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If you spent any time watching conservative news this weekend, you might have heard that President Joe Biden is planning on limiting every American’s red meat consumption as part of his administration’s ambitious new climate plan. Fox News ran with a graphic titled “Up In Your Grill” that informed the public that Biden’s climate requirements included cutting 90% of red meat from our diets, allowing Americans a max of four pounds of red beef per year, or just one burger per month. Soon after, Colorado representative Lauren Boebert tweeted out “Joe Biden’s climate plan includes cutting 90% of red meat from our diets by 2030… Why doesn’t Joe stay out of my kitchen?” Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene referred to President Biden as “The Hamburgalar” and Texas Governor Greg Abbot tweeted out a Fox News graphic writing, “Not Gonna Happen in Texas.”

Governor Greg Abbott is right, this policy is not going to fly in Texas… or anywhere else in the United States for that matter, because it’s not part of Biden’s climate plan. When President Biden laid out his climate plan last Thursday, he made no mention of attempts to change the American diet, instead focusing on plans to create new infrastructure jobs, and deploying cutting-edge tools to farmers in America’s heartland, according to The Washington Post.

The information shared on Fox News actually came from a Daily Mail article titled, alarmingly, “How Biden’s climate plan could limit you to eat just one burger a MONTH, cost $3.5K a year per person in taxes, force you to spend $55K on an electric car and ‘crush’ American jobs” that cited an unrelated University of Michigan study (conducted before Biden was elected President) that examined the impact of limiting meat consumption on the environment. The study includes an extreme scenario — the one the Daily Mail ran with and tried to tie to Biden’s plan — that showed that a 90% decrease in red meat consumption by 2030 would cut diet-related emissions to 2.4 kg CO2 per capita per day.

Unchanged, the American diet would result in 646 million metric tonnes of CO2 in 2030. So while the Biden administration doesn’t have any plans to limit our consumption of meat…maybe we should do that ourselves?

Obviously, a 90% reduction is going to alarm people but the case to decrease our overall meat consumption isn’t revolutionary. According to the University of Michigan study, the total emissions associated with producing the average American diet equals out to 5.0 kg CO2 per person per day, which, if unchanged, will likely lead to 5.14 kg CO2 per person per day with current population projections. Cutting meat consumption and replacing it with less energy-intensive plant-based alternatives is a reasonable piece of planning a sustainable future on this planet.

Regardless, Biden’s plan isn’t about that at all and the news is simply fake — extrapolated from unrelated sources and hyperbolized in bad faith. No one is trying to take your burgers, but maybe you should try a plant-based burger now and then anyway. You might actually like it!

Sufjan Stevens is currently working his way through the gradual release of his five-volume album Convocations, from which he has so far released the full-length collections Meditation, Lamentation, and Revelation. This week will see the release of the fourth part of the series, Celebration, which Stevens has previewed with “Celebration VIII.” The ambient track has an optimistic tone, with some naturesque sound effects (I’m not convinced there aren’t actual real-life recordings of frog noises included on this one) giving the track an ethereal wilderness feel.

Convocations was previously described in a statement, “The album is divided into five sonic cycles, each replicating a different stage of mourning. Convocations occasionally soothes and sometimes hurts; when it’s done, you’re left with a renewed sense of wonder for being here at all. In fact, Stevens made Convocations in response to (and as an homage to) the life and death of his father, who died in September last year, two days following the release of The Ascension. It is, then, ultimately an album about loss, and an album that reflects a year in which we have all lost so much.”

Listen to “Celebration VIII” above.

Convocations is out 5/6 via Asthmatic Kitty. Pre-order it here.

Stalker Joe’s third round of terrorizing the world on Netflix’s You (formerly of Lifetime) apparently went smoothly (with Joe now officially on the hook with fellow homicidal maniac Love), at least from a production standpoint. That’s actually remarkable, considering all that the world’s going through and how countless movies and TV shows have repeatedly shut down due to positive COVID-19 tests. And it’s also good news for the show that’s based upon Caroline Kepnes’ novels, since fans are obsessed with the show that keeps ratcheting up its own batsh*t-crazy quotient. They’re also obsessed with Penn Badgley’s character to a point where it almost disturbs him. At least we know that we won’t be seeing a ghostlike Chris D’Elia on the show in the future, and there’s even more good news from showrunner Sera Gamble.

In a lengthy thread on Twitter, Gamble confirmed that shooting wrapped last Friday in Los Angeles, and somehow, “We had zero on-set positive COVID tests through a significant and scary surge here in LA. And haven’t had one since.” She’s doing a justified “brag” here, although she’s partially attributing the statistic to “sheer luck” in addition to everyone staying diligent on set. In other words, it appears that no one on the You production had to pull a Tom Cruise in order for people to comply with virus protocols.

Gamble wasn’t done yet. She added that “the episodes are f*cking bonkers and the performances are insanely good.” Don’t ask her for more details yet, though: “That’s all I’ll say about that till we are ready to talk about the new season.” There’s no Netflix release date as of yet, but fingers crossed to see more stalker comeuppance by the end of 2021. You can read Gamble’s full Twitter thread below.

Master of None is coming back after a four-year break, but with a new main character. Instead of following Tom (Aziz Ansari) trying to find love in New York City and occasionally Nashville and Italy, the comedy-drama series will now be about Denise, played by Emmy winner Lena Waithe, and her partner Alicia, played by Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker actress Naomi Ackie. Per the Netflix summary: “This new season is a modern love story that intimately illustrates the ups and downs of marriage, struggles with fertility, and personal growth both together and apart. Fleeting romantic highs meet crushing personal losses while existential questions of love and living are raised.”

The five-episode season was directed by Ansari, who co-wrote it with Waithe.

The trailer begins with a hypothetical question posed by Denise to Alicia: “Let’s say we’re at a party. Maxwell’s playing. You don’t know me. I don’t know you. And I ask you out on a date. Would you say yes?” “Yeah,” Alicia responds. “I said yes then, I’d say yes now.” There’s no other dialogue in the trailer, which looks like it takes place in an upstate New York home, but there better be at least one Maxwell song in the new season. Preferably some “Fortunate.” Master of None returns to Netflix on May 23.

Americans woke up Monday to some welcome travel news, with headlines that read, “Fully vaccinated Americans will be able to vacation in the EU this summer, European Commission president tells New York Times” from CNN and “European Union will let vaccinated Americans visit this summer: official” from FOX News. The headline of the original New York Times article that was being aggregated was: “E.U. Set to Let Vaccinated U.S. Tourists Visit This Summer.”

Those pieces sure make it sound as though the EU has just flung open its doors. But the New York Times headline displaying on Google News right now isn’t quite so definitive:

Since publication, the Times article has been aggregated widely, potentially misleading a world desperate for the chance to travel (and businesses longing for travel revenue). The confusion stems from a brief interview with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who told the New York Times that “Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines.” She continues, “This will enable free movement and the travel to the European Union.”

The follow-up New York Times explainer goes onto say that “Ms. von der Leyen did not offer a timeline or offer details on how tourism would be enabled. But her public comments suggest that the European Commission will officially recommend the change in travel policy soon.”

To be clear, the head of the European Union was simply stating that the EU would propose that the 27 member states start moving towards a policy of reopening to fully vaccinated U.S. tourists. But also that no policy or actions have even started and there’s no certain timeline. The follow-up article points out that changing “the policy guidelines for the bloc as a whole remains unclear” and that there were still “unanswered questions” that need to be figured out.

It’s worth noting that the European Union does not have the authority to tell its 27 member states what to do with their borders — this was also pointed out in the New York Times article. The European Union can recommend certain paths of solidarity (like their current agreement to restrict non-essential movement between member states). But whether or not a country in the European Union opens to tourists is 100 percent up to that country as they evaluate their current COVID situation. And as Deutsche Welle just reported, the situations are massively different from country to country across Europe right now.

The fact that countries that rely on tourism are eager to get visitors back, isn’t up for debate, though. And clearly, that fact, paired with positive vaccination news coming out of the United States, has von der Leyen feeling optimistic.

“Because one thing is clear: All 27 member states will accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by E.M.A.,” von der Leyen hopes.

Greece has already decided to open to American tourists with requirements for testing and vaccinations. France is currently working out its own deal with the U.S. government about summer travel for vaccinated Americans. And Iceland (which is in the Schengen Area — the European group that governs borders — but not the EU) is already accepting American tourists. Much of the rest of the continent is still in some form of lockdown.

While the European Union is not in the business of opening up Europe’s borders to vaccinated Americans, it does offer recommendations to help member states adopt universal travel rules. For instance, they’re helping make the digital vaccination passport work in all member states for vaccinated tourists coming and going from countries that decide to open their borders. They also offer a red, yellow, and green light system on a map that shows the current status of COVID lockdowns across member states, which is helpful so that potential visitors know where certain countries stand.

This is all to say: Buy a flight or plan a tour at your own risk. The EU did not reopen Europe for vaccinated Americans this summer. They’re simply looking at shifting policies to help find common ground in reopening if and when that’s deemed possible according to individual nations. And please don’t forget, there are 44 countries in Europe and only 27 of them are in the European Union. So whatever the EU member states decide to do jointly or individually won’t mean anything to all the countries that are not in the EU.

The way hockey fans watch NHL games is changing and according to reports they won’t have to look far if they watch NBA basketball, too. Earlier this year we learned that NBC Sports Network would essentially go off the air in the coming months, leaving the NHL’s biggest broadcast partner with some big question marks with the league’s broadcast rights going back on the market.

In stepped ESPN, which returned to broadcast the NHL for the first time since the mid 2000s (and, yes, the ESPN NHL song is coming back). And on Monday we learned that not only will NBC step away from hockey as it pivots live sports to USA Network and its streaming services, but another cable network will commit to NHL games that should be very familiar to sports fans.

Sports Business Daily’s John Ourand reported Monday that NBC was out on hockey, and TSN hockey reporter Bob McKenzie reported shortly after that it may be TNT that picks up the package instead.

That would be big news for Turner, which has focused mainly on college and NBA basketball in recent years — as well as an MLB Playoffs package. And while the logistics are far from figured out, hockey fans allowed themselves to dream of a studio show about their sport that could reach the same heights as TNT’s Inside the NBA. Nothing is official here and Fox had reportedly been the frontrunner for the league’s second package, but TNT making another big investment in sports would certainly shake up the landscape for hockey.

It would be interesting to see if the NHL were given equal attention from TNT, as both leagues largely run their seasons at the same time and Tuesdays and Thursdays are reserved for the NBA. But all of that can get sorted out as long as the check clears, and hockey fans certainly seemed excited about the possibility on Monday.

Polo G made history last week when his hit single “Rapstar” became just the 52nd song to ever debut in the No. 1 spot of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Now his run of prosperity continues: On the Hot 100 chart dated May 1, “Rapstar” stays at No. 1 for a second consecutive week. Of all the songs to ever debut at No. 1, “Rapstar” is just the 22nd of them to spend its second week on top.

After “Rapstar” debuted at No. 1 last week, Polo G shared his excitement, writing on Instagram, “It’s Crazy I really Manifested this sh*t. I got a long list of goals imma b scratchin off just this year alone…Only 52 ppl ever debuted @ #1 on the billboard hot 100 & I’m part of that group U can’t tell me I ain’t chosen I done really beat the odds fr From A Place where n****s like me b the 1st to die who woulda thought I’ll go #1….thank y’all Mann. I can’t stress that enough Ik I work hard asf & y’all work just as hard supporting me We gone keep goin up fr REAL #rapstar Album comin sooooonnnnnnn.” He also added on Twitter, “#1 song On the billboard Charts. Thank u God & Everybody Supportin me This sh*t don’t even Feel real. Naw like gang I really just went #1 wtf [crying emoji].”

Other noteworthy activity from this week’s chart is Dua Lipa and DaBaby’s “Levitating” revisiting its peak position of No. 5 and Silk Sonic’s “Leave The Door Open” jumping back up to No. 2.

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

For years, Spirited Away was the highest-grossing movie of all-time in Japan with a box office total of ¥31.68 billion, or $305 million in American dollars. No other film even came close to topping Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 masterpiece: Titanic was in third place with ¥26.20 billion, followed by Frozen and Your Name. But last December, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train, a sequel to the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba anime series, overtook Spirited Away to become Japan’s Avatar, so to speak.

It’s now breaking box office records in the United States, too.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train made $21.1 million in the United States over the weekend, the biggest domestic debut for a foreign-language film ever. After three days, the anime is already halfway to Parasite‘s total gross in the U.S.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Part of Mugen Train’s box office success can be attributed to the timing of its release. The film hit theaters just as COVID-19 theater restrictions were being lifted in Japan. It also faced little competition from Hollywood, which postponed much of its slate because U.S. theaters remained shuttered. There are reports of a theater in Japan showing Mugen Train more than 40 times per day.

Here’s the plot summary: “Tanjiro and the group have completed their rehabilitation training at the Butterfly Mansion, and they arrive at their next mission on the Mugen Train, where over forty people have disappeared in a very short span of time. Tanjiro and Nezuko, along with Zenitsu and Inosuke, join one of the most powerful swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps, Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku, to face the demon aboard the Mugen Train.” You can check up with the Demon Slayer series on Netflix.

(Via the Los Angeles Times)

The Oscars’ seemingly planned big tribute ending for the late Chadwick Boseman may have gotten spoiled, but there were plenty of reminders of the actor’s life and legacy at the Academy Awards on Sunday. Not all of them thrilled viewers, though, especially after Boseman failed to snag a posthumous Best Actor award for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

This year’s festivities were different in a number of ways, starting with all the coronavirus pandemic safety requirements and a visually different broadcast. But the very order of operations was upset this time around, with the Best Actor award coming last rather than Best Picture, as is normally the case. What was meant to be a grand finale for Boseman landed with a thud when he didn’t win and Anthony Hopkins, who did, wasn’t even around to snag the trophy.

All of that drama irked some folks to say the least, and it also made another tribute to Boseman ring that much more hollow. Digital artist Andre Oshea was commissioned to create the NFT of Boseman, which was included as part of Oscars swag bags on Sunday.

A version was also set up for auction on Rarible, with the goal of donating half of the proceeds to The Colon Cancer Foundation. But despite the good cause, some weren’t thrilled by the perception of it all in the aftermath of the ceremony.

Part of this is simply NFT exhaustion, as countless artists, companies and intellectual property holders have tried to cash in on the NFT explosion of the last few months. But it’s also just an uncomfortable aftermath of a moment that didn’t work out perfectly. Raising money for a charity trying to help those afflicted by a cancer that took Boseman’s life is, indeed, a good thing. But the idea of a Boseman NFT, especially in the context of his more tangible snub on Sunday, didn’t sit well with a number of people online.

Last week, Billie Eilish once again sent Instagram into a flurry by posting a new photo of her blonde hair. That post also teased something new from her, though, as she wrote, “things are comingggg.” Now, Eilish is still in teasing mode, but she’s getting more specific with a new video, previewing a song called “Happier Than Ever.”

The clip shows Eilish sitting in a chair in a champagne-colored room, facing away from the camera before fixing her gaze directly into it. All the while, a snippet of the gentle new song plays. She also captioned the post with the title, “Happier Than Ever.”

Eilish fans are familiar with the track, as Eilish teased it in the documentary The World’s A Little Blurry. The documentary includes a scene of Eilish and Finneas casually lounging around and performing the song. In the film, Eilish says of it, “The whole song is just more like nothing even specific that they did, you’re just not happy being with them. Can’t even explain it.” In an interview from earlier this year, director RJ Cutler also noted of the currently unreleased material that can be heard in the movie, “You see Finneas and Billie writing the album [When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?], and in that process, there’s material that didn’t end up on the album, and you see them writing material that perhaps you’ll see on a later album.”

Check out Eilish’s new teaser above.