The XFL filed for bankruptcy not long after the COVID-19 pandemic, causing the league to close the doors on the 2020 season. It was a move that surprised some and, recently, some creditors accused Vince McMahon of shuttering the league so he could secretly buy it back for pennies on the dollar and relaunch it in 2021.

The creditors questioned why McMahon would pay out refunds for all ticket holders if not to keep goodwill with the fan base for a potential return, particularly in non-NFL markets. On Tuesday, McMahon pulled out of the bidding for the bankrupt league, citing those accusations as the chief reason why, per court testimony that was part of filings recovered by Dan Kaplan of The Athletic.

“I don’t know why that’s out there, making me out to be the bad guy, (that) I’m going to buy the XFL back for pennies on the dollar, basically,” McMahon said last week in deposition testimony, part of which he included in a footnote to his legal filing. “That helped me move into the direction of I’m not going to be a bidder, not going to have anything to do with it. I do hope that someone will pay a lot of money for it, and I do hope that it will survive.”

While McMahon is now out of the running, there are apparently 20 potential buyers that have agreed to NDA’s to look through the league’s records and make a determination on whether they want to make bids on the league, with six more teams in process of signing similar agreements. The XFL has apparently made a case that its innovations in television broadcast access makes it uniquely positioned for a swift return in 2021, with or without fans, because of the in-game audio direct from players and coaches.

The expectation seems to be that whoever buys the XFL will look to bring it back for another season. The only thing we know right now is that Vince McMahon will not be the one executing that vision.

Previously on the Best and Worst of WWE Raw: Billie Kay smacked Peyton Royce in the face for being part of one of those “disqualified for kicking too much ass” finishes, The Street Profits took on The Viking Raiders in an axe throwing contest with legal ramifications, and Nia Jax ruined a Kairi Sane recorder concert to confirm that she’s just the worst.

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And now, the Best and Worst of WWE Raw for May 25, 2020.

Best/Worst: From A Distance

The good news is that this week’s show actually has something resembling a crowd, as WWE finally realized that if they were going to fill a building with a handful of stars and a shit-load of students and developmental types, they could send out the students and developmental types to cheer while the stars do things. It’s basically what AEW Dynamite’s done since quarantine started, and while the humanly decent thing would be to let everyone just stay home and stop being forced to participate in this essential service by breathing and sweating all over each other, it’s a lot better to hear people react and have some kind of performer-crowd relationship while the wrestling’s happening.

The bad news is that the way they did it might be the most WWE thing of all time. Can you think of a more WWE thing than spending two months performing in front of rows and rows of empty chairs only to take them away when they bring in people? At least toss a couple of unused Money in the Bank floor chairs in there and give them the sit or stand option. They’re out here standing in one spot for three hours, watching Natalya fight Nia Jax from behind some hockey-style plexiglass. Book everyone in a tournament for Wednesday where the winner gets to sit at ringside in the Cole Mine. At least send out The Goon to check somebody into the glass. Masks would probably be a good idea, too, but no promotion seems willing to do that. I think the funniest part is that they point out how the people in the crowd were standing six feet apart to observe proper social distancing, only to have a camera man walking between them to get these intro shots. Does Vince think the cameras are actually as disembodied as they’re presented on TV?

As a side note, as seen in the GIF, this will eventually count as Simone Johnson’s Raw debut. I hope she gets a WrestleMania match next year, and The Rock has to show up and save her from getting beaten down by The Sultan’s daughter.

Best: Apollo Crews Wins The United States Championship

… or …

Worst: Cutting To An Interview In The Middle Of Apollo Crews Winning The United States Championship

Andrade and Apollo Crews are busting their asses with a competitive, show-opening United States Championship match and the tension builds and builds until — uh, we head backstage to listen to Angel Garza explain the birds and the bees to Kayla. What is this, WCW Monday Nitro?

There’s not even a thematic reason why we needed to interrupt the final stretch of a championship match to hear Garza do Swiss Toni bits from 30 years ago and explain how an orgasm is exactly like a distraction roll-up. Shout out to @tokenbg for helping me place that one.

Anyway, Apollo manages to pull out a victory from seemingly nowhere — Andrade worked the leg the entire match, so of course Crews’ final three moves (a gorilla press, a standing moonsault, and a standing shooting star press) require him to use his legs — and become United States Champion, winning his first title in WWE. Bless Crews for being one of the chosen few to really prosper during the pandemic and the bloodletting of the roster. He’s a talented guy who seems like a good dude, and I’m happy for him. Now if he could just explain to Akira Tozawa how to do what he does on Wednesdays on Mondays.

Best: Defeating Kevin Owens Is Just Like Doing It, Kayla, Let Me Explain

Both Garza and Kevin Owens return for a one-on-one match later in the show, which Garza shockingly wins by jumping Owens during the ring entrances and Wing Clipping him. Wing Clippering him? Wing Clapped? It’s “is it Stone Cold Stunning or Stone Cold Stunnering” all over again. I wouldn’t have guessed this finish in a million years, especially not without a truckload of ridiculous and constant mid-match cheating, and I’ve gotta say, I like when Raw surprises me. I’m not sure this will go anywhere deeper than Owens getting his win back in a more important match on the Backlash pre-show, or whatever, but I dig it. I want to see Garza keep winning and Andrade keep losing* until finally Andrade turns to Zelina and is like, “what’s wrong with me, should I be telling Apollo Crews how getting running knees to the chest in the corner is the cowgirl of sports-entertainment?”

*This is a joke, I don’t ever want to see Andrade lose.

Best: Also Counting This As Malcolm Bivens’ Raw Debut

Best: Cross Talk

Another great surprise this week is actual mic time for Nikki Cross, who for the first time in a hot minute — or ever, really, if you think about her time in WWE — gets to deliver a real monologue about who she is, why she’s here, and how she feels about things. I liked her pointing out that Alexa Bliss keeps her focused, and that she helps Bliss be a better friend. I also liked the positioning of Bliss and Cross’ surprisingly valid on-screen friendship being played against The IIconics, who were soulmates for years until one slapped the other in the face last week. The IIconics’ friendship is on the rocks, so they want to lash out and say it’s other friendships that are in trouble, not theirs. And it takes Nikki Cross, a woman who has truly been raised up socially and professionally by friendship, to speak up.

It’s hard to tell from her WWE work or even this segment, but I honestly think Nikki Cross is one of the best talkers in the company. They just aren’t ever going to agree, because of the accent. Personally I think the accent is wonderful, and that the more they let her talk on WWE TV, the more we’re going to see how good she is and love her for it. TNA not signing her during British Boot Camp is still such a trip to me. The entire TNA section of her Wikipedia page is the sentence, “[Nikki] Glencross competed in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling’s British Boot Camp 2, which began airing in October 2014, in which she was unsuccessful.”

Anyway, the attack and belt pose from the IIconics was pretty lame, and I’m not sure that inverted Magic Killer they’ve started doing is going to catch on, but a big thumbs up to the two-team women’s tag division at least letting its two teams talk and do things. I don’t want to see Billie lose and get slapped by Peyton either, but I guess it’s better than them sitting at home for another six months.

Worst: You Could’ve Been A Contender

This week’s most important match is probably the number one contender triple threat for a shot at the Raw Women’s Championship, featuring:

• the NXT Women’s Champion, who is [checks notes] already a champion
• a woman who got her ass kicked by the champion twice just last week
• a woman who just lost two matches in a row to Shayna Baszler in humiliating fashion and threw a temper tantrum about it

Like, how bad to you have to be to NOT be getting a Raw Women’s Championship right now? That title’s being given away instead of lost and sits at the top of a division where the top two performers have better things to do — motherhood and NXT — and everyone else is either losing all the time, getting their ass kicked all the time, or in a tag team. It’s like being a men’s tag team and not getting a title shot. Brother, the top two teams are so bored they’re out here flirting with cops and golfing. Win some matches, damn.

Despite having been set up and announced before the show went on the air, Raw has to use The Kevin Owens Show (now just “The KO Show,” which apparently I didn’t pick up on last week) to do that “table of contents” booking thing they love. If a match happens on WWE TV and it’s not prefaced by a promo parade, did it really happen at all?

I liked the structure of the match, at least. The match makes sense. I don’t normally go for triple threats where someone falls asleep on the floor so a normal one-on-one match can happen in the ring and then they switch, but Natalya and Flair have worked together enough to have a decent chemistry, and it keeps Nia from having to do too much or work beyond her means. Plus, Natalya was only in this to take the pin, which she definitely does. If I’m Shayna Baszler, I’m wondering why I dunked on Nattie two weeks in a row only for her to get a shot at a title shot instead of me. It’s not what you do, man, it’s who you know.

Worst: Charlotte’s Moonsault, Again

Her toes hit the mat before anything else and she lands on her hip, missing Jax completely. These are never good. The twisting press she does to the floor usually looks good, but the moonsaults are almost exclusively cockeyed and bad. Why does she keep doing moonsaults if moonsaults are the one thing she doesn’t do well? Nia’s not a small target, and she’s lying perfectly still. For real, what do you need to start hitting these?

Best: The Eye W.C.

Can we start calling them that?

Early in the night, Seth Rollins cuts a promo on a Rey Mysterio mask a la Latino Heat. I think it’s funny that the mask isn’t even the one Mysterio was wearing when Rollins put his eye out. Rollins just went on Highspots and bought a Rey Mysterio replica mask so he could carry it around and be pissed at it.

Later, Rollins manages the “future” part of his own personal Evolution*, Austin Theory and Buddy Murphy**, to a win over Aleister Black and Humberto Carrillo. Bet you can’t guess which of those two took the pinfall! After the match, the Rollins band feigns like they’re going to put out Carrillo’s eye with the corner of the ring steps, and only don’t because Black’s still lingering around ringside with a chair.

* Nuts to the constant D-X reunions, Triple H’s final in-ring run with the company should be doing the Ric Flair role in a new Evolution
**How long until we just start calling Austin Theory just “Theory?” Would that be the most random one-word noun name since “Test?”

I was going to write a bit about how Humberto should just call the damn police since one of his co-workers is going so far outside of the rules as to try to cause permanent bodily mutilation, but I remembered that (1) there have been multiple kidnappings in the Full Sail parking lot and nobody’s even concerned about it, so why should they care about THIS, and that (2) this is WWE, where a pay-per-view match once happened because one guy tried to embalm the other alive. “Putting out your eye” is honestly pretty low on the list of WWE Universe sins, from “push a guy in a wheelchair off the stage and try to drag him to literal Christian Hell” to “break a one-legged kid’s one leg in front of his mom and then shove him down a flight of stairs.” Invading a funeral in the Blues Brothers car to drag away your opponent’s father’s casket, stealing your opponent’s dog and cooking and feeding it to him, crucifixions, forced weddings, blood sacrifices, hanging by vampire gang … hell, WWE once had an actual law enforcement officer wrestling for them and he spent most of his time handcuffing people to the ring ropes and beating them with a night stick. He also did the funeral thing and the dog thing. WWE’s basically a cruelty competition.

Next week’s show will feature a Rey Mysterio Retirement Ceremony, which will almost certainly involve Rey doing one of those convoluted headscissors he uses to launch people into the middle rope to send Rollins into the steps eyeball-first. Maybe at Backlash they’ll have WWE’s FIRST EVER® “Eye for an Eye” match. Bonus points if Mysterio’s wearing a salmon colored mask for the ceremony.

General Best: MVP, A Character With Actual Thoughts, Goals, And Motivations

Lana, who is almost completely beige all of a sudden, continues to have issues with MVP for luring her husband away from a toxic relationship with promises of professional success. She didn’t (kayfabe) run her delightful-ass husband out of the company just to have somebody swoop in and make her husband start using the Masterlock.

While the segment itself wasn’t especially memorable, I liked MVP’s point of view regarding Drew McIntyre on the VIP Lounge. He wanted to manage Drew ahead of WrestleMania, but Drew turned him down and, after one thing led to another, kicked him in the face. Since then MVP knew that (1) Drew would become champion, and (2) MVP would be personally involved in Drew losing the championship for what he did. That’s cool. Mac boots him in the face again and is DESPERATELY screaming at Lashley to stop being a garbage mid-carder and go full Impact Wrestling with him at the top of the card.

Before we get to the next step in the story, we have to talk about … golf?

Worst: Tiger Wouldn’ts

The “anything you can do we can do better” competition between the Street Profits and the Viking Raiders ends at 2-1 when the Profits reveal they’re better than the Vikings at golf. And mini-golf. It feels like the “standings” in this competition shouldn’t be a big deal considering it was established that the Vikings let the Profits win at basketball and the axe throwing contest ended with Angelo Dawkins revealing he’s actually great at it and was just fucking around, so … man, I don’t know. Remember back in NXT when The Revival and American Alpha revived tag team wrestling in WWE by going to a Dave and Busters and playing Pop-a-Shot for three weeks?

This week’s bit involves them causing Three Stooges-esque mishaps on a real golf course before being demoted to mini-golf. The Profits win, but it’s less important than the final gag: both teams using the final hole of a putt-putt course to store their wallets, their extra red Solo cups, and a full-sized turkey leg. Please enjoy Rick Grimes sharing my disgust at Viking Experience Ivar storing warm meat in the ground (in Florida, in May) with a bunch of grubby golf balls on top of it throughout the day.

MVP confronts the Profits about acting like clowns instead of champions. MVP doing the Lord’s work by confronting WWE’s African-American superstars and convincing them to stop being dorks for a goddamn minute and kick some ass for best gimmick 2020.

That sets up the main event of the Profits vs. MVP and Lashley, which the Profits manage to win by disqualification when Lashley gets into the ring illegally and won’t stop fully nelsoning Montez Ford. This draws out Drew McIntyre and finally, miraculously frees Lashley from his internalized cage (or whatever), and the two have a pull-apart brawl around the ring and against the hockey glass. I wanted to give this part a Best, because I think serious Bobby Lashley can be a lot of fun in the ring and love that McIntyre’s more or less shouting at people he works with until good wresting happens, but the editing on the fight is just the dirt worst.

One perfect shot: WWE RAW (2020) Dir. Kevin Dunn.

Also On This Episode

Ric Flair Skyped in to give his opinion on The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever, and surprise! He picked Randy Orton, the guy he was in a faction with, over Edge. I’ve got to say, though, watching Ric Flair talk about how Randy Orton and Edge are going to have The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever is pretty pretty pretty, pretty sad. It’s like having Bob Dylan call in to explain why ‘Memories’ by Maroon 5 is the greatest song ever recorded.

On the topic of interviews like this and debates on which matches were the best, I want to see a pro wrestling edition of Verzuz with like, Ric Flair and Kenta Kobashi trying to see who’s had the most good matches. Flair drops the I Quit match from Clash Of The Champions IX and Kobashi’s like, “KOBASHI AND KIKUCHI VS. FURNAS AND KROFFAT MAY 25 1992 BITCHESSSSSS.” THIS is how the Cena vs. Rock feud should end. I mostly just want an excuse for John Cena to step up and drop Umaga Royal Rumble 2007 on somebody.

Quick side note: A lot of people seem to think this “GREATEST WRESTLING MATCH EVER” stuff is just a setup for Orton to get heel heat by kicking Edge in the balls or whacking him with a steel chair like 10 seconds into the match and getting disqualified. I like that a lot more than the alternative of “Orton tries to have the actual greatest wrestling match ever for 40 minutes,” but Orton didn’t come up with “greatest wrestling match ever.” Charly Caruso did. So if Orton’s leaning into the swerve, he better be in cahoots with Charly.

Liv Morgan is still developing her character, which is currently, “amnesiac Clarissa Darling.” I have no idea what this is or where it’s going, which I’ll make sure to remind you of every week for several months. Fist-bump to WWE creative for coming up with a character whose gimmick is that she’s not sure what her gimmick’s supposed to be, and nobody’s filling her in. Can’t wait until she completes her makeover into Emmalina.

Rob Gronkowski called R-Truth “R-Lies,” and it might’ve been the best moment of the night.

Best: Top 10 Comments Of The Night

notJames

Heenan: “Rollins is going after Latino wrestlers’ eyes now, so that they’ll never ‘Sí’ again…”
Gorilla: “Oh will you stop!”

AddMayne

Birdman

I’ve seen Charlotte’s entrance more than my own mother this past month

Harry Longabaugh

To counter Mike Tyson and the TNT championship, on Wednesday night Frank Thomas will present the rebranded NugenXT Championship to Adam Cole.

Jae-Su

I watched a match on Saturday where a guy sold his left arm and his opponent sold his lower back. As the match went on, the “injury” made them mess up basic moves and submission and they had to change their gameplans. Made the match more fun to watch.

Tonight, none of that happened.

troi

this desperately needs LUMIS staring at the hard cam for 3 hours

Bigsexy75

Technically, every show between now and the PPV is Mac-Lash.

MickFoley299

They mention Ric Flair having some of the greatest wrestling matches in WWE and then proceed to show clips of his NWA and WCW matches.

Dave M J

If Seth’s group doesn’t eventually grow to 12, someone did something wrong.

BigD_TVF

Good for Apollo getting a title win in front of the hottest RAW crowd in years

That does it for another episode of The Best and Worst of Quarantine Raw. Crowd noise and reactions help. Surprises and character consistency help. We just need to confidently move past the show’s safe format and tell some stories and do some shit that hasn’t been done a million times before. Especially if we can do that without having the tag team division revolve around occupational prop comedy.

Anyway, as always you can help us out tremendously right now by sharing the column on social media, as well as dropping down into our comments section to let us know what you thought of the show. I will keep trying to watch these and say something constructive about them, and I can’t wait to celebrate the 7 star match between Edge and Randy Orton at Backlash. It will be a shared, communal, possibly spiritual experience full of chinlocks and slow, slow stomping.

See you next week!

So first, the good news for Indiana Jones 5. Not only has director James Mangold been confirmed for the fifth Indy movie, but Steven Spielberg is still very much involved with the project even though he’s stepped aside as director for the first time in the series’ history.

In an interview with Collider, longtime Indiana Jones producer Frank Marshall has confirmed Mangold’s involvement and praised the Ford v Ferrari director as the perfect fit to tackle the whip-cracking archaeologist’s next adventure.

Marshall explained why Mangold was the ideal choice to take over for Spielberg: “His love of the franchise. He’s a wonderful filmmaker. I think he also has a relationship with Harrison. It was all of the right pieces coming together, at the right time.” I must agree with Mr. Marshall — I think Mangold is an expert at twisting old-fashioned genres and tropes with just enough postmodern intrigue to result in comforting yet challenging Hollywood movies. And for those who are still worried about Spielberg’s exit, fear not: “Steven is staying on as a producer, so we’ve got the best of everything.”

And now the bad news. According to Marshall, the writing process for Indy 5 has surprisingly “just started.” This information seems to suggest that Mangold is starting from scratch and jettisoning what has already been a lengthy script process, which has already seen several rewrites and delays. On top of the setback in the writing department, there’s the current state of Hollywood productions that have been scattered to the wind thanks to the pandemic. Even a production as big as Indiana Jones 5 doesn’t know how or when it can restart while protecting the safety of the cast, crew, and surrounding communities where filming would take place.

“It’s a moving target right now,” Marshall tells Collider after admitting that the safety concerns have slowed things down. There’s also the matter of Harrison Ford pushing 80 and developing a penchant for getting into trouble with his plane, which could pose problems if the film is delayed even further. Just putting that out there.

(Via Collider)

Nicki Minaj recently earned her first-ever No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart thanks to her feature on Doja Cat’s “Say So” remix. There have been rumors in recent days, however, that Billboard has removed her credit from the song on their charts and therefore invalidated that No. 1 distinction. Now Billboard themselves have addressed the situation, and it turns out the rumors were only partially correct.

The publication revealed the top ten songs on the newest Hot 100 chart, and “Say So” sits at No. 2. Interestingly, unlike on last week’s chart, this week’s chart only credits Doja for the song and not Minaj. Billboard explained in a post on their website that this change was made because the original version of “Say So,” not the remix with Minaj, is the primary reason for its chart success this week:

“After two weeks of Minaj showing as a featured artist on ‘Say So’ on the Hot 100 and other charts that utilize the same methodology, only Doja Cat is now listed, as the original version, without Minaj, is now driving the majority of overall activity for the song; the change does not affect any of Minaj’s achievements on those charts the past two weeks, and she continues not to be credited on the song on any airplay charts, as the vast majority of the song’s airplay is still for the original version.”

So, to reiterate, this does not mean that Minaj’s No. 1 song credit is no longer valid: She did have a No. 1 song, but now her version of “Say So” is no longer on the charts.

Alexis Loveraz, a 16-year-old high-schooler from The Bronx has earned over 660,000 followers on TikTok by helping fellow students with their algebra, geometry, chemistry and SAT prep during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He’s a math whiz with a 4.0 grade point average at Harlem Prep High School, earning the nickname “TikTok Tutor” for his ability to teach complicated subjects with ease on the social media platform.

“How did you explain it better than my teacher?” one commenter asked. “You explain 1000x better than my math teacher!!!” another exclaimed.

Alexis started making videos before the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily closed schools throughout the country. But during the lockdown, they’ve been a lifeline to students struggling to keep up at a time where education has been turned on its head.

“I was, like, really shocked,” Alexis told CBS2. “Things that they probably forgot like before COVID-19, this is like a refresher of what I’m, like, giving them out. It’s really cool because they understand it even better the way I’m explaining it to them.”

His tutorials have become so popular that they’re now appearing on Google Classrooms, helping kids all over the globe keep up with their math and science skills.

“It reached places like United States, Canada, Australia, the Philippines, Singapore,” he said.

In a world where most teens use TikTok to make dance videos or share makeup tips, Alex’s mother is ecstatic that her son uses it to help educate others.

“I’m excited about this. I know he can do this and more. I’m so proud that he helped a lot of people,” said Likmilian Hiciano.

When asked what motivates him to make the videos, Alexis’s response was simple: “The knowledge I have, like, I want to share it to other people.”

The TikTok Tutor’s popularity shines a light on the grim reality faced by students across the world who have lost at least three months of education due to the pandemic.

According to Education Week, the loss of classroom time will create “longstanding gaps in performance between advantaged and vulnerable students.”

When the school bell finally rings, students will be returning to an educational system that will have been weakened by the economic and political fallout from the pandemic.

“I don’t think we’ve had a shock to educational systems of this magnitude, at least to instructional time,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of economics at Brandeis University. “

“And part of that is the number of weeks and months of school students are going to be missing. But it’s also the fact that a bunch of parents will be unemployed, or that their savings will have vanished, or that someone in their family is sick,” he continued.

Over the next few months, the U.S. educational system will have to stitch itself back together to compensate for lost time and money due to the pandemic. But it’s encouraging to know that students such as Alexis have stepped up to do their best to help fill the gaps during the lockdown.

Yet another video of yet another white woman calling the police on yet another black person is making the rounds, and by now we should all be able to sing along to the familiar tune. It’s like the worst song ever written but it’s played so often you can’t get it out of your head.

Intro: White woman ignores a rule everyone is asked to follow.

Verse 1: White woman gets angry when a black person points out that the rule actually does apply to her.

Verse 2: White woman gets aggressive when the black person starts gathering video evidence of her response.

Bridge: White woman demands that the black person stop gathering evidence—or else.

Chorus: White woman calls the police, turns on the waterworks and claims that the black person calmly filming her tirade is, in fact, threatening her life.

This week’s video shows Amy Cooper, a white woman who had her dog off-leash in an area of Central Park that required a leash, calling the police on Christian Cooper (no relation), a black birdwatcher who told her she needed to put her dog on a leash. The video is striking, from the man having to repeatedly tell the woman, “Please step away from me” as she approached to the hysteria in her voice as she told the police—repeatedly—that “an African-American man” was threatening her life.

Christian Cooper wrote in a post her shared on Facebook with video of part of the encounter:

“Central Park this morning: This woman’s dog is tearing through the plantings in the Ramble.

That’s when I started video recording with my iPhone, and when her inner Karen fully emerged and took a dark turn…”

There’s so much that we could dissect about this story, but it’s not like we haven’t see this before. Predictably, there has been huge public outcry over the incident. Predictably, Amy Cooper issued an apology, telling CNN, “I’m not a racist. I did not mean to harm that man in any way.” Predictably, some white folks have expressed more concerned over the woman’s treatment of her dog than they were over her putting a black man’s life in danger.

I have no doubt that this woman doesn’t think she’s racist. Most white folks don’t think we are. The only white people who openly acknowledge our own racism are blatant white supremacists and those who recognize that racism is woven into our social DNA. And doing something racist, then immediately saying “I’m not a racist”—as if the identity of being a racist or not is the issue and not the fact that your actions were undeniably racist—is, again, a predictable pattern.

That’s going to keep happening until enough white Americans acknowledge that racism lives in all of us. We are citizens of a country founded during the heyday of the transatlantic slave trade, a country whose most celebrated history is completely inseparable from the enslavement of black people, a country whose bloodiest war was fought over whether or not white people had the right to own people based on the color of their skin. We can’t change that history, but we have to acknowledge how that foundation—and the centuries of systematic oppression of black people in America that followed—have impacted us and continue to impact us.

Hell, even the fact that this white woman and this black man share the same last name hearkens to the disturbing possibility that they might have historical ties to one another, as it was common for black Americans to take the last names of the people who enslaved them.

I’ve seen people attempting to defend this woman, saying she simply acted out of fear. But the way she says, “I’m going to tell them that an African-American man is threatening my life,” is chilling. It indicates that she knew that telling the police his race would have a specific effect. She used the image of a black man threatening the life of a white woman as a weapon against a man who politely asked her to stop approaching him and who simply wanted her to put her damn dog on a leash, per the park’s rules.

What’s most telling is the dichotomy between the fear this woman purposely portrayed on her phone call and the actual power she is wielding as she does it. Angry at being called out for breaking the rules and being filmed for her reaction, she used her white woman privilege to make a phone call to the police as if they were her personal customer service line, flipping from aggression to victimhood at the drop of a hat, knowing that her side of the story was more likely to be believed than his—even with video evidence to the contrary being collected in real-time. This is everyday racism in action.

And from all appearances, Christian Cooper just wanted to be able to birdwatch without an unleashed dog mucking things up. He told CNN that he would accept Amy Cooper’s apology: “If it’s genuine and if she plans on keeping her dog on a leash in the Ramble going forward, then we have no issues with each other.” But an apology doesn’t go nearly far enough here, in my opinion.

As with all viral videos dealing with racism, I hope we all learn something from seeing this play out. I hope my fellow white Americans are able to see how egregious her behavior was, how the racism that festers beneath the surface of the white American subconscious reared its head to display its power here, how saying “I’m not a racist” is just a string of meaningless words that don’t belong in an apology for racist actions. I hope people can see the pattern as predictable at this point—a truth that has been shared by black thought leaders over and over again but keeps falling on deaf ears. I hope people who see all of this seek out anti-racism resources to educate themselves. (This Google doc is a good place to start).

I hope that we realize how well we actually know the song at this point, and get so sick of it that we start singing an entirely new tune.

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On the latest episode of People’s Party with Talib Kweli, Matthew Modine — actor, filmmaker, activist, and only other older dude besides Keith Richards who can successfully rock a bandana — chopped it up with Talib Kweli over some of the symbolism in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. Without giving too much away (you should absolutely see Full Metal Jacket if you haven’t already) Kweli brought up a particularly striking and eerie scene in which U.S. soldiers march through a burning Vietnamese village singing the Mickey Mouse Club theme song, prompting Modine to share an interesting read on the famous scene.

“I never talked to Stanley, but he never asked permission from Disney to use it, he just did it which I think was fantastic,” Modine begins before going deeper. “But it’s the words and Stanley’s deep right?… ‘Who’s the leader of the gang that’s made for you and me? Who’s the leader of the gang who’s marching coast to coast and far across the sea’… I don’t understand why we were fighting in Vietnam, was it just for westward expansionism? Was it just to get Coca-Cola and Marlboro cigarettes, to expand what I believe is American democracy, that we don’t live in a Republic anymore, a democratic society? We live in a capitalistic society. That we’re a corporatocracy?”

A lot has been said about the symbolism of this particular scene, with many common interpretations pointing to a loss of innocence amongst the soldiers, particularly Modine’s Joker, but this read feels particularly resonant right now as we re-enter an economic recession amidst a global pandemic, all while the world potentially sees its first trillionaire in Jeff Bezos. It’s also a great reminder that we should rewatch Full Metal Jacket, or you know, any Stanley Kubrick movie while we still have free time on our hands. Right after we watch this episode of People’s Party, of course.

Check out the clip above for Modine’s full comments and find out why political propaganda soured the actor on Top Gun.

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got the long-awaited (and very long) new album from The 1975, another preview of Phoebe Bridgers’ sophomore album, and a new live track from the Elliott Smith vault.

While we’re at it, sign up for our newsletter to get the best new indie music delivered directly to your inbox, every Monday.

The 1975 — Notes On A Conditional Form

The 1975’s fourth album is also their most bloated and self-important to date, according to Steven Hyden for Uproxx. But that doesn’t mean that Notes On A Conditional Form doesn’t feature some absolute bangers. Spanning nearly an hour-and-a-half, there’s something for everyone on latest effort from The 1975. It’s very diverse in its sonic palette, spanning from punk rock to Britpop to confessional indie.

Jeff Rosenstock — No Dream

When there is a catastrophe, Jeff Rosenstock is always there to soundtrack it. After kicking off 2018 with a surprise album POST-, Rosenstock’s latest LP also dropped out of the sky from nowhere. No Dream is “a raucous, guitar-driven affair,” writes Derrick Rossignol for Uproxx, and it features some of Rosenstock’s heaviest songs to date. With not much going on these days, No Dream gives us that onslaught of punk rock energy that will surely up your energy levels to at least make you feel something again.

Owen Pallett — Island

It’s been almost six years since In Conflict, Owen Pallett’s last solo LP. All that changed late last week when Pallett surprise-released Island, a new album recorded with the London Contemporary Orchestra. It’s a uniquely introspective affair, with cinematic flourishes throughout, making it an especially exciting release. .

Phoebe Bridgers — “I See You”

With Phoebe Bridgers’ sophomore album Punisher just a few weeks out, she has shared another preview in the form of “I See You,” a layered and billowing breakup track that is slightly different than other breakup tracks. “It’s about my breakup with my drummer. We dated for a few years, made music every day, and were extremely codependent,” Bridgers wrote in a statement. “We became like family to each other, so our breakup was extremely tough. But if this tells you anything about our relationship, we wrote this song together, just like everything else.”

Elliott Smith — “Big Decision” (Live at Umbra Penumbra)

To celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Elliott Smith’s self-titled album, his label Kill Rock stars is set to release a remastered and expanded version of the album. Included in the expanded version is the entirety of a lost live album featuring the earliest known recording of Smith as a solo artist, captured September 17, 1994 at Portland’s café and “art salon” Umbra Penumbra. “Big Decision” is the first taste of what we can expect from the newly unearthed live album, and it depicts a songwriter at the height of his talents, though he was unknown at the time.

Khruangbin — “So We Won’t Forget”

With the psychedelic Texan trio prepping to release their third album, “So We Won’t Forget” is yet another promising preview of what’s to come, this time focusing on the passing of time and memory. Sonically, the track features “groove, soft percussive elements, and world music influences,” as described by Carolyn Droke for Uproxx.

Idles — “Mr. Motivator”

Idles enters a new era with a video featuring fan-submitted clips of their workout routines. “Mr. Motivator” is a boisterous reminder of why Idles is one of the best punk bands out there right now, a track that “aims to encourage fans to get through these tough times with dance,” according to Carolyn Droke for Uproxx.

Ian Sweet — “Sword”

Nothing embodies summer more than a good dream-pop track. While a proper new album from Ian Sweet is still unannounced, “Sword” marks a new era for Jilian Medford. It’s a jump into a genreless space, anchored by infectious synthesizers and hopping bass.

Eliza Elliott — “Sometimes You Lie”

On her new single, Eliza Elliott dials into the lane that made Clairo so popular. “Sometimes You Lie” is the lead single on Elliott’s new EP, a promising sign of what we can expect from the up-and-coming songwriter’s latest effort.

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

John Wall has had a rough go of things over the last few seasons. Injuries limited him to 41 games during the 2017-18 campaign and 32 games the following year. This season, Wall has not played at all, opting to get his body right with the hopes that he can regain the form that made him one of the most exciting players in the NBA.

Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis said last summer that Wall would likely miss the entirety of the 2019-20 campaign, as Wall is trying to work his way back from a ruptured achilles. Wall spoke to the media on Tuesday, and while he mentioned that his rehab has gotten his body to a point where he feels like he’s at “110 percent,” he does not plan on taking the floor whenever the NBA decides to restart its season.

Washington would need a miracle to make the postseason — the team sits 5.5 games behind the 8-seed and have played 64 games on the year, so if the NBA decides to go with the top-8 squads in both conferences, they would find themselves on the outside looking in. But even with a more expanded playoff format, the Wizards are not winning a championship with a rusty Wall on the floor.

Whenever he’s able to play, it’ll be great to see Wall back out there, especially if he really is healthy and able to get back to being an All-Star point guard. For now, continuing to take things slow and not rushing back to play is almost certainly the sensible decision.