Lena Waithe Wrote Her Most Personal Story for ‘Master of None’

E. Alex Jung, writing for Vulture:

“Thanksgiving,” the eighth episode of Master of None’s second season, is the most personal thing Lena Waithe has ever written. She and Aziz Ansari wrote the episode together in a hotel room in London, filtering her own coming-out experience through Denise, her character on the show. The episode is quietly epic, in large part due to the direction by Melina Matsoukas, who paid attention to the details from the cross on the wall to the plastic covers of the couch. “Thanksgiving” is a paean to the beauty of annual rituals and how we think about real and imagined families.

I absolutely loved this season of Master of None, and this episode was one of the highlights.

Lena Dunham Cancels Lenny IRL Tour, Citing Health

Lena Dunham

Lena Dunham has canceled her upcoming Lenny: America IRL tour with Waxahatchee due to health reasons:

I’ve always been open with you all about the challenges I’ve been dealt with my health, even when it’s scary and embarrassing, even when it makes me feel weak or less than. So I’m not going to stop now, even though part of me really wants to, cuz enough is enough. My body, which I’ve worked through all kinds of pain for many years, just doesn’t have what it takes to do this tour. Lenny is about giving 100 percent of ourselves, 100 percent of the time, and I couldn’t bear to limp through this. Not for you, our favorite people, and not for the women giving their time to join me on the road.

Makes Me Laugh (Encore Episode 148)

Encore 148

On this week’s episode of Encore I am once again joined by special guest Drew Beringer. This week we talk all about the new albums from New Found Glory and Paramore. First we catch up a little (Drew got married!), talk a little basketball, Funkos, the usual. Then we dive into the most recent releases from New Found Glory and Paramore and talk about their place in the music scene and their careers as a whole. Mixed within is a talk about Blink-182 and if they should shake it up with a new producer like NFG did (spoiler: probably), and a talk about leaks not mattering much these days, and how we feel about long wait times between album announcements.

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FCC Votes to Begin Dismantling Net Neutrality

Karl Bode, writing for TechDirt:

Surprising absolutely nobody, the FCC today voted 2-1 along strict party lines to begin dismantling net neutrality protections for consumers. The move comes despite the fact that the vast majority of non-bot comments filed with the FCC support keeping the rules intact. And while FCC boss Ajit Pai has breathlessly insisted he intended to listen to the concerns of all parties involved, there has been zero indication that this was a serious commitment as he begins dismantling all manner of broadband consumer protections, not just net neutrality.

As you might have expected, the FCC was quick to release a statement claiming that gutting the popular consumer protections would usher forth a magical age of connectivity, investment, and innovation.