INCOMING: The Manson Family Revisited

? ROLLING STONE: A new six-part docuseries revisits the Manson Family murders for a definitive portrait of the infamous cult. Its trailer promises plenty of archival footage, plus haunting re-creations and interviews with the Family that have never been revealed until now. “He was a puppet master pulling everyone’s strings,” says a Family member in a voiceover. Another adds, “I was definitely under Charlie’s spell.” (June 14) MORE

TINA FEY: My Walnut Story

RELATED: The Walnut Street Theatre, America’s Oldest Theatre, announces My Walnut Story, a new platform where both artists and audiences can share their favorite Walnut stories online for everyone to enjoy. For its launch on May 7, Walnut artists were invited to submit videos sharing their Walnut Street Theatre related stories. The Walnut has collected scores of unique anecdotes and memories from both artists and theatregoers, ranging from onstage bloopers to their first memories attending the theatre. “You never know who has a story,” remarked Bernard Havard, Producing Artistic Director of the Walnut.  A recent submission came from actor/writer/producer Tina […]

THE COLONEL REMEMBERS: Nirvana At JC Dobbs

Sad, sad news. We received word today that Tom Sheehy, aka The Colonel — longtime Philly music publicist/scenester/historian, storied music biz vet, barroom philosopher, perennial guest list fixture, late-blooming recipient of a Ph.D. in 20th-century American History from Penn, colonel in the ‘MMaRmy, and frequent Phawker contributor — passed away this weekend. This week we will honor his memory by re-posting some of his greatest Phawker hits. We conclude our weeklong tribute to The Colonel with his 2011 remembrance of the night Nirvana honored a longstanding booking at J.C. Dobbs on October 1st 1991, one week after the release of […]

KENNETH COPELAND: Wind Of God

WIKIPEDIA: Kenneth Max Copeland (born December 6, 1936) is an American televangelist, and author associated with the Charismatic Movement. He runs the Kenneth Copeland Ministries based in Tarrant County, Texas. He has been identified as preaching the prosperity gospel. As part of his evangelism, he calls for donations to his church, with the suggestion that parishioners will get a “hundredfold” return on their investment.[2] He has stirred controversy over his use of donations to finance mansions, private jets, an airport and other lavish purchases.[3][4] During the pandemic of COVID-19 in 2020, Copeland gained national attention for his comments and actions […]

MUST SEE TV: The Tiger King Is NOT A Role Model

BY RACHEL TESON On the off chance you haven’t heard by now, Netflix’s six-hour breakout docu-series Tiger King is a jaw-dropping white-trash shit-show that somehow combines tigers, gay rednecks, the FBI, a sex cult, a fried blonde mullet from hell, a wealthy definitely-missing and quite-possibly murdered husband, an on-camera suicide, a ridiculous run for the presidency, and it all ends, fittingly, in a 22 year murder-for-hire prison sentence. In other words, it’s must-see TV. The co-directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin played both sides of the story, allowing the viewers to get a full view of all the crazy horrendous […]

MUST SEE TV: Naruto

Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto’s short anime series, explores the childhood of Naruto Uzumaki, an orphaned aspiring ninja in The Leaf Village. Naruto wants nothing more in the world than to become the Hokage of the Leaf Village, just like his father before him. Naruto grew up without a family, so in a sense, the citizens of the Leaf Village raised him — even though most despised his constant childish antics throughout the town. Naruto finds a home in his ninja team, Team 7. His team includes his instructor Kakashi Hatake, an introverted but highly trained ninja with a mysterious power and […]

NPR 4 THE DEAF: We Here It Even When You Can’t

  FRESH AIR: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is now the richest man in the world, with an empire that stretches from Hollywood to Whole Foods — and even into outer space. The new PBS Frontline documentary, Amazon Empire: The Rise And Reign Of Jeff Bezos, investigates how Bezos transformed Amazon from an online bookseller into a trillion-dollar business that’s unprecedented in its size and reach. Director James Jacoby, who worked with fellow filmmaker Anya Bourg on the project, calls the company an “inescapable part of our modern lives.” “It’s not just how the majority of Americans are shopping online,” he […]

How I Learned To Stop Hating On Taylor Swift

BY RACHEL TESON I’ve never been a big fan of Taylor Swift. Sure, I grew up singing “Teardrops On My Guitar” and “Should’ve Said No” among her other early country songs. As I got older, and became more familiar with social media, I began to actively dislike the star, but if you had asked me, I would not have been able to give you a reason why. After watching her documentary Miss Americana, now streaming on Netflix, I discovered what that reason was — the Celebrity Industrial Complex. I thought that T.S. wrote the same generic love songs because she […]

EXCERPT: Postcard From The Edge

VULTURE: [Carrie] caused deep worry that was somehow hidden by the movie crews’ obsession with John’s addiction rather than her own. Carrie—younger than the others—was intensely fragile. She was generous, brilliant, witty, charismatic, caring—and deeply vulnerable: friends could see that. When they all got to the Belushis’ Vineyard house, “my brother was most concerned about her. He had to carry her limp body from room to room. I guess she was conscious enough that he didn’t call an ambulance, but he had a strong sense that she was really out of it.” It was during that spate of days on the […]

TV REVIEW: The Mandalorian Episode # 1

The streaming war has officially begun with Disney firing the first shot with today’s launch of Disney +, their proprietary streaming service, armed with its secret weapon: Jon Favreau’s take on a Galaxy Far, Far, Away The Mandalorian.  For those not versed in Star Wars speak, the Mandalorian’s were a legendary warrior race known for their iconic omnipresent armor, who were typically either mercenaries or bounty hunters. There has been talk for years of Boba Fett, the most iconic Mandalorian, getting his own feature film and up until Solo bombed it almost seemed inevitable, but instead we get a completely […]

Deadspin Is At Its Best When It Uses Sports As An Excuse To Talk About Shit That Actually Matters

DEADSPIN 2014: What we have in Gamergate is a glimpse of how these skirmishes will unfold in the future—all the rhetorical weaponry and siegecraft of an internet comment section brought to bear on our culture, not just at the fringes but at the center. What we’re seeing now is a rehearsal, where the mechanisms of a toxic and inhumane politics are being tested and improved. Tomorrow’s Lee Atwater will work through sock puppets on IRC. Tomorrow’s Sister Souljah will get shouted down with rape threats. Tomorrow’s Tipper Gore will make an inexplicably popular YouTube video. Tomorrow’s Willie Horton ad will […]