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It’s been a while since America had a good old fashioned evolution battle. The last significant bout involving the scientific theory was in the mid-aughts, when religious groups tried to float an idea called “intelligent design,” which was effectively laughed out of existence. But someone’s trying to make scientific illiteracy a thing again, and that person is — of course — Marjorie Taylor Greene.

According to Axios, the relentlessly controversial congresswoman went on Real America’s Voice, the podcast hosted by Steve Bannon. Greene is infamous for believing in nonsense. She claims she’s no longer a follower of QAnon, floated something about Jewish space lasers, and seems to think June 31 is a real date. But a thoroughly vetted scientific theory about the origin of species, first postulated by Charles Darwin and buttressed by over a century-and-a-half of exploration — for her, that’s a bridge too far.

Greene and Bannon — who has his own wacko beliefs — were discussing some different deranged theories about how COVID-19 first began. One unproven theory posits that it was created in a Wuhan lab. Some people throw in a line about American funding being involved. Greene speculated that it could have been a scientific breakthrough gone awry, calling it a “bioweapon” and that scientists were trying to “experiment with like some sort of Dr. Frankenstein experiments.”

Bannon, perhaps wondering about her scientific bona fides, then interrupted her, asking if she believes that species evolve. She did not.

“I don’t believe in evolution,” Greene told the former Trump aide. “I believe in God.” She added, “I don’t believe in that type of so-called science.”

This should surprise no one. People who believe in weird things tend not to believe in issues that experts agree is real, from biological evolution to climate change. So, in a sense, perhaps this is not news,

(Via Axios)

Many NBA idiosyncrasies intersect at Donovan Mitchell: geography, drama, style. After yet another delightful postseason performance this week to open the Jazz’s second-round series against the Clippers in Salt Lake City, Mitchell stands among a select few with a reasonable claim to being a next face of the league. He plays a delirious brand of basketball carved from the changes the sport has undergone in recent years and is one of the most marketable personalities who boasts a wonderful nickname — Spida — to go with his All-Star caliber play.

Already among the active players with the highest per-game scoring average in the playoffs after 29 career postseason games, even the great Magic Johnson praised Mitchell in a rare comprehensible tweet this week.

Greatness is clearly staring us right in the face when it comes to Mitchell, but a few things seem to be holding him back right now. A game reliant upon unreal pull-up three-point shooting and a flair for the dangerous make it feel as if the bottom could fall out at any time, even if dozens of games into his playoff career, Mitchell’s track record makes that seem very unlikely.

There’s also the Utah of it all — never has the NBA had anything resembling a face of the league who played for the Jazz. Karl Malone was far from charismatic, and nobody on the Deron Williams teams ever grew to that stature (nor were they ever as good as Mitchell’s Jazz are). Even among Mitchell’s teammates, Rudy Gobert stands as one of the most oft-mocked superstars we have, both for COVID reasons and the struggles defense-first players have from a marketability standpoint.

But every single time Mitchell steps foot onto a big stage, he puts on a show. Though there’s still a way to go against the Clippers, Mitchell has averaged at least 29 points per game in each of his last three playoff series. When the Jazz stopped him from playing Game 1 against Memphis, his competitiveness was enough to inspire a bunch of hush-hush stuff across the NBA media for days. It’s pretty intoxicating.

On top of that, if you’re looking for reasons to like Mitchell as a player, he undeniably has made the most of his time in the league. He arrived as an undersized late-lottery pick whose competitiveness was about the best thing you could say about him. As he grew as a player, Mitchell took advantage of the space inherent in the modern game to become an even better version of himself. After shooting just 29 percent on pull-up triples as a rookie, he made it a point to get better at this element of the game and tallied 36 percent on more than five attempts per game this season.

And as he built out his game, the Jazz put together a system with so much space and smarts that he has all the room he wants to freelance. Those decisions sometimes get him into trouble (though even his turnovers have dwindled), and all of it together has turned Mitchell into one of the most dazzling performers in the playoffs, a player who could potentially be great enough to lead Utah’s offense on a title run this year.

Of course, there’s also the upside of existing in an NBA town like Salt Lake. As the young Black superstar in a place known in NBA circles for not always being particularly hospitable to opposing players, Mitchell holds fascinating influence. He wielded it in the first round when, after Ja Morant’s family was subject to some of that Utah ugliness, Mitchell met courtside with Ja’s father, Tee.

Across multiple games this postseason, we’ve watched a public friendship blossom between Mitchell and new Jazz co-owner Dwyane Wade. As the cofounder of the Social Justice Fund, a tireless supporter of his daughter, Zaya, and an outspoken advocate of disenfranchised groups across America, Wade is an intriguing mentor for Mitchell — not to mention the young Jazz standout has been compared stylistically to Wade since his Louisville days.

Should Mitchell, from his perch in Utah, continue to embrace the mantle of all that it means to be an outspoken champion of racial equity and genuine brotherhood with the rest of the NBA, it will give his career another thick layer of meaning in the broader conversation around the league. Mitchell could be crucial to how the NBA exists culturally for years to come.

This month, we’ll watch another early chapter play out. The league may not know it could use a character like Mitchell at its forefront, but he is asserting himself through all the ways an NBA star can, and he seems to be thinking bigger and bigger. At this point, who are we to doubt him?

There are near-death experiences, and then there’s this: As per CNN, a man in Cape Cod was swallowed whole by a humpback whale. But he lived to tell the tale.

That man is Michael Packard, a lobster diver who was doing his casually job off the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts. The way he describes it sum it up best:

“I got down to about 45 feet of water, and all of a sudden I just felt this huge bump, and everything went dark,” Packard told CNN affiliate WBZ. “And I could sense that I was moving, and I was like, ‘”Oh, my God, did I just get bit by a shark?’”

“Then I felt around, and I realized there was no teeth and I had felt, really, no great pain,” Packard said. “And then I realized, ‘Oh, my God, I’m in a whale’s mouth. I’m in a whale’s mouth, and he’s trying to swallow me.’”

But the whale did not swallow him. After what Packard estimated were about 30 seconds, the whale shot to the surface and spat him out. He landed in the water, banged up but alive in and in one piece. He thought he may have broken a leg or two, but he did not.

A biologist told CNN that what happened was a rarity, and the whale was likely doing what’s called “lunge feeding,” in which they try to quickly gather a large volume of food in their mouth, not caring what they find. In this case, the whale scooped up a man and his diving equipment.

Packard still could have died, and not just from being swallowed. The speed with which the whale surfaced and ejected him could have caused an embolism from the air pressure in Packard’s lungs. But Packard remained calm and can now regale people with one whale of a tale.

(Via CNN)

Aside from being one of the most popular rappers in the world, Drake is also an avid basketball fan. From frequently appearing courtside at Toronto Raptors games to hooping with NBA players and friends in the basketball court he had built inside his Toronto mansion, his love for the game is clear. So it comes as no surprise that the rapper stopped by a game for LeBron James’ son, Bronny James, on Friday night.

Bronny finally made his sophomore year debut with the Sierra Canyon School’s high school basketball team after he missed most of the season following surgery for a torn meniscus. Drake’s fandom for the game became very clear when he got into an argument with a referee during the matchup against Corona Centennial High School. Video of the interaction was captured by some in attendance and it shows Drake clearly frustrated with something the ref did. The conversation didn’t last long, and the rapper returned to his seat just seconds later.

Drake went to the game with LeBron himself, as well as JR Smith, Jared Dudley, his son Adonis, and more. Drake rocked a Bronny James jersey in the video for his 2019 track, “Money In The Grave,” with Rick Ross. As for the game, Bronny’s Sierra Canyon team unfortunately lost to Corona Centennial by a score of 80-72.

It’s been 20 years since Monsters, Inc., Pixar’s fourth-ever film, hit theaters, and though it’s gotten the occasional short as well as a prequel, it’s been one of the few from the company to never get the sequel treatment. That changes now, sort of: On July 7, Disney+ will start dropping Monsters at Work, a TV sequel that finally shows the company changing from frights to yuks.

John Goodman and Billy Crystal are back as James P. “Sulley” Sullivan and Mike Wazowski, the nighttime beasts hired to scare kids. At the end of the first film, they had a change of heart, all thanks to a sweet little girl. The belated sequel shows them taking the next step: After getting promoted, they pivot the company into making children laugh, not afraid.

They’re not, however, the stars. The main characters are a new batch of monsters, trying to eke out a living in a very different company. Ben Feldman plays Tylor Tuskmon, a would-be scarerer who has to try something else when he arrives. Mindy Kaling, Henry Winkler, and Alana Ubach round out the main voice cast. Disney+ needs all the content it can get, so don’t be surprised if you’re seeing more from Brave next.

You can watch the trailer in the video above.

UPDATE: UEFA released a statement on the incident, saying that Eriksen was “transferred to the hospital and has been stabilised.”

EARLIER: Denmark’s Euro 2020 opener against Finland was suddenly suspended due to a medical emergency involving standout midfielder Christian Eriksen. Late in the first half of the Group B opener, Eriksen, the side’s talismanic midfielder who plays his club ball for Inter Milan, suddenly collapsed during an attacking passage of play for the Danes.

Immediately, players for both sides called for the medics to come tend to Eriksen, who did not appear to be responsive. Medical personnel raced onto the pitch and appeared to start chest compressions. Players from the Danish national team created a wall around those who were tending to Eriksen, while players for both sides were visibly shaken up.

After several minutes of trying to do everything they could for the 29-year-old midfielder, Eriksen was guided off the pitch in front of the nation’s fans at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen. Amid this, UEFA announced that the match would not continue.

“The UEFA EURO 2020 match in Copenhagen has been suspended due to a medical emergency,” UEFA said in a statement, per NBC Sports.

It is not known what caused this to happen, but for now, the thoughts and prayers of sports fans from every corner of the world are on Denmark’s star midfielder.

This past weekend was supposed to be a celebratory one for Polo G, as the Chicago rapper released his third album, Hall Of Fame, on Friday. Unfortunately, the weekend festivities were cut short after the rapper was arrested in Miami. The incident occurred after an album release party for the new album. Polo G and his mom, Stacia Mac, who also doubles as his manager, were riding in a vehicle following the party when police officers pulled them over. The reason for officers stopping them is currently unknown, but whatever it was, it resulted in Polo G being placed under arrest.

According to The Miami Herald, as cops attempted to handcuff the rapper, an altercation between Polo G and Officer Brandon Carrero ensued. Officers Brandon Carrero and Joseph Acuna “ended up in a struggle on the ground,” with the rapper striking the officer in the head, chin, forehead, and cheek during the incident, according to the arrest report. Acuna witnessed Polo G on top of Carrero while swinging his elbows and making contact with the officer. Later, once Polo G was placed under arrest, he allegedly threatened the officer, saying, “I will kill you, I swear I will use these fists to beat the sh*t out of you and knock your ass out.”

Stacia Mac took to Twitter afterwards to accuse the officers of picking on her son. “None of these charges would be possible if the POLICE did not make contact with my son Polo G!!!” she wrote. “He was NOT the driver. He was a PASSENGER in a professionally licensed vehicle with security. He was moving smart and correctly. What more could he have done.”

Polo G was booked into the Guilford Knight Correctional Center around 8:00 a.m. local time on Saturday. He was charged with battery against a police officer, public servant/influence performance threat, resisting an officer with violence, resisting an officer without violence, and criminal mischief. Polo G was later released after posting a $19,500 bond.

Swae Lee has once again had an item stolen from him. The rapper, who is also one-half of the duo Rae Sremmurd, recently claimed that $300,000 worth of jewelry was taken from a hotel room he stayed in during a trip to Miami. According to law enforcement who spoke to TMZ, Swae completed a stay at the Mondrian Hotel in South Beach, and as he went to check out of the hotel, he realized that the large amount in jewelry was missing from the room.

The publication says sources close to Swae revealed that a bracelet and chains were taken from the room and that he believes hotel workers are responsible for the robbery. This is because when the theft was reported to the staff at the hotel, the bracelet was allegedly turned in by an employee, but the chains were nowhere to be found. Miami Beach police department detectives are currently investigating the incident, but they say there’s no evidence yet that hotel employees are responsible for the stolen jewelry.

This incident comes months after Swae revealed his hard drive filled with “all my songs” was taken from him while he was at Los Angeles International Airport. After offering a $20,000 reward for the drive’s safe return, he later revealed that it had been returned to him.

We’re living in a new golden age for game shows. Classic programs, like Match Game, Press Your Luck, and Supermarket Sweep, have been brought back, hosted by big names like Joel McHale, Elizabeth Banks, and Leslie Jones. Meanwhile newbies, like the British Taskmaster and the John Cena co-hosted Wipeout, are finding new ways to twist the genre. But one show has run into a bit of a problem before its debut season has been wrapped up: production on Ultimate Slip ‘N Slide — based on the popular backyard water toy first introduced in 1961 — had to be put on hold due to “explosive diarrhea.”

According to The Wrap, shooting on the show had to be put on indefinite hiatus after a crew member tested positive for giardia, a microscopic parasite that can cause diarrheal disease. A source said “up to 40 crew members fell violently ill,” leading to an outbreak of “awful explosive diarrhea.” Some collapsed; others were merely “forced to run into port-o-potties.”

At the time only one week of production was left. The show is scheduled to premiere after the Summer Olympics, which are set to take place in Tokyo from late July into early August. In a statement, NBC said they’re in “the process of determining next steps in order to complete production.” Hoping for the best for everyone because “explosive diarrhea” does not sound fun.

(Via The Wrap)

Right now world leaders are convening for the annual G7 summit. Those who run the globe’s top seven “world economies” are in Cornwall, England hashing it out over Big Topics. And after last year, they have more to discuss than usual: health care, climate change, and, of course, the ongoing pandemic. They’ll be able to get so much more done now that the guy who was usually otherwise occupied is no longer there. But so far the big takeaway, at least on social media, is this: Boy, did that “family” photo they took look awkward.

The image finds the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States perched on a beach, with Boris Johnson and Joe Biden front and center. As the pandemic is not yet over, they’re social distancing, not lumped in one big pile. It makes sense. But they all look impossibly stiff, unsmiling, not terribly happy to be there.

Granted, better stiff than painful. The three summits that were held during the Trump administration (the one last year was cancelled, for obvious reasons) was even more awkward than this one, with clear disdain for the then-American president emanating from the other six leaders. (There’s also that instant classic photo from a few years back, in which everyone looks like they’re yelling at Trump, who sits there, arms crossed, oblivious to the scorn he elicits.)

Still, lots of people had jokes about the 2021 family photo, among them late night hosts.

Even Queen Elizabeth had a crack about the lifeless photo, joking, “Are you supposed to be looking as if you’re enjoying yourself?”

Anyway, hopefully they get stuff done, especially now that America once again has an adult in charge.