The Weekly Town Crier (11/27/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (11/27/20).


We’ll Miss You:

Read “David Dinkins, New York's first Black mayor, dies at 93” at CNN.

Read “Hal Ketchum Dies at 67 from Complications of Dementia: 'May His Music Live on Forever,' Says Wife” at People.

Religion and Stuff:

Read “What is the QAnon conspiracy theory?” at CBS News.

  • Read ‘A Game Designer’s Analysis Of QAnon” at Medium: Curioser Institute.

Read “He’s The Chosen One To Run America”: Inside The Cult of Trump, His Rallies Are Church And He Is The Gospel” at Vanity Fair.

Read “‘America, Nobody Can Serve God and the Military’” by David French.

Read ‘For Pilgrims, Thanksgiving Was a Way of Life” at Christianity Today.

Read “White Christians' voting patterns are an indictment of churches” at National Catholic Reporter.

Read “Poor People’s Campaign mourns 250K COVID deaths, calls for stimulus relief” at Religion News Service.

Read ‘This Will Change Your Life” at The Atlantic. “Why the grandiose promises of multilevel marketing and QAnon conspiracy theories go hand in hand.”

Read “Opinion Pope Francis: A Crisis Reveals What Is in Our Hearts” at New York Times.

Legal/Justice and Social Justice and Race or Gender or Sexism-Related Stuff:

Read “Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old from Illinois charged with killing two people during a protest in Wisconsin, has posted a $2 million cash bond and has been released from custody.” at Associated Press.

  • Read “Kyle Rittenhouse’s Attorney Thanks Actor Ricky Schroder for Helping Post $2 Million Bail” at Variety.

Read “'Longest-serving cannabis offender' to be released early from 90-year prison sentence” at NBC News.

Read “Merrick Garland on list to be Biden's attorney general” at The Hill.

Read “Secret Amazon Reports Expose the Company’s Surveillance of Labor and Environmental Groups” at Vice.

Read “When It Comes to Race, White Evangelicals Have a Fox News Problem” by Jemar Tisby.

Read “Unite the Right organizer Kessler denied concealed handgun permit” at Daily Progress.

This Week With The Police:

Read “Phoenix City Council votes down creation of police oversight office” at KTAR.

Read “Former Mesa officer pleads not guilty to assault” at 12 News.

Read “Here's what interviewing voters taught me about the slogan 'defund the police'“ at The Guardian. “While 80% of my focus group agreed racism exists in the criminal justice, they are turned off by the slogan – even though they support cutting police funds.”

Read “Former Phoenix police officer 'secretly recorded' women during police stops” at ABC 15.

Read “What's next for Phoenix's 1st civilian review board for police after council hits brakes” at 12 News.

Read “Protests erupt in Omaha after police fatally shoot Black man during traffic stop” at NBC News.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “More GOP Senators Have COVID Than Have Acknowledged That Joe Biden Won” at Huff Post.

Read ‘Trump lawyers to avoid Michigan lawmaker meeting after COVID exposure” at Axios.

Read “Landmark case study finds coronavirus easily transmitted in ideal outdoor conditions” at USA Today.

Read “Donald Trump Jr. Has Coronavirus and Is in Isolation” at Slate.

Read “Why Are States Imposing Virus Curfews?” at New York Times.

Read “Airlines take another hit as CDC warns against Thanksgiving travel” at The Hill.

Read “Santa Claus is ‘immune’ to COVID-19, says Dr. Anthony Fauci” at New York Post.

Read “Ben Carson Says He Was 'Desperately Ill' With The Coronavirus” at NPR.

Read “The Secret Service Is Investigating 700 Cases of Covid Relief Fraud” at Wired.

Read ‘Fewer International Students at Christian Colleges” at Christianity Today. “COVID-19 causes decline, hurting CCCU campuses.”

Read “A Day in the Life of an Amazon Warehouse Worker” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Christmas Dies Hard” at The Atlantic. “The middle of a global pandemic might seem like a good time to cut back on holiday excess. But we live in America.”

Read “Wyoming’s governor has resisted calls for a mask mandate. Now he has the coronavirus” at Washington Post.

Read ‘Pope Francis criticizes people who refuse to wear masks” at CNN.

Miscellany Cultural Items (and some Technology):

Read “Apple Seeks to Keep Secrets From Google In-House Lawyers” at Bloomberg.

Read ‘'Cake Boss' star says 'only time will tell' if he can bake again after injury” at 12 News.

Read “Trauma ran away with my childhood: Losing my father to violence forced me to grow up fast” at Salon. “Trauma is normal. So many of us in Baltimore never really get a chance to be young.”

Read “US Billionaires Have Increased Their Riches By $1 Trillion During the Pandemic” at Jacobin Magazine.

Read “Obama says some Republicans drive message that 'White men are victims'“ at Fox Propaganda.

Internationalities:

Read “Pompeo meets with Taliban delegation in Qatar after mortar barrage kills at least 8 in Kabul” at NBC News.

Read “The Uncertainties of Barack Obama” at Slate. “The former president’s remarkable memoir reveals how he grasped, and struggled with, the ambiguities of a complex world.”

Read “Farmers march: India farmers clash with police in protest march” at BBC.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “Trump Tweets News That Was So Incorrect Tucker Carlson Had Already Apologized For It” at Comic Sands.

Read “GOP senator calls for cooperation on Biden transition: 'I'd rather have a president who has more than one day to prepare'“ at The HIll.

Read “Biden picks Alejandro Mayorkas for Homeland Security secretary” at Los Angeles Times.

Read the opinion piece “Trump, GOP’s ridiculous, flailing coup isn’t a joke. It’s a crime. There must be consequences” at Inquirer.

Read “Michigan election board votes to certify Biden win, dealing blow to Trump effort” at NBC News.

Read “Biden Picks Janet Yellen To Be Treasury Secretary” at NPR.

Read “The Economy’s Struggles Will Shape Joe Biden’s Presidency” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Dow hits 30,000 on start of transition to Biden, prospect of Yellen as treasury secretary” at NBC News.

Read “A good deed from the wicked witch?” at Salon. “Actually ending the war in Afghanistan.”

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Trump team looks to box in Biden on foreign policy by lighting too many fires to put out” at CNN.

Read “This Was Always the Plan” at The Dispatch. “President Trump telegraphed that he would try to steal the election if he didn’t win.”

Read “Michigan Republicans Abandon Their Effort to Block Election Results” at Mother Jones. “They reversed course at the last minute, thanks to an outpouring of Zoom protest.”

Read “It Actually Was a Landslide: 80 Million Votes and Counting For Biden” at Rolling Stone.

Read “The Real Reason Trump’s Lawsuits Disproportionately Target Black and Latino Voters” at Slate.

Read “President Donald Trump’s campaign announced Tuesday that the Arizona Legislature would hold a public hearing on Nov. 30 about the election, but legislative leaders said they had not authorized any such meeting” at AZ Central.

Read “NRA admits some executives used nonprofit money for personal benefit” at The Hill.

Read “Georgia Senator David Perdue Privately Pushed for a Tax Break for Rich Sports Teamowners” at Pro Publica.

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “BBC Set To Air New Fela Kuti Documentary ‘Fela Kuti: Father Of Afrobeat’” at Okay Player.

Read “Meet Shameika Stepney, Inspiration to Fiona Apple on Fetch the Bolt Cutters” at Pitchfork.

Read “Guitarist Snowy White on His Years With Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, and Thin Lizzy” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Watch Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff perform on ‘Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air’ reunion set” at NME.

Read “Album John Lennon Signed For Mark David Chapman Going Up For Auction” at Consequence of Sound.

Browse “An introduction to Parliament-Funkadelic in 10 records” at Vinyl Factory.

Read “Sex Pistols star Johnny Rotten bitten by a flea after rescuing squirrels” at 1 News. “Johnny Rotten, real name John Lydon, has been bitten by a flea on his penis.”

Read “British Pianist Performs Concert For Thailand Monkeys — And It’s Bananas” at Huff Post.

Read “Ani DiFranco on ‘Revolutionary Love’ and Tending to Wounds” at No Depression.

Read “Trevor Noah to Host Grammys 2021” at Pitchfork.

Read “Why are so many bands selling the rights to their music to faceless companies?” at A Journal Of Musical Things.

Browse Treble’s picks for “18 Albums From 2020 You Might Have Missed.”

Browse Treble’s picks for the “25 Best Albums of 2020.”

Read “How a Japanese medical student and local businessman made one of the most coveted records of all time” at Vinyl Factory.

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “How John Belushi Rose From Second City to ‘SNL’ to Stardom” at Variety.

Read “MSNBC to debut docuseries 'Obama'“ at The Hill.

Books/Reading/Authors

Read “‘RS Interview: Special Edition’ With Ta-Nehisi Coates” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Penguin Random House Staff Confront Publisher About New Jordan Peterson Book” at Vice.

Design/Artsy Things:

Read “The movement to restore the memory of Spain’s forgotten women artists” at PRI.

Science/Technology/Animals/Nature/Environment/Etc.:

Read “Facebook Struggles to Balance Civility and Growth” at New York Times.

Read “Not just lizards - alligators can regrow their tails too” at Eurekalert.

Read “Scientists accidentally discover Australian marsupials glow in the dark” at CNet.

Misc. Oddities:

Read “If You Left A Monolith In A Remote Utah Canyon, Authorities Would Like A Word” at Huff Post.

Read “400 years ago, visitors to this painted cave took hallucinogens” at National Geographic. “People at California’s Pinwheel Cave left evidence of their altered state literally stuffed into its walls—the first physical evidence for hallucinogenic consumption at a rock art site.”

Local:

Read “Arizona Unemployment Rate Increases To 8.0%” at KJZZ.

The Weekly Town Crier (06/05/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (06/07/20)





Read “Amid pandemic, the Wichita Kenyan community unites virtually through food and family” at Religion News Service.

Read “'Cannabis burned during worship' by ancient Israelites - study” at BBC.

Read “‘How long, O Lord?’ Psalm 13 is the cry of black Americans” at America Magazine.

Read “Dear Evangelicals, You Must Know What You’ve Done To be Healed” by Kyle J. Howard.

Read “Southern Baptists see historic drop in membership” at Washington Post.

Read “Bishop at DC church outraged by Trump visit: 'I just can't believe what my eyes have seen' at CNN.

  • Read “Peaceful Protesters Were Gassed Outside The White House So Trump Could Get A Photo Op At A Church” at Buzzfeed News.

  • Read “Ahead of Trump Bible photo op, police forcibly expel priest from St. John’s church near White House” at Religion News Service.

  • Read “The Bible Is Not a Prop. Its Teachings, Though—about the Gospel and Justice—Are What We Need Right Now A Bible in a photo opp was not the Bible we needed” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “Barr personally ordered removal of protesters near White House, leading to use of force against largely peaceful crowd” at Washington Post.

  • Read “The president is dragging the church into a culture war. We shouldn’t let him” at America Magazine.

  • Read “An 'ANTIFA' Twitter account that called for looting 'white hoods' was actually run by white nationalist group Identity Evropa” at Business Insider.

  • Read “American Bible Society leader: Don’t use the Bible as a political ‘prop’” at Religion News Service.

  • Read “Amid protests, US Faith leaders engage racism and politics” at AP News.

  • Read “Trump Favorability Slips Among White Catholic and Non-College Americans During National Unrest” at PRRI.

Read “Liberty University’s Director of Diversity Retention Has Resigned” at The Way of Improvement.

  • Read “Black Liberty U. alums rebuke Falwell after blackface tweet” at AP News.

Browse “Antiracism Books for Christians – A Reading Guide” at Englewood Review of Books.

Browse “75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice” at Medium.

Unrest erupts worldwide in response to systemic racism in the U.S. manifesting in police brutality:

  • Read “Pentagon puts military police on alert to go to Minneapolis” at Associated Press.

  • Read “The History Behind 'When The Looting Starts, The Shooting Starts' at NPR.

  • Read “The Revolution Will Not Be Videoed What Paul and Silas might have said about George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and and and …” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “Why Do They Riot? Rioting & The Overflow of Racial Trauma” by Jemar Tisby.

  • Read “JAY-Z Called Minnesota Governor About Justice for George Floyd, Issues Statement” at Pitchfork.

  • Read “Killer Mike Delivers Emotional Speech to Atlanta Protesters at Mayor’s Press Conference” at Pitchfork.

  • Read “In Some Cities, Police Officers Joined Protesters Marching Against Brutality” at Forbes.

  • Read “Cities on Edge as Fires Burn Near White House” at New York Times.

  • Read “Music Industry to Observe ‘Blackout Tuesday’ in Solidarity with Nationwide Protests” at Relix.

  • Read “A Reporter’s Cry on Live TV: ‘I’m Getting Shot! I’m Getting Shot!’” at New York Times.

  • Read “Op-Ed: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Don’t understand the protests? What you’re seeing is people pushed to the edge” at Los Angeles Times.

  • Read “As cities burned, Trump stayed silent — other than tweeting fuel on the fire” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Protest, Uprisings, and Race War” at Counter Punch.

  • Read “Martin Luther King Jr.’s scorn for ‘white moderates’ in his Birmingham jail letter” at Washington Post.

  • Read “The terror of wearing both a press badge and black skin’: Black journalists are carrying unique burdens” at Washington Post.

  • Read “What Does “Blackout Tuesday” Actually Mean for the Music Industry?” at Pitchfork.

    • Read “What Major Music Companies Actually Did on “Blackout Tuesday” at Pitchfork.

  • Read/Watch “Thousands protest in downtown Phoenix for 4th straight night, people being detained” at AZ Family.

  • Read “When Rioting Is the Answer” at Time.

  • Read “The additional violence of George Floyd’s autopsy report” at Christian Century.

  • Read “Minneapolis police union president releases letter criticizing city leaders following civil unrest” at KSTP.

  • Read “The DEA Has Just Been Authorized to Conduct Surveillance on Protesters” at Buzzfeed News.

  • Read “Trump calls governors ‘weak,’ urges them to use force against unruly protests” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Colin Kaepernick sets up legal defence fund for George Floyd demonstrators” at The Independent.

  • Read “Minnesota Files Discrimination Complaint Against Minneapolis Police Department” at NPR.

  • Read “How to Safely and Ethically Film Police Misconduct” at Teen Vogue.

  • Read/Watch “Massive protests defy local curfews, Trump threats” at MSNBC.

  • Read “All four former officers involved in George Floyd's killing now face charges” at CNN.

  • Read “Social media cracks down on sick challenge mocking George Floyd’s death” at New York Post.

  • Read “If You Are White And Anti-Racist, This Non-Optical Allyship Guide Is Required Reading” at Vogue.

  • Read "A Soul Check for White Christians In the words of MLK, "There comes a time when silence is betrayal” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Cast, Showrunner Donate $100,000 to National Bail Fund Network” at Variety.

  • Read “They Wanted A War, They Got One” Inside Trump’s Militarized Occupation of Washington D.C.”

  • Read “Institutionalized Racism: A Syllabus How can we help students understand George Floyd’s death in the context of institutionalized racism?” at Daily JSTOR.

  • Read “Final autopsy report reveals George Floyd had CORONAVIRUS but died from 'cardiopulmonary arrest' after Minneapolis cop knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes” at Daily Mail.

  • Read "Jimmy Carter on George Floyd protests: 'Silence can be as deadly as violence' at CNN.

  • Read “New Yorkers Said ‘F**k The Police,’ So The Police Rioted A historic uprising against police brutality in the city has seen the arrest of nearly 2,000 people, including me” at Huff Post.

  • Browse “Resources in the Fight Against Police Brutality and Systemic Racism” at Pitchfork.

  • Read “3 more Minneapolis officers charged in George Floyd death, Derek Chauvin charges elevated” at NBC News.

  • Read “The Problem With Research on Racial Bias and Police Shootings” at City Lab.

  • Browse “Antiracism Books for Christians – A Reading Guide” at Englewood Review of Books.

  • Read “1968-2020: A Tale Of Two Uprisings” at NPR.

  • Read “Tear Gas Is Way More Dangerous Than Police Let On — Especially During the Coronavirus Pandemic In the middle of a respiratory pandemic, law enforcement agencies have used tear gas in especially dangerous ways. The chemical agent also seeps into homes, contaminates food, furniture, skin and surfaces, and can cause long-term lung damage” at Pro Publica.

  • Read “A Dubious Legal Doctrine Protects Cities From Lawsuits Over Police Brutality” at Slate.

  • Read “Floyd Protesters Met With Armed Bystanders During Indiana March” at Time.

  • Read “Law Enforcement Seizes Masks Meant To Protect Anti-Racist Protesters From COVID-19” at Huff Post.

Protests against police violence . . . produce more police violence?

Read “A church returns land to American Indians “This is decolonized land,” a young woman said. “This is a liberated zone” at Christian Century.

  • Read “Standing Rock Tribe Wins in Court After Years of Perseverance” at Earth Justice.

Read “Virginia governor to announce removal of Lee statue” at AP News.

  • Read “Robert E Lee statue: Virginia governor announces removal of monument” at BBC.

Read “K-Pop Fans Have Hijacked #WhiteLivesMatter on Twitter to Teach Racists a Lesson” at News 18.

Read “Study: White people react to evidence of white privilege by claiming greater personal hardships” at Raw Story (from 2015).

Read “Minneapolis Police Union President: “I’ve Been Involved In Three Shootings Myself, And Not A One Of Them Has Bothered Me” at The Intercept.

Read “White New York socialite calls police on black woman for sitting on a bench” at Indy 100.

Read “Racism, Police Violence, and the Climate Are Not Separate Issues” at New Yorker.

Read “Ahmaud Arbery was boxed in by 2 trucks as he tried to escape, suspect used racial slur as he stood over body, evidence revealed in court shows” at Chicago Tribune.

Read “No, I'm not okay By Neal Lester, PhD.” at Ahwatukee Foothills News.

Read “Portland Public Schools will discontinue regular presence of school resource officers” at KATU.

Read “Breonna Taylor lived and died in a part of the U.S. where rights do not matter” at America Magazine.

Read “Atlanta-Based Organization Advocates For Rest As A Form Of Social Justice” at NPR.

Read “Putin decides to announce federal emergency due to fuel spill in Norilsk at RBC.

Read “About Face Death and surrender to power in the clothing of men” at Popula.

Weekly Coronavirus Roundup

  • Read “Social Distancing Is Not Enough We will need a comprehensive strategy to reduce the sort of interactions that can lead to more infections” at The Atlantic.

  • Read “Praying in a church is more important than buying flatpack furniture” at The Telegraph.

  • Read “A pastor’s pandemic diary” at Christian Century.

  • Read “Hydroxychloroquine, a drug promoted by Trump, failed to prevent healthy people from getting covid-19 in trial” at Washington Post.

  • The U.S. death toll passes 110,000.

Read “What comes after the ‘Trumpocalypse’? America has a chance to be reborn” at The Star.

  • Read “Donald Trump Appears to Have Committed Felony Voter Fraud” at Slate.

  • Read “Trump, Lacking Clear Authority, Says U.S. Will Declare Antifa a Terrorist Group” at New York Times.

  • Read “'I wish you the best': US military adviser resigns after Trump's controversial photo op at church” at Business Insider.

  • Read “James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution In an extraordinary condemnation, the former defense secretary backs protesters and says the president is trying to turn Americans against one another” at The Atlantic.

  • Read “History Will Judge the Complicit Why have Republican leaders abandoned their principles in support of an immoral and dangerous president?” at The Atlantic.

Read “Iowa Rep. Steve King defeated in GOP primary” at Axios.

Read “Colorado Democrats Announce a New Bill To Hold Law Enforcement More Accountable As mass demonstrations against police brutality continue throughout America, a group of Centennial State lawmakers has put forth a set of legislative solutions” at 5280.

Read “Carole Baskin wins control of Tiger King star Joe Exotic's former zoo” at Yahoo.

Read “Formation of The Bob Weir Band-Fall 1977 (Enter Brent)” at Lost Live Dead.

Read “Music Industry to Observe ‘Blackout Tuesday’ in Solidarity with Nationwide Protests” at Relix.

Hear “Bob Mould Rage Against the President and Evangelicals on ‘American Crisis’ Track will appear on artist’s upcoming Blue Hearts LP, due out this fall” at Rolling Stone.

Read “This Is How Much More Money Artists Earn From Bandcamp Compared to Streaming Services” at Pitchfork.

Read “The Apollo Theater Schedules Free ‘Let’s Stay In Together’ Benefit with Dionne Warwick, Gary Clark Jr., Warren Haynes and More” at Relix.

Read “Sturgill Simpson Announces Livestream Show At Empty Ryman Auditorium” at Jambands.

Read “The Osbick Bird: Edward Gorey’s Tender and Surprising Vintage Illustrated Allegory About the Meaning of True Love” at Brain Pickings.

Read “The Court Case That Killed the ‘Ladies Menu’ Upscale restaurants once listed prices only for men” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “How ‘Shoebox Lunches’ Made Black Travel Possible During Jim Crow Humble shoeboxes allowed African-Americans to dine with dignity” at Atlas Obscura.

Browse “The extraordinary Polaroid diary of German filmmaker Wim Wenders” at Far Out Magazine.

Support FilmBar Online.

Read “10 Black-Owned Businesses To Support In Downtown Phoenix” at DTPHX.

Read “First Amendment Lawsuit Filed Over Terrorism Lesson At Scottsdale Community College” at Fronteras Desk.

The Weekly Town Crier (05/08/20

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (05/08/20).

Read “R.I.P. Sam Lloyd, Scrubs Actor Dies at 56” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “R.I.P. Irrfan Khan, Legendary Indian Actor Dies At 53” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Kraftwerk Co-Founder Florian Schneider Dead at 73” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Was (Not Was) Singer Sweet Pea Atkinson Dead At 74” at Stereogum.

Read “Barney Ales, Indispensable Motown Executive, Is Dead at 85” at New York Times.

Read “New report finds nonreligious people face stigma and discrimination” at Religion News Service.

Read “How dying churches abuse pastors Gene Fowler examines why traumatized congregations so often attack their leaders.” at Christian Century.

Read “Sudan Makes FGM a Crime in 'New Era' for Women's Rights The crime will be punishable by up to three years in jail” at Global Citizen.

Read “Don’t Look Away: Why Ahmaud Arbery’s Tragedy Must Be Addressed Head On” at Christianity Today.

  • Read “Ahmaud Arbery Should Be Alive Convicting his killers is the start. But the family of this modern lynching victim can’t have “justice” in a country with laws that protect white people who kill black people” at Rolling Stone.

Read “An Indianapolis Police Officer Fatally Shot A Black Man Who Reportedly Livestreamed The Encounter On Facebook” at Buzzfeed News.

Read “Why People Cling To Conspiracy Theories Like ‘Plandemic’” at Forbes.

Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

  • Read/watch “Protesters Swarm Michigan Capitol Amid Showdown Over Governor's Emergency Powers” at NPR.

  • Read “Two Arizona County Sheriffs Are Refusing to Enforce Coronavirus Emergency Orders” at Phoenix New Times.

  • Read “White House Denies Congressional Request For Dr. Anthony Fauci's Testimony” at NPR.

  • Read “Phoenix airport sees almost 50% drop in number of travelers due to coronavirus” at AZ Central.

  • Read “With Trump's Coronavirus Response, U.S. Forfeits Global Leadership Role” at NPR.

  • Read “Trump’s Favorability Among White Christians Falls In Double Digits, Particularly In Counties Hit Hardest By Coronavirus, Poll Says” at Newsweek.

  • Read “The US just reported its deadliest day for coronavirus patients as states reopen, according to WHO” at CNBC.

  • Read “Pope Francis joins Muslim leaders in calling for world day of prayer to end the coronavirus” at American Magazine.

  • Read “A new clinical study is investigating whether prayer might make a difference in the outcomes of COVID-19 patients who require intensive care. “We all believe in science, and we also believe in faith,” says the principal investigator” at NPR.

  • Read the opinion piece “Donald Trump's four-step plan to reopen the US economy – and why it will be lethal” by Robert Reich at The Guardian.

  • Read “Why Conservatives and Liberals Are Not Experiencing the Same Pandemic” at Heterodox: The Blog.

  • Read the opinion piece: “We’re Still Living and Dying in the Slaveholders’ Republic The pandemic has brought the latest battle in the long American war over communal well-being” at The Atlantic.

  • Read “WHO says it has seen zero evidence to support White House claim that COVID-19 came from Wuhan lab” at Salon.

  • Read “A Mexican 'Lucha Libre' Wrestler Is Sewing Masks To Fight Coronavirus” at NPR.

  • Read “Coronavirus Lingers in Air of Crowded Spaces, New Study Finds” at Bloomberg.

  • Read “Black Bodies Are Devalued And Overlooked In Georgia” at Sojourners.

  • Read “Franklin Graham calls for coronavirus quarantine defiance: Only God ‘knows the number of our days’” at Raw Story.

  • Read “Ohio lawmaker refuses to wear mask because he says it dishonors God” at NBC News.

  • Read “Why Pandemics Are the Perfect Environment for Conspiracy Theories to Flourish” at Snopes.

  • Read “Pastors Claim Bill Gates Will Use COVID Vaccines to Impose the Mark of the Beast” at Friendly Atheist.

  • Read/Watch “Arizona state health department tells modeling team to stop work” at ABC 15.

  • Read “Without Federal Aid, More than 1,000 U.S. Music Venues Are in Danger of Closing” at Rolling Stone.

  • Read “40 People Were Arrested on Social Distancing Violations. 35 Were Black” at New York Times.

Read “Joe Walsh Reflects on Kent State Shootings: ‘We Are as Divided Now as We Were Then’ “The solution then, as it is now, is to be able to peacefully assemble and understand each other and accept our differences,” says artist who was a present at the massacre” at Rolling Stone.

  • Read “Devo’s Jerry Casale Looks Back at Kent State 50 Years Later: ‘Time Stood Still’ “I saw somebody in charge yelling at these two lines of National Guardsmen and then he made a hand gesture,” says Casale. “That is when they started shooting” at Rolling Stone.

Read “DeVos finalizes regulations that give more rights to those accused of sexual assault on college campuses” at CNN.

Read “Betsy DeVos unveils new Title IX rules: Are they aimed at "silencing survivors"?” at Salon.

Read “Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces ban on assault-style weapons” at MSN.

Read “Joe Biden denies he sexually assaulted a former Senate aide, calls on National Archives to release complaint if one exists” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Obama team fully vetted Biden in 2008 and found no hint of former aide’s allegation” at News and Guts.

Read “How Mitch McConnell Became Trump's Enabler In Chief” at New Yorker.

Read “Retired Republican Senator Jeff Flake will vote for Biden over Trump and says GOP needs 'a sound defeat' in 2020 election” at Yahoo.

Read “DOJ dropping case against former Trump adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying about Russia contact” at AZ Central.

Read “Trump’s Narcissistic Punishment Of Withholding Michigan Aid” at Forbes.

Read “Amanda Palmer announces separation from Neil Gaiman on Patreon” at AV Club.

Read “Quincy Jones Won't Be Awarded $6.9 Million in Royalties on Behalf of Michael Jackson Estate” at Okay Player.

Watch “Rodney Mullen and the First Kickflip Ever” at The Berrics.

Watch “Olympic Channel Investigates Norway’s Ban On Skateboarding In The ‘80's” at The Berrics.

Read “watch hours and hours of early ’80s MTV, complete with commercials Read More: watch hours and hours of early ’80s MTV, complete with commercials” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read/Listen to “The Triumphant Return of Fiona Apple, Pop Music Renegade” at New York Times.

  • Read “What Happens If I Don’t Like Fiona Apple? It seems like everyone in the world loves “Fetch the Bolt Cutters.” So why don’t I? On the isolation of disconnection” at Long Reads.

Read “An interview with the incomparable Jim O'Rourke” at Tone Glow.

Read “Channeling the cosmic imperfections of Sun Ra’s record sleeves” at Vinyl Factory.

Read “Win Butler Reveals Secret Influences Behind Arcade Fire’s ‘Reflektor’ Frontman says additional James Murphy collaborations could be in band’s future: “We have more work to do” at Rolling Stone.

Browse “Pitchfork Staffers Recommend 16 Great Indie Record Stores You Can Support Online”.

Read “Marilyn Manson Wants to Team Up with Brandi Carlile for “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” Duet The Antichrist Superstar "cried so hard" during Carlile's Joni Mitchell tribute” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Bob Dylan announces new album ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’, shares single ‘False Prophet’” at NME.

Read “Nicolas Cage will play Joe Exotic the Tiger King in his first TV role, report says” at CNet.

Read “Five Bottles of Whiskey We’re Revisiting During Quarantine” at Paste.

The Weekly Town Crier (04/17/20

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (04/17/20)

Read “Brian Dennehy, Burly Actor in 'First Blood,' 'Cocoon' and 'Death of a Salesman,' Dies at 81” at Hollywood Reporter.

Read “The pope just proposed a universal basic income. Is the United States ready for it?” at The Atlantic.

Read “On Christians Spreading Corona Conspiracies: Gullibility is not a Spiritual Gift” at Christianity Today.

Read “In Florida, Pro Wrestling Deemed Essential Business” at News and Guts.

Read “White House Seeks To Lower Farmworker Pay To Help Agriculture Industry” at NPR.

Read the opinion piece “The plague of Donald Trump” by Sarah Kendzior at Globe and Mail.

Read “Trump says Republicans would ‘never’ be elected again if it was easier to vote President dismissed Democratic-led push for voter reforms amid coronavirus pandemic during Fox & Friends appearance” at The Guardian.

WATCH: “Cuomo pushes back against Trump’s authority to re-open the economy” at PBS News Hour.

Read “The Woman Accusing Biden of Sexual Assault Filed a Report to Police. Here’s What You Need to Know” at Vice.

Read “Virginia governor makes Election Day a holiday and expands early voting” at CNN.

Read “Scotland's claim to fame as birthplace of the F-word revealed” at Scotsman.

Read “Speed: The Infinite Soup Can, Psychic Visigoths and The Beatles Going Fast” at Aquarium Drunkard.

Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

  • Read “Dave Grohl’s Pandemic Playlist The Foo Fighters front man picks a song for your every quarantine mood” at The Atlantic.

  • Read “What Does Apple Music’s $50 Million COVID-19 Fund Mean for Indie Labels? Reps from Saddle Creek, Partisan, Don Giovanni and others have mixed feelings about the tech giant's relief effort” at Pitchfork.

  • Read “Record Stores: Coronavirus ‘Could Be the Death Knell’ For Indie Retailers Most shops were already scraping by, but many look for hope as the pandemic forces their doors closed” at Rolling Stone.

  • Read “Trump Removed the Head of the Coronavirus Bailout Oversight Board. Its Members Could Be Next” at Pro Publica.

  • Read “Sturgill Simpson Confirms COVID-19 Diagnosis Following Frustrating Attempts to Get Tested” at Billboard.

  • Read “Belfast pub delivering pints of freshly-poured Guinness door-to-door during lockdown” at Irish Post.

  • Read “The Police Power of the States to Control a Pandemic, Explained The federal government has the resources, but it’s the states that have the power” at The Dispatch.

  • Read “A Month After Emergency Declaration, Trump's Promises Largely Unfulfilled” at NPR.

  • Read the Opinion Piece: “The Huge Cost of Waiting to Contain the Pandemic As the numbers show, the timing of social distancing can have an enormous impact on death tolls” at New York Times.

  • Read “Tax change in coronavirus package overwhelmingly benefits millionaires, congressional body finds” at Washington Post.

  • Read “Virginia pastor who defiantly held church service dies of coronavirus” at New York Post.

  • Read “Live Concerts Won’t Return Until “Fall 2021 at the Earliest,” Health Expert Warns” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “The Mountain Goats Release New Album Songs for Pierre Chuvin: Listen John Darnielle’s first boombox album since 2002’s All Hail West Texas” at Pitchfork.

Read “Sturgill Simpson Pens Emotional Goodbye To John Prine” at Whiskey Riff.

  • Read “John Prine: The Last Days and Beautiful Life of an American Original His wife, Fiona, son Jody, and others remember a big-hearted genius who championed new artists and made the most of the small things in life” at Rolling Stone.

  • Read “John Prine, A Beacon of Middle America by Erin Osmon at No Depression.

  • Read/Watch/Listen “John Prine :: Sessions At West 54th” Aquarium Drunkard.

Read “'Indian Sun: The Life and Music of Ravi Shankar' (excerpt)” at Pop Matters. “Ravi Shankar was bemused by the Beatles and others using the sitar in rock music.”

Read “Ticketmaster changes refund policy amid COVID-19 outbreak” at Lambgoat.

Read “David Nelson Reflects on Writing and Recording with Robert Hunter” at Relix.

Read “Spacemen 3’s Peter Kember On Analog Synths, Plant Life, And His New Album as Sonic Boom” at Vinyl Me Please.

Read “How Independent Music Could Suffer If Trump Kills the U.S. Postal Service” at Pitchfork.

Read “‘Robin Hood’ Animated Film Getting Disney Remake” at Variety.

Read “Carole Baskin Feels ‘So Angry’ That Tiger King Made Her Look Like a Husband-Murderer” at Vulture.

Read “Wes Anderson Lists Movies to Watch In Quarantine The veteran filmmaker is also a big fan of Jimmy McGill” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Beverly Cleary, Creator of Mighty Girl "Ramona Quimby," Celebrates Her 104th Birthday” at A Mighty Girl.

Hear “Christopher Walken reads Where The Wild Things Are” at For Reading Addicts.

Read “How Orange (the Fruit) Inspired Orange (the Color) Until the Renaissance, the English language had no word for yellow-red” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “When the Government Banned PBR, Pabst Made Cheese Instead Selling dairy products helped the brewery survive Prohibition” at Atlas Obscura.

The Weekly Town Crier (04/10/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (04/10/20)

Read “John Prine 1946 – 2020” at JamBase.

Read “Hal Willner, Music Producer and ‘SNL’ Veteran, Dies at 64” at Variety.

Read “Mort Drucker, Master of the Mad Caricature, Is Dead at 91” at New York Times.

Coronavirus Weekly Roundup:Education:

  • Read: “I’ve Spent 27 Years in Solitary Confinement. Here Are Some Tips on Making the Best Use of Time Alone” at Mother Jones.

  • Read “Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp admits he just learned asymptomatic people can spread coronavirus” at NBC News.

  • Read “Liberty University student tests positive for Covid-19 after Falwell reopens campus Nearly a dozen students showed symptoms of coronavirus after Jerry Falwell Jr defied calls for closures and invited them to return” at The Guardian.

  • Read “As coronavirus death rates multiply, these monks are giving away caskets” at Religion News Service.

  • Read “The coronavirus pandemic is exposing the myth of self-reliance The people we deem invisible are holding us together right now” at Christian Century.

  • Read “Fox News Is Preparing to Be Sued Over Coronavirus Misinformation Polls show that Trish Regan, Sean Hannity, and others successfully bamboozled viewers about coronavirus. Now, Fox is reportedly lawyering up for a potential legal backlash” at Vanity Fair.

Read “President Obama & Marilynne Robinson: A Conversation in Iowa” at The New York Review of Books.

Read “Sen. Elizabeth Warren Calls For National Voting Overhaul” at NPR. “Sen. Elizabeth Warren is unveiling a plan that includes $4 billion in new elections funding and that would require 30 days of early voting and a mail-in ballot to be sent to every registered voter in the country.”

Read “Bernie Sanders drops out of the 2020 race, clearing Joe Biden's path to the Democratic nomination” at CNN.

Read “Everybody Loses: Tiger King, Greek Tragedy, and Spectacle as Entertainment” at Christ and Pop Culture.

Read “Why Do We Even Listen to New Music? Our brains reward us for seeking out what we already know. So why should we reach to listen to something we don’t?” at Pitchfork.

Listen to Henry Rollins’ 4-Hour Radio Show The Cool Quarantine” at Pitchfork.

Read “When I Get To Heaven”: A Candid Conversation with John Prine” at Relix.

The Weekly Town Crier (02/21/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (02/14/20).

Read “DJ and producer Andrew Weatherall has died” at Vinyl Factory.

Read “Pete Buttigieg On Faith ‘As A Source of Unity’ And Its Role In The 2020 Election.”

Read “James Cone looked evil in the face and refused to let it crush his hope Antiblackness is outrageous, but it does not have the last word” at Christian Century.

Read/watch “Christians surprise Pride parade marchers with signs apologizing for anti-LGBTQ views” at 10tv.

Read “Will the Real Pro-Life Political Party Please Stand Up?” by Shane Claiborne at Red Letter Christians.

Read “There is beauty and joy at the end of life, too” at Globe And Mail.

Read “Deliver Us, Lord, From the Startup Life In the Midwest, Christian entrepreneurs are searching for relief from the corrosive grind of company-building—while some faith leaders preach the gospel of crushing it” at Wired.

Read “Trump critic Russell Moore, ERLC to face scrutiny by Southern Baptists” at Religion News Service.

Read “First Asian American sheriff in California vows to protect immigrants from Trump policies” at AZ Central.

Read “The No. 1 reason you’re still broke even if you received a pay raise last year” at Market Watch. “When adjusted for cost of living increases, real wages actually declined 1.3% since the end of 2017.”

Read “At the border, “law and order” looks a lot like chaos Trump’s new policies are creating confusion and misery” at Christian Century.

Read/Watch “Why Trump’s outreach to black voters is raising ethical questions” at PBS News Hour. “"It seems like the president suggested that the scholarship for Janiyah Davis was part of a government program. But then we found out that it was paid for by the personal charity of one of his employees," says Donald Sherman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.”

Read “Trump Administration To Waive Contracting Laws To Build Border Wall” at KJZZ.

Read “Primary Season Is Here And 'Hispandering' Is Back” at NPR.

Read “The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Will Officially Become a Part of Oklahoma School Curriculum Beginning in the Fall” at The Root.

Read “There Is Not Some Separation Between Jesus and Justice.' How Rev. William J. Barber II Uses His Faith to Fight for the Poor” at Time.

Read “Psychology shows it’s a big mistake to base our self-worth on our professional achievements” at Quartz.

Read “Boy Scouts seek bankruptcy under wave of new sex abuse lawsuits” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “If we can't stop active shooter drills, let's at least do them without traumatizing kids” at AZ Central.

Read “US ranks lower than 38 other countries when it comes to children's wellbeing, new report says” at CNN.

Read “A Second School in California Will Be Named After Michelle Obama Michelle Obama Elementary School opens its doors in August” at Global Citizen.

Read “Arizona charter school principal pleads guilty in $2.5 million enrollment scheme” at AZ Central.

Read “Trump Calls For End To Student Loan Forgiveness Program” at Forbes.

Read “To promote success in schools, focus on teacher well-being” at Brookings.

Read “Children stage mass-walkout after teachers were forced to quit for being gay” at Metro.

Read/Watch “Poverty is a winning issue for 2020” at CNN.

Read “'Just Plain Ugly': Proposed Executive Order Takes Aim At Modern Architecture” at NPR.

Read “1,100 Former DOJ Employees Call On Barr To Resign After Intervening In Stone Case” at NPR.

  • Read “Federal judges' association calls emergency meeting after DOJ intervenes in case of Trump ally Roger Stone” at USA Today.

Read “2.5M Pounds Of Radioactive Waste Illegally Dumped In Oregon Landfill” at OPB.

Read “Greece Elected an Environmentalist as Its First Woman President Katerina Sakellaropoulou gained support across party lines” at Global Citizen.

Read “Bloomberg set to debate in Nevada after qualifying in new poll” at The Hill.

Read “Trump Commutes Sentence Of Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich” at NPR.

  • Read “Trump Threatens to Sue ‘Everyone All Over the Place’ Another morning, another Twitter outburst” at Rolling Stone.

  • Read “How Much Has the Government Spent at Trump’s Properties? It Won’t Say” at ProPublica.

Read “Japan’s Lost-and-Found System Is Insanely Good” at City Lab.

Read “The Next Smithsonian Might Be A Women's History Museum” at NPR.

Read “The gloriously unhinged progressive pushback against the Babylon Bee The humor may or may not be to your taste but it’s hardly about to bring the republic crashing down in a slurry of ignorance” at Spectator USA.

Read “Court Records Confirm Works From Nirvana, Elton John And Others Damaged In 2008 Fire” at NPR.

Read “Grateful Dead To Release 15-CD ‘June 1976’ Box Set” at Jambands.com.

Read “New Adventures with The Kernal” at Sound And Soul.

Read “Facing Hearing Loss, Huey Lewis Releases What 'May Be' His Last Album” at NPR.

Read “New Musical ‘Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Story’ to Open in London in 2021” at Rolling Stone.

Read “The Day The Music Became Carbon-Neutral” at The New Yorker.

Read “An Attempt To Explain The “Difficult” Neil Young Records” at Vinyl Me Please.

Read “Neil Young Pens Open Letter to Donald Trump: ‘You Are a Disgrace to My Country’ Now an American citizen, Young rails against the president” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Henry Rollins To Voice Tri-Klops In Netflix’s He-Man Reboot” at Stereogum.

Read “Feature-Length Ronnie James Dio Documentary Is Being Made The film is being produced by BMG and will span the singer's illustrious career” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Watch More Than 400 Classic Korean Films Free Online Thanks to the Korean Film Archive” at Open Culture.

Read “The Original Renegade A 14-year-old in Atlanta created one of the biggest dances on the internet. But nobody really knows that” at New York Times.

Read “LeBron James to release his first children's book this summer” at Entertainment Weekly.

See “This Graffiti Artist Makes Walls Appear Transparent Using Nothing But Spray Paint” at Bored Panda.

See “Portraits of “Most Beautiful Chickens on the Planet” Capture Their Underrated Beauty” at My Modern Net.

Read “Improving the prognosis of health care in the USA” at Science Direct.

Read “Scientists detect an unexplainable radio signal from outer space that repeats every 16 days” at AZ Central.

Read “Generations of Handwritten Mexican Cookbooks Are Now Online North America’s largest-known Mexican cookbook collection inspires both tears and restaurant dishes” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “Arpaio Leads in Sheriff’s Race Cash, But Just 1 in 8 of His Donors Are Arizonans” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Lawmaker would ban students from listing dormitories on voter registration” at AZ Central.

Read “Caverns Grotto In a 345-million-year-old cave that's 200 feet underground, dinner awaits.” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “7 Arizona Locations On Pier 1 Imports Store Closing List” at KJZZ.

Read “Arizona Governor, GOP Lawmakers End Sanctuary City Ban Push” at KJZZ.

The Weekly Town Crier (02/07/20)

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All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (02/07/20).

Read “Gang of Four’s Andy Gill Dead at 64” at Pitchfork.

Read “Ivan Král, Patti Smith Group Member, Dead at 71” at Pitchfork.

Read “Kirk Douglas, Hollywood Icon and Spartacus Star, Dies at 103” at People.

Read “For Those Who Feel Betrayed By Christianity” at Sojourners. "Since the election of President Donald Trump, many Christians are asking: How could so many Christ-followers agree with actions that are so decisively un-Christlike?"

Read “Christians are Supposed to Care About People” at John Pavlovitz. “I never once see a Jesus brandishing a “Don’t Tread On Me” bravado in the face of dire need. I don’t see him lecturing the poor and the afflicted to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” I can’t find him inviting war or celebrating bloodshed or reveling in loss of life for any reason.”

Read “Evangelicalism Is Dead. We Need A New Label For Our Faith” at Sojourners.

Read “State of the Church” at Barna.

Read “Faith formation in my world religions classroom Each year a Hindu priest asks my students to “worship our own, but respect all.” They find the second part easier” at Christian Century.

Read “Christian Nonprofits Reeling from Trump Cuts to Foreign Aid Work in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador was starting to bring change, agencies say” at Christianity Today.

Read “Richard Rohr Reorders the Universe” at New Yorker.”The seventy-six-year-old Franciscan friar Richard Rohr believes that Christianity isn’t the only path to salvation.”

Read “Capitalism Is Incompatible With Christianity” at Sojourners.

Read “Pope Francis Turned a Roman Palace Into a Homeless Shelter” at Global Citizen.

Read “U.S. Showing ‘Many’ Genocide Warning Signs Under Trump, Expert Says: ‘I Am Very, Very Worried” at Newsweek.

Read “Greensboro Sit-In: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know” at Heavy.

Read “Before the Bus, Rosa Parks Was a Sexual Assault Investigator Why has history left out this piece of Rosa Parks' story?” at History.com.

Read “US judge in Tucson overturns convictions of 4 border-aid volunteers” at AZ Central.

Read “Investors Buy Old Hotel and Convert It into 139 Mini-Apartments for the Homeless” at Black Business.

Read “Finland's Women-Led Government Has Equalized Family Leave: 7 Months For Each Parent” at NPR.

Read “Watch: News Anchor Shows Americans Real Size of Wealth Gap—Using American Pie” at Common Dreams.

Read “How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk” at New York Times.

Read “E.B. White’s Beautiful Letter to a Man Who Had Lost Faith in Humanity What sailors teach us about hope and the resilience of the human spirit” at Brain Pickings. "As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate."

Read “Steve Wozniak: When Apple got ‘big money’ Steve Jobs’ personality ‘changed’” at CNBC.

Read “Report: Where Parents Have More Choice, Schools Appear To Become More Segregated” at WBUR.

Read “J.Lo and A-Rod Just Donated a Year’s Worth of Meals to a Tennessee School” at Global Citizen.

Read “Excess Teacher Responsibilities are Stealing Bonding Time with Students” at Bored Teachers.

Read “It's official: Trump's tax cuts were an economic bust” at Business Insider.

Read “Trump administration ‘rolling back women’s rights by 50 years’ by changing definitions of domestic violence and sexual assault” at The Independent.

Read “Senate rejects witnesses in Trump trial, ensuring acquittal” at PBS News Hour.

  • Read “Which Republicans Had the Worst Excuses for Ending the Impeachment Trial With No Witnesses?” at Slate.

  • Read “Voting to acquit this noxious criminal is the point of no return for the Republican Party” at Salon.

  • Read “Sen. Kyrsten Sinema votes to convict President Trump on impeachment charges” at AZ Central.

  • Read “Mitt Romney: ‘Dishonesty Is Donald Trump’s Hallmark.”How Mitt Romney Decided Trump Is Guilty” at Sojourners.

    • Read “How Mitt Romney Decided Trump Is Guilty” at The Atlantic.

Read “Trump extends travel ban to 6 countries — but is OK with selling arms to those same places” at NBC News.

Read “Trump's sexual assault allegations: The full list of women who have accused the President” at The Independent.

Read “The Downfall of the Republican Party To see men and women who had a positive vision beaten down and broken by Trump is a poignant thing” at The Atlantic.

Read “'It was a total mess': Caucusing is long over, but Iowa still doesn't have a winner” at USA Today.

Read/listen to “'No Longer A Friend': Ukrainians Are Losing Faith In The U.S.” at NPR.

Read “Trump Administration Loosens Obama-Era Restrictions On Land Mine Use” at NPR.

Read “Pelosi rips up Trump’s State of the Union speech” at PBS News Hour.

Read “Attorney General Barr Issues New Rules For Politically Sensitive Investigations” at NPR.

Read “Rush Limbaugh Says He Has Been Diagnosed With Advanced Lung Cancer” at NPR.

  • Read “Trump Honors Rush Limbaugh With Presidential Medal Of Freedom” at News and Guts.

Read “Gen X Will Not Go Quietly” at Gen.Medium.

Read “Fully Armed Rally-Goers Enter Kentucky’s Capitol Building With Zero Resistance” at Rolling Stone.

Read: “The Reading Room: Where Politics and Country Music Collide” at No Depression.

Watch “Vampire Weekend Perform at Bernie Sanders Rally” at Pitchfork.

Read “Country music is ‘dead’: Icon Loretta Lynn trashes modern hits” at Lexington Herald Leader.

Watch “The Velvet Underground Played At My High School” at PBS.

Read “Read between the lines with Mike Doughty” and Aarik Danielson at Columbia Daily Tribune.

Read “From White Supremacy To Opioids, Drive-By Truckers Confronts 'The Unraveling' at NPR.

Read “Built To Spill Announce Daniel Johnston Covers Album” at Stereogum.

Read “Remembering Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, & The Big Bopper On ‘The Day The Music Died’ In 1959 (02/03) at Live For Live Music.

Read “Spike Lee To Direct Film Version Of ‘David Byrne’s American Utopia’ Stage Show” at Deadline.

Read “Soundgarden countersue Vicky Cornell over ownership of final Chris Cornell recordings” at Consequence of Sound.

Consider “Television’s Punk Epic “Marquee Moon,” 40 Years Later” at Pitchfork.

Read “ABBA intend to release new music in 2020 The iconic Swedish group's first material in over 30 years” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “In conversation: When Elvis Costello met Tom Waits” at Far Out Magazine.

Read “David Byrne to Appear as Musical Guest on ‘Saturday Night Live’” at Jambands.

Read “Prominent Malian Musician Alleges That TSA Destroyed His Instrument” at NPR. “Delicate and complex, koras can stand more than 4 feet tall. In a statement on Ballaké Sissoko's Facebook, an ethnomusicologist deemed the custom-made style irreplaceable.”

Read “Brian Wilson Opposes Mike Love’s Beach Boys Show at Trophy Hunting Convention Wilson points fans toward a Change.org petition that calls to boycott the Beach Boys until their performance is canceled” at Pitchfork.

Read “Pee-wee Herman's "Dark" Reboot: Paul Reubens Is Ready to Stage a Comeback” at Hollywood Reporter.

Browse “74 Ways Characters Die in Shakespeare’s Plays Shown in a Handy Infographic: From Snakebites to Lack of Sleep” at Open Culture.

See “Super High-Resolution Photo of the Sun Reveals It Looks Like ... Corn” at Mental Floss.

Read “15,372 Scientists Just Signed a Letter Calling Climate Change Impact ‘Catastrophic’” at Global Citizen.

Read “Record-breaking astronaut Christina Koch returns to Earth after 328 days in space” at 12 News.

Read “The Art and Science of Kashmir’s Pink Tea Green tea becomes rosy with the addition of a special ingredient” at Atlas Obscura.

Browse “Haunted by Cybersects A freaky tour of the extant websites of 1990s cults” at Baffler.

Read “Arizona Quietly Sells 16,810 Acres to Freeport-McMoRan for Mining Waste” at Phoenix New Times.