Remember the Oscar-nominated 2004 feature documentary “Super Size Me?"

Its director, Morgan Spurlock, died Thursday in upstate New York due to complications of cancer. He was 53. Variety has his obituary: https://flip.it/emMZIy

#MorganSpurlock #Documentary #Film #Cinema 

 It's Canada's Thanksgiving this weekend, so here's a helpful reminder from the Beaverton about covering your leftovers. Happy Thanksgiving. 🇨🇦

https://flip.it/XZ.IE0

#Canada #CanadianThanksgiving #Food #Satire 

 An unexplained chronic illness left author Richa Kaul Padte with the burning need to win her doctors' approval — to be their favorite. In this essay for Hazlitt, she unpicks and unpacks this feeling, and sheds light on the frustrations of living with, "the confluence of my intersecting symptoms and how they shape my life. The unsolvable injustice of my illness."

https://flip.it/AL3S1f

#Essays #Health #ChronicIllness 

 Bandcamp's union, @715f3319 is seeking recognition from its new owners, music marketing company Songtradr. Epic Games sold Bandcamp last week amid extensive layoffs. A statement from the union says staff were told by Epic Games that Songtradr would offer positions to some, but not all employees. Pitchfork has more information. The union is sharing a petition on its Mastodon account.

https://flip.it/ax7zVy

#Music #Bandcamp #Unions 

 In 1937, granite artist Luigi "Louis" Giovanni Brusa died of silicosis, a lung disease caused by inhaling miniscule particles of the rocks he carved. The moment of his death is captured in "The Dying Man," an extraordinary monument that he commissioned a talented peer, Donato "Don" Coletti, to create. Atlas Obscura tells the tragic tale of Vermont's Italian gravestone carvers and the sculpture that serves as a warning and memorial to them.

https://flip.it/RK7-nU

#History #Art #Culture 

 Photographer Charles Traub's latest book is "Skid Row," a collection of shots he took in Uptown Chicago and the Bowery, NYC, in the late '70s and early '80s. Here's a sample of what you'll find in the book, courtesy of Blind magazine. There's also an exhibition at New York's School of Visual Arts, which is on until Oct. 26.

https://flip.it/CBf502

#Photography #Books #Art #Culture #NewYork #Chicago 

 Lou Reed died almost exactly a decade ago. There've been several biographies of him written since, but perhaps none so exhaustive as Will Hermes's "Lou Reed: The King of New York," which covers his journey from Long Island boy to rock star, acknowledging throughout Reed's famous hatred of being written about. This Air Mail review offers a taste of the book.

https://flip.it/6DnwLZ

#Books #Bookstodon #Music #LouReed 

 50 years ago today, Elton John and Bernie Taupin's masterpiece, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," was released. Shondaland has this track-by-track writeup of an album writer Jonathan Riggs calls "one of the best albums of all time, which highlights both an artist at the peak of his powers and the vibe of an entire musical era."

https://flip.it/sZUv3v

#Music #Albums #EltonJohn 

 Frommer's writer Jason Cochran says that airlines "obtain competitive advantages by pretending flights are cheaper than they actually are" — a practice known as "drip pricing." He breaks down which European and U.S.-based carriers are the worst offenders in the added-fee department (Spirit Airlines customers pay an average of 736% over the original quote).

https://flip.it/t2b0mB

#Travel #TravelIndustry #Airlines #Lifestyle 

 Sufjan Stevens' new album, "Javelin," is out and Pitchfork loves it, describing it as tender, raw, direct and contemplative. "If it sounds like he is occasionally singing to us from rock bottom, it’s only so we can witness the steady ascent onward," says critic Sam Sodomsky. Here's the full review.

https://flip.it/geDhsi

#Music #SufjanStevens #Review #NewMusic 

 It's been 10 years since the finale of "Breaking Bad." Series creator and showrunner Vince Gilligan talks to Variety about his favorite unsung moments, what he'd change about the ending, and his next project, an Apple TV+ sci-fi show starring "Better Call Saul" actor Rhea Seehorn.

https://flip.it/BBOnGn

#Television #BreakingBad #VinceGilligan 

 Norwegian writer and playwright Jon Fosse has won the Nobel Prize in literature, "for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable." Fosse is the first writer who writes in Nynorsk to win the prize. AP has more on his life and work. 

https://flip.it/MJipTe

#NobelPrize #Literature #Books #Bookstodon 

 Actor Julia Ormond is suing Harvey Weinstein for sexual battery in a lawsuit that also names The Walt Disney Company, CAA and Miramax. “Brazenly, none of these prominent companies warned Ormond that Weinstein had a history of assaulting women because he was too important, too powerful, and made them too much money,” the suit states. Variety has the story.

https://flip.it/8lczCt

#Hollywood #Celebrity #HarveyWeinstein 

 Uproxx's Steven Hyden saw U2 perform at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Friday. Here's what he thought of the experience. "The Sphere is overpowering and ridiculous, technologically advanced and rooted in an old-time 'more is more' show-business sensibility, and supported by some of the industry’s most powerful players even though it’s possibly unsustainable. Put another way: The Sphere is U2," he says.

https://flip.it/tAOf2g

#Music #LiveMusic #U2 #Sphere 

 "The Exorcist: Believer" is out on Oct. 6, and according to the BBC, it's not a patch on the original Here's the review:

https://flip.it/whW.1T

#Movies #Entertainment #Exorcist 

 "Surely You Can't Be Serious," co-written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker (ZAZ), tells the story of how "Airplane" got off the ground. Salon spoke to the trio about their weirdest flights, how they cast "Airplane," whether the movie crosses the line of good taste, and fart jokes.

https://flip.it/6reKIN

#Movies #Books #Bookstodon #Comedy #DontCallMeShirley 

 "I Am a Noise," a new documentary about the iconic Joan Baez, opens in theaters on Oct. 6. Smithsonian Magazine's Jennie Rothenberg Gritz talked to Baez about her life as an activist and musician, Bob Dylan, motherhood, and her move away from the spotlight and towards her art. "I have not missed being on the stage for a second,” she says.

https://flip.it/7tQ7EZ

#Movies #JoanBaez #Documentary #Music 

 Merriam-Webster has added 690 new words to the dictionary. Here are some of the words that made it in, from edgelord to zhuzh.

https://flip.it/d1nUwA

#Language #Culture #Lifestyle 

 Could Paris go car-free for the 2024 Olympics? The Parisian Green Party is proposing exactly that, and that the city should offer free public transport for the six weeks of the event. Time Out has the lowdown on how likely it is to happen.

https://flip.it/-odViY

#Travel #Paris #Climate #Olympics 

 "Shift Happens" is a book about the evolution of the QWERTY keyboard, which is now 150 years old. @872ab8e1 talked to author Marcin Wichary about why he wrote it, the hardest part of the project, and what would have happened if the "Shift Wars" of the late 19th century had gone a different way.

https://flip.it/7UAktD

#Books #Design #Tech #Culture 

 Book bans are spreading "like a fungus," according to high-school librarian Martha Hickson, who has been the victim of smear campaigns and received hate mail because of the reading material she provides for students. She talked to Reader's Digest about how she and her fellow librarians are fighting back.

https://flip.it/ccvqu9

#Books #BookBans #Bookstodon #Libraries #Culture 

 So-called Revenge Travel, the increase in visiting other places after COVID-19 restrictions limited opportunities, appears to be abating. CNBC has more on the downward travel trend around the world. https://flip.it/5MNIfN
#Culture #Travel #RevengeTravel 

 As social media companies rise and fall, a number of books exploring the internet revolution have been published. Add “Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence and Power on the Internet” to the list. “Tech founders may control source code, but users shape the product,” author Taylor Lorenz writes. Here’s more from the AP: https://flip.it/lWa3Br
#Culture #Reading #Internet #Books #Bookstodon 

 “I have nothing to do with it,” Tom Hanks said of a fake ad featuring a fabricated image of his likeness. The two-time Oscar-winning actor went to Instagram to share the image, which appears to be AI-generated for a dental ad. ABC News has more, including the image in question. Take a look for yourself. Does it even look like Hanks? https://flip.it/As6-pH
#Culture #Entertainment #TomHanks #AI 

 Bruce Springsteen has officially released “Addicted to Romance,” a track that will appear in director Rebecca Miller’s new romantic comedy “She Came to Me.” The Boss collaborated with Bryce Dressner of The National on the song. Take a listen on Pitchfork. And fans of The National, see if you hear the band's sound come through on the track: https://flip.it/LANnnc
#Culture #Entertainment #Music #BruceSpringsteen #TheNational 

 In many native communities around the lands now called North America, many people identify with the so-called rez dogs that roam freely. Kendra Coulter, writing for The MIT Press Reader, dives into why the lives of these dogs cannot be uncoupled from human-human relationships. 
https://flip.it/TirmVu
#Culture #NativeAmerican #Indigenous #NationalDayForTruthAndReconciliation #RezDogs 

 It's the weekend! Here's an NPR Tiny Desk concert from Sam Smith, starting with their 2014 Grammy winner "Stay" and ending with recent chart-topper "Unholy," all accompanied by an 11-person choir, pianist and guitarist.

 https://flip.it/rgN-A8

#Music #TinyDesk #SamSmith #NPR 

 Hollywood's depictions of masculinity have always been pretty gay. Queerty's Naveen Kumar writes about representations of masculine ideals, from Montgomery Clift in the 1948 Western "Red River" to Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman in "The Last of Us."

https://flip.it/ZQI3fA

#Movies #Hollywood #LGBTQ #Pride 

 Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet" was published 100 years ago and has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. JSTOR Daily takes a look at how this slim volume, which it describes as "woo-woo, vague and mystical," continues to be a big success, a staple at spiritual-but-not-religious weddings, so beloved it was even recited at Nelson Mandela's funeral.

https://flip.it/RNRKsf

#Books #Bookstodon #Spirituality #Poetry 

 High School for Recording Arts — aka Hip Hop High — is a public school in St. Paul, Minnesota, which teaches core subjects through a musical lens. Around 40% of its students are homeless and 85% have been out of high school for at least 18 months. "We're talking about some severe obstacles to their learning and their agency," says the school's executive director, Tony Simmons. This video from The 74 talks about its life-saving impact.

https://flip.it/T.N.NM

#Music #Education #Culture 

 Las Vegas police have indicted a suspect in the Tupac Shakur case on a murder charge. Duane “Keffe D” Davis admitted in his 2019 memoir "Compton Street Legend" that he was in the Cadillac from which gunfire erupted in the September 1996 drive-by shooting and implicated his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, who died in 1998.

https://flip.it/FG150x

#TupacShakur #News #Music 

 Phil Hartman would have turned 75 on Sept. 24. In honor of this, Dana Carvey and David Spade devoted two episodes of their "Fly on the Wall" podcast to their "SNL" castmate. They were joined by Mike Myers, Julia Sweeney, Will Ferrell, Conan O'Brien and more, who shared memories of working with Hartman, and reflected on what might have been. Entertainment Weekly is sharing the tribute here.

https://flip.it/6ButeJ

#SNL #Television #PhilHartman #InMemoriam 

 New episodes of "Doctor Who" will start streaming worldwide in November. The BBC has this two-minute guide to catch you up on 60 years of history, from where Gallifrey is located to what a Dalek is. Unfortunately, even they can't explain why all the recent Doctors have ended up wearing a fez.

https://flip.it/Yu6Xt9

#Television #BBC #DoctorWho #Entertainment 

 In November, Martin Scorsese will turn 81. He's been through addiction, five marriages (and four divorces) and has barely stopped working since 1967. As his 27th movie, "Killers of the Flower Moon," is about to be released, GQ talked to him about getting old, paring down, and letting go. 

https://flip.it/afEbcX

#Movies #Entertainment #MartinScorsese 

 11 people were responsible for 60% of book bans in the 2021-2022 school year. Jennifer Petersen filed 71 challenges in the district where her younger child goes to school, against books such as “Red, White and Royal Blue,” which is about a relationship between the son of a U.S. president and an English prince, and Jodi Picoult’s “Nineteen Minutes,” a novel about a school shooting. Here's the full story (may be paywalled). 

https://flip.it/XjPUzR

#Books #Bookstodon #Education #UnitedStates 

 Daft Punk has been celebrating the tenth anniversary of "Random Access Memories" all year. The latest release is a drumless version of the album. Listen to "Within" here. 

https://flip.it/qaaV_g

#Music #DaftPunk #RandomAccessMemories 

 Around 2,000 objects are missing from the British Museum, and it is calling for help in recovering them. Art expert Christopher A. Marinello tells NBC this undermines the museum's argument against returning treasures to colonized nations. “They’ve been saying, ‘These objects are much better preserved in the British Museum. We have much better security. We can’t trust that these objects would be safe in your countries.'"

https://flip.it/_9Qlgv

#Art #Culture #Museums #UnitedKingdom 

 The actor Sir Michael Gambon, who starred in "The Singing Detective" and who played professor Albus Dumbledore in the "Harry Potter" movie series, has died at the age of 82. The BBC looks at his success on TV, in the cinema and on stage.
https://flip.it/lTAtt- 

 Donna Dear and Paulette Greene — "the aunties" — have been a couple for almost 50 years, farming the land where Harriet Tubman took members of her family out of enslavement, and working for climate justice in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. To celebrate the launch of a new documentary about them, them magazine talked to the aunties about how their enduring love and the historic land they steward.

https://flip.it/CM3Z5m

#Documentary #History #Film #LGBTQ #BlackMastodon #ClimateJustice 

 Is there treasure at the bottom of Hell Gate, a narrow tidal channel at the confluence of the Harlem and East Rivers, in the heart of New York City? Atlas Obscura looked into the 240-year search for the HMS Hussar, which reportedly carried the payroll for British troops in gold coins, and has been searched for by everyone from Thomas Jefferson to a guy named Joey Treasures.

https://flip.it/FQ_2jA

#History #Culture #NewYork #UnitedStates 

 Dan Harmon was once a constant presence on social media, but after scandals about his on-set behavior and tasteless jokes, he shut down his Twitter account and podcast, and went to therapy. Now, he's talking to The Hollywood Reporter about everything: the "Community" movie, his new series, "Krapopolis," and his thoughts on the allegations against "Rick and Marty" co-creator Justin Roiland.

https://flip.it/yuox7N

#Television #Entertainment #RickAndMorty #DanHarmon #JustinRoiland 

 "Stranger Things" star Millie Bobby Brown's novel, "Nineteen Steps," is a bestseller, but has come under fire both for the prose style, and the fact that Brown didn't write it. @c11fa870 takes a look at how it came to be, and why ghostwritten celebrity novels are so loathed.

https://flip.it/hOWM4a

#Books #Bookstodon #Celebrity #MillieBobbyBrown #Culture 

 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced it will bestow a replacement Oscar on Hattie McDaniel, 60 years after hers went missing. The statue will be given to Howard University, as McDaniel intended. She was the first Black person to win a competitive Academy Award, which was given in 1940 for her supporting performance in “Gone with the Wind.” Variety has the details.

https://flip.it/lJAgbF

#Entertainment #Movies #TuneIn #BlackMastodon #HBCU 

 A Texas law that would have restricted drag shows has been declared unconstitutional, with a federal judge issuing a permanent injunction. U.S. District Judge David Hittner said the law "violates the First Amendment as incorporated to Texas by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution." ABC has more:

https://flip.it/b7OTAg

#Culture #LGBTQ #Drag #USConstitution 

 Personal sharing on LinkedIn is booming, with users telling their connections about divorces, health problems and other vulnerable moments and life events. Business Insider looks into how and why the network is changing, and the proliferation of meme accounts that are mocking this content.

https://flip.it/CNZtMc

#Tech #SocialMedia #LinkedIn #Culture 

 David McCallum, who was best known for playing Ilya Kuryakin in "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," died yesterday at age 90. Variety has this tribute to the actor, who also played Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard on "NCIS." “He was the kindest, coolest, most patient and loving father," his son Peter said. “He was a true renaissance man — he was fascinated by science and culture and would turn those passions into knowledge."

https://flip.it/FDS2HT

#Entertainment #Television #InMemoriam #RIP 

 Stevie Nicks has announced more dates for her U.S. tour, which starts tomorrow in Pittsburgh. Pitchfork has details of where all the shows will take place, which will be co-headlined with Billy Joel, and a link to purchase tickets.

https://flip.it/i61rB6

#Music #Entertainment #StevieNicks #BillyJoel 

 A data set of more than 191,000 books has been used without permission to train generative AI systems by Meta, Bloomberg, and others. “Books3” was based on  pirated ebooks, most of them published in the past 20 years. The data set is at the heart of several lawsuits brought against Meta. The Atlantic's Alex Eisner is sharing this database of authors that have been used for training. Story may be paywalled. 

 https://flip.it/MILzXa

#Books #AI #Bookstodon #Meta #Technology 

 When Kerry Washington decided to appear on a 2018 episode of “Finding Your Roots,” the PBS series in which celebrities learn about their ancestral histories, the actress-activist had no idea what she would discover. Then her parents apprised her of a family secret they’d been keeping. NPR tells us what Washington learned and why she says it has helped her build a deeper connection with her parents. https://flip.it/XkJ8CM
#Culture #Entertainment #Hollywood #Film #TV #KerryWashington 

 SAG-AFTRA's video game performers are also in the spotlight as they head back to the negotiating table tomorrow. Polygon has the details on this, including what's at stake, which game companies could be affected, and the possible outcomes.

https://flip.it/tb695H

#HollywoodStrikes #Entertainment #VideoGames #GamesINdustry 

 The WGA may have reached an agreement to end its strike, but that doesn't mean the entertainment industry's union action is over. Deadline has this breakdown on what's to come on the labor front, including SAG-AFTRA's negotiations and IATSE's contract, which expires in 2024. 

https://flip.it/Iv15rK

#WGA #HollywoodStrikes #Entertainment #SAGAFTRA 

 Turns out that Taylor Swift is a football fan. Or at least a fan of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Dating rumors have circulated for weeks, but there she was in Kelce’s suite at the Chiefs’ game on Sunday, right next to Kelce’s mom and enthusiastically celebrating his touchdown catch. Then, the stars were seen leaving the stadium together. USA Today has more: https://flip.it/mjOmB1
#Culture #Entertainment #TaylorSwift #TravisKelce #Music #NFL 

 “Made in Taiwan,” a cookbook that celebrates centuries of Taiwanese culture and foodways, opens with a quote from activist Peng Ming-min: “[Neither] race, language, nor culture form a nation, but rather a deeply felt sense of community and shared destiny.” Atlas Obscura writer Diana Hubbell tells us how the book is a love letter to the island nation known for its culture, people and cuisine.
https://flip.it/BpTUk2
#Culture #Asia #Thailand #Cooking #Foodie 

 Drew Barrymore will not resume production of her talk show after facing an outcry of opposition from striking Hollywood writers and her fellow actors. NBC News has more on her reversal: https://flip.it/VRJwcc
#Entertainment #Culture #DrewBarrymore #HollywoodStrikes #WritersGuildOfAmerica 

 Who needs office dress codes? Certainly not these “corporate goths” who aren’t afraid to redefine business casual. More from Business Insider: https://flip.it/QKOSiH
#Culture #Fashion #Goth #CorporateLife #Work 

 Update: Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse. BBC reports: https://flip.it/mIDbnG
#Entertainment #Culture #Hollywood #RussellBrand 

 Russell Brand has posted a video in which he denies “serious criminal allegations” that he says will be made against him. The BBC says the actor and comedian may face serious claims of sexual misconduct. Here’s more: https://flip.it/eR6JoA
#Entertainment #Culture #RussellBrand #Hollywood 

 50 books have been nominated for this year's National Book Awards; the winner will be revealed on Nov. 15. Drew Barrymore was set to host, but her invitation was rescinded after she announced that her talk show will resume filming despite the strikes. The Washington Post has a breakdown of all the nominees (may be paywalled). Head to the organization's website for a free-to-read look at the longlist.

https://flip.it/lmfiLa
https://flip.it/yyfsz3

#Bookstodon #WGAStrike #Books #SAGAFTRA 

 Time to wind down into the weekend with a concert from NPR's new Tiny Desk Korea series. Here's Kim Tae-hyung, 김태형 — aka V from BTS — with his first live performances of three tracks from the new "Layover" album.

https://flip.it/v5.cv2

#Music #NPR #KPop #KimTaehyung #BTS 

 Japanese comedy drama "He's Expecting" imagines a world in which a small number of cis men have become pregnant. Its hero quickly experiences some of the scenarios we're used to seeing pregnant women navigate, from marginalization at work to patronizing information that minimizes the risks of childbirth. In this long read for Electric Lit, Jane Dykema takes a critical look at the TV show's insights and shortcomings.

https://flip.it/HG-B2Q

#TV #Culture #Netflix #TuneIn 

 150 years ago, British explorer Isabella Bird traveled the world, writing for magazines and becoming one of the first female fellows elected into the Royal Geographical Society. Smithsonian Magazine's Laura Kiniry followed in the footsteps of her famous expedition through the Rockies, of which Bird wrote: “Everything suggests a beyond."

https://flip.it/zKLhdK

#Women #Travel #History 

 19 million Americans, at least half of whom are of Latino or Hispanic descent, live in the southern border region of the U.S. NBC talked to some "frontizeros" about the unique culture, patois, food and music that comes from living in the "places between places."

https://flip.it/33spBD

#Culture #HispanicHeritageMonth #UnitedStates 

 Bill Willingham, creator of beloved comic series "Fables" has released the franchise into the public domain, citing a breakdown in his relationship with DC Comics. Here's the full statement that he posted on his Substack, in which he said of DC: " I gave them years to do the right thing. I tried to reason with them, but you can’t reason with the unreasonable."

https://flip.it/MWQybw

#BillWillingham #Fables #ComicBooks #PublicDomain 

 The ancient art of sumo, which was first practiced in 23 B.C.E, is steeped in ritual, history, honor and glory, and in its home country of Japan, some wrestlers are celebrities. In America, it's mostly been a fringe sport until the past five years or so. Here's a look at how and why its popularity is growing stateside, as GQ peeps inside New York Sumo Beya.

https://flip.it/Lo7i0k

#Sport #Sports #Sumo #Lifestyle #Culture 

 "The Golden Bachelor" will be premiering on Sept 28. Entertainment Weekly described the show as "a kinder, gentler, older reality show." Here's its exclusive look behind the scenes, including conversations with the Bachelor himself, 72-year-old Gerry (pronounced Gary), a widower from Indiana who's looking for an adventurous, family-oriented woman who likes pickleball.

https://flip.it/lHPzb1

#Television #Entertainment #TheBachelor #TuneIn 

 Extreme weather is affecting music festivals around the world,  from Uganda to Germany. Pitchfork looks at some of the impacts of wildfires, heat waves, heavy rains and typhoons, and how organizers are trying to adjust to the new reality.

https://flip.it/ImXfDG

#Entertainment #Music #LiveMusic 

 It took writing a novel, "Idlewild," for James Frankie Thomas to realize he was trans. In a funny, moving essay for Lit Hub, he explains what led to his discovery. "How had my entire workshop read my novel so wrong?" he wonders. "Stranger still, how had they all read it wrong in the exact same way? There was only one possible explanation, something I’d long suspected but never dared to admit out loud: Everyone was stupid except me."

https://flip.it/bHSAtK

#LGBTQ #Books #Bookstodon #Culture 

 There were dozens of Black classical composers in 19th-century New Orleans, but they had few opportunities to present their compositions around the world, and that means their works have been largely forgotten — until recently. Atlas Obscura reports how OperaCréole, founded in 2011 by Black mezzo-sopranos Givonna Joseph and her daughter Aria Mason, is giving life to lost works as "an act of restorative justice."

https://flip.it/gs9R89

#BlackMastodon #Music #Culture #Opera #NewOrleans 

 "Rick and Morty" creator Justin Roiland used his fame to develop relationships with young fans, according to extensive evidence that 11 woman and nonbinary people shared with NBC News. One woman says that Roiland sexually assaulted her. Here's the full story, by tech and culture reporter Kat Tenbarge.

https://flip.it/NJic7o

#Entertainment #RickAndMorty #JustinRoiland