Wednesday Links
After a long dry spell, I finally have some good stories from around the Internet to share.
This is an amazing piece of journalism that, so as to not provide spoilers, I will not attempt to describe. I think this passage at its close is the best summation:
Some stories take on a life of their own because they show how things really are. Others spread because they tell us what we already believe. And sometimes a story that’s too good to be true is just that.
The Incredible Story of the Cartel Olympics
A radio station in Cincinnati has changed its callsign to WKRP! Interestingly enough, it is owned by the same group that now owns WOXY, the callsign once owned by the streaming station of 20 years ago that fueled my love of indie rock. And now WOXY is rebroadcasting the WKRP feed. Radio is so weird these days.
That feed just happens to focus on music of the 70s and 80s, right in the pocket of what the fictional WKRP played.
The band Los Campesinos! shared how much (or little) money they make from streaming services and album sales a year or so ago. They are back with a full detailing of the financials of touring. They are not a typical band in many ways, but I think their story reflects the reality of the music business these days for all but the biggest acts. It’s a wonder we still get new music or tours from anyone who doesn’t have a deep back catalog.
Los Campesinos! Break Down What It Actually Costs To Tour North America
Stephen Colbert is just about done at CBS. He did an exit interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Hopefully this link works, as it is to an Apple News article and those can be finicky.
“What kind of conversations have you had with Seth Meyers and the Jimmys on the subject?
When I got canceled, the only other people I spoke to for days were those guys. I came up to my office [after making the announcement on-air] and flipped open my phone and we did a quick exchange. My favorite was Kimmel, who just said, “That’s a hell of an Emmy campaign.” I said, “Busted.”
The Stephen Colbert Exit Interview: “I Did Not Expect It to End This Way”
Staying in that same general subject area, I’m not a fan of Jimmy Fallon but even I think this take down of him is a little harsh. Barely.
The real, unsettling mechanism of Fallon’s banal horror is its insistence on a radical non-engagement with reality: a position that, in our current political climate, is itself an aggressively political act. Fallon doesn’t do politics, or if he does, he wants to “keep his head down” because “we hit both sides equally.” Tellingly, Donald Trump has called for the firing of almost all of the other late night hosts—Colbert, Kimmel, even Seth Meyers—but excluded Fallon from his hit-list, because Trump recognizes that there’s nothing about Fallon’s empty banality that could be anything close to a threat.
The Banal Horror of Jimmy Fallon
Finally, this was published before Steve Kerr signed a new, two-year contract to continue coaching the Golden State Warriors, so a few of the exchanges are not as relevant. That doesn’t prevent our most interesting and thoughtful NBA coach from sharing a lot of good insights on basketball, life, and current affairs.
How do you compare Jordan, your teammate, to LeBron James, who entered the league the year you retired?
LeBron’s brilliance doesn’t lie in the same skill set that Michael’s did. It lies in more of a holistic game where he dominates with his pace and his athleticism and his passing. I’ve always felt scoring is secondary for LeBron, but he’s the greatest scorer in the history of the N.B.A.!