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Jan 01, 2050
Chip Somodevilla/Getty
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Jan 01, 2050
Kevin Lamarque/ReutersJohn S. McCain III, an American hero who served as a Navy captain and a member of Congress for 57 years, died on TKTKTK DAY. He was 81.
McCain was a giant of the United States Senate and a lifelong public servant who won respect and admiration from his colleagues on Capitol Hill and world leaders for his staunch advocacy of democratic principles and his defiant policy positions, particularly on issues relating to the military and national security.
He was a tough and, at times, feisty and brash legislator, but he forged friendships and bonds that cemented his place in history as a dealmaker. His political opponents sometimes branded him a war-monger and a reactionary at worst but never doubted his unwavering adherence to his principles, his tireless support for American troops, and his enduring commitment to public service.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 27, 2023
Toby Melville/ReutersPrince Harry made a stunning appearance at London's High Court on Monday for the first hearing of a lawsuit accusing the publisher of the Daily Mail of phone-tapping and privacy breaches.
The Duke of Sussex brought the action along with other celebrities including Elton John and actress Elizabeth Hurley against Associated Newspapers, but no one was expecting the semi-retired royal to show up at the central London court in person.
The hearing on Monday will consider the initial legal arguments in the case and a judge will then decide if the case can proceed further. The media company denies the allegations.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 27, 2023
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Courtesy Cassandra AurenAn American senior citizen allegedly suffered a potentially fatal attack in the West Bank as part of a surge in violence that has gripped the Israeli-occupied region since Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power at the head of an extreme right-wing coalition.
Local residents told The Daily Beast that Israeli settlers—who are trying to take over Palestinian land—have been emboldened by the radical rhetoric and extremist policies promoted by the new government. Villagers say attacks have become a daily hazard and the Israeli police and military have done little to protect them.
An American mother of two from Wisconsin was caught up in the violence this month. Cassandra Auren, 65, was hospitalized for two days and required six stitches after she suffered a fractured skull and internal bleeding. She told The Daily Beast that she was struck on the head by an Israeli settler with a long wooden stick as she was visiting the village of Tuba in the Massafer Yatta area south of Hebron.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 27, 2023
Joshua Roberts/ReutersSlowly but surely, the 2024 Senate cycle is shaping up, with eager candidates or battle-tested incumbents throwing their hats in the ring. Some campaigns are being launched. Others are brewing behind the scenes. And in some states, party operatives are already homing in on their preferred contenders for competitive contests.
But in Florida, it's a slow start, to say the least.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) is running again. But leading state Democrats have been crickets about whether or not they're interested in going against him.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 27, 2023
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/ShowtimeWhen we asked Christina Ricci how dark and disturbing Season 2 of Yellowjackets goes in terms of its gruesome horror content, she said she audibly gasped when she first read the scripts. "Not in an upset way, but more excited," she said. "There's an ear thing in the first episode that reminded me of Reservoir Dogs. That was my favorite movie when I was 14, so I was really excited about that."
Now that the episode finally aired Sunday night on Showtime, we know what she's talking about. It's gross!
(Warning: Spoilers ahead for Season 2 of Yellowjackets.)
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 27, 2023
Photo Illustration by Erin O'Flynn/The Daily Beast/National Library of Medicine/Flickr and Public Domain"There's a WW in Exam Room 3. Good luck with that one," my colleague called out to me in reference to my next patient. I grabbed the chart, looked at her complaints, took a deep breath to steel myself, and walked into the exam room.
When I was in medical school, and then a new doctor in the 1990s, "WW" was the acronym for patients who came in complaining of a cluster of symptoms: weight gain, brain fog, irritability, joint pain, decreased sex drive, poor sleep, and fatigue. These were "whiny women."
We knew enough to understand these patients were likely entering menopause, but we had precious little instruction or education on the proper diagnosis, management, and treatment of it. Further, we'd been taught that women tend to complain and somaticize symptoms because of dissatisfaction with life circumstances and stress. The "It's all in her head" medical mantra was very much alive and well. If she was found to be postmenopausal, we would offer hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and send her on her way. If she was transitioning into menopause, well, we offered nothing.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 27, 2023
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/HBO/TikTokSince they first appeared on screen in 2018, the characters of HBO's Succession have surprisingly stolen the hearts of millions of viewers. Despite their wavering politics, the show has been sympathetic to its characters, showing them as multifaceted—albeit immoral—people who make mistakes and suffer the consequences. These characters have resulted in Emmy wins for their actors, much-discussed profiles, and, most important of all, countless fanworks.
With the return of Succession on Sunday, it's time to acknowledge some of the most integral aspects of the show's success: the fancams and their editors.
A fancam, while similar to a fan edit, is a video focused on a character or actor, set to music and edited through different softwares. While fan edits have been around for decades, fancams are quite new, splicing clips together and pairing them with music that may or may not fit the characters vibe, giving you a glimpse at a show or character a creator wants you to love. Fan edits typically try to tell a story, while fancams are more interested in a moment.
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Mar 26, 2023
Reuters/Dado RuvicSilicon Valley Bank has a new owner.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which currently controls the institution and its assets, announced in a statement Monday morning that it had "entered into a purchase and assumption agreement for all deposits and loans of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, National Association, by First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, Raleigh, North Carolina."
The news came after several reports late Sunday, including from Reuters and Bloomberg, suggested that First Citizens BancShares was in "advanced" talks to purchase the failed bank.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 26, 2023
Macall B. Polay/HBOAs we enter the fourth and final season of Succession, every moment with the Roys is precious. The series creators know this, and in turn, have given us a jam-packed Season 4 premiere episode full of new companies, family drama, and a sex tape. Succession is back, baby!
Where did we leave Succession in Season 3? The Roy children—Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Shiv (Sarah Snook)—had all teamed up against their father, Waystar Royco CEO Logan (Brian Cox). Their revolution failed, leaving them with no company, no trust, and plenty of drama. When we reunite with them in Season 4, the trio are planning their next venture: in their words, a "revolutionary new media brand" that's "Substack meets The Economist meets MasterClass meets The New Yorker" called The Hundred. RIP Vaulter. Your replacement is here
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Mar 26, 2023
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily BeastThere's a quote about humor that's often attributed to writer E.B. White: "Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better but the frog dies in the process." While that adage has shown that it can be very true time and again, that hasn't stopped one of the world's most powerful chatbots from doing so.
Last week, OpenAI launched GPT-4—the latest edition of its large language model (LLM)—to the public. The powerful chatbot seems capable of some truly impressive feats, including passing the bar exam and LSAT, developing code for entire video games, and even turning a photograph of a napkin sketch into a working website.
Along with the new model, OpenAI also released an accompanying 98-page technical report showcasing some of GPT-4's abilities and limitations. Interestingly, this included several sections that showed that GPT-4 could also explain why exactly certain images and memes were funny—including a breakdown of a picture of a novelty phone charger and a meme of chicken nuggets arranged to look like a map of the world.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 26, 2023
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily BeastThere's a quote about humor that's often attributed to writer E.B. White: "Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better but the frog dies in the process." While that adage has shown itself to be true time and again, that hasn't stopped one of the world's most powerful chatbots from doing exactly that.
Last week, OpenAI launched GPT-4—the latest edition of its large language model (LLM)—to the public. The powerful chatbot seems capable of some truly impressive feats, including passing the bar exam and LSAT, developing code for entire video games, and even turning a photograph of a napkin sketch into a working website.
Along with the new model, OpenAI also released an accompanying 98-page technical report showcasing some of GPT-4's abilities and limitations. Interestingly, this included several sections that showed that GPT-4 could also explain why exactly certain images and memes were funny—including a breakdown of a picture of a novelty phone charger and a meme of chicken nuggets arranged to look like a map of the world.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 26, 2023
Matthew Murphy and Evan ZimmermanUp until about 10.45pm on Thursday evening, this critic thought he had seen the best coup de théâtre of this Broadway season at the end of A Doll's House starring Jessica Chastain, in which her Nora walks out of her home and… well, it will still go unrevealed here in case any readers have bought a ticket. But then came the last thrilling moment of the zipping, glorious revival of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, booking to Jan 14, 2024)—and, sorry A Doll's House, you have been aced.
It is not just a visual feat in that last second. A tangibly delighted audience was ready to applaud. The final exits from the stage were in process, the last crescendo of notes reached. And then, bam, the ecstatic response of the audience anticipating their cue to stand suddenly gained the cherry on top of a gasp of collective shock. In that closing moment—like much of the show, thrilling and arch all at once—an exquisite production outdid itself. (Expect a Sondheim vs. Sondheim situation at this year's Tony Awards, with this production likely up against Into the Woods for Best Rev
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Mar 26, 2023
Santa Rosa County JailDespite being incarcerated in federal prison over several animal-related crimes—and masterminding a plot to kill his conservationist foe Carole Baskin—Tiger King star Joe "Exotic" Maldonado-Passage says his 21-year sentence should not deter Americans from supporting the 2024 presidential wannabe.
In an interview with Fox News over the weekend, Maldonado-Passage, who was incarcerated in 2018, spoke to Fox from prison, defending his February filing to run as a presidential candidate using the slogan "Make America Exotic."
"It's my Constitutional right to do this," Maldonado-Passage told Fox's Lawrence Jones when asked to reply to those who thought of his ambitions as a "big joke."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 26, 2023
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/ReutersSomewhere in between Ben Affleck's Dunkin' Donuts commercial and Meghan Trainor shilling for Pringles, Fox Nation ran an ad during this year's Super Bowl.
It wasn't the first time the streamer splashed out on television's most expensive audience, and it had a different message than the last time, when a 2020 Super Bowl ad heralded a "new entertainment service from the good folks at Fox News."
This year's model spent twice as much time lingering on the marquee names users can now find on the service. They're probably not the names most people would expect. Kevin Costner and Kelsey Grammer are miles from the Hannity/Ingraham primetime block already, but the bigger stretch is this: Ghostbusting vodka impresario Dan Aykroyd and Reagan-era SNL vets Jim Belushi, Kevin Nealon, and Jon Lovitz, all guzzling their way through A History of the World in Six Drinks early next year. What the hell is happening?
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 26, 2023
Scouted/The Daily Beast/Saie.Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.
Admitedly, I'm a clean beauty skeptic. I had always firmly held onto my belief that "clean" skincare and cosmetic formulas simply could not be as effective as their "dirty" counterparts (shout out to my forever holy grail, phenol-infused Biologique Recherche Lotion P50!), but brands like Lawless, Moon Juice, and Saie have officially convinced me that I was very, very, wrong. I first fell in love with Saie after trying its stunning Sun Melt Cream Bronzers a couple of months ago so, naturally, I was excited when I heard the news that the brand was launching a new foundation. Saie's Glowy Super Skin Weightless Hydrobounce Serum Foundation is a mouthful but the formula truly lives up to its lofty title. I tend to shy away from foundations that promise a "glowy" or "hydrating" finish out of fear that my oily skin will reject it, but this serum foundation has completely changed my view of the glow-boosting foundation genre.
In fact, like many makeup artists and beauty editors, I used to call Giorgio Armani's beloved Luminous Silk Foundation my holy grail base, but Saie's new launch has dethroned it—and I don't think I'll be going back. If you also love
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Mar 26, 2023
Apple TV For the last 11 years, there has been a line of cinematic dialogue bouncing about my head, ricocheting between the cortexes of my brain like a ball someone shot out of a canon. In the often-forgotten Pixar movie Brave (I have never been—nor ever will be—a Disney adult, but bear with me), the lead character, Merida, ponders: "If you had the chance to change your fate, would you?" The reason this line has taken up residence in my silly little brain is not so much because it's profound, but because Merida says this in a thick Irish accent. "Would you," sounds more like, "Whoo'jer?"
Still, every time I get suckered into toting this line reading along with me for hours, I begin to wonder. Would I? Sorry, Whoo'ji?
The Big Door Prize, which airs its first three episodes Tuesday on Apple TV , asks a similarly existential question. The series, adapted from M.O. Walsh's 2020 novel of the same name, unfolds in the small, idyllic town of Deerfield, where a mysterious machine has just appeared in the local general store.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 26, 2023
Scouted/The Daily Beast/La Roche-Posay.Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.
I have struggled with milia my whole life—I'm pretty sure it's from the dirty and sweaty headbands I would wear for softball games and never washed, but we won't talk about that. In case you're not familiar with milia, it's a benign skin condition that results in small white bumps. It's often caused by dead skin, sebum, and flakes becoming trapped in the pores, but can also stem from using comodogenic products that clog the pores.
On top of milia, I also struggled with picking at my acne instead of treating it properly and leaving it alone (even though I know better!) because I was never able to find a way to get rid of the stubborn acne deposits under my skin, especially on my forehead. On day, I was scurrying through Target as one does, when I came across a bundle of the La Roche-Posay Cleanser, Toner, and Effacla Set. I had seen the Effaclar treatments on TikTok before, but was skeptical to give it a try since it was $30 for the one 0.7 fl oz tube. But because the bundle was $30, I decided to pick it up and give it a try.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 26, 2023
REUTERS/Leah MillisThe right-wing YouTube alternative Rumble has been signing new talent and expanding in recent months.
But with that growth has come a wide assortment of new provocative characters, such as white nationalist Nicholas Fuentes, who has accused the site, which bills itself as a free speech haven, of censoring his video content.
"We noticed in my first-ever Rumble exclusive on Monday. Apparently, I'm shadow banned on the website, which is outrageous because they are supposed to be [a] First Amendment, free speech platform," Fuentes fumed on a Friday broadcast to his website.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 26, 2023
Henry Nicholls/ReutersAn attorney for Jonathan Majors has claimed the woman who accused him of assaulting her on Friday night has withdrawn her allegations—and submitted statements to prove it.
"Jonathan Majors is completely innocent and is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows," attorney Priya Chaudhry said in a statement on Sunday. "We are quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the District Attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently. This evidence includes video footage from the vehicle where this episode took place, witness testimony from the driver and others who both saw and heard the episode, and most importantly, two written statements from the woman recanting these allegations. All the evidence proves that Mr. Majors is entirely innocent and did not assault her whatsoever."
Chaudhry also claimed the incident happened because the victim had an "emotional crisis" that eventually required hospitalization.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 26, 2023
GoFundMeThe tornado that ripped through the Deep South on Friday night, razing entire communities and sending semi-trailers flying into neighbors' homes, killed a father and his baby daughter as the rest of his family landed in a hospital with horrific injuries.
Monroe County Coroner Alan Gurley confirmed 34-year-old Ethan Herndon and his 1-year-old daughter Riley Herndon died at their home on Herndon Lane in the northeastern Mississippi town of Wren.
According to a GoFundMe set up by the family, Ethan's wife and Riley's mom, Elizabeth, suffered multiple injuries including a broken arm, a broken leg, and a dislocated hip. Their eldest child, Brantley, was airlifted to a hospital with several broken bones, a lacerated liver, and a punctured lung. Their middle child, Aubrey, was hospitalized with a broken elbow, a possible broken ankle, and lacerations.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 26, 2023
NBCEven Donald Trump's personal lawyer could not defend his deranged social media posts about a potential indictment, admitting on Sunday that a picture of Trump holding a baseball bat next to a photo of the Manhattan District Attorney's head was "ill-advised."
"I'm not his social media consultant," lawyer Joe Tacopina told NBC's Chuck Todd on Meet the Press on Sunday. "I think that was an ill-advised post that one of his social media people put up and he quickly took down when he realized the rhetoric and the photo that was attached to it."
The Friday post stitched together two photos: One of Donald Trump holding a baseball bat and another of District Attorney Alvin Bragg's head. The image, which was later deleted, led to widespread criticism from legal experts who warned the composite image could serve as obstruction of justice or a call for violence.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 26, 2023
FacebookA Florida lawyer has vanished under chilling circumstances: blood reportedly found in the office bathroom where he was last headed.
Steve Cozzi seems to have disappeared from his workplace, Blanchard Law in Largo, on March 21, leaving behind his phone, wallet, and keys.
"As a family, we are frantic with worry and numb with fear over Steven's disappearance," Cozzi's mother Lois said in statement to WFLA.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 26, 2023
Pinellas County Sheriff, FacebookA Florida plastic surgeon has been charged with murdering a lawyer who vanished from his office during a bathroom break last week—and who worked for a firm representing defendants in a lawsuit filed by the doctor.
Tomasz Roman Kosowski, 44, was arrested Saturday in Tarpon Springs after police searched his home. Authorities did not say if the body of the attorney, Steve Cozzi, has been found.
Cozzi seemingly vanished into thin air on March 21, when he left his desk to use the communal bathroom at Blanchard Law, leaving behind his keys, wallet and phone.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 26, 2023
REUTERS/Toby MelvilleWelcome to this week's edition of Royalist, The Daily Beast's newsletter for all things royal and Royal Family. Subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Sunday.
Prince Andrew is talking to American authors about getting some help to write his autobiography, with sources telling the Mail on Sunday to expect "Spare 2.0"—a reference to Prince Harry's dish-filled tell-all. Andrew apparently wants to "set the record straight" after the fallout of his association with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein left him with no public royal role and an appalling reputation.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 25, 2023
Photo Illustration by Erin O'Flynn/The Daily Beast/Library of CongressThere have been some recent news stories about conservative lawmakers' borderline wacky schemes to get the birth rate up. I call the schemes wacky because they do not seem like they were cooked up with the input of anybody who is on the fence about wanting kids (or wanting more of them).
Scheme One originates (where else?) in Texas, where conservative lawmakers introduced a bill last week that would give massive property tax breaks to straight couples who owned property and had many, many children. H.B. 2889 would give heterosexual couples with four children a 40 percent break on their property taxes, and all the way up to a 100 percent property tax break for families with ten or more children, provided the parents were married.
I'm no tax expert, but it seems like that sort of law, in addition to being homophobic and creepy, would make it so that a theoretical school district containing only families with ten or more children within it would have a property tax base of zero dollars with which to operate its respective public school. Conservatives have made no effort to hide their hatred for public education, but until some pretty seismic shifts in the legal system o
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Mar 25, 2023
Photo Illustration by Erin O'Flynn/The Daily Beast/Reuters and PixabayTwenty years after the United States invaded Iraq, it is worth asking whether it was the right thing to do. As someone who was passively in favor of it (I was a loyal conservative Republican, but I wasn't a writer back then), I'm now solidly in the "no" camp for one reason: The once (and future?) presidency of Donald Trump.
I realize this sounds both partisan and crazy. Instead of questioning if it was the right thing to do, shouldn't the question be, "Did Saddam Hussein need to be toppled?" Shouldn't the question be, "Did Saddam have weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)—or the ability to quickly reconstitute them?" Shouldn't the question be, "Were the Iraqi people better off being liberated from this monster?" Shouldn't the question be, "Is our geopolitical situation more secure?"
If we evaluated the invasion using those criteria, it could conceivably be considered the right decision—even in light of the dysfunctional manner in which it played out (ultimately requiring a troop surge in 2007 to provide security and prevent a humiliating withdrawal).
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 25, 2023
Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / ShutterstockThe global market for cosmetics—makeup, skincare, perfumes, deodorants, hair products, shampoos, conditioners and more—continues to boom, growing 16.2 percent in 2022 from 2021, according to a report by Statista. But as we buy more of these products, we risk increasing our exposure to so-called "forever chemicals"—Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—that have been linked to a plethora of different diseases, including cancer, hormonal disruptions, weakened immune systems, and reproductive issues. A 2021 study led by researchers at Notre Dame ran tests on 231 cosmetic products, and found PFAS in nearly half of them.
The presence of dangerous chemicals in consumer products isn't exactly news, but "forever chemicals" live up to their nickname. "PFAS are called ‘forever chemicals' for a reason," Brian Moore, a dermatologist based in Cleveland and an adviser for supplements company Illuminate Labs, told The Daily Beast. "They take extremely long to naturally degrade, and for that reason can damage natural ecosystems and can even affect non-consumers exposed through environmental contamination."
Studies have shown that forever chemicals can linger
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Mar 25, 2023
Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / ShutterstockThe global market for cosmetics—makeup, skincare, perfumes, deodorants, hair products, shampoos, conditioners and more—continues to boom, growing to 16.2 percent in 2022, up by 4.6 percentage points from the previous year, according to a report by Statista. The increase in these products means more widespread exposure to so-called "forever-chemicals"—per-and-polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS for short—that have been linked to a plethora of different diseases, including cancer, hormonal disruptions, weakened immune systems, and reproductive issues. A 2021 study led by researchers at Notre Dame ran tests on 231 cosmetic products, and found PFAS in nearly half of them.
Dangerous chemicals found in consumer products isn't exactly a new phenomenon, but "forever-chemicals" live up to their name. "PFAS are called ‘forever chemicals' for a reason," Brian Moore, a dermatologist based in Cleveland and an advisor for supplements company Illuminate Labs, told The Daily Beast. "They take extremely long to naturally degrade, and for that reason can damage natural ecosystems and can even affect non-consumers exposed through environmental contamination." Studies have shown that forever-
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Mar 25, 2023
Courtesy of the Brubeck Collection, Wilton Library.In late February at Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, Remy Ohara, a UCLA music student, sounded a shofar, the ram's horn usually used for High Holiday services at Jewish temples—first in short blasts, then longer sustained tones. Surrounded by a brass and percussion orchestra and flanked by two sections of a large choir, she held the shofar aloft. I was struck by the image of her instrument, directly beneath the large cross affixed to the front wall of Holman church, where, just three weeks before his assassination in 1968, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a sermon about the meaning of hope.
Thus began a performance of The Gates of Justice, a 12-movement cantata composed by Dave Brubeck in 1969. The work was originally commissioned by a rabbi, Charles Mintz, to premiere at the dedication of the Rockdale Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio. Yet it had a deeper, broader intent: to help heal the wound opened during a period of pronounced violence and unrest following King's death and, specifically, to repair a growing rift between American Black and Jewish communities—rooted in racism, antisemitism, class privilege and historically unequal partnerships, among other factors—where there had previously been common cause in fighting social injustice.
"The essential message of The Gates of Justice is the brotherhood of man," Brubeck wrote in his note to the
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Mar 25, 2023
Oren Alon/ReutersIsraeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Saturday that the explosive effort to reshape and weaken the judiciary poses a threat to the country's security—the first major crack in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government.
"The deepening split is seeping into the military and defense institutions. This is a clear, immediate and real danger to Israel's security," Gallant said in a televised speech.
"For the sake of Israel's security, for the sake of our sons and daughters, the legislative process must be stopped at this time."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 25, 2023
Julieta CervantesWhen the dancer Kolton Krouse performs their solo numbers in Bob Fosse's Dancin' on Broadway (Music Box Theatre, booking to Sept 17)—and at their curtain call too—the applause is loud and whoops even louder. Fans wait to lavish praise and pose for selfies at the stage door after the show. The 26-year-old breakout star, originally from Gilbert, Arizona, is a fierce whirl of movement in their revue solos, "Spring Chicken" and the Trumpet Solo in "Sing, Sing, Sing," and even steals the company dances they take part in with their commanding physicality, slicked peroxide blond hair, raunchy costuming, vivid makeup, and mischievous expression.
When we meet by Zoom, the non-binary performer is in a white top, and fully made-up. They say they are aware of audiences' adoring response, but "a lot of the movement in the pieces is internal, so when I am doing the Trumpet Solo I am tuning everything out apart from our drummer, Gary (Seligson). Bob (Fosse) originally designed that number to be that you're in the backroom of your favorite club improvising, looking at yourself in the mirror. It's supposed to be about you and the music."
Krouse can hear people cheering, but not the gasps friends have told them about. They laughed. "One distinctive voice I did hear on opening night was (performer) Justice Moore's. She was just saying, ‘Work!' and ‘Yes!'"
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 25, 2023
ReutersDonald Trump made some big promises to supporters at his rally in Waco, Texas on Saturday, vowing to defeat "demonic forces" in the "final battle" of 2024 and make the country a "free nation again."
But over the course of the next hour and a half, he made clear that the only apparent strategy he has for vanquishing the country's supposed "demons" is relentlessly complaining about his own troubles.
The rally—an attempt to re-energize his supporters, and his own campaign operation after months of a sleepy campaign in which he hunkered down at his Mar-a-Lago estate and had dinner with a white nationalist, among other things—came as Trump himself stoked fears of his own imminent arrest.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 25, 2023
ReutersDonald Trump made some big promises to supporters at his rally in Waco, Texas on Saturday, vowing to defeat "demonic forces" in the "final battle" of 2024 and make the country a "free nation again."
But over the course of the next hour and a half, he made clear that the only apparent strategy he has for vanquishing the country's supposed "demons" is relentlessly complaining about his own troubles.
The rally—an attempt to re-energize his supporters, and his own campaign operation after months of a sleepy campaign in which he hunkered down at his Mar-a-Lago estate and had dinner with a white nationalist, among other things—came as Trump himself stoked fears of his own imminent arrest.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 25, 2023
Photo Illustration by Erin O'Flynn/The Daily Beast/Lionsgate, Pixabay and Getty ImagesLance Reddick made everything better, whether co-starring as Baltimore police lieutenant Cedric Daniels in HBO's The Wire, as Homeland Security special agent Phillip Broyles in Fox's Fringe, or even as a variety of Albert Wexler clones in Netflix's otherwise lame Resident Evil.
A man of imposing stature whose deep, smooth voice exuded authority and menace in any register, and whose intimidating presence didn't preclude him from also exuding poised, compassionate calm, the 60-year-old actor was a welcome sight in any film or television show. Thus, his untimely passing last week at a too-young age hit the entertainment world—and his many fans—particularly hard.
While Reddick may be gone, he nonetheless returns to movie screens this weekend in John Wick: Chapter 4, the epic latest installment in Keanu Reeves' hitman franchise, once again assuming the part of Charon, the dapper concierge at New York City's swanky assassin hotel, the Continental.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 25, 2023
Photo Illustration by Erin O'Flynn/The Daily Beast/Courtesy of Ridwaan Domingo, Pixabay, OpenStreetMap contributors/Wikimedia CommonsRidwaan Domingo awoke the morning of June 3, 2002, to the sound of FBI agents banging on his door.
Domingo was a U.K.-raised, boarding-school-educated son of a successful South African businessman. He'd relocated to the States to work for his father's company more than a decade earlier, which is where he met Patrice, the beautiful blonde sleeping next to him.
Together they had a daughter, Angelique, whom they affectionately called "Chummy," and lived in a sunny yellow house on 6.5 acres of land, surrounded by 600 orange trees. Their life in San Diego—"America's finest city," as Domingo called it, without a trace of irony—seemed near-perfect.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 25, 2023
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Amazon StudiosDonald Glover is inarguably one of the most prominent Black creators working in Hollywood today, from his Emmy-winning television work on the recently concluded Atlanta to his Grammy-winning rap persona Childish Gambino. Soon, he'll star in a new film set in the Spider-Man universe and a highly anticipated Mr. and Mrs. Smith remake. But right now, all eyes are on the multihyphenate for his latest series Swarm, created with Janine Nabers, about a pop stan (Dominique Fishback) who goes on a murdering spree.
In the weeks since its premiere, Swarm has already become a critical darling, eliciting discourse online (both light-hearted and serious) about its guest stars, explicit sex scenes, and h
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Mar 25, 2023
ReutersActor Jonathan Majors was arrested in New York City on Saturday following a domestic dispute, authorities said.
The Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star was found at the scene of a reported domestic dispute after police responded to a 911 call, the NYPD told The Daily Beast in a statement.
He is now charged with strangulation, assault, and harassment, according to police.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 25, 2023
Photo Illustration by Erin O'Flynn/The Daily Beast/ShowtimePart of the fun of Yellowjackets has been all the speculation surrounding its many alluring, harrowing mysteries. The show is centered on a core question: How do these teens get out of the Canadian tundra? Each episode has given fans a new clue to chew on—as well as new questions to start asking themselves. It's all led to a fervent fan community on places like Reddit, where viewers have been sharing their various theories since the series first premiered in December 2021.
Sometimes these theories are completely out of left field, reaching for the wildest possible answer to every question. Sometimes they sound incredibly on the money—which is extra fun, because it's always nice to see someone get proven right. The show's actors and creators have gotten in on the whole theory shebang, discussing them in interviews, while the Yellowjackets Instagram page has even surfaced some of the most intriguing theories in its own posts.
In anticipation for Season 2—the first episode of which dropped on streaming March 24, before premiering March 26 on Showtime itself—we've corralled some of our favorite theories from the Yellowjackets subreddit and
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Mar 25, 2023
REUTERS/Carlos BarriaDonald Trump lawyer and Right Side Broadcasting Network contributor Christina Bobb declared Ron DeSantis will emerge "bloody" if he challenges the former president in 2024.
The fighting words from a top Trump official follow increasingly vicious attacks being directed at the Florida governor by the former president.
"I would not want to enter the octagon with Donald Trump. Nobody comes out of that and looks pretty," Bobb said at a MAGA rally in Waco, Texas, Saturday afternoon.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 25, 2023
REUTERS/Carlos BarriaDonald Trump lawyer and Right Side Broadcasting Network contributor Christina Bobb declared Ron DeSantis will emerge "bloody" if he challenges the former president in 2024.
The fighting words from a top Trump official follow increasingly vicious attacks being directed at the Florida governor by the former president.
"I would not want to enter the octagon with Donald Trump. Nobody comes out of that and looks pretty," Bobb said at a MAGA rally in Waco, Texas, Saturday afternoon.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 25, 2023
Mississippi Highway Patrol via Twitter via ReutersTwenty four people have died and dozens have been injured after a tornado swept through Mississippi and into Alabama Friday evening. Mississippi's Silver City and Rolling Fork saw widespread destruction after the tornado moved through the towns at 70 miles per hour late Friday evening before reaching the Alabama towns of Winona and Armory hours later.
President Biden said Saturday afternoon he has been in touch with Mississippi state officials since the disaster. "We will be there as long as it takes," Biden said, according to the New York Times. "We will work together to deliver the support you need to recover."
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (R) issued a state of emergency Saturday afternoon, less than 24 hours after the initial destruction. As a result, all state agencies now have a directive to "discharge emergency responsibilities," according to Reeves' declaration. Meanwhile, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) tweeted Saturday morning that he will be supporting a federal disaster declaration in order to secure further aid for affected residents.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 25, 2023
Mississippi Highway Patrol via Twitter via Reuters23 people have died and dozens have been injured after a tornado swept through Mississippi and into Alabama Friday evening. Mississippi's Silver City and Rolling Fork saw widespread destruction after the tornado moved through the towns at 70 miles per hour late Friday evening before reaching the Alabama towns of Winona and Armory hours later.
Rolling Fork's mayor Eldridge Walker told CNN Saturday morning that the town had been obliterated.
"My city is gone. But we are resilient and we are going to come back strong," Walker said.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 25, 2023
Mississippi Highway Patrol via Twitter via Reuters24 people have died and dozens have been injured after a tornado swept through Mississippi and into Alabama Friday evening. Mississippi's Silver City and Rolling Fork saw widespread destruction after the tornado moved through the towns at 70 miles per hour late Friday evening before reaching the Alabama towns of Winona and Armory hours later.
President Biden said Saturday afternoon he has been in touch with Mississippi state officials since the disaster. "We will be there as long as it takes," Biden said, according to the New York Times. "We will work together to deliver the support you need to recover."
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (R) issued a state of emergency Saturday afternoon, less than 24 hours after the initial destruction. As a result, all state agencies now have a directive to "discharge emergency responsibilities," according to Reeves' declaration. Meanwhile, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) tweeted Saturday morning that he will be supporting a federal disaster declaration in order to secure further aid for affected residents.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 25, 2023
Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Alamy"There's all these assholes who, for years, have been going, ‘Oh, you know, Dark Side of the Moon absolutely syncs up with The Wizard of Oz.' And you know what? No, it fucking doesn't!"
True to form, Roger Waters, the bassist and primary lyricist of Pink Floyd until the mid-1980s, has a deeply held opinion on that particular urban legend. Still, much like the "Paul is dead" rumors The Beatles had to contend with in the late '60s, Waters once admitted to me—at a Manhattan recording studio a few years back, after our conversation turned to Dark Side of the Moon—that it's a badge of honor for his former band's landmark album to hold such an exalted place in pop culture that it's birthed such a wild conspiracy theory.
Still, Waters hates to give even an inch: "Even if it does," he says pointedly, "it's nothing to do with the music."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/ReutersThe photos are evocative. Former President Donald Trump is yelling, writhing, fighting as he's detained by police. A swarm of officers surrounds him. His youngest wife and eldest son scream in protest. He's in a mist—is that pepper spray?—as he charges across the pavement.
The photos are also … off. The pepper spray emerges, ex nihilo, from behind Trump's head and in front of his chest. Behind him, a storefront sign says "WORTRKE." In one image, a cop's arm is outside its empty sleeve. In another, Trump has only half a torso. The officers' badges are all gibberish. "PIULIECE" reads a cop's hat behind a grotesque Melania Trump-like creature from uncanny valley.
All of this, you see, is fake. The photos are not photos at all but deepfakes, the work of generative AI. They're a digital unreality created by Midjourney, a program similar to the better-known DALL-E 2 image generator and
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Mar 24, 2023
Craig ThompsonRock 'n' roll is arguably America's most successful cultural export. From the Sahara to the Steppes, from the suburbs of the Midwest to the slums of Medellín, rock 'n' roll—the devilishly charming bastard child of the blues and country music—crosses every linguistic, cultural, and even religious barrier. Promiscuous by nature, it blends seamlessly with local rhythms wherever it goes—amalgamating accordion riffs in Argentina, Tuareg melodies in Algeria, or Viking poetry in Iceland. But in all languages and cultures, it evokes that same sweet emotion of freedom, rebelliousness, and the thrill of being young.
Rock 'n' roll now belongs to the world, but its native country is the American South, and that distinctive Southern drawl of its youth will never entirely fade.
The open road, another quintessential symbol of America, pairs as deliciously with rock 'n' roll as infatuated groupies with lead guitarists. The following road trip, cutting across the heart of the South, showcases five cities seminal to rock history: Jacksonville, Macon, Muscle Shoals, Chattanooga, and Memphis.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Craig ThompsonRock ‘n' roll is arguably America's most successful cultural export ever. From the Sahara to the Steppes, from the Midwest's suburbs to Medellín's favelas, rock ‘n' roll—devilishly charming bastard child of the blues and country-western—crosses every linguistic, cultural, and even religious barrier. Promiscuous by nature, she blends seamlessly with local rhythms wherever she goes—amalgamating accordion riffs in Argentina, Tuareg melodies in Algeria, or Viking poetry in Iceland. But in all languages and cultures, she evokes that same sweet emotion of freedom, rebelliousness, and the thrill of being young. While rock 'n' roll now belongs to the world, her native country is the American South, and as much as she has traveled and morphed, that distinctive Southern drawl of her youth will never entirely fade.
The open road, another quintessential symbol of America, pairs as deliciously with rock ‘n' roll as infatuated groupies with lead guitarists. The following road trip, cutting across the heart of the South, showcases five cities seminal to rock history: Jacksonville, Macon, Muscle Shoals, Chattanooga, and Memphis.
From Little Richard and Elvis to Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bessie Smith, these cities have produced a Pleiad of virtuosos, trailblazers, and wildly colorful characters. In each city, we'll explore rock history but also listen to latter-day rockers keeping the genre as exhilarating today as it was in the '70s or '50s. Our journey covers four states—Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee—with topographies as varied as the Atlantic coast, the Appalachian Mountains, and the muddy shores of the Mississippi River. So, cue up Sticky Fingers or Eat a Peach, drop the top back, and get ready to rock, baby.
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / ReutersDonald Trump is reportedly obsessed with the possibility of a perp walk in handcuffs if he's arrested. In private conversations, he's said to have "mused openly" about whether he "should smile for the assembled media."
I hope the arrest happens. Current and former presidents shouldn't be above the law. If Trump exceeds the speed limit on his way home to his residence in Mar-a-Lago, he should be issued a ticket. If he never pays it, he should spend the same night you or I would in Palm Beach County Jail. But it's obscene that Trump is facing the possibility of arrest for paying hush money to a porn star while war criminals like George W. Bush walk free.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/ReutersAs a Manhattan grand jury nears a possible decision to indict Donald Trump over his hush money payment to a porn star with whom he had an affair, the former president is on a relentless and aggressive campaign to discredit Michael Cohen, his former "fixer" who did the dirty work.
That effort intensified (and got a bit weird) on Monday, when the grand jury heard from a MAGA-friendly lawyer who briefly advised Cohen years ago—only to turn on him now. Robert Costello called Cohen an unreliable liar, taking the remarkable step of betraying someone he deemed a former client.
Talking to reporters on a New York City street, Costello waved around papers saying that grand jurors deserved to see nearly 330 emails tracking his private interactions with Cohen to "see the full picture."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / ReutersIs Ron DeSantis not yet ready for prime time? His performance over the last couple of weeks has not instilled confidence. We've watched him flip-flop on everything from cutting entitlement programs, to his support of Ukraine. We have also seen Trump belittle him with nicknames like "Ron DeSanctimonious" and "Meatball Ron," not to mention implying that he's a "groomer." (DeSantis also just denied an anecdote in a Daily Beast report that he once ate pudding with three fingers on a private flight. Gross.)
This erratic behavior seems to have left a mark. As The New York Times' Nate Cohn wrote last week, "In surveys taken since the Trump offensive began two months ago, Mr. DeSantis, the Florida governor, has steadily lost ground against Mr. Trump, whose own numbers have increased." And that was before DeSantis tried to have it both ways regarding the potential arrest of Donald Trump
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/NetflixIn the sprawling fantasy series Shadow and Bone, our resident hot antihero, Kaz Brekker, is practically a legend. Known to many as the "bastard of the Barrel" in the seedy port city of Ketterdam, Kaz is known for cunning, his devoted gang of "Crows," and above all, his ruthlessness. Tortured by childhood trauma and hopelessly in love with a fellow Crow, Kaz spends most of his time either scheming against his enemies or dreaming about a romantic future that feels just out of reach—for now.
As fans of both Leigh Bardugo's book series and Netflix's adaptation know, Kaz also happens to walk with a limp and use a cane—a detail that, refreshingly, informs Kaz's characterization without defining him. Kaz lives in a fictional universe teeming with healers, but he never considers "fixing" his mobility issues.
As Bardugo writes in her Grishaverse novel Six of Crows, "There was no part of him that was not broken, that had not healed wrong, and there was no part of him that was not stronger for having been broken. The cane became a part of the myth he built." With the recent news that Netflix is testing the waters for a Six of Crows spin-off, which would give the Crows of Ketterdam their own series, there's potential for Kaz to evolve even more.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/MTVIf Season 15 of RuPaul's Drag Race hadn't already reminded us several times of why its stature in popular culture is critically important, tonight's episode would've done the job just fine.
I occasionally find myself slightly fatigued by this season. We have, after all, been here since the first week of 2023, which was six years ago). That is, until Drag Race smacks me across the face with an opera-length glove, informing me that it's a miracle that I get to watch this show at all.
It wasn't that long ago that I was a kid, and even then, I could never have imagined seeing queerness radiate so visibly on a television show, much less imagine my teachers taking part in it. And that point had never been driven home quite so powerfully as during this episode, when five K-12 educators entered the workroom to receive drag makeovers done by the queens.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
ReutersRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) says her office called 911 on a protester blowing a whistle during her Friday evening press conference after the heckler "assaulted everyone" with the noise.
"As you can see, there's paid protesters here today," Greene said as the sound of chaos rang out in the background outside the D.C. jail where Jan. 6 defendants are behind bars. The noise seemed to come entirely from a single demonstrator. "And they can whistle and say everything they want but we will not be deterred. We do not care about them because they work for evil," Greene declared.
In a subsequent tweet, the MAGA firebrand said the protester, who was wearing a mask and glasses, "needs to be arrested, and we tried to have him arrested."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
PeacockThis is a preview of our pop culture newsletter The Daily Beast's Obsessed, written by editor Kevin Fallon. To receive the full newsletter in your inbox each week, sign up for it here.
This week:
The Real Stars of Real HousewivesRead more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Matthew MuiseDown past the mango fields, past the river and pock-marked dirt roads, the town of Nosara occupies a dazzling portion of Costa Rica's Pacific coast. Just north, at daybreak, thousands of baby sea turtles push through the sand and stagger their way to the ocean. The jungle teems with hummingbirds and coatis, peccaries and blue morphos and iguanas. Up in the branches, howler monkeys unleash roars that can be heard up to three miles away.
Paradise rarely gets left alone, and it's no exception here. Once a quaint hideaway for yogis and surfers, Nosara has steadily beckoned more visitors, each cohort seemingly richer than the last. The pandemic accelerated that trajectory. Rental prices in sought-after areas have nearly doubled, locals say, while mega-mansions are selling for $7 million or more.
One casualty of that explosion is the wildlife that inspired much of the region's popularity to begin with. Howler monkeys are suffering particularly gruesome deaths, from dog attacks, car accidents, and electrocutions caused by uninsulated power lines.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/YouTubeGwyneth Paltrow finally took the stand in her ongoing ski crash trial on Friday afternoon, giving her testimony as to what took place on the Utah ski resort slopes between her and Terry Sanderson, the man who's alleging that Paltrow skied recklessly, crashing into him and causing him significant injury in 2016. He's seeking $300,000 in damages, while she's seeking a symbolic $1 and compensation for her legal fees.
Paltrow disputes Sanderson's version of events entirely. Under questioning from an attorney working for Sanderson, the GOOP founder, clad for court in a fitted, dark navy blue collared sweater and intermittently taking swigs from a green glass water bottle, was polite yet firm as she repeatedly insisted that Sanderson had skied into her back, causing the accident.
According to Paltrow, she was skiing at a moderate pace when she heard a rustling sound behind her—next, two skis appeared between her own, and she felt the front of someone's "large" body pressing into her back.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
via GoFundMeA medical examiner determined this week that a trio of sisters who briefly went missing before their bodies turned up in a Texas pond last summer were strangled to death before being abandoned in the water, sparking a homicide investigation.
The bodies of Zi'Ariel Oliver, 9, Amiyah Hughes, 8, and Temari Oliver, 5, were found in the pond on July 30 in rural Cass County—near the border with Arkansas. Their deaths were initially reported as tragic drownings that sent their family and the small community of Atlanta, Texas, into mourning.
New details emerging this week paint a different picture of what happened, however. A medical examiner determined the sisters had "lacerations" on their faces and that they all died by strangulation, said Cass County District Attorney Courtney Shelton in a news release obtained by the Texarkana Gazette.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
REUTERS/Lucas JacksonAuthorities in New York released shocking details Friday about the death of Katie Gallagher, saying the esteemed fashion designer—who famously dressed Lady Gaga before mysteriously turning up dead in her Manhattan apartment last July—was killed by a drug cocktail during a suspected break-in.
Gallagher's cause of death had been a mystery from the jump. Her body was found by a concerned neighbor who reportedly spotted her front door ajar, with her keys still in the lock, on a Friday evening. When the neighbor walked in her flat, he reportedly found Gallagher's lifeless body in bed. She showed no obvious signs of trauma, deepening the mystery.
The perplexing case took a disturbing turn on Friday, however, when a medical examiner determined Gallagher died from "acute intoxication" induced by a drug cocktail that included fentanyl, ethanol and p-fluorofentanyl, NBC New York reported.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Flickr Commons/PixabayTwo grandchildren of legendary Italian-American media mogul and New York City powerbroker Generoso Pope Sr.—the late father of National Enquirer founder Generoso Pope Jr.—are suing their own brother over alleged corruption and "rampant self-dealing" they claim "would have outraged" the family patriarch.
In a 35-page civil complaint filed Friday in New York State Supreme Court, Marie-Thérèse and Ted Pope accuse David Pope, the well-connected president and CEO of the Generoso Pope Foundation, of "looting" the nonprofit for personal gain as he iced the two of them out. David, according to the two, paid himself "far above the value of his services," put his wife and two sons on the foundation payroll "for little to no work," and managed to blow through at least $28 million of the foundation's money in a little over a decade.
He also used foundation funds to, among other things, get acting roles for his son, finance his kids' football teams and cheerleading squads, and get all three children into college, the lawsuit states.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
C-SPANFar-right Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) attempted to claim on Friday that nobody has been tried and prosecuted for sedition in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, only for a C-SPAN anchor to coolly fact-check his obviously false claim.
Taking calls from viewers during an appearance on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, a rite of passage for guests of the program, the MAGA lawmaker was soon grilled by callers over former President Donald Trump's promise to pardon Capitol rioters.
"Trump wants to pardon the traitors that have been convicted of seditious conspiracy? Come on! What the hell's wrong with you Republicans?!" one caller from Oregon exclaimed.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Flickr Commons/Pixabay/Courtesy of Sarah Hartman-ExlineAfter over six weeks of waiting, over 100 calls to West Virginia State Police, and even an announcement by the governor, it can feel as if everyone but the family of Edmond "Eddie" Exline knows how he died.
On Monday, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, in announcing a sweeping investigation into misconduct within the West Virginia State Police, highlighted the case by vaguely suggesting he had seen "very concerning" video of Exline's arrest. The following day the ousted head of the state police called what heard in a body-cam video "horrible."
But the family has received little information beyond what they read in the papers—and is decrying what they say is a failure of Virginia State Police to properly protect the mentally ill.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
REUTERS/Mario AnzuoniA track on Lana Del Rey's long-windedly titled ninth studio album, Did You Know There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, out today, has launched the singer's massive fanbase into a frenzy. The song, "Judah Smith Interlude," is—who could've guessed it—a spoken-word interlude by Churchome mega-church preacher Judah Smith.
Smith, who has been with Churchome since his father, Wendell Smith, founded the ministry in 1992, has long been criticized for his anti-abortion and homophobic stances. In a 2005 interview, Smith called homosexuality a sin and likened it to "murder, rape, or living with your girlfriend." In more recent years, Smith has become known for being more of an influencer than a preacher. He's buddied up to famous figures like Justin Bieber—who left Hillsong Church, where Smith is also a contributor, in 2019—and typically sports big, trendy glasses frames on his Instagram account, which boasts over 700,000 followers.
"Judah Smith Interlude" is a nearly five-minute-long recording of one of Smith's sermons, accompanied by a lilting piano from producer Jack Antonoff. The
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Mar 24, 2023
Jonathan Ernst/ReutersInternational man of mystery Rep. George Santos (R-NY) appears to have finally resolved one of his many, many legal headaches.
According to a legal petition obtained by CNN, the flagrant fabulist has reached a deal with prosecutors in Brazil pertaining to an accusation that he bought over $1,300 worth of clothes and shoes using a stolen checkbook.
In accordance with Brazilian law, Santos will formally confess his guilt and pay restitution to the Rio de Janeiro clerk he defrauded in 2008. Brazil permits this kind of reconciliation without trial for nonviolent crimes with minimum sentences under four years.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
CaltechThink about the last time you got a cut or a scrape. Ouch, but no big deal. Just dig through your medicine cabinet for a band-aid, put it on, and you're fine. It's a small annoyance—but for many people, especially those with diabetes, any small wound can last for a while and become much more susceptible to infection. That turns it from a minor inconvenience into something that could potentially be life threatening.
That's why researchers at Caltech developed a new smart bandage that can help speed up the healing process for those susceptible to chronic wounds. In a study published Friday in the journal Science Advances, the paper's authors say that their smart bandage uses an array of electronic sensors that allow them to treat wounds more effectively—while saving money in the process.
"There are many different types of chronic wounds, especially in diabetic ulcers and burns that last a long time and cause huge issues for the patient," Wei Gao, assistant professor of medical engineering at Caltech, said in a statement. "There is a demand for technology that can facilitate recovery."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Scouted/The Daily Beast/Thursday Boot Co.Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.
If you care about style, you know that the tide is turning against fast fashion. There's a growing awareness that cheaply made clothes and shoes aren't just bad for the environment, but they're also not a great investment. Inevitably, these clothes and accessories fall apart and need to be replaced after a season, which means they're kind of a rip-off.
Thursday Boot Co. is the antidote to fast-fashion footwear. The direct-to-consumer footwear company has a simple selling point—they make finely crafted leather boots, dress shoes, and sneakers and sell them directly to shoppers without the nosebleed-inducing markup. The company's footwear is handcrafted in small batches by artisans working in ethical tanneries and workshops. As a result, Thursday Boot Co. makes exquisitely crafted leather shoes at a fraction of the price of similar designer footwear.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
REUTERS/Mario AnzuoniHailey Bieber and Selena Gomez are perhaps doomed to entwined lives of lifelong scrutiny, given that Gomez famously dated Bieber's husband, Justin Bieber, on and off for several years. In recent weeks, though, the internet has scrutinized their supposed "feud" to the point where Gomez has now had to publicly defend her ex's wife: On Friday, she posted a statement calling for fans to stop bullying Bieber.
"Hailey Bieber reached out to me and let me know that she has been receiving death threats and such hateful negativity," Gomez wrote in an Instagram Story. "This isn't what I stand for. No one should have to experience hate or bullying. I've always advocated for kindness and really want this all to stop. ??"
The two women have recently been accused of incessantly alluding to one another in snarky fashion on social media. Earlier this year, Bieber was accused of ridiculing Gomez when she posted a lip-sync TikTok shortly after Gomez was being
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Mar 24, 2023
Gonzalo Fuentes/ReutersThe French, not known for their historic love of monarchs, have postponed the state visit of King Charles III after riots gripped the country.
The new king had been due to arrive in the French capital on Sunday, from where he was to undertake a three-day program of engagements designed to soothe relations between the two countries, which have been strained by Brexit and rows over immigration in recent years. It was to have been his first overseas state visit.
On Wednesday, in the face of violent protests at a raising of the retirement age being forced through parliament by President Emmanuel Macron, palace sources told The Daily Beast they were "keeping a close eye" on developments in the country.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Evgenia Novozhenina/ReutersAn American businessman convicted in Russia of a high-profile embezzlement case is no longer in the country, according to his lawyers.
Michael Calvey was sentenced in August 2021 to a five-and-a-half-year suspended sentence in a penal colony after being found guilty of embezzling around $34 million from Siberia's Vostochny Bank. At a hearing to appeal his conviction in a Moscow court Friday, Calvey's lawyer said his client was no longer Russia.
Attorney Timofey Gridnev said Calvey had planned "to attend the trial, but due to difficulties in obtaining a visa in the current circumstances, it's difficult for him to come," Russia's RBC News reported. The Daily Beast has contacted Gridnev for comment.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Goran Tomasevic/ReutersAn American contractor was killed and five U.S. service members were injured in a drone strike on a facility in northeast Syria on Thursday, the Pentagon said in a statement.
U.S. intelligence officials assessed that the unmanned aerial vehicle which hit the base near Hasakah was "of Iranian origin." In response, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin authorized U.S. Central Command forces to conduct their own "precision airstrikes" Thursday night targeting facilities in Syria used by groups with links to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
"The airstrikes were conducted in response to today's attack as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC," Austin said. "As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing. No group will strike our troops with impunity."
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/ReutersRoyalist is The Daily Beast's newsletter for all things royal and Royal Family. Subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Sunday.
Seniors are supposed to be the most loyal supporters of the monarchy. So it should have spent a shiver of alarm down the spine of Palace spinners when a new poll this week found that the over-55s had the least interest of all Britons in attending street parties or other community events to celebrate the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla.
The poll by Redfield and Wilton Strategies found that those who said they were least likely to attend community parties were older voters, aged 55 - 64 and 65 .
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Ken Grand-PierreSophie B. Hawkins, the trailblazing singer-songwriter who shot to fame in the early '90s on the backs of hits like "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" and "As I Lay Me Down," has a lot going on that she can't wait to talk about, namely the impending release of Free Myself, her first album in more than a decade. But first, she needs to tell us about the huge gray wolf she saw yesterday in her neighbor's driveway.
"It was really shocking. It was like out of a dream. It was five in the morning, and I look up, and there's a timber wolf just sauntering down the driveway," she excitedly tells The Daily Beast over Zoom from her home in Connecticut. "It was like a message from a dream. They were alone, and I thought wolves travel in packs."
It's impossible not to think of her "lone wolf" story over the next 40 minutes as Hawkins not only describes Free Myself—an album she made after ending a 17-year relationship—but reflects on her unlikely fame in the '90s. It's not that she lacked any of the talent or determination to become a star; the multi-instrumentalist has the kind of husky voice that instantly seduces you as well as a knack for evocative, quirky songwriting. But she never felt like she belonged in the mainstream pop lane she stumbled into with her seminal debut album, 1992's Tongues and Tails, and subsequent Grammy nomination.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/ReutersWelcome to Trail Mix, a fun but nutritious snack for your election news diet. See something interesting on the trail? Email me at jake.lahut@thedailybeast.com.
This week, we have a look at Donald Trump launching his own influencer charm offensive in what's become an online arms race of mutually assured destruction with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his own army of far-right influencers.
Trump ‘Courts' MAGA Influencers to Counter DeSantisRead more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/ReutersThis week on The New Abnormal, was the scenario that Donald Trump's arrest would happen as early as this week simply a delusion created by the former president?
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's general counsel made an important point in a letter of reply to Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH), who had earlier demanded documents and testimony relating to Bragg's investigation into alleged hush-money payments Trump organized for adult-film actress Stormy Daniels.
The letter notes that Congress made this request "only after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene. Neither fact is a legitimate basis for Congressional inquiry."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/NetflixThis post contains spoilers for Love Is Blind Season 4, Episodes 1 through 5.
In the world of reality television, the word "villain" can be a little tricky. Watch enough of these programs, and you'll notice how villainy can be manufactured. At the same time, what are we to make of a Love Is Blind contestant who just can't seem to resist stirring the pot?
Four seasons in, we've never had a Love Is Blind character quite like Irina Solomonova—a 25-year-old business owner who spends much of her on-screen time either scheming or negging the guy she ostensibly loves. Has this event planner become the latest recipient of the notorious "bad edit"?
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
ABCIt's now three days past Tuesday—the day Donald Trump promised us he would be arrested—and yet the former president is still roaming free. But Jimmy Kimmel swears that "the clock is ticking" on The Donald, whether he's ready or not.
"Trump's lawyers have reportedly told him that if he gets indicted in New York he should be prepared to lose the case," Kimmel told viewers on Thursday night. "Which means he'll spend the next three years claiming he won the case." And while the grand jury is out until next week, meaning #IndictmentWatch will have to wait until they reconvene, Kimmel doesn't think that Trump is resting easy amidst the silence.
"Make no mistake," said the late-night host, "Trump is ALL-CAPS'ing in his pants over this. Today, he demanded the removal of every top official investigating him—special counsel Jack Smith, the Atlanta district attorney, [New York] Attorney General Letitia James, he [also] lashed out at the Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg." (For the record, Kimmel loves that the man who could ultimately take Trump down is named "Bragg.")
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Kailey Schwerman/ShowtimeBuzz, buzz, baby! That's right, that faint humming in your ear means that everyone's favorite show about a fictional soccer team from the New Jersey suburbs, who got lost in the Canadian wilderness after their plane crashed on their way to a tournament and have to eventually resort to eating each other, is back! And to think, so many other metaphorical stories about a woman's teenage years being a feral, uncompromising hell had arrived to nip at its heels. Just kidding! Yellowjackets may be entering its second season, but it's still one of the most original shows on television right now.
And that's an excellent truth to cling to, because we need that solace to carry us through the relative disappointment of a lackluster premiere episode.
Before we get into it, I want to assure you: I'll keep the bee-related jokes to a minimum. There are only so many bumbling puns one can make before they've buzzed all the humor from them. Trust me, honey, I'll comb the recesses of my brain until I'm pollen every last one out.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Showtime/DreamworksThis is a preview of our pop culture newsletter The Daily Beast's Obsessed, written by editor Kevin Fallon. To receive the full newsletter in your inbox each week, sign up for it here.
When given 60 seconds to speak with Melanie Lynskey—star of Yellowjackets, candid whistleblower about what Hollywood is really like for women, and beloved LGBT ally—how much of that time would you spend discussing Y2K-era hard rock band Papa Roach?
The indelible (and perhaps infamous) group is permanently stitched into the "cringe nostalgia" portion of the brain for those who spent their early teenage years wearing JNCO jeans with legs the circumference of overpass support pillars, pretending to enjoy music that amounted to a cacophony of construction sounds and tuneless screaming. (Just me?)
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Comedy CentralOne year ago, Florida's so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill was signed into law. To commemorate the occasion, Sunshine State governor/Thai food connoisseur Ron DeSantis is looking to expand the mandate—which prohibits discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation until fourth grade—to all grades through the end of high school. But Al Franken thinks he may have discovered a loophole.
"This ‘Don't Say Gay' law is terrible," The Daily Show guest host said on Thursday night. "Luckily, although, it doesn't say you can't sing about being gay." Franken then demonstrated what this might look like in the classroom with a little song and dance routine that went something like:
Being gay
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Evan ZimmermanAll through Andrew Lloyd Webber's inane mish-mash of a Broadway musical Bad Cinderella (Imperial Theatre, booking to Sept 23) the nagging question is: what makes this Cinderella "bad" in any interesting, intriguing, meaningfully different way? The answer: not much. The title of the musical is a nonsense and marketing stunt—in London's West End the same show was called Cinderella, and with more honest reason.
This Cinderella (Linedy Genao in her Broadway debut; she writes in the production Playbill that she is the first Latina performer to originate a leading role in a Lloyd Webber musical) and her true love Prince Sebastian (Jordan Dobson) are modern-ish facsimiles of fairly traditional characters. The story isn't that much changed, despite the insistence that Bad Cinderella is a punk and rebel.
She really isn't. As a character she swaggers and stomps around and looks angry, but she's a victim-y drip at heart, albeit one dressed in a cool jacket and tight trousers. So is Sebastian. These whining characters deserve each other, but not for the reasons the show intends.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 24, 2023
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/AmazonSex, drugs, and rock and roll are all but guaranteed when setting a series in a no-holds-barred '70s music scene. Considering Fleetwood Mac's tumultuous trajectory provides the foundation for Daisy Jones & The Six, there is an increased expectation for band-destroying hot and heavy hookups that provided the fabric of this adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid's best-selling novel. One big question is how much the show deviates from the source material regarding Daisy Jones's (Riley Keough) and Billy Dunne's (Sam Claflin) mutual physical attraction. No, reader. They do not fuck in this version, either.
It is no secret that the group will fall apart, as this is made abundantly clear in the opening sequence depicting the meteoric highs and guitar-smashing lows. Rewatching the carefully selected shots after finishing the finale underscores the punchiness of a carousel that plays like an abbreviated Daisy Jones & The Six visual greatest hits. Flashes of creative exuberance sit alongside blazing arguments offering the broad brushstrokes of this rise and fall, all packaged in a music doc structure that immediately pulls us out of the grimy glamor—yes, both things can be true at once.
(Warning: Spoilers for the first season of Daisy Jones & The Six.)
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Mar 23, 2023
Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily BeastSpeculation abounds about why the grand jury hearing evidence from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's criminal investigation into Trump's alleged hush-money payment to actress Stormy Daniels apparently took Wednesday and Thursday off from the case.
The grand jury, which meets Mondays, Wednesday and Thursdays, was reportedly told not to report on Wednesday and then heard evidence about a different case Thursday. It isn't known whether the other case is in any way related to Trump, but Trump has felt free to claim that this pause means the DA's office is in "complete disarray."
There is zero evidence for Trump's assertion, just as there was zero evidence of his proclamation that he would be arrested Tuesday - which obviously didn't happen.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/WPTVThe most compelling voice against book banning in Florida was perched on her walker as she addressed the 500 people at this week's meeting of the Martin County School Board.
"I am Grace Linn," she said. "I am a hundred years young. I'm here to protest our school's district book banning policy. My husband, Robert Nicoll, was killed in action in World War II at a very young age. He was only 26, defending our democracy, constitution and freedoms."
Her husband's unit had been providing ammunition to the French resistance when it was bombed and strafed by Nazi planes on Decoration Day, 1944, eight days before the Normandy Invasion. She had been seven months pregnant when he was initially declared missing in action. A telegram reporting that he had been declared dead was delivered to her at the hospital three days after the birth of their daughter, Nicci. Linn later received a photo that her husband had brought with him to Europe, but his remains were never recovered.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
Fox NewsWhen it comes to transgender people arming themselves in light of the threat of harassment or attacks from hate groups, firearm advocate Tucker Carlson is skeptical, he made clear Thursday, insisting that doing so is "not the exercise of the Second Amendment" but rather "political hysteria."
Carlson called attention to a recent NPR interview with gay and transgender people in New England who practice shooting as a self-defense measure. He then mocked the notion of white supremacist groups in that region, because, as he put it, "every state is blue."
"Just to be clear: we are not against people—American citizens—carrying firearms," Carlson continued. "We support it—including trans people. It's fine. But what you're watching here is not the exercise of the Second Amendment. What you're watching here is political hysteria: fear ginned up on purpose with maximum dishonesty in order to get people in a state of agitation—armed people in a state of agitation. It doesn't matter if they are trans or not, whatever that is."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/ReutersFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis' book tour has hit a few road bumps.
In the first staffing shakeup for what's widely seen as a pre-presidential campaign, the DeSantis road show lost a critical wheel this week when the operation's top event coordinator pulled out of its contract, sources familiar with the move told The Daily Beast.
It's the latest in a series of setbacks for DeSantis, as his platoon of supporters and outside financial backers pushes out a "soft-launch" campaign in the shadow of the party's frontrunner, former President Donald Trump. But Republican observers say that from what they've seen, the operation appears to be "out over its skis."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily BeastIn the Capitol rotunda—a dome in the middle of the building that houses statues, eclectic decorations, and a storied history—the 19-year-old TikTok creator Aidan Kohn-Murphy shouted "twink."
It was an apparent attempt at humor, or satire or something in between. He wrote in a caption, "Becoming the first person to say twink in the Capitol rotunda." The word is slang, often utilized within the LGBTQ community, to reference some gay men. (Kohn-Murphy, who founded the progressive group Gen Z For Change, later told The Daily Beast it was just "a silly video" he made in the moment.)
Kohn-Murphy and a gaggle of TikTok creators came to D.C. this week to lobby Congress against a proposed ban on the app. TikTok paid for the travel expenses of creators that participated in this week's activism, who used "#keeptiktok" and #savetiktok hashtags to raise awareness for their cause.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/HBOIt's been a long year and a half without Succession. Too bad the series is ending, and we'll have to go the rest of our lives without any of the Roys in the picture.
Alas, the show must go on. But what, exactly, is going on? It can be hard to remember.
The most recent season of Succession premiered in late 2021. Though Succession is fun to rewatch, it's quite the time-sucker, with episodes coming in at around an hour. Three seasons of ten episodes will run you around 30 hours—you're going to need an entire day and a few extra hours of non-stop Succession viewing if you want to catch up on everything ahead of the final season.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
Instagram/Vimeo/ShowMeTheToes.comWhen a Springfield, Missouri-area man's friend said recently that he'd witnessed a woman's amputated toes grow back during a prayer session at a Missouri megachurch, he and his wife "just kind of laughed it off and rolled our eyes about it."
But the next day, the man—who said he identifies as a Christian—decided it wasn't a laughing matter.
"They exploited her," he told The Daily Beast.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/David Axe/Liberty AuctionPEMBROKE, Georgia—Ugly framed art prints. Gun parts and pistol cleaning kits. A crossbow. Furniture. Old Antlers.
Those are just some of the random objects up for auction on Thursday from the hunting estate of Alex Murdaugh, the once-prominent lawyer now serving a life sentence for murdering his wife, Maggie, and his son, Paul, in June 2021 in a twisted attempt to hide his financial crimes.
The warehouse sale, run by Liberty Auction, comes just weeks after Alex Murdaugh's highly publicized murder trial, where jurors actually walked the grounds of the family's hunting property in Hampton County, South Carolina. The jury ended up convicting the 54-year-old of the double murders, which occurred near the property's dog kennels. Murdaugh still faces over a hundred other criminal charges, ranging from drug trafficking to money laundering to staging his own suicide in a twisted insurance payout scheme.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Screenshot/TikTokIt really is tough out here for the children of the very famous and wealthy these days. This week, Romy Mars, the 16-year-old daughter of auteur film director Sofia Coppola and Thomas Mars, the lead singer of the indie pop band Phoenix, went viral for a TikTok she absolutely was not supposed to be making.
By now you've probably seen it: According to the New York Times, more people watched this TikTok than they watched the finale of The Last of Us on HBO.
"My parents' biggest rule is, like, I'm not allowed to have any public social media accounts," Mars, filming in her kitchen and attempting a pasta recipe because she's bored and being punished, begins in the since-deleted post. "I'm grounded because I tried to charter a helicopter from New York to Maryland on my dad's credit card because I wanted to have dinner with my camp friend."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinThe CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, faced tough questioning from Congress on Thursday.
Some of it was animated by security concerns associated with the popular video clip platform that is now used by 150 million Americans. But it was clear that the majority of the animus displayed toward TikTok was really directed toward its parent company Byte Dance and the Chinese government whose control of the company and potential misuse of data of American users was seen as the real threat associated with the app.
Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington), convener of the hearings, encapsulated these concerns when she said, "We do not trust TikTok will ever embrace American values—values for freedom, human rights and innovation."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
REUTERS/Danny MoloshokAbbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph has revealed that she was sexually assaulted years ago by a "famous TV judge"—and was subsequently silenced by network executives who saw what happened.
Ralph, 66, opened up about the alleged incident during an interview on the Way Up with Angela Yee podcast earlier this week.
"I'm at a very public place," she recalled. "I was suited. I had my suit on. I was handling my business for the television show I was on at that time. He and I were on the same network."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
Wellspring Health AccessA 22-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to a building that was slated to house an abortion clinic in Casper, Wyoming, causing devastating damage that prevented the facility from opening.
Lorna Roxanne Green was arrested in Casper on Wednesday by the local police and agents from the FBI and ATF, and charged with arson. The arrest came after an anonymous donor offered a $10,000 reward for information about the unsolved crime. Four tipsters from the local community named Green as the arsonist, according to documents filed in federal court.
The attack on the Wellspring Health Access clinic took place in the early hours of May 25, 2022, just weeks before the abortion services provider planned to open its doors to patients. The clinic's security cameras caught a person breaking windows, entering the building, pouring gasoline on the floor and setting fire to the building, according to court filings. The inside of the clinic was gutted, and the attack caused around $250,000 worth of damage, the clinic's president, Julie Burkhart, told The Daily Beast last year.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast Have you ever gone on vacation and forgot to water your plants—only to come back to your home and find them looking like they're dead—or at least on the utter brink? But after a quick drink they're suddenly brought back to life, with a strong green color and an arching height once more. Scientists have always been fascinated by the ability of plants to survive months deprived of the necessities to survive, then return to full health almost overnight. In fact, many researchers have been obsessed with the quest to find the miracle gene responsible for enabling this magic act.
It turns out, the "resurrection" gene is not simply one gene, but many. In a new study published in The Plant Journal, a team of scientists from the University of Bonn in Germany and the University of Michigan in the U.S. have unraveled the secret behind how one of these resurrection plants, Craterostigma plantagineum, is capable of surviving months of drought and being revived by just a tiny bit of water. And it turns out, the genes that give the resurrection plant this superpower are widely found throughout many species of plants that don't even do well in drought.
The findings could point to a way for humans to engineer plants such that these genes can confer drought tolerance to many other plant species of interest, especially critical crops like wheat that will struggle to survive worsened climate change as the century rolls on.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
ReutersRussian troops in Ukraine say the situation has become such an embarrassment more than a year into the war that they're convinced no one wants to be there in the first place.
That's according to a two-and-a-half minute recording released Thursday by Ukrainian intelligence that is said to capture a phone chat between two fed-up Russian soldiers discussing mass desertions.
After 119 soldiers fled the front line, one of the unnamed soldiers said, many of them were tracked down and 70 of them were hit with criminal charges, while 30 were "jailed for fucking two years or more."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
Reuters/Misha Japaridze/Pool/File PhotoYevgeny Prigozhin is preparing to pull his Wagner Group mercenaries' attention away from the war in Ukraine, according to a Bloomberg report that cites sources familiar with the matter.
His current plan is to focus the private mercenaries' focus back to countries in Africa, such as Sudan, Mali, and the Central African Republic, where Wagner has deployed forces. On Monday, Wagner posted a recruitment notice offering deployments to African countries would last between nine to 14 months, Bloomberg reported.
The apparent decision to recalibrate Wagner operations in Ukraine comes after a series of setbacks Wagner has faced in trying to work with the Russian government to wage war in Ukraine. Prigozhin, who enlisted private mercenaries from prison, was blocked in recent weeks from recruiting from prisons. His colleague was also recently barred from accessing Russia's military command in Ukraine.
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Mar 23, 2023
Photo Illustration by Luis Rendon/Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/NetflixThough Succession will be premiering new episodes all throughout April, HBO has a smattering of other options coming out. Want back-to-back Sunday night shows to fill The Last of Us void? Try pairing the Roys with Barry, which returns for its final season next month as well.
What's the deal with fourth seasons? Both Succession and Barry have will wrap after Season 4, according to HBO. In the recent trailer teasing the upcoming season of Bill Hader's dark comedy, which premieres on April 16, Barry Berkman has landed in prison for a slew of murders. There's really nowhere to go after prison, so perhaps this sad news of a final season makes total sense.
Luckily, there's plenty of newer content coming to fill the Barry-shaped hole in our hearts. Somebody Somewhere is returning for a sophomore season on HBO on April 23, with Bridget Everett and Jeff Hiller set to reprise their roles as Sam and Joel. The first season currently holds a rare 100% on Rotten Tomat
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Mar 23, 2023
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty/ReutersFormer President Donald Trump's persistent threats—and those of his most vicious followers—have prompted a New York federal judge to take the remarkable step of keeping the American public from ever finding out the names of the jurors who will decide whether the real estate tycoon raped the journalist E. Jean Carroll decades ago.
"If jurors' identities were disclosed, there would be a strong likelihood of unwanted media attention to the jurors, influence attempts, and/or of harassment or worse of jurors by supporters of Mr. Trump," U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan wrote on Thursday.
The judge noted how several MAGA-loyal insurrectionists who violently attacked Congress on Jan. 6, 2021—and later got caught—have themselves argued in court that they were there at Trump's behest. He also elaborated on Trump's long history of stoking tensions by targeting the justice system.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
via social mediaItalian authorities are searching for a Russian governor's son who reportedly cut off his ankle monitor and fled house arrest after a court ruled in favor of extraditing him to the U.S., where he faces federal charges and up to 30 years in prison.
Artyom Uss, the son of Krasnoyarsk region Governor Alexander Uss, was on house arrest at an apartment in Milan when he made the daring getaway Wednesday, the ANSA news agency reports.
Uss, 40, was nabbed at a Milan airport in October at the request of federal prosecutors in the U.S. who say he violated sanctions and laundered millions of dollars. Uss is accused of using a company he owns with one of his alleged accomplices to buy up U.S. military technologies that ultimately wound up in the hands of the Russian military in Ukraine.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mar 23, 2023
REUTERS/Tony GentileA Florida charter school principal has been ousted after multiple parents complained that their sixth graders were made to view pornography—because they looked at Michelangelo's iconic statue of David.
The statue was shown during a sixth grade art history lesson at Tallahassee Classical School, the Tallahassee Democrat first reported. One of the most famous pieces of artwork in the world, the statue shows a chiseled, naked man posing. But while most of the world sees it as art, some parents deemed it "pornographic" and said it "upset" their children.
Parents at Tallahassee Classic now want to take an advanced vote on any lesson their kids could be subjected to that's deemed "controversial," part of a growing nationwide trend to dictate education supported by Florida's own education board and the DeSantis administration.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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