Early Friday morning in Iraq, the United States assassinated high-ranking Iranian military and intelligence official Qasem Soleimani. He was killed in a drone strike at Baghdad International Airport, along with several officials from Iran-backed militias operating in Iraq. The attack represents the most aggressive action yet in an increasingly tense …
Read More »It Isn't Just T.I. — Virginity Testing Is a Worldwide Problem
On Wednesday, the rapper T.I. horrified the world when he revealed that when his 18-year-old daughter Deyjah goes to her annual gynecologist check-up, he has the doctor “check her hymen is still intact.” “We’ll go and sit down and the doctor comes and talk, and the doctor’s maintaining a high …
Read More »The Last Word: Jessica Lange on Buddhism, Photography and 'American Horror Story'
Before she was an actor, a movie star, a two-time Oscar Winner, an Emmy winner, the recipient of a Lincoln Center gala tribute and the muse to one of the most prolific showrunners currently working in TV, Jessica Lange was a shutterbug. “I originally signed up for a photography class …
Read More »Trump, Biden, Ukraine and a Whistle-Blower: What You Need to Know
The whistle-blower complaint at the center of a dispute between the White House and Congress concerns a phone call President Trump had with new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to reports published a minute apart in the Washington Post and New York Times. At the time of the phone call, …
Read More »Remembering David Berman's Wild Kindness
David Berman once wrote that Paul Simon got it all wrong — there’s really only two ways to leave your lover. “You can up and leave, Steve. Or you can go to your grave, Dave.” Berman spent much of his existence leaving his lives behind, pulling up stakes and starting …
Read More »A Boost for Trump's Ego Is a Loss for America's National Parks
President Trump has long been thirsting for a military parade in Washington, D.C., and on Thursday he’s going to get it. The “Salute to America” extravaganza on the Fourth of July will feature Trump speaking from the Lincoln Memorial, a massive fireworks display, and, yes, a fleet of tanks positioned …
Read More »Back to an Even Bigger Garden: Massive Woodstock Box Set Planned for August
Imagine hurtling yourself back in time to the original Woodstock festival in 1969, finding a good, relatively dry spot to chill, and settling in to hear more than three straight days of music. No, not possible, but the closest anyone may come to that experience will arrive this August. Pegged …
Read More »The Heartbreak of Alabama's New Abortion Bill
The first time I pledged my virginity to Jesus, I was 13 years old, sitting cross-legged on the finished basement floor of the sort of stately home that passes for “middle class” only in the movies. I had not yet gotten braces. I still wore bright ribbons in my hair. …
Read More »Rise of Big Weed: MedMen's Growing Pains
Adam Bierman is hosting what he calls a family reunion for about 60 employees at MedMen, the country’s most prominent retail-weed company. The MedMen CEO is the size of a baseball middle infielder, a position he used to play in college. He has the temperament as well: fierce eyes, buzz-cut …
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