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Beginning last year, with the havoc of the pandemic and the rise of work-from-home culture, people and publications have steadily lamented the “end of New York City.” And it’s true, many who called the city home have flocked to less dense (and more affordable) areas. We’re not going to deny that there is a definite shift occurring in our country — Manhattan and Brooklyn rental prices have dropped for the first time in a long while — as we grapple with the reality of living in unprecedented times. But don’t let anybody ever convince you that New York is capable of dying. This is New York we’re talking about, it’s known as the city that never sleeps for a reason.

Give them a minute and the citizens of the Big Apple will find new ways to innovate and breathe new life into anything they touch. Just ask Mickela Mallozzi — dancer, travel show host, and proud New Yorker — who wrote about this very subject for our Fall Experiences Guide.

For David Levine and Ethan Mansoor, the chance to be part of how NYC emerges from the pandemic means shaking up the renowned New York comedy scene — making it more accessible and omnipresent than ever. The idea is Overground Underground, which takes unorthodox places and turns them into punk rock DIY comedy venues. A barbershop, a laundromat, a boxing ring, and a rooftop are all great comedy venues in the minds of Levine and Mansoor.

“Honestly, we had no idea what this would turn into,” Levine says. “It’s not that old school clubs needed a revamp, but there’s a lot of formality that we don’t always want when we’re seeing shows. You’re seated somewhere specific, there are item minimums and then you have to wait around for the check to come before you can get up. The second our shows end there’s music blasting and people get to laugh about the sets and move around the room.”

Levine and Mansoor’s shows blur the lines between audience and performer in an effort to create something more intimate and communal.

“Comedians just want a good crowd to perform for,” Levine says. “We’re a bunch of lively 21-25-year-olds drinking in a laundromat and they love that energy when they’re on stage… They’re creative people, so as long as the shows are well run and concentrated on the comedy, they applaud the unorthodox venue choices and willingness to take a risk.”

Levine and Mansoor’s efforts arent just for comedy’s experimental new kids — they’re also attracting big names and regulars from New York’s Comedy Cellar, like Sherrod Small, Phil Hanley, Kerry Codett, Mark Normand, and Dave Attell, who have all performed sets for Overground Underground crowds. It’s a reminder that New York is, and will probably always be, the epicenter of American comedy.

“Yes, and…” that, Los Angeles.

Check out Overground Underground’s Instagram to stay up to date with the crew’s latest dates, which include upcoming performances at Soho Ink on October 23rd and Economy Candy on November 3rd.

Researchers continue to explore new methods for treating depression that don’t cause the harmful side effects or chronic dependency that many prescription treatments do. Alternatives to traditional medication such as psychopsilocybin and ketamine have gained popularity over the years, but the latest innovation is a device surgically implanted into the brain. And for one patient, the results have been life changing.

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Sarah, 36, had suffered for years from debilitating depression. According to reports from BBC and CNN, the symptoms had become so severe that Sarah claimed, “My daily life had become so restricted and impoverished by depression that I felt tortured by each day and forced myself to resist the suicidal impulses that overtook me several times an hour.”

Sarah had exhausted other possible treatments, and felt that “any kind of release would have been better than what [she] was experiencing.” So she decided the risk was worth the potential reward, and agreed to be the first patient to try a new device created by the team at the University of California San Francisco.

Brain stimulation acts ‘like a switch’ to turn off severe depression for one patient https://t.co/UVLYKp1IxY

— WSMV News4 Nashville (@WSMV)
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The device, no bigger than a matchbook, had originally been developed for patients with epilepsy, according to the team’s experimental study in Nature Medicine. Using it required Sarah to undergo a minimally invasive, yet very intricate, surgery. Two holes were drilled into her skull so that wires could run through them to monitor and stimulate her brain. In addition, a small piece of her skull was completely removed to make room for the device to fit under her scalp and hair. It would be permanently fixed there, and though she wouldn’t feel it, would always be “on.”

A daunting process, to be sure. But one that instantly yielded positive results. She reported euphoric feelings on waking and even laughing out loud. “It was the first time I had spontaneously laughed and smiled where it wasn’t faked, it wasn’t forced, for five years,” she said. “This joyous feeling washed over me.”

Just one small taste of relief would have been a victory for Sarah, but the device continued to work, and a year later, she had found her life turned around (with zero side effects). This is especially hopeful to hear, as many who try desperately to overcome depression through treatment find an initial uptake of positive emotion, only to crash and feel worse later.

Sarah reflects on her progress, noting, “at first, within a few weeks, the suicidal thoughts just disappeared. Then it was just a gradual process. It was like my lens on the world changed. … Everything has gotten easier and easier and easier.” The world that was once “gray and uninteresting,” even “ugly,” now had “gorgeous color.”

The team at the University of California San Francisco know they are still in the early stages of development for this potential breakthrough treatment. But the study does offer two valuable discoveries. One, that depression is not a moral failing. Cognitive therapy and medication might work well for many, but in severe cases more professional intervention might be needed. For Sarah, a cure wasn’t found through fixing her attitude and thinking positively. She had a measurable imbalance that required medical assistance. Society doesn’t have a stigma against those suffering from physical ailments such as broken legs and autoimmune disease, and stories like Sarah’s can help us understand that mental illness is no different.

And two, that personalized treatment is potentially right around the corner. According to study team member and UCSF neurosurgeon Dr. Edward Chang, “There is not one depression area or one mood area in the brain.” In Sarah’s case, signals from the amygdala, a small structure in the brain associated with emotions, predicted her worst symptoms. The device “affords us precision in a way that we never had before in treating depression,” he said. Other studies have mapped brain activity of patients with depression, but for the first time, that data is being used to make a difference in patient’s lives.

Where this is certainly only the beginning for testing the device’s true efficacy, it could mean a breakthrough for others like Sarah. And in a time where science and medicine are often mistrusted, it’s a small comfort to see evidence of it being used for good.

When ordinary people who have no intentions of making history step up to do the right thing, it reminds us that we all have the ability to be heroes. Jan Zwartendijk, a company man who risked the life of his wife and three children to help Jewish people flee to freedom during World War II, is finally getting his due after becoming the subject of a biography, “The Just: How Six Unlikely Heroes Saved Thousands of Jews from the Holocaust.”

The book was written by celebrated Dutch author Jan Brokken and first published in Dutch in 2018. It’s now available in its English-language translation.

When World War II broke out in Europe, Zwartendijk, originally from the Netherlands, was the head of a Philips branch in Kaunas, Lithuania.

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The Dutch company Philips sold light bulbs, gramophones and radios, and because of his reputation for being reliable, Zwartendijk was asked by the Dutch government in exile to take on the unpaid position of consul in Kaunas. The Netherlands had been invaded by the Nazis in 1940.

In June 1940, the Soviet army invaded Lithuania. Fearing persecution, Jewish refugees who fled to Lithuania began looking for a way out of the country. After he was approached by a few refugees, Zwartendijk concocted a secret plan to help them escape Europe.

In doing so, he put the lives of himself and his family in tremendous danger.

Zwartendijk could help them out of Lithuania by giving them passage to the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, about 5600 miles away. He did so by writing on their passports that no travel document was required to travel to Curaçao.

This was half true. Travel to Curaçao was allowed but required permission from the tiny island’s governor. However, the island was so remote, Zwartendijk thought that no one would bother to check the country’s entry requirements, and they didn’t.

The Curaçao visas allowed the refugees to petition Soviet authorities for transit papers. They were also able to take the visas up the road to Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara. Sugihara then cleared the way for the refugees to escape Europe by traveling to Vladivostok, a port city in Russia, via the Trans-Siberian Railway, and from there, by boat to Japan.

From Japan, they could travel freely to the Western Hemisphere, until December 7, 1941.

After the Jewish refugee community learned that Zwartendijk was issuing visas that allowed them to flee, they began to frantically line up at his office looking for “Mister Radio Philips.” Over a two-week period from July 26 and August 2, 1940, Zwartendijk churned out at least 2,345 visas and Sugihara issued close to 2,000.

A Curaçao visa issued by Zwartendijk.via Wikimedia Commons

On August 3, the Soviets closed the embassies and consulates in Kaunas.

Researchers estimate that the work of the two men allowed somewhere between 6,000 to 10,000 refugees to escape Europe because the visas were usually issued to men who brought their wives and children along for the journey.

Zwartendijk left Lithuania in September 1940 and returned to the Netherlands where he remained quiet about the work he did during the war. In 1964, after reports of the “Angel of Curaçao” emerged, he was reprimanded by the Dutch foreign ministry.

For the rest of his life, Zwartendijk wondered what happened to the refugees he helped flee Europe. He feared that many didn’t make it past Siberia.

“He must have thought that most of these people perished. He must have been worried that he sent them to their deaths,” his son, Rob Zwartendijk, told The Guardian.

Researchers later determined that 95% of the Jewish refugees with Zwartendijk’s visas survived the war. Sadly, this information reached his residence on the day of his funeral in 1976.

Over the years, Sugihara would be praised for his actions in Lithuania, while Zwartendijk remained relatively obscure.

Chiune Sugiharavia Wikimedia Commons

Sugihara died in 1986, two years after he was honored as “Righteous Among the Nations”—the greatest award that a non-Jew can be given by the State of Israel. Zwartendijk would receive the award posthumously, in 1997.

When asked about their acts of heroism, both men showed nothing but humility.

“It is the kind of sentiments anyone would have when he actually sees refugees face to face, begging with tears in their eyes,” Sugihara said. “He just cannot help but sympathize with them. Among the refugees were the elderly and women. They were so desperate that they went so far as to kiss my shoes. Yes, I actually witnessed such scenes with my own eyes.”

Zwartendijk’s son recalls his father dismissing any claims that he was a hero. “Ah, that’s not very important, everyone would have done those things if they had been in this position,” he said.

Over the past few years, Zwartendijk has finally been receiving the praise he deserves. After Brokken’s book was published, he received an apology from the Netherlands for chastising him for his work during the war.

The city of Kaunas has honored him with a memorial in front of the Philips office. More than 2,100 passports are suspended between two trees at the location and at night they light up a beautiful array of blue, pink and green.

Good to see the new Jan Zwartendijk lightmonument in Kaunas. As honorary consul he saved numerous Jews by issuing v… https://t.co/8gLK170pma

— PieterJanLangenberg (@PJLangenberg)
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Adele season is quickly approaching: She has a new single coming next week, and today, shes the subject of a new British Vogue profile. In it, she discusses the lyrical content of her upcoming album, saying that a non-insignificant portion of it has to do with her divorce. In fact, she reckons some of what she says may even make some women consider leaving their partners.

While listening to a song that addresses Adele’s divorce, she said, “Can you imagine couples listening to it in the car? It’d be so awkward. I think a lot of women are going to be like, ‘I’m done.’”

She then continued, “That one is obviously about stuff that happened, but I wanted to put it on the album to show Angelo [Adele’s son] what I expect him to treat his partner like, whether it be a woman or a man or whatever. After going through a divorce, my requirements are sky-high. There’s a very big pair of shoes to fill.”

Adele also noted her divorce was more due to drifting apart than any big bang of a fallout, saying, “It just wasn’t right for me anymore. I didn’t want to end up like a lot of other people I knew. I wasn’t miserable miserable, but I would have been miserable had I not put myself first. But, yeah, nothing bad happened or anything like that.”

Check out the full profile here.

While it’s hard enough to swallow the fact that we will never see Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman reprise his role as the benevolent King T’Challa, hearing about all the things the talented actor was meant to do with the character makes it even more difficult. Unfortunately, that’s just what happened in a recent interview with Variety, in which What If… creators A.C. Bradley and Bryan Andrews shared some heartbreaking news regarding Boseman’s role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how it was supposed to expand in the coming years.

According to the pair, the late actor was meant to star in a spin-off series following his T’Challa’s storyline in What If…, in which the young prince never becomes Black Panther but is instead abducted by Yondu who raises him up to ultimately become Star Lord. Andrews says that as of right now, that show idea is in limbo, with the studio unsure of how — or if — to presume.

“I don’t know if he knew this, but there was planning to have Star Lord T’Challa spin off into his own show with that universe and crew. We were all very excited. We know he would have loved it, too. And then, you know, he passed, and so all that’s in limbo. So, who knows? Maybe one day.”

Andrews isn’t the first person to claim Boseman absolutely loved doing voice work for the Disney+ series. Earlier this year, What If… executive producer Brad Winderbaum said that while the actor never saw the finished project, he was “very excited about taking part in it” and was “just so enthusiastic about finding a new spin on the character” with each of his four performances in What If… Andrews and Bradley also both confirmed that Boseman was not able to record any lines for What If… season two prior to his passing, adding they “lucky” they even had him in season one. According to Andrews:

“Chadwick had recorded his Star Lord T’Challa stuff early. But we had those later episodes that he appeared in sporadically, and it was a long stretch before we got him [again]. And it was not long after the final recording that he passed. I think it was maybe just a few months, or a month. None of us knew, obviously. But we got him in time to have everything [for Season 1]. I think he was also trying to make an effort because T’Challa was so important to him — and also this new version of Star Lord T’Challa was so important to him. He dug it.”

The entire first season of What If…, featuring the last T’Challa performance from Chadwick Boseman, is now available to watch on Disney+. As of right now, there is no news on when the series’ second season is coming.

If you’ve ever geeked out over an NBA player’s tunnel fit, or gone on a social media hunt for the streetwear brands players are rocking courtside, you probably have Courtney Mays to thank.

The prodigious menswear stylist has been labeled the league’s secret weapon when it comes to fashion. She’s dressed everyone from DeAndre Jordan, to Chris Paul (Mays helped craft the latter’s HBCU statement looks during the Bubble last year), to Cavs power forward Kevin Love. She’s witnessed the way players like LeBron James have let their sense of style evolve, becoming a trendsetter off the court in the process. She’s even ushered in some of that change herself, building season-long wardrobes, collaborating on capsule collections, steering the artistic direction of players’ brands, and elevating the closets of some of the biggest names in the league.

Dime got the chance to sit down with Mays for advice on tapping into that effortlessly chic look she’s seemed to trademark. Mays broke down how one player in particular has updated his fits over the past few years, combining his love for retro Americana and traditional menswear with a playful eye towards accessories, bold prints, and mismatching textures.

Have you seen a change in how players approach their tunnel fits in the last few years?

Absolutely. There’s been a huge transition. These tunnels, what these guys have on? They have such an influence on the rest of the [fashion] world. I think what’s so interesting is you even hear some of my clients talk about the locker room, like a guy comes in who’s dressed up, and there’s this whole rah rah that goes on. So I think it builds a little bit of camaraderie, a little competition. For me, it helps to expand the platform on where these guys stand. You can use fashion as a place to talk about other issues. I also think it helps to build their businesses. You get to see what things they’re interested in off the court, just by what they have on, and that might open doors for them in other areas.

What’s Kevin Love’s signature style and has it evolved over the course of his career?

The interesting thing about Kevin that I think a lot of people don’t realize is, he is like James Bond. He’s like the ultimate Renaissance man. He has the coolest music collection. He’s a connoisseur of food and wine. He loves vintage cars. He’s really into art collecting. I wish people knew this about him because I’m so inspired by him. When I first started working with him, he had a closet full of Tom Ford suits and custom Gucci shoes. It was crazy. I was like, “This guy?” Now, they were a little bit baggier and longer, and very plaid, but that was what was in at the time.

I think his style sensibility has changed. He’s more interested in street style in a way that’s still classic. He’s interested in classic tailoring, sustainable fabrics, things that are going to last in his closet for the rest of his life. He’s not necessarily interested in what the hottest, latest, greatest designer fad is right now.

How do you elevate or update those classic silhouettes so that they still feel exciting?

For Kevin, there are always small details that he loves. The one thing he’s really interested in is watches. You might not necessarily see it every time, but he always has a cool gold chain, like a thin David Yurman or Bulgari chain, or even some vintage turquoise that he found in Santa Fe, just underneath his sweatshirt. It’s part of his collection, things that he’s found on his own.

We are currently on the hunt for the perfect white t-shirt. Obviously, he’s 6’9, so I have to consider the length of the shirt. I want to make sure it’s well-fitting, that it’s not too thin, something that he could wear under a suit jacket or he could wear it just on its own with a pair of jeans. I’m always interested in updating accessories, some of those David Yurman pinky rings and Signet rings.

The other thing right now is we’re working on creating the perfect white low-top sneaker, kind of similar to a Common Project.

What kind of influence is the league having on athleisure at the moment?

With athletes, they’re constantly trying to figure out how to wear a sweatsuit. My other client, Chris Paul, literally tells me every season, “I want to wear a suit, but made out of sweatsuit material.” So we’ve made a couple of them, but normally it’s like, “How can I make a sweatsuit dressed up? How do I make it a little more style-forward so doesn’t look like I just have my Cavs warm-up on?” I think combining classic tailoring with things that are more comfortable makes for a more effortless style.

Kevin has great outerwear. I envy his outerwear closet. So we’re just trying to figure out ways to style those. He is really loving the Fear of God collection that just came up, so you’ll probably start to see him wear a lot of those pieces. I think that embodies this monochromatic athleisure moment we’re having. But honestly, all of my guys, they’re coming out of this pandemic bubble. They’re still in this mindset of wanting to be comfortable, but the flip side of that is like, “We’ve been in sweats and pajamas for the past year and a half, we have to show out.” We’re all just trying to find the balance there. So, you’ll start to see either crazy outfits or you’re going to see pandemic chic.

We’ve talked about Ralph Lauren and Tom Ford, these traditional higher-end designer brands. Are there any lesser-known go-to’s, streetwear collabs, or just more accessible lines that mirror Kevin’s elevated Americana esthetic?

So I really love Aime Leon Dore. I think they do a really great job of those essential pieces, but also the special ones. I love all their sweats and their sweaters. I just discovered an LA-based brand called Yony that does a little bit of a twist on some traditional styles. So they have a twill jacket that’s sort of the shape of a cardigan, so it’s heavy but it also has a collar. It’s like a mix between a bomber and a cardigan, but there’s something that’s really nostalgic about it. They do a really great job of kind of creating a set, like instant outfits.

There’s a designer named Romeo Hunte, who is New York-based, who just did a collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger. He takes traditional silhouettes, so like your classic khaki trench coat, and then he kind of flips it on its side. So maybe the sleeve on it is a leather Moto jacket. Or it might be a blazer that has a denim jacket collar. He does these really interesting takes on clothes.

Kevin’s been rocking camo lately. How do you style bold prints like that to work for him?

The rest of the look has to sort of stay neutral or stay monochromatic, especially for Kevin. So we pick one of the greens from the camo and we work our way up with that. Whether it’s a green jacket and we just put a white t-shirt underneath it or you go with something really basic like a black overcoat. I think if you were to hand me a pair of camo pants right now, my instincts say to put a gray crew neck sweatshirt with it and a really cool, long, black overcoat, and let all of the colors be neutral.

What are some fashion choices he’s made that surprised you?

I remember when he started wearing vintage tees and he got really into this Stone Cold Steve Austin moment. He was collecting all of these cool vintage tees from these crazy dealers in New York and all across the world. I was very shocked by that because he’s so classic. He loves the Canadian tuxedo too, the denim jacket with a pair of denim pants. There was a company called Three by One that I don’t think exists anymore. We worked with them to make some really cool denim jackets that had the pockets placed in different ways. I think you’ll probably still see him do that more.

Layering plays a key role in some of his best fits. Why is that a go-to for him?

I love the mixture of textures because I think it lends to a more interesting look. I also consider the fact that he’s in Cleveland, so it’s cold. That’s kind of the best time to get dressed. You can wear the turtleneck with the jean jacket and then the overcoat on top of it to create this interesting, layered effect. If we’re going to wear a camel turtleneck and a camel overcoat, then maybe we wear a really beautiful dark denim jacket in between, just to break it up a little bit. Layering is another way to show that little bit of effortless style. I think you have to be a little bit cool to throw on a denim jacket and then throw an overcoat on top of that. That shows like, “Oh, I have a little bit of swagger.”

I often like to use his denim jackets as shirts. So we button them up all the way and then throw something else on top of it. I’m always trying to figure out how can we use those two minutes of these guys walking in to show a little bit of style.

Don Toliver’s Life Of A Don drops this Friday, October 8, and with just hours to go before its release, the Houston rapper decided to share the tracklist, revealing the titles of the album’s 16 tracks — but not any potential features. However, thanks to a series of teasers and leaks, fans believe they have a pretty good idea of the guestlist, which is speculated to include Baby Keem, Dom Kennedy, HVN, Kali Uchis, SoFaygo, and Toliver’s Cactus Jack label head Travis Scott.

The rollout for Life Of A Don was slowly unveiled of the course of the past several months, beginning with the release of “What You Need” in May. Shortly thereafter, Toliver teased fans with the album’s title and a planned release window in July, however, needless to say, he’s overshot that original plan by a significant amount. In the meantime, he once again reunited with his “Lemonade” collaborators Internet Money and Gunna on “His & Hers” featuring Lil Uzi Vert, then teamed up with Latto and Lil Durk on the F9 soundtrack standout “Fast Lane,” and assisted Skrillex on the Justin Bieber-featuring “Don’t Go.”

He returned to promoting his own album with the video for “Drugs N Hella Melodies” with Kali Uchis and announced its release date at the end of September. You can check out the tracklist above and stream Life Of A Don via Cactus Jack and Atlantic Records here.

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

Björk is gearing up to hit the road and bring her experimental, theatrical live production to the US. The singer just announced a handful of North American tour dates, where she plans on bringing her concert experience Cornucopia to the stage in 2022.

Björk’s Cornucopia is an award-winning production made up of a team of digital and theatrical collaborators that created the experienced based off her 2017 album Utopia. It features orchestral arrangements played by members of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, flute septet Viibra, the Hamrahlid Choir, as well as a few special guests. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of tickets will be donated to various women’s charities worldwide.

Alongside the tour announcement, Björk shared some stories about how she created various scores, saying, “I wrote áróra on sibelius software I got in 1999 and fell in love with and have used ever since. I am excited to have the original harp arrangement played by both harp and 32 string players in pizzicato. [It] exaggerates the magical frostscapes I was excited about. I wrote the middle section in a cabin in borgargjödur I stayed in in winter. I remember the shadow of the mountain came over the whole valley and I tried to worship the shape it made. Ever since, when I sing that section, I always remember borgargjödur and the humility I craved so at that moment.”

See Björk’s Cornucopia tour dates below.

01/26/2022 — Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Auditorium
01/29/2022 — Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Auditorium
02/01/2022 — Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Auditorium
02/05/2022 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center
02/08/2022 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center

Tickets for Björk’s Cornucopia tour go on sale 10/15 local time. Get them here.

A festival that prides itself on giving back, Phoenix’s M3F Fest announced its 2022 lineup and it’s a doozy. Soul singer Leon Bridges, electronic producer Zhu, British electro fusionists Jungle, and ace Canadian producer Kaytranada are leading the way for the festival’s slate. It’s a handsome set of headliners for the modestly-sized festival that brings together 25,000 people across two days.

Taking place from March 4 to 5, 2022 at Margaret T. Hance Park in bustling downtown Phoenix, M3F Fest really sets itself apart with a commitment to donating 100 percent of proceeds to charity. In the past two years of the fest alone, $1.1 million was donated. The three primary beneficiaries that M3F supports are the Music Therapy Program at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, the Northern Arizona Chapter of Habitat for Humanity and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. But there’s a super impressive list of over two dozen other organizations that benefit from the festival’s economic drive that can be found here.

Aside from the aforementioned artists, other acts on the lineup include Arizona, Bryce Vine, Whethan, Cautious Clay, Surf Mesa, and Blue DeTiger, among others.

The full list of artists on the lineup can be seen below and tickets are on sale now on the M3F Fest website.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Hearts broke just as quickly as the headlines when it was revealed 32-year old actress Brittany Murphy had suddenly died back in 2009, and it didn’t take much longer for sadness to turn into suspicion. While the actress’ autopsy revealed pneumonia to be her primary cause of death, following the tragedy many questioned how a seemingly healthy and vibrant woman in her 30s had so suddenly fallen gravely ill. Now, twelve years later, HBO is attempting to get to the bottom of the case and clear up some rumors in its upcoming documentary What Happened, Brittany Murphy?

A two-part HBO Max Original series, What Happened, Brittany Murphy is “an intimate, in-depth character portrait of actress Brittany Murphy” that goes “beyond the headlines to explore the mysterious circumstances surrounding her tragic death at 32 years old,” according to the series’ press release. Both episodes of the documentary series will debut on Thursday, October 14 on HBO Max, and will feature interviews from friends, family, and other important figures in the actress’ life.

“A captivating actress as effervescent on-screen as she was off, Murphy was a rising star whose movies helped define a generation. But in 2009, Murphy’s untimely passing ended her promising career, while the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death quickly became fodder for speculation and conspiracy theories. Featuring new archival footage and interviews with those closest to her, What Happened, Brittany Murphy? goes beyond the tabloid rumors to examine the impact of Hollywood’s sexism on her struggles, as well as lingering concerns about her relationship with husband Simon Monjack. Sensitive and nuanced, the docuseries explores the legacy of a unique talent.”

What Happened, Brittany Murphy? is directed by the Emmy-nominated Cynthia Hill (Private Violence) and executive produced by Mary Lisio (The People v. The Klan, Pray Away), James Buddy Day (Fall River), and the Emmy-winning team over at Blumhouse. The two-part series will be available to watch starting October 14 over on HBO’s streaming service HBO Max.