” she said.

Maybelle Blair is truly an inspiration, and I’m so glad we get to share her story.

A California state task force released a new report detailing the harm committed against Black people in American history. The nearly 500-page report gives recommendations for ways to right the wrongdoings that “continue to physically and mentally harm African Americans today.” It also includes a detailed history of how the government disadvantaged Black people systemically, starting with slavery and continuing with segregation and other exclusionary acts such as discriminatory housing laws and inequity in the justice system.

“Along with a dereliction of its duty to protect its Black citizens, direct federal, state and local government actions continued to enforce the racist lies created to justify slavery,” the report states, according to NPR. “These laws and government supported cultural beliefs have since formed the foundation of innumerable modern laws, policies, and practices across the nation.”

The conversation around reparations for the Black community isn’t a new one by any stretch of the imagination. It goes all the way back to post Civil War era America—the government’s promise of 40 acres and a mule is still part of the Black consciousness. In the last five years or so, the conversation began to ramp up again, and after the summer of 2020, it’s really been pushed forward. The protests that arose after the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd are what spurred the formation of the task force.

While a lot of people have heard of the term “reparations,” not everyone fully understands what it means. According to a study on the effectiveness of reparations, they’re used postconflict to “reduce the risk of peace failure.” An article in USA Today defines them as “compensation for historical crimes and wrongdoings with the aim of remedying injustices and helping specific groups of people or populations to prosper.”

The recommendations made in the California report include police reform and offering housing grants to those forced from their homes to make way for things like freeways and parks. They also include allowing incarcerated people to vote and making a more proactive effort to recruit Black American teachers for K-12 schools.

“What we’re asking for is fair, it’s just and it is right, and a nation that does not know how to admit this wrong and act in ways that are practical to show fruits of repentance is on the way to losing its soul,” Amos Brown, task force vice-chair and president of the San Francisco NAACP, told NPR.

In addition to those more specific recommendations, there were some that are more broadly beneficial to society at large, including free tuition at California colleges and universities, raising the minimum wage and requiring employers to offer health benefits and paid time off.

“Without accountability, there is no justice. For too long, our nation has ignored the harms that have been — and continue to be — inflicted on African Americans in California and across the country,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a press release.

Reparations are really only scratching the surface when it comes to trying to repair relationships between oppressors and the oppressed. Some of the things people have suffered cannot have a price put on them, but that doesn’t mean governments shouldn’t try. If for no other reason, it shows their citizens that they’re willing to take even the smallest amount of accountability for the harm they’ve caused.

Other countries have taken similar steps. Colombia, for example, has paid millions in reparations to its citizens after a war that resulted in murder, assaults and other unspeakable acts of violence. South Africa paid $3,900 each to victims of apartheid crimes, totaling $85 million (falling short of the suggested payout of $360 million, according to a New York Times article from 2003). Germany paid reparations to Holocaust victims and gave Israel $7 billion as the nation formed, according to Vox. It’s also important to mention that Germany’s reparations from World War I financially crippled the country—it took 92 years to pay back.

After World War II, the United States paid reparations to Japanese Americans after holding 120,000 people in internment camps. But for some reason, when it comes to reparations for Black Americans, there is always hesitation on the part of the federal government.

As writer Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote in his 2014 cover story for The Atlantic, “The Case for Reparations,” “it is impossible to imagine America without the inheritance of slavery.” Despite acknowledgment that slavery was not only horrific (Congress only formally apologized for slavery in 2008) but fundamental to the formation of the United States of America, there are still many who think reparations aren’t necessary.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, for example, who said in 2019 at a hearing on the subject (when he was still Senate Majority Leader), “I don’t think that reparations for something that happened 150 years ago, for whom none of us currently living are responsible, is a good idea. We tried to deal with our original sin of slavery by fighting a Civil War, by passing landmark civil rights legislation, by electing an African American president.”

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, sponsored a bill, H.R. 40, also known as the the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act in 2019 that faced opposition. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., introduced the bill for multiple years, starting more than two decades before Rep. Jackson Lee with no success.

That’s why it’s so important that California is taking this task force seriously. If nothing is going to be done on a federal level, it’s good to see states picking up the cause.

“It’s my personal hope that people in California and across the United States utilize this report as an educational and organizing tool,” Task Force Chair Kamilah Moore said in an interview with NPR.

More concrete information from the task force, including allotments and eligibility requirements will be released in 2023.

A baby three-toed sloth was separated from his mother on a beach in Costa Rica but luckily was found by the staff from Jaguar Rescue Center in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca.

After the staff located the baby’s mother, they noticed she was making her way up to the forest canopy. This gave them time to take the baby to the vet for a check-up. After the baby was given a clean bill of health by the veterinarian, the staff recorded the baby’s cries so they could play them back for the mother to coax her down the tree.

When she realized the staff had her baby, the mother slowly climbed down a tree to be reunited with her little boy.

“We recorded the cry of the baby and played it near the tree to get the mom’s attention, we waited patiently until the mom came down for the baby. The JRC created this method a few years ago, we use it every time to be able to reunite mom and baby sloths,” the rescue center wrote on Instagram. “It melts our hearts every time we can witness the reunion of a mom and her baby.”

One of the sloth’s most noticeable characteristics is how slowly they move. The reason for this is they have the most sluggish digestive system of any mammal. It can take weeks for them to fully digest a meal, so they compensate by doing less instead of eating more. To put it simply, sloths live in a permanent food coma.

If you enjoyed seeing a mama sloth reunited with her baby, check out this video of a daddy sloth meeting his baby for the first time.

Tove Lo has announced her fifth studio album, Dirt Femme, which will mark her first album released on her label, Pretty Swede. Ahead of her album, Lo has dropped the follow-up to the album’s lead single, “No One Dies From Love,” with the cautionary “True Romance.”

Over a slow, brooding instrumental track, Lo sings, “Take a life for me / You know I’d do it instantly / In danger of a true romance /We are meant to be / I’d die for love and loyalty.”

Set for release this fall, Dirt Femme will feature appearances from Channel Tres, SG Lewis, and First Aid Kit. According to Lo, the album with dive deep into all of her dimensions, examining her mannerisms and her queerness.

“Dirt Femme is about me and my relationship with my femininity,” said Lo in a statement. “When I started out as a writer and an artist, I used to view my feminine traits as weaker and would enhance my masculine traits to get ahead in life. I feel a big energy shift in my environment since then and this album reflects the various ways my feminine side has both helped and hurt me. I’m a pansexual woman married to a straight man. I believe masculine and feminine live on a spectrum in all humans. There are so many more interesting nuances than most people want to accept. Songs on this album will contradict each other, will probably upset some of you, and will make you want to dance, cry, fuck, and drive your car really, really, fast. It’s extremely personal as always which is why it’s so hard to describe in just a few words. It’s all my feelings, thoughts, and questions put together in under 50 minutes with no answers. But I know that I always feel relief and connection when a song just speaks to my emotions without telling me what to do about them. I hope this album reaches that little secret pocket in your heart where all the real stuff is hiding.”

Check out “True Romance” above and the Dirt Femme artwork and tracklist below.

1. “No One Dies From Love”
2. “Suburbia”
3. “2 Die 4”
4. “True Romance”
5. “Grapefruit”
6. “Cute & Cruel” Feat. First Aid Kit
7. “Call On Me” Feat. SG Lewis
8. “Attention Whore” Feat. Channel Tres
9. “Pineapple Slice” Feat. SG Lewis
10. “I’m To Blame”
11. “Kick In The Head”
12. “How Long”

Dirt Femme is out 10/14 via Pretty Swede and MTheory. Pre-save it here.

It’s already been an insane year for Wet Leg. The forceful Isle of Wight indie rock duo of Hester Chambers and Rhian Teasdale put out one of the year’s best indie albums in their self-titled debut. They’ve been one of the buzziest bands of the year (Dave Grohl is a fan) playing multiple headlining tour dates, with more to come as well as a run of support slots for Florence and The Machine. They’ve been all over late-night talk show performances and heck, even Harry Styles (who they’ll be opening for in 2023) has covered one of their songs?! The hype is real, y’all.

So last weekend, at their hometown Isle Of Wight music festival (which qualifies as much more than just a hometown fest), the pair gave an interview to Absolute Radio and indicated that the follow-up to their splendid debut is already recorded and completed. “It’s in the bag,” Chambers said. “[We’ve] completed it. All done.” Teasdale joked that it’s heading towards a “death metal” path (hello Sasami!), but that fans can expect, “A lot of double kick drum.” But before you get too excited, they also indicated that the album won’t be out anytime soon. Which seems expected given the loads of headline and support touring that they have on deck.

Either way, it’s amazing to consider how they’ve had time to lock into the studio and record a whole new album. But it’s this kind of work ethic that makes them stars and just maybe justifies all the hype.

On June 13, 2020, Donald Trump gave a speech to the graduating cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point. When it was over, he walk down a ramp—very poorly—and ignited a string of jokes and memes, as well as some discussion over the physical wellness of the then-president.

Weeks later, Trump was still defending his submission to The Ministry of Silly Walks. Among the many factors he blamed for his seeming unsteadiness? The sun. A lack of railing. Leather-bottomed shoes. He even described it as a “ice skating rink,” and repeatedly bragged about how he “ran” the last 10 steps.

One year later, he was still talking about it!

Now, here we are—more than two years removed from the event—and Sean Hannity, former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, and Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump are still defending Trump’s big ol’ whoopsie down the ramp.

On Monday night, these three nincompoops actually spent time comparing Joe Biden’s recent bike accident to Trump’s ramp fail. McEnany quoted the former president, claiming that he had a “slight hydroplane” on the ramp, which she concurred was “absolutely” the truth. “I’ve walked on some of those ramps at rallies, they’re very slippery,” McEnany said, as if a ramp was a rarely seen walkway that most people haven’t traversed without falling.

McEnany and Hannity both then added that there wasn’t a railing for the railing-needing president to lean on. Hannity seemed to think that the whole idea that he would be able to manage that ramp without an issue while wearing dress shoes was ridiculous. “If he had sneakers on, you might have a case to make,” Hannity conceded, to which McEnany excitedly agreed: “Right!”

It’s illuminating conversations like these that put the “News” in Fox News.

Meanwhile, Trump already shared his own video mocking the current president—the one who beat him bigly in the 2020 election. In it, Trump is seen hitting a golf ball that then knocks Biden off his bike. Which is just the kind of maturity one would expect from the former leader of the free world.

After topping charts thanks to an emotional Stranger Things 4 scene, the Kate Bush resurgence almost showed up in another highly anticipated piece of pop culture: Thor: Love and Thunder. While promoting his villainous role as Gorr the God Butcher, Christian Bale opened up about making his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which he didn’t even know was a thing. (‘The MCU?’ I had to ask what that was.”)

According to Bale, he did his research into Gorr, including reading the Jason Aaron comics that introduced the god-butchering character. However, he also turned to music videos to get a feel for where he and director Taika Waititi wanted to go with the live-action portrayal. That musical research almost resulted in a dance scene set to Kate Bush, who again, is all the rage right now. Via Total Film:

“There’s obviously sort of a Nosferatu slight attitude. Taika and I wanted to do a whole dance, which we didn’t get to do, but we had all this sort of Kate Bush stuff that we worked at. But I think he just realised he was never going to be allowed to put that in the final film. I would say that the most common thing I was staring at was the Aphex Twin video of ‘Come To Daddy’. But I don’t even know if that will be in the final film.”

Just to head off any accusations of Love and Thunder glomming onto the recent Kate Bush hype train, “Running Up That Hill” only started blowing up at the end of May when Stranger Things 4 premiered. Bale and Waititi would’ve been brainstorming Gorr scenes at least a year earlier, if not two when you factor in the pandemic. The simple explanation is Kate Rush is awesome, so it shouldn’t be a surprise when she pops up as an inspiration.

Thor: Love and Thunder rocks into theaters on July 8.

(Via Total Film)