Category Archives: Music

2025.03.11

Nightlife
Wisconsin’s oldest gay bar, co-owned by Trixie Mattel, has now closed
“It would’ve been irresponsible of us to think that throwing more money at the problem would fix it,” This Is It! co-owner George Schneider wrote.
Bernardo Sim
https://www.out.com/nightlife/trixie-mattel-owned-gay-bar-this-is-it-shutdown#rebelltitem1

‘Stolen off a donkey’: why is The White Lotus so obsessed with graphic penis footage?
From Jason Isaacs’ shocking flash to Theo James wearing a prosthetic he described as ‘ginormous’, the luxury resort drama is packed with male nudity. Why are so many men going full frontal?
Michael Hogan
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/mar/11/the-white-lotus-graphic-penis-male-nudity

Male blue-lined octopuses inject females with venom during sex to avoid being eaten, study shows
Tetrodotoxin immobilises the female – who is about two to five times bigger than the male – so mating can occur, researchers observed
Donna Lu Science writer
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/11/blue-lined-octopus-sex-venom-tetrodotoxin

USDA cuts more than $1bn in local food purchases for schools, food banks
Millions of children could lose free school meals as food costs rise, warns School Nutrition Association president
Michael Sainato
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/11/usda-cuts-food-banks-schools

If only they actually cared and provided things like medical care, childcare, and support:
Pronatalists are ascendant on the right. Can they agree on how to make Americans have more babies?
The movement unites ‘family values’ conservatives and tech bro rightwingers. Will this incoherent coalition hold?
Carter Sherman
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/11/what-is-pronatalism-right-wing-republican

Only seven countries worldwide meet WHO dirty air guidelines, study shows
Annual survey by IQAir based on toxic PM2.5 particles reveals some progress in pollution levels in India and China
Ajit Niranjan Europe environment correspondent
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/11/only-seven-countries-worldwide-meet-who-dirty-air-guidelines-study-shows

Don’t need that science shit no more:
Nasa announces shuttering of two departments and office of chief scientist
Office of technology, policy and strategy and one covering DEI initiatives were eliminated in line with ‘efficiency’ cuts
Richard Luscombe
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/10/nasa-cuts-firing-chief-scientist

Music flows as Stevie Wonder and Lauryn Hill lead tributes at Roberta Flack memorial
Grammy winner, who died last month at 88, remembered at New York service with series of star performers
Diana Ramirez-Simon and agencies
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/mar/10/roberta-flack-memorial-stevie-wonder-lauryn-hill

K-pop singer Wheesung found dead at home aged 43
Tributes have been paid to singer who had a string of hits in South Korea including a cover of Craig David’s Insomnia
Sian Cain and agencies
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/mar/11/k-pop-singer-wheesung-found-dead-at-home-aged-43-autopsy-cause

Kevin Drum died March 7, 2025
https://jabberwocking.com/health-update-100/

2025.02.25

US threatens permanent visa bans on trans athletes based on sex markers Exclusive: State department memo directs officers to bar those deemed to misrepresent birth sex on applications Joseph Gedeon in Washington https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/25/visa-ban-transgender-athletes

How to change your settings to make yourself less valuable to Meta https://johnoliverwantsyourraterotica.com/

Federal bill couples ending taxes on tips with banning sub-minimum wage Democrats in Nevada push bill that would provide further relief for tipped workers who can be paid as little as $2.13 Michael Sainato https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/25/nevada-end-taxes-on-tips

Mars once had an ocean with sandy beaches, researchers say China’s Zhurong rover finds evidence of shoreline buried deep underground Nicola Davis Science correspondent https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/feb/24/mars-ocean-sandy-beaches-radar-data-suggests

Early poems about Merlin portray him as environmentalist, say scholars Re-examination of Welsh poems dating back to 10th century show Myrddin as prophet concerned by human interactions with nature Steven Morris https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/25/early-poems-about-merlin-portray-him-as-environmentalist-say-scholars

Grace Slick on sex, drugs and Jefferson Airplane: ‘I was sober in the 80s. That was a mistake’
Tim Jonze
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/feb/25/grace-slick-on-sex-drugs-and-jefferson-airplane-i-was-sober-in-the-80s-that-was-a-mistake

‘My life expectancy is short’: America’s most vulnerable – in pictures From train hoppers to addicts and prostitutes, Mark Laita’s photo series unpicks the complex life stories of those who exist on society’s fringe Mee-Lai Stone https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2025/feb/25/mark-laita-america-most-vulnerable-in-pictures

Seven planets to be visible in night sky for last time until 2040 Maddie Molloy https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yd4z15r54o

2025.02.24

Roberta Flack, soul and R&B icon behind Killing Me Softly, dies aged 88 Much-loved singer known for Killing Me Softly With His Song, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and duets with Donny Hathaway and Peabo Bryson, had suffered a stroke in 2016 Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Safi Bugel https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/feb/24/roberta-flack-soul-and-rb-icon-behind-killing-me-softly-dies-aged-88

Mitch McConnell is retiring from US politics. Good riddance
Moira Donegan
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/24/mitch-mcconnell-is-retiring-from-us-politics-good-riddance

2,000 year old book about Roman emperors enters bestseller charts The Lives of the Caesars, translated from Latin by The Rest Is History podcast co-host Tom Holland, details everything from ancient policy failures to sex scandals Ella Creamer https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/feb/24/book-sex-scandals-roman-emperors-bestseller-charts-the-lives-of-the-caesars-tom-holland

‘It stirred the people to breathless wonder and scalding abuse’: The tumultuous history of the Sydney Opera House Myles Burke https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250221-the-tumultuous-history-of-the-sydney-opera-house

‘The flying bum’: can a UK firm making huge airships finally get off the ground?Airlander maker HAV scales up to build world’s biggest aircraft, which it says will have 90% lower emissions than a conventional plane Jasper Jolly https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/24/the-flying-bum-uk-firm-airships-airlander-hav

Barrett’s Privateers in the Morning

Classical MPR just played a gussied up version of Stan Rogers’ Barrett’s Privateers. The announcer said he was living in Hebron, Kentucky when the Air Canada flight caught fire and diverted to there when Rogers died.

Barrett’s Privateers
Stan Rogers
Ofra Harnoy, cello

Stan Rogers