To describe Anthem: Homunculus as a “podcast musical” really doesn’t begin to do it justice. In reality, it’s an unclassifiable omnibus of theater, music and strange narratives written by John Cameron Mitchell and Bryan Weller that translates to over six hours of storytelling packaged in 10 episodes, with 31 songs …
Read More »Man Gets No Prison Time For Torturing Teenage Girl, Holding Her In a Dog Cage
A 33-year-old Georgia man will serve no prison time after keeping a teenage girl in captivity for a year, imprisoning her in a dog cage and allegedly forcing her to have sex with him against her will. On Thursday, Michael Wysolovski pleaded guilty to first-degree cruelty to children and interstate …
Read More »After California Synagogue Shooting, 8Chan Is Back In the Spotlight
On Saturday, news broke that a gunman had opened fire at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, a suburb of San Diego, California. One woman, Lori Gilbert Kaye, was killed in the shooting after leaping in front of the congregation’s rabbi to protect him from gunfire; the rabbi and …
Read More »What Broadway's Two Very Different Shows About Death Teach Us About Life
“Welcome to a show about death!” the ebullient chorus of “mourners” sings. Then Beetlejuice — as interpreted for the stage by actor Alex Brightman, as a shameless, gravelly voiced vaudevillian huckster — reiterates in his own gleefully glib way: “That’s the thing with life, no one makes it out alive!” …
Read More »Prosecutors Drop All Criminal Charges Against Jussie Smollett
Prosecutors in Chicago dropped all criminal charges against Jussie Smollett and the actor will have his record wiped clean as part of a deferred prosecution deal, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The surprise move comes just weeks after the Empire actor pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of disorderly conduct for …
Read More »5 Books to Read If You're Obsessed With the Adnan Syed Case
The first episode of HBO’s new documentary, The Case Against Adnan Syed, premiered this past Sunday, once again bringing the murder conviction of the Baltimore man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend back into the headlines. Syed, the subject of the popular 2014 podcast, “Serial,” is currently serving a life sentence …
Read More »The First Time: Hannah Gadsby
Comedian Hannah Gadsby remembers her first on-stage performance, the time she made an audience member throw up, and how she became an accidental political activist (though she has no idea what she was protesting) in our latest installment of “The First Time.” Gadsby has been a working comedian and actor …
Read More »What Is the Momo Challenge?
UPDATE: YouTube announced that they would no longer allow videos featuring Momo to be monetized — to feature ads before, after or during the clips — even if they come from respected news organizations who are reporting on the phenomenon, which is widely seen to be a hoax. **** From …
Read More »Steven Avery's Lawyer Accuses Wisconsin AG's Office of Destroying Evidence
Attorney Kathleen Zellner has filed a new letter with the Wisconsin Court of Appeals on behalf of her client, Steven Avery, accusing the Attorney General’s Office of “trying to deceive” her and the Court about the status of key forensic evidence in the Making a Murderer case. Zellner’s letter, submitted …
Read More »'God Forgive Him': El Chapo's Guilty Verdict Brings Mixed Feelings in Mexico
Within moments of the jury announcing the guilty verdict of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in the snow-laden court in Brooklyn, word of the result was rippling across Mexico, from the valleys sprinkled with opium poppies to the sprawling mountain capital. People gathered at stalls and watched on televisions as U.S. …
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