Pop Culture
Twitter Accounts for Barack Obama, Kanye West, Elon Musk Hacked in Massive Security Breach
Twitter accounts for a number of high-profile individuals including former president Barack Obama, former vice president Joe Biden, Kanye West, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Warren Buffett, and others were hacked on Wednesday as part of an apparent cryptocurrency scam. The massive security breach also targeted major companies including Apple, Amazon, Uber, and Cash App, as well as cryptocurrency exchange sites such as Binance and Coinbase. Once the accounts were hacked, they transformed into crypto Nigerian Princes. That’s right, the cyber attackers utilized the oldest grift on the internet: the advance-fee scam. The zombie Twitter accounts advised their respective followers to send bitcoins to a secure address, promising that the money would be returned double the amount. This...
R.I.P. Joanna Cole, Author of The Magic School Bus Dies at 75
Joanna Cole, who combined wacky humor and plainspoken science in The Magic School Bus book series, has died at the age of 75. Her publisher Scholastic announced that she died last Sunday, July 12th. According to the New York Times, the cause was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that leads to irreversible lung scarring. Cole grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and graduated from City College of New York. She spent time as an elementary school teacher, a librarian, and an editor for magazines and children’s books. Her authorial debut was called “Cockroaches”, and she later said it was inspired by her “low-budget New York apartment.” Her humor and inventiveness attracted Scholastic senior editorial director Craig Walker. Walker had been hearing from teachers that they wanted more...
Kevin Malone Tells the Oral History of The Office in New Podcast Series
This year marks the 15th anniversary of The Office, so what better way to celebrate than with a new podcast that explores the entire history of the beloved show? Enter An Oral History of The Office, a 12-episode series hosted by Brian Baumgartner, a.k.a. Kevin Malone, Dundler Mifflin’s resident chili expert (and klutz). Exclusive to Spotify, the podcast promises to cover everything an Office diehard could possibly dream of — from the first meetings held by co-creator Ben Silverman and UK Office creator Ricky Gervais and the unique search for cast members to the best bits and most memorable cold opens. Sweetening the chili pot for fans is Baumgartner’s list of special guests, some of whom might just be familiar: Steve Carell (Michael Scott), John Krasinski (Jim Halpert), Rainn Wilson (Dwigh...
Banksy’s New Artwork Was Inspired by Coronavirus and… Chumbawamba
Bansky is at it again. The secretive English street artist, known for his provocative takes on everything from the high society art world to Paris Hilton’s debut album, has commented on the coronavirus pandemic in his latest piece — all while sneaking in a Chumbawamba reference, because of course he did. Banksy announced his new piece via a video on his Instagram page. Entitled “if you don’t mask – you don’t get”, the artwork was “installed” on a London Underground train, and consists of his own tag sprayed in that familiar shade of N95 mask blue, surrounded by stenciled rats, a common motif in his work. One of the rats uses a face mask as a parachute while another sneezes, shooting blue liquid everywhere — it represents the novel coronavirus’ dynamic aerosol efficiency, duh! The enigmatic...
O.J. Simpson Parties in Vegas Without a Face Mask
O.J. Simpson, photo via TMZ For O.J. Simpson, the glove doesn’t fit… nor does the face mask. As TMZ reports, the If I Did It author was spotted partying it up in Las Vegas this past week. There was little in the way of social distancing, and only a few of the party’s attendees could be seen wearing facial coverings (Simpson was not among them). The Juice further flaunted CDC guidelines by exchanging hugs and other human-to-human contact with fellow guests. Nevada has seen an uptick in coronavirus cases in the last week; this past Friday alone resulted in 1,004 new cases, the second-biggest daily increase in the state since the outbreak began. At 74 years old and with a history of health problems, Simpsons is in a higher-risk category for coronavirus. Editor’s Note: Stay...
Disney World Reopens Parks Amid Spike in Coronavirus Cases
Amid a record number of coronavirus cases in Florida, Walt Disney World in Orlando reopened its gates on Saturday for the first time in four months. Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom them parks reopened on Saturday, while Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios will reopen on July 15th. In guidelines announced prior to reopening, Disney said that all visitors to Disney World would be required to practice social distancing and wear face masks at all times (get yours here). Disney is also employing touch-free temperature checks and having its cast members remind guests to follow its guidelines within the theme park. There will be also be no parades, firework shows, character meet and greets, or any other events that could draw a large gathering. USA Today, which has...
J.K. Rowling Won’t Stop Being Transphibic, Says Gay People Are Experiencing a “New Kind of Conversion Therapy”
J.K. Rowling Despite penning a 3,600-word pro-TERF manifesto, disgraced author J.K. Rowling still has more nonsense to spew regarding the transgender community. In a new series of tweets, Rowling argued that gay people who are struggling with mental health issues are being misguided into undertaking “a new kind of conversion therapy” that involves hormones and surgery. She also likened hormones — a common gender-affirming step in trans people’s transitioning process — to anti-depressants, and called those who used anti-depressants as “pure laziness.” It all started on Sunday, when Rowling liked a tweet that compared hormone to anti-depressants. “Hormone prescriptions are the new anti depressants,” the tweet in question reads. “Yes they are sometimes necessary and lifesaving, but they shoul...
Dave Chappelle Hosted a Fourth of July Music Festival in the Cornfields of Ohio
Ever the trailblazer, Dave Chappelle has proven it’s possible to host a safe outdoor music festival in the middle of a pandemic. As BrooklynVegan points out, Chappelle celebrated Fourth of July by holding a mini music festival in the cornfields of Yellow Springs, Ohio on Saturday night. As recounted by comedian Cipha Sounds, the six-hour event kicked off with standup comedy from Michelle Wolf, Tiffany Haddish, Michael Che, and Chappelle himself. Questlove then provided the soundtrack for a fireworks display with an all J. Dilla DJ set. The evening concluded with live performances from Erykah Badu, Common, and Talib Kweli, interspersed with appearances from Chappelle and Jon Hamm. All of the evening’s participants were tested for coronavirus prior to taking the stage. Meanwhile, the 400-per...
300 Teens Exposed to Coronavirus During Beer Pong Tournament
Hundreds of teenagers were exposed to coronavirus during a beer pong tournament in Texas last weekend. The Star-Telegram reports that about 300 high school students participated in a “pong fest” tournament near Lakeway, Texas on Saturday, June 27th. Several of those who attended the event have already tested positive for coronavirus, while others are still awaiting to hear back on their test results. Regardless of the final number of positive tests, the sheer scale of the exposure is putting a strain on the local health system. “The city is trying to get a handle on who attended, and the numbers are so big, contact tracing everyone is not possible,” Lakeway Mayor Sandy Cox explained. “Hopefully we can contain this. The worst thing that can happen is that we don’t contain this.” Texas has e...
Reddit Bans Popular Donald Trump Subreddit for Hate Speech
The popular subreddit r/The_Donald, home to many Donald Trump supporters and one of the nastiest, most unwelcoming places on the Internet for years, is officially no more. The virtual hive for MAGA fanatics has been banned by the higher-ups at Reddit due to newly defined hates speech guidelines. Reddit’s updated anti-hate speech measures led to the shut down of nearly 2,000 other subreddits, including r/darkhumorandmemes, r/gendercritical, and r/wojack. All had allegedly been in violation of the site’s updated content policy page, which declares that subreddits and users who “incite violence or that promote hate based on identity or vulnerability will be banned.” The new policies are a huge about-face for a website that long resisted calls to police even its most egregious content und...
Sacha Baron Cohen Infiltrates Far-Right Rally Pretending to Be Racist Country Singer
Sacha Baron Cohen is up to his old tricks. On Saturday, the Borat and Bruno actor crashed a far-right rally in Olympia, Washington, pretending to be a racist country singer who led a sing-along about injecting former president Barack Obama and Dr. Anthony Fauci with the “Wuhan Flu”. The event was organized by a far-right militia group called the Washington Three Percenters. It seems Cohen had reached out to event organizers about serving as the musical entertainment, going as far to offer to cover the costs of the stage and sound system. The Three Percenters took him up on his offer, setting the stage for one truly epic prank. Disguising himself in overalls and a fake beard, Cohen proceeded to sing a twangy country number about injecting liberals and scientists with the coronavirus. At var...
Cast of Hamilton Perform “Helpless” with The Roots and Jimmy Fallon: Watch
The original cast of Hamilton reunited alongside members of The Roots and Jimmy Fallon to perform “Helpless” as part of Saturday’s “Global Goal: Unite for Our Future”. The benefit concert, which also saw Miley Cyrus cover The Beatles’ “Help!” from an empty football stadium, raised money for the coordination and development of COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines, and to ensure equitable access to citizens across the globe. Phillipa Soo took the lead on “Helpess”, reprising her role as Eliza Schuyler Hamilton. Lin-Manuel Miranda popped in to deliver his rap verse, while other original cast members including Renee Elise Goldsberry, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Leslie Odom Jr., and Daveed Diggs also joined in. For their part, The Roots and Jimmy Fallon played along with real and househo...
