Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 12/26/16
George Michael dies at 53
12:15 PMClinton Yates is not here this week, as he’s busy trekking the mountains of Georgia, knucking and bucking and ready to fight. So, in his absence, I’ll be taking over Daily Dose duties for the entire week. Enjoy.
The never-ending nightmare that is 2016 strikes again. This time, Grammy-Award winning British singer George Michael. The pop icon, who went from teenage heartthrob in the 1980s to matured singer-songwriter over the past two decades, died “peacefully at home” on Christmas evening, according to his publicist. He was just 53. The eccentric musician rose to prominence as part of the duo Wham! before transitioning to a solo career that led to over 100 million albums sold, including over 20 million from his 1987 solo debut Faith, featuring genre-defining hits Father Figure, I Want Your Sex and title track Faith. Michael, who could give late musicians Prince and David Bowie strong competition in the unlikely-sex-appeal department, collaborated with some of the most well-known black performers in music history, including Mary J. Blige, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Beyoncé. BBC News has a detailed breakdown of Michael’s life.
The “Problem of Whiteness” has a problem. The African culture studies department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is offering a course next semester called “The Problem of Whiteness,” which explores the social construction of whiteness and how to “dismantle white supremacy,” leaning on the works of famed writers W.E.B. Du Bois, George Yancy and Ta-Nehisi Coates. While the class appears to be a revolutionary examination of how race works in America and across the globe, members of the Wisconsin state government are none too pleased. Gov. Scott Walker called the class “goofy” and “unusual,” Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke tweeted that it’s “racism against white people,” and Wisconsin Rep. Dave Murphy all but threatened to revoke state funding from the university if the class isn’t discontinued. The university has backed the course and its professor, Damon Sajnani, through a statement, explaining that the class “will benefit students who are interested in developing a deeper understanding of race issues.”
A&E’s failed publicity stunt. Last week, the cable network announced a docuseries called Generation KKK that centered around the Ku Klux Klan and four families with members trying to escape the domestic terrorist group. Initially scheduled to air Jan. 10, the series explored the inner workings of the heavily secretive organization and the effects a system of hate such as the KKK can have on young children. After the announcement, there was a chorus of backlash from social and traditional media, abhorring A&E for normalizing a hate group by giving it free airtime on cable television. While network executives could have squashed the television show right then and there, they instead doubled down, telling FOX411 that “the documentary series takes a clear stance against hatred of any kind.” Five days after the announcement, though, A&E abruptly canceled Generation KKK after it learned the show’s third-party producers violated company policy by paying Klan members for access during filming of the show. So, instead of dropping a series about the KKK due to the group’s documented violence and oppression of African-Americans for almost two centuries, A&E only had a change of heart when, ironically, ethics came into play.
Winner of the weekend: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick
Kaepernick has had quite the tumultuous season, from his stand (pun intended) against the national anthem before the regular season began to the 49ers’ 13 consecutive losses since a Week 1 victory. But Kaepernick & Co. got the job done on Saturday, defeating the Los Angeles Rams, 22-21, for the second time this season. After scoring with 10 seconds left in the game, down 21-20, San Francisco coach Chip Kelly, with nothing else to lose, went for the 2-point conversion and the win. Kaepernick rolled to his right, saw an opening and glided into the end zone to give the 49ers a one-point lead. As he made his way up from the ground, the quarterback raised his fist in the air, resembling Tommie Smith and John Carlos.
https://twitter.com/RealLifeKaz/status/812816404508450816
Loser of the weekend: Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson
Thompson was one half of the Splash Brothers last season with reigning MVP Stephen Curry. This year, he’s arguably the fourth-most important player on his team, enjoying beers during postgame interviews and getting embarrassed (!!!) by geriatric ball players. On Christmas Day, Thompson got dunked on by 36-year-old Cleveland Cavaliers forward Richard Jefferson in one of the most highlight-worthy plays of a game that involved LeBron James. To add salt to the wound, Thompson gave up the game-winning points to Cavs guard Kyrie Irving. Also, it’s being argued that this is the reason the Warriors have lost four straight to the defending champs.
What to look forward to on Monday: Day-after-Christmas sales
Grab those return receipts and hit the outlets. The way 2016 has gone, you deserve it.
FIFA and Chill
‘FIFA and Chill’ is the show you need to be watching
This week, they’ve got The Chicken Connoisseur
The Chicken Connoisseur is well-known around these parts. His work in the food review industry quickly became the stuff of legend, but his latest stop was with a show called FIFA and Chill, which is basically a window into what my entire teenage and current life is sort of like. Show up, eat food, play video games and talk trash. It’s a glorious existence. And this is a completely brilliant program. For many people, this would be a far more effective method than Netflix and Chill for getting what you want, but that’s a separate matter.
As for the program, the fact that they just keep a screen up of what’s actually happening on the sticks is tremendous, as well. Two running storylines between conversation and gameplay keep things interesting. This is worth your time and the most in-depth interview I’ve seen with Elijah Quashie, who now has his own Wikipedia page. You can learn a lot from people by how the play video games, which is exactly why the show exists.
“I’ll eventually get around to America,” The Chicken Connoissuer says at one point regarding coming stateside. “Eventually.”
Peng.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 12/23/16
Viral video puts Fort Worth, Texas, under the national microscope
11:00 AMHope everyone is close to where they need to be to celebrate the holidays. But if you don’t have anywhere to be or anyone to be with, we feel for you. These times can be awfully lonely when your life isn’t where you want it to be.
The concept of “enforcement” depends on the person. Which is why when a woman in Fort Worth, Texas, told a police officer that a man had attacked her child, the one in the officer’s mind who needed to be checked was her, not him. The video of the disgusting situation has since gone viral and with good reason. It highlights just about everything wrong with the confluence of racism, sexism and police enforcement that we’ve come to understand as normal, finally. That officer is now on desk duty, according to ABC News.
Nobody wants to perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration. Why? Because, well, would you? High school bands, major recording artists, you name it, folks are turning him down all over the place. The president-elect is even going so far as to offer ambassadorships in exchange for their services. He’s been tweeting about it, like the bully who throws a party then gets mad when nobody shows up and acts like something’s wrong with everyone else. Now, he’s basically trying to force The Rockettes to be there. ABC News reports on who will sing for Trump.
Are you a podcast listener? You know, we have one here at All Day. But, how people consume their various audio content is always an interesting question. I know plenty people who are all podcasts all the time. Heck, at the local NPR affiliate here, they created a broadcast about podcasts. For me, a podcast that’s not also a radio show is something I listen to when I’m doing nothing else. Jody Avirgan and Kate LaRue over at FiveThirtyEight asked people to visualize their listening habits, and the results were incredible.
George Karl is not making any friends in the basketball world. In his new book coming out soon, he stated that, No. 1, Carmelo Anthony wasn’t that good of a player and, No. 2, that players who grew up without fathers were more difficult to coach. Without getting too far into how absurd and problematic both of those assertions are, the reactions were swift. Kenyon Martin certainly hasn’t lost any love for the coach, and Anthony basically told the media that he’s above this foolishness. ESPN’s Ian Begley reports.
Free Food
Coffee Break: For all the up-and-coming music producers and editors out there, here’s a treat. Looplabs has created an online community for sound creation that allows you to do things that typically require a lot more resources from an audio standpoint. Check it out here, kiddos.
Snack Time: If you want to know how bad things have gotten in North Carolina between voter suppression efforts and gerrymandering, an independent report has ruled that, technically, what they’re doing isn’t even a democracy.
Dessert: Tiger, we love you, but please get your life.
All Day Podcast
All Day Podcast: 12/21/16
The best of 2016, breaking down ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ and catching up with Eric Dickerson
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | Embed
We had a packed house for the last All Day Podcast of the year as I, host Clinton Yates, Jill Hudson, Justin Tinsley, Domonique Foxworth and Danielle Cadet recapped the best moments 2016 brought us. From catching twerk to Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest to LeBron James bringing a title back to Cleveland to the last days of the Obamas in the White House and, certainly a highlight for all of us, the launch of The Undefeated. We discuss it all.
Two special guests also join us — David Betancourt, comic book culture writer for The Washington Post, to break down Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Pro Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson sits down with Terrika Foster-Brasby.
Give it a listen, and if you have any feedback or show ideas, feel free to email us at allday@andscape.com.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 12/22/16
What’s the best Christmas movie of our time?
11:45 AMAll right, kiddos, announcement time. Starting Jan. 8, I, Domonique Foxworth and Mina Kimes will be hosting an ESPN Radio show on Sunday mornings from 9 a.m.-noon EST. We’re very excited and hope you’ll tune in!
The other night, I flipped on the television to watch Jeopardy! A woman got the final answer correct and won, then I went to Twitter to see that she’d actually already died from cancer, as the show had been taped months prior. It was a shot to the gut to know you were watching someone who was already gone on a TV game show, but as the story got more popular, it felt a tad inspirational in many ways. Cindy Stowell is her name, and while her winning streak on the show ended, she donated all of her winnings to charity, ABC News reports.
People will argue forever about what the best Christmas movies are. I saw someone on Twitter say the other day that Jingle All The Way was somehow underrated, which is idiotic. Everyone likes that movie and always have. And we won’t be arguing about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie, because it is. Anyway, in the past few weeks, many people have been revisiting Love Actually for whatever reason. I’ve seen it all of once in my life, but FiveThirtyEight’s Walt Hickey and Gus Wezerek are calling it the greatest Christmas film of our time.
It feels like every day the Trump administration gives us something else to worry about. Today, he hired Kellyanne Conway as counselor to the president, making her the first woman from either party to win an election as campaign manager. Anyway, tons of people are worried that various rights are going to be rolled back, diminished or otherwise abolished, if you don’t look or sound like all the people who voted for The Donald. VICE’s Chase Strangio breaks down how LGBT people can fight the administration.
Duke’s Grayson Allen is bugging. For whatever reason, he tripped another player last night intentionally, which is just so lame on every level. This is officially a thing that he does, not just a mistake that he makes. So, Duke suspended him, somewhat of a surprise considering that Coach K pretty routinely never admits that his players have ever done anything wrong. Alas, this time he had no choice. I’ll tell you one thing, if this kid makes it to the NBA, he certainly won’t be pulling that foolishness anymore. ESPN has the story.
Free Food
Coffee Break: Some people are insanely racist. Like, beyond all understanding, they refuse to believe that black people deserve anything. First, there was the guy who burned his own house down and blamed it on Black Lives Matter. Now, we’ve got a guy who killed his own wife, and is blaming it on BLM, as well. #cmonson
Snack Time: I’ve said for a long time that Chewbacca is the most superfluous major character in the Star Wars universe, but this video of him singing Silent Night is pretty hilarious.
Dessert: Speaking of holiday music, Chance the Rapper and Jeremih dropped a Christmas album. Enjoy!
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 12/21/16
North Carolina is back to fighting over bathrooms
2:10 PMA couple of personal notes. No. 1, another episode of Locker Room Lawyer is in the books. Secondly, I can say I was glad to participate in the American Press Institute’s study on effective habits of journalists. Check it out.
When North Carolina decided to pass the House Bill 2 (HB2) law, the state took a huge hit. Companies, governments and some people in general decided that the Tar Heel state was a place that they didn’t need to be. People did not want to be involved with a place that was considered to be widely discriminating against the LGBT community, and with good reason. Now, lawmakers are reconvening to determine if they need to repeal HB2, which is known more colloquially as the “bathroom bill,” all together. ABC News has the details on that from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Christmas is coming up, obviously. We’ve been over the notion of why Santa Claus doesn’t need to be white at the mall, but the larger question of his existence in a child’s mind is different. I have no idea whether or not I’d tell my own kid that Santa was real. I’d like to think that I’d be tough and hit them with that truth serum right off the top, so they don’t live their lives believing in fantasies. But then again, what’s the fun in that? I can’t remember if I ever thought he was real. But VICE‘s Pascal Emmanuel-Gobry had no such problems in childhood.
Now that the White House has been turned a tad upside down, there are questions. Because with Donald Trump at the helm, it’s not like everyone else in politics just goes away. President Barack Obama will still be in Washington, D.C., and still be, you know, him. Hillary Clinton is still around. As will be pretty much everyone else who spent a life dedicated to public office. Which led the gang at FiveThirtyEight to wonder: Who will be the most powerful political person of 2017? They chatted about it and had a quasi-fantasy draft, as well.
DeMarcus Cousins is having a tough year. Not in terms of his on-court play, but it seems like every time he turns around, someone seems to be upset with what he does. On Tuesday night, he went bananas on the Trailblazers, scoring 55 points at home in Sacramento, California. But before that happened, he was ejected from the game for what appeared to be spitting a mouthpiece at the Portland bench. Then, they brought him back after they changed their minds. After the game, Cousins was extremely unhappy. ESPN reports.
Free Food
Coffee Break: Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is going to be building annoying things that no one can really afford for the rest of our lives, it feels like. He’s now designed an artificial intelligence personality that controls your house, by doing things like playing your music and shooting T-shirts out of your closet at you. Seriously.
Snack Time: A lot of gang members have a lot of tattoos. Many of them aren’t really in a position to remove them all, because that’s painful and expensive. Check out this video of ex-gang members looking at themselves sans tats.
Dessert: The most heartbreaking thing going on TV right now, for me, is this story.