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Netflix just dropped the first official trailer for We the People, an animated music video series created by Chris Nee and produced through a joint collaboration between Kenya Barris and Barack and Michelle Obama. Featuring a powerhouse set list of musical stars like H.E.R. and Janelle Monáe, the 10 episodes series will feature a collection of music videos that will hopefully inspire viewers to rethink their civic engagement. A “Civics Remix,” as the trailer calls it.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Combining music and animation to educate a new generation of young Americans about the power of the people, We the People is a series of 10 animated music videos that covers a range of basic U.S. civics lessons in not-so-basic ways. Set to original songs performed by artists such as H.E.R., Janelle Monáe, Brandi Carlile, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Adam Lambert, Cordae, Bebe Rexha, KYLE, Andra Day, and poet Amanda Gorman, with a groundbreaking mix of animated styles — each episode of We the People is an exuberant call to action for everyone to rethink civics as a living, breathing thing and to reframe their understanding of what government and citizenship mean in a modern world.

We the People starts streaming July 4 on Netflix

(Via Netflix)

Crime Scene Kitchen (FOX, 9:00pm) — Joel McHale’s the host of this bizarro cooking-focused reality-competition show, which sees chef teams attempt to figure out what was baked after a dessert disappears, leaving only ingredients in the aftermath. Seriously, give this show a whirl because it is oddly meditative to watch the clues come together. Also, McHale is one of the best famous-types at the art of the interview, and I’ll stand by that claim no matter what.

Kung Fu (CW, 8:00pm) — Althea’s getting ready for her bachelorette party (what a strange twist on this revival story) while a family secret’s exposure leads to plenty of fallout for Nancy and the Shens.

Carnival (Netflix film) — A digital influencer is devastated when her boyfriend not only cheats, but video evidence of the betrayal goes viral. In the aftermath, she uses her connections to snag an all-inclusive trip for her best-friends group to take a Salvador trip to Carnival.

Nancy Drew (CW, 9:00pm) — Following Nick receiving upsetting news, Nancy gathers Carson and Ryan to help out the Drew Crew.

Jimmy Kimmel Live — Rachel Weisz, Rob Riggle, Willie Jones

In case you missed these picks from last Wednesday:

High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America (Netflix series) — Food writer Stephen Satterfield takes a powerful voyage to discover the resourcefulness and straight-up artistry of the African American people. Satterfield draws upon knowledge from chefs, historians, and activists to do so, and the results are mouthwatering.

Ghost Lab (Netflix film) — Two medical doctor BFFs witness a “ghost” while conducting a research experiment about life after death. This leads them down a rabbit hole of attempting to find a scientific explanation for what they’re seeing, and this obsession could have far-reaching implications for their friendship and beyond.

In 2013, the NFL settled a lawsuit with former players for nearly $1 billion to pay former players who have dealt with brain injuries and the long-term effects of head trauma from playing football. It was a landmark settlement and one many hoped would help former players who have had their lives irrevocably impacted by brain injuries from football, but in the years since, many Black players have been turned away due to the practice of “race-norming.”

Race-norming assumes that Black people start with a lower cognitive function than others, and when used to determine whether they have dementia or other issues of a decline in cognitive function, the lower starting baseline causes more Black people to be denied a diagnosis — and in this case, a settlement claim. The NFL announced a new panel to create replacement norms that will be used to reassess all previous claims that were denied to determine who should qualify using a non-racist practice, via the Associated Press.

According to the NFL, a panel of neuropsychologists formed recently to propose a new testing regime to the court includes two female and three Black doctors.

“The replacement norms will be applied prospectively and retrospectively for those players who otherwise would have qualified for an award but for the application of race-based norms,” the NFL said in a statement issued Wednesday by spokesman Brian McCarthy.

It is a positive step, but one that should’ve never needed to have been taken. The NFL’s decision comes after a civil rights lawsuit was filed by two former players against the practice that was thrown out by the judge overseeing the settlement, but drew ample attention and a massive petition against the league.

John Oliver can’t resist shaking things up, and on Sunday night, he decided that the cereal world could use some controversy. So, he ranted about the boring nature of cereal brands and dared Cheerios to drop an F-bomb on Twitter in exchange for the Last Week Tonight host donating $25,000 to their choice of charity. Well, he sweetened the pot by offering $50,000 if the brand got profane with a “random, non-famous user,” and with that, the ball was duly placed in Cheerios’ court.

In response, Cheerios attempted to be entirely wholesome by donating $50,000 to No Kid Hungry and then offering to double the donation if Last Week Tonight account tweeted out a Cheerios motto: “Families make good go round.”

As one might imagine, the challenge has been duly accepted, and Oliver found a way to bypass the wholesome vibe by adding some (serious) deviance to the mix. Yes, “Families make good go round” did appear in Last Week Tonight‘s response tweets, but so did the Manson family and the Menendez brothers. For good measure, Oliver tweeted a reference to the Sackler family, which is currently under fire for (allegedly) profiting from the opioid crisis before claiming that a “smear campaign” is afoot.

Oh, but there’s more. Last Week Tonight also decided to do what Cheerios wouldn’t do: tell a random, non-famous account to f*ck off. Challenge complete?

Which stage of grief includes laughing uncontrollably at a twice-impeached former president, who thought “blogging” meant trash-dumping incoherent press releases on a web page that he’s shut down because no one cared to read them? Because that’s where we’re at when it comes to the short life of “From The Desk of Donald J. Trump.”

The “communications platform” was launched a month ago as a response to Trump’s social media exile. The TV personality was banned from sites like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook after he used his accounts to incite violence and spread misinformation that led to the Jan. 6th insurrection on Capitol Hill. Trump, still desperate to share his disjointed stream of consciousness with his followers, launched the blogging site a few weeks ago as a feed to house various press releases responding to world events. But surprisingly — or not so surprisingly if you heard the news on Twitter — CNN reported earlier today that Trump had shut down the site, shifting the press releases to a different section of outdated-looking “Save America” platform.

Now, plenty of people had jokes as to why Trump may have decided to close up shop, digitally speaking, but according to sources close to the ex-president who spoke with The Washington Post today, the deciding factor was fairly straightforward: the site was performing so poorly, it started to bruise the man’s already fragile ego.

The Post is reporting that Trump told aides to shut down the site after it was heavily mocked on social media. According to the article, Trump’s blog posts were shared just 1,500 times on its final day before his team terminated it — an embarrassingly small number compared to the millions of shares and likes his Twitter feed used to get. Sources who spoke to The Post said Trump’s team was worried his blog would also compete with the social media platform he still plans to launch sometime in the future, although with that dismal turnout, we can’t imagine why anyone would see the site as a traffic threat. Still, we’ll mourn the good times Trump’s version of LiveJournal gave us, like when he whined about not getting credit for the COVID-19 vaccine, and when he called the horse that won the Kentucky Derby a “junky.”

R.I.P. “From The Desk Of Donald J. Trump.” You truly were(n’t) ahead of your time.

In a bit of unexpected casting news, Helen Mirren is coming to ABC in a new unscripted comedy series that will feature the British actress narrating improvisational scenes voiced by comedians and starring real animals.

“I am excited by the opportunity to reveal the ‘true inner lives’ of the noble creatures with whom we share the planet,” Mirren said in a statement to Variety:

“When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren” stars Helen Mirren as the voice of Helen Mirren, who narrates a cheeky look at animals and the wild. The show is based on a BBC Studios format that “features comedians putting words into the mouths of beautiful beasts, teeny-tiny frogs, beatboxing badgers and more in captivating footage from all over the world,” the network said.

The ABC series marks a busy June for Dame Helen. The day after her new comedy show airs, she can be seen in F9 where, at long last, the muscle car series puts one of the world’s most distinguished actresses behind the wheel as Vin Diesel is forced to ride shotgun. Mirren is also playing the villain in the new Shazam! sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which began production last week. Between that production and however Universal is handling the F9 premiere, Mirren is going to have her dance card full this month.

When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren premieres Thursday, June 24 on ABC.

(Via Variety)

Breakout star Olivia Rodrigo released her highly-anticipated debut album Sour last month and is still riding high. The album debuted at No. 1 and had the biggest opening week of 2021. Seeing as Rodrigo is gaining recognition for her music, it’s only fitting that she’s now showing love to another artists who’s had a big year: Phoebe Bridgers.

Rodrigo has made it no secret that she has consistently idolized Taylor Swift since a young age. But now, Rodrigo has cosigned another singer who’s making waves in the music industry. Rodrigo shared a clip of her sitting her the car with her friend and former Bizaardvark costar Madison Hu. The opening chords to Bridgers’ hit Punisher track “Kyoto” can be heard on the stereo and the two act like they had never heard the song before scream-singing its hook.

While Bridgers’ album did not break charting records like Rodrigo’s, it still earned her critical acclaim. The LP led to her being nominated for four Grammy Awards this year, including Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Alternative Music Album. Bridgers also turned heads several months ago with her buzzworthy performance on SNL. The set saw her smashing a guitar on stage, which ended up outraging some (mostly male) rock fans and delighting others.

In the colorful video for Yung Baby Tate‘s new single “Eenie Meenie,” the burgeoning Atlanta star makes her lyrics literal with a campy take on a classic carnival game. Instead of whacking moles, she’s whacking hoes — or in this case, f*ckboys — with a giant inflatable hammer, making them adjust to her ways rather than the other way around. There’s also a “blink and you’ve missed it” cameo from fellow rapper Westside Boogie, who’s often addressed similar sentiments in his own music.

Tate’s new single comes from the recently released deluxe version of her first major-label EP (and sixth overall) After The Rain, which arrived May 21 after months of teasing from Tate and finagling from fans. In addition to the original seven songs, the deluxe features six new tracks, including “Eeenie Meenie” and the TikTok-favorite “Focused,” as well as more R&B-focused tracks that show off her singing and songwriting. The “Eenie Meenie” video is her second video from the EP after the Flo Milli-featuring, affirmational “I Am.” Tate detailed the making of that clip for Uproxx’s Behind The Video.

Watch the “Eenie Meenie” video above. You can read Uproxx’s newly released digital cover story here.

Yung Baby Tate is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The evolution Kratos and God of War went through in 2018 was really spectacular. This was a franchise that was well-known for button mash style combat and aggressively over-the-top set pieces. It made sense — the player was battling gods, after all, but the tone change in the 2018 release caught a lot of people off guard. 2018’s God of War was in some ways a sequel, but also a reboot of the franchise and it showed that even Kratos was capable of being a deep character. It also made a lot of people excited for the new future of the series.

Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait a little bit longer to experience the future that we have wanted for so long. God of War: Ragnarok, first announced in September 2020, was supposed to have a 2021 release date, but it is going to join the growing list of delays that has defined this year in gaming. Developers Sony Santa Monica announced the delay today on Twitter. Expect the game some time in 2022.

This is unfortunate, but also not entirely unexpected. When Ragnarok was first announced, it was done with nothing more than a title screen. Typically a game that is a year away from release is going to have more to show than that. The optimist would have said that they didn’t show much because they didn’t want to give too much away, while the pessimist would say that they didn’t have enough to show. Considering the tumultuous year-plus in the gaming world, it’s very likely that it just isn’t close to being done yet.

We will just have to wait and see on what happens with God of War. While it’s unfortunate to have to wait longer, at least the game is going to get the work it deserves.

After a year of touring in support of their debut self-titled EP was wiped clean due to the pandemic, Bay Area trio Sour Widows retreated to the studio to work on new music. The new EP Crossing Over is the result of those focused sessions, four tracks that revel in sparsity and find the band more locked in than ever before.

To celebrate the new EP, the trio sat down to talk Big Thief, Massachussets, and Elf In the latest Indie Mixtape 20 Q&A.

What are four words you would use to describe your music?

Friendship, spiderweb, loud, soft.

It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

The soundtrack to all the good parts of life on Earth.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?

Hadley, Massachusetts.

Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?

Big Thief – each member of the band brings something fresh, unique, and personal to the world of rock music, and watching their processes and evolution as a contemporary group has taught us so much.

Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights IL (with our friend JP, most special dessert ever).

What album do you know every word to?

Enema Of The State by blink-182.

What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?

The best concert the whole band has attended is a tie between Sen Morimoto at Mayfest in Beloit, WI in 2019 and Duster at the Great American Music Hall in SF the same year.

What is the best outfit for performing and why?

Whatever makes you feel the most yourself that night – sometimes it’s your Woodstock ‘99 original t-shirt with jeans and sometimes it’s your vintage Harley Davidson long sleeve with the spiderweb elbows over a slip dress, wear the thing that is going to be the best conduit for your shred energy.

Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

Patti Harrison.

What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?

“Under The Bridge“.

What’s the last thing you Googled?

How and when do I get paid – DistroKid Help Center.

What album makes for the perfect gift?

Dave Brubeck – Love Songs.

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?

Attic crawl space in Columbus, Ohio.

What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?

2 members of the band have a tattoo that says “YELLOW BELLY” which is a lyric from an old song and the name of one of our guitars, we got it in Portland, OR on the first tour we ever planned 3 weeks after starting the band.

What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?

Queen, Coldplay, Megan Thee Stallion.

What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Listened to our music 🙂

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

You are gay.

What’s the last show you went to?

A show we played in Portland, OR with some friends two days before lockdown.

What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?

Elf.

What would you cook if Obama were coming to your house for dinner?

Hungry Man TV dinner.

Crossing Over is out now. Listen here.