Say Happy Mother’s Day With a Card From Mr. Peterman
You probably recognize John O’Hurley’s stentorian tone and silvery hair from the four seasons he played J. Peterman (and Elaine Benes’ boss) on Seinfeld. “I played him like a mix of Forties radio drama combined with a little bit of a bad Charles Kurault,” O’Hurley recently told Rolling Stone. Mixing a bit…
Why America Can’t Quit the Drug War
In March, the commander in chief of the War on Drugs stood in front of a crowd of policymakers, advocates and recovering addicts to declare that America has been doing it wrong. Speaking at the National Prescription Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in Atlanta – focused on an overdose epidemic now…
Kanye West Named ‘Artist of the Year’ at 2016 Webby Awards
Kanye West and Krysten Ritter are the recipients of this year’s special achievement awards at the 2016 Webby Awards. The ceremony will honor West and Ritter’s contributions to Internet culture. West is this year’s Webby Artist of the Year, which recognizes the record-breaking release of his album The Life of Pablo through streaming…
10 Best Beatles Books
Considering that it takes some formidable organizational chops to serve as a competent Beatles bibliographer, it can be downright daunting if you’re coming to the stacks of Fab Four literature as a neophyte reader wondering where you might start. For those are some buckling shelves, filled with worthy tomes, arresting diversions,…
Why ‘Hamilton’ Star Lin-Manuel Miranda Is Better Than Perfect
Lin-Manuel Miranda — if you need an introduction — is the lyricist, composer, creator and star of Hamilton, Broadway’s breakout, breakthrough, break-all-the-rules, hip-hop-infused musical (the stage is a turntable!) about the life of United States of America founding father Alexander Hamilton. The show has made him a certified Genius and a…
‘Hamilton’ Sweeps Tony Awards 2016 Nominations
The 70th annual Tony Awards nominations were announced Tuesday morning at the Diamond Horseshoe at the Paramount Hotel in midtown Manhattan. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway smashHamilton swept the categories with a record-breaking 16 nominations, surpassing the 15-nom record held by The Producers and Billy Elliot. Pop musicians were featured prominently in the Best Musical category. Sarah Bareilles earned her…
Hulk Hogan Files Second Lawsuit Against Gawker Over Leaked Sex Tape
On Monday, Terry Bollea, the former professional wrestler known as Hulk Hogan, brought a new lawsuit against Gawker Media for allegedly leaking sealed court documents to tabloid magazine the National Enquirer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “[Bollea’s] income was cut off, his legacy in entertainment was severely damaged (if not completely destroyed), and…
10 Best Zingers from Obama’s Final White House Correspondents Dinner
If 2015 marked the “fourth quarter” of Obama’s presidency — as mentioned at last year’s White House Correspondents Association dinner — then 2016 finds him casually tacking on field goals as the clock runs out. Onstage at the annual roast of Washington and its press corps, the president was loose, funny,…
How a ‘Seinfeld’ Joke Became a Reality
For four seasons, John O’Hurley played the theatrically serious clothing magnate (and Elaine Benes’ boss) J. Peterman on Seinfeld. His character spoke with unapologetic pomposity as he attempted to inject the workplace with a sense of wonder and adventure, often to Elaine’s chagrin. It was a fun role for the…
10 New Artists You Need to Know: April 2016
Once again, we talked to 10 of the hottest artists who are climbing the charts, breaking the Internet or just dominating our office stereos. This month: Philly rap star Lil Uzi Vert, Australian chart-topper Grace, Rihanna co-writer Bibi Bourelly, eclectic Louisiana rockers Seratones and more.
Watch Edward Snowden Blast Government Surveillance in Music Video
French electronic composer Jean-Michel Jarre recruited NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to record an anti-surveillance message for electronic track “Exit,” on Jarre’s new LP, Electronica 2: The Heart Of Noise. Snowden, currently exiled in Russia, filmed a cameo for the song’s video – a blur of spying satellites, Internet headlines and Jarre pacing around…
Inside ‘The Olsen Twins Hiding from the Paparazzi’ Brooklyn Exhibit
Last year, New York performers Matt Harkins and Viviana Olen created the Tonya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan 1994 Museum, an exhibition space in the hallway of their small Brooklyn apartment that began as a joke but was legitimized after journalists began to write about it (including Rolling Stone), and then contributions arrived from…
‘American Psycho’ Composer Duncan Sheik on Making a Sociopath Sing
When Duncan Sheik was first approached by producer Jesse Singer, after he’d acquired the stage rights to Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, about adapting it into a musical, he said he wasn’t interested. “The last thing I wanted to see was Patrick Bateman breaking out into song,” Sheik says. “I mean, generally,…
Watch: Blue Man Group Show Off Their Invention Laboratory
For 25 years, the Blue Man Group has blurred the thin blue lines between music, theater, performance, visual art and invention. As a percussion-based spectacle, part of their appeal has always been primal banging on knotty tangles of PVC tubes, the furious whipping of airpoles and the thunderous pounds on…
Prince, the Secret Philanthropist: ‘His Cause Was Humanity’
It began with an anonymous check about 10 years ago. Environmental and human rights activist Van Jones was working on George W. Bush’s Green Jobs Act when he received a $50,000 donation and no name attached to it. “I promptly returned it,” he recalls. “I’m not taking anonymous checks for…
John Oliver Enlists ‘Hamilton’ Creator to Rap About Puerto Rico Crisis
One week after winning a Pulitzer Prize for his acclaimed hip-hop Broadway musical Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda appeared on Last Week Tonight to raise awareness about Puerto Rico’s debilitating economic crisis with a visceral rap. First, host John Oliver spent 19 minutes outlining the intricate – and mostly infuriating – tax and legislative…
Prince and His Fashion Revolution
Prince was forever reinventing himself. Whether he was called the Purple One, “the artist formerly known as Prince,” his Royal Badness, his many monikers tracked his multiple facets as he pushed boundaries when it came to gender, sexuality and personal freedom. “I find freedom sexy. I find freedom so sexy I…
‘Hunting for Prince’s Vault’ Creator on the Purple Music Yet to Come
I have not lived in a world without Prince. He released his debut For You a year before I was born. This morning, we wake up in a world more blue and less purple. I am broken, as are so many kids on the purple underground. I remember my brother playing…
Why John Cena Can’t Lose
Somewhere on the outskirts of Tampa, Florida, John Cena isn’t driving as fast as he normally drives in his Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed, 600 horses under its polished black hood. Normally, he’d have it charging way up there into triple digits, and if a cop stopped him, asked him…
‘Making a Murderer’ Lawyers Discuss Justice After Steven Avery
Fans of Netflix’s 10-part true crime docuseries Making A Murderer may still be debating Steven Avery’s guilt or innocence in the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach, but there is one thing on which there is near universal agreement –Dean Strang and Jerry Buting are the heroes this documentary series desperately…
The Final Interview with the Most Interesting Man in the World
The Final Interview with the Most Interesting Man in the World. A rare discussion with the world’s most interesting man recounting his life, inspirations and the most unforgettable moments of an unbelievable journey.
Watch How to Roll a Joint Properly
Author David Bienenstock knows good bud when he sees (or smells) it. But the veteran journalist isn’t just a pro because he partakes in marijuana, the former High Times editor has been on the beat for over a decade and decided to write his book, How to Smoke Pot (Properly), to offer a fun…
Harriet Tubman Will Replace Andrew Jackson on New $20 Bill
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is expected to announce Wednesday that abolitionist Harriet Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson on a new $20 bill, The New York Times reports. First treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton will remain on the $10 note, with images of other women set to appear on the back of the…
15 Best Movie Stoners of All Time
All screen stoners are not created equal: There are characters who take the occasional toke, and then there are the ones that have turned a wake-and-bake habit into a way of life. Some of them react insanely over the top after a few puffs; some simply get the giggles; and…
High Goods: 12 Key Celebrity Weed Ventures
Weed is officially big business. In the past, celebrities have lent their names to everything from indoor grills to fancy alcohol, but pot products are now a logical choice for famous folks eager to both show their support for and cash in on a rapidly mainstreaming American pastime. Here are…
What Will Rescheduling Marijuana Mean for the Pot Industry?
Early this month, the Drug Enforcement Agency announced that it would make a decision on whether to reclassify marijuana. Under the Controlled Substance Act, the federal government considers marijuana a Schedule I narcotic, meaning that it has high potential for abuse and no medical benefits, a position at odds with the 24…
Will America’s Worst Wildfire Disaster Happen in New Jersey?
Every few days this spring, another small wildfire breaks out in the Pinelands, a 1.1-million-acre tract in southern New Jersey that spans seven counties and is home to some 500,000 people. So far this year, firefighters have doused the flames before they caused any significant, or at least widespread, damage….
Tracy Morgan Cancels Mississippi Performance Over Religious Accommodations Act
Tracy Morgan has canceled his Mississippi tour date, making him the latest performer to push back against the state’s legislation that critics say discriminates against the LGBT community. A stand-up show in Tunica, Mississippi was slated as part of Morgan’s comeback stand-up tour following a fatal car crash Morgan had been severely…
Porn Is ‘Public Health Hazard,’ Says Utah Governor
Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert will sign a new resolution declaring pornography a “public health hazard,” CNN reports. The S.C.R. 9 resolution claims pornography leads to “a broad spectrum of individual and public health impacts and societal harms.” The new bill calls pornography an “epidemic” and calls for “education, prevention, research, and…
How the Back-to-the-Land Movement Paved the Way for Bernie Sanders
When Bernie Sanders established a new campaign headquarters in Brooklyn a few weeks ago in anticipation of this week’s New York primary, his supporters celebrated it as a potentially triumphal homecoming for a native son. But Bernie is not a New Yorker anymore, he’s a Vermonter. And the story of how he…
‘Hamilton’ Is Getting Screwed Out of a Tony Award
This is a story about the most unlikely beef in rap history. When the Tony Award nominations are announced on May 3rd, honoring the best of the Broadway season, Hamilton is expected to dominate in every category. You know Hamilton, right? The groundbreaking hip-hop musical about our founding fathers? President…
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘Hamilton’ Wins Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Hamilton, Broadway’s hip-hop-infused smash about Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, has won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It became the ninth musical in the Pulitzer’s 100-year history to win this award after Next to Normal in 2010 and Rent in 1996. “It is a tremendous honor to even be considered for this very…
Why the Cassette Tape Is Still Not Dead
On a mid-January morning in Springfield, Mo., a tractor-trailer backs up to the National Audio Company’s loading dock and unloads more than 600,000 empty compact cassette shells from factories in China and Saudi Arabia. The shipment is added to a warehouse inventory of another 10 million or so of the…
See Rihanna’s Outrageous Dress at Met Costume Gala in Exclusive Clip
“The Met Ball is the Super Bowl of social fashion events,” Andre Leon Talley explains in The First Monday in May, the new documentary that opened Tribeca Film Fest this year that focuses on the opening party for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Costume Institute show. This insider’s look by director Andrew Rossi…
Life in Europe After the ISIS Attacks
On March 22nd , the day of the Brussels attacks, I flew from Berlin to Basel by way of Frankfurt. Perhaps it was too soon after the killings at the Zavantem airport, but at Frankfurt there didn’t seem to be any dramatic shift in airport protocols, nor were the security lines…
Experts Offer Concerns Over Forensic Testing in ‘Making a Murderer’ Case
The Netflix series Making A Murderer drew attention to a number of failures in the justice system, from police and prosecutorial misconduct, to the collection and scientific analysis of the physical evidence. A group of four forensic experts have been conducting a year-long evaluation of forensic evidence from the Steven Avery case,…
South Central Noir: How a Murder Convict Killed His Way Out of Prison
Reggie “Gumby” Cole committed his first murder in the C-yard of California’s Calipatria State Prison. He was a member of the 49 Deuce Crips, had a prison tattoo that read “Ghetto Star” on his shoulders, and another of “92 DEUCE” in block letters across his stomach. “Everybody knew that if…
Andrew Dice Clay on ‘Dice’ and How He Pleases Women
It takes approximately two minutes of speaking to Andrew Dice Clay before he starts a routine. “I was just in New York,” he says in the same stentorian, street-tough voice that narrated his filthiest nursery rhymes at a sold-out Madison Square Garden in 1990. “It was so cold. I hate fuckin’…
Gloria Gaynor on Obama, Beyonce, How Disco Could Have Ended Terrorism
Gloria Gaynor’s disco anthem “I Will Survive” – forever a mainstay of movie soundtracks, karaoke bars and drag shows – has never gone out of style and was recently inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. “It’s such an awesome honor,” Gaynor tells Rolling Stone. “It was totally unexpected, but…
America’s Psychedelic Majority: How LSD Changed Culture Forever
Jesse Jarnow’s fascinating new book, Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America, explores what he calls “a vast and learned psychonautical diaspora”
– the social and physical world shaped by drugs
like LSD, DMT, peyote, MDMA and mushrooms. At the center of the story is the freewheeling economy that grew up around the…
James Brown: Finding New Meaning in Mr. Dynamite
Early in Kill ‘Em and Leave, James McBride writes that “the
James Brown story is not about James Brown. It’s about who’s getting paid, whose interest is involved, who can squeeze the estate
and black history for more … It’s reflective of the sad state of the American popular emporium…
Watch John Oliver Share Credit Report, Background Check Horror Stories
Credit reports and background checks are crucial in securing loans, apartments and jobs. But as John Oliver proved Sunday with an exhaustive report, a surprising amount of them are inaccurate, causing major headaches for those unlucky people. Oliver first examines credit reports, “the single most important three-digit number in your whole life,…
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