The Weekly Town Crier (05/21/21)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (05/21/21).

We’ll Miss You:

Read “Charles Grodin, deadpan comic actor known for 'Midnight Run' and 'Beethoven,' dies at 86” at NBC News.

Read “Paul Mooney, 'Bamboozled' and 'Chappelle's Show' actor and comedian, has died” at CNN.

Read “Roger Hawkins, legendary Muscle Shoals drummer, RIP” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Religion and Stuff:

Read the opinion piece: “The debate over women pastors is a Southern Baptist smoke screen” at Religion News Service. “The fiery arguments distract from constructive conversations about entrenched racism, Christian nationalism and sexual abuse.”

Read “Survey: Faith groups showcase media divide” at Religion News Service. “White evangelicals were also the group most likely to say the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.”

Read “White evangelicals after Trump: What now?White evangelicals after Trump: What now?” at CNN.

Read “A Pennsylvania Lawmaker and the Resurgence of Christian Nationalism” at New Yorker. “How Doug Mastriano’s rise embodies the spread of a movement centered on the belief that God intended America to be a Christian nation.”

Read “Franklin Graham urges evangelicals to get vaccinated before it’s ‘too late’” at Religion News Service.

Read “Mark Driscoll Paid for Honeymoon with Church Funds; Uses Gift Cards to Pay Interns, Former Members Say” at Roys Report.

Read ‘DC Talk’s Kevin Max Is Now ‘Exvangelical,’ Says He’s Been ‘Progressing’ for ‘Decades’ at Faith Wire.

Read “Why grievance studies hoaxer and atheist James Lindsay wants to save Southern Baptists” at Religion News Service. “Much of the recent debate over critical race theory in the Southern Baptist Convention has been driven by an atheist, sword-wielding, former massage therapist best known for writing hoax academic papers.”

Read “If You End Church Mask Mandates, My Family Can’t Be There” at Sojourners.

Read “Russell Moore to Join Christianity Today to Lead New Public Theology Project” at Christianity Today.

Read “The New Republic postpones religion and politics forum. Replaces Eric Metaxas with Peter Wehner” at Current.

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

Read “Joel Greenberg, key player in Matt Gaetz sex trafficking probe, agrees to cooperate with feds” at ABC7NY.

• Read “Former Matt Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg pleads guilty to six federal charges” at CNN.

Read “House passes bill mandating accommodations for pregnant workers” at The Hill.

Read “Black homeowner had a white friend stand in for third appraisal. Her home value doubled” at Cincinnati.com.

Read “Mass shooting insurance in high demand as U.S. emerges from lockdown” at Reuters.

Read “How Black Lives Matter Changed the American Conversation About Israel and Palestine” at Slate. “The surge of attention to the occupation is unimaginable without last year’s protests.”

Read “80% Of Asian Americans Say They Are Discriminated Against” at NPR.

Read “The Supreme Court Just Took a Case That Could End Roe v. Wade’ at Vice.

Read “Trump legal bombshell? 45 'might be implicated' in Giuliani probe” at MSNBC.

• Read “Trump Organization Probe Becomes Criminal Investigation” at Time. “The investigation "is no longer purely civil in nature" a spokesman for the New York attorney general's office said.”

• Read “New York AG's office opens criminal probe into Trump Organization” at NBC News.

• Read “I think Donald Trump is going to flip on all of them’: Michael Cohen on the new NY State criminal investigation into the Trump Organization” at MSNBC.

Read “S.C. governor signs bill requiring death row inmates to choose firing squad or electric chair” at Axios.

Read “Giuliani asks judge to block review of records seized in raid of home, office” at The Hill.

Read “Hundreds of PPP Loans Went to Fake Farms in Absurd Places” at Pro Publica.

Read “‘I have lived through the massacre every day’: Tulsa massacre survivors testify before House committee” at MSNBC.

Read “In a Small Town, a Battle for Racial Justice Confronts a Bloody Past and an Uncertain Future” at Pro Publica. “A frustrated Black Lives Matter activist. A die-hard Confederate loyalist. A sheriff who won’t back down. In a place where protests are restricted and violence feels imminent, many cry: “We don’t want to die no more.”

This week in traitorous, white-supremacist Confederate monuments (and/or Columbus monuments // and/or other “American monuments” // Insurrectionists // and/or weird Confederacy stuff):

Read “Democrat moves to censure three Republicans for downplaying Jan. 6” at The Hill.

Read “Romney: Capitol riot was 'an insurrection against the Constitution'“ at The Hill.

Read “America’s Deadly Domestic Extremism Worst In 24 Years, Reveals New FBI Report” at Huff Post. “Most extremist killings in 2019 were committed by white supremacists.”

Read “Alleged Capitol Rioter On House Arrest After Killing Mountain Lion” at Huff Post.

Read “Arizona resident photographed with Proud Boys on day of Capitol riot is arrested in Phoenix” at AZ Central.

Read “Threats, videos and a recall: A California militia fuels civic revolt in a red county” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “FBI releases videos of 'horrifying assaults' on officers during Jan. 6 riot” at The Hill.

Read “House Votes To Establish Capitol Riot Commission Over Republican Opposition” at Huff Post.

Read “Trump calls for Jan. 6 commission debate to end 'immediately'“ at The Hill.

Read “Now the "QAnon Shaman" wants to use autism as an excuse: Hell no” at Salon.

This Week In Protest-Related News:

Read “51 Years Later, Brother Of Kent State Victim Reflects On Iconic Photo — And One That Just Emerged” at WBUR.

This Week With The Police:

Read “The Enemy Within” at Rolling Stone. “Race and White Supremacy in American Policing.”

Read “The Ball Was Dropped by All”: How Cops Got More Than $400,000 in Unlawful Sick Day Payouts” at Pro Publica.

Read “Bodycams haven't lived up to promises of exposing police misconduct. One reason: The police decide what to release” at USA Today.

Read “There's a database whose mission is to stop problematic police officers from hopping between departments. But many agencies don't know it exists” at CNN.

Read “Police unions plan to update guidance on defending officers” at The Hill.

Read “Police in Cities Across U.S. Brace for a Violent Summer” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “How US police training compares with the rest of the world” at BBC.

Read “Can Police Be Taught To Intervene When Colleagues Violate Safety Rules? One Professor Says Yes” at WBUR.

Read “Monroe Louisiana Arrests: ‘I’m scared’: AP obtains video of deadly arrest of Black man” at Associated Press.

Education and The Learnings // School Re-Openings

Read “Texas GOP Passes Bill To Stop Teachers From Talking About Racism” at Huff Post.

Read “University of California system will no longer consider SAT, ACT scores in admissions process” at The Hill.

Read “Tech Companies Want Schools to Use COVID Relief Money on Surveillance Tools” at Vice.

Read “Arizona schools chief says GOP budget plan takes state in ‘negative direction’” at KTAR.

Read “UNC won’t offer tenure to Nikole Hannah-Jones after wave of conservative criticism” at 19th News. “Despite approval from faculty and the tenure committee, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist will be the first Knight Chair professor at the university to be denied tenure by the board of trustees.”

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

Read “Ricky Schroder confronts Costco employee over mask requirement in viral video: 'You're just going to listen to their rules?'“ at Yahoo.

Read “Texas governor bans local governments, schools from requiring face masks” at The Hill. (EDITOR’S NOTE: As David Dark sometimes says: “There are so many ways to hate God.”)

Miscellany Cultural Items (and some Technology):

Read “Meghan McCain Blasts Marjorie Taylor Greene For ‘Behaving Like An Animal’” at Huff Post.

Read “PETA Slams The Offspring For Chimpanzee Strip Club Video With John Stamos” at Stereogum.

Read “Apple locked users into its ecosystem. Tesla wants to do the same with its ‘iPhone on wheels.’” at Washington Post.

Read “We Found Joe Biden’s Secret Venmo. Here’s Why That’s A Privacy Nightmare For Everyone.” at Buzzfeed News.

Read “Nearly two dozen cities are handing out cash with no conditions” at The Hill. “Los Angeles is working on a plan that would offer $1,000 per month to 1,000 families using public funds.”

Read “The IRS Tried to Take on the Ultrawealthy. It Didn’t Go Well.” at Pro Publica.

Read “Chrissy Teigen Is a Cyberbully. Could It Sink Her Career?” at Slate. “The answer is a lot less obvious than you’d think—or is it?”

Read “Naked Homes: Nudist Architecture and Rethinking Domestic Space” at Wolfsonian.

Read “Woman says she accidentally put $26M winning lottery ticket in the washer” at The Hill.

Read “AT&T is reportedly in talks to merge its media business with Discovery” at The Verge.

Read “Long Before Divorce, Bill Gates Had Reputation for Questionable Behavior” at New York Times.

• Read “Bill Gates's reputation reeling from affairs, 'uncomfortable' workplace behavior and ties to Jeffrey Epstein” at The Hill.

Read “Space Force commander fired after comments made on conservative podcast” at AZ Family.

Read “Your Electric Vehicle Can’t Get There from Here—At Least, Not Without a Charge” at New Yorker. “Why we need to build a national network of charging stations fast.”

Read “Seth Rogen Reveals How Beyonce's Bodyguard 'Humiliated' Him When He Tried to Meet Her” at Pop Culture.

Read “10 Celebrities Who Use Their Influence to Fight Injustice” at Global Citizen.

Read “The Mexican Mountain Town Feeding the International Crystal Market” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “The Sound of Silence: Have We Forgotten How to Be Quiet?” at The Millions.

Internationalities:

Read “Israel pounds Gaza with air raids, shelling” at Al Jazeera.

Read “Israel airstrikes kill 8 children, flatten building housing Associated Press, Al Jazeera offices” at NBC News.

Read the opinion piece: “Israel Doesn’t Have a “Right to Exist” — But Israelis and Palestinians Do” at Jacobin Magazine.

Read “Israel and Palestine: What Will it Take to Stop the Violence?” at Preemptive Love.

Read “Justin Trudeau Caught Using a Fake Apple MacBook” at Vice.

Read “Tayyip Erdogan Accuses Joe Biden of 'Bloody Hands' After Report of $735M Weapons Sale to Israel” at Newsweek.

Politics And Sucheries:

Read “House Democrats moving to censure Rep. Paul Gosar, 2 others for Jan. 6 comments” at AZ Central.

Read “Democratic Congressman Wants To Censure Rep. Gosar, Other Republicans” at KJZZ.

This Week In Political Corruption:

Read “Rep. Matt Gaetz Snorted Cocaine With Escort Who Had ‘No Show’ Gov’t Job” at Daily Beast.

• Read “Troubles grow for Gaetz as former associate flips” at The Hill.

Read “Deleted video shows Greene taunting Ocasio-Cortez's office in 2019” at The Hill.

• Read “Investigation: Marjorie Taylor Greene filed homestead exemptions on 2 homes, violating state law” at WSBTV. “A Channel 2 Action News investigation has found that Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and her husband have two active homestead exemptions, which is against Georgia law.”

Read “Man charged with wife’s murder illegally cast her ballot for Trump, officials say: ‘I just thought, give him another vote’ at Washington Post.

Read “Former President Trump Accuses Maricopa County Of Deleting Voter Records; Recorder Responds” at KJZZ.

• Read “Audit official says he ‘recovered’ files, undercutting claim county officials deleted them” at AZ Mirror.

Read “GOP leaders look to curtail ballot initiatives after red state voters opt for legal weed, expanded Medicaid” at Yahoo.

Read “Georgia Republicans oppose measure condemning Atlanta spa shootings” at Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Read “Feds investigating alleged illegal donations to Collins’ re-election bid” at Axios.

Music-Related News and Such:

Read “Shabaka Hutchings Goes Back to the Future” at Esquire. “The saxophonist and bandleader of Sons of Kemet is the most exciting voice in British jazz.”

Read “Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour Composes a Soundtrack to Arthur C. Clarke’s Documentary Fractals: The Colors of Infinity” at Open Culture.

Read “The Great American Songwriter Mr Bill Callahan Picks His Texas Playlist” at Mr Porter.

Read “David Byrne, Jonathan Demme, and 35 Years of ‘Stop Making Sense’” at The Ringer.

Browse Rolling Stone’s picks for “The 50 Greatest Concerts of the Last 50 Years.”

Read “The Green Album” Turns 20” at Stereogum. “After the release of Pinkerton in 1996, Rivers Cuomo decided that he needed to straighten some things out — so he got braces.”

Browse Vinyl Factory’s picks for “50 of the greatest Trojan Records".

Read “George Clinton, Robert Glasper Headline 2021 Blue Note Jazz Festival” at Okay Player.

Browse Far Out’s picks for “The 6 best songs written about disasters.”

Browse Pitchfork’s picks for “The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time.”

Read “James Taylor announces tour with Jackson Browne and new album” at Rock and Roll Garage.

Read “Guitarist Sin Quirin quits Ministry a year after allegations of sexual relationships with minors” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “Punk Rock Priests Offer Up Their ‘Parallel Love’ in Music and Sacrament’ at Christianity Today. “There’s no other band quite like Luxury, the evangelical indie rockers from the ’90s who journeyed through tragedy and faith to Eastern Orthodoxy.”

Read “Apple announces lossless Apple Music is coming in June at no added cost” at The Verge.

Read “A famed folk singer won a presidential pardon after molesting a child. Did he prey on others?” at Union Leader.

Browse Vinyl Factory’s picks for “The essential Yusef Lateef in 10 records.”

Read “Sinead O’Connor Remembers Things Differently” at New York Times.

Read “Marilyn Manson Sued by Former Assistant for Sexual Assault, Battery, and Harassment” at Pitchfork.

Read “Times they are a-changing! Bob Dylan is seen in public for the first time in a DECADE while running errands in LA - just days before this 80th birthday” at Daily Mail.

Read ‘Alanis Morissette Releases Chester Bennington Tribute Song ‘Rest’” at Rolling Stone.

Read “The Future Now: An Interview With Black Monument Ensemble’s Damon Locks” at Ghetto Blaster.

Read “The World Outside of Tropicalia: A Survey of the Psychedelic Sounds of South America” at In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi.

Read “The Guardian talk to The Necks' Tony Buck about improvising and bypassing the brain onstage” at Le Guess Who.

Read “Mdou Moctar’s Songs of Revolution and Love” at Rolling Stone. “The Tuareg guitar hero on his excellent new album and the ongoing fight for freedom and justice in neocolonial Niger.”

Movies/TV/Video Games/Etc.:

Read “‘Wonder Years’ Reboot Among Four ABC Series Orders for 2021-2022 Broadcast Season” at Variety.

Read “Miley Cyrus Signs Overall Deal With NBCUniversal, Will Develop Programs and Star in Three Specials” at Variety.

Read “Wanna See Keegan-Michael Key and Kenan Thompson Beat Up Statler and Waldorf?” at Slate.

Books/Reading/Authors

Design/Artsy Things:

Read “Compliments of Chicago – Gang Business Cards from the 1970s and 1980s” at Flashback.

Science/Animals/Nature/Environment/Etc.:

Read “When this octopus sees a threat it doesn't put up a fight – it just disappears” at Boing Boing.

Read “Freshly Made Plutonium From Outer Space Found On Ocean Floor” at NPR.

Read “This Moth Is Huge in Australia” at New York Times. “A giant wood moth, the heaviest of all known moths, appeared on the side of a school building in Queensland, Australia, enthralling students who are used to diverse wildlife.”

Read “'Extinct Fossil Fish' Dating Back 420 Million Years Found Alive in Madagascar” at Newsweek.

Read “Why can’t we remember our early childhood?” at Universal Sci.

Read “Explorer Details His 40 Days In French Cave Without Clocks Or Sunlight” at WBUR.

Read “Fungus full of psychedelic drugs could cause Indiana Brood X cicadas' butts to fall off” at Courier Press.

Read “Watch a Navy Pilot Explain His Encounter With a UFO” at Vice.

Read “Leaked Navy video appears to show UFO off California” at Yahoo.

Read “Skinwalker Ranch Owner Reveals UFO Moment That Struck Cow Dead, Made Him Believer” at Pop Culture.

Read “Scientists Shot Tardigrades from a Gun to See If Interplanetary Travel Is Survivable” at Vice.

Food Cultures:

Read “How Crowns & Hops is building a Black-owned craft beer brand — and a community” at Los Angeles Times.

Read “Drinking any amount of alcohol causes damage to the brain, study finds” at AZ Family.

Read “‘Mindfreak’ Magician Criss Angel Dives Into the Restaurant Business in Overton” at Vegas Eater.

Misc. Oddities:

Local:

Read “Roundup: Chino Bandido Has a Food Truck, Tax Day Pizza Deals, and More Food News” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Chino Bandido opens food truck at new location in Phoenix” at KTAR.

Read “Pointing To Economic Harm, Arizona Communities Call For Border Reopening” at Fronteras Desk.

The Weekly Town Crier (06/19/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (06/19/20)

Read “Legendary Batman writer, Denny O'Neil dies at age 81” at Games Radar.

Read “Evangelicals perfected cancel culture. Now it’s coming for them” at Religion News Service.

Read “Jesus Was Divisive: A Black Pastor's Message To White Christians” at NPR’s Code-Switch. “Of course, they are willing to sacrifice black and brown bodies to hear a full-throated hymn.”

Read “Apartheid’s Roots Nourished By Religion” from January 1985’s Chicago Tribune.

Read and Sign an “Open Letter to Our Nations’ Lawmakers on Systemic Racism” from The Poor People’s Campaign. "The question before us is whether America can be what it has promised to be." We will not stop until we can all breathe.

Read “Most US Pastors Speak Out in Response to George Floyd’s Death Survey finds many still worry discussing race is “too political” at Christianity Today.

Read “Before protests, black Americans said religious sermons should address race relations” at Pew Research.

Read “A Brief History of People Using Romans 13 to Justify White Supremacy” at The Root (originally published 2018).

Read ‘In landmark case, Supreme Court rules LGBTQ workers are protected from job discrimination” at NBC News. “The decision said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate because of a person's sex, also covers sexual orientation and transgender status”

Read “Supreme Court blocks Trump’s bid to end DACA, a win for undocumented ‘Dreamers’” at Washington Post.

Read “Number of Refugees World-Wide Has Doubled in Past Decade Nearly 80 million people were displaced from their homes at the end of 2019, according to the U.N.’s refugee agency” at Wall Street Journal.

Read “Colonialism’s Cages: When Indigenous People Were Placed In Human Zoos” at All That’s Interesting.

HAPPY JUNETEENTH!

• Read “The meaning of Juneteenth and how we should commemorate it today” at MPR News.

• Learn about Juneteenth at Teen Vogue.

• Read “Trump claims he made Juneteenth "very famous" at Axios. “I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous." The president claimed that "nobody had ever heard" of the June 19 celebration before he planned a rally in Tulsa on that day.”

• Read “Juneteenth: A Truer Independence Day The official end of slavery in America more fully embraces the self-evident truth of all people as created equal” at Christianity Today.

• Read “Juneteenth – 7 Books for Kids!” at Englewood Review of Books.

• Read “Amid Calls for a General Strike, Labor Will Shut Down 29 Ports on Juneteenth” at Truthout

Learn about Medgar Evers.

Learn about Ruby Bridges.

Learn about “The Trail Of Tears: Government-Approved Ethnic Cleansing That Removed 100,000 Native Americans From Their Ancestral Lands” at All That’s Interesting.

Read “Top Military Leaders Acknowledge Black and Hispanic Service Members Get Treated Unfairly in Its Justice System” at Newsweek.

Read “Top State Department official resigns in protest of Trump’s response to racial tensions in the country” at Washington Post.

Listen to “'Lean Into Discomfort' When Talking About Race” at WBUR.

Read “The Unmistakable Black Roots of 'Sesame Street' at Smithsonian.

Read “Aunt Jemima brand to change name, remove image that Quaker says is 'based on a racial stereotype' at NBC News.

• Read “Aunt Jemima's logo has changed 6 times, and its history is rooted in racial stereotypes and slavery — check out how the brand started and evolved over 130 years” at Business Insider.

Read “Is Genocide Happening In Nigeria As The World Turns A Blind Eye?” at Forbes.

Read “Beyond Berets: The Black Panthers as Health Activists” at US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health.

Learn about the “Boogaloo movement” at CNN.

• Read “The 29-Year-Old Bodybuilder Behind the Armed Effort to Reopen Texas A month ago Philip Archibald was stuck inside his Dallas home, unable to work. Now he commands a heavily armed network of anti-lockdown vigilantes, some with extremist leanings” at Texas Monthly.

• Read “Members of armed civilian group arrested, suspected gunman identified after man is shot at Albuquerque protest” at Washington Post.

This week in traitorous, white-supremacist Confederate monuments (and/or Columbus monuments):

• Read “George Floyd's uncle calls on South Dakota police department in his hometown to remove Confederate flag from their logo” at Daily Mail.

• Read “Trump's history of defending Confederate 'heritage' despite political risk” at ABC News. (EDITOR’S NOTE: You don't get to call yourself "The Party of Lincoln" while defending Confederate symbols.

• Read “Taylor Swift Speaks Out Against Tennessee’s Confederate Monuments” at Stereogum.

• Read “Tennessee just showed that white supremacy is alive and well; Honoring a former Confederate general and KKK grand wizard in 2019 is outrageous” at Washington Post.

• Read “Is this the end for public monuments to the Confederacy?” at PBS News Hour. "While some argue the monuments honor Southern ancestors, Lecia Brooks of the Southern Poverty Law Center says most went up either early in the 20th century or during the civil rights era, as racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan flexed their muscle.”

• Read "NASCAR’s Bubba Wallace on banning the Confederate flag and a new generation of fans” at PBS News Hour.

• Read “Cities Are Removing Racist & Confederate Statues That Protesters Have Targeted” at Now This!

• In modern-day Confederate news, Read: “Mitch McConnell: We paid for 'sin of slavery' by electing Obama” at USA Today.

• Read “Statue of Josephus Daniels, publisher and white supremacist, removed from Raleigh square” at The News and Observer.

• Read “Columbus To Remove Christopher Columbus Statue At City Hall” at WOSU.

• Read “Letting Go Of The Lost Cause: Confederates Were Racist Traitors The Civil War ended 155 years ago. We need to finally correct the historical record. The Confederates were racist traitors and should not be celebrated” at Rantt Media.

• Read “Kingston Decides to Swap One George Clinton for Another” at Hudson Valley River News.

This Week in Protest News:

• Read “'Riots', 'mobs', 'chaos': the establishment always frames change as dangerous” at The Guardian.

• Read “Tear Gas: An Investigation. What it is, how it is abused and why you should care” at Amnesty.org.

• Read “What the Heck is Going On In Seattle?” at Medium.

• Read “Fox News runs digitally altered images in coverage of Seattle’s protests, Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” at Seattle Times. (EDITOR’S NOTE: MAYBE, Just Maybe, Fox “News” isn’t news after all but propaganda?”

• Read “Trump draws rebukes for suggesting 75-year-old protester pushed to the ground in Buffalo was part of a ‘set up’ at Washington Post.

• Read “As protests continue, black women activists are leading again” at PBS News Hour.

• Read “The Small-Town Antifa Invasion That Never Came Hundreds of people in Klamath Falls, Oregon, rallied with guns and bulletproof vests in response to a Facebook rumor” at Slate.

• Read “US law enforcement surveilled protests with drones, spy planes” at Al Jazeera.

  • Read “AOC Wants to Know Why the Hell a Predator Drone Was Spying on Protesters The military-grade Predator B drone was far outside the 100-mile operational zone of Customs and Border Protection” at Vice.

• Read “Kneeling Protest, Once a Flashpoint, Now a Widespread Symbol of Solidarity Four years after Colin Kaepernick was shunned, demonstrators, police and lawmakers embrace the gesture” at Wall Street Journal.

• Read “The George Floyd demonstrations turned into a movement when the protesters began to sing It was as if the spirituals of the Civil Rights waited, just below the surface, to surge forth once more” at Dallas News.

• Read “Black Lives Matter is Winning, and They Don’t Need Advice from the Liberal Establishment” at Due Dissidence.

• Read “Cornel West on US protests: The chickens have come home to roost Activist and scholar talks to Middle East Eye about the Black Lives Matter movement and the roots of neoliberalism that need to be dismantled” at Middle East Eye.

George Floyd:

• Read “George Floyd’s Autopsy and the Structural Gaslighting of America” at Scientific American. “The weaponization of medical language emboldened white supremacy with the authority of the white coat. How will we stop it from happening again?”

Breonna Taylor:

Read “Sen. John Cornyn’s distorted interpretation of ‘systemic racism’ displayed what a lot of Americans don’t get about it. A witness at Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary hearing on policing reform offered a lesson on what it means” at Washington Post.

This Week With the Police:

• Read “Unarmed professionals will now respond to non-criminal police calls in San Francisco to reduce 'police confrontations' at Yahoo.

• Read “Atlanta officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks has been terminated” at

• Read “Police Have Long History of Responding to Black Movements by Playing the Victim” at Truthout.

• Read “Defunding the Police Will Actually Make Us Safer Policing in this country evolved from slave patrols. It has never been a neutral institution” at ACLU.

• Read “'I can't breathe,' Oklahoma man tells police before dying. 'I don't care,' officer responds. Newly released video of the 2019 incident shows officers restraining Derrick Scott, 42, who is heard asking repeatedly for his medicine and saying he can’t breathe” at NBC News.

• Read “Why Minneapolis Was the Breaking Point Black men and women are still dying across the country. The power that is American policing has conceded nothing” at The Atlantic.

• Read “They Were the Authority and I Didn’t Argue With Authority” In an era before rape kits, Sue Royston decided to fight for justice even though the police doubted her, the prosecution discouraged her, and those around her dismissed her story” at Pro Publica.

• Read “Seattle Council Bans Police Use of Crowd Control Weapons” at New York Times.'

• Read “Lawsuit: Arizona's Use Of Private Prisons Violates The U.S. Constitution” at KJZZ.

• Read “'Hey Siri, I'm getting pulled over' - iPhone shortcut helps record police interactions An iPhone shortcut that allows users to automatically record their interactions with the police is gaining popularity” at ABC 7.

• Read “Defund The Police? Columbus Police Account For More Than A Third Of City's Budget” WOSU.

This Week In Prison Abolition:

• Read “What Is Prison Abolition? The movement that is trying to think beyond prisons as a tool to solve society’s problems” at The Nation.

• Read “Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind” at New York Times.

• Read “What Abolitionists Do” at Jacobin Magazine. “Prison abolitionists aren't naive dreamers. They're organizing for concrete reforms, animated by a radical critique of state violence.”

• Read “The Challenge of Prison Abolition: A Conversation” at History Is A Weapon. A conversation between Angela Y. Davis and Dylan Rodriguez.

Read “Autopsy report says Rayshard Brooks was shot twice in the back, lists manner of death as homicide” at CNN.

• Read “Ex-Atlanta Police officer who killed Rayshard Brooks charged with felony murder” at CNN.

Read “A short history of black women and police violence” at The Conversation.

Read “The Sacrifice Black Children Shouldn’t Have to Make This country prizes Black children’s precocity — insists on it, even, much of the time” at The Cut.

Read “Law Professor On Misdemeanor Offenses And Racism In The Criminal System” at NPR.

Read “Loving Day: 53 years after the Supreme Court overturned laws banning interracial marriage Mildred and Richard Loving took their case to the highest court after they were arrested for living together as an interracial married couple in Virginia” at WFAA.

Read “‘A change is gonna come’: Reimagining public safety” by Jim Wallis for Religion News Service.

Read “In U.S., 87% Approve of Black-White Marriage, vs. 4% in 1958 Ninety-six percent of blacks, 84% of whites approve” at The Guardian.

Read “Starbucks to allow baristas to wear Black Lives Matter attire and accessories after social media backlash” at CNBC.

Read “Transgender Health Protections Reversed By Trump Administration” at NPR.

Read “How some researchers are using data science to fight sex trafficking” at America Magazine.

Read “John Cleese Blasts the BBC After 'Fawlty Towers' Episode Gets Removed for Using the N-word "We were not supporting [these] views, we were making fun of them... If people are too stupid to see that, what can one say?" at Exclaim.

Read “'There Is No Neutral': 'Nice White People' Can Still Be Complicit In A Racist Society” at NPR.

Read “Making people aware of their implicit biases doesn’t usually change minds. But here’s what does work” at PBS News Hour.

Read the history of NYPD Challenge Coins at Research and Destroy.

• Read “Stories about people who have the right to remain silent, but choose not to exercise that right—including police officer Adrian Schoolcraft, who secretly recorded his supervisors telling officers to manipulate crime statistics and make illegal arrests” at This American Life.

Read “Federal Executions Set To Resume After Nearly 2-Decade Hiatus” at NPR.

Read “These companies are giving their employees time off for Juneteenth A growing list of companies have decided to make Juneteenth, which commemorates the ending of slavery in America, a paid company holiday” at 5 News Online.

Read/Listen to “A 'Forgotten History' Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America” at NPR.

Read “University of California divests from fossil fuels, puts $1 billion into clean energy” at Cronkite News.

Read “Study: 70% of Facebook users only read the headline of science stories before commenting” at Science Post.

Your Weekly Coronavirus Roundup:

• Read “#TheArizonaWay doesn’t include a plan to stop spiking COVID cases” at Arizona Mirror.

• Read “CDC warns U.S. may reimplement strict coronavirus measures if cases go up ‘dramatically’” at CNBC.

• Read “‘The direct result of racism’: Covid-19 lays bare how discrimination drives health disparities among Black people” at Stat News.

• Read “Our masked future Wearing a mask all the time affects how we interact with each other. But how?” at Vox.

• Read “After six months of coronavirus, how close are we to defeating it?” at The Guardian.

• Read “Argentina pastor turns church into bar in protest at uneven coronavirus restrictions” at The Guardian.

• Read “Florida fired its coronavirus data scientist. Now she’s publishing the statistics on her own” at Washington Post.

• Read “FDA revokes authorization for hydroxychloroquine” at Market Watch.

• Read “How Independent Music Venues Are Fighting for Their Existence” at Pitchfork.

• Read “Pence Tells Governors to Repeat Misleading Claim on Outbreaks” at Washington Post. In other words: “Pence Tells Governors to Lie Like He Does . . . “

• Read “Fauci said US government held off promoting face masks because it knew shortages were so bad that even doctors couldn't get enough” at Business Insider.

• Read “Partygoers have been packing Arizona bars. Now the state is a coronavirus hot spot” at Los Angeles Times.

• Read “Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey: Arizonans Must Learn To Live With The Coronavirus” at KJZZ.

• Read “Record spike in new coronavirus cases reported in six U.S. states as reopening accelerates” at Reuters.

• Read “Judge Orders Trump Administration To Give Tribes Their COVID-19 Relief Funds The Treasury Department was planning to sit on $679 million in emergency aid that was due to go to tribal governments months ago” at Huff Post.

• Read “'It may save your life': Facing virus surge, more U.S. states mandate masks” at Reuters.

Read “There’s No Going Back to ‘Normal’ Once we accept, and grieve, that our old way of life is gone, we can build a better future” at The Atlantic.

Read “When Donald Trump tried to stage a coup: Was June 1 the turning point? Last week our president tried to send the Army into America's streets. Aides pushed back, but it was a close call” at Salon.

Read “Bolton Says Trump Impeachment Inquiry Missed Other Troubling Actions at New York Times. “Mr. Bolton also adds a striking new allegation by saying that Mr. Trump overtly linked trade negotiations to his own political fortunes by asking President Xi Jinping of China to buy a lot of American agricultural products to help him win farm states in this year’s election. Mr. Trump, he writes, was ‘pleading with Xi to ensure he’d win. He stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome.’”

• Read “Trump asked China’s Xi to help him win reelection, according to Bolton book” at Washington Post.

Read “Facebook Removes Trump Ads With Symbol Used By Nazis. Campaign Calls It An 'Emoji' at NPR.

Read “Twitter labels Trump video tweet as manipulated media, continuing its cra

Read “Twitter labels Trump video tweet as manipulated media, continuing its crackdown on misinformation The label marks the fourth time Twitter has added labels to the president’s tweets” at Washington Post.

Read “Democrats also gain from the border wall The militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border was always a bipartisan effort, with symbolism that’s useful to both parties” at High Country News.

Read “History says Trump's low approval rating is unlikely to move” at CNN.

Read “Biden running mate search zeroes in on group that includes at least four black women” at Washington Post.

Read “Poland Accidentally Invades Czech Republic In 'Minor Misunderstanding' at NPR.

Read “For Fans Of: Sonic Boom’s “All Things Being Equal” at Bandcamp.

Read “Understanding Blackness to understand Black art” at The Wire. “Does the diversity of your record collection reflect the diversity of your real social life or approach to the world?”

Read “Lady Antebellum Is Now ‘Lady A.’ But So Is a Blues Singer Who’s Used the Name for 20 Years “This is my life. They’re using the name because of a Black Lives Matter incident that, for them, is just a moment in time,” says the original Lady A, a 61-year-old black singer who’s released multiple records under the name” at Rolling Stone.

Read “David Crosby: ‘Trump Is Far More Dangerous Than Nixon’ “My democracy that I love so much is failing and being abused to death,” Crosby says” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Bob Dylan Has a Lot on His Mind” at DNYUZ.

Read “Trouser Press’ entire ’70s/’80s magazine run now available online for free” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “The Prescient Power of ‘Jagged Little Pill’ Maybe Alanis Morissette was angry, but mostly she was lucid” at Tidal.

Read “Lemmy Kilmister Biopic in the Works” at Pitchfork.

Read “2020 Americana Music Award Nominations Reflect Roots Music’s Rich Diversity” at No Depression.

Read “GET TO KNOW… SAMMY BRUE” at DIY Magazine.

Watch “David Bowie blast MTV for not playing enough Black artists in 1983” at Brooklyn Vegan. “It occurred to me, having watched MTV over the last few months, that’s it’s a solid enterprise, really. It’s got a lot going for it. I’m just floored by the fact that there are so few black artists featured on it. Why is that?"

Read “The Roots and Michelle Obama to Host Virtual Music Festival” at Pitchfork.

Read “Rose City Band: Summerlong review – a gorgeous record” at The Guardian.

Read “Bob Dylan Has Given Us One of His Most Timely Albums Ever With ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Michael Stipe, Chad Smith and other rock stars featured in trailer for 'Creem' magazine documentary” at ABC News Radio.

Read "Neal Casal Music Foundation Launches With Tribute Album to Late Guitarist Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, and Billy Strings cover Casal’s songs on ‘Highway Butterfly’; a book of the musician’s photos is also on tap” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Live Nation Wants Artists to Take Pay Cuts and Cancelation Burdens for Shows in 2021” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Inside Out makes the profound case that sadness is good” at AV Club.

Read “Inside Out makes the profound case that sadness is good” at AV Club.

Read “Meet Hercules, One of America’s Early Celebrity Chefs Heralded for his food, the enslaved cook headed the first presidential kitchen” at Gastro Obscura.

Read “Phoenix artists fighting racial injustice with public murals Around town, murals are starting to appear supporting a message of equality” at 12 News.

Read “Roll The Windows Down And Take A Drive Down Kayenta-Monument Valley Scenic Road In Arizona” at Only In Your State.

Read “There may be more than 36 intelligent alien civilizations in the Milky Way, scientists say” at CBS News.

Read “Surge Letter To Churches - June 2020” at Surge Network.

The Weekly Town Crier (03/13/20)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (03/13/20).

Read “Jazz Pianist McCoy Tyner 1938 – 2020” at Jam Base.

Read “Rosalind P. Walter, the first 'Rosie the Riveter', dies at 95” at Upworthy.

Read “Rolls-Royce promotes exclusive Mass with pope — for $155,000” at Religion News Service.

• Read “Rolls-Royce offer for private Pope Francis meeting ‘does not exist anymore’” at Catholic News Agency.

Read “All Non-Consensual Sex Will Be Considered Rape Under Spain’s New Law The "only yes means yes" law aims to ban all sexual violence in the country” at Global Citizen.

Read “‘This is absolutely abhorrent’: Nazi flag at Sanders rally sparks outcry, concerns about safety” at Washington Post.

Read “Gender study finds 90% of people are biased against women” at BBC News.

Read/Watch “Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years in prison” at Yahoo.

Read “Chelsea Manning Is Freed” at Common Dreams.

Read “Child homelessness highest in more than decade, feds say” at New York Post.

Read/Listen to “When Xenophobia Spreads Like A Virus” at NPR.

• Read/watch “Costco Will Stop Offering Free Samples & Our Shopping Trips Will Not Be the Same” at Yahoo.

• Read “Televangelist Jim Bakker Ordered to Stop Selling Fake Coronavirus Cure” at Consequence of Sound.

• Read “Italy suspends mortgage payments during coronavirus shutdown” at The HIll.

• Read “Austin’s South by Southwest Festival Canceled Due to Coronavirus” at The Wall Street Journal.

• Read “Coachella Moved to October 2020 Due to Coronavirus” at Consequence of Sound.

• Read “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Postponed” at Spin.

• Browse “Coronavirus: Cancellations and Postponements” at Relix.

• Read “Trump's mismanagement helped fuel coronavirus crisis” at Politico.

• Read “Arizona Governor Declares State of Emergency on Coronavirus, With Nine Cases So Far” at Phoenix New Times.

• Read “Tom Hanks Tests Positive for Coronavirus While Working on Elvis Presley Movie” at Pitchfork.

Read “Mandatory vasectomy at 50 or after 3 kids? Alabama bill proposes it” at 12 News.

Read “Virginia General Assembly passes bill capping monthly costs of insulin to $50” at 12 News.

Read “Trump administration quietly cuts funding to the nation’s poorest schools” at Yahoo News.

Read “GOP-appointed judge orders unredacted copy of Mueller report as he questions Barr’s “credibility” A federal judge calls out Barr for making “distorted” and “misleading” statements about Robert Mueller’s findings” at Salon.

Read “Michael Bloomberg Drops Out Of Primary After Reportedly Spending More Than $500 Million” at Forbes.

Read/Listen to “What Democratic Socialism Means In The U.S.” at WBUR.

Read “The Body Politic Electric: Walt Whitman on Women’s Centrality to Democracy” at Brain Pickings.

Read “Federal Court Sides With House In Fight Over Mueller Grand Jury Materials” at NPR.

Read “Wu-Tang Clan Are for the Infants: New Wu-Tang Lullaby Album Coming in April It's the 100th album by Rockabye Baby” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Woman-Owned Record Shop Sonidos! Wants To Build An Inclusive Corner In The Region’s Vinyl Scene” at DCist.

Read “Remembering Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous 10 Years Later A look at the unlikely triumphs of the Virginia singer/songwriter's eerily beautiful music” at Spin.

Read “When We Celebrate John Coltrane, We Celebrate McCoy Tyner, Too” at Rolling Stone.

Read “After 25 Years, Jimmy Eat World Isn’t Just Surviving” at Christ and Pop Culture.

Read “On hobbies, habits, and creative work Musician Stephen Malkmus on the value of chill music in crazy times, the pleasures of falling into old man mode, and understanding the ways your creative process evolves over time” at The Creative Independent.

Read “My father said I should be looking after the cows': the first female Tuareg guitarist” at The Guardian.

Read “Tony Iommi Says Michael Bolton Once Auditioned for Black Sabbath Bolton has consistently dismissed the story as a rumour” at Exclaim.

Read “Stephen Malkmus on His New Folk Album, Pavement Reunion, Bernie Sanders, And More” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Wilco and Sleater-Kinney Announce Tour The rock giants will play shows together this summer” at Pitchfork.

Read “How does Nationals closer Sean Doolittle stay calm in big moments? The Grateful Dead” at NBC Sports.

Watch “Dawes Covers Grateful Dead Live at Relix” at Youtube.

Read “The Kids in the Hall Revived by Amazon for New Season Lorne Michaels will return as executive producer for an eight-episode run” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “The Substance Summit: A Previously Unseen Fax From Hunter S. Thompson To Keith Richards” at Ranker.

Read “Mister Rogers Thought Farts Were Hilarious — And Often ‘Ripped One’ To Amuse His Wife” at All That’s Interesting.

Read “How a Potato Is Fueling the Fight to Protect a National Monument Indigenous farmers in Utah are championing an ancient spud” at Atlas Obscura.

Read “The Origins of GORP” at REI.

Read “This Brave Man Protests Annoying Everyday Things With Funny Signs” at Sad and Useless.

Read “In Palestine, Protecting One of the World’s Oldest Olive Trees Is a 24/7 Job Salah Abu Ali often sleeps beneath his ancient charge” at Atlas Obscura.

The Weekly Town Crier (11/15/19)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (11/08/19 Edition).

Browse all the Weekly Town Crier posts so far.

Listen to all 52 episodes of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Listen to a mix of artists who have performed Habañero Collective house shows.

Browse the Musical Worldview posts.

R.I.P. Robert Freeman, Beatles photographer dies at 82

Read “Kanye West’s ‘Jesus Is King’ Sparks Biblical Searches” at Facts & Trends.

Read “What Freud Can Teach Us About Trump And His Christian Supporters” at Sojourners.

Read/Watch “Still teaching at 95, Jimmy Carter draws devotees to church His message is unfailingly about Jesus, not Jimmy Carter” at 12 News.

Read “PC(USA) Stated Clerk responds to questions on Trump’s membership: Donald Trump was baptized in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). However, there is no factual evidence that Mr. Trump currently holds membership in any local congregation. Therefore, the discipline process that would be necessary to remove him from membership is not applicable” at PCUSA.org.

Read “Paula White and the Mainstreaming of American Pentecostalism” at Red Letter Christians.

Read “Respect for pastors is at an all-time low. What would help? Nobody wants to be irrelevant. Yet how much can pastors really do to reverse the increasing lack of interest in organized religion and religious practice that shapes attitudes toward clergy?" at Christian Century.

Read “Why Jesus Followers Should Be Prison Abolitionists” at Red Letter Christians.

Read “Debt Is Holding Black Americans Hostage To break free, we need an honest conversation about reparations and forgiveness on a mass scale” at The Nation.

Read “I Went to Mexico to Meet Asylum-Seekers Trapped at the Border. This Is What I Saw” at ACLU.

Read “#EatingASandwichWhileBlack: Commuters Hold Protest After Cop Detains Black Man for 'Illegally Eating' at BART Station” at The Root.

Read “Trump ended DACA. This woman is suing to keep the program alive” at PRI.

Read “Second Trial Against Activist Who Helped Migrants To Begin” at KJZZ.

Read “The cursing president: Donald Trump is the first president to make C-SPAN unsuitable viewing for children” at The Week.

Read “Researchers Reveal Kids Who Get More Hugs Have More Developed Brains” at Healthy Food House.

Read “You Can Get A Master's In Medical Cannabis In Maryland” at NPR.

Read “Can I Get A Witness? The righteously, radical Campbellite core of Nashville by David Dark at Southern Foodways.

Read “The Alarming Message of Mattel’s “Gender-Neutral” Dolls” at Slate.

Read/Watch: “Mural of activist Greta Thunberg going up in San Francisco” at 12 News.

Read “Experts Worry Active Shooter Drills In Schools Could Be Traumatic For Students” at NPR.

Read “Indigenous people blocked Ecuador oil auction in growing fight to save Amazon” at Salon.

Read “Criminals may be banned from being near guns in New Zealand” at 12 News.

Read “Federal Court Rules That Border Officers Can’t Arbitrarily Search Our Electronic Devices” at ACLU.

Read “Demon Screens: For the last twelve years, social media, handheld devices, and video games have swept into teens’ lives like a tidal wave” at First Things.

Read/Listen to “Who Will Decide On The Dalai Lama's Successor — His Supporters Or Beijing?” at NPR.

Read “Nike designed a pair of comfortable sneakers just for medical workers, and all of the profits will go to a children's hospital” at Insider.

Read/Listen to “Detroit Public School Students Allege They Were Deprived Access To Literacy In Lawsuit: Many days were spent in freezing or mold-infested classrooms watching movies, sometimes without a teacher even in the room, plaintiffs allege. Textbooks were outdated. Lunch food was expired” at WBUR’s Here and Now.

Read: “Supreme Court Wrestles With Consequences for Piracy by State Governments” at The Hollywood Reporter.

Read “What We Learned From Reading Thousands Of Pages Of Impeachment Inquiry Transcripts” at NPR.

• Read “Lawyer for Ukraine whistleblower sends White House cease and desist letter to stop Trump’s attacks” at CNN.

• Read “Trump says he might attend Russia Victory Day events in May” at Reuters.

  Read “Impeaching Trump Is Imperative to Preserving Our Democracy: Trump’s first abuse of trust is the one our founders feared most: inviting a foreign power to interfere with our democracy,” at Time.

• Read “The Whistleblower Complaint Has Largely Been Corroborated. Here's How” at NPR.

• Read “What you learned about the impeachment hearing depended on what channel you watched” at Washington Post.

• Read “Trump Asks Supreme Court to Bar Release of His Tax Returns” at New York Times (just as one with nothing to hide does).

Read the New York Times opinion piece: “Multibillion-dollar fortunes are often called excessive and decadent. But here’s something they’re rarely called but ought to be: anti-democratic. These fortunes will destroy our democracy,"

Read “University of Florida student president faces impeachment after paying $50,000 for Don Jr. visit Michael Murphy is accused of using $50,000 of mandatory student fees "to further enrich" Trump and his girlfriend” at Salon.

Read “Trump adviser Stephen Miller injected white nationalist agenda into Breitbart, investigation reveals” at The Guardian.

• Read “Stephen Miller’s Affinity for White Nationalism Revealed in Leaked Emails” at Southern Poverty Law Center.

Read “Supreme Court Allows Sandy Hook Families' Case Against Remington Arms To Proceed” at NPR.

Read “Elijah Cummings' Widow Announces She's Running For His U.S. House Seat” at NPR.

Read “U.S. budget deficit surges to $134.5 billion in October” at PBS News Hour.

Read “Trump Official Punished Public Servant Over Her Iranian Heritage” at NPR.

Read “Tindersticks :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview.”

Read “Fox & Friends is throwing its support behind Kanye West’s presidential candidacy "When our current president announced that he was running, a lot of people laughed too" at Consequence of Sound.

• Read “Kanye West WIll Appear At Joel Osteen’s Sunday Service . . . Choir In Tow” at TMZ.

Read “Neil Young Says U.S. Citizenship Application Delayed By Marijuana Use” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Neil Young Wants You to Hear His Unreleased Music Before You Die “It’s a race against time,” Young writes of his ambitious plan to release a huge cache of unreleased albums to his fans in 2020” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Why David Byrne Became a U.S. Citizen After Six Decades” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Jeff Tweedy: Learning to Love the Music You Hate'“ at That Eric Alper.

Read “Dolly Parton: A Seeker and a Poor Sinful Creature” at Christianity Today.

Read “A Subversive History: An Interview with Music Historian Ted Gioia” at Image Journal.

Read “Spike Lee to direct hip-hop version of Romeo and Juliet” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “The Internet Archive Is Digitizing & Preserving Over 100,000 Vinyl Records: Hear 750 Full Albums Now” at Open Culture.

Read “The Spotify Blacklist Continues ⁠— Artist Faces Retaliation After Magazine Exclusive” at Digital Music News.

Read “Moby is an animal rights advocate, and he now has giant arm tattoos to prove it” at Consequence of Sound.

Hear “Iggy Pop, Frank Black Cover Jazz Great Mose Allison for New Tribute Album” at Rolling Stone.

Read “The Lijadu Sisters: the Nigerian twins who fought the elite with funk” at The Guardian and listen to “Orere Elejigbo” by Lijadu Sisters on Episode 17 of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Read “Meat Puppets & Mudhoney announce 2020 co-headlining tour Read More: Meat Puppets & Mudhoney announce 2020 co-headlining tour” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “The Monkees Announce 2020 Tour Dates, New Live Album” at Rolling Stone.

Browse “Ryley Walker :: A Roundup” at Aquarium Drunkard.

Read “Rod Stewart Spent More Than Twenty Years Building a Model Train Railroad” at Flood.

Browse Crack Magazine’s picks for the top 100 albums of the decade.

Read “Andy Partridge Looks Back at XTC” at Culture Sonar.

Browse “The Story of Outlaw Country in 33 Songs” at Pitchfork.

Read “Grateful Dead Announce Soundtrack Featuring Rare Live Recordings To Accompany Forthcoming Graphic Novel’ at Live For Live Music.

Read “Black Crowes Reunite, Plot 2020 ‘Shake Your Money Maker’ Tour” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Silence, presence, and challenging conventions – thoughts on John Cage’s 4’33”' at Crosseyed Pianist.

Read “Trump Opens New Portal to Hell By Promoting #MAGACHALLENGE Rap Contest on Twitter” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Country Music Veteran Trent Reznor Nabs His First CMA Award” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Michael Jackson’s Estate Acquires Sly and the Family Stone’s Catalogue” at Vulture.

Read “When Christ Came for Kanye” at Think Christian.

• Read “Kanye’s ‘Jesus Is King’ is Superficially Gospel” at Sojourners.

Watch “a new film celebrating 30 years of record shop and label Mr Bongo” at Vinyl Factory.

Read “Robert Johnson Biopic Reportedly In The Works From Oscar-Winning ‘Spider-Man’ Director” at Live For Live Music.

Read “Hall & Oates announce 2020 tour, dates w/ Squeeze & KT Tunstall Read More: Hall & Oates announce 2020 tour, dates w/ Squeeze & KT Tunstall” at Brooklyn Vegan.

Read “Bob Weir & Wolf Bros Announce Early-2020 Tour Dates” at JamBase.

Read “'Sesame Street' celebrates 50 years on the air” at 12 News.

Read “Kevin Feige: Disney buying Marvel was the 'greatest thing that ever happened to us' "If Disney hadn't bought us, you wouldn't have seen the movies we've made since then” at CNet.

Read ‘Michael Jackson’s Simpsons episode kept off of Disney+” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Zoinks, Scooby-Doo gets a new origin story in this trailer for Scoob!” at AV Club.

Read “NBC renews Brooklyn Nine-Nine for season 8” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Werner Herzog on Why He Didn’t Need to See ‘Star Wars’ Films for ‘The Mandalorian’ Role” at Variety.

Read “Disney+ warns viewers about past racism, but not as well as Warner Bros. 53 Disney’s 1941 Dumbo is a prime example” at The Verge.

Read “Keanu Reeves plays a Sage named Sage in first trailer for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Noel Fielding is writing a new Netflix series about a magical record player” at NME.

Read “The Day Dostoyevsky Discovered the Meaning of Life in a Dream” at Brain Pickings.

Read “Graphic Adaptation Of 'Heart Of Darkness' Takes On Canonical Racism, Artfully” at NPR.

Read “Woman Turned 110-Year-Old Dead Tree Into A Free Little Library For The Neighborhood And It Looks Magical” at Bookish Buzz.

Read “A Group of Middle Eastern Artists Was Denied Entry to the US to Attend the Opening of Their Own MoMA PS1 Show” at Artnet.

Read “Artists are turning the U.S.-Mexico border fence into the world’s longest peace-themed mural” at Inhabit.

Read “A New Museum Dedicated to Picasso and Giacometti Is Launching in Beijing Next Year” at Artnet.

Read: “Wine Kills Germs That Cause Sore Throats and Dental Plaque, Says Awesome Study” at Maxim.

Read “A Tiny Species That Looks Part-Deer, Part-Mouse Was Missing for Nearly 30 Years. Scientists Just Found It” at Live Science.

Read “This nightmare fish with a human face is reminding people of Dreamcast's Seaman” at AV Club.

Read “I Thought Being a Health Care Reporter Would Make Cancer Easier. I Was Wrong. Nothing can prepare you for the immense number of complicated, sometimes life-or-death decisions the disease forces you to make about your own treatment” at Politico.

Read “Speech-Language Pathologist Teaches Her Dog to Communicate Through a Custom Button Talking Board” at Laughing Squid.

Read: “Two Guys In Mexico Just Created Vegan Leather From Cactus” at VegNews.

• Read “Wu Tang Clan Is Making Vegan Wallets Made Of Bananas” at Truth Theory.

Read “Overactive Brain Has Been Linked to a Shorter Life Want to live longer? Quiet your mind” at Medium.

Read “Bob Dylan's Heaven's Door 'Bootleg Series' Is a Rare 26-Year-old Whisky Finished in Japanese Oak Barrels: The 111.5 proof whisky comes in a bottle adorned with a Dylan painting and inside a collectible leather journal” at Maxim.

Read: “EPA Data: Phoenix Has Highest Levels in U.S. of Carcinogenic Gas Ethylene Oxide” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Arizona school districts suing e-cigarette maker Juul” at KTAR.

Read “Andy Warpigs on Building a Local Music Community” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Federal judge says Arizona prisons too broadly censor publications inmates can see” at Tucson.com.

Read “How the Disney/Fox Merger Is Affecting Local Independent Movie Theaters” at Phoenix New Times.

The Weekly Town Crier (10/04/19)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about 10/04/19 Edition.

Browse all the Weekly Town Crier posts so far.

Listen to all 52 episodes of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Listen to a mix of artists who have performed Habañero Collective house shows.

Browse the Musical Worldview posts.

Read/Watch CBS DFW’s report: “Dallas Jury Finds Former DPD Officer Amber Guyger Guilty Of Murdering Botham Jean.”

• Read NPR’s report: “Brandt Jean's Act Of Grace Toward His Brother's Killer Sparks A Debate Over Forgiving.”

• Read “The Perverse Spectacle of Black Forgiveness” at Jezebel.

• Read “What the Amber Guyger Case Reveals About White America” by Andre Henry at Medium.

• Read “Botham Jean’s Brother’s Offer of Forgiveness Went Viral. His Mother’s Calls for Justice Should Too” at Christianity Today.

Browse Colossal’s piece: “Gross Domestic Product: Banksy Opens a Dystopian Homewares Store.”

See “The Paintings of Miles Davis” at Open Culture.

Seeking to answer the age of question of whether you can “jump the shark” underwater, AZ Central reports: “Playing for the sharks: Kiss announces exclusive – but affordable – underwater concert.”

Read BBC’s report: “Single malt Scotch whisky targeted by United States tariffs.”

Read “Tommy Stinson on the Replacements' New Box Set and Outdrinking Metallica” at Rolling Stone.

Read about the new Senate report that found: “The NRA acted as a "foreign asset" for Russia in the period leading up to the 2016 election — providing more political access than previously known,” at NPR.

• Read New York Times’ report: “N.R.A.’s LaPierre Asks Trump to ‘Stop the Games‘ Over Gun Legislation in Discussion About Its Support.”

Hear “Snoop Dogg Cover Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ “Red Right Hand” at Post-Punk.

Read “They’re Using Us as Props for the Show” Former employees at Relevant, a hip evangelical culture magazine, have sparked a sprawling conversation about race and Christian office politics.” at Slate.

Read “Sure, we'd listen to a podcast about America through the legacy of Dolly Parton” at AV Club.

Read “Creed’s Human Clay Turns 20” which begins with the classic line: “Among other things, Creed’s second album holds the distinction as the only piece of recorded music I’ve been punched in the face over.”

Read “Kim Gordon on her first solo album, anxiety, and finding inspiration in Cardi B” at Entertainment Weekly.

Read about Robert Smith’s time with Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Read Christianity Today’s report: “Two Nigerian Evangelicals Executed in Boko Haram Video.”

Read “Chicago’s Hidden Indie Rock Archive Over three decades, Aadam Jacobs obsessively documented Chicago’s indie rock scene. Today, the future of his roughly 10,000 live recordings is unclear” at WBEZ.

Read as Christianity Today considers a recent Pew study: “Evangelicals Trust Faith Leaders, Police More Than the General Public Pew Research found the only leaders that evangelicals are more skeptical of are journalists.”

Read about a laundry detergent that claims to smell like “Whiskey” and “Bonfire.”

Read Atlas Obscura’s piece: “Centralia Ghost Town Church A mine fire has been burning under the deserted town since 1962, but this church is still going strong.”

Read “Black Crowes Drummer Steve Gorman’s New Book: 7 Wildest Tales About the Band ‘Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of the Black Crowes’ paints a picture of a group in constant turmoil” at Rolling Stone.

Read Pitchfork’s review of the new Hiss Golden Messenger album “Terms of Surrender.”

Read “J Mascis on the Nineties, Nirvana, and Dinosaur Jr.’s Forgotten Masterpiece” at Rolling Stone.

• See and hear Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis demonstrate the Converse that’s also a wah wah pedal.

I’m not a “Wine Geek,” but I like Sake, so browse “A Wine Geek's Guide to Sake, for Beginners” at Paste.

Read IGN’s report: “Spider-Man Is Officially Back in the MCU Following Sony, Disney Announcement.”

Read this 2017 report and wonder why people weren’t as upset by this as by people confessing to plants: “'Make America Great Again' Sung to Trump by Church Choir, Copyrighted for Church Services.”

Read as Rolling Stone wonders: “Why Everyone Is Freaking Out About ‘Joker’ Is the Joker backlash mere moral panic, or does the movie actually sympathize with incel culture?”

Read New York Times’ report that the White House ambassador to Ukraine has resigned.

Read about the “Man (who) drank 7 beers before turning himself in, but there was no warrant for his arrest.”

Read Out’s report: “Arizona Governor Says Christians Shouldn't Have to Serve Gays.”

Browse a “Latino and Hispanic Theologian Book List” at Starke College and Seminary.

Read AV Club’s report: “Trump tweeted out a Nickelback meme and Nickelback got Twitter to take it down so thanks, Nickelback.”

Read Washington Post’s report: “POTUS told Russian officials in an Oval Office meeting that he was unconcerned about Moscow’s interference in the election because the US did the same in other countries, an assertion that prompted alarmed officials to limit access to the remarks.”

• Read Slate’s piece: “Trump Implies Whistleblowers Should Be Executed, Which May Conflict With Rules Protecting Whistleblowers.”

• Read AZ Central’s report: “Jeff Flake: 'At least 35' GOP senators would vote to remove Trump if vote was private.”

• Read New York Times’ opinion piece: “The Whistle-Blower Knows How to Write His complaint offers lessons on how to make a point.”

• Read USA Today’s piece: “Poll: Only 4 in 10 Republicans think Trump mentioned Biden on Ukraine call even though he acknowledged doing so.”

• Read Religion News Service’s report: “Franklin Graham on impeachment: ‘Our country could begin to unravel’.

• Read Slate’s report: “Robert Jeffress Goes All In on “Civil War” The evangelical pastor and Trump loyalist has had quite a week.”

While we’re on the topic of impeachable offenses, read News and Guts’ report: “Stunning NYT Report Alleges Donald Trump Wanted To Find Ways To Injure Migrants.”

• See Jack Jenkins’ Tweet: “:: stares at phone for several minutes :: . . . “The President once considered shooting migrants in the legs to slow them down at the southern border, the New York Times reports.”

• Read the New York Times’ report which includes details such as “electrified, flesh-piercing wire on the wall, alligators & snakes in a pit.”

  • Read Aaron Niequist’s Tweet: “The loudest voices defending a serial liar caught in his web of lies are Christians. Just let that sink in. Those who claim the name of the Way, Truth, and Life are actively defending the embodiment of corruption, lies, and greed. Jesus weeps” and weep with Jesus.

Read The Verge’s report: “Elizabeth Warren says Facebook has ‘repeatedly fumbled’ its responsibility to democracy.”

• Listen as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg explains “Why Mark Zuckerberg thinks a President Elizabeth Warren would 'suck' at CNN.

Read Vice’s piece: “'Freaks and Geeks' Understood That Popular Kids Aren't Cool At All: Twenty years ago, 'Freaks and Geeks' steered clear of the jock-cheerleader cliches to tease out high school's most relatable anxieties.”

Read Consequence of Sound’s report: “Mexico listens to more music than any country worldwide: “Mexicans listen to 25.6 hours of music a week, eight hours more than the global average.”

Read KXAN’s report: “‘True love will find you in the end’ billboard appears along I-35 honoring late Daniel Johnston.”

Read Washington Post’s opinion piece: “The ‘Billy Graham Rule’ serves only to impede careers, not affairs.”

Read Christianity Today’s piece: “Is Racial Justice Becoming a Priority for Evangelical Voters? LifeWay Research measures political support for the issue for the first time,” which finds that “85 percent of US evangelicals say they “will only support a candidate who demonstrates personal integrity,” which causes great confusion because it may just mean that “85 percent of US evangelicals lie when taking surveys.”

Consider “The case against sermon-centric Sundays” by Skye Jethani at Premier Christianity.

Read as Eric Metaxas describes what Republicans are currently doing while ascribing it to Democrats: “Cultural elites in America have slowly persuaded themselves...that they are right on a number of issues. & if it means going around the electoral process, if it means going around the usual procedure that they’re going to do what they must” at Religion News Service.

Read: “Why the liberal West is a Christian creation Christianity is dismissed as a fairy tale but its assumptions underpin the modern secular world.” at New Statesman.’

Read Consequence of Sound’s report: “Metallica postpone tour as James Hetfield enters rehab "Our brother James has been struggling with addiction on and off for many years"

Read Time’s report: “CDC Says for First Time That THC Could Be Behind Vaping Deaths and Illnesses.”

Read as Paste wonders: “Is Bob’s Burgers a Low-Key Adaptation of Stanley Tucci’s Movie Big Night?”

Watch “John Turturro licks a fresh bowling ball in the all-Italian trailer for his movie about The Jesus” at AV Club.

See “Miles Davis' Illustrations Drive A Classic Recording In New Video For 'Moon Dreams'“ at NPR.

Read “Finding a faith that is stronger than death — or my family’s rejection: My problem wasn’t with religion. It was with bad religion” by Heidi Hall at Religion News Service.

Read Christianity Today’s report: “Evangelical Advocates Feel the Sting of More Trump Refugee Cuts It’s the third consecutive year that the administration has reduced resettlement totals to record lows. Under the Trump administration, the US refugee resettlement program has fallen to a quarter of previous size, and fewer persecuted Christians and other religious minorities are making it to safety in the US.”

The marketing says: “Never lose your drink in the dark again with this light up insulated drink wrap.” We say it’s a glow-in-the-dark Koozie.

See “The Strange and Stranger Things at the 2019 International UFO Congress” at Phoenix New Times.

Read as Psychology Today wonders: “Do You See Your Partner’s Sacrifices? We may only accurately detect a partner’s sacrifice about half the time.”

Read “Consistent Doodles: 40,000-Year-Old Symbols Found in Caves Worldwide May Be the Earliest Written Language” at Open Culture.

Read Wall Street Journal’s essay: “Religion for Adults Means Embracing Complexity If you think you’ve outgrown your childhood faith, you might just need to discover the real depth of its teachings.”

Read Tim Keller’s Op-Ed piece at The New York Times from 2018: “How Do Christians Fit Into the Two-Party System? They Don’t The historical Christian positions on social issues don’t match up with contemporary political alignments.”

Read Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson’s 5-day Bible reading plan to accompany their new book May It Be So (which I profiled here).

Watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s TED Talk: “How craving attention makes you less creative.”

Read The Atlantic’s piece: “What a New Theory of Attention Says About Consciousness Filtering out distractions might be more important for the brain than highlighting important information.”

Read Vulture’s report: “Netflix Orders Stranger Things 4, Teasing a World Beyond Hawkins.”

Read “Cormac McCarthy on how to write a scientific (or any kind of) paper” at Boing Boing.

Read Brooklyn Vegan’s report: “Victory Records acquired by Concord.”

Read “Aldous Huxley on the Transcendent Power of Music and Why It Sings to Our Souls” at Brain Pickings.

Read “The Black Woman Who Biked Across the US Alone During the 1930s Jim Crow Era Despite pervasive racism and the weight of the Great Depression, Bessie Stringfield found freedom on the open road” at Vice.

Read Pew Research Center’s findings: “Independents often are portrayed as political free agents with the potential to alleviate the nation’s rigid partisan divisions. But the reality is that most independents are not all that “independent” politically.”

Read Consequence of Sound’s report: “Kanye West says he’s done making secular music, new album features no cursing The born-again Christian will only be releasing gospel music going forward.”

Read “The myth of the golden age of reading Even before the digital age, book-lovers were always prone to distraction” at Prospect Magazine.

Read Exclaim’s report: “Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's Former Seattle Home Is Up for Sale.”

Read The Spectator’s piece: “In praise of cultural elitism We have become so tolerant of each other’s taste that taste no longer matters.”

Read as Neuroscience News wonders: “Why do older people hate new music?”

Read about and participate in University of California’s research finding: “When it comes to politics, you’re not as rational as you think.”

Read Mic’s opinion piece: “Greta Thunberg's U.N. speech prompted ugly insults — proving her critics can't fault her actual message.”

I'm glad to see them getting the press, but it's weird to me that Pitchfork considers 75 Dollar Bill to be an "overlooked" album this year. Where have they been looking? Browse Pitchfork’s list of “overlooked” 2019 albums and, while you’re at it, peep my first post so far about 75 Dollar Bill to sample some of the music.

Read “HALL IN THE FAMILY: A Conversation With Incoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Chairman John Sykes” at Hits Daily Double.

Read Christianity Today’s piece: “Pastors Don’t Do It For The Money, But Having Enough to Retire Would Be Nice.”

Read Phoenix New Times’s profile of The Rhythm Room. One of the best and long-standing Phoenix venues for live music. Remember seeing Mumford and Sons there? No, because it was sold out and packed and I was there and you weren’t!

Read about the Forth Worth public libraries doing away with late fines.

Read AZ Central’s report: “Original Alice Cooper group reunion to headline Christmas Pudding with Joe Bonamassa.”

Read The Wrap’s piece: “Fox News Host Todd Starnes Out After Suggesting Democrats Worship Pagan God Moloch.”

Read “Album Of The Week: Wilco Ode To Joy” at Stereogum.

R.I.P. “Kim Shattuck of The Muffs, rest in peace Read More: Kim Shattuck of The Muffs.”

Browse “A Snapshot of the Values, Views & Faith of Hispanic Americans” at Barna.

Read “A Wreng Among The Pornographers” by Charles Bissell of The Wrens. “As you probably know, my friend & favorite musician person, Will of Okkervil River, has been doing a subscription series of live albums spanning the Okkervil career so far (also available individually) and that he’s just released Vol. 6, A Wren Among the Pornographers. You may not know that that wren is me - I was the Okkervil guitar-for-hire spring/summer of ’08, and chiefly for that tour, opening up for the the New Pornographers.”

Read “Her Side of the Story: Debbie Harry Talks About Her Life in Blondie in Her New Book” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “Michael Stipe to release debut solo single ‘Your Capricious Soul’ this weekend” at Slicing Up Eyeballs.

Listen to “The Friends Theme but it's Clapping Music by Steve Reich” at Youtube.

See Aldi’s “Cheese Advent Calendar.”

Read “City on mute When you stare at your phone or use Uber to navigate your neighbourhood, you flatten the rich texture of urban life” at Aeon.

Read/Listen to “Reasons To Be Cheerful: A Conversation With David Byrne” at NPR.

Stream Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ new 11-track double LP, “Ghosteen” consisting of Cave's "fever dreams"

Read Artsy’s report: “Arts Sector Contributed $763.6 Billion to U.S. Economy—More Than Agriculture or Transportation, New Data Shows.”

Browse “5 Strategies to Demystify the Learning Process for Struggling Students” at KQED.

Read as Exclaim wonders “Is David Lynch Working on More 'Twin Peaks'?”

The Weekly Town Crier (09/27/19)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (09/20/19 Edition).

Browse all the Weekly Town Crier posts so far.

Listen to all 52 episodes of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Listen to a mix of artists who have performed Habañero Collective house shows.

Browse the Musical Worldview posts.

Read as Christianity Today wonders “Why Chris Tomlin Still Dominates Both Radio and Sunday Morning.”

Read as Magnet considers the legacy of The Clash.

Read The Hollywood Reporter’s report: “Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds to Star in Musical Reimagining of 'A Christmas Carol'.

Read as 1A interviews Billy Bragg.

Read “Why I Created A Chapel Service Where People Confess to Plants” at Sojourners. “"Our worship seeks to witness to God’s love for the whole world, to manifest a love that goes deep and spreads wide, that transcends ourselves and becomes fully lived and embodied in the complex and diverse ecosystems of this earth and the cosmos."

Read “A Response to Recent Events” at “Relevant.”

Read Pitchfork’s report: “Fiona Apple Says She’s “Hoping” to Have New Album “Ready for Early 2020”.

• Read as “Fiona Apple Asks Lil Nas X: “Where’s My Money, You Cute Little Guy?” at Stereogum.

Read Fox 5 Atlanta’s report: “White nationalism is now recognized as a major terror threat by the Department of Homeland Security” and consider Kyle Howard’s reply: “It’s ALWAYS been a major terror threat... it would have always been considered such if #blacklivesmatter”

Read NPR’s report: “Sandusky, Ohio, Makes Election Day A Paid Holiday — By Swapping Out Columbus Day” and listen to Uncle Tupelo’s track “Sandusky” at Youtube.

Read reports that “An 'Extinct' Taiwanese Leopard Was Spotted For The First Time In 36 Years.”

Read CBS News’ report: “Trump trade war with China has cost 300,000 U.S. jobs, Moody's estimates.”

Browse as Rolling Stone considers the “40 Saddest Country Songs of All Time.”

Read Jambands.com report: Adam MacDougall Confirms Addition of Eric Krasno for Circles Around the Sun Fall Tour Dates and see my post: “Musical Worldview (Instrumental Edition): Circles Around The Sun, "Hallucinate A Solution".

Read as New York Times profiles Kim Gordon.

Read as PopMatters interviews Thurston Moore.

• Hear Thurston Moore cover New Order’s “Leave Me Alone.”

Stream a new song from The New Pornographers, “One Kind of Solomon” at Spin.

Read as Stuart Murdoch talks to NPR’s Weekend Edition about the new Belle and Sebastian album, 'Days Of The Bagnold Summer'.

Read Far Out Magazine’s piece: “David Hasselhoff releases cover of the Jesus and Mary Chain song ‘Head On’".

Browse as The Guardian considers the best books about debate.

Read NPR’s report: “The Vaping Illness Outbreak: What We Know So Far . . . The CDC now says there are 805 reported cases of vaping-related illness — and 12 confirmed deaths across the country.”

Read Slate’s piece: “The President Who Wanted Us to Stop Climate Change If only we’d listened to Jimmy Carter on renewables, consumption, and transportation.”

Read Paste’s profile of Devendra Banhart.

Read Wired’s opinion piece: "Red flag" laws help prevent suicides and mass shootings, and they buy time for people in crisis to get help.”

Hear a new Angel Olson song at The Current.

Hear Lucy Dacus cover Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark.”

Read Christianity Today’s report: “Young Life Voted Off Campus at Duke.”

Read Paste’s report: “Cream Drummer Ginger Baker Is "Critically Ill," His Family Says.”

Read as the San Diego Reader interviews The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle.

Read Jamband.com’s report: “Stanton Moore, Skerik, Scott Metzger, Robert Walter, Andy Hess Teaming Up as Emerald Quintet for Fall Shows.”

Read WGNTV’s report: “Sony releases a Walkman for its 40th anniversary.”

Hear Thom Yorke on Desert Island Discs on BBC.

Hear “Harry Nilsson Estate Preps Posthumous Album ‘Losst and Founnd’” at Rolling Stone.

Read as Public Books reconsiders John Kennedy Toole’s Confederacy of Dunces 50 years later.

Consider “Why Ted Cruz was making a biblical case for gun rights after the Odessa shooting” at Washington Post.

Read AZ ED News’ report: “Severe Teacher Shortage In Arizona Continues” and vote for #redfored policies and candidates.

Read SBS’ report that Greta Thunberg has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Browse “Captain Beefheart's 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing” at WFMU.

Browse a “Grateful Dead Album Guide” at Rolling Stone.

Consider “The Unsolved Case of the Most Mysterious Song on the Internet” at Rolling Stone.

Browse “A Guide to African Country Music” at Bandcamp.

Read “A Perfect Movie: The Enduring Legacy of The Princess Bride” at Christ and Pop Culture.

Hear a posthumous track from Leonard Cohen from a forthcoming collection due out this November at NPR.

Read: “Forget STEM, We Need MESH The importance of media literacy, ethics, sociology and history education” at Medium.

Read “In Jamaica With Island Records Founder Chris Blackwell” at Billboard.

Help keep Zanzibar's only music academy open!

Read “How The Replacements’ Biggest Failure Predicted The Future Of Indie Rock” at Uproxx.

Watch Lecrae Get Baptized in the Jordan River at “Relevant.”

See some of the items from Anthony Bourdain’s estate that are up for auction.

Read Rolling Stone’s report: “Jennifer Lopez, Shakira to Perform at Halftime Show at Super Bowl LIV.'“

Browse Paste’s picks for the 30 Best Albums of 1999.

Ever wonder what it would be like “If Mr. Bean Played Every Role In Hollywood…”

Read Magnet’s interview with Grant-Lee Phillips as “Mighty Joe Moon” turns 25.

Read Wall Street Journal’s report: “Trump Repeatedly Pressed Ukraine President to Investigate Biden’s Son.” In other words, he asked a foreign country for help in U.S. elections. Again.

• Read Washington Post’s commentary: “"It is a form of shamelessness worn as a badge of protection— on the implicit theory that the president’s alleged offenses can’t be that serious if he commits them in full public view."

• Read The Atlantic’s opinion piece: “If This Isn’t Impeachable, Nothing Is The president reportedly sought the help of a foreign government against Joe Biden.”

• Read “the full, redacted Trump whistleblower complaint” at PBS.

Watch a “Mexican congressman climbs U.S. border fence to illustrate that Trump's wall is 'totally absurd' at ABC News.

Read Christianity Today’s report “World Vision Flips the Script on Child Sponsorship In the ministry’s first major innovation in seven decades, the children now do the choosing.”

Read as “John Mayer Credits Dead & Company For His Change In Perspective In Heartfelt Post-Tour Note.”

Read The North Star’s report: “Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Apologizes For Wearing Brownface And Blackface.”

Read NPR’s report: “Young People Lead Millions To Protest Global Inaction On Climate Change.”

Read/Listen to NPR’s report: Gang Starr, Hip-Hop's Chilliest Pair Of Heads, Returns.”

Read Oregon Live’s report: “Dr. Bronner’s soap company donates $150,000 to Oregon’s 2020 legal psychedelic mushroom initiative.”

R.I.P. Suzanne Whang, original host of House Hunters, dead at 56.

R.I.P. Larry Wallis, original Motörhead guitarist.

R.I.P. Robert Hunter.

Read Was Is Das’ review of One Eleven Heavy’s Desire Path.

• Read Echoes and Dust’s review of the new One Eleven Heavy album Desire Path.

Read The Guardian’s review of Hiss Golden Messenger’s new album Terms of Surrender.

• Read as Paste interviews Hiss Golden Messenger on the release of the fantastic album “Terms of Surrender.”

Read as NPR wonders “How did a bubblegum pop tune by a fictional cartoon band become the top song of the year in 1969?: 50 Years Later, The Archies' 'Sugar, Sugar' Is Still 'Really Sweet'“

Read the New York Times’s report: “Walmart to End Sales of E-Cigarettes.”

Read “Books Won’t Die” at The Paris Review: “In 1913, Thomas Edison said books “will soon be obsolete in the public schools.”

Read New York Times’ profile of Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness.

Read Stereogum’s report: “Area 51 Fest Cancelled After Only 500 Humans Show Up.”

Read Hollywood Reporter’s piece: “'Schitt's Creek' Creator Dan Levy Signs Overall Deal With ABC Studios.”

Watch “Charles and Ray Eames put their 1969 spin on one of the world’s oldest toys” at Aeon.

Listen to “Scott Erickson & Justin McRoberts — If You Don't Create a Formational Practice For Yourself, Someone Else Will Create One For You” on the Let’s Give A Damn podcast. And read my profile of the newest book May It Be So from the two here.

Read Buzzfeed’s report: “Immigration Officials Want To Change References Of "Foreign National" To "Alien" In A Policy Manual.”

Read NPR’s report: “The 'OK' Hand Gesture Is Now Listed As A Symbol Of Hate.”

Hear a new track from NOLA’s Cha Wa at Relix and listen to “Chapters” by Cha Wa from the 2018 release Spyboy on Episode 21 of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Hurt your brain wondering if our own consciousness is an illusion created by our brains at Aeon.

Consider “The Intelligence of Plants” at the Paris Review.

Browse Buzzfeed’s list of “11 Great Books About Rock And Roll.”

Read as Spin talks to Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Nels Cline.

Read “Ta-Nehisi Coates On Magic, Memory And The Underground Railroad” at NPR.

Watch the trailer for the Elephant 6 documentary at Aquarium Drunkard.

Browse “13 Books About Immigration to Read This Hispanic Heritage Month” at Oprah Magazine.

Consider “Why It Matters if your Bible was translated by a racially diverse group” at Washington Post.

Walk through the last home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright with Phoenix New Times.

Read ASU Now’s report: “ASU women's robotics team places first in country, third in world.”

Read Pitchfork’s report: “Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged Gets 25th Anniversary Vinyl Reissue Featuring five additional rehearsal performances from the iconic set.”

The Weekly Town Crier (09/20/19)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about (09/20/19 Edition).

Browse all the Weekly Town Crier posts so far.

Listen to all 52 episodes of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Listen to a mix of artists who have performed Habañero Collective house shows.

Browse the Musical Worldview posts.

Read about “Yours Apefully: The ‘Planet of the Apes’ Live Arena Show, 1976” at We Are The Mutants.

Read CNN’s report: “Jerry Falwell Jr. faces backlash over emails in which he allegedly belittled students and staff at Liberty University.”

Read/Watch: “Trump supporter Jerry Falwell, Jr. under scrutiny after exposé: "Jerry Falwell Jr. is just another con artist grifter cashing in on 501(c)(3) tax deductible status… Now it’s con artists married to a neofacist Republican party that’s all about white nationalism." by Frank Schaeffer.

Read AV Club’s report: Cops called to prevent 3,000-person hide-and-seek game in a Scottish IKEA".”

R.I.P. Eddie Money.

R.I.P. Ric Ocasek.

R.I.P. Cokie Roberts.

Read “Lupita Nyong’o Will Be Spreading Black Girl Literary Magic as HBO Max Orders Series Based on the Novel, Americanah” at The Root.

Watch “When William S. Burroughs Met Francis Bacon.”

Read “How Dr. Benjamin Spock Changed American Parenting” at Time.

Read “Jeff Goldblum announces new guest-heavy album, shares Sharon Van Etten duet” at Consequence of Sound.

Read as Relevant asks” Why Did an Evangelical Delegation Meet With the Saudi Crown Prince?”

Read “Kurt Vile, Courtney Barnett, Parquet Courts, Low, and More Cover Wilco for New Album” at Pitchfork.

Read “A Reproducible Lifestyle and the De-emphasis of Clergy Can Lead to Movement” by Ed Stetzer at Christianity Today.

Read as Relevant asks “Who’s Ready for Kirk Cameron’s New TV Show?”

Read “Tempe Could Get Arizona's Next Artspace Lofts Development” at Phoenix New Times.

Read “New Zealand Moves To Create Firearm Registry And Stiffen Penalties For Gun Crimes” at NPR.

Read “How Grocery Stores Became A Cultural Flashpoint In The Gun Debate Women, who do the majority of household shopping, are wielding the power of the purse” at HuffPost.

Read “Edward Snowden Tells NPR: The Executive Branch 'Sort Of Hacked The Constitution' in an interview about his new book Permanent Record.

Read “Remembering Daniel Johnston, a Songwriter Like No Other” by Marc Masters at Spin.

Read “How we have failed our teachers” at CBS.

Read as “Jimmy Carter says Trump re-election would be ‘a disaster’” at AJC.

Read Consequence of Sound’s report: “Netflix acquires exclusive rights to Seinfeld.”

Read Relevant’s report: “‘The Far Side’ Will Return to Rescue Us From Our Cultural Catastrophe.”

Read The Hill’s report: “Sean Spicer urges Dancing with the Stars fans to vote for him: "Those of us who stand for #Christ won't be discounted.”

• Read “Sean Spicer: Stand Up for Jesus by Voting for Me on ‘Dancing With the Stars’” at Relevant and then read my piece: “Americans: Stop Confusing Your Personal Cultural Values With Christianity.”

Read Cronkite News’s report: “Arizona Supreme Court: Freedom of speech trumps anti-discrimination law.”

Read AZ Central’s report: “Mumford & Sons' opening act bails in Phoenix, and the band copes in a very colorful way.”

Read Business Insider’s report: “KFC is serving fried chicken sandwiched between 2 glazed doughnuts at dozens of locations, and people are freaking out.”

Read The Hollywood Reporter’s piece: “Saved by the Bell' TV Sequel With Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley a Go at NBCUniversal's Streamer.”

• Read “Mark-Paul Gosselaar thinks it's a little weird he wasn't approached about the Saved By The Bell revival” at AV Club.

Read Phoenix New Times’s piece: “Glendale's Vic Clinco May Have the World's Largest Hot Sauce Collection.”

Read as Scot McKnight reviews Willow Creek’s job posting and comes away asking: “Willow Creek, What’s a Pastor?”

Read NPR’s report: “North America Has Lost 3 Billion Birds, Scientists Say.”

Remember the wrestling coach who made a boy cut his dreadlocks or not wrestle? Read: “Wrestling Ref Gets 2-Year Suspension for Forcing Black Student to Cut ‘Unnatural’ Dreadlocks” at The Root.

Read “No more Misfits shows after MSG,” Danzig says” at Brooklyn Vegan.

See the “Museo Bichos Querétaro (Querétaro Bugs Museum)” at Atlas Obscura.

Read Variety’s report: “Norman Lear Won’t Stop: TV Legend’s Sony Deal Renewal Takes Him to Age 100” including possible talk of a Princess Bride remake, to which Cary Elwes responds: “There’s a shortage of perfect movies in this world. It would be a pity to damage this one.”

See Moby’s new Vegan neck tattoo, because who wouldn’t want to, right?!

Watch the video for Wilco’s new single "Everyone Hides" from their upcoming album Ode To Joy, due out October 04.

Hear a new Van Morrison song "Dark Night of the Soul" on Youtube.

Read Newsweek’s report: “NRA Admits Accepting Money From 23 Russia-Linked Donors.” Protecting American rights, right?

Read “Rachael Denhollander’s Witness Abused as a teen by Larry Nassar, she’s become an advocate for change in her evangelical community” at Slate.

Read “The Divine in Daniel Johnston” at Tape Op.

Read Soundblab’s review of the new One Eleven Heavy album Desire Path.

• Read Raven Sings The Blues’ review of Desire Path.

• Read Record Crates United review of Desire Path.

Read “Hiss Golden Messenger Finds Salvation in ‘Terms of Surrender’” at No Depression.

• Read Line of Best Fit’s review of the album.

• Read Rolling Stone’s profile.

Watch “Watch Benny Hinn Open Up About Renouncing the Prosperity Gospel” at Relevant.

Read about “Malawi Female Chief Comes To Power, Annuls Over 1500 Child Marriages, And Sends Young Girls Back To School” at I Heart Intelligence.

Read Live For Live Music’s report: “LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy To Open New Café/Bar In Brooklyn.”

Read the report: “Navy confirms UFO videos posted by Blink 182 rocker are real and should not have been released.”

Browse “The 9 Best Places to Hear Free Live Music in Phoenix” at Phoenix New Times.

View “Modern marvels: museums with spectacular architecture” at National Geographic.

Read Business Insider’s piece: “'The Dust Lady' of 9/11, a New Jersey banker, dies at age 42 of stomach cancer.”

Read Phoenix New Times’ reoport: “Arizona’s First White Castle Announces Opening Date.”

Read American Military News’ report: “Colt is ending production of AR-15s.”

Read Relevant’s report: “Abortion Is at Its Lowest Rate Since Roe v. Wade.”

Download “Original Bauhaus Books & Journals for Free: Gropius, Klee, Kandinsky, Moholy-Nagy & More” at Open Culture.

Read the New York Times’ profile of Sturgill Simpson.

Stream a mix put together by the Greyboy Allstars.

Read “Brittany Howard on Her Solo Debut, Her Black Heroes, and Owning Her Greatness The Alabama Shakes leader opens up about doing things her way” at Pitchfork.

Read Pitchfork’s report: “Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash Session Unearthed for Bootleg Series.”

Read Vice’s report: “Bob Dylan Died 11 Years Ago, According to Siri.”

Read: “Lee “Scratch” Perry and Adrian Sherwood release remix companion to latest album, featuring Brian Eno and Bob Marley trombonist Vin Gordo” at ReGen Magazine.

Read Entertainment Weekly’s report: “Wes Anderson's next film The French Dispatch confirms cast for 2020 release.”

Read Phoenix New Times’ report: “Mesa College Fires Professor Who Promoted QAnon Conspiracy Theory.”

Read Forbes’ report: “One In Four Teachers Works 60-Plus Hours A Week.”

Browse “10 Essential Folk Albums from 2019 (So Far)” at Paste.

Read “Who Gets to Come through the Golden Door: Refugees, Asylum Seekers, the Church, and the Soul of America” by Alan Cross at Providence.

Read Exclaim’s report: “Céline Dion Is Apparently Becoming a Big Fan of the Cure.”

Read “Mike Patton on Joining Faith No More, Finding Inspiration from Tom Waits, and Being Yourself” at Consequence of Sound.

Read Real Clear Politics report of a very lucid “Conservative,” - “Glenn Beck: If Trump Doesn't Win "We Are Officially At The End Of The Country As We Know It"

Read “Becoming Bourbon” at Image Journal.

Read the New York Times profile of Patti Smith.

Read “Kim Kardashian West Tells ‘The View’ That Getting ‘Saved by Christ’ Changed Kanye’s Life” at Relevant.

Read “The Making of An Urbane Cowboy Both before and after Lee Hazlewood wrote hits for Nancy Sinatra and Duane Eddy, he was a Texas musician” at Texas Monthly.

Read Post-Punk’s report: “Depeche Mode Announce New Anton Corbijn Directed Documentary Concert Film “Spirits in the Forest”.

Read “Jimmy Page: Led Zeppelin were the best band of all time” at Consequence of Sound.

Watch “Musicians Around the World Play The Band’s Classic Song, “The Weight,” with Help from Robbie Robertson and Ringo Starr” at Open Culture.

See a “Sneak Peek Of New Kurt Vonnegut Museum And Library” at Indianapolis Monthly.

Read “Thurston Moore Selling a Chunk of His Private Record Collection More than 300 records will be up for grabs in London.”

Read AZ Central’s report: “Taco Bell Cantina is coming soon to the former Restaurant Mexico space on Mill Avenue.”

The Weekly Town Crier (09/13/19)

All the week’s news that’s fit to cry about. 09/13/19 Edition.

Browse all the Weekly Town Crier posts so far.

Listen to all 52 episodes of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Listen to a mix of artists who have performed Habañero Collective house shows.

Browse the Musical Worldview posts.

Read “Jerry Falwell Jr. Shows How the Advance of Christendom Can Harm Christianity” by David French at National Review. Read my piece: “Americans: Stop Confusing Your Personal Cultural Values With Christianity.”

Read “Why Nobody in Hollywood Has Any Friends” at Hollywood Reporter.

R.I.P. Daniel Johnston.

R.I.P. Jarrid Wilson.

Read “Nodding To The Shadow” by Richard Rohr.

Read: “‘Simply Unacceptable’: 145 Executives Demand Senate Action on Gun Violence” at New York Times.

Read CNN’s report: “Publix joins retailers asking customers not to openly carry guns into its stores.”

Consider “The coming death of just about every rock legend” at The Week.

Read NME’s report: “The Rolling Stones are releasing a hefty deluxe ‘Let It Bleed’ 50th anniversary boxset.”

Listen as “R.E.M. Share Unreleased Song “Fascinating” to Support Hurricane Dorian Relief” at PItchfork.

Read “Sammy Brue – The Folk Rock Kid” at Salt Lake Magazine.

Read about “Wallace and Ladmo's Musical Mastermind” at Phoenix New Times.

Read PBS’ report: “Trudeau says Canada will take refugees banned by U.S.'“

Read ArtNet’s report: “Artist David Hockney Is Moving to France Because It’s Illegal to Smoke Practically Anywhere in America.”

Listen as “Wynonna Judd & Cass McCombs Form Duo The Frothy Pit, Share New Song “The Child” at Stereogum.

Read “A Shared Place Wendell Berry’s lifelong dissent” at The Nation.

Read/Watch “Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey to talk all things The Office on new podcast Co-stars and real-life best friends will break down episodes and reveal behind-the-scenes trivia on Office Ladies” at Consequence of Sound.

Browse “The Music That Made Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy” at Pitchfork.

Read “Dan Brown's Desire Path: Our Arts & Music Columnist's new band is quite good” at VoidLive. Browse my post about One Eleven Heavy here.

Read Christianity Today’s report: “Is American Christianity on Its Last Legs? The Data Say Otherwise.”

Read “Sounds emanating love – the story of Arvo Pärt” at Estonian World.

See “The photographer shooting a 30-year timelapse of New York's skyline” at CNN.

See the “Evolution of Picasso’s Iconic Self-Portraits From Age 15 to 90” at mymodern.net.

Watch Chance the Rapper and Smino Perform “Eternal” on “Ellen” at Pitchfork.

Watch “Chance the Rapper Explain How Jesus Inspires Him to Serve His Community” at Relevant.

Read “Buttigieg Talks Being a Pro-Choice Christian” at Relevant.

Read “Sun Ra Applies to NASA’s Art Program: When the Inventor of Space Jazz Applied to Make Space Art” at Open Culture.

Listen to “Jemar Tisby on Race and the American Church” at Fuller Seminary.

Read Paste’s Op-Ed: “Brewery Taprooms: Please Allow Half Pours. I’m Begging You.”

Read: “Rob Stoner :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview.”

Read “Let’s bring back the Sabbath as a radical act against ‘total work’” at Aeon.

Read “It's Soul Music Without The Sex': Fat Possum Records' Bruce Watson Goes Gospel” at NPR’s World Cafe.

Watch the new trailer for the Michael Hutchence documentary ‘Mystify’ at NME.

Read “I Was Always Trying To Get Better”: Sonny Rollins On A Life In Jazz” at Udiscovermusic.

Read PBS News’ Hour’s report: “Share of uninsured Americans rises for 1st time in a decade.”

Read “Robert Del Naja on the technological world of Massive Attack” at Dazed Digital.

Discover “Ancient Sufi Dance: Rumi's Whirling Dervishes” at Culture Trip.

Listen to Kim Gordon’s New Song “Air BnB” at Pitchfork.

Watch “this young musician shred “Voodoo Child” on a Korean gayageum” at AV Club.

Read jambands.com’s report: “moe. Announce First Studio Album in 5 Years.”

Read “Pastor and Writer Jarrid Wilson Has Died By Suicide” at Relevant.

Hear a new Matt Valentine song “Light Speed>” at Raven Sings The Blues.

Read “What I Learned From Aquarius Records, A Record Store For Big Ears” at NPR’s “All Songs Considered.”

Watch on MSNBC as Morning “Joe asks Mayor Pete about Jesus Christ being his lord and personal savior.”

Read Pitchfork’s piece: “Neko Case on Her New Album, Her House Burning Down, and Her Futuristic Feminism.”

Read: “Tennessee Senator calls higher education a 'liberal breeding ground,' calls to remove it all together.”

Hear Mary Oliver read “Her Beloved Poem “Wild Geese” at Brain Pickings.

Read “NRA Sues San Francisco Over ‘Terrorist Organization’ Designation’ at Rolling Stone.

Read “Live After Death: Inside Music’s Booming New Hologram Touring Industry” at Rolling Stone.

Read PopSugar’s report: “Schitt's Creek Season 5 Will Drop on Netflix in October.”

Read about Bonnie “Prince” Billy returning with his first new album of music in 8 years and watch the video for the new song “At The Back Of The Pit” at Stereogum.

Read: Jimmie Rodgers: “How an American country music pioneer entered African mythology” at Aeon.

Read: “Original Bauhaus lineup to reunite for first time in 13 years” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “They Don’t Think There Is Any America Left” What a researcher found when she interviewed black, white, and Latino working-class residents of a struggling coal town.“They Don’t Think There Is Any America Left” What a researcher found when she interviewed black, white, and Latino working-class residents of a struggling coal town” at Slate.

Hear “Hear U2 Discuss The Making of The Unforgettable Fire on This Day in 1987” at Paste Magazine.

Listen to a Spotify mix of my friend Justin McRoberts’ music.

Read Stereogum’s report: “Jack O’Connell To Star In Biopic About Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder.”

Read Rolling Stone’s report “We’re Only Beginning to See the Consequences of the Bush-Era Assault on Civil Liberties.”

Read Stereogum’s report: “Courtney Love Says She Turned Down $100,000 To Attend Opioid Heiress’ Fashion Show.”

Read/Watch “David Hasselhoff Covers The Lords of The New Church’s “Open Your Eyes” for New Album Full of Post-Punk Covers” at Post-Punk.com.

Read “Bahamians Fleeing to U.S. Turned Away Following Sudden Policy Change” at Relevant.

Visit PopSugar’s piece: “If You Think I'm Gonna Spend All My Money on These Golden Girl Chia Pets, You're So Right.”

Read “Religious conservatives voice fears that a Democratic president will lead them to 'martyrdom'“ at Yahoo, then read my piece “Americans: Stop Confusing Your Personal Cultural Values With Christianity.”

Read/Watch “The culture of masculinity and its negative impacts on men” at PBS.

Read Sojourners piece: “Margaret Atwood On Christianity, ‘The Handmaids Tale,’ And What Faithful Activism Looks Like Today.”

Stream “Miles Davis’ unreleased ’80s album Rubberband” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Love Is Not a Battlefield, and Neither Is Jeni’s: An Afternoon Eating Ice Cream With Hanif Abdurraqib” at The Ringer.

Read “Frances Bean Cobain Launches ‘Kurt Was Here’ Clothing Collection” at Rolling Stone.

Read “Bob Dylan announces 2019 US tour dates The 28-date outing launches in October” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Mark Twain on Racism, How Religion Is Used to Justify Injustice, and What His Mother Taught Him About Compassion” at Brain Pickings.

Read “Why ‘Wichita Lineman’ Contains the Greatest Musical Couplet Ever Written” at Lit Hub.

Watch “Sinéad O’Connor makes epic return on Ireland’s Late Late Show” at Consequence of Sound.

Read “Tool’s Maynard James Keenan Addresses Justin Bieber Beef” at Stereogum.

Read an Op-Ed at Relevant: “A Christian Case for Prison Abolition.”

Uh oh! “White Claw announces nationwide shortage.”

Read Christianity Today’s report: “LifeWay’s Stores Are Closing. But Its Christian Books Will Be in More Stores Than Ever.”

Imagine being able to afford these turntables.

Read about the beef stews that’s been simmering for 45 years.

Stream or download a mix that I’ve been listening to in the car during Summer 2019.

Read Consequence of Sound’s report: “Vinyl sales on track to earn more than CDs for first time in over 30 years.”

Read Relevant’s piece: “Scientists: The Loch Ness Monster Might Just Be a Dumb Old Eel.”

Read Salon’s report that the “GOP poised to cancel caucuses and primaries in four states in spite of Trump challengers.”

Read Spin’s report that “Neil Young Announces New Book on the History of Pono.”

Read Christianity Today’s piece: “Meet the Dutch Christians Who Saved Their Jewish Neighbors from the Nazis.”

Read as Eric Trump teaches us how to do good journalism.

Hear Wilco “Debut Four New Originals in Norway” at Jambands.com.

Read Katelyn Beaty’s review of Chris Arnade’s book Dignity: “Proximity Over Punditry.”

Read the New York Times opinion piece: “That Assault Weapon Ban? It Really Did Work.”

Read Sojourners’ piece asking us to remember “When American Christians were Socialists.”

Read Huffpost’s piece: “Pete Buttigieg: GOP Will Face A ‘Reckoning’ As Christians Realize Its Hypocrisy.”

Hear “Three Songs From Pernice Brothers’ First Album In 9 Years Spread The Feeling” at stereogum.

Read “The Literary Canon Is Mostly White. Here’s an Alternative Latin American Reading List” at remezcla.

Read Consequence of Sound’s piece: “Judas Priest’s Rob Halford announces holiday album, unveils new song “Donner and Blitzen.”

Read Relevant’s piece: “So, These Glasses Will Physically ‘Nudge’ You If You Stop Paying Attention in Class.”

“Here Is Sleater-Kinney's New Drummer” at Exclaim!

Read NPR’s report: “CDC Says Number Of Possible Cases Of Vaping-Related Lung Illness Has Doubled.”

Read Christianity Today’s report: “Baptist College Handbook Authorizes ‘Full Access’ to Students’ Social Media Accounts.”

Read Billboard’s piece: “New Grateful Dead Photography Book Offers Deep Dive Into Jerry Garcia's Life.”

Read about the four-story roastery Starbucks is opening in Chicago.

Read 12News’ report: “Cars with back seat alert systems could help prevent kids left in hot cars.”

Read “A ‘Sabbatical’ From Church? One woman's story of how a break from church has helped remind her of what church is really all about” at Relevant.

Watch Dave Matthews for a solo set at NPR’s Tiny Desk.

Read Aldi’s statement on Twitter: “At ALDI, the safety of our employees, customers and the community is our highest priority. Alongside many other businesses, we are asking that our customers refrain from openly displaying firearms in any of our stores, except for authorized law enforcement personnel.”

Read “Chance the Rapper Postpones Tour Following Birth of Second Daughter” at Pitchfork.

Follow KJZZ’s series: “Tracing The Migrant Journey.”

Read “‘Someone’s Gotta Tell the Freakin’ Truth’: Jerry Falwell’s Aides Break Their Silence” at Politico.

Read and consider “Brotopia: breaking up the church’s boys club” at Mike Frost.net.

Read: “Survey: 45 Percent of College Students Don’t Think ‘In God We Trust’ Belongs on U.S. Money” at Relevant.

Read Jambands.com’s report: ““There’s A Reward: A Celebration of the Life & Music of Neal Casal” Will Feature Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Circles Around the Sun, Joe Russo, Dave Dreiwitz, Dave Schools and More.”

The Weekly Town Crier (09/06/19)

All the News that’s fit to cry about. 09/06/19 edition.

Browse all the Weekly Town Crier posts so far.

Listen to all 52 episodes of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Listen to a mix of artists who have performed Habañero Collective house shows.

Browse the Musical Worldview posts.

Stream or download a mix that I’ve been listening to in the car during Summer 2019.

Read “Study Shows Increasing Political Divide Between Younger and Older White Evangelicals” at Sojourners.

Watch a tour of a “paranormal bookstore at the Jersey Shore.”

Read PopMatters piece: “Bananarama Turn Up the 'Stereo' for Their First Album in 10 Years.”

Hear “5 Hours of Edgar Allan Poe Stories Read by Vincent Price & Basil Rathbone" at Open Culture.

Read “An Oral History Of The Fender Telecaster” at Guitar.com.

Read Relevant’s report: “Earlier this week, Justin Bieber led worship at a Churchome service in Beverly Hills.”

Read Rolling Stone’s report that “Ariana Grande Sues Forever 21 for $10 Million.”

Read Live For Live Music’s report that “Miles Davis’ Customized ‘Moon And Stars’ Trumpet To Be Sold At Auction.”

Read “Hang on the Box: The Illustrated Story of China’s Female Punk Pioneers” at radiichina.com.

Read CNN’s report: “Walmart ends all handgun ammunition sales and asks customers not to carry guns into stores.”

• Read CNBC’s report: “Kroger joins Walmart in asking shoppers not to openly carry guns in stores.”

• Read Walgreens’ statement: “We are joining other retailers in asking our customers to no longer openly carry firearms into our stores other than authorized law enforcement officials.”

• Read NBC News’ report: “Walgreens, CVS and Wegmans join Walmart and Kroger in asking customers to no longer openly carry guns in their stores.”

Read PopSugar’s profile: “Skateboarding Legend Peggy Oki on the Olympics and 40 Years of Smashing Gender Expectations.”

Aloo Gobhi - Instant Pot.

Read Washington Posts’s piece: “It’s a brave new world. Why is our protest music stuck in the past?”

See a newly discovered “Shimmery blue tarantula.”

Read Atlas Obscura’s piece: “The World’s First Piranha Ramen Is No Joke.”

Read about “The Spectacular Failure of the World's Only Hard Rock Theme Park” at Vice.

Read Newsweek’s report that a “Teenager Went Blind After Only Eating Fries, Chips, White Bread, Sausages and Ham Since Elementary School.”

Consider “Bob Dylan’s Overlooked Christian Music” at Sojourners.

Read as Washington Post profiles The Hold Steady.

Stream a new Iggy Pop song at Spin.

Listen as “Animal Collective covered the Silver Jews' "Ballad of Reverend War Character."

Read NPR’s piece: “The Voice That Shattered Glass How Ella Fitzgerald's cassette campaign fueled a late-career renaissance.”

Learn “How peacock spiders use optical illusions to woo females” at National Geographic.

Read: “John Steinbeck on Falling in Love: A 1958 Letter of Advice to His Lovesick Teenage Son” at Brain Pickings.

Read CNN’s report: “Judge rules White House must give Playboy columnist Brian Karem his press pass back.”

Read about the Banksy artwork stolen in Paris.

See Relevant’s report: “The Thomas Kinkade/Godzilla Mashup You Knew Was Coming Is Finally Here.”

Read AV Club’s piece: “The Art Bell Vault is unlocked, and it's filled with aliens, time travelers, and Bigfoots.”

Read about Atlas Obscura’s piece: “Found in a Record Store: Kurt Cobain’s Royalty Check.”

Read Fatherly’s report that “Netflix Is Ditching the Binge, Will Start Releasing Episodes Weekly.”

Read about the Nashville school banning Harry Potter books, claiming that the books present the "risk conjuring evil spirits".

Free on September 18 and in Phoenix? Celebrate National Bourbon Month w/ Free Whiskey Tasting at the Little Woody.

Browse the piece: “Guinea Pig Halloween Costumes Exist, and Yup, That Is Definitely a Pineapple Suit” at

Read Music Radar’s interview with Peter Hook: Peter Hook: “I’ve never liked to be hidden, and I don’t like to be patronised. I don’t buy into the idea that the bass player is the quiet one”

“Hear Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s New Song ‘Milky Way’ at Rolling Stone.PopSugar.

Read/Listen to NPR’s report: “Charlottesville Victims Use Post-Slavery KKK Law To Go After Hate Groups.”

Read as Gen.Medium suggests: “Public Libraries Aren’t Going Extinct — They’re Evolving.”

Read about the TN man suing “Popeyes for running out of chicken sandwiches.”

Watch/Read: “Expert predicts 25% of colleges will "fail" in the next 20 years” at CBS News.

Read/Listen to NPR’s report “Houses Of Worship Find New Life After Congregations Downsize.”

R.I.P. Valerie Harper.

Browse as Book Riot profiles “11 Nonfiction Science Comics For Adults.”

Read National Post’s report: “Secret John Coltrane album was 'hidden in plain sight' as soundtrack for 1964 French-Canadian film.”

Join Rolling Stone in wondering: What is a VSCO Girl?

Read KQED’s report: “San Francisco Officials Designate NRA a Domestic Terrorist Organization.”

Browse Rolling Stone’s list of “15 Legendary Unreleased Albums.”

My friend’s son Andy Whiten says: “I updated my site with some recent photo work, film, & more! I’d love to take on additional photo projects when time allows, so if you have any photography needs, you can view my work and contact me here!” Visit andywhiten.com.

Watch a new video from The Messthetics; “Touch Earth Touch Sky”, at Stereogum.

Read as Aquarium Drunkard interviews Tinariwen.

Read as the New York Times profiles Stephen King.

The Weekly Town Crier (08/30/19)

All the week’s news that’ fit to cry about.

Listen to all 52 episodes of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Listen to a mix of artists who have performed Habañero Collective house shows.

Watch as “Meat Loaf discusses the music in 'Bat Out of Hell The Musical'.

Read as Relevant magazine wonders: “Why did Jerry Falwell Jr. reportedly steer the sale of $1.2 million in Liberty property to his young personal trainer for no money down, a low interest rate and then have the school lease part of it back from him?”

Read Slate’s piece: “Governing by Owning the Libs When a president’s entire motivation is to antagonize the people who didn’t vote for him.”

Read and wonder: “Bake Off fans in love with Noel Fielding’s Dinosaur Jr. jumper - can you buy it?”

Read Relevant’s piece: “Whoa, Benny Hinn Is Rejecting the Prosperity Gospel: ‘I’m Correcting My Theology’".

Read/Listen to “Columnfortably Numb: Psych Rock For September Reviewed By JR Moores” at Quietus.

Read Pitchfork’s report: “R.E.M. Announce Monster Reissue With Unreleased Music The six-disc 25th anniversary edition comes with unheard demos and a live performance.”

Browse as the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival announces its 2019 lineup.

Read Raw Story’s report: “Infowars’ Sandy Hook appeal goes down in flames as judge orders Alex Jones to ‘pay all costs’.

Read Open Culture’s piece: “Why Should You Read Haruki Murakami? An Animated Video on His “Epic Literary Puzzle” Kafka on the Shore Makes the Case.”

Read Stereogum’s report: “Ohio Man Sues After Legless Juggalo Crashes Into Him With A Golf Cart At Insane Clown Posse Gathering: He was operating the golf cart peddles with a baseball bat.”

Read Travel and Leisure’s piece: “These Key West Hotels Offer Waterproof Books You Can Read in the Pool.”

Read Phoenix New Times’ report: “Former Revolver Records Building Will Become Evolve Arts Space in Roosevelt Row.”

Read NPR’s piece: “After Months In A Dish, Lab-Grown Minibrains Start Making 'Brain Waves'.

Help Janet Weiss Get Back On Her Feet at GoFundMe.

So, Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters wanted to start a petition to get Oasis to reunite so Noel Gallagher says he wants to start a petition to get Foo Fighters to break up. Read about it at NME.

See “Inside Jazz Great Dave Brubeck's Groovy Connecticut Home” at Town and Country.

Read as Wisconsin Public Radio wonders: “What Ever Happened To The Pop Song Fade-Out? The History Behind Bringing A Song To Silence.”

Read as The Hollywood Reporter reports that Audible is being sued by U.S. Publishers over the question of whether or not transcripts of audio books are . . . books.

Read Slate’s report “Netflix Confirms Rumors: Breaking Bad Movie Will Be Released in October.”

Read Consequence of Sound’s report: “Leslie Jones, Alec Baldwin exit SNL.”

I didn't know who Bret Stephens was until this week. Now he will always be the Bedbug Guy. See what tattling can do to you, kids?!

Read Stereogum’s report that Xylouris White (featured on Episode 03 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow) have announced their new album The Sisypheans and shared a new video.

Read Rolling Stone’s report: “Sting Condemns Brazil’s Handling of Amazon Fires: ‘We Will All Suffer the Consequences’Sting Condemns Brazil’s Handling of Amazon Fires: ‘We Will All Suffer the Consequences’

Read the Washington Posts’s report: “Mormon leaders explicitly ban guns from houses of worship.”

Read Jambands.com’s report: “Phil Lesh Cancels Festival Appearances to Undergo Back Surgery.”

Browse “The Most Disgusting Canned Foods” at Ranker.

Head to Facebook and RSVP for John Doe’s book signing at Zia Records Chandler.

Consider “Back in the Habit: Creedal Faith and “Sister Act” at Mockingbird.

Read about the “Teen who registered people to vote as they waited in line at Popeyes.”

Visit Live For Live Music to “Celebrate Oteil Burbridge’s 55th Birthday With His Dead & Co Lead Vocal Debuts.”

Read Consequence of Sound’s report: “Eva Longoria to direct Flamin’ Hot Cheetos movie Flamin' Hot will tell the story of the man behind the popular snack.”

Read “Kim Gordon interview: on art, life after Sonic Youth and her debut solo album, No Home Record” at The Times.

Read “More UFOs Than Ever Before” at The Paris Review.

Watch The Muppets perform “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Read about the garbage man who “saved 25,000 books and turned them into a library. The pictures are amazing.”

Read AV Club’s piece “How can you not check out a movie called The VelociPastor?”

Read PopSugar’s report: “Disney's New Pixar Movie, Soul, Will Feature Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, and a Whole Lotta Jazz.”

Listen to the Christianity Today podcast episode: “Grief Is Inevitable. It Doesn't Have to Be Inevitably Lonely.”

Read Pitchfork’s report: “Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Scoring New Pixar Movie Soul.”

Read the Washington Post’s piece: “Dairy Queen burgers are not made of human flesh, a county coroner is forced to confirm.”

Read Nippon’s profile: ““Sazae-san” and “Chibi Maruko-chan”: Two of Japan’s Most Beloved Anime.”

Read: “Get Involved, Internet: Help They Might Be Giants raise money for separated families and asylum-seeking minors” at AV Club.”

Browse “The Story of Outlaw Country in 33 Songs” at Pitchfork.

Read Rolling Stone’s report: “'It Was One Problem After Another': How Woodstock 50 Fell Apart.”

Browse Pitchfork’s picks for “The 25 Best Music Videos of the 1970s.”

Read Consequence of Sound’s report “Peter Murphy has “made a full recovery” after suffering heart attack.”

Browse Barack Obama’s 2019 Summer Playlist.

Read AV Club’s report: “Black Panther II is coming in 2022.”

Browse the Englewood Review of Books’ list of “Fall 2019 Most Anticipated Books for Christian Readers!”

Read Christianity Today’s piece: “How Prison Ministry Inspired an All-Female Audio Bible.”

Read Bandcamp’s piece “The Indonesian Underground: From Its Political Roots to the Present Day.”

Read Rolling Stone’s piece: “The Young and the Sexless There’s a new sexual revolution going on: young men and women getting off on not getting it on. Meet the Christian soldiers who are fighting the fire down below.”

Read Pro Publica’s piece: “How Amazon and Silicon Valley Seduced the Pentagon.”

Watch the live-action Lady and the Tramp trailer at Rolling Stone.

Watch Bob Weir sit in with Old Crow Medicine Show and Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians.

Read The Guardian’s piece: “'My father said I should be looking after the cows': the first female Tuareg guitarist: Fatou Seidi Ghali once had to practise on her brother’s guitar in secret. She and her band, Les Filles de Illighadad, are now taking the world by storm.” Listen to Les Filles de Illighadad on Episode 46 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Read Vinyl Factory’s report: “Tricky announces his autobiography, Hell Is Round The Corner.”

Read The Atlantic’s report: “The Proud Boys’ Real Target They are endangering both American citizens and American ideals at large.”

Read as New York Times considers “How Feist’s ‘1234’ Turned Into a ‘Sesame Street’ Blockbuster.”

Read America: A Jesuit Review’s piece: “We need to stop reacting to Trump—and start responding. There’s a big difference.”

Read: “Jerry Garcia on Saving the World’s Rainforests: 30 years ago, Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead spoke to High Times about preserving the rainforests.”

Read about the “Foucault Pendulum at the Franklin Institute” at Atlas Obscura.

Read as the Phoenix New Times reports “The Full Lineup for the 2019 Apache Lake Music Festival.”

R.I.P. “David Koch, conservative donor and philanthropist.”

R.I.P. Neal Casal.

R.I.P. Pedro Bell (??/??/?? - 08/27/19)

R.I.P. Donnie Fritts (11/08/42 - 08/27/19)

Wonder “What Does an Ancient Pot Sound Like?” at Pitchfork.

Read “Meet The Edelweiss Pirates: The Little-Known Teenaged Resistance Fighters Of Nazi Germany” at All That’s Interesting.

Read Gallup’s piece “Sermon Content Is What Appeals Most to Churchgoers.”

Stream a new track from Mike Patton and Jean-Claude Vannier at Consequence of Sound ahead of their collaborative album

Watch Derek Trucks sit in with the Trey Anastasio Band at Live For Live Music.

Read Relevant’s report: “People Are Getting Sued Over the Billy Graham Rule Now: A sheriff's deputy says he was fired for refusing to work alone with a woman. Now he's suing for religious discrimination.”

Read Consequence of Sound’s “Social Distortion announce 40th anniversary show with Joan Jett, The Distillers, The Kills, and more.”

Stream a new track from Trey Anastasio and watch Trey Anastasio sit in with Khruangbin at LOCKN’.

Read about “That Time Keith Richards Found Muddy Waters Painting the Ceiling at Chess Studios.”

Read Stereogum’s report “Death Row Records Is Now Owned By Hasbro.”

Read Exclaim’s report “Colin Stetson Is Scoring a Nicolas Cage Film.”

Read Rolling Stone’s report: “Eddie Money Reveals Stage 4 Esophageal Cancer Diagnosis.”

Read Pitchfork’s report “Why the Eminem Vs. Spotify Case May Be Headed to the Supreme Court.”

Read Rolling Stone’s report “David Byrne Launches Online Magazine ‘Reasons to Be Cheerful’

Read Consequence of Sound’s piece “Emma Stone is punk rock Cruella de Vil in first image from upcoming prequel.”

Read: “How Competitive Walking Captivated Georgian Britain In 1815, thousands of people came to watch George Wilson, the “Blackheath Pedestrian,” walk 1,000 miles” at Atlas Obscura.

Read Relevant’s piece “Rev. William Barber Calls on Democrats to Host a Presidential Debate on Poverty.”