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Every Member of Congress Who Took Money From the NRA and Tweeted ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ to Parkland

Jason Tate

Rafi Schwartz, writing at Splinter News:

On Wednesday, 17 people—the vast majority of them children—were shot and killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. The suspected gunman, Nikolas Cruz, was apprehended by police late Wednesday, leaving America to grapple with yet another horrific act of gun violence.

In the wake of this latest mass murder, lawmakers have once again resorted to the now-cliché gesture of offering “thoughts and prayers” for the victims of the Parkland shooting, while stopping conspicuously short of actually acting on their laughably hollow sentiment. And once again, those lawmakers are the very same people who have gladly pocketed dollar after blood-soaked dollar from the National Rifle Association.

This country has a sickness. We are very, very broken. And we need to make massive changes to even begin the process of healing what we’ve created.

Racist Trolls Are Saying Black Panther Fans Attacked Them

Marvel
Jason Tate

Aja Romano, writing for Vox:

On social media, racist trolls are currently attempting to fake a battle that isn’t happening by stealing photos, many of assault victims, from various parts of the internet and claiming they’re evidence of attacks by black moviegoers during Thursday night showings of Black Panther.

What the fuck is wrong with people?

An Oral History of The Wire’s 5-Minute “Fuck” Scene

HBO
Jason Tate

Vulture have an excerpt from the upcoming book, All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire, about how the infamous “fuck” scene from the fourth episode came about:

He explained the whole scene to us. He said, “Now you guys are going to do that whole thing, but they’re going to be on me about the profanity and language that we use.” So, I said, “Let’s just come out the box with it.” He said, “You’re going to do that whole scene, but the only word you can say is ‘fuck.’” I said, “What?”

It’s an incredible scene from one of my favorite shows of all time. I’m looking forward to this book.

Brian Fallon Talks with New York Daily News

Brian Fallon
Jason Tate

Brian Fallon recently sat down with the New York Daily News:

Everything has to line up for something to be successful, it’s not just simply whether it’s good or bad. You have to have a lot of favorable things happen in the process in order for it to actually reach a large number of people. Sometimes timing is one of those things that you can’t plan for. I’m glad we don’t have to do it again (laughs). If I had to put that out now would I be able to manage a career? I have no idea if that would work so I’m glad it did then.

The Songs That Bind

Headphones
Jason Tate

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, writing for The New York Times:

I was beginning to get frustrated by how much of our lives are spent arguing about music. So I decided to do something about it the only way I know how: I analyzed data.

I couldn’t think of a way to use data to prove how great “Born to Run” is. But I thought data might give me clarity on why my brother and I never seem to agree on music.

In particular, I wanted to see to what extent the year we were born influences the music we listen to, the extent to which different generations are bound to disagree on music.

I always find these kinds of studies fascinating. For the most part I’ve found this to be pretty true in my life (I’m sitting here spinning My Chemical Romance right now), but I also think my musical tastes have changed quite a bit in the past few years. I listen to more straight up pop music and hip-hop than I ever did as a teenager.

There Is a Competition to Avoid Learning Who Won the Super Bowl

Jason Tate

Scott Detrow, at NPR, looks at this year’s Last Man competition:

We’re going to tell you who won the Super Bowl. Yes, the game happened last week, but there’s an important warning for the eight people still in the running in a contest called Last Man. Competition’s pretty straightforward but a near impossible goal – go as long as you can without finding out who won the Super Bowl.

I first heard about this game in a New Yorker article a few years back:

The game runs on the honor system—pride is the only prize—and deaths are self-reported on Twitter. Those who play refer to themselves as “runners,” and the thing they are running from—the fact that New England beat Seattle—is known as “the Knowledge.” The only real rule is to stay in the country.

Quincy Jones Talks With Vulture

Quincy Jones
Jason Tate

Quincy Jones sat down to talk with David Marchese at Vulture, and it’s … interesting:

That they were the worst musicians in the world. They were no-playing motherfuckers. Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it. I remember once we were in the studio with George Martin, and Ringo had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song. He couldn’t get it. We said, “Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit.” So he did, and we called Ronnie Verrell, a jazz drummer. Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up. Ringo comes back and says, “George, can you play it back for me one more time?” So George did, and Ringo says, “That didn’t sound so bad.” And I said, “Yeah, motherfucker because it ain’t you.” Great guy, though.

And:

Musical principles exist, man. Musicians today can’t go all the way with the music because they haven’t done their homework with the left brain. Music is emotion and science. You don’t have to practice emotion because that comes naturally. Technique is different. If you can’t get your finger between three and four and seven and eight on a piano, you can’t play. You can only get so far without technique. People limit themselves musically, man. Do these musicians know tango? Macumba? Yoruba music? Samba? Bossa nova? Salsa? Cha-cha?

Podcast Listeners Really Are the Holy Grail Advertisers Hoped They’d Be

Podcast
Jason Tate

Miranda Katz, writing for Wired:

Podcasters and advertisers alike have long suspected that their listeners might just be a holy grail of engagement. The medium is inherently intimate, and easily creates a one-sided feeling of closeness between listener and host—the sense that the person talking into your ear on your commute is someone you know, whose product recommendations you trust, and whose work you want to support.

I really need to find the time to get Encore rolling again on a more consistent basis. I miss doing the show every week.

I Quit Twitter and It Feels Great

Twitter
Jason Tate

Lindy West, writing for The New York Times:

When you work in media, Twitter becomes part of your job. It’s where you orient yourself in “the discourse” — figure out what’s going on, what people are saying about it and, more important, what no one has said yet. In a lucky coup for Twitter’s marketing team, prevailing wisdom among media types has long held that quitting the platform could be a career killer. The illusion that Twitter visibility and professional relevance are indisputably inextricable always felt too risky to puncture. Who could afford to call that bluff and be wrong? So, we stayed, while Twitter’s endemic racist, sexist and transphobic harassment problems grew increasingly more sophisticated and organized.

I think about this all the time. There are times when I find Twitter indispensable (while watching a sporting event and following experts, or when huge news breaks), but at what cost?

Migos Top The Charts

Jason Tate

Migos have the number one album in the country this week:

Rap trio Migos scores its second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart as Culture II opens atop the tally. The set — which was released on Jan. 26 through Quality Control/Motown/Capitol Records — earned 199,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Feb. 1, according to Nielsen Music.

Best Buy To Stop Selling CDs, Target May Be Next

CD, Record Store
Jason Tate

Ed Christman, writing for Billboard:

Best Buy has just told music suppliers that it will pull CDs from its stores come July 1. At one point, Best Buy was the most powerful music merchandiser in the U.S., but nowadays it’s a shadow of its former self, with a reduced and shoddy offering of CDs. Sources suggest that the company’s CD business is nowadays only generating about $40 million annually. While it says it’s planning to pull out CDs, Best Buy will continue to carry vinyl for the next two years, keeping a commitment it made to vendors. The vinyl will now be merchandised with the turntables, sources suggest.