WORTH REPEATING: Beam Me Up, Scotty

NEW YORK TIMES: He’s late. He calls to explain. “A mix-up,” he says, and then, “I read all your stories.” Pause. “You. Are. A. Grrreat. Writer.” Another pause. “What’s your name?” I tell him. He says, “Of course it is.” I ask what his name is. “MY NAME? I. Am. William. Shatner!” Well, yes, but which William Shatner? The child actor from Canada, descended from Eastern European rabbis? The 23-year-old Shakespearean whom Sir Tyrone Guthrie called the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s most promising actor? The young actor who made his debut on Broadway two years later, in 1956, in “Tamburlaine the […]

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NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t

FRESH AIR The bedbug is sometimes called the “perfect parasite.” “They bite you while you’re sleeping and the bites are painless,” explains entomologist Michael Potter. Potter, who works at the University of Kentucky and specializes in pest management, says there are several reasons bedbugs are more insidious than other parasites such as lice, fleas and ticks. “Bedbugs don’t stay on the host — they scurry away to their hidden harborages that are far from obvious,” he tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross. “And then on top of all of that, people react to bedbug bites differently. Some don’t react at all; […]

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SUFFER THE CHILDREN: Mexican Drug War Orphans

MIAMI NEW TIMES: Ten thousand of Juárez’s 500,000 children under the age of 14 have been orphaned, according to El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, a Juárez-based university and research institution. Of those murdered, 43 were between the ages of 12 and 15. More than 200 were between 16 and 18. It is impossible to know the number of youngsters, like Esteban, who have witnessed a killing or stood close to a corpse that’s still warm. The impact is lasting and widespread. Children across the border city of 1.5 million suffer from insomnia and nightmares; many have become withdrawn or […]

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CONTEST: Win Two Tix To Louis CK’s Hilarious

Louis CK’s new concert film Hilarious is screening at the Prince tonight. We have two tickets to giveaway to the first person that emails us FEED@PHAWKER.COM with the correct answer to the following question: What state banned Fresh Air from its airwaves after deeming Terry Gross’ interview with Louis CK to be too goddamn sexy for their shirt? Please include a daytime phone number, good luck and godspeed! UPDATE: We have a winner! Terrence O’Connor and his best PLUS ONE is going to see Louis CK Hilarious tonight at the Prince. Thanks to all for playing and stay tuned, there’s […]

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ALBUM REVIEW: Earl Sweatshirt’s Earl

“They thought I was cute, ‘til I asked what the ass [is] like” – Earl Sweatshirt BY MATTHEW HENGEVELD For the past few days I’ve been thinking about Earl. No, not the hurricane— I mean Earl Sweatshirt, the rapper. Since stepping onto the scene earlier this year, Earl has made quite a name for himself. He’s part of Odd Future (aka OFWGKTA; aka Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All), featuring other hopefuls like Domo Genesis and Wolf Haley. Here’s the weird shit though; Earl is only 16. In fact, Odd Future is comprised entirely of adolescents— mostly skateboarders. But […]

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People Have Been Smoking Weed For 2,700 Years

Governor of California sucking (a doobie) in the 70s. DISCOVERY: Nearly two pounds of still-green plant material found in a 2,700-year-old grave in the Gobi Desert has just been identified as the world’s oldest marijuana stash, according to a paper in the latest issue of the Journal of Experimental Botany. A barrage of tests proves the marijuana possessed potent psychoactive properties and casts doubt on the theory that the ancients only grew the plant for hemp in order to make clothing, rope and other objects. They apparently were getting high too. MORE

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Rich Getting Richer, Middle Class Getting Goner

ROBERT REICH: The national economy isn’t escaping the gravitational pull of the Great Recession. None of the standard booster rockets are working: near-zero short-term interest rates from the Fed, almost record-low borrowing costs in the bond market, a giant stimulus package and tax credits for small businesses that hire the long-term unemployed have all failed to do enough. That’s because the real problem has to do with the structure of the economy, not the business cycle. No booster rocket can work unless consumers are able, at some point, to keep the economy moving on their own. But consumers no longer […]

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CINEMA: Whatever Happened To Joaquin Phoenix?

ASSOCIATED PRESS: The film is full of dark, sometimes graphic scenes about the Academy Award-nominated Phoenix, whose decision to go for a music career and concurrent decline was fodder for late-night comics. In one scene, Phoenix banters about the irony of his life being depicted in film, when he is trying to get away from the industry. The film follows Phoenix to his last acting and press events, where he grumbles that he “hates” acting. “I think everyone at some point in their life hates their jobs and the people they are around,” he says in opening scenes to explain […]

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Live & Direct From The 2nd Annual Naked Bike Ride

BY AARON STELLA The Philly Naked Bike Ride, now in its second year, is intended to raise awareness of Philadelphia’s biker population, and of the advantages of biking: it’s cheap, green, good exercise, communal, and most importantly, fun. And so, from the grassy knoll of Lemon Hill, we rode again—in all there were more than 1,000 of us, many sans clothes—for the Second Annual Philly Naked Bike Ride. Oh yes, I was naked, and so were my friends (pictured above) thanks to some encouragement from a wandering group of women trying to snap pictures with the naked folk. Among the […]

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