I N ITS USUAL HIGH NASHVILLE STYLE, the World Famous Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge Birthday Bash was rolling. At the renowned honky-tonk on this mid-September night, cover bands and rowdy bachelorette parties ruled. But at around 10 p.m., all eyes were on a stage smack in the middle of the city’s …
Read More »Meet the Experimental L.A. Collective That Helped Shape Andre 3000's Flute Album
L.A.-based musician Matthew “Matthewdavid” McQueen is credited on Andre 3000’s debut solo album, New Blue Sun, as providing “mycelial electronics.” The 39-year-old founder of the record label and music collective Leaving released Mycelium Music in April, an album inspired by the interconnected networks of fungi and produced in large part …
Read More »'The Crown' Struggles Mightily With Princess Diana's Death
The 2006 film The Queen, written by Peter Morgan, dramatizes the immediate aftermath of the death of Princess Diana. Much of the conflict comes from Queen Elizabeth’s reluctance to publicly address the grief of her subjects, with British Prime Minister Tony Blair pleading with her to speak. In the fourth …
Read More »The NRA Is Cannibalizing Itself
This story was published in partnership withThe Trace, a nonprofit newsroom covering gun violence. Subscribe to itsnewsletters While the public knows the National Rifle Association chiefly as a lobbying and campaign juggernaut, the Internal Revenue Service classifies the group as a “social welfare organization” whose firearms training, recreational shooting, and …
Read More »Dua Lipa Says 'Houdini' Is One of 97 Songs She Wrote for Her New Album
Dua Lipa had to postpone her Future Nostalgia tour three times, but once she got on the road, inspiration for new music came to her quickly. In fact, she began writing her latest song, “Houdini,” while she was on tour, she tells Rolling Stone for the latest episode of “The …
Read More »Influencers Boosted Biden in 2020. Now Some Are Turning on Him
In 2020, campaigning at the height of the global pandemic, the Biden campaign leaned heavily on influencers to reach young voters. Republican rivals called it a cop out — they said Biden was “hiding in his basement” —but it was hard to argue with the results of that social media-intensive …
Read More »Danny Masterson Failed to Turn Over Nine Firearms, Leaving Jane Does 'Scared'
Convicted rapist Danny Masterson failed to turn over nine of 23 guns after his felony arrest three years ago – and two of the Jane Does whose allegations led to his criminal charges tell Rolling Stone they’re “scared” and want answers. The Jane Does attended a court hearing in Los …
Read More »MMA Legend Rickson Gracie's Fight Against Parkinson's: 'I'm Not Scared of Death, but Quitting is Unacceptable'
T HE GREATEST BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU fighter in the world is looking to fight me. “Put your hands up,” Rickson Gracie tells me as he advances. “Like you’re talking like an Italian.” I raise my hands as he lunges toward my head. “Don’t let me touch your face.” Gracie — the …
Read More »Mass Murder Is a Choice. The Gun Industry Made It
A WEEK AFTER THE MASSACRE in Lewiston, Maine, left 18 dead, 13 wounded, and a swath of New England terrorized and on lockdown, the gun industry was thinking about its bottom line. During a Nov. 1 quarterly-earnings call, Ruger CEO Christopher Killoy touted the company’s profits, and the sales boost …
Read More »The Key to Mike Johnson's Christian Extremism Hangs Outside His Office
The American public has had much to learn about Mike Johnson over the past two weeks. Until his surprise elevation to House speaker, the Louisiana representative was an obscure, mild-mannered, and bookish four-term back-bencher. He is a former constitutional lawyer and hardly the type of political figure who jeers during …
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