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The Milwaukee Bucks had quite the 2020 offseason. Looming over everything was the question of whether Giannis Antetokounmpo would sign his supermax extension prior to the December 21 deadline (which, of course, he eventually did), and that guided the aggressiveness of the Bucks front office in trying to retool the roster after another disappointing early playoff exit.

The first move they made was trading Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, and a bevy of first-round picks to New Orleans for Jrue Holiday, adding another All-Star to the roster and, hopefully, give themselves another weapon come playoff time who can raise their profile. Their second move was a failed one, as they jumped the gun on a sign-and-trade deal with the Kings to land swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Bodganovic, of course, is now with the Atlanta Hawks after we learned he never actually agreed to the deal and the Bucks had to recalibrate their offseason plans accordingly. Given that the news of that deal broke days before the opening of free agency, there were plenty of questions about how that came about and whether the league would look into tampering, even with the deal falling through. The answer is yes, and the Bucks are now short a 2022 second round pick because of it, as the league announced its results from the tampering investigation.

To be clear, this was as blatant a tampering violation as you’ll see, with a deal being reported as done days before it was allowed to be. At the same time, tampering is a constant, and we know this because players agree to and sign deals at the exact moment free agency opens every year and the league turns a blind eye to how that could possibly happen without tampering. Basically, the Bucks tampered and did so so flagrantly that even a league that actively looks the other way on this stuff couldn’t feign ignorance in this situation, and as such the already short on picks Bucks will be even shorter.

After months of tense negotiations that, at one point, looked like it had ceased altogether, Congress reached an agreement on a second stimulus package that will provide some form of aid to Americans who have been struggling since the start of the pandemic. While the new package will include “enhanced” unemployment protections that were set to expire at the end of December, which is a major help for Americans who lost their jobs due to lockdowns and poor economic conditions, people are zeroing in on the amount of the second round of stimulus checks, which is much lower this time around.

When the first checks went out, the amounts were $1200 for each adult, and $500 for each dependent up to 18 years of age. For this latest package, Congress went with only $600 per adult, but also matched the same amount for dependent. While that’s $2,400 for a family of four, it is less than the first round of checks and really shouldn’t be touted as the highlight here. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Nancy Pelosi did when she described the $600 checks as “significant” to working families. Twitter was quick to latch onto the remarks and note the terrible optics of a millionaire telling low income families that the paltry checks will be a huge boon to their finances.

While Pelosi’s statement was poorly-worded, not everyone was dragging her on social media. Others noted that Pelosi did the best she could while negotiating with Republicans like Mitch McConnell who were content with not passing a stimulus packages and would’ve gladly let unemployment benefits expire. However, with Twitter being Twitter, these voices were few and far between.

This summer, Taylor Swift’s album Folklore and its hit single “Cardigan” put her in the history books: Both debuted at No. 1 on their respective Billboard charts during the same week, which made her the first artist to ever pull that off. She followed up Folklore recently with Evermore, and now she has managed to repeat that astounding feat: It was revealed over the weekend that Evermore debuted atop the Billboard 200, and now “Willow” has officially debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart dated December 26.

Naturally, this makes Swift the first person to pull off the aforementioned chart feat twice. Additionally, “Willow” is Swift’s second No. 1 single of the year and seventh overall. Swift has now joined a multi-way tie for the artist with the second-most songs to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100: She, Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, Drake, and Travis Scott all have three, while Ariana Grande has five. Swift’s other single to debut at No. 1 was “Shake It Off.”

“Willow” reaching the top 10 also moves her past Carey and Stevie Wonder on the all-time list of artists with the most songs in the top 10, with 29. She sits behind Michael Jackson (30), Rihanna (31), The Beatles (34), Madonna (38), and Drake (42).

Check out our review of Evermore here.

A running joke on Twitter has turned into a series of hilarious posts from the funniest rappers on the platform. When a COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy theory tweet went viral earlier this month, the dead-serious user accidentally helped spark a deeply unserious meme that found Black Twitter in high spirits about receiving superpowers on December 21 as a result of the coincidence of the winter solstice and the so-called “Great Conjunction” in which Jupiter and Saturn would nearly overlap in the night sky.

Of course, the planets are the planets and don’t really have any sort of an effect on us here on Earth (they only look to be lined up from our perspective due to their relative positions in space) but that hasn’t stopped the cheeky tweets from spreading like wildfire. Naturally, plenty of our favorite hip-hop artists have joined the fun, as the “Negro Solstice” granted them the “superpower” of continuing to crack us all up with their antics.

Naturally, some of the most active users of social media are the main ones playing along, but there are some iconic legends in the mix as well. Chika joked that the solstice “brought me the gift of ass,” while Guapdad 4000 gave fans a demonstration of his newfound super-strength (while wearing his “Dragonball Durag,” naturally). Meanwhile, the original hip-hop Afrofuturist, Missy Elliott, reminded fans that she’s been a superhero all along. Some others, like Buddy, lamented that their powers never kicked in. Check out their posts and others below — and stay tuned for more updates.

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

COVID-19 had a profound effect on literally every segment of American life this year. But it still couldn’t stop the seemingly unending flow of sneakers dropping from brands like Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Off-White, Reebok, and PUMA, among others. A lot of shoes came out this year — trust us, we wrote about them every single week. That’s 52 weeks. 52 articles each consisting of the week’s best sneakers, no repeats.

That’s. Over. 260. Sneakers. This. Year. Alone.

Are we satiated? Definitely. Is that going to stop us from doing the same thing in 2021? Not a chance. And considering you’re here, you probably feel the same way.

2020 was always going to be a big year for sneakers, it’s the first year of a new decade. Whether we know it or not, some of the sneakers that came out this year will go on to define the next 10 years of footwear. You may have copped a pair of footwear history mid-quarantine, and never even gotten to wear them.

In celebration of all of the great kicks to drop over the past 365, we’ve collected a rundown of our 20 favorites. Everyone else seems to have dropped their lists by now. That’s fine, ours is the best.

Comme des Garçons Nike Air Max 95, January 18th, 2020

2020 proved that the influence of Virgil Abloh’s ’10s output continued to dominate trends in the new decade. What would Comme des Garçons Nike Air Max 95 look like without Abloh? For starters, it probably wouldn’t have a distressed and worn upper.

The CDG Air Max 95 dropped early in the year and presents itself like a “greatest hits” of trends from the past decade. Mixed mesh uppers, distressed detailing, 3M reflective accents, and a ‘90s silhouette. But it doesn’t feel like a rehash, it feels like a victory lap.

Off-White Jordan 5 Black/Muslin-Fire Red, February 15th, 2020

When Virgil Abloh dropped his first iteration of an Air Jordan 5 the sneaker world absolutely exploded. It’s undeniable that Abloh is the most exciting designer in footwear right now, and with the Off-White Jordan 5 — his first sneaker of 2020 — Virgil didn’t disappoint.

Abloh’s deconstructed aesthetic takes a different shape here, looking less obviously broken down but still doing what his style does best: stripping layers away to present the essence of a famous silhouette.

Jordan 3 Retro Fire Red Cement (Nike Chi), February 22nd, 2020

The Cement colorway is Air Jordan royalty and rather than dipping into the vaults and delivering a straight refresh, Nike gave us something special this year: A Chicago inspired AJ3 in Fire Red Cement.

The latest sneaker in the Cement line looks like something Miles Morales would rock. Which decidedly means it’s fire.

Travis Scott Nike SB Dunk Low Cactus Jack, February 29th, 2020

The release of Travis Scott’s Nike SB Dunk came with so much hype that it literally crashed Nike’s website on drop date. That, of course, resulted in a lot of people missing out on the chance to cop a pair, forcing them to turn to the aftermarket. While these Dunks are certainly not our favorite Cactus Jack piece, they are probably one of the most popular and would kick off a year that was largely dominated by Travis Scott, despite the fact that he didn’t release an album.

While Virgil Abloh might be the most popular designer in the sneaker world right now, Travis Scott is the most popular icon, ascending to a level that puts him in league with sneaker greats like Michael Jordan and Kanye West.

Dior Air Jordan 1, April, 6th, 2020

I’ll be straight up — I don’t like what these represent, on a personal level.

I do get it, they’re fresh. And insanely popular. Without looking, I’m willing to bet that this sneaker is popping up on every year-end sneaker list, from the snobbiest of Hypebeasts to the most basic GQ writers. I get it, it’s a cool look and a big name collab.

And that colorway that combines wolf grey and sail-photon dust white is just… “chef’s kiss” as they say.

But these things retailed for $2,000. They sell on the aftermarket for close to $10,000. And in a year of a global pandemic, where millions are struggling and out of work, it just feels representative of something gross. So yes, they’re on our “best” list, but they damn sure didn’t make our gift guide.

New Balance 327 Casablanca, April 4th, 2020

New Balance had a strong year, one that saw it competing on a regular basis with big brands like Nike and Adidas in our weekly sneaker column. And it all began here, with this New Balance collaboration with French streetwear brand Casablanca. The 327 takes its design cues from ‘70s runners, but adds some modern flare like the thick tread and chunky silhouette. Casablanca let the design of the 327 do all the heavy lifting here, presenting the sneaker in three non-distracting and simple colorways.

The all green is the most popular among the options, but this mixed orange and green model is the one that resonates most strongly with us.

Nike SB Dunk Low x Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Dunky, May 26th, 2020

Sneaker and food brand collaborations are generally trash. But the Chunky Dunky — made in collaboration with Ben & Jerrys, in what was probably the weirdest link-up of the year — really defied expectations. This sneaker was full of sort of details that sneakerheads go crazy over. Animal print uppers, this time as a long-hair cow-print; synergy between the collaborating parties, check out how the upper resembles Ben & Jerry’s iconic logo; and a cool variation on the ever-iconic Nike Swoosh, our least favorite detail about this one but still noteworthy.

This year belonged to the Nike Dunk and no iteration of the sneaker was as iconic as this one.

Adidas Yeezy Foam RNNR Ararat, June 26th, 2020

We had a lot of anguish about putting this one on the list. On the one hand, we sorta hate it. But on the other hand… it’s certainly something new. Innovation is in rare supply these days and we’re down to reward it.

The Foam RNNR definitely has its audience. We’re not it, but we can’t deny that it shows Kanye doing what he does best: pushing the envelope and creating new trends.

Jordan 6 Retro Hare, June 17th, 2020

The Easter-tinged “Hare” colorway is one of Jordan Brand’s best and most underrated. First debuting on the Air Jordan 7 as a tie in with Space Jam, the Retro Hare — so-called for legal reasons — has since popped up across a few pairs and we love it.

This year, the Air Jordan 6 got the Hare treatment — off-white leather with a noticeable pink undertone — and… we need more of this. ASAP. Hell, they could put Bugs Bunny in place of the Jumpman Logo like they did on the original and we’d still wear the sh*t out of these.

Nike Space Hippie 03, July 3rd, 2020

Mid-summer, Nike launched a brand new four sneaker line of shoes made from at least 45% recycled material by weight. The new collection, dubbed Space Hippie, didn’t have the most exciting names — each shoe was simply numbered, 01, 02, 03, and 04 — but it showed a positive step forward, offering a glimpse of a world where sustainable sneakers actually look pretty dope.

Grateful Dead Bears Nike SB Dunk, July 18th, 2020

“You’re not going to cover those Grateful Dead Nike Dunks?” Slacked my editor.

“Nah, feels like a lazy collaboration, doubt anyone will actually truly dig these,” I replied, full of sneakerhead confidence.

Boy, was I f*cking wrong. For whatever reason, the Grateful Dead has a stranglehold on the world of streetwear right now. I know for a fact half of the people who own these sneakers have never heard “Truckin’” in their lives, but does that matter? Apparently not.

These sneakers popped off harder than any collaboration this year. If you own an orange pair, you’re lucky to be holding on to a small fortune right now.

Off-White Jordan 4 Sail, July 25th, 2020

Virgil Abloh threw half of the sneaker buying audience into a rage when he dropped this woman’s only Air Jordan 4 in Sail. Not just because any large footed Off-White fans wouldn’t be able to cop a pair, but because this just so happened to be Abloh’s strongest sneaker drop of the entire year.

The design is clean, recalling the best of Abloh’s The Ten collection.

Nike CO.JP Jordan 3 Retro Fire Red Denim

Elephant print, denim detailing, Fire Red… what more proof do you need to realize that Nike’s Japanese wing, CO.JP, puts together the brand’s best colorways. Seriously. It’s no secret that the best Nikes in any given year usually have another collaborator attached, but Nike’s CO.JP comes from in-house, and it’s doing things leagues above anything else the brand produces.

Check out the Nike logo written with Japanese characters at the heel, easily our favorite detail.

Union Jordan 4 Guava Ice, August 29th, 2020

Los Angeles-based streetwear brand Union dropped a truly dope collection of Jordans this year, but the AJ4 in Guava Ice was easily the best. While many of the shoes on this list require descriptions for you to savvy out the references, that’s unneeded here.

Just look at these and you’ll get why they hit our list!

Aime Leon Dore New Balance 550, October 9th, 2020

This year, New York streetwear label Aimé Leon Dore resurrected New Balance’s forgotten 550 basketball sneaker and we couldn’t be more thankful. The 550 is a dope silhouette, and Aimé Leon Dore took it to the next level by filtering it through their old-world luxury aesthetic, resulting in an ultra-fresh pair of sneakers that is quickly becoming one of our favorite NB silhouettes.

Salehe Bembury New Balance 2002R, October 23rd, 2020

Easily one of the most hyped releases of the year, Salehe Bembury’s first collaborative sneaker silhouette was a certified hit. The ultra tactile New Balance 2002R featured a mixed suede, leather, and mesh upper with blue shearling detailing dressed in a rich earthy colorway, resulting in one of the most interesting looking designs of the whole year.

If Salehe Bembury is a new name to you, get used to it. You’re going to be hearing from him a lot this decade. The young designer cut his teeth designing at Yeezy and Cole Haan before landing the role of Vice President of Sneakers at Versace. It’s hard to believe this is the only sneaker collaboration to carry his name because it’s such a strong start.

If the 2010s belonged to Abloh, the ’20s might be the decade of Salehe Bembury.

Beyonce Ivy Park Adidas Nite Jogger Dark Green Frozen Yellow, October 30th, 2020

In truth, we could’ve picked any one of Beyonce’s 9 Ivy Park Adidas for this list. There is nothing particularly special about the Nite Jogger, this is just the design that speaks to us the most right now.

Beyonce’s Ivy Park had its big debut this year, dropping two big collections of sneakers at the beginning and end of the year, bringing Adidas its biggest slice of hype since the launch of Yeezy. Ivy Park didn’t feature any brand new designs, so we’re hoping that next year brings something wholly original from Beyonce, but as it stands, the Ivy Park drops have been strong.

Sacai Nike Vaporwaffle Game Royal, November 13th, 2020

We’re all for forward-looking designs, and while personally, we don’t think we could convincingly rock this hybrid design from the mind of Chitose Abe, we appreciate the effort to bring something new to the Nike lineage. Full of weird features like dual tongue tags, double mid foot swooshes, and a lipped heel, the Vaporwaffle is aggressively deconstructed, offering a twisted vision of what the future of footwear might look like.

Nike Kobe 5 Protro Bruce Lee Alternate, November 24th, 2020

This sneaker release was a bit bittersweet due to the untimely death of Kobe Bryant. What should’ve been a pair worthy of celebration will always be tinged with the sadness — a shame because this sneaker, which combines Kobe and Bruce Lee, sees two legends in their respective fields coming together to create something dope.

The black and yellow pair might’ve been the star of the show, but we really dig this white and black alternate colorway.

J. Balvin Jordan 1 Retro, December 8th, 2020

J. Balvin has made history as the first Latino to score a named Nike collaboration. For a Mexican kid who writes about sneakers on a weekly basis, that’s a huge deal to me! J. Balvin’s Jordan 1s are a perfect reflection of the artist — they’re wild, funky, psychedelic, and loud as hell.

Subtlety and Balvin don’t coexist in the same world, these sneakers grab you and never let you look away, whether you’re reacting in horror or glee. That’s power.

There are plenty of resources out there if you’re curious about the new COVID vaccine and want to know more about how it works, who is eligible for it, and how to get it. You could go to the CDC website, or turn on a CNN press conference with Dr. Anthony Fauci … but for the most straightforward, easy-to-understand breakdown, you might just want to head over to Representative Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez’s Instagram feed.

AOC, who’s been using her stories to educate the masses on everything from stimulus bill negotiations to voting practices and pandemic policies, recently documented her experience with Pfizer’s COVID vaccine on her Instagram stories. AOC, and the rest of Congress, were some of the first to receive the vaccine as part of a “continuity of governance” program and because she’s committed to being transparent about what her job on Capitol Hill entails, AOC decided to answer questions from her followers while getting the shot.

AOC walked everyone through the entire process, from the initial intake form, which asks patients to identify allergies and whether they might be pregnant — if either applies, a more in-depth follow-up is necessary — to the two-shot schedule, how long immunity takes to kick in, whether the injection hurts, and what to expect immediately following inoculation. She also gave fans a mini-lecture in virology and how these specific vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna work, explaining the science behind mRNA targeting and why it’s a good idea for everyone to get vaccinated when they can.

Sure, this basically proves that, had AOC been our high school science teacher, we would’ve probably passed biology the first time around, but this kind of transparency and commitment to keeping the public informed is something our government should’ve been doing from the beginning of the pandemic, so it’d be nice to see AOC’s fellow congressmen and women following suit.

Chadwick Boseman’s untimely death at age 43 only left one last film performance (in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) for fans to cherish from the cinematic hero. Yet as it turns out, there’s also a TV performance on the way, too. And while viewers won’t get to see Boseman onscreen, they’ll be able to appreciate his iconic portrayal of King T’Challa (and another MCU character, in a roundabout way) one more time in Marvel’s upcoming What If…? animated series that will arrive on Disney+.

Over the weekend, Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige reminded everyone of this glimmer of good news that first surfaced during 2019’s D23 Expo, which dropped tons of game-changing information on Disney fans. A lot of that has been pushed back, of course (because of everything that’s happening with 2020), but the show’s the first MCU animated series will put a new spin on preexisting MCU movies within 23 different episodes. And as Feige has now re-emphasized to Emmy Magazine, the show will contain “all sorts of stories [that the MCU] couldn’t explore through live action.” And Boseman “came in about four times and recorded numerous episodes.” He then added, “In hindsight, it’s very moving.”

What If…? operates off a killer premise, by asking how the MCU would unfurl differently if tweaks had occurred to the universe’s reality. As the sizzle reel presented at D23 revealed, one episode shows Agent Peggy Carter receiving the super serum instead of Steve Rogers and becoming Captain Carter. Elsewhere in the Captain America franchise, Bucky Barnes never falls off the train, and there’s a Zombie Captain America. And what happens to Black Panther in this weird world? He materializes as Star-Lord. Seriously, watch the trailer (which arrived a week ago) below for a peek.

Interestingly enough, too, Star-Lord/Peter Quill actor Chris Pratt didn’t surface on the D23-concurrent list of MCU actors who lent their voices to What If…?. Nor did Chris Evans or Robert Downey Jr. appear (although none of the trio has been explicitly excluded), but here’s a list of actors who are definitely onboard:

Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger;
Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes;
Josh Brolin as Thanos;
Tom Hiddleston as Loki;
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury;
Natalie Portman as Jane Foster;
Taika Waititi as Korg;
Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster;
Michael Rooker as Yondu;
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk;
Chris Hemsworth as Thor;
Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther;
Karen Gillan as Nebula;
Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye,
Paul Rudd as Ant-Man;
Michael Douglas as Hank Pym;
Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan;
Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark;
Sean Gunn as Kraglin;
Toby Jones as Arnim Zola;
Djimon Hounsou as Korath.

We can expect Disney+ to stream What If…? sometime in 2021.

Let me start by saying I will absolutely be getting the COVID-19 vaccine. No question. I’m pretty excited about it.

I can’t say that I always would have felt that way.

When I started my family 20 years ago, I dove into the natural birth/parenting/health world pretty quickly. I gave birth to one of my kids at home (with a doctor who did homebirths) and had another at a birth center with a midwife. I treated my kids’ earaches with garlic-steeped olive oil and their conjunctivitis with breastmilk. We keep elderberry syrup on hand for colds and flus and use ginger and turmeric tea as an anti-inflammatory. My husband has successfully used hibiscus tea to lower his blood pressure and acupuncture for prostatitis.

That’s not to say we ever shunned Western medicine. We use antibiotics for strep throat, Tylenol if a fever gets really bad, etc. There’s a huge spectrum of approaches to health and wellness, and tossing any of them out completely is pretty silly.

There’s a lot of good stuff in the natural health world, including a lot that is backed up by traditional science. (See the links above.) There’s also a lot of unsupported-by-science woo and misinformation, and that’s only gotten worse in the age of social media.

As for vaccines, I started out unsure of what to think about them. I had concerns about injecting my children with what I understood to be toxic ingredients in vaccines, such as thimerosal (a mercury-containing compound that was removed from vaccines in 2001) and aluminum. We had a family doctor who wasn’t anti-vaccine but had some hesitancy about certain ones, so we took each vaccine on an individual basis with his input.

We did immunize our kids, but we did it on a different schedule based on perceived risk. For example, we didn’t do the Hep B vaccine at birth because the risk of our newborn baby being exposed to Hep B was incredibly tiny, so we figured that one could wait. We felt that our kids were healthy enough to get natural chickenpox immunity through infection, so we skipped that vaccine altogether. (Since we homeschooled, we were able to expose our kids purposefully in our own home and keep them isolated while the infection process ran its course. Totally understand if you cringe at that. I probably would now too.)

If I could go back and do it again I’d likely make some different choices, but at the time we made informed decisions based on the information we had. I’m not sure where I would have ended up if I’d had the big, nutty world of social media at my fingertips.

I was a vaccine skeptic, not a full-on anti-vaxxer, but it’s a slippery road from one to the other. In reality, I think there are a lot of people like me out there, and I’m concerned that they’re being swayed more and more toward conspiracy theories. Healthy skepticism and scrutiny over what we put into our bodies is, well, healthy. People have questions and concerns, and that’s a good thing. How those questions and concerns get addressed is key.

One thing not to do: Don’t dismiss all vaccine skepticism as uninformed ignorance. There is some of that out there for sure, but there are also a lot of people who have solid reasons for their concerns, even if they aren’t concerns for everyone. Most vaccine skeptics aren’t ignorant conspiracy theorists just as not all people who work for pharmaceutical companies are greedy profiteers. If the people with the best scientific information roll their eyes at people for their questions, they will be lured down the rabbit hole of misinformation by those who welcome their skepticism.

There are two truths we need to internalize it comes to understanding people’s vaccine decision-making. 1) No one except people who study this stuff for a living has the time to wade through ALL of the information, so humility goes a long way. 2) Even though we all think we’re informed, we base our decisions far more on who we trust—and don’t trust—than on any specific information we have.

That trust part is huge. It’s The Big Key. Any conversation with a vaccine skeptic has to address trust first and foremost. If so simple to say, “Just trust the science!” but the people who say that don’t understand how many scientists and doctors there are in the anti-vaccine world who share studies and analyses and whatnot that makes the science seem pretty fuzzy. Which scientists are we supposed to trust? Which doctors? Which studies?

The biggest source of distrust for most vaccine skeptics is “Big Pharma” and the gargantuan profits pharmaceutical companies make. It’s a mistake to dismiss that concern out of hand. We’ve all seen the price gouging of medications—are we supposed to believe these pharmaceutical companies have our best interest at heart? We’ve all seen medications get recalled because they found out they did some kind of harm—is this the science we’re supposed to put our faith in?

When people are starting from that place of distrust, it’s a pretty short distance to the conspiracy theory rabbit hole. Once people go down that hole, it’s virtually impossible to bring them back, so we have to find the off ramp before people get there.

One step toward the off-ramp, which should come early in the discussion, is to help people establish just how rotten they think humanity really is. I know that sounds odd, but that one thing forms the foundation for everything that comes next. If you’re talking to a vaccine skeptic, ask them these questions: Do you think most people generally do the right thing? Do you think most people go into their careers for the right reasons? Do you think most people want the world to be a place where everyone is happy and healthy?

If they seem unsure, ask them to think about all of the people they know personally. Nearly everyone will answer yes to these questions when they think about the hundreds of people they know.

The reason that’s important is because our brains tend to generalize and dehumanize processes and industries that involve a lot of people. And the less we actually know about how a process or industry works, the more monolithic we make our generalizations. I see people do this all the time with “the media.” As if “the media” is one thing and not a bunch of competing companies that each have their own mission and culture and commitment to certain standards of reporting. Such monolithic ideas remove the individual, dedicated editors and journalists who really try to do their jobs to the best of their ability—the people who actually make up “the media.”

We do the same things with “politicians” when we assume all elected officials are corrupt and power-hungry. We do the same thing with “corporate America” when we assume that all corporations are 100% motivated by greed. Monoliths take humans out of the equation and replace them with a nefarious blob of malintent that isn’t truly reflective of reality.

When you make “the vaccine industry” a monolith, it seems like this big, powerful machine that exists only to line the pockets of the people who run it. And yes, pharmaceutical companies make buttloads of money, because they can. Yay, capitalism. But break it down. The people in those companies who are responsible for profit-mongering are specific people in the marketing and financial executive departments—it’s not the entire company. It’s certainly not the individual researchers who spend their days studying virology and epidemiology and immunology. It’s not the scientists who dedicate months and years to figuring out how to treat a disease or save humanity from an infectious pathogen. It’s not the vaccine development teams or the teams running the trials or the teams analyzing the data. Generally speaking, those people don’t have anything to do with the money-making side of the pharmaceutical business in any meaningful way.

That doesn’t mean every individual person is trustworthy, of course. Most of us would agree that there are some bad apples everywhere, but that’s why we have professional organizations and review boards and standards, so that we minimize the likelihood of a bad apple ruining the bunch. And if you believe that most people do their best work for the right reasons, you have to believe that the vast majority of scientists around the globe who work on vaccines do everything in their power to make sure whatever they’re developing is as safe and effective as possible.

Breaking down these big industries into how they actually function and understanding that the scientists making the vaccine are not synonymous with the company selling it can go a long way toward building trust in the science, without actually having to go as far as trusting the companies themselves.

Explaining that people pushing anti-vaccine information are also making money can also help. If people believe Big Pharma is bad, then everyone against Big Pharma seems good, even though there are a lot of quackos and grifters out there who profit big time off of people’s skepticism and fear. Being anti-corporate-profiteering doesn’t automatically make someone trustworthy.

And though it may sometimes feel like too many people are too far down the rabbit hole to make a difference, helpful explanations of the science from scientists actually does help. For instance, this Twitter thread explains how the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine works in layman’s terms. And the questions and answers that follow the main thread are helpful as well for minimizing fear.

Acknowledging that people’s questions and concerns are legitimate (even if you know their conclusions are not), is a good first step. Setting a baseline foundation for trust is the second. When you actually delve into those questions and concerns, do so in a way that doesn’t just throw data or statistics at them, but actually addresses the underlying fear and distrust that can lead to conspiratorial thinking.

Not everyone will be convinced, but we have to be as diligent as those pushing misinformation and keep putting out facts with calm confidence. So many of us are actually swayable by good information, especially when it comes from people we feel like we can trust.

Music biopics are the latest booming cash crop for the film industry in the wake of successful films like Straight Outta Compton and Bohemian Rhapsody. Of course, this had led to a rash of fans suggesting potential subjects and their ideal casting choices on social media and it turns out that not even the music icons being recommended for the film treatment are immune to fan casting themselves. Living R&B legend Dionne Warwick, who has been enjoying her newfound Twitter attention, used the platform to both gauge interest in a biopic about her and suggest her ideal actor.

In a video that she addressed directly to Netflix, Ms. Warwick told fans (and any potential producers who might happen to see) that her pick would “obviously” be Teyana Taylor. “This is a case for Netflix,” she wrote in the caption. “Please don’t ask who I would cast to play me as it would obviously be Teyana Taylor.” In the video itself, she wondered, “I really gotta know this: if I did a series, would you guys really watch? I want you to be honest, now.” Netflix’s account responded too, writing simply, “Taking notes.” This may be the start of something.

A few days later, Teyana herself chimed in on Instagram, posting a screenshot of the interaction along with a smug selfie. She seems more than ready to take on the challenge, captioning her post, “When the LEGENDARY @therealdionnew had this moment w/ @netflix & they started jotting notes in their palm pilots…I was lookin at them likeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.” A P.S. reads, “One thing about them doors…..They open.”

This could be a subtle reference to Taylor’s prior hint that she’s thinking about retiring from music after feeling unappreciated within the label system. While another option for her could be to go independent — a move that has worked out well for plenty of other artists — a move into acting — especially in a musical biopic — could be a way to combine her interests, a “best of both worlds” situation for the multi-hyphenate star. There’s certainly precedent for it: Her filmography includes roles in The After Party (also on Netflix, by the way) and The Breaks, a show that was canceled far too soon.

Check out Ms. Warwick’s video and Teyana’s response above.

Every athlete has their own process for getting ready for a game. Some want to be nice and calm, focusing on getting themselves into something approaching a state of zen prior to playing. This may involve meditation, getting a massage, taking a nap, or whatever else. For others, it’s all about getting hyped up. They’ll bounce around, listening to music, dancing, and just generally getting their energy ramped up for action — think, Russell Westbrook.

And then there are those that prefer to play with an edge. Those athletes that need some extra fuel on their fire to really get the most out of themselves. These are the ones that will take a peek at some bulletin board material from the other team or maybe some perceived slight from the media. Or maybe just look at a photo of one of the most hated men on the planet, currently jailed “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli.

Yes, the man currently serving a seven-year sentence for fraud that is somehow unrelated to his abhorrent choices to mark up the price of a potentially life-saving drug is the fuel for Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow, as relayed on Monday by ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

This, of course, is coming to light at this particular moment of the offseason because Shkreli is trending due to that Elle Magazine piece about the former Bloomberg journalist who quit her job and divorced her husband to be with the jailed Shkreli — only for him to swiftly dump her once catching wind of said story being in the works.

I have to say, just taking a glance at that extremely punchable goblin of a man’s photo is certainly an effective strategy for getting yourself mad, and requires far less effort than trying to twist someone’s words into a slight to give you the extra juice needed for a big start.