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"content": "\u003cp>Lady Gaga released “Rain On Me,” the second single ahead of her upcoming album \u003cem>Chromatica\u003c/em> midnight Friday morning, followed by a music video Friday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Featuring guest vocals from Ariana Grande, “Rain On Me” is Gaga at her electronic-dance-pop \u003cem>most\u003c/em>, with those signature booming vocals and even some dramatic spoken lyrics just before the drop, another Germanotta staple. Few can belt the way that Gaga can and Grande is one of them, giving this the kind of grand-event feel that makes this kind of pop superstar team-up hum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fitting in with the sort-of-cyberpunk aesthetic around \u003cem>Chromatica \u003c/em>as a whole, the video features Gaga and Grande clad in sci-fi-inspired plastic-and-leather-wear, dancing amidst a rainstorm in a morose, futuristic city. At one point, Gaga becomes a giant, \u003cem>Blade Runner\u003c/em>-style projection and—underscoring the song’s message of making the best of a bad situation—by the end turns the dystopia into a dance floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoAm4om0wTs&feature=emb_logo\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(All of that said, only time will tell if it can topple Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” as the world’s foremost rain-based pop anthem.)\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lady Gaga’s new album, \u003c/em>Chromatica\u003cem>, will be released May 29 on Interscope Records. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=In+Their+First+Collaboration%2C+Lady+Gaga+And+Ariana+Grande+Get+Exuberantly+Dystopic&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cp>“Honey, I’m going out for an adventure!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>E. closes the door behind him and steps out into the world. I stay put, cooking up ideas for home improvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve only known each other for a few months, but once the pandemic threw our lives off balance, we decided to move in together. In a house we built. In \u003cem>Minecraft\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The house is modest—a pixelated, underground starter home made of dirt and cobblestone. In one corner is a large chest for storing our inventory. Nearby, a crafting table and a stove convert raw materials into something useful. There’s a bed for our re-spawn location, which means I won’t get lost the next time I drown or get blown up by a creeper—a recurring issue early on. And on the opposite wall, there’s a pen of clucking chickens. On second thought, not the best place for the chickens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, we’ll upgrade to a multi-story castle atop a mountain—but for now, it’s home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Downloading\u003cem> Minecraft\u003c/em> wasn’t my first instinct when I stopped going to my office and everywhere else. I’ve never self-identified as a gamer in my adult life, and I certainly didn’t think the antidote to screen fatigue could be more screen time. Plus, video games always struck me as chaotic, and I was maxed out on chaos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As kids, my older brother and I would settle into an afternoon of \u003cem>Tekken 4\u003c/em> or \u003cem>James Bond 007: Nightfire\u003c/em>, battling enemies and each other on an otherwise calm day. It was thrilling, and I’d ride that anxious buzz of trying to survive until it was time for something else. It’s strange how much you can learn about yourself as a child when your avatar is a buxom woman named Pussy Galore. I discovered I only really had fun when my brother and I were on the same team, and friendly fire was turned off. I noticed that random civilian casualties made me feel sick. I questioned why lady avatars were scantily clad while dude avatars often weren’t. And I loved getting to sight-see. [aside postid='arts_13879036']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sightseeing is why \u003cem>Minecraft\u003c/em> has had such an impact. Right now, my life’s parameters are my bedroom, my ambitions are the size of 80 bedrooms, and my \u003cem>Minecraft\u003c/em> realm is the size of a zillion bedrooms. The game offers endless virtual space to roam when real-life space feels like a rare commodity. And relocation is the literal click of a button. When I tire of the mines, I try the mountains. When I’m done with the mountains, I go to the jungle. And when I’ve had it with the jungle, I hop in a boat that I made with oak from the jungle and find a new island to inhabit. Then I can do it all over again. The game’s natural world is artificial, but there’s something kind of enchanting about that block-shaped moon overhead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Offline, my weeks have been punctuated with worry about the strain I’m putting on my household’s resources. But \u003cem>Minecraft\u003c/em> promises a retreat where raw materials are always plentiful and useful—water for putting out lava, iron for swords and pickaxes, cobwebs for string, animals for food. Neither climate change nor a pandemic can threaten this virtual cornucopia. Lately, I’ve discovered an affinity for running through open fields and punching grass. The satisfying crunching sound leads me to five-minute punching sprees from time to time, but this isn’t nihilism. It’s practical. Every few squares of freshly punched grass unearth little seeds that keep my chickens procreating and my farm plentiful. It’s a blissed-out vision of sustainability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s be clear, though: \u003cem>Minecraft\u003c/em> is not a utopia. Days whiz by, and when that 32-bit block of sun starts to set, monsters are coming for me. In the mines, too. Exploding creepers, arrow-toting skeletons, mumbling zombies, nimble spiders, and mystifying enderman you can’t make eye contact with. I’m not very good at fighting these yet, but at least I can count on the game’s sonic and visual cues to let me know danger is afoot. Plus, I’m armed for battle. There are rules and boundaries within which I can almost guarantee safety. And if all else fails, I’ll come back to life in the same place I started: My bed, in my simple underground house, out of harm’s way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can’t say the same of the coronavirus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days, I’m clinging to structure. Time is passing quickly, and if I’m honest, I don’t always yearn to make days feel longer or fuller. But when I close my bedroom door and open up a virtual world, I can feel the therapy of making things up as I go. 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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sightseeing is why \u003cem>Minecraft\u003c/em> has had such an impact. Right now, my life’s parameters are my bedroom, my ambitions are the size of 80 bedrooms, and my \u003cem>Minecraft\u003c/em> realm is the size of a zillion bedrooms. The game offers endless virtual space to roam when real-life space feels like a rare commodity. And relocation is the literal click of a button. When I tire of the mines, I try the mountains. When I’m done with the mountains, I go to the jungle. And when I’ve had it with the jungle, I hop in a boat that I made with oak from the jungle and find a new island to inhabit. Then I can do it all over again. The game’s natural world is artificial, but there’s something kind of enchanting about that block-shaped moon overhead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Offline, my weeks have been punctuated with worry about the strain I’m putting on my household’s resources. But \u003cem>Minecraft\u003c/em> promises a retreat where raw materials are always plentiful and useful—water for putting out lava, iron for swords and pickaxes, cobwebs for string, animals for food. Neither climate change nor a pandemic can threaten this virtual cornucopia. Lately, I’ve discovered an affinity for running through open fields and punching grass. The satisfying crunching sound leads me to five-minute punching sprees from time to time, but this isn’t nihilism. It’s practical. Every few squares of freshly punched grass unearth little seeds that keep my chickens procreating and my farm plentiful. It’s a blissed-out vision of sustainability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s be clear, though: \u003cem>Minecraft\u003c/em> is not a utopia. Days whiz by, and when that 32-bit block of sun starts to set, monsters are coming for me. In the mines, too. Exploding creepers, arrow-toting skeletons, mumbling zombies, nimble spiders, and mystifying enderman you can’t make eye contact with. I’m not very good at fighting these yet, but at least I can count on the game’s sonic and visual cues to let me know danger is afoot. Plus, I’m armed for battle. There are rules and boundaries within which I can almost guarantee safety. And if all else fails, I’ll come back to life in the same place I started: My bed, in my simple underground house, out of harm’s way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can’t say the same of the coronavirus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days, I’m clinging to structure. Time is passing quickly, and if I’m honest, I don’t always yearn to make days feel longer or fuller. But when I close my bedroom door and open up a virtual world, I can feel the therapy of making things up as I go. Of itching for daylight so I can return to feeding chickens and building a castle on a mountain. Of experiencing something—making actual memories—when togetherness feels out of reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Kathryn Fink is a producer for\u003c/em> 1A. \u003cem>She’s a native of Virginia, a new gamer, and an unapologetic lit nerd. She tweets at\u003c/em> @\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/finkcommakath\">finkcommakath\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Neither+Flood%2C+Nor+Fire%2C+Nor+Virus+Shakes+The+Virtual+Calm+Of+%27Minecraft%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>There are a lot of people trying to reach celebrity entrepreneur Elon Musk. Sometimes, though, they get Lyndsay Tucker, a 25-year-old skin care consultant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tucker, who works at a Sephora beauty store in San Jose, California, had never heard of the Tesla and SpaceX founder and CEO until a couple years ago, when she began fielding a steady stream of calls and text messages intended for him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I asked my mom, ‘Hey, I keep getting these text messages’—and I was also now starting to get phone calls—‘for this guy Elon Musk. I don’t know who this is,’” Tucker said. “And my mom’s jaw just dropped.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turns out, Tucker’s cellphone number used to be registered to Musk. On any given day, she receives at least three calls or texts intended for Musk, whom she has never met.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13880862\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 3521px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/gettyimages-1206290121_slide-d49c59c1e26499d8dc57973f14da465a19edddee.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"3521\" height=\"2347\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13880862\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/gettyimages-1206290121_slide-d49c59c1e26499d8dc57973f14da465a19edddee.jpg 3521w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/gettyimages-1206290121_slide-d49c59c1e26499d8dc57973f14da465a19edddee-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/gettyimages-1206290121_slide-d49c59c1e26499d8dc57973f14da465a19edddee-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/gettyimages-1206290121_slide-d49c59c1e26499d8dc57973f14da465a19edddee-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/gettyimages-1206290121_slide-d49c59c1e26499d8dc57973f14da465a19edddee-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/gettyimages-1206290121_slide-d49c59c1e26499d8dc57973f14da465a19edddee-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3521px) 100vw, 3521px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">When told of the traffic to his former number, Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, said: “That number is so old! I’m surprised it’s still out there somewhere.” \u003ccite>(Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If the maverick billionaire provokes a scandal, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/04/29/848093173/teslas-elon-musk-rants-again-calls-lockdowns-forcible-imprisonment-and-fascist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he is wont to do\u003c/a>, her phone blows up with a torrent of messages. (Full disclosure: I reached out to Musk during one of those controversies, when he \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/09/853313775/elon-musk-says-tesla-suing-california-county-moving-headquarters-out-of-state\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">threatened to sue the California county that is home to Tesla’s \u003c/a>manufacturing plant over its coronavirus-related restrictions. Instead, I got Tucker.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She has accidentally intercepted far more interesting calls than mine, however. One woman volunteered to go to space with SpaceX. Another person sent a blueprint for a bionic limb. “Which is, No. 1, really cool,” Tucker said. “But I have no idea how it’s built.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A South African businessman asked about buying 1,000 trucks. The Internal Revenue Service called about a complicated tax issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I assumed I had messed something up,” Tucker said about that call. “It was a huge relief they weren’t looking for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?embed=true&id=6895882-Text-Messages-to-Elon-Musk\" width=\"100%\" height=\"555\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former Walt Disney executive John Lasseter texted about the Tesla he bought, calling it a “magnificent car!!!” and adding, “The self driving is a trip!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I actually ended up going to the same college as his son,” Tucker said of Lasseter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I got to talk to him and apologized for never messaging his father back,” she said. “We ended up laughing about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, Jeff Gold, an Atlanta-area inventor, who did business with Musk in the 1990s, sent a text about some coronavirus research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He gave me his number a long time ago,” Gold said. “I just went on and tracked down the correct number and resent my text.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public records show that Tucker’s number was once associated with a condo Musk bought and sold years ago in Palo Alto, Calif. After Musk got rid of the number, AT&T randomly reassigned it to Tucker. But online, the number took on a life of its own. It was replicated on dozens of listing websites as Musk’s current digits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13880866\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2514px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/200515_jchou_npr_elonphone_7474-edit_slide-aba9bb7369fbf751f80df437100a79a3ccf36953.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2514\" height=\"1676\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13880866\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/200515_jchou_npr_elonphone_7474-edit_slide-aba9bb7369fbf751f80df437100a79a3ccf36953.jpg 2514w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/200515_jchou_npr_elonphone_7474-edit_slide-aba9bb7369fbf751f80df437100a79a3ccf36953-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/200515_jchou_npr_elonphone_7474-edit_slide-aba9bb7369fbf751f80df437100a79a3ccf36953-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/200515_jchou_npr_elonphone_7474-edit_slide-aba9bb7369fbf751f80df437100a79a3ccf36953-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/200515_jchou_npr_elonphone_7474-edit_slide-aba9bb7369fbf751f80df437100a79a3ccf36953-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/200515_jchou_npr_elonphone_7474-edit_slide-aba9bb7369fbf751f80df437100a79a3ccf36953-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2514px) 100vw, 2514px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tucker, who is also an aspiring actress and has listed her contact information on dozens of résumés, is keeping the phone number. \u003ccite>(Jessica Chou for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>NPR reached out to Musk to see whether he knew about his long-lost number. He replied with a short email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Wow,” Musk said. “That number is so old! I’m surprised it’s still out there somewhere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of those who texted Tucker said Musk himself provided the number to them. When NPR asked Musk whether he gave out that number to people he was trying to dodge, he did not respond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However people obtain the number, it is often up to Tucker to convince them she is not Musk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They say, ‘Oh, how do I know you’re not Elon?’” she said. “And they suddenly want proof that I’m not him even though they’re obviously talking to a woman on the phone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='news_11818938']The incessant calls and texts offer Tucker a rare window into the life of the flamboyant tech CEO, a glimpse she finds “amusing.” Yet sometimes it can feel like a full-time job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whenever I see his name pop up in the news, I’m like, ‘OK, I have to actually learn what he said because, chances are, someone is going to message me about it or call me about it,’” Tucker said. “Even though I find it funny most of the time, it does get irritating sometimes when it’s like call after call after call.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though she intends to keep the number, her ability to respond to all the Musk calls and texts changes by the day. To those who think it is Musk ignoring their calls and texts, Tucker has a message:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m sorry. Sometimes I don’t respond if I’m having a rough day. So if you didn’t get a response, it’s probably me, not him,” she said. “Don’t feel too let down.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Copyright 2020 \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There are a lot of people trying to reach celebrity entrepreneur Elon Musk. Sometimes, though, they get Lyndsay Tucker, a 25-year-old skin care consultant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tucker, who works at a Sephora beauty store in San Jose, California, had never heard of the Tesla and SpaceX founder and CEO until a couple years ago, when she began fielding a steady stream of calls and text messages intended for him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I asked my mom, ‘Hey, I keep getting these text messages’—and I was also now starting to get phone calls—‘for this guy Elon Musk. I don’t know who this is,’” Tucker said. “And my mom’s jaw just dropped.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turns out, Tucker’s cellphone number used to be registered to Musk. On any given day, she receives at least three calls or texts intended for Musk, whom she has never met.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13880862\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 3521px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/gettyimages-1206290121_slide-d49c59c1e26499d8dc57973f14da465a19edddee.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"3521\" height=\"2347\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13880862\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/gettyimages-1206290121_slide-d49c59c1e26499d8dc57973f14da465a19edddee.jpg 3521w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/gettyimages-1206290121_slide-d49c59c1e26499d8dc57973f14da465a19edddee-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/gettyimages-1206290121_slide-d49c59c1e26499d8dc57973f14da465a19edddee-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/gettyimages-1206290121_slide-d49c59c1e26499d8dc57973f14da465a19edddee-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/gettyimages-1206290121_slide-d49c59c1e26499d8dc57973f14da465a19edddee-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/gettyimages-1206290121_slide-d49c59c1e26499d8dc57973f14da465a19edddee-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3521px) 100vw, 3521px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">When told of the traffic to his former number, Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, said: “That number is so old! I’m surprised it’s still out there somewhere.” \u003ccite>(Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If the maverick billionaire provokes a scandal, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/04/29/848093173/teslas-elon-musk-rants-again-calls-lockdowns-forcible-imprisonment-and-fascist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he is wont to do\u003c/a>, her phone blows up with a torrent of messages. (Full disclosure: I reached out to Musk during one of those controversies, when he \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/09/853313775/elon-musk-says-tesla-suing-california-county-moving-headquarters-out-of-state\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">threatened to sue the California county that is home to Tesla’s \u003c/a>manufacturing plant over its coronavirus-related restrictions. Instead, I got Tucker.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She has accidentally intercepted far more interesting calls than mine, however. One woman volunteered to go to space with SpaceX. Another person sent a blueprint for a bionic limb. “Which is, No. 1, really cool,” Tucker said. “But I have no idea how it’s built.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A South African businessman asked about buying 1,000 trucks. The Internal Revenue Service called about a complicated tax issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I assumed I had messed something up,” Tucker said about that call. “It was a huge relief they weren’t looking for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?embed=true&id=6895882-Text-Messages-to-Elon-Musk\" width=\"100%\" height=\"555\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former Walt Disney executive John Lasseter texted about the Tesla he bought, calling it a “magnificent car!!!” and adding, “The self driving is a trip!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I actually ended up going to the same college as his son,” Tucker said of Lasseter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I got to talk to him and apologized for never messaging his father back,” she said. “We ended up laughing about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, Jeff Gold, an Atlanta-area inventor, who did business with Musk in the 1990s, sent a text about some coronavirus research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He gave me his number a long time ago,” Gold said. “I just went on and tracked down the correct number and resent my text.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public records show that Tucker’s number was once associated with a condo Musk bought and sold years ago in Palo Alto, Calif. After Musk got rid of the number, AT&T randomly reassigned it to Tucker. But online, the number took on a life of its own. It was replicated on dozens of listing websites as Musk’s current digits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13880866\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2514px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/200515_jchou_npr_elonphone_7474-edit_slide-aba9bb7369fbf751f80df437100a79a3ccf36953.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2514\" height=\"1676\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13880866\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/200515_jchou_npr_elonphone_7474-edit_slide-aba9bb7369fbf751f80df437100a79a3ccf36953.jpg 2514w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/200515_jchou_npr_elonphone_7474-edit_slide-aba9bb7369fbf751f80df437100a79a3ccf36953-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/200515_jchou_npr_elonphone_7474-edit_slide-aba9bb7369fbf751f80df437100a79a3ccf36953-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/200515_jchou_npr_elonphone_7474-edit_slide-aba9bb7369fbf751f80df437100a79a3ccf36953-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/200515_jchou_npr_elonphone_7474-edit_slide-aba9bb7369fbf751f80df437100a79a3ccf36953-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/200515_jchou_npr_elonphone_7474-edit_slide-aba9bb7369fbf751f80df437100a79a3ccf36953-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2514px) 100vw, 2514px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tucker, who is also an aspiring actress and has listed her contact information on dozens of résumés, is keeping the phone number. \u003ccite>(Jessica Chou for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>NPR reached out to Musk to see whether he knew about his long-lost number. He replied with a short email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Wow,” Musk said. “That number is so old! I’m surprised it’s still out there somewhere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of those who texted Tucker said Musk himself provided the number to them. When NPR asked Musk whether he gave out that number to people he was trying to dodge, he did not respond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However people obtain the number, it is often up to Tucker to convince them she is not Musk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They say, ‘Oh, how do I know you’re not Elon?’” she said. “And they suddenly want proof that I’m not him even though they’re obviously talking to a woman on the phone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The incessant calls and texts offer Tucker a rare window into the life of the flamboyant tech CEO, a glimpse she finds “amusing.” Yet sometimes it can feel like a full-time job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whenever I see his name pop up in the news, I’m like, ‘OK, I have to actually learn what he said because, chances are, someone is going to message me about it or call me about it,’” Tucker said. “Even though I find it funny most of the time, it does get irritating sometimes when it’s like call after call after call.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though she intends to keep the number, her ability to respond to all the Musk calls and texts changes by the day. To those who think it is Musk ignoring their calls and texts, Tucker has a message:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m sorry. Sometimes I don’t respond if I’m having a rough day. So if you didn’t get a response, it’s probably me, not him,” she said. “Don’t feel too let down.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Copyright 2020 \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Journalist Who Helped Break Snowden's Story Reflects on His High-Stakes Reporting",
"headTitle": "Journalist Who Helped Break Snowden’s Story Reflects on His High-Stakes Reporting | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>In 2013, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/books/authors/760121931/edward-snowden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Edward Snowden\u003c/a>, a contractor with the National Security Agency, rocked the world when he \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2013/09/18/223523622/officials-edward-snowdens-leaks-were-masked-by-job-duties\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">leaked\u003c/a> thousands of classified documents about U.S. surveillance programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barton Gellman, a former \u003cem>The Washington Post \u003c/em>reporter\u003cem>,\u003c/em> was one of three journalists—including filmmaker \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127238681\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Laura Poitras\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/06/11/190670954/he-broke-the-nsa-leaks-story-but-just-who-is-glenn-greenwald\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Glenn Greenwald\u003c/a> of \u003cem>The Guardian—\u003c/em>with whom Snowden chose to share the documents. Gellman says initially Snowden was skeptical of him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He thought that \u003cem>The Washington Post\u003c/em> would be afraid to publish or would bow down to government pressure,” Gellman says. “It took a lot of convincing for him, just as it took a lot of convincing for me that he was for real.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snowden shared information about surveillance programs previously unknown to the American public, including the fact that the government was keeping records of private citizens’ phone calls, and that the NSA was harvesting data from big internet companies, including Google, Facebook and Microsoft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gellman reached out to \u003cem>The Washington Post, \u003c/em>the paper he’d left three years earlier, which went on to publish a series of articles based on Snowden’s classified information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a new book, \u003cem>Dark Mirror, \u003c/em>Gellman writes about his relationship with Snowden and the high-stakes reporting that ultimately garnered him, Poitras and Greenwald a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/14/303002434/pulitzer-prizes-are-out-washington-post-the-guardian-win-for-nsa-stories\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pulitzer Prize\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. government charged Snowden with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/06/28/534682231/once-reserved-for-spies-espionage-act-now-used-against-suspected-leakers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">espionage\u003c/a>, but Snowden, who is living in exile in Russia, maintains that he acted as a whistleblower in sharing the classified documents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gellman says that no matter your opinion about Snowden, one things is clear: “Ed Snowden succeeded beyond the wildest ambitions that he could plausibly have had. … Even the biggest critics of Snowden—not all of them, but some of them—… all say he started a debate that the public needed to have about the limits of surveillance in a democratic society.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the same time,” Gellman adds, “most of the programs that he exposed continue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Interview highlights \u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the terms Snowden agreed upon with Gellman, Poitras and Greenwald \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13880753 alignright\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-20-at-11.27.08-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"305\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-20-at-11.27.08-AM.png 305w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-20-at-11.27.08-AM-160x244.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 305px) 100vw, 305px\">I told Snowden that … I would make my own judgment about the news value and that I would give the government an opportunity to tell me about damage they foresaw, if the story was published. And so I had that conversation with the government every time. Snowden at first seemed a little skeptical about this and worried that it simply meant I was going to give the government veto power over an article. And in fact, he saw it as potential evidence of a cowardly approach by \u003cem>The Washington Post\u003c/em>. Later, he came to see the value and the importance of trying to avoid avoidable harm in the publication of these stories. And he began to insist that that was what he wanted all along. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snowden absolutely wanted us to make our own judgments about newsworthiness. He absolutely did not want us to dump the entire archive online. If he wanted that, he could have done it himself. I mean, the guy knows how to work the Internet. He wanted the credibility of journalists behind the disclosures. He wanted us to check the facts and set the context. And he wanted us to decide what was newsworthy and what was harmful. So he essentially relinquished all the close judgment calls to me and my fellow journalists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the importance of checks and balances on the government’s surveillance power \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were people in 2013 and ’14 and ’15 who told me they didn’t worry about the enormous power of this surveillance machinery because they trusted the people who were running it. They trusted themselves. They trusted the inspector general to call out and prevent bad behavior. They trusted supervisors. They trusted, fundamentally, the president and the presidency. And they trusted Democrats and Republicans. They trusted George W. Bush and Barack Obama equally to use this stuff with the right motives and with the right kinds of limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But so much of what is done under authority of the NSA is done based on norms and traditional understandings of what terms mean and on legal interpretations. When Trump came to power—a guy who is allergic to norms, a guy who is at war with every institution of accountability, whether it’s the press, whether it’s inspectors general, whether it’s courts—when that kind of person has his hands on the enormous power that is granted by the ability to look into [and] see into anything that travels across the Internet, then they’re worried.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So people who surprise me—people like \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/04/17/602849276/james-comey-to-fresh-air-the-fbi-isnt-on-anybodys-side\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jim Comey\u003c/a>, and people like Gen. [James] Clapper, who had been the director of national intelligence, these were people who had ardently defended the surveillance powers and the checks and balances held on them—they were no longer so confident about those checks and balances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On his tense relationship with Snowden\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snowden wanted advocates on his side. He wanted a pure and clear message of dissent against the way the NSA was behaving. And he wanted nothing that would raise any doubts or questions about him or get into his personal life or anything like that. I continued to ask questions the way a journalist should ask questions. And so we would have these tense exchanges in which he would say, for example, “Are you purposely asking me things you know I won’t answer just to piss me off?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first time he got angry at me he was right to be angry. In an early profile of him, I inadvertently exposed an online handle—an anonymous handle—that he was still using for communications. And that caused him some trouble as he tried to change handles and encryption keys on the fly. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He quit talking to me for several months after that. And we started up again because he believed I was handling these stories seriously, that I was diving into the subject in a way that was exposing truths that weren’t being exposed anywhere else, because this wasn’t just a question of opening the documents, reading and writing your story. The documents were incomplete, pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, very hard to understand. They required external reporting with sources in the government and out of the government. They required interpretation and discovery. And I was putting things together in a way that he thought was important. And so he got over his personal anger at the way I behaved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the cybersecurity precautions he took when he visited Snowden in Moscow in Dec.2013\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t like to be dramatic or self-important, but I thought, yeah, there’s a pretty good chance that if an American journalist who is writing about secret American intelligence programs comes over to interview a former intelligence officer, Ed Snowden, that that would probably be worth their diversion of a little bit of surveillance to themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I assumed that my devices and my telephone calls would be monitored, and so to begin with, I didn’t bring any data over with me. I wasn’t gonna bring classified U.S. documents to a country where they could possibly read them and directly expose American secrets to a foreign power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I didn’t log onto any of my accounts, I didn’t bring my actual computer or my usual telephone, I brought empty ones. But I still had the puzzle of how I was going to interview Snowden, take notes, take photographs, make recordings, and then bring those back to the United States while crossing an international border and not hand over those documents, those recordings and so on to either government. I didn’t want the U.S. government to hear everything I’d said with Snowden. I didn’t want the Russian government to have access to all that information either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the House Intelligence Committee report, which was very critical of Snowden\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If there were particular harms done by particular disclosures, that fact itself would be classified. … And so I can’t argue with an assertion that’s made in the dark, and there may be legitimate reasons to keep that classified. On the other hand, I would have to say that, not to put a fine point on it, that House Intelligence Committee report was garbage. It was a political document. It was basically a long screed about Ed Snowden, and it was filled with facts or assertions of fact that were plainly rebuttable, that they were simply wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just the simple question of calling Ed Snowden, “a high school dropout.” He had earned his GED at the same time that his class graduated with top, top scores. They knew that he had advanced computer security and computer science credentials. Or, for example, they said there’s no evidence that Ed Snowden actually was injured in the Army. And so he was lying about the reasons for the end of his Army service. Well, Army records made it very clear. I’ve seen the records. He broke both legs in training and for the House Intelligence Committee, which had privileged access to government records, to say things like that gives you a decent flavor of the more complicated untruths in the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On being a target for international hackers \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not paranoid if people are really trying to get you. I knew from the first time I saw the documents before I published a story that this was going to paint a big target on my back. It’s advertising that you have something special and secret and advertising pretty quickly that I was not going to publish all of it. So I knew that I would be a subject of interest to hackers, to the U.S. government and to foreign intelligence agencies. And I gradually accumulated considerable evidence that this was true.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Someone tried to break into my Gmail accounts, where I did not store sensitive documents. But nevertheless, Google warned me, a big flashing pink bar on my screen said, “Warning! We believe that state-sponsored attackers are trying to break into your device or your account.” I found out later that that was the government of Turkey. Turkey was unexpected and bad news for me, because I thought there were a substantial number of likely candidates and more capable candidates coming after me. So if Turkey also was joining the party, that suggested the threat landscape was broader than I would have liked to think.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My iPad was hacked right in front of my eyes as I was holding it. The screen gutted out of the static and then white letters started marching across the screen with technical commands in a language called Unix. If that had worked as expected, as intended, it would have happened while I slept or wasn’t looking at the machine. And after a couple of minutes of fooling around like that, the hacker would have complete control of the device. And what worried me about that was that remotely hacking an iPad is not a beginners’ hack. It’s quite difficult and quite expensive to break through Apple’s considerable security remotely without physically connecting to the device. It’s a million-dollar hack, that is, say that data brokers or surveillance brokers pay million-dollar bounties for what’s called an untethered hack of the iPad operating system. I did not want to be worth that kind of effort. I did not want to be worth that kind of expense. But I was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sam Briger and Joel Wolfram\u003c/em> \u003cem>produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Meghan Sullivan adapted it for the Web.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Journalist+Who+Helped+Break+Snowden%27s+Story+Reflects+On+His+High-Stakes+Reporting&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Barton Gellman shared a Pulitzer for reporting about Edward Snowden and secret surveillance. His new book is 'Dark Mirror.'",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In 2013, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/books/authors/760121931/edward-snowden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Edward Snowden\u003c/a>, a contractor with the National Security Agency, rocked the world when he \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2013/09/18/223523622/officials-edward-snowdens-leaks-were-masked-by-job-duties\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">leaked\u003c/a> thousands of classified documents about U.S. surveillance programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barton Gellman, a former \u003cem>The Washington Post \u003c/em>reporter\u003cem>,\u003c/em> was one of three journalists—including filmmaker \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127238681\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Laura Poitras\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/06/11/190670954/he-broke-the-nsa-leaks-story-but-just-who-is-glenn-greenwald\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Glenn Greenwald\u003c/a> of \u003cem>The Guardian—\u003c/em>with whom Snowden chose to share the documents. Gellman says initially Snowden was skeptical of him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He thought that \u003cem>The Washington Post\u003c/em> would be afraid to publish or would bow down to government pressure,” Gellman says. “It took a lot of convincing for him, just as it took a lot of convincing for me that he was for real.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snowden shared information about surveillance programs previously unknown to the American public, including the fact that the government was keeping records of private citizens’ phone calls, and that the NSA was harvesting data from big internet companies, including Google, Facebook and Microsoft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gellman reached out to \u003cem>The Washington Post, \u003c/em>the paper he’d left three years earlier, which went on to publish a series of articles based on Snowden’s classified information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a new book, \u003cem>Dark Mirror, \u003c/em>Gellman writes about his relationship with Snowden and the high-stakes reporting that ultimately garnered him, Poitras and Greenwald a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/14/303002434/pulitzer-prizes-are-out-washington-post-the-guardian-win-for-nsa-stories\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pulitzer Prize\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. government charged Snowden with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/06/28/534682231/once-reserved-for-spies-espionage-act-now-used-against-suspected-leakers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">espionage\u003c/a>, but Snowden, who is living in exile in Russia, maintains that he acted as a whistleblower in sharing the classified documents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gellman says that no matter your opinion about Snowden, one things is clear: “Ed Snowden succeeded beyond the wildest ambitions that he could plausibly have had. … Even the biggest critics of Snowden—not all of them, but some of them—… all say he started a debate that the public needed to have about the limits of surveillance in a democratic society.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the same time,” Gellman adds, “most of the programs that he exposed continue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Interview highlights \u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the terms Snowden agreed upon with Gellman, Poitras and Greenwald \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13880753 alignright\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-20-at-11.27.08-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"305\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-20-at-11.27.08-AM.png 305w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-20-at-11.27.08-AM-160x244.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 305px) 100vw, 305px\">I told Snowden that … I would make my own judgment about the news value and that I would give the government an opportunity to tell me about damage they foresaw, if the story was published. And so I had that conversation with the government every time. Snowden at first seemed a little skeptical about this and worried that it simply meant I was going to give the government veto power over an article. And in fact, he saw it as potential evidence of a cowardly approach by \u003cem>The Washington Post\u003c/em>. Later, he came to see the value and the importance of trying to avoid avoidable harm in the publication of these stories. And he began to insist that that was what he wanted all along. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snowden absolutely wanted us to make our own judgments about newsworthiness. He absolutely did not want us to dump the entire archive online. If he wanted that, he could have done it himself. I mean, the guy knows how to work the Internet. He wanted the credibility of journalists behind the disclosures. He wanted us to check the facts and set the context. And he wanted us to decide what was newsworthy and what was harmful. So he essentially relinquished all the close judgment calls to me and my fellow journalists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the importance of checks and balances on the government’s surveillance power \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were people in 2013 and ’14 and ’15 who told me they didn’t worry about the enormous power of this surveillance machinery because they trusted the people who were running it. They trusted themselves. They trusted the inspector general to call out and prevent bad behavior. They trusted supervisors. They trusted, fundamentally, the president and the presidency. And they trusted Democrats and Republicans. They trusted George W. Bush and Barack Obama equally to use this stuff with the right motives and with the right kinds of limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But so much of what is done under authority of the NSA is done based on norms and traditional understandings of what terms mean and on legal interpretations. When Trump came to power—a guy who is allergic to norms, a guy who is at war with every institution of accountability, whether it’s the press, whether it’s inspectors general, whether it’s courts—when that kind of person has his hands on the enormous power that is granted by the ability to look into [and] see into anything that travels across the Internet, then they’re worried.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So people who surprise me—people like \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/04/17/602849276/james-comey-to-fresh-air-the-fbi-isnt-on-anybodys-side\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jim Comey\u003c/a>, and people like Gen. [James] Clapper, who had been the director of national intelligence, these were people who had ardently defended the surveillance powers and the checks and balances held on them—they were no longer so confident about those checks and balances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On his tense relationship with Snowden\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snowden wanted advocates on his side. He wanted a pure and clear message of dissent against the way the NSA was behaving. And he wanted nothing that would raise any doubts or questions about him or get into his personal life or anything like that. I continued to ask questions the way a journalist should ask questions. And so we would have these tense exchanges in which he would say, for example, “Are you purposely asking me things you know I won’t answer just to piss me off?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first time he got angry at me he was right to be angry. In an early profile of him, I inadvertently exposed an online handle—an anonymous handle—that he was still using for communications. And that caused him some trouble as he tried to change handles and encryption keys on the fly. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He quit talking to me for several months after that. And we started up again because he believed I was handling these stories seriously, that I was diving into the subject in a way that was exposing truths that weren’t being exposed anywhere else, because this wasn’t just a question of opening the documents, reading and writing your story. The documents were incomplete, pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, very hard to understand. They required external reporting with sources in the government and out of the government. They required interpretation and discovery. And I was putting things together in a way that he thought was important. And so he got over his personal anger at the way I behaved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the cybersecurity precautions he took when he visited Snowden in Moscow in Dec.2013\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t like to be dramatic or self-important, but I thought, yeah, there’s a pretty good chance that if an American journalist who is writing about secret American intelligence programs comes over to interview a former intelligence officer, Ed Snowden, that that would probably be worth their diversion of a little bit of surveillance to themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I assumed that my devices and my telephone calls would be monitored, and so to begin with, I didn’t bring any data over with me. I wasn’t gonna bring classified U.S. documents to a country where they could possibly read them and directly expose American secrets to a foreign power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I didn’t log onto any of my accounts, I didn’t bring my actual computer or my usual telephone, I brought empty ones. But I still had the puzzle of how I was going to interview Snowden, take notes, take photographs, make recordings, and then bring those back to the United States while crossing an international border and not hand over those documents, those recordings and so on to either government. I didn’t want the U.S. government to hear everything I’d said with Snowden. I didn’t want the Russian government to have access to all that information either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the House Intelligence Committee report, which was very critical of Snowden\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If there were particular harms done by particular disclosures, that fact itself would be classified. … And so I can’t argue with an assertion that’s made in the dark, and there may be legitimate reasons to keep that classified. On the other hand, I would have to say that, not to put a fine point on it, that House Intelligence Committee report was garbage. It was a political document. It was basically a long screed about Ed Snowden, and it was filled with facts or assertions of fact that were plainly rebuttable, that they were simply wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just the simple question of calling Ed Snowden, “a high school dropout.” He had earned his GED at the same time that his class graduated with top, top scores. They knew that he had advanced computer security and computer science credentials. Or, for example, they said there’s no evidence that Ed Snowden actually was injured in the Army. And so he was lying about the reasons for the end of his Army service. Well, Army records made it very clear. I’ve seen the records. He broke both legs in training and for the House Intelligence Committee, which had privileged access to government records, to say things like that gives you a decent flavor of the more complicated untruths in the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On being a target for international hackers \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not paranoid if people are really trying to get you. I knew from the first time I saw the documents before I published a story that this was going to paint a big target on my back. It’s advertising that you have something special and secret and advertising pretty quickly that I was not going to publish all of it. So I knew that I would be a subject of interest to hackers, to the U.S. government and to foreign intelligence agencies. And I gradually accumulated considerable evidence that this was true.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Someone tried to break into my Gmail accounts, where I did not store sensitive documents. But nevertheless, Google warned me, a big flashing pink bar on my screen said, “Warning! We believe that state-sponsored attackers are trying to break into your device or your account.” I found out later that that was the government of Turkey. Turkey was unexpected and bad news for me, because I thought there were a substantial number of likely candidates and more capable candidates coming after me. So if Turkey also was joining the party, that suggested the threat landscape was broader than I would have liked to think.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My iPad was hacked right in front of my eyes as I was holding it. The screen gutted out of the static and then white letters started marching across the screen with technical commands in a language called Unix. If that had worked as expected, as intended, it would have happened while I slept or wasn’t looking at the machine. And after a couple of minutes of fooling around like that, the hacker would have complete control of the device. And what worried me about that was that remotely hacking an iPad is not a beginners’ hack. It’s quite difficult and quite expensive to break through Apple’s considerable security remotely without physically connecting to the device. It’s a million-dollar hack, that is, say that data brokers or surveillance brokers pay million-dollar bounties for what’s called an untethered hack of the iPad operating system. I did not want to be worth that kind of effort. I did not want to be worth that kind of expense. But I was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sam Briger and Joel Wolfram\u003c/em> \u003cem>produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Meghan Sullivan adapted it for the Web.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Journalist+Who+Helped+Break+Snowden%27s+Story+Reflects+On+His+High-Stakes+Reporting&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' is a Lackluster Prequel to 'The Hunger Games'",
"headTitle": "‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ is a Lackluster Prequel to ‘The Hunger Games’ | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>With her \u003cem>Hunger Games\u003c/em> novels, Suzanne Collins harnessed a combination of twisty plots, teen romance, dystopian worldbuilding and subtle intimations of cannibalism to sell more than 100 million books around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The premise was unbeatable: Authoritarian regime forces children to fight to the death on live TV; rebellion ensues. But much of the series’ appeal came from the spiky charisma of protagonist Katniss Everdeen, the sharpshooting teenager who wins the games and starts a revolution while choosing between two boys who are as alike in cuteness as they are different in \u003cem>Weltanschauung\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The series has a distinct Roman imperial vibe—far-flung districts sending their harvests to the glorious and corrupted Capitol, feasts complete with vomitoria, gladiatorial contests to the death (but for kids!). The country is called Panem, after the Latin phrase “panem et circenses,” or bread and circuses—what the Roman satirist Juvenal identified as the formula for quieting a restive population. (In \u003cem>1984\u003c/em>, George Orwell calls this substance “prolefeed.”) The hunger games, of course, are the circenses, the Capitol’s way of controlling the proles through the twin mechanisms of entertainment and terror.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13880727 alignright\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-19-at-4.12.40-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"304\" height=\"461\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-19-at-4.12.40-PM.png 304w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-19-at-4.12.40-PM-160x243.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 304px) 100vw, 304px\">Collins’ new novel, \u003cem>The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, \u003c/em>is a baggy, meandering prequel to the events of \u003cem>The Hunger Games\u003c/em> that tells the story of Katniss’ nemesis and Panem’s authoritarian ruler, Coriolanus Snow. With his Roman tyrant’s name, surgically altered face and breath smelling of blood and roses, Coriolanus appeared as a distant villain throughout most of \u003cem>The\u003c/em> \u003cem>Hunger Games\u003c/em> series. It’s only the last installment that gives him a touch of mystery—in its final pages, sentenced to public execution, he instead dies laughing, choked on his own blood. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, how did he get there? Why was he laughing? What’s with the blood? \u003cem>The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes \u003c/em>opens on teenage Coriolanus at home, making a cabbage soup that fills “the kitchen with the smell of poverty.” Once prosperous, the Snows have fallen on hard times. Coriolanus has been chosen to mentor one of the tributes for the hunger games, a charming waif named Lucy Gray, after William Wordsworth’s ballad. In helping her to victory, he sees a chance at social redemption and a coveted scholarship to the university.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inevitably, he falls for her. But the love story is tinged with self-interest from the start. At first, saving her means helping himself, but eventually, he has to choose between her and his glorious political future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of Collins’ persistent questions in the first three books is: To what extent is character warped and corrupted by circumstances? Is anyone, to quote Corionalus’ Shakespearean namesake, really “author of himself”? Characters throughout the series find themselves altered by drugs (“morphling” is the opiate of choice) and poison (tracker jacker wasp venom, which drives humans insane with fear and bloodlust), along with the more quotidian influences of poverty, deprivation and war. No one comes out of the games with clean hands. It’s just about, as one of the contestants says, keeping as much of yourself intact as you can. [aside postid='arts_13873545']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The question of how much of character is innate, how much formed, becomes a more explicit—okay, painfully obvious—theme in \u003cem>The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes\u003c/em>. The novel is a plinth for two opposing worldviews. The cruel Hobbesian Gamemaster tells Coriolanus that the hunger games are a reminder that people are monsters kept only in check by strong rule: “What happened in the arena? That’s humanity undressed. … That’s mankind in its natural state.” Meanwhile, in spite of the cruelty she suffers in the arena, Lucy Gray believes that there is “a natural goodness built into human beings.” The debate matters, the Gamemaster says, “[b]ecause who we are determines the type of governing we need”—a republic or a tyranny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Readers who loved the moral ambiguity, crisp writing and ruthless pacing of the first three books might be less interested in an overworked parable about the value of Enlightenment thinking. That’s not to say Collins can’t or shouldn’t work serious moral and political questions into her novels: It’s the sheer obviousness that drags, the way that we know what the right answer is supposed to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coriolanus is just a flat, wily sociopath. In contrast, Katniss was allowed contradictions: She was a wounded, vicious, plotting, independent, ferocious rebel—willing, at various points, to murder, steal and betray her loved ones for a larger goal. As a protagonist, there was something gloriously undidactic about her. She was a monster, she was a killer, and she was also a principled and intractable author of herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, are we selfish animals or rational beings, capable of altruism and self-governance? \u003cem>The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes\u003c/em> tells us what we should think. But \u003cem>The Hunger Games\u003c/em> allowed for both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27The+Ballad+Of+Songbirds+And+Snakes%27+Is+A+Lackluster+Prequel+To+%27The+Hunger+Games%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>With her \u003cem>Hunger Games\u003c/em> novels, Suzanne Collins harnessed a combination of twisty plots, teen romance, dystopian worldbuilding and subtle intimations of cannibalism to sell more than 100 million books around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The premise was unbeatable: Authoritarian regime forces children to fight to the death on live TV; rebellion ensues. But much of the series’ appeal came from the spiky charisma of protagonist Katniss Everdeen, the sharpshooting teenager who wins the games and starts a revolution while choosing between two boys who are as alike in cuteness as they are different in \u003cem>Weltanschauung\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The series has a distinct Roman imperial vibe—far-flung districts sending their harvests to the glorious and corrupted Capitol, feasts complete with vomitoria, gladiatorial contests to the death (but for kids!). The country is called Panem, after the Latin phrase “panem et circenses,” or bread and circuses—what the Roman satirist Juvenal identified as the formula for quieting a restive population. (In \u003cem>1984\u003c/em>, George Orwell calls this substance “prolefeed.”) The hunger games, of course, are the circenses, the Capitol’s way of controlling the proles through the twin mechanisms of entertainment and terror.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13880727 alignright\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-19-at-4.12.40-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"304\" height=\"461\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-19-at-4.12.40-PM.png 304w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-19-at-4.12.40-PM-160x243.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 304px) 100vw, 304px\">Collins’ new novel, \u003cem>The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, \u003c/em>is a baggy, meandering prequel to the events of \u003cem>The Hunger Games\u003c/em> that tells the story of Katniss’ nemesis and Panem’s authoritarian ruler, Coriolanus Snow. With his Roman tyrant’s name, surgically altered face and breath smelling of blood and roses, Coriolanus appeared as a distant villain throughout most of \u003cem>The\u003c/em> \u003cem>Hunger Games\u003c/em> series. It’s only the last installment that gives him a touch of mystery—in its final pages, sentenced to public execution, he instead dies laughing, choked on his own blood. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, how did he get there? Why was he laughing? What’s with the blood? \u003cem>The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes \u003c/em>opens on teenage Coriolanus at home, making a cabbage soup that fills “the kitchen with the smell of poverty.” Once prosperous, the Snows have fallen on hard times. Coriolanus has been chosen to mentor one of the tributes for the hunger games, a charming waif named Lucy Gray, after William Wordsworth’s ballad. In helping her to victory, he sees a chance at social redemption and a coveted scholarship to the university.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inevitably, he falls for her. But the love story is tinged with self-interest from the start. At first, saving her means helping himself, but eventually, he has to choose between her and his glorious political future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of Collins’ persistent questions in the first three books is: To what extent is character warped and corrupted by circumstances? Is anyone, to quote Corionalus’ Shakespearean namesake, really “author of himself”? Characters throughout the series find themselves altered by drugs (“morphling” is the opiate of choice) and poison (tracker jacker wasp venom, which drives humans insane with fear and bloodlust), along with the more quotidian influences of poverty, deprivation and war. No one comes out of the games with clean hands. It’s just about, as one of the contestants says, keeping as much of yourself intact as you can. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The question of how much of character is innate, how much formed, becomes a more explicit—okay, painfully obvious—theme in \u003cem>The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes\u003c/em>. The novel is a plinth for two opposing worldviews. The cruel Hobbesian Gamemaster tells Coriolanus that the hunger games are a reminder that people are monsters kept only in check by strong rule: “What happened in the arena? That’s humanity undressed. … That’s mankind in its natural state.” Meanwhile, in spite of the cruelty she suffers in the arena, Lucy Gray believes that there is “a natural goodness built into human beings.” The debate matters, the Gamemaster says, “[b]ecause who we are determines the type of governing we need”—a republic or a tyranny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Readers who loved the moral ambiguity, crisp writing and ruthless pacing of the first three books might be less interested in an overworked parable about the value of Enlightenment thinking. That’s not to say Collins can’t or shouldn’t work serious moral and political questions into her novels: It’s the sheer obviousness that drags, the way that we know what the right answer is supposed to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coriolanus is just a flat, wily sociopath. In contrast, Katniss was allowed contradictions: She was a wounded, vicious, plotting, independent, ferocious rebel—willing, at various points, to murder, steal and betray her loved ones for a larger goal. As a protagonist, there was something gloriously undidactic about her. She was a monster, she was a killer, and she was also a principled and intractable author of herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, are we selfish animals or rational beings, capable of altruism and self-governance? \u003cem>The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes\u003c/em> tells us what we should think. But \u003cem>The Hunger Games\u003c/em> allowed for both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27The+Ballad+Of+Songbirds+And+Snakes%27+Is+A+Lackluster+Prequel+To+%27The+Hunger+Games%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Greg Daniels Moves His Comedy Spotlight to the Afterlife in 'Upload'",
"headTitle": "Greg Daniels Moves His Comedy Spotlight to the Afterlife in ‘Upload’ | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>For more than 30 years, Emmy Award-winning television writer, director and producer Greg Daniels has spun comedy from the threads of ordinary life, turning its frustrations and awkward moments into such hit shows as \u003cem>The Office\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Parks And Recreation, \u003c/em>and\u003cem> King of the Hill\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now he’s reflecting on these notions again in \u003cem>Upload\u003c/em>, a futuristic comedy on Amazon Prime—but this time they play out in the afterlife too. He’s also behind the upcoming Netflix satire \u003cem>Space Force,\u003c/em> launching May 29\u003cem>,\u003c/em> starring Steve Carell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZfZj2bn_xg\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greg Daniels’ humor has all the makings of the British comedies he reveres, including \u003cem>Fawlty Towers\u003c/em> and the original, British version of \u003cem>The Office\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s something wonderful about the awkwardness of it and their kind of enjoyment of a pathetic situation that always appealed to me,” Daniels says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s a little Greg Daniels trivia: He never expected to make an American version of \u003cem>The Office\u003c/em>. Back in 2003, while he was an executive producer on the show \u003cem>King of the Hill\u003c/em>, he was dying to meet the series’ creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. He says he just wanted “to talk to them about it as a fan,” Daniels says. “But I couldn’t meet them as a fan without pretending I wanted to adapt the show. So I had to do that.” Turns out, Daniels, Gervais and Merchant hit it off. They were also fans of \u003cem>The Simpsons\u003c/em>. “Ricky’s favorite Simpsons episode was ‘Homer Badman,’ which I had written,” Daniels recounts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That scheme of meeting these Brits he admired is pure Greg Daniels, says his friend and \u003cem>King of the Hill\u003c/em> co-creator Mike Judge: “Yeah, he’ll do stuff like that. He gets it from his dad. You know the story about his dad and the Olympics, right?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We do now! In 1968, Greg Daniels’ father competed in the Olympics even though he was not a professional athlete. He worked in commercial radio in New York. When \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/88-OCR/BC-1988-10-24-OCR-Page-0085.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Daniels\u003c/a> learned the United States did not a have team to compete in the little-known racquet event fronton, he asked for time off, joined some fellow squash players, practiced like crazy, and ended up in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greg Daniels says he “owes a lot” to his father: “Definitely my dad is a very funny storyteller. He tells self-deprecating, involved, funny stories.” Daniels adapted one such story for an episode of Seinfeld called \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RMQEBWo1aQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Parking Space\u003c/a>. In a moment that’s all too familiar to anyone who’s competed with another driver for that hard-to-find spot, George squares off with an equally feisty man. Daniels says this really happened to his dad. Daniels tells the story:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“He had a car when we grew up in New York City, but he didn’t have a garage. So he had to repark it every two nights and he would drive the car around for 40 minutes. One night he found an empty parking space. He started to back into it and the guy behind him tried to steal it and nose into it. And they just sat there for hours because none of them would give. And he saw a friend walk by and he had the friend call my mom. And my mom made him dinner and brought it to him at the parking space.”\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egsdc7tZ_xc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For characters to work in a comedy, Daniels says they need “some kind of foible or blindness.” In the case of Hank Hill, the protagonist in \u003cem>King of the Hill\u003c/em>, Mike Judge says he and Daniels were on the same page: Hill is “just a guy” trying to “deal with the modern world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Greg had a line which I thought was pretty great,” Judge says. “Something like ‘Andy Griffith is back and he’s pissed off.'” Take the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLEOdqiylC0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">time\u003c/a> Hank tries to get help in one of those big box stores. Been there?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before \u003cem>King of the Hill\u003c/em>, Mike Judge had huge success with \u003cem>Beavis and Butt-Head\u003c/em>, animation that he says didn’t originally have much of a story arc. Judge says it was Daniels who helped him learn to write stories for an episodic TV series with tips on how to “structure a story” and how “not to get hung up on a joke at the expense of a story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judge says Daniels is also good at streamlining a story: “When you think it’s all so complicated, reducing it down to very simply what the problem is and how to resolve it and do it in a funny way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problems in Daniels’ upcoming Netflix show \u003cem>Space Force\u003c/em> include a military leader who doesn’t listen to the scientists around him. His new sci-fi comedy \u003cem>Upload\u003c/em> explores the inequalities—and inhumanity—that emerges as advanced, expensive, digital technologies hit the market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These technologies are introduced and they all seem great. And then, you know, the law of unintended consequences kicks in and they are kind of flawed or sometimes outright evil when they’re actually executed,” Daniels says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Upload\u003c/em>, only the wealthy get to experience an idyllic afterlife in the expensive, leafy resort called “Lakeview.” Even the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybVN4LhFmVQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">commercial\u003c/a> for Lakeview feels eerily familiar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The world of this comedy is strange and unsettling, not unlike the world we’re living in now. Daniels admits he’s just as preoccupied with the pandemic as everyone else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very weird to be out trying to get people to watch comedy shows now. So I guess the hope is that it’s a helpful distraction,” he reasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io6Mqho-asM\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People have been finding comfort in Greg Daniels’ past “distractions.” \u003cem>The Office\u003c/em> is one of Netflix’s most popular shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nina Gregory edited this piece for radio; Meghan Sullivan edited for the web. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Greg+Daniels+Moves+His+Comedic+Spotlight+To+Absurdity+In+The+Afterlife&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For more than 30 years, Emmy Award-winning television writer, director and producer Greg Daniels has spun comedy from the threads of ordinary life, turning its frustrations and awkward moments into such hit shows as \u003cem>The Office\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Parks And Recreation, \u003c/em>and\u003cem> King of the Hill\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now he’s reflecting on these notions again in \u003cem>Upload\u003c/em>, a futuristic comedy on Amazon Prime—but this time they play out in the afterlife too. He’s also behind the upcoming Netflix satire \u003cem>Space Force,\u003c/em> launching May 29\u003cem>,\u003c/em> starring Steve Carell.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/0ZfZj2bn_xg'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/0ZfZj2bn_xg'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Greg Daniels’ humor has all the makings of the British comedies he reveres, including \u003cem>Fawlty Towers\u003c/em> and the original, British version of \u003cem>The Office\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s something wonderful about the awkwardness of it and their kind of enjoyment of a pathetic situation that always appealed to me,” Daniels says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s a little Greg Daniels trivia: He never expected to make an American version of \u003cem>The Office\u003c/em>. Back in 2003, while he was an executive producer on the show \u003cem>King of the Hill\u003c/em>, he was dying to meet the series’ creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. He says he just wanted “to talk to them about it as a fan,” Daniels says. “But I couldn’t meet them as a fan without pretending I wanted to adapt the show. So I had to do that.” Turns out, Daniels, Gervais and Merchant hit it off. They were also fans of \u003cem>The Simpsons\u003c/em>. “Ricky’s favorite Simpsons episode was ‘Homer Badman,’ which I had written,” Daniels recounts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That scheme of meeting these Brits he admired is pure Greg Daniels, says his friend and \u003cem>King of the Hill\u003c/em> co-creator Mike Judge: “Yeah, he’ll do stuff like that. He gets it from his dad. You know the story about his dad and the Olympics, right?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We do now! In 1968, Greg Daniels’ father competed in the Olympics even though he was not a professional athlete. He worked in commercial radio in New York. When \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/88-OCR/BC-1988-10-24-OCR-Page-0085.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Daniels\u003c/a> learned the United States did not a have team to compete in the little-known racquet event fronton, he asked for time off, joined some fellow squash players, practiced like crazy, and ended up in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greg Daniels says he “owes a lot” to his father: “Definitely my dad is a very funny storyteller. He tells self-deprecating, involved, funny stories.” Daniels adapted one such story for an episode of Seinfeld called \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RMQEBWo1aQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Parking Space\u003c/a>. In a moment that’s all too familiar to anyone who’s competed with another driver for that hard-to-find spot, George squares off with an equally feisty man. Daniels says this really happened to his dad. Daniels tells the story:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“He had a car when we grew up in New York City, but he didn’t have a garage. So he had to repark it every two nights and he would drive the car around for 40 minutes. One night he found an empty parking space. He started to back into it and the guy behind him tried to steal it and nose into it. And they just sat there for hours because none of them would give. And he saw a friend walk by and he had the friend call my mom. And my mom made him dinner and brought it to him at the parking space.”\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/egsdc7tZ_xc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/egsdc7tZ_xc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>For characters to work in a comedy, Daniels says they need “some kind of foible or blindness.” In the case of Hank Hill, the protagonist in \u003cem>King of the Hill\u003c/em>, Mike Judge says he and Daniels were on the same page: Hill is “just a guy” trying to “deal with the modern world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Greg had a line which I thought was pretty great,” Judge says. “Something like ‘Andy Griffith is back and he’s pissed off.'” Take the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLEOdqiylC0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">time\u003c/a> Hank tries to get help in one of those big box stores. Been there?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before \u003cem>King of the Hill\u003c/em>, Mike Judge had huge success with \u003cem>Beavis and Butt-Head\u003c/em>, animation that he says didn’t originally have much of a story arc. Judge says it was Daniels who helped him learn to write stories for an episodic TV series with tips on how to “structure a story” and how “not to get hung up on a joke at the expense of a story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judge says Daniels is also good at streamlining a story: “When you think it’s all so complicated, reducing it down to very simply what the problem is and how to resolve it and do it in a funny way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problems in Daniels’ upcoming Netflix show \u003cem>Space Force\u003c/em> include a military leader who doesn’t listen to the scientists around him. His new sci-fi comedy \u003cem>Upload\u003c/em> explores the inequalities—and inhumanity—that emerges as advanced, expensive, digital technologies hit the market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These technologies are introduced and they all seem great. And then, you know, the law of unintended consequences kicks in and they are kind of flawed or sometimes outright evil when they’re actually executed,” Daniels says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Upload\u003c/em>, only the wealthy get to experience an idyllic afterlife in the expensive, leafy resort called “Lakeview.” Even the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybVN4LhFmVQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">commercial\u003c/a> for Lakeview feels eerily familiar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The world of this comedy is strange and unsettling, not unlike the world we’re living in now. Daniels admits he’s just as preoccupied with the pandemic as everyone else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very weird to be out trying to get people to watch comedy shows now. So I guess the hope is that it’s a helpful distraction,” he reasons.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/io6Mqho-asM'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/io6Mqho-asM'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>People have been finding comfort in Greg Daniels’ past “distractions.” \u003cem>The Office\u003c/em> is one of Netflix’s most popular shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nina Gregory edited this piece for radio; Meghan Sullivan edited for the web. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Greg+Daniels+Moves+His+Comedic+Spotlight+To+Absurdity+In+The+Afterlife&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "DIY During Quarantine. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Plenty",
"headTitle": "DIY During Quarantine. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Plenty | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Maybe your garbage disposal is broken or the fridge is slowly dying. Because of the coronavirus lockdown, you can’t easily call a professional. But you have a hammer and you have YouTube, so what could go wrong?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We asked listeners that question, and they said plenty!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vicki Novikoff Barnhart of Galveston, Texas, had a problem that was driving her to the point of madness. Her microwave oven was beeping loudly nonstop, 24 hours a day. Because it was built in, it wasn’t possible to just unplug it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A friend suggested she turn off the circuit breaker to the microwave. But it was mounted outside up high and would require taking the back off, which she figured was too dangerous. A different friend said to hit the microwave with a hammer. That just seemed like a great way to get electrocuted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the beeping went on. Day after day after day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanted to get a gun and shoot it,” she says, “but I didn’t have a gun.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After living like this for six weeks, Barnhart finally got a repairman to come to the house to install a new microwave. He put the old one out on the curb, promising that someone would happily take it away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was right. A few days later, Barnhart was outside and heard a familiar sound. “I knew it was my microwave and it was at a neighbor’s house,” she says. “And then a full day later, I was out there and it was still on and it was still beeping!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barnhart recently was on her neighborhood posting site and saw these words: “Does anybody hear that beeping and do you know what it is?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A perfect quarantine match\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a quiet Sunday night in lockdown when Sophia Hsu of Brooklyn, N.Y., heard a crash and expletives coming from the bathroom. Hsu ran downstairs to find her husband standing next to the sink, now dangling off the wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her husband, who’s over 6 feet tall and says he has trouble turning around in small spaces, had “hip-checked” (ran into) the sink.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hsu says he “wrecked the sink, the underlying pipes and my good weekend mood.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hsu, the handy one in the family, opened up her toolbox. She lacked the right wrench, but using common sense and lessons from her father, she reattached the sink and all the pipes, and now it drains perfectly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Theirs is a perfect quarantine match.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He breaks things,” Hsu says. “I fix them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water everywhere\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Megan Glasscock of Pensacola, Fla., the recent national toilet paper shortage inspired her to install a bidet with her mother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I read the instructions,” Glasscock says. “I said, ‘Aah, 20 minutes—this will be a breeze.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Mind you, Megan knows nothing about plumbing,” says her mother, Cheryl Glasscock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pair knew enough, though, to turn the water to the toilet off before getting started. After hours of struggling to install the bidet, which included a trip to the hardware store for a part, they called it quits for the night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They turned the water back on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s when the nightmare began,” Megan says. The bathroom started flooding, and now this time the water wouldn’t turn off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cheryl rushed outside to cut off the main water supply to the house. But in the dark, she couldn’t find the valve. She reached down and started turning a wheel. That’s when water began bubbling up from the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now both the bathroom and the yard were flooding. Water was everywhere. Buckets were no match.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually the local water company arrived. They were dumbstruck at the destruction they found. They pumped out the yard and replaced the water meter that Cheryl had destroyed when she somehow disconnected the water meter from the water line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the mess was cleaned up and tears were dried, mother and daughter installed the bidet, this time following instructions on YouTube. That’s key, the Glasscocks say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are now the proud owners of a bidet, just as toilet paper is back on the shelves!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Good walls make good neighbors\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kenneth McNay of Morrisville, N.C., also decided to use the shutdown to take on a DIY project. “I noticed that the retaining wall between my and my neighbor’s townhomes was sagging in the center.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He removed all the stones, leveled the ground with paving stones, rock and sand and then put everything back straight. He felt rather proud of the finished job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McNay’s neighbor, however, was not happy. She wanted a professional to do it. The neighbor was also worried about the safety warnings on the bags of stone and sand, which McNay found really puzzling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During the next weekend, she completely reversed my work, taking away all the stones, taking all the sand and gravel out and then putting it all back with a sag in the middle,” McNay says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What did McNay’s neighbor do with the paving, gravel and sand that he had so carefully installed during the pandemic, when we are all supposed to be practicing social distancing and keeping surfaces clean?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She returned them all to his porch in zip-lock bags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=DIY+During+Quarantine.+What+Could+Possibly+Go+Wrong%3F+Plenty&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Maybe your garbage disposal is broken or the fridge is slowly dying. Because of the coronavirus lockdown, you can’t easily call a professional. But you have a hammer and you have YouTube, so what could go wrong?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We asked listeners that question, and they said plenty!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vicki Novikoff Barnhart of Galveston, Texas, had a problem that was driving her to the point of madness. Her microwave oven was beeping loudly nonstop, 24 hours a day. Because it was built in, it wasn’t possible to just unplug it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A friend suggested she turn off the circuit breaker to the microwave. But it was mounted outside up high and would require taking the back off, which she figured was too dangerous. A different friend said to hit the microwave with a hammer. That just seemed like a great way to get electrocuted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the beeping went on. Day after day after day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanted to get a gun and shoot it,” she says, “but I didn’t have a gun.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After living like this for six weeks, Barnhart finally got a repairman to come to the house to install a new microwave. He put the old one out on the curb, promising that someone would happily take it away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was right. A few days later, Barnhart was outside and heard a familiar sound. “I knew it was my microwave and it was at a neighbor’s house,” she says. “And then a full day later, I was out there and it was still on and it was still beeping!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barnhart recently was on her neighborhood posting site and saw these words: “Does anybody hear that beeping and do you know what it is?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A perfect quarantine match\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a quiet Sunday night in lockdown when Sophia Hsu of Brooklyn, N.Y., heard a crash and expletives coming from the bathroom. Hsu ran downstairs to find her husband standing next to the sink, now dangling off the wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her husband, who’s over 6 feet tall and says he has trouble turning around in small spaces, had “hip-checked” (ran into) the sink.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hsu says he “wrecked the sink, the underlying pipes and my good weekend mood.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hsu, the handy one in the family, opened up her toolbox. She lacked the right wrench, but using common sense and lessons from her father, she reattached the sink and all the pipes, and now it drains perfectly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Theirs is a perfect quarantine match.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He breaks things,” Hsu says. “I fix them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Water everywhere\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Megan Glasscock of Pensacola, Fla., the recent national toilet paper shortage inspired her to install a bidet with her mother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I read the instructions,” Glasscock says. “I said, ‘Aah, 20 minutes—this will be a breeze.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Mind you, Megan knows nothing about plumbing,” says her mother, Cheryl Glasscock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pair knew enough, though, to turn the water to the toilet off before getting started. After hours of struggling to install the bidet, which included a trip to the hardware store for a part, they called it quits for the night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They turned the water back on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s when the nightmare began,” Megan says. The bathroom started flooding, and now this time the water wouldn’t turn off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cheryl rushed outside to cut off the main water supply to the house. But in the dark, she couldn’t find the valve. She reached down and started turning a wheel. That’s when water began bubbling up from the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now both the bathroom and the yard were flooding. Water was everywhere. Buckets were no match.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually the local water company arrived. They were dumbstruck at the destruction they found. They pumped out the yard and replaced the water meter that Cheryl had destroyed when she somehow disconnected the water meter from the water line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the mess was cleaned up and tears were dried, mother and daughter installed the bidet, this time following instructions on YouTube. That’s key, the Glasscocks say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are now the proud owners of a bidet, just as toilet paper is back on the shelves!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Good walls make good neighbors\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kenneth McNay of Morrisville, N.C., also decided to use the shutdown to take on a DIY project. “I noticed that the retaining wall between my and my neighbor’s townhomes was sagging in the center.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He removed all the stones, leveled the ground with paving stones, rock and sand and then put everything back straight. He felt rather proud of the finished job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McNay’s neighbor, however, was not happy. She wanted a professional to do it. The neighbor was also worried about the safety warnings on the bags of stone and sand, which McNay found really puzzling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During the next weekend, she completely reversed my work, taking away all the stones, taking all the sand and gravel out and then putting it all back with a sag in the middle,” McNay says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What did McNay’s neighbor do with the paving, gravel and sand that he had so carefully installed during the pandemic, when we are all supposed to be practicing social distancing and keeping surfaces clean?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She returned them all to his porch in zip-lock bags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=DIY+During+Quarantine.+What+Could+Possibly+Go+Wrong%3F+Plenty&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>For millions of college students around the country, coronavirus lockdowns effectively canceled their hobbies and extracurriculars. But that’s not the case for Madison Cragle, a graphic design major at the State University of New York at Canton. She’s co-captain of her school’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate team—an esports team. That’s right, varsity video games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a joke going around that once the quarantine ends, everyone’s going to be like a thousand times better because we have nothing else to do,” Cragle says. Besides all the extra practice time, right now, Cragle’s actually playing in a tournament alongside hundreds of her fellow students. The $20,000 prize pool will go to a SUNY student emergency aid fund, medical research, personal protective equipment and student scholarships. It’s sponsored by Extreme Networks, a technology company that provides the technical infrastructure for varsity esports at Canton and other campuses around the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to reach out and continue to build community,” says SUNY Chancellor Kristina Johnson. Over 400,000 SUNY students are now at home, and plans for returning to campuses are very much still in formation. In the meantime, Johnson saw an opportunity to bring students together virtually across SUNY’s 64 campuses. “The motivation was to get the students engaged, and then to raise money for students impacted by the crisis, and to pull together. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are three separate games being played in the tournament, each by their own leagues. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a descendant of Nintendo’s beloved, 1980s vintage Mario Bros.; \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/104193/why-children-love-the-fortnite-video-game-so-much-in-their-own-words\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fortnite\u003c/a> is an immersive “battle royale,” and Rocket League is succinctly described by SUNY Canton sophomore Alec Knowles as “car soccer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Knowles, who hopped on a Zoom call along with Cragle to speak with NPR, is a “shoutcaster” for the tournament, meaning he provides play-by-play commentary over a livestream of the game. It takes a lot of time, he says: First, playing the game enough to learn the particulars so you can describe all the moves to fans. And then, the technical details. “We do all of our own streaming on Twitch,” a platform for livestreaming of all kinds of activities, from video gaming to DJ sets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So you have to put in the time to be able to set the stream up. Make sure that everything looks great, like the video and the pixels. … So we don’t have any issues where, like, it’s lagging.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cragle says that while confined to home, the tournament’s been a good social outlet. “I haven’t really had much to do at home. I was gonna get a job but when the quarantine happened, I couldn’t get the job I was gonna get.” Now, she says, students from different campuses all over the state are connecting on special chat rooms set up on a site, called Discord, especially for tournament competitors. And there’s a matchmaking function, so you can challenge people to side games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I ask if there’s much trash talking on the Discord server, and Knowles chimes in: “Smash [Bros.] is the epicenter of salt [trash talk.]”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cragle laughs: “Yeah, if you watch the top players, they’re so mean to each other sometimes. It makes for some good entertainment though, to be honest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Video game playing overall was \u003ca href=\"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gaming-usage-up-75-percent-coronavirus-outbreak-verizon-reports-1285140\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">up a reported 75%\u003c/a> in the first week of U.S. coronavirus lockdowns, and streaming—live spectating of game play on platforms like Twitch—was up as well. Cragle and Knowles are hoping that the tournament helps win over new fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Transitioning into college, like my parents were like, yeah, I don’t know if you can actually make a career off this,” says Knowles. “So I did it. And my parents are really supportive of me now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Can%27t+Leave+The+House%3F+Try+Playing+Competitive+Video+Games&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For millions of college students around the country, coronavirus lockdowns effectively canceled their hobbies and extracurriculars. But that’s not the case for Madison Cragle, a graphic design major at the State University of New York at Canton. She’s co-captain of her school’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate team—an esports team. That’s right, varsity video games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a joke going around that once the quarantine ends, everyone’s going to be like a thousand times better because we have nothing else to do,” Cragle says. Besides all the extra practice time, right now, Cragle’s actually playing in a tournament alongside hundreds of her fellow students. The $20,000 prize pool will go to a SUNY student emergency aid fund, medical research, personal protective equipment and student scholarships. It’s sponsored by Extreme Networks, a technology company that provides the technical infrastructure for varsity esports at Canton and other campuses around the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to reach out and continue to build community,” says SUNY Chancellor Kristina Johnson. Over 400,000 SUNY students are now at home, and plans for returning to campuses are very much still in formation. In the meantime, Johnson saw an opportunity to bring students together virtually across SUNY’s 64 campuses. “The motivation was to get the students engaged, and then to raise money for students impacted by the crisis, and to pull together. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are three separate games being played in the tournament, each by their own leagues. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a descendant of Nintendo’s beloved, 1980s vintage Mario Bros.; \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/104193/why-children-love-the-fortnite-video-game-so-much-in-their-own-words\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fortnite\u003c/a> is an immersive “battle royale,” and Rocket League is succinctly described by SUNY Canton sophomore Alec Knowles as “car soccer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Knowles, who hopped on a Zoom call along with Cragle to speak with NPR, is a “shoutcaster” for the tournament, meaning he provides play-by-play commentary over a livestream of the game. It takes a lot of time, he says: First, playing the game enough to learn the particulars so you can describe all the moves to fans. And then, the technical details. “We do all of our own streaming on Twitch,” a platform for livestreaming of all kinds of activities, from video gaming to DJ sets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So you have to put in the time to be able to set the stream up. Make sure that everything looks great, like the video and the pixels. … So we don’t have any issues where, like, it’s lagging.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cragle says that while confined to home, the tournament’s been a good social outlet. “I haven’t really had much to do at home. I was gonna get a job but when the quarantine happened, I couldn’t get the job I was gonna get.” Now, she says, students from different campuses all over the state are connecting on special chat rooms set up on a site, called Discord, especially for tournament competitors. And there’s a matchmaking function, so you can challenge people to side games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I ask if there’s much trash talking on the Discord server, and Knowles chimes in: “Smash [Bros.] is the epicenter of salt [trash talk.]”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cragle laughs: “Yeah, if you watch the top players, they’re so mean to each other sometimes. It makes for some good entertainment though, to be honest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Video game playing overall was \u003ca href=\"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gaming-usage-up-75-percent-coronavirus-outbreak-verizon-reports-1285140\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">up a reported 75%\u003c/a> in the first week of U.S. coronavirus lockdowns, and streaming—live spectating of game play on platforms like Twitch—was up as well. Cragle and Knowles are hoping that the tournament helps win over new fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Transitioning into college, like my parents were like, yeah, I don’t know if you can actually make a career off this,” says Knowles. “So I did it. And my parents are really supportive of me now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Can%27t+Leave+The+House%3F+Try+Playing+Competitive+Video+Games&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "How Hollywood Works From Home: Stay Tuned as TV Shows Get Creative",
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"content": "\u003cp>During the pandemic lockdown, what’s left of Hollywood production has gone virtual. Late-night TV hosts \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/15753/get-to-know-your-new-daily-show-host-south-african-comedian-trevor-noah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trevor Noah, \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2016/11/02/500303201/late-show-host-stephen-colbert-says-hes-finally-found-his-post-report-voice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Colbert \u003c/a>and the Jimmys—\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2017/10/12/557331357/jimmy-fallon-on-the-school-of-snl-and-his-tendency-to-smile-too-much\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fallon \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/12/01/783722818/jimmy-kimmel-writes-a-picture-book-says-kids-are-always-ready-to-laugh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kimmel\u003c/a>—record monologues \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/04/09/831174892/late-night-hosts-are-also-working-from-home-with-varying-results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">from their homes.\u003c/a> \u003cem>Saturday Night Live at Home\u003c/em>, which had its finale over the weekend, had its cast mates and guest stars tape themselves, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/04/30/848506248/from-parks-and-recreation-a-brief-but-delightful-return-to-pawnee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">special reunion episode\u003c/a> of \u003cem>Parks and Recreation\u003c/em> that aired recently was also written, shot, directed and edited remotely. Showrunner Mike Schur says he and the director, script supervisor and editors worked from their homes, watching on Zoom as the actors did their own camerawork.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwYth4JZP3s\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We didn’t actually fully know what anything looked like until we got the footage back. It was always a little bit of a surprise,” Schur says. “There were things that were recorded at the wrong frame rate, the little lights that were attached to the mini-rigs that we sent out kept malfunctioning in the middle of takes. It was a struggle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, Schur says the episode worked as a one-off since the series always had a “let’s put on a show” sensibility. But Schur, who created \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/105436/what-the-good-place-has-taught-us-about-philosophy-and-life-so-far\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The Good Place\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/103753/saving-brooklyn-nine-nine-was-business-but-the-love-of-it-is-real\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brooklyn Nine-Nine\u003c/a> \u003c/em>and the upcoming series \u003cem>Rutherford Falls\u003c/em>, says the do-it-yourself method isn’t a long-term solution because making a comedy is a team sport.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It can’t be everyone in his or her own house acting as his or her own hair, makeup, DP [director of photography], rigger, gaffer, grip,” Schur says. “It was really fun to do, but it’s not a blueprint for anything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Casting director Jennifer Euston can no longer safely audition actors in person at her small New York City office. And she can’t scout for talent at the theater, like she did for\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/6932/5-reasons-to-start-watching-orange-is-the-new-black-right-now\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Orange is the New Black. \u003c/a>\u003c/em>But she’s got a plan for casting the upcoming Netflix series \u003cem>Social Distance\u003c/em>, a scripted show set during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have to hire actors that are quarantining together as families, as husband and wife, as brother and sister, any combination of people—and it’s not just straight couples,” she says, adding that her goal is to add as much diversity to the show as possible. Not just racial and ethnic diversity, but “all shapes, and sizes, and faces, and looks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>One Day at a Time\u003c/em> executive producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/06/29/737328745/after-new-season-pick-up-one-day-at-a-time-showrunner-looks-ahead\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gloria Calderon Kellett \u003c/a>found an alternative to taping her show on a crowded set in front of a live audience. After her rebooted sitcom had to shut down midseason, she had an idea: “My husband’s a cartoonist, so animation is around me all the time. And I just thought maybe we can animate this particular episode.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kellett says the storyline of this particular episode, set to air in June, has her TV family dealing with the upcoming presidential election. She says it’s filled with fantasy sequences, making it easy to animate, but future episodes won’t necessarily be cartoons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Animation is one of the few forms of entertainment still in production. For the series \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/111678/8-ways-bobs-burgers-is-pure-bay-area\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Bob’s Burgers\u003c/em>, \u003c/a>animators in South Korea continue to work. And from their homes in Los Angeles, writers and sisters Wendy and Lizzie Molyneux work in the show’s virtual writers’ room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ru6bo3CHO4\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You lose a little bit of the fun and the magic of having everybody in the room together and seeing each other,” Lizzie Molyneux says. “But it’s good to remember that we’re all fortunate to be working.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Molyneux sisters are also co-executive producers of an upcoming animated sitcom, \u003cem>The Great North\u003c/em>. The cast, which features the voices of Megan Mullally and Will Forte, recently tested out lines during an online table read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Normally you get the big laughs from the room, but we had everyone other than our actors muted so there wouldn’t be a lot of noise,” Wendy Molyneux says. “But the actors were nice enough to laugh at the jokes themselves as it went along. So that helped it have the feeling of: We’re not saying jokes into an absolute vacuum.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TV writers are now wrestling with how future storylines can deal with the coronavirus pandemic and an unknown future. Schur says his showrunner wife, J.J. Philbin, is waiting to see if her sitcom, \u003cem>Single Parents,\u003c/em> gets picked up for another season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Her daily question is: ‘When we come back, are these people living in this world?’ Do you ignore it, or do you run right at it?” he says. “It’s hard to know what people will want from TV, whether they’ll want pure escapism or whether they’ll want a sort of reflection of their own reality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Audiences may already be tired of watching actors in their living rooms or in mock Zoom meetings. Is it time to innovate new special effects or bring back canned laugh tracks? Stay tuned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nina Gregory edited this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=How+Hollywood+Works+From+Home%3A+Stay+Tuned+As+TV+Shows+Get+Creative&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>During the pandemic lockdown, what’s left of Hollywood production has gone virtual. Late-night TV hosts \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/15753/get-to-know-your-new-daily-show-host-south-african-comedian-trevor-noah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trevor Noah, \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2016/11/02/500303201/late-show-host-stephen-colbert-says-hes-finally-found-his-post-report-voice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Colbert \u003c/a>and the Jimmys—\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2017/10/12/557331357/jimmy-fallon-on-the-school-of-snl-and-his-tendency-to-smile-too-much\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fallon \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/12/01/783722818/jimmy-kimmel-writes-a-picture-book-says-kids-are-always-ready-to-laugh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kimmel\u003c/a>—record monologues \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/04/09/831174892/late-night-hosts-are-also-working-from-home-with-varying-results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">from their homes.\u003c/a> \u003cem>Saturday Night Live at Home\u003c/em>, which had its finale over the weekend, had its cast mates and guest stars tape themselves, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/04/30/848506248/from-parks-and-recreation-a-brief-but-delightful-return-to-pawnee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">special reunion episode\u003c/a> of \u003cem>Parks and Recreation\u003c/em> that aired recently was also written, shot, directed and edited remotely. Showrunner Mike Schur says he and the director, script supervisor and editors worked from their homes, watching on Zoom as the actors did their own camerawork.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/bwYth4JZP3s'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/bwYth4JZP3s'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>“We didn’t actually fully know what anything looked like until we got the footage back. It was always a little bit of a surprise,” Schur says. “There were things that were recorded at the wrong frame rate, the little lights that were attached to the mini-rigs that we sent out kept malfunctioning in the middle of takes. It was a struggle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, Schur says the episode worked as a one-off since the series always had a “let’s put on a show” sensibility. But Schur, who created \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/105436/what-the-good-place-has-taught-us-about-philosophy-and-life-so-far\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The Good Place\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/103753/saving-brooklyn-nine-nine-was-business-but-the-love-of-it-is-real\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brooklyn Nine-Nine\u003c/a> \u003c/em>and the upcoming series \u003cem>Rutherford Falls\u003c/em>, says the do-it-yourself method isn’t a long-term solution because making a comedy is a team sport.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It can’t be everyone in his or her own house acting as his or her own hair, makeup, DP [director of photography], rigger, gaffer, grip,” Schur says. “It was really fun to do, but it’s not a blueprint for anything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Casting director Jennifer Euston can no longer safely audition actors in person at her small New York City office. And she can’t scout for talent at the theater, like she did for\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/6932/5-reasons-to-start-watching-orange-is-the-new-black-right-now\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Orange is the New Black. \u003c/a>\u003c/em>But she’s got a plan for casting the upcoming Netflix series \u003cem>Social Distance\u003c/em>, a scripted show set during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have to hire actors that are quarantining together as families, as husband and wife, as brother and sister, any combination of people—and it’s not just straight couples,” she says, adding that her goal is to add as much diversity to the show as possible. Not just racial and ethnic diversity, but “all shapes, and sizes, and faces, and looks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>One Day at a Time\u003c/em> executive producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/06/29/737328745/after-new-season-pick-up-one-day-at-a-time-showrunner-looks-ahead\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gloria Calderon Kellett \u003c/a>found an alternative to taping her show on a crowded set in front of a live audience. After her rebooted sitcom had to shut down midseason, she had an idea: “My husband’s a cartoonist, so animation is around me all the time. And I just thought maybe we can animate this particular episode.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kellett says the storyline of this particular episode, set to air in June, has her TV family dealing with the upcoming presidential election. She says it’s filled with fantasy sequences, making it easy to animate, but future episodes won’t necessarily be cartoons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Animation is one of the few forms of entertainment still in production. For the series \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/111678/8-ways-bobs-burgers-is-pure-bay-area\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Bob’s Burgers\u003c/em>, \u003c/a>animators in South Korea continue to work. And from their homes in Los Angeles, writers and sisters Wendy and Lizzie Molyneux work in the show’s virtual writers’ room.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/7Ru6bo3CHO4'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/7Ru6bo3CHO4'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>“You lose a little bit of the fun and the magic of having everybody in the room together and seeing each other,” Lizzie Molyneux says. “But it’s good to remember that we’re all fortunate to be working.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Molyneux sisters are also co-executive producers of an upcoming animated sitcom, \u003cem>The Great North\u003c/em>. The cast, which features the voices of Megan Mullally and Will Forte, recently tested out lines during an online table read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Normally you get the big laughs from the room, but we had everyone other than our actors muted so there wouldn’t be a lot of noise,” Wendy Molyneux says. “But the actors were nice enough to laugh at the jokes themselves as it went along. So that helped it have the feeling of: We’re not saying jokes into an absolute vacuum.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TV writers are now wrestling with how future storylines can deal with the coronavirus pandemic and an unknown future. Schur says his showrunner wife, J.J. Philbin, is waiting to see if her sitcom, \u003cem>Single Parents,\u003c/em> gets picked up for another season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Her daily question is: ‘When we come back, are these people living in this world?’ Do you ignore it, or do you run right at it?” he says. “It’s hard to know what people will want from TV, whether they’ll want pure escapism or whether they’ll want a sort of reflection of their own reality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Audiences may already be tired of watching actors in their living rooms or in mock Zoom meetings. Is it time to innovate new special effects or bring back canned laugh tracks? Stay tuned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nina Gregory edited this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=How+Hollywood+Works+From+Home%3A+Stay+Tuned+As+TV+Shows+Get+Creative&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "snl-just-wrapped-its-45th-season-its-time-to-cruelly-rank-its-musical-guests",
"title": "'SNL' Just Wrapped its 45th Season: It's Time to Cruelly Rank its Musical Guests",
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"headTitle": "‘SNL’ Just Wrapped its 45th Season: It’s Time to Cruelly Rank its Musical Guests | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>We’re roughly two months into a collective crisis that’s kept us sheltered in place, cut off from friends and fearful for the future of our health, our families and our economic well-being. Our emotions frequently form a thick slurry of anxiety, worry, boredom, rage and desperate desire for threads of normalcy; for moments of mundanity; for the calming comfort of the familiar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is why, in the interest of national unity—of shared struggle, of resilience, of all-in-this-togetherness, of \u003cem>patriotism\u003c/em>—it is \u003cem>vital\u003c/em> that we reflect on the most recent season of \u003cem>Saturday Night Live\u003c/em> and mean-spiritedly rank the quality of its musical guests. We did this \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/05/20/724884348/snl-musical-guests-ranked-from-no-1-to-greta-van-fleet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">last year\u003c/a> (with apologies to Greta Van Fleet) and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2018/05/21/612911877/this-season-s-snl-musical-guests-cruelly-ranked\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the year before\u003c/a> (with apologies to James Bay, whose performance almost definitely happened, though we can’t be 100 percent certain). So now, friends, that tradition continues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few quick notes about \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em>‘s 45th season, which ended Saturday: Due to COVID-19, what was intended to be a 21-episode season was shortened to 18 shows, only 15 of which took place before a live audience. The last three, nicknamed \u003cem>Saturday Night Live at Home\u003c/em>, were cobbled together from performers’ residences—including those of the musical guests. \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em>‘s Studio 8H stage isn’t always kind to musicians, but it’s bound to present advantages over a setting that provides no audience feedback. We’ll attempt to take that into consideration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, maybe it was the smaller sample size, but no one in this year’s lineup toppled headlong into a grisly train wreck the way certain acts (\u003cem>cough\u003c/em> Kanye West \u003cem>cough\u003c/em> DJ Khaled \u003cem>cough\u003c/em> Greta Van Fleet) did last season. So last place in Season 45 should be read as more “meh” than… you know, traumatic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All right, let’s do this! \u003cem>(Oh, and we’ve linked to every performance that’s still officially available on YouTube.)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>18. The Weeknd, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17GxpgE-Fwo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Blinding Lights\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nm9RZqBaBM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Scared to Live\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nm9RZqBaBM\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Okay, so let’s start with the weirdly busted-up face: As with The Weeknd’s other appearances in support of his new album \u003cem>After Hours\u003c/em>, the singer performed on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> wearing makeup designed to make it look as if he’d just broken his nose. (The album chronicles a rough night out on the town, after all.) So, you know: red suit jacket, nice shoes, blood streaming down his cheek.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To liven up the actual performances, it’s best to imagine a backstage scenario in which, say, Cecily Strong was like, “Hey, The Weeknd! Your 2016 song ‘I Feel It Coming (feat. Daft Punk),” while catchy, is nakedly derivative of Michael Jackson! [*bomp*]”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We certainly wouldn’t wish actual violence upon the singer, nor would anyone accuse Cecily Strong of such impudence. It’s just that a little bit of fiction livens up the fact that this performance of “Scared to Live” was \u003cem>so, so, so boring\u003c/em>. On the album, the song is a moody tone-setter; on the \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> stage, it was a bathroom break in song form. With the singer standing gamely alongside bright panels of mirrors, “Blinding Lights” put a bit more pep in its step, but The Weeknd still seemed to have expended most of his energy and dynamism in the makeup chair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>17. Luke Combs, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B38JvahZxlc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Lovin’ on You\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A_CIU4mU60\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Beer Never Broke My Heart\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B38JvahZxlc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unfair to Luke Combs to rank him on a scale that rewards onstage spectacle: The singer is one of the biggest stars in country music, at least in part \u003cem>because\u003c/em> his most muscular, rowdily beer-forward songs are so straight-ahead and lyrically unadorned. It’s not a putdown to say that Combs’ \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> renditions of “Lovin’ on You” and “Beer Never Broke My Heart” are indistinguishable from performances he and his band would give in a bar. (Not that they’ve played bars in years; Combs was selling out arenas pre-COVID.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The issue here is that the songs themselves just aren’t \u003cem>interesting\u003c/em>. “Lovin’ on You” is one of those here-is-a-list-of-things country songs that could have been written by an app, while “Beer Never Broke My Heart” sounds like… well, it could have been written by an app that makes beer commercials. With his bushy red beard and acrylic baseball cap, Combs is as approachable a superstar as you’ll find. But on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em>, he stuck to his most boilerplate material, leaving softer stunners like “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7kqqmr2HWI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Even Though I’m Leaving\u003c/a>” for another day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>16. Niall Horan, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRA-h44Nn98\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Nice to Meet Ya\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iboimrLFE8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Put a Little Love on Me\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iboimrLFE8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a truncated \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> season, fully one-ninth of the headlining musical guests were former members of One Direction: That’d be Harry Styles (see below) and Niall Horan, who put out a fine solo album back in March, just as the world was beginning to crumble around us. Horan previewed that record on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> by performing a pair of its singles: the chugging “Nice to Meet Ya” and the tender piano ballad “Put a Little Love on Me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each song is sturdy enough—and catnip for Horan’s zillions of fans—but both felt a little drab on the \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> stage. “Nice to Meet Ya” reverberated gamely with the reincarnated spirit of Rick Astley (who, it must be noted, is not dead), but little else about the performance would be remembered by morning. And while Horan gave “Put a Little Love on Me” his all vocally, the piano-bar arrangement generated scarcely enough energy to warm up a teacup full of skim milk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, we got Harry Styles and Niall Horan, but no Zayn Malik? Bring us Zayn, you ghouls! #justiceforzayn #nozaynnopeace\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>15. Camila Cabello, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWLorxdRxRg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Cry for Me\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syzcvdm1hq4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Easy\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syzcvdm1hq4\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Camila Cabello has spent years on the pop-star treadmill—first in Fifth Harmony and then as the chart-topping singer of songs like “Havana” and “Señorita”—without establishing a terribly distinct public persona. The Cuban-American’s songs often evoke a sense of place to match their sultriness, but Cabello herself remains somewhat unknowable; no matter how thoughtfully \u003ca href=\"https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/camila-cabello-anxiety-nervous-singing-public-shawn-mendes-senorita-a9015041.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">she’s opened up to the public\u003c/a>, her candor rarely seems to seep into the songs she sings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That didn’t change with the skillful-but-bloodless singles she performed in her \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> debut, although “Cry for Me” at least got a grandly choreographed theatrical staging, complete with Marie Antoinette get-up and dancers twirling around in vintage attire. By comparison, “Easy” felt a bit stilted and pageant-y, as Cabello performed the song while standing in a white silk gown, her feet planted to the floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>14. Boyz II Men with Babyface, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLLXlbaF9cE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>A Song for Mama\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” (from \u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Saturday Night Live at Home\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLLXlbaF9cE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final episode of \u003cem>Saturday Night Live at Home\u003c/em>—and of the show’s 45th season—happened to take place on the eve of Mother’s Day. So the show opted for a brief, good-natured, low-key tribute courtesy of Babyface and Boyz II Men, whose members performed their 1997 chart-topper “A Song for Mama” from the confines of their respective domiciles. (\u003cem>SNL’\u003c/em>s home editions have provided peeks into many performers’ home lives. In this case, we learned that Babyface and Boyz II Men live among many, many framed gold and platinum records.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for “A Song for Mama,” the moment was sweet—and rendered that much more sentimental via the screening of archival photos of \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> cast members with their moms. But with each performer appearing remotely, the finished product felt a little… well, remote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said, now that Mother’s Day is over, may we recommend \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sasPmpBhR10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a far livelier COVID performance\u003c/a> by Boyz II Men, in which the singing sensations appear from their homes along with New Kids on the Block, Naughty by Nature, Big Freedia (!!!), Jordin Sparks and an assortment of bonkers cameos? Because it is ridiculous, and it is fun, and it’s a reminder that staying home doesn’t mean you can \u003cem>only\u003c/em> listen to songs about what a low-key bummer it is to stay home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>13. Justin Bieber, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9DBJsXtays\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Yummy\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiJmC_kqXJ8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Intentions\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong> feat. Quavo”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9DBJsXtays\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The good news: Justin Bieber tore through two new songs from \u003cem>Changes\u003c/em> with considerable energy, backed by starkly lit dancers, attention-grabbing sets and, late in “Intentions,” a welcome appearance by Migos rapper Quavo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The less-good news: Bieber’s vocals were pretty wobbly and… yeah, “Yummy” is \u003cem>at least\u003c/em> as insipid as its title suggests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of which is to say: This was the latest mixed bag in a career that’s produced some A+ pop bangers, some forgettable trifles, a lavish assortment of embarrassing growing pains and one ugly-ass mustache.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>12. Halsey, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGYo1bmqn40\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>You Should Be Sad\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFcIBSgk9dQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Finally // Beautiful Stranger\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGYo1bmqn40\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Halsey grew up in New Jersey, which places her not terribly far from 30 Rockefeller Plaza. So, while we’re not suggesting that Halsey currently lives in a supply closet at 30 Rock so that she can be available to perform on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> at a moment’s notice, we’re also not \u003cem>not\u003c/em> suggesting that Halsey currently lives in a supply closet at 30 Rock so that she can be available to perform on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> at a moment’s notice. Halsey is on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> a \u003cem>lot\u003c/em>. From the beginning of 2018 through January of this year, the show featured women as headlining musical guests 16 out of a possible 44 times. Halsey has claimed \u003cem>three\u003c/em> of those spots, and that’s not even counting the time the singer popped up during Lil Wayne’s set.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest iteration of Halsey on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> felt oddly low-energy—which is kind of a feat when you consider that 1.) she performed the midtempo “You Should Be Sad” while glued into a Frederick’s of Hollywood castoff; and 2.) she opened her set astride a mechanical bull and later got hoisted aloft by scantily clad dancers. “Finally // Beautiful Stranger” was less eventful (by design) and slower still: a vocal showcase that demonstrated both Halsey’s range and her tendency to embellish her vocals with what can only be described as “simulated AutoTune.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>11. King Princess, “1950” and “Hit the Back”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>King Princess (a.k.a. Mikaela Straus) has only released an album and an EP, but she’s already working from a toolkit that encompasses and transcends multiple blended genres. For her \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> debut, the young shapeshifter showed off her affinity for two of them: the slick, wiry, slow-burning, guitar-wielding rock of “1950” and the coyly suggestive, alternately seething and propulsive dance-pop of “Hit the Back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taken as a whole, the performance felt more like an introduction than a coronation: King Princess waited to really cut loose until late in “Hit the Back,” when a series of body-rolls gave way to full-blown thrashing. Norm-busting icons generally aren’t made overnight, but she’s well on her way; this relatively contained \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> stop felt like Step 1 on a long journey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>10. Chris Martin, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdzFWMhNPc0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Shelter From The Storm\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” (from \u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Saturday Night Live at Home\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdzFWMhNPc0\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once COVID-19 made it impossible to put together a traditional episode of \u003cem>Saturday Night Live\u003c/em>—and forced the cancellation of a planned show with musical guest Dua Lipa—producers did what they could to assemble an episode cobbled together from material recorded at performers’ homes. Casualties of this arrangement included the live audience, the live laughter, the live applause, the 30 Rock soundstage, much of the interpersonal chemistry, the musical guest’s second song and an unwritten rule that prevents singers from headlining more than one episode in a single season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chris Martin’s band Coldplay was the musical guest back in November—see below—but he returned in April to perform a cover of Bob Dylan’s situationally appropriate 1975 classic “Shelter From the Storm.” Shot in dusky, grayish black-and-white (presumably to pay tribute to the film \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061589/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Dont Look Back\u003c/em>\u003c/a>), the set-up felt bare-bones in a cable-access sort of way, as Martin wisely skipped embellishments that might have watered down the original. Hardly a Technicolor showstopper, but right for the moment at hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>9. Harry Styles, “Lights Up” and “Watermelon Sugar”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a wonder that Harry Styles found the time to put together grabby stage presentations of “Lights Up” and “Watermelon Sugar,” given his to-do list for the night: The former One Direction star (and current \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/03/13/814424330/2-green-bay-packers-fans-chat-behind-the-tiny-desk-and-one-of-them-is-harry-styl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Green Bay Packers fan\u003c/a>) was also serving as \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> \u003cem>host\u003c/em>, acting in a bunch of sketches and, at one point, appearing in a prerecorded video as the human embodiment of Aidy Bryant’s dog. The live songs, performed in the run-up to Styles’ recent album \u003cem>Fine Line\u003c/em>, could’ve easily registered as an afterthought, and they thankfully didn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opening with the more subdued “Lights Up,” Styles appeared with a stately band and a solemn choir. As such, the performance felt a little uneventful—though it should be noted that Styles brought his wardrobe A-game in a way other men seriously ought to emulate. (That sparkly jumpsuit is \u003cem>killer\u003c/em>.) “Watermelon Sugar” brings another great outfit and a nice jolt of fervent energy, as Styles danced and strutted about while surrounded by a crack band that included a four-piece horn section.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>8. Taylor Swift, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmipFjOtMA8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Lover\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjD3LoXp-Pw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>False God\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmipFjOtMA8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was hardly Taylor Swift’s first \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> rodeo, given that she’s been a host, made a few cameos and served as a headlining musical guest more than once. And Swift has spent countless promotional cycles serving up lavish, uneven, often high-concept performances at awards shows and on late-night TV. So it was actually refreshing to see her so dialed-down and at-ease in these stripped-down performances of highlights from her latest album, \u003cem>Lover\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That record’s wedding-ready title track got an especially raw treatment on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em>, as her solo-piano rendition highlighted the song’s conversational emotionalism and a hook so subtle, you hardly notice it burrowing into your brain for eternity. Less emotionally rich but more visually eventful was “False God,” in which Swift glided through the song amid soft, floating coils of light and the prominent saxophone solos of \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> bandleader (and former Tower of Power player) Lenny Pickett.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>7. Miley Cyrus, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUYo8xQf4PY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Wish You Were Here\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” (from \u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Saturday Night Live at Home\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUYo8xQf4PY\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first week of \u003cem>Saturday Night Live at Home\u003c/em> made a valiant attempt to re-create an episode of the show while juggling technological limitations, a dark national mood and the fact that virtually no one could be in the same room together. The second week ran far more smoothly: Funnier and slicker, it also benefited from the fact that its musical guest, Miley Cyrus, didn’t look as if she was starring in a hostage video.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bathed in red light while sitting aside a fire pit at night, Cyrus belted out Pink Floyd’s 1975 lighter-waver “Wish You Were Here” with the socially distanced accompaniment of guitarist Andrew Watt. (The choice of Watt—a bestselling pop producer, guitarist and songwriter who’s working with Cyrus on her next album—felt notable, in part because Watt \u003ca href=\"https://variety.com/2020/music/news/music-producer-andrew-watt-coronavirus-pneumonia-1203537066/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has written publicly\u003c/a> about his recent battle with COVID-19.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a simple set-up recorded under difficult circumstances, Cyrus’ performance did a pretty ingenious job of turning back-porch busking into the stuff of late-night sound stages. It had visual drama: smoke, flames, distinct lighting, moody accompaniment, lavish fashion. But it also served up the umpteenth reminder that Miley Cyrus is a marvelous singer, with vocal—and emotional—range to spare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>6. Coldplay, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUxsb0Zpe8w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Orphans\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “Everyday Life”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUxsb0Zpe8w\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bash Coldplay all you want, but this performance of “Orphans” showed exactly how to liven up a typical spot as a late-night musical guest: Chris Martin opened the song from a supply closet in the back of the room before making his way into the audience to perform with clusters of cast members, musicians and randos. He eventually ran to the stage, at which point he finished the song while backed by members of his band, a colorful animated video on a giant screen and an enormous throng of dancers. It was an immensely buoyant, memorable performance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By comparison, “Everyday Life” couldn’t help but fizzle earnestly, though the song’s melancholy notes of tentatively uplifting empathy resonate more now than they did all the way back in November 2019. But let’s not neglect the \u003cem>real\u003c/em> takeaway here: Sure, Chris Martin’s distressed tee probably cost $1,400 or something, but he looked like he just got done insulating his attic. Could you imagine Halsey getting to perform in that grubby rag? We will never achieve gender equality until male performers dress better (see: Harry Styles) or female performers dress worse—preferably both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>5. DaBaby, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YffEyeWn_fA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Bop\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbGLwe53-LI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Suge\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YffEyeWn_fA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DaBaby understands that you can perform a couple of songs on TV, or you can put on a show of your own. Backed by a few musicians, a giant throng of dancers and a woman who periodically twerked from a full handstand, DaBaby served as both rapper and ringmaster. Unafraid to dive into the choreography, he felt fully integrated into the mayhem—which featured not only the hip-hop dance crew Jabbawockeez, but also a whole bunch of stage fighting. (Why stage fighting? Hey, why did the other 17 entries on this list \u003cem>not\u003c/em> include stage fighting? Lookin’ your way, Niall Horan.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, all that ludicrous theatrical chaos wouldn’t have mattered much without tight, hooky songs to back it up, and DaBaby came to work there, too. Performing with a showman’s charisma, the young star seemed to be having a blast. That can be more than half the battle, right there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>4. Billie Eilish, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn1Uwsg3eRQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>bad guy\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6AdQLB_19g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>I Love You\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong> (feat. Finneas O’Connell)”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn1Uwsg3eRQ\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Billie Eilish was basically bulletproof in 2019: Her debut album spawned a string of huge hits, and “bad guy” was the only juggernaut omnipresent enough to knock “Old Town Road” off its perch at the top of the pop charts. She kicked off 2020 by sweeping every major category at the Grammys—the youngest artist ever to do so. And, along the path to domination, she provided one of the biggest “wow” moments in recent \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a concept liberally borrowed from the 1951 film \u003cem>Royal Wedding\u003c/em>—the one in which Fred Astaire climbs the walls before dancing on the ceiling—Eilish’s pajama- and walking-boot-clad \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> performance of “bad guy” duplicated the gravity-defying effect to perfection, thanks to a boxy miniaturized set (and a camera) that rotated like a hamster wheel. Before viewers could finish Googling “How did Billie Eilish do that \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em>,” the show panned out to reveal the trick, which somehow made the whole thing seem even more impressive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After so much razzle-dazzle, Eilish hardly needed to return for a second song. But she took a decent-sized swing anyway, showcasing her balladeering softer side—still a new look for her back in September—in a whispery take on “I Love You.” Joined on guitar by her similarly Grammy-festooned brother Finneas O’Connell, Eilish more than held her own. But it was somewhat drowsy as a set-closer, especially after the sugar high she’d just pulled off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>3. Chance The Rapper, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnlUnGj54hM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Zanies and Fools\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwX2IpcmN_w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Handsome\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong> (feat. Megan Thee Stallion)”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwX2IpcmN_w\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was Chance the Rapper’s second stint as a musical guest, his second stint as an enormously funny and good-natured \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> host, and his first time pulling double duty. Hell, he even introduced himself at the top of “Zanies and Fools,” letting a clip of his adorable daughter fill the time between his introduction (“Ladies and gentlemen, Chance the Rapper”) and the performance itself. The guy does it all, and does it extraordinarily well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Chance also knows how to share—and lavishly fill—a stage, and for “Zanies and Fools,” the rapper found himself surrounded by a swirl of dancers, not to mention a small army of percussionists and string players. The choreography unfurled around him without really involving him, but he compensated by unleashing a rapid-fire vocal that kept the viewer’s attention center stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In “Handsome,” Chance’s collaborators crowded into the background, which gave him the opportunity to move around a bit before ceding the spotlight to the most formidable presence imaginable: Megan Thee Stallion. Meg kept her intensity in second gear to match her stage partner—and found a way to give herself a network-television-friendly edit in real time—but her star power was beyond unmistakable. Next season, she’d be well suited to follow in Chance’s footsteps and try her hand as a host.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2. David Byrne, “Once in a Lifetime” and “Toe Jam”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Saturday Night Live\u003c/em> usually makes room for a rock or pop legend here and there, including Paul Simon last year and U2 the year before. This year, the chosen veteran was David Byrne, to coincide with the Broadway staging of his \u003cem>American Utopia\u003c/em> concerts. Crucially, he brought his robust, gray-suited cast to join him in filling the stage with movement, sound and all-around effervescence. Deploying between three and six percussionists at any given moment, these performances radiated good cheer and spiky humor, propelled by a Broadway production’s mandate to thrill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, really, “thrilling” just about sums it up. Most \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> guests are promoting new material, so catalog hits aren’t the norm. Here, we got Talking Heads’ unimpeachable classic “Once in a Lifetime” and the terrific “Toe Jam,” which Byrne co-wrote for the U.K. electro-pop band The Brighton Port Authority back in 2008. Byrne happened to appear on perhaps the season’s most widely beloved \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> episode—the one hosted by the marvelous John Mulaney—but you couldn’t have blamed the show had it just turned the whole thing over to Byrne & Co.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1. Lizzo, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK7oze-nu38\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Truth Hurts\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj83ri3lSe0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Good As Hell\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj83ri3lSe0\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It took Lizzo years of hustle and grind to rise all the way to pop superstardom, so there was no way she’d make her \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> debut and not crush it. Marrying lavishly choreographed dance routines to undeniable musicianship and unfettered joy, she and her dancers twerked, spun and frolicked through Lizzo’s two greatest hits to date: “Truth Hurts” (backed by an airtight band, populated exclusively by black women) and “Good As Hell” (performed on a Christmas-themed set in which dancers twirled on poles striped like candy canes).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Saturday Night Live\u003c/em>‘s Studio 8H stage can be sterile and unforgiving: It’s a nondescript space with an iffy sound mix, and the crowds are largely there to watch comedy. So it’s a special kind of joy to watch Lizzo douse that canvas with vibrancy, color, movement and good cheer—not to mention transcendent vocal talent—in a set perfectly tailored to elevate the space, the show and the season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27SNL%27+Just+Wrapped+Its+45th+Season%3A+It%27s+Time+To+Cruelly+Rank+Its+Musical+Guests&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>We’re roughly two months into a collective crisis that’s kept us sheltered in place, cut off from friends and fearful for the future of our health, our families and our economic well-being. Our emotions frequently form a thick slurry of anxiety, worry, boredom, rage and desperate desire for threads of normalcy; for moments of mundanity; for the calming comfort of the familiar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is why, in the interest of national unity—of shared struggle, of resilience, of all-in-this-togetherness, of \u003cem>patriotism\u003c/em>—it is \u003cem>vital\u003c/em> that we reflect on the most recent season of \u003cem>Saturday Night Live\u003c/em> and mean-spiritedly rank the quality of its musical guests. We did this \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/05/20/724884348/snl-musical-guests-ranked-from-no-1-to-greta-van-fleet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">last year\u003c/a> (with apologies to Greta Van Fleet) and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2018/05/21/612911877/this-season-s-snl-musical-guests-cruelly-ranked\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the year before\u003c/a> (with apologies to James Bay, whose performance almost definitely happened, though we can’t be 100 percent certain). So now, friends, that tradition continues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few quick notes about \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em>‘s 45th season, which ended Saturday: Due to COVID-19, what was intended to be a 21-episode season was shortened to 18 shows, only 15 of which took place before a live audience. The last three, nicknamed \u003cem>Saturday Night Live at Home\u003c/em>, were cobbled together from performers’ residences—including those of the musical guests. \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em>‘s Studio 8H stage isn’t always kind to musicians, but it’s bound to present advantages over a setting that provides no audience feedback. We’ll attempt to take that into consideration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, maybe it was the smaller sample size, but no one in this year’s lineup toppled headlong into a grisly train wreck the way certain acts (\u003cem>cough\u003c/em> Kanye West \u003cem>cough\u003c/em> DJ Khaled \u003cem>cough\u003c/em> Greta Van Fleet) did last season. So last place in Season 45 should be read as more “meh” than… you know, traumatic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All right, let’s do this! \u003cem>(Oh, and we’ve linked to every performance that’s still officially available on YouTube.)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>18. The Weeknd, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17GxpgE-Fwo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Blinding Lights\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nm9RZqBaBM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Scared to Live\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/6Nm9RZqBaBM'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/6Nm9RZqBaBM'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Okay, so let’s start with the weirdly busted-up face: As with The Weeknd’s other appearances in support of his new album \u003cem>After Hours\u003c/em>, the singer performed on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> wearing makeup designed to make it look as if he’d just broken his nose. (The album chronicles a rough night out on the town, after all.) So, you know: red suit jacket, nice shoes, blood streaming down his cheek.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To liven up the actual performances, it’s best to imagine a backstage scenario in which, say, Cecily Strong was like, “Hey, The Weeknd! Your 2016 song ‘I Feel It Coming (feat. Daft Punk),” while catchy, is nakedly derivative of Michael Jackson! [*bomp*]”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We certainly wouldn’t wish actual violence upon the singer, nor would anyone accuse Cecily Strong of such impudence. It’s just that a little bit of fiction livens up the fact that this performance of “Scared to Live” was \u003cem>so, so, so boring\u003c/em>. On the album, the song is a moody tone-setter; on the \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> stage, it was a bathroom break in song form. With the singer standing gamely alongside bright panels of mirrors, “Blinding Lights” put a bit more pep in its step, but The Weeknd still seemed to have expended most of his energy and dynamism in the makeup chair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>17. Luke Combs, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B38JvahZxlc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Lovin’ on You\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A_CIU4mU60\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Beer Never Broke My Heart\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/B38JvahZxlc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/B38JvahZxlc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s unfair to Luke Combs to rank him on a scale that rewards onstage spectacle: The singer is one of the biggest stars in country music, at least in part \u003cem>because\u003c/em> his most muscular, rowdily beer-forward songs are so straight-ahead and lyrically unadorned. It’s not a putdown to say that Combs’ \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> renditions of “Lovin’ on You” and “Beer Never Broke My Heart” are indistinguishable from performances he and his band would give in a bar. (Not that they’ve played bars in years; Combs was selling out arenas pre-COVID.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The issue here is that the songs themselves just aren’t \u003cem>interesting\u003c/em>. “Lovin’ on You” is one of those here-is-a-list-of-things country songs that could have been written by an app, while “Beer Never Broke My Heart” sounds like… well, it could have been written by an app that makes beer commercials. With his bushy red beard and acrylic baseball cap, Combs is as approachable a superstar as you’ll find. But on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em>, he stuck to his most boilerplate material, leaving softer stunners like “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7kqqmr2HWI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Even Though I’m Leaving\u003c/a>” for another day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>16. Niall Horan, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRA-h44Nn98\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Nice to Meet Ya\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iboimrLFE8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Put a Little Love on Me\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/5iboimrLFE8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/5iboimrLFE8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>In a truncated \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> season, fully one-ninth of the headlining musical guests were former members of One Direction: That’d be Harry Styles (see below) and Niall Horan, who put out a fine solo album back in March, just as the world was beginning to crumble around us. Horan previewed that record on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> by performing a pair of its singles: the chugging “Nice to Meet Ya” and the tender piano ballad “Put a Little Love on Me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each song is sturdy enough—and catnip for Horan’s zillions of fans—but both felt a little drab on the \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> stage. “Nice to Meet Ya” reverberated gamely with the reincarnated spirit of Rick Astley (who, it must be noted, is not dead), but little else about the performance would be remembered by morning. And while Horan gave “Put a Little Love on Me” his all vocally, the piano-bar arrangement generated scarcely enough energy to warm up a teacup full of skim milk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, we got Harry Styles and Niall Horan, but no Zayn Malik? Bring us Zayn, you ghouls! #justiceforzayn #nozaynnopeace\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>15. Camila Cabello, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWLorxdRxRg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Cry for Me\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syzcvdm1hq4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Easy\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/Syzcvdm1hq4'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Syzcvdm1hq4'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Camila Cabello has spent years on the pop-star treadmill—first in Fifth Harmony and then as the chart-topping singer of songs like “Havana” and “Señorita”—without establishing a terribly distinct public persona. The Cuban-American’s songs often evoke a sense of place to match their sultriness, but Cabello herself remains somewhat unknowable; no matter how thoughtfully \u003ca href=\"https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/camila-cabello-anxiety-nervous-singing-public-shawn-mendes-senorita-a9015041.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">she’s opened up to the public\u003c/a>, her candor rarely seems to seep into the songs she sings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That didn’t change with the skillful-but-bloodless singles she performed in her \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> debut, although “Cry for Me” at least got a grandly choreographed theatrical staging, complete with Marie Antoinette get-up and dancers twirling around in vintage attire. By comparison, “Easy” felt a bit stilted and pageant-y, as Cabello performed the song while standing in a white silk gown, her feet planted to the floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>14. Boyz II Men with Babyface, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLLXlbaF9cE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>A Song for Mama\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” (from \u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Saturday Night Live at Home\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/pLLXlbaF9cE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/pLLXlbaF9cE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The final episode of \u003cem>Saturday Night Live at Home\u003c/em>—and of the show’s 45th season—happened to take place on the eve of Mother’s Day. So the show opted for a brief, good-natured, low-key tribute courtesy of Babyface and Boyz II Men, whose members performed their 1997 chart-topper “A Song for Mama” from the confines of their respective domiciles. (\u003cem>SNL’\u003c/em>s home editions have provided peeks into many performers’ home lives. In this case, we learned that Babyface and Boyz II Men live among many, many framed gold and platinum records.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for “A Song for Mama,” the moment was sweet—and rendered that much more sentimental via the screening of archival photos of \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> cast members with their moms. But with each performer appearing remotely, the finished product felt a little… well, remote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said, now that Mother’s Day is over, may we recommend \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sasPmpBhR10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a far livelier COVID performance\u003c/a> by Boyz II Men, in which the singing sensations appear from their homes along with New Kids on the Block, Naughty by Nature, Big Freedia (!!!), Jordin Sparks and an assortment of bonkers cameos? Because it is ridiculous, and it is fun, and it’s a reminder that staying home doesn’t mean you can \u003cem>only\u003c/em> listen to songs about what a low-key bummer it is to stay home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>13. Justin Bieber, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9DBJsXtays\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Yummy\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiJmC_kqXJ8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Intentions\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong> feat. Quavo”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/b9DBJsXtays'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/b9DBJsXtays'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The good news: Justin Bieber tore through two new songs from \u003cem>Changes\u003c/em> with considerable energy, backed by starkly lit dancers, attention-grabbing sets and, late in “Intentions,” a welcome appearance by Migos rapper Quavo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The less-good news: Bieber’s vocals were pretty wobbly and… yeah, “Yummy” is \u003cem>at least\u003c/em> as insipid as its title suggests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of which is to say: This was the latest mixed bag in a career that’s produced some A+ pop bangers, some forgettable trifles, a lavish assortment of embarrassing growing pains and one ugly-ass mustache.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>12. Halsey, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGYo1bmqn40\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>You Should Be Sad\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFcIBSgk9dQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Finally // Beautiful Stranger\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/jGYo1bmqn40'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/jGYo1bmqn40'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Halsey grew up in New Jersey, which places her not terribly far from 30 Rockefeller Plaza. So, while we’re not suggesting that Halsey currently lives in a supply closet at 30 Rock so that she can be available to perform on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> at a moment’s notice, we’re also not \u003cem>not\u003c/em> suggesting that Halsey currently lives in a supply closet at 30 Rock so that she can be available to perform on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> at a moment’s notice. Halsey is on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> a \u003cem>lot\u003c/em>. From the beginning of 2018 through January of this year, the show featured women as headlining musical guests 16 out of a possible 44 times. Halsey has claimed \u003cem>three\u003c/em> of those spots, and that’s not even counting the time the singer popped up during Lil Wayne’s set.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest iteration of Halsey on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> felt oddly low-energy—which is kind of a feat when you consider that 1.) she performed the midtempo “You Should Be Sad” while glued into a Frederick’s of Hollywood castoff; and 2.) she opened her set astride a mechanical bull and later got hoisted aloft by scantily clad dancers. “Finally // Beautiful Stranger” was less eventful (by design) and slower still: a vocal showcase that demonstrated both Halsey’s range and her tendency to embellish her vocals with what can only be described as “simulated AutoTune.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>11. King Princess, “1950” and “Hit the Back”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>King Princess (a.k.a. Mikaela Straus) has only released an album and an EP, but she’s already working from a toolkit that encompasses and transcends multiple blended genres. For her \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> debut, the young shapeshifter showed off her affinity for two of them: the slick, wiry, slow-burning, guitar-wielding rock of “1950” and the coyly suggestive, alternately seething and propulsive dance-pop of “Hit the Back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taken as a whole, the performance felt more like an introduction than a coronation: King Princess waited to really cut loose until late in “Hit the Back,” when a series of body-rolls gave way to full-blown thrashing. Norm-busting icons generally aren’t made overnight, but she’s well on her way; this relatively contained \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> stop felt like Step 1 on a long journey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>10. Chris Martin, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdzFWMhNPc0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Shelter From The Storm\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” (from \u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Saturday Night Live at Home\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/MdzFWMhNPc0'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/MdzFWMhNPc0'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Once COVID-19 made it impossible to put together a traditional episode of \u003cem>Saturday Night Live\u003c/em>—and forced the cancellation of a planned show with musical guest Dua Lipa—producers did what they could to assemble an episode cobbled together from material recorded at performers’ homes. Casualties of this arrangement included the live audience, the live laughter, the live applause, the 30 Rock soundstage, much of the interpersonal chemistry, the musical guest’s second song and an unwritten rule that prevents singers from headlining more than one episode in a single season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chris Martin’s band Coldplay was the musical guest back in November—see below—but he returned in April to perform a cover of Bob Dylan’s situationally appropriate 1975 classic “Shelter From the Storm.” Shot in dusky, grayish black-and-white (presumably to pay tribute to the film \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061589/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Dont Look Back\u003c/em>\u003c/a>), the set-up felt bare-bones in a cable-access sort of way, as Martin wisely skipped embellishments that might have watered down the original. Hardly a Technicolor showstopper, but right for the moment at hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>9. Harry Styles, “Lights Up” and “Watermelon Sugar”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a wonder that Harry Styles found the time to put together grabby stage presentations of “Lights Up” and “Watermelon Sugar,” given his to-do list for the night: The former One Direction star (and current \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/03/13/814424330/2-green-bay-packers-fans-chat-behind-the-tiny-desk-and-one-of-them-is-harry-styl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Green Bay Packers fan\u003c/a>) was also serving as \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> \u003cem>host\u003c/em>, acting in a bunch of sketches and, at one point, appearing in a prerecorded video as the human embodiment of Aidy Bryant’s dog. The live songs, performed in the run-up to Styles’ recent album \u003cem>Fine Line\u003c/em>, could’ve easily registered as an afterthought, and they thankfully didn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opening with the more subdued “Lights Up,” Styles appeared with a stately band and a solemn choir. As such, the performance felt a little uneventful—though it should be noted that Styles brought his wardrobe A-game in a way other men seriously ought to emulate. (That sparkly jumpsuit is \u003cem>killer\u003c/em>.) “Watermelon Sugar” brings another great outfit and a nice jolt of fervent energy, as Styles danced and strutted about while surrounded by a crack band that included a four-piece horn section.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>8. Taylor Swift, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmipFjOtMA8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Lover\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjD3LoXp-Pw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>False God\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/dmipFjOtMA8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/dmipFjOtMA8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>This was hardly Taylor Swift’s first \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> rodeo, given that she’s been a host, made a few cameos and served as a headlining musical guest more than once. And Swift has spent countless promotional cycles serving up lavish, uneven, often high-concept performances at awards shows and on late-night TV. So it was actually refreshing to see her so dialed-down and at-ease in these stripped-down performances of highlights from her latest album, \u003cem>Lover\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That record’s wedding-ready title track got an especially raw treatment on \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em>, as her solo-piano rendition highlighted the song’s conversational emotionalism and a hook so subtle, you hardly notice it burrowing into your brain for eternity. Less emotionally rich but more visually eventful was “False God,” in which Swift glided through the song amid soft, floating coils of light and the prominent saxophone solos of \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> bandleader (and former Tower of Power player) Lenny Pickett.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>7. Miley Cyrus, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUYo8xQf4PY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Wish You Were Here\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” (from \u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Saturday Night Live at Home\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/zUYo8xQf4PY'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/zUYo8xQf4PY'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The first week of \u003cem>Saturday Night Live at Home\u003c/em> made a valiant attempt to re-create an episode of the show while juggling technological limitations, a dark national mood and the fact that virtually no one could be in the same room together. The second week ran far more smoothly: Funnier and slicker, it also benefited from the fact that its musical guest, Miley Cyrus, didn’t look as if she was starring in a hostage video.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bathed in red light while sitting aside a fire pit at night, Cyrus belted out Pink Floyd’s 1975 lighter-waver “Wish You Were Here” with the socially distanced accompaniment of guitarist Andrew Watt. (The choice of Watt—a bestselling pop producer, guitarist and songwriter who’s working with Cyrus on her next album—felt notable, in part because Watt \u003ca href=\"https://variety.com/2020/music/news/music-producer-andrew-watt-coronavirus-pneumonia-1203537066/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has written publicly\u003c/a> about his recent battle with COVID-19.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a simple set-up recorded under difficult circumstances, Cyrus’ performance did a pretty ingenious job of turning back-porch busking into the stuff of late-night sound stages. It had visual drama: smoke, flames, distinct lighting, moody accompaniment, lavish fashion. But it also served up the umpteenth reminder that Miley Cyrus is a marvelous singer, with vocal—and emotional—range to spare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>6. Coldplay, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUxsb0Zpe8w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Orphans\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “Everyday Life”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/EUxsb0Zpe8w'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/EUxsb0Zpe8w'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Bash Coldplay all you want, but this performance of “Orphans” showed exactly how to liven up a typical spot as a late-night musical guest: Chris Martin opened the song from a supply closet in the back of the room before making his way into the audience to perform with clusters of cast members, musicians and randos. He eventually ran to the stage, at which point he finished the song while backed by members of his band, a colorful animated video on a giant screen and an enormous throng of dancers. It was an immensely buoyant, memorable performance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By comparison, “Everyday Life” couldn’t help but fizzle earnestly, though the song’s melancholy notes of tentatively uplifting empathy resonate more now than they did all the way back in November 2019. But let’s not neglect the \u003cem>real\u003c/em> takeaway here: Sure, Chris Martin’s distressed tee probably cost $1,400 or something, but he looked like he just got done insulating his attic. Could you imagine Halsey getting to perform in that grubby rag? We will never achieve gender equality until male performers dress better (see: Harry Styles) or female performers dress worse—preferably both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>5. DaBaby, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YffEyeWn_fA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Bop\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbGLwe53-LI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Suge\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/YffEyeWn_fA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/YffEyeWn_fA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>DaBaby understands that you can perform a couple of songs on TV, or you can put on a show of your own. Backed by a few musicians, a giant throng of dancers and a woman who periodically twerked from a full handstand, DaBaby served as both rapper and ringmaster. Unafraid to dive into the choreography, he felt fully integrated into the mayhem—which featured not only the hip-hop dance crew Jabbawockeez, but also a whole bunch of stage fighting. (Why stage fighting? Hey, why did the other 17 entries on this list \u003cem>not\u003c/em> include stage fighting? Lookin’ your way, Niall Horan.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, all that ludicrous theatrical chaos wouldn’t have mattered much without tight, hooky songs to back it up, and DaBaby came to work there, too. Performing with a showman’s charisma, the young star seemed to be having a blast. That can be more than half the battle, right there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>4. Billie Eilish, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn1Uwsg3eRQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>bad guy\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6AdQLB_19g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>I Love You\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong> (feat. Finneas O’Connell)”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/Jn1Uwsg3eRQ'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Jn1Uwsg3eRQ'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Billie Eilish was basically bulletproof in 2019: Her debut album spawned a string of huge hits, and “bad guy” was the only juggernaut omnipresent enough to knock “Old Town Road” off its perch at the top of the pop charts. She kicked off 2020 by sweeping every major category at the Grammys—the youngest artist ever to do so. And, along the path to domination, she provided one of the biggest “wow” moments in recent \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a concept liberally borrowed from the 1951 film \u003cem>Royal Wedding\u003c/em>—the one in which Fred Astaire climbs the walls before dancing on the ceiling—Eilish’s pajama- and walking-boot-clad \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> performance of “bad guy” duplicated the gravity-defying effect to perfection, thanks to a boxy miniaturized set (and a camera) that rotated like a hamster wheel. Before viewers could finish Googling “How did Billie Eilish do that \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em>,” the show panned out to reveal the trick, which somehow made the whole thing seem even more impressive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After so much razzle-dazzle, Eilish hardly needed to return for a second song. But she took a decent-sized swing anyway, showcasing her balladeering softer side—still a new look for her back in September—in a whispery take on “I Love You.” Joined on guitar by her similarly Grammy-festooned brother Finneas O’Connell, Eilish more than held her own. But it was somewhat drowsy as a set-closer, especially after the sugar high she’d just pulled off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>3. Chance The Rapper, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnlUnGj54hM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Zanies and Fools\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwX2IpcmN_w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Handsome\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong> (feat. Megan Thee Stallion)”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/RwX2IpcmN_w'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/RwX2IpcmN_w'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>This was Chance the Rapper’s second stint as a musical guest, his second stint as an enormously funny and good-natured \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> host, and his first time pulling double duty. Hell, he even introduced himself at the top of “Zanies and Fools,” letting a clip of his adorable daughter fill the time between his introduction (“Ladies and gentlemen, Chance the Rapper”) and the performance itself. The guy does it all, and does it extraordinarily well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Chance also knows how to share—and lavishly fill—a stage, and for “Zanies and Fools,” the rapper found himself surrounded by a swirl of dancers, not to mention a small army of percussionists and string players. The choreography unfurled around him without really involving him, but he compensated by unleashing a rapid-fire vocal that kept the viewer’s attention center stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In “Handsome,” Chance’s collaborators crowded into the background, which gave him the opportunity to move around a bit before ceding the spotlight to the most formidable presence imaginable: Megan Thee Stallion. Meg kept her intensity in second gear to match her stage partner—and found a way to give herself a network-television-friendly edit in real time—but her star power was beyond unmistakable. Next season, she’d be well suited to follow in Chance’s footsteps and try her hand as a host.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2. David Byrne, “Once in a Lifetime” and “Toe Jam”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Saturday Night Live\u003c/em> usually makes room for a rock or pop legend here and there, including Paul Simon last year and U2 the year before. This year, the chosen veteran was David Byrne, to coincide with the Broadway staging of his \u003cem>American Utopia\u003c/em> concerts. Crucially, he brought his robust, gray-suited cast to join him in filling the stage with movement, sound and all-around effervescence. Deploying between three and six percussionists at any given moment, these performances radiated good cheer and spiky humor, propelled by a Broadway production’s mandate to thrill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, really, “thrilling” just about sums it up. Most \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> guests are promoting new material, so catalog hits aren’t the norm. Here, we got Talking Heads’ unimpeachable classic “Once in a Lifetime” and the terrific “Toe Jam,” which Byrne co-wrote for the U.K. electro-pop band The Brighton Port Authority back in 2008. Byrne happened to appear on perhaps the season’s most widely beloved \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> episode—the one hosted by the marvelous John Mulaney—but you couldn’t have blamed the show had it just turned the whole thing over to Byrne & Co.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1. Lizzo, “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK7oze-nu38\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Truth Hurts\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>” and “\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj83ri3lSe0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cstrong>Good As Hell\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/Aj83ri3lSe0'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Aj83ri3lSe0'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>It took Lizzo years of hustle and grind to rise all the way to pop superstardom, so there was no way she’d make her \u003cem>SNL\u003c/em> debut and not crush it. Marrying lavishly choreographed dance routines to undeniable musicianship and unfettered joy, she and her dancers twerked, spun and frolicked through Lizzo’s two greatest hits to date: “Truth Hurts” (backed by an airtight band, populated exclusively by black women) and “Good As Hell” (performed on a Christmas-themed set in which dancers twirled on poles striped like candy canes).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Saturday Night Live\u003c/em>‘s Studio 8H stage can be sterile and unforgiving: It’s a nondescript space with an iffy sound mix, and the crowds are largely there to watch comedy. So it’s a special kind of joy to watch Lizzo douse that canvas with vibrancy, color, movement and good cheer—not to mention transcendent vocal talent—in a set perfectly tailored to elevate the space, the show and the season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27SNL%27+Just+Wrapped+Its+45th+Season%3A+It%27s+Time+To+Cruelly+Rank+Its+Musical+Guests&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Jerry Stiller, Who Played Hot-Headed Dad On 'Seinfeld,' Dies At 92",
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"content": "\u003cp>When Jerry Stiller told his father he wanted to become an actor, his father offered an alternate plan. He said, “Why don’t you be a stagehand — that’s like being on the stage — at least you’ll be working every night,” Stiller told \u003cem>Fresh Air\u003c/em> in 1993.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stiller did not heed his father’s advice and went on to have a long career in show business. He performed comedy on stage and screen, and, in later years, made a name for himself playing George Costanza’s hot-headed father on \u003cem>Seinfeld. \u003c/em>Stiller died of natural causes, his son Ben Stiller \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/RedHourBen/status/1259759084309446657?s=20\">tweeted\u003c/a> Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stiller was born in Brooklyn in 1927. After serving in World War II, he teamed up with his wife, Anne Meara, to form the Stiller and Meara comedy duo — a practical move motivated by love. “We wanted to keep the marriage together,” he joked — she was tall and Catholic, he was short and Jewish — and until they partnered up, “we never got jobs together,” Stiller told the Archive of American Television.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stiller and Meara enjoyed success as a duo for many years but eventually decided to pursue careers on their own. Looking back in 1993, Stiller told \u003cem>Fresh Air\u003c/em> he and Meara were young parents juggling a show business schedule — and trying “to figure out a way to do everything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Here were a husband and wife working together and suddenly you’re being asked to play Las Vegas,” he recalled. “What do you do, pick up the two children and the nanny and go to Vegas and get ready to do the nightclub act?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After stints on Broadway and on several TV shows in the 1970s, Stiller’s most notable role came in the early ’90s, when he joined the cast of \u003cem>Seinfeld.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stiller said producer Larry David was looking for an actor who would “play it down” — and he did at first — but felt the approach wasn’t working. So, in a final dress rehearsal in front of a live audience, Stiller played Costanza’s temperament up — way up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a now-famous episode, the frequently furious Costanza is encouraged to recite the mantra “serenity now” every time he gets riled up. Stiller went on to earn an Emmy nomination for his work on\u003cem> Seinfeld\u003c/em>. Years later, he played another angry dad on the show \u003cem>King of Queens.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stiller was also a father in real life, but not one fueled by anger. His son, actor Ben Stiller, told NPR that his dad was always supportive — and hilarious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He just can’t help but be funny because he’s so committed to being who he is,” Stiller said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The father and son appeared together in Ben’s \u003cem>Zoolander \u003c/em>movies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Meara died in 2015, she and Stiller had been married for more than 60 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ben Stiller said his mother’s humor tended to be dark, but his father’s was always intended to bring joy, and perhaps a bit of “serenity now,” to others. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Comedian+Jerry+Stiller%2C+Who+Played+Hot-Headed+Dad+On+%27Seinfeld%2C%27+Dies+At+92&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When Jerry Stiller told his father he wanted to become an actor, his father offered an alternate plan. He said, “Why don’t you be a stagehand — that’s like being on the stage — at least you’ll be working every night,” Stiller told \u003cem>Fresh Air\u003c/em> in 1993.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stiller did not heed his father’s advice and went on to have a long career in show business. He performed comedy on stage and screen, and, in later years, made a name for himself playing George Costanza’s hot-headed father on \u003cem>Seinfeld. \u003c/em>Stiller died of natural causes, his son Ben Stiller \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/RedHourBen/status/1259759084309446657?s=20\">tweeted\u003c/a> Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stiller was born in Brooklyn in 1927. After serving in World War II, he teamed up with his wife, Anne Meara, to form the Stiller and Meara comedy duo — a practical move motivated by love. “We wanted to keep the marriage together,” he joked — she was tall and Catholic, he was short and Jewish — and until they partnered up, “we never got jobs together,” Stiller told the Archive of American Television.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stiller and Meara enjoyed success as a duo for many years but eventually decided to pursue careers on their own. Looking back in 1993, Stiller told \u003cem>Fresh Air\u003c/em> he and Meara were young parents juggling a show business schedule — and trying “to figure out a way to do everything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Here were a husband and wife working together and suddenly you’re being asked to play Las Vegas,” he recalled. “What do you do, pick up the two children and the nanny and go to Vegas and get ready to do the nightclub act?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After stints on Broadway and on several TV shows in the 1970s, Stiller’s most notable role came in the early ’90s, when he joined the cast of \u003cem>Seinfeld.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stiller said producer Larry David was looking for an actor who would “play it down” — and he did at first — but felt the approach wasn’t working. So, in a final dress rehearsal in front of a live audience, Stiller played Costanza’s temperament up — way up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a now-famous episode, the frequently furious Costanza is encouraged to recite the mantra “serenity now” every time he gets riled up. Stiller went on to earn an Emmy nomination for his work on\u003cem> Seinfeld\u003c/em>. Years later, he played another angry dad on the show \u003cem>King of Queens.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stiller was also a father in real life, but not one fueled by anger. His son, actor Ben Stiller, told NPR that his dad was always supportive — and hilarious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He just can’t help but be funny because he’s so committed to being who he is,” Stiller said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The father and son appeared together in Ben’s \u003cem>Zoolander \u003c/em>movies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Meara died in 2015, she and Stiller had been married for more than 60 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ben Stiller said his mother’s humor tended to be dark, but his father’s was always intended to bring joy, and perhaps a bit of “serenity now,” to others. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Comedian+Jerry+Stiller%2C+Who+Played+Hot-Headed+Dad+On+%27Seinfeld%2C%27+Dies+At+92&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Get Everything 'Under Control' With These 3 Quarantine Comfort Reads",
"headTitle": "Get Everything ‘Under Control’ With These 3 Quarantine Comfort Reads | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Reading may not be the opiate of the masses, but it sure is my anti-anxiety elixir of choice. Whether you’re quaking in fear of the dreaded coronavirus (as I was), relieved to be recovering from it (as I am), or worried about the world and feeling restlessly cooped up (as we all are), here are a trio of delightful new books that can transport you to a happier place for hours at a time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13879944\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 301px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13879944\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.15.17-PM.png\" alt=\"‘All Adults Here,’ by Emma Straub.\" width=\"301\" height=\"459\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.15.17-PM.png 301w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.15.17-PM-160x244.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 301px) 100vw, 301px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘All Adults Here,’ by Emma Straub.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Emma Straub’s warm-hearted fourth novel confirms her reign as a patron saint of delayed adolescence. In the somewhat ironically titled \u003cstrong>\u003cem>All Adults Here\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>, \u003c/em>aging without maturing is a common affliction, even among parents: Her amiably dysfunctional characters make it clear that it’s possible to grow old without growing \u003cem>up. \u003c/em>But fortunately, it’s also never too late to play catch-up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This time around, the Brooklyn author and bookstore owner shifts the action to a fictional Hudson Valley town that’s so appealing you’ll want to move there. Straub’s focus is on 68-year-old Astrid Strick—a widow whose parenting style has prioritized pragmatism over warmth—and her three grown children and their offspring. After witnessing the sudden accidental death of a woman she’s disliked for decades, Astrid realizes that life can turn on a dime and she’d better get hers in order pronto. Top on her list is reconnecting with her family and making amends for the mistakes she made as a mother. Oh, and coming clean about the person who’s replaced their late father in her affections—a choice that’s bound to surprise them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>All Adults Here \u003c/em>is somewhat overstuffed with what at times feels like a checklist of hot topics—teens dealing with online pedophiles, shaming, queerness and transexuality; ticking time clocks and sperm bank babies; sex with exes; checked-out parenting—but you’ll enjoy the company of this sympathetic clan as Straub works her narrative to a well-earned cheery resolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13879945\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 301px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13879945\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.18.02-PM.png\" alt=\"‘Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Origins of French Cooking,’ by Bill Buford\" width=\"301\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.18.02-PM.png 301w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.18.02-PM-160x239.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 301px) 100vw, 301px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Origins of French Cooking,’ by Bill Buford\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If restaurants and travel are high on the list of things you miss most during lockdown, I heartily recommend Bill Buford’s\u003cstrong> \u003cem>Dirt\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>This is a writer who gives new meaning to the expression “glutton for punishment.” Fourteen years after \u003cem>Heat,\u003c/em> which chronicled his immersion in Italian butchery and bitchery, Buford returns with his reportorial blades freshly sharpened in this blazingly entertaining and frequently scalding account of the five years he planted himself in several exacting kitchens in the “rough and entirely unwelcoming” gastronomic city of Lyon, France. His mission: To unearth the secrets of Gallic cuisine—and perhaps trace its roots to Renaissance Italian cooking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buford again proves himself to be a relentless reporter and a self-deprecating guide. “My life had been a happy one, not quite knowing what a fricassee was,” he comments ruefully at the beginning of this quixotic odyssey, which also upends the lives of his wife, a wine educator, and their twin toddler sons. Obsessive and intrepid, Buford submits to a tradition of “education by humiliation” and punishing hands-on experience. A dreamer who runs chronically late, he’s indoctrinated into the importance of focus, speed, and punctuality, whether he’s peeling 40 kilos of PDT (\u003cem>pommes de terre—\u003c/em>potatoes) and mashing them with 20 kilos of butter for the staff lunch under the critical gaze of an unsmiling chef, or mastering the difference between Hollandaise and Béarnaise sauces. His observations about French elementary school education, which is scarcely more coddling than his culinary training, are as fascinating as his kitchen escapades. He’s particularly astonished by the elaborate multi-course lunches his sons are served daily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Dirt \u003c/em>dishes the dirt on the testosterone-fueled crudeness of professional kitchens, where “unregulated bullying” and misogyny are as thick as crème fraiche—which isn’t exactly news at this point. But Buford, who knows it will make good copy, hangs in there, responding to hazings and humiliations with humble “Oui, chefs\u003cem>“\u003c/em> as he doggedly seeks the key to what separates grand from not-so-grand cuisine. Spoiler alert: As his title suggests, it’s not just the fanatical dedication and meticulously exacting prep. This deliciously salty chronicle, loamy with culinary history and profiles of the great chefs, is worth digging into.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13879946\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 302px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13879946\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.21.37-PM.png\" alt=\"‘Everything Is Under Control: A Memoir With Recipes,’ by Phyllis Grant.\" width=\"302\" height=\"453\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.21.37-PM.png 302w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.21.37-PM-160x240.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 302px) 100vw, 302px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Everything Is Under Control: A Memoir With Recipes,’ by Phyllis Grant.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Could Phyllis Grant have hit upon a more alluring title for these fraught times? \u003cem>\u003cstrong>Everything Is Under Control\u003c/strong>,\u003c/em> her memoir with recipes, chronicles her rocky passage from driven, not-quite-good-enough Juilliard ballet student to abused apprentice at several star-studded New York City restaurants, including Bouley and Nobu—a progression that’s akin to jumping out of the fire (or maybe that’s fire\u003cem>bird\u003c/em>) and into the frying pan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a series of short, spare, food-centric bulletins written in the present tense, Grant captures the passions of her life, from the rigorous intensity of her early ambitions to her more manageable present, in which we meet her baking tarte tatin with her kids, Dash and Bella. 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It takes multiple miscarriages before sticking the landing on a second child and months of misery before post-partum depression blossoms into real love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grant nimbly pirouettes, pivots, leaps. She becomes a cookbook editor, a yoga instructor, a certified doula, a smitten mom who blogs about cooking with and for her kids, a bold, talented memoirist. Such flexibility is not a bad lesson for right now. Plus there’s the bonus of 17 tempting, homey recipes, including Cottage Cheese Pancakes, an adaptation of her grandmother’s Fudgy Icebox Brownies, Lamb Popsicles (rib chops eaten like treats on a stick), and a Caramelized Onion Tart, one of several ways to use up some of those anchovies you’ve stockpiled for the duration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Get+Everything+%27Under+Control%27+With+These+3+Quarantine+Comfort+Reads&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Reading may not be the opiate of the masses, but it sure is my anti-anxiety elixir of choice. Whether you’re quaking in fear of the dreaded coronavirus (as I was), relieved to be recovering from it (as I am), or worried about the world and feeling restlessly cooped up (as we all are), here are a trio of delightful new books that can transport you to a happier place for hours at a time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13879944\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 301px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13879944\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.15.17-PM.png\" alt=\"‘All Adults Here,’ by Emma Straub.\" width=\"301\" height=\"459\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.15.17-PM.png 301w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.15.17-PM-160x244.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 301px) 100vw, 301px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘All Adults Here,’ by Emma Straub.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Emma Straub’s warm-hearted fourth novel confirms her reign as a patron saint of delayed adolescence. In the somewhat ironically titled \u003cstrong>\u003cem>All Adults Here\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>, \u003c/em>aging without maturing is a common affliction, even among parents: Her amiably dysfunctional characters make it clear that it’s possible to grow old without growing \u003cem>up. \u003c/em>But fortunately, it’s also never too late to play catch-up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This time around, the Brooklyn author and bookstore owner shifts the action to a fictional Hudson Valley town that’s so appealing you’ll want to move there. Straub’s focus is on 68-year-old Astrid Strick—a widow whose parenting style has prioritized pragmatism over warmth—and her three grown children and their offspring. After witnessing the sudden accidental death of a woman she’s disliked for decades, Astrid realizes that life can turn on a dime and she’d better get hers in order pronto. Top on her list is reconnecting with her family and making amends for the mistakes she made as a mother. Oh, and coming clean about the person who’s replaced their late father in her affections—a choice that’s bound to surprise them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>All Adults Here \u003c/em>is somewhat overstuffed with what at times feels like a checklist of hot topics—teens dealing with online pedophiles, shaming, queerness and transexuality; ticking time clocks and sperm bank babies; sex with exes; checked-out parenting—but you’ll enjoy the company of this sympathetic clan as Straub works her narrative to a well-earned cheery resolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13879945\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 301px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13879945\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.18.02-PM.png\" alt=\"‘Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Origins of French Cooking,’ by Bill Buford\" width=\"301\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.18.02-PM.png 301w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.18.02-PM-160x239.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 301px) 100vw, 301px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Origins of French Cooking,’ by Bill Buford\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If restaurants and travel are high on the list of things you miss most during lockdown, I heartily recommend Bill Buford’s\u003cstrong> \u003cem>Dirt\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>This is a writer who gives new meaning to the expression “glutton for punishment.” Fourteen years after \u003cem>Heat,\u003c/em> which chronicled his immersion in Italian butchery and bitchery, Buford returns with his reportorial blades freshly sharpened in this blazingly entertaining and frequently scalding account of the five years he planted himself in several exacting kitchens in the “rough and entirely unwelcoming” gastronomic city of Lyon, France. His mission: To unearth the secrets of Gallic cuisine—and perhaps trace its roots to Renaissance Italian cooking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buford again proves himself to be a relentless reporter and a self-deprecating guide. “My life had been a happy one, not quite knowing what a fricassee was,” he comments ruefully at the beginning of this quixotic odyssey, which also upends the lives of his wife, a wine educator, and their twin toddler sons. Obsessive and intrepid, Buford submits to a tradition of “education by humiliation” and punishing hands-on experience. A dreamer who runs chronically late, he’s indoctrinated into the importance of focus, speed, and punctuality, whether he’s peeling 40 kilos of PDT (\u003cem>pommes de terre—\u003c/em>potatoes) and mashing them with 20 kilos of butter for the staff lunch under the critical gaze of an unsmiling chef, or mastering the difference between Hollandaise and Béarnaise sauces. His observations about French elementary school education, which is scarcely more coddling than his culinary training, are as fascinating as his kitchen escapades. He’s particularly astonished by the elaborate multi-course lunches his sons are served daily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Dirt \u003c/em>dishes the dirt on the testosterone-fueled crudeness of professional kitchens, where “unregulated bullying” and misogyny are as thick as crème fraiche—which isn’t exactly news at this point. But Buford, who knows it will make good copy, hangs in there, responding to hazings and humiliations with humble “Oui, chefs\u003cem>“\u003c/em> as he doggedly seeks the key to what separates grand from not-so-grand cuisine. Spoiler alert: As his title suggests, it’s not just the fanatical dedication and meticulously exacting prep. This deliciously salty chronicle, loamy with culinary history and profiles of the great chefs, is worth digging into.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13879946\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 302px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13879946\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.21.37-PM.png\" alt=\"‘Everything Is Under Control: A Memoir With Recipes,’ by Phyllis Grant.\" width=\"302\" height=\"453\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.21.37-PM.png 302w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-07-at-1.21.37-PM-160x240.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 302px) 100vw, 302px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Everything Is Under Control: A Memoir With Recipes,’ by Phyllis Grant.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Could Phyllis Grant have hit upon a more alluring title for these fraught times? \u003cem>\u003cstrong>Everything Is Under Control\u003c/strong>,\u003c/em> her memoir with recipes, chronicles her rocky passage from driven, not-quite-good-enough Juilliard ballet student to abused apprentice at several star-studded New York City restaurants, including Bouley and Nobu—a progression that’s akin to jumping out of the fire (or maybe that’s fire\u003cem>bird\u003c/em>) and into the frying pan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a series of short, spare, food-centric bulletins written in the present tense, Grant captures the passions of her life, from the rigorous intensity of her early ambitions to her more manageable present, in which we meet her baking tarte tatin with her kids, Dash and Bella. Cooking, a throughline in her life, is in her DNA, beginning with the beloved maternal grandmother for whom she’s named, who mastered a repertory of inexpensive comfort foods at age ten, when her impoverished, widowed mother took on two jobs to make ends meet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grant’s first bout of anorexia hit at 11 and lasted a year. In ballet school, after being body-shamed, she learns the tricks of the trade. “Bulimia is much harder to cover up. It’s loud and messy. But you get to eat more. Anorexia is clean and requires control,” she writes, and then adds, “I choose anorexia.” It doesn’t improve her prospects. After a disappointing audition in which she fails to get cast even as an understudy, she’s told she hasn’t lived up to her early potential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She realizes, “I want my hair to smell like chocolate and garlic and fish … I want a purpose.” But Plan B is no cakewalk either. “Six months in and I have experienced the obscenely long hours and witnessed the fire hazards, rampant drug use, and misogynistic everything,” she writes of her culinary on-the-job training, but adds, “I still want this more than ever.” Her new bosses call her Felicia. Like Buford, she responds with dutiful submission to the hellish pace and constant criticism:”Oui, Chef.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Everything is Under Control\u003c/em> is a lesson in remaining light on your feet because just the opposite is so often the case: Career plans don’t pan out. The 9/11 terrorist attacks strike too close for comfort and send her and her husband fleeing to the other side of the country. It takes multiple miscarriages before sticking the landing on a second child and months of misery before post-partum depression blossoms into real love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grant nimbly pirouettes, pivots, leaps. She becomes a cookbook editor, a yoga instructor, a certified doula, a smitten mom who blogs about cooking with and for her kids, a bold, talented memoirist. Such flexibility is not a bad lesson for right now. Plus there’s the bonus of 17 tempting, homey recipes, including Cottage Cheese Pancakes, an adaptation of her grandmother’s Fudgy Icebox Brownies, Lamb Popsicles (rib chops eaten like treats on a stick), and a Caramelized Onion Tart, one of several ways to use up some of those anchovies you’ve stockpiled for the duration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Get+Everything+%27Under+Control%27+With+These+3+Quarantine+Comfort+Reads&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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},
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"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
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},
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"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"order": 1
},
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "WNYC"
},
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
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"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
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