Mariah Carey is pulling out all the stops this Christmas. She generally always does, but 2021 has seen her take it to a whole new level. For starters, “All I Want For Christmas” has topped the Billboard Hot 100 once again en route to over a billion overall streams. But this year also saw Carey introduce her very first themed “Mariah Menu” at McDonald’s, which is like a fast food advent calendar of sorts. For each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas, people who spend at least $1 at McDonald’s through their app can get a free item each day from the Mariah Menu. It’s been a total hit promotion and even the brown paper bags at Mickey D’s have Mariah Menu branding.
So the Christmas Queen, in all her benevolent glory, decided to pay a surprise visit to the hard-working folks at a McDonald’s in Aspen (because of course Carey spends Christmas week where it’s snowing.)
Thank you @spotify, the #lambily, and everyone who streams this song to add a little bit of festivity to the season! I truly appreciate each and every one of these 1 billion streams! pic.twitter.com/W0sOPAhxKY
In a trip documented in a fairly ridiculous 3-minute Instagram video, Carey’s twins Monroe and Moroccan first play a prank on an unsuspecting drive-thru operator. Then, Carey’s assistants try to place an order in Portuguese at the walk-up counter. You gotta figure these employees were at about their wits end, until Carey walks into the restaurant, hand-in-hand with her boyfriend Bryan Tanaka and her kids in tow. She steps inside in a sparkling red dress and complements one of the employees’ Mariah Menu shirt (“That’s a cute shirt!”) She tries to order a cheeseburger and it doesn’t take long for everyone to realize what’s happening.
“Oh my god!” the manager proclaimed when she noticed the star. “I didn’t clear it with the top people,” Carey explains. “The kids just wanted to go to McDonald’s.” While she said she was not fond of the lighting (lol), she graciously took pictures with all of the employees, but did not take of her mask. “I can’t. Regulations. I’m from New York,” she explained. But she still looked stunning and clearly made these people’s night.
The fact that she manages it with such deep empathy and ebullient charm is truly astounding. But it’s also become her standard — even her speeches to the Top Chef contestants now routinely display her advocacy, passion, and ability to navigate complex issues with nuance.
Perhaps nowhere is Lakshmi’s skill in evidence so clearly as her Uproxx-beloved show, Taste The Nation. In our initial review of the series, my colleague Zach Johnston wrote: “The issue of real depth vs. virtue signaling is where Padma Lakshmi’s new show on Hulu, Taste The Nation, rises above every other series in the genre.” It’s a quality in abundance in the recently released Taste the Nation: Holiday Edition. This second mini-season looks at Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, Nochebuena, and Lunar New Year in a manner that expands the traditional Christian idea of the “holidays” while also underscoring their importance as connection points between families, communities, and — in the end — the nation as a whole.
Anyone paying even the least bit of attention to politics and culture can see that the issues of diversity, inclusion, and cultural respect that Lakshmi highlights aren’t just about food. They touch… well, every piece of our lives. As such, I recommend Taste the Nation: Holiday Edition as family viewing over the break. Not only does each episode feature plenty of delicious-looking food but it’s also full of Lakshmi’s expansive ideas about what constitutes “American food,” in general. Thanks to the host’s deft touch, rather than separating people the four episodes actually serve as a bridge — reminding us of our commonalities while basking in the richness that unique traditions bring to the metaphorical table.
I spoke with Lakshmi about cultural appropriation in food and the big ideas explored in Taste the Nation below.
In investigating the holidays, it feels like you were also investigating some of the false narratives around our holidays, Thanksgiving, in particular. Do you feel that people are starting to realize some of those false narratives? Were there things that surprised you when filming the Thanksgiving episode of this show?
We are really struggling with how to do justice to not only the Wampanoag Nation, the Aquinnah Mashpee, but also just the whole subject of Thanksgiving because we had already had a decolonized Thanksgiving with Brian Yazzie. So I didn’t want to be repetitive because I also think that that is a specific trap that a show like ours can fall into, and that happens to the Indigenous community often. They often get painted with one brush and an Indigenous person in Navajo Country has a completely different experience than somebody in Cape Cod.
When we were deciding to do the holiday edition’s four episodes, I thought I’m sure that the Indigenous people are sick of being trotted out every Thanksgiving as “the other guys.” We can’t do that. I really wanted to feature an Indigenous community. But I was very skeptical and scared, to be very frank, about messing it up and making the same mistakes that we all have made.
Then we started our research and I had really hard-working research producers who brought me stories that we’d sit down and hash out and try to form an episode to see how these stories tell us something that is new and, first and foremost, accurate. When we got into our research, we found out that the Mashpee and Aquinnah people of the Wampanoag Nation are the “Indians” that are talked about in the Thanksgiving mythology that we were all fed through our education in the U.S. public school system.
That to me seemed like a good way in. The other thing is we only hear about one side of that Thanksgiving narrative. It’s always told from the European colonizer’s point of view or the descendants of those colonizers. We’re always told, “oh, there were some Indians and it was all kumbaya”. We don’t know that it was. Frankly, the only thing we know for sure is that the Mashpee and Aquinnah brought five deer to that first dinner. We don’t know if it was peaceful. We don’t know if it was a diplomatic mission. It may have been. They probably brought the deer because they thought they were going to starve because a lot of those settlers were starving. So it was their way of ensuring that whoever was coming had something to eat.
Would that be an Indigenous food you’d point people towards?
Traditional Thanksgiving meals maybe should have venison rather than Turkey, if we want to be traditional about it. So, then, the show really is predicated on allowing different communities to have the mic and I’m kind of a conduit. I’m the audience as a representative, and I’m learning as well. There are communities that I’m very familiar with, but also communities I’m not familiar with. The Aquinnah and Mashpee people were ones that I wasn’t familiar with. So I was learning right along with all of my research team and was happy to do so.
I learned how to make a blueberry slump, which is so delicious. I also learned about deer. I also learned that the Mashpee and Aquinnah Wampanoag people have been here for 12,000 years and they have been the keepers of this land and the caretakers of this part of America for all of those thousands of years. And they’ve been doing a great job. Preserving the land, mining it, tending to it, respecting it. That gratitude is such a big part of this culture. It’s not something that happens on the fourth Thursday of every November, it is something that happens all the time. There’s a daily practice of gratitude. There’s a monthly Thanksgiving feast. There are 13 because it’s on the lunar cycle. We’ve just kind of taken that concept and appropriated it for one day out of the year.
That was a real eye-opener and I wish I had learned that growing up because it would have been a very valid part of actual original American culture that I could have learned from and taken part in as an immigrant coming from India too.
So all of these issues that we’re trying to address or readdress in our society today are interconnected. Learning about their point of view and learning what it was like for them is important from a cultural point of view, but learning about their ways can also benefit all of us from an environmental perspective. That’s how you see in real-time and on a human level how a lot of these societal issues are interconnected and affect all of our daily lives. They’re not big political issues that are sort of philosophical concepts with a capital P they’re actually things that affect our streams, our rivers, our children, and how they interact with other children in the community.
Hulu
I think we’re in an era where people are really curious about the cultural traditions of others. They want to experience cultures through food. And yet at the same time, there are conversations about appropriation. I know you guys have had those conversations on Top Chef. I see Top Chef contestants say “Vietnamese inspired” or “Senegalese inspired” rather than trying to claim a food way that they’re not familiar with. So what’s your current line right now on how you define appropriation, on how you define cultural fusion, and what excites you in that space versus what troubles you?
Thank you for that question. So I don’t think that anybody in the food community feels that only people from a certain culture have dibs on making food from that culture or enjoying that culture. There are people who are not from a particular ethnicity, but who have dedicated decades to studying that ethnicity and have genuine expertise about that food and should be able to speak with authority because they’ve earned it.
It becomes appropriation when you are claiming that you suddenly discovered this cuisine. That you are the first person to use turmeric and coconut together, and that you’ve created this “stew.” Then it’s a problem. I have spent the last 20 years in food talking about different cuisines, as you know, and I think I encourage other young people who want to get into food to do the same.
I don’t make only Indian food in my kitchen. That would be really boring. I spent six years of my life living in Italy, so I have a pretty good understanding of Italian food. I should be able to share that as long as I’m saying, I spent my twenties in Italy, this recipe was taught to me by my boyfriend’s mother who loved to make salsa verde. This is how she taught me to do it. I have cut a couple of corners here because I’m a working woman so this is my version of that. That takes three sentences and I just did it for you in 20 seconds here to just give your sources. That’s all we’re saying.
I don’t think it’s wrong to just discover the foods with the world and enjoy them and share them with your friends, in your writing, in a restaurant, or in any other place. The world is getting smaller and bigger at the same time. Technology is affording us the ability to travel without ever stepping on an airplane. Thank God it has, especially after the many months in quarantine we’ve all gone through. But I think it’s a problem when you think that you know it all and that you’re the sole interpreter of other people. That’s what was happening with immigrant culture and food. A lot of people were speaking about foods without going to the primary sources. I love Thai food and I make Thai food in my kitchen. But if I’m going to give you a recipe for green Curry, I’m going to ask a couple of Thai people first to check my work. I’m going to give credit to those Thai people. Actually, it’s nice to give credit to those people because you need notes, you need context, you need to give the origin story.
For sure.
I would say about appropriation that I don’t want to just cook Indian food and I want people from all different backgrounds to cook and enjoy Indian food. I’ve spent my life trying to demystify Indian food for other people so that it’ll be approachable and not as intimidating for them to cook. I personally don’t get offended when I see white women wearing saris and bindis. I think the sari is a beautiful garment that looks good on a variety of people of different colors and shapes. It’s actually a very sensual garment that is very flattering if wrapped properly. I think other Indian people may feel differently in different generations. I can only tell you how I feel. If I was going to be offended every time somebody experienced my culture, I would be offended in every yoga class in every gym I’ve ever been to.
That is the best working definition for this issue that we are all trying to be sensitive around that I’ve ever heard, so I really appreciate that. I just want to ask you a final question. If you could send all of your viewers to one restaurant right now in America that embodies the Taste the Nation spirit which one would it be?
It’s not one place. It’s several places. Shamshiri Grill in Westwood, California. Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas. Elemi, in El Paso. Sly Fox Den, too, in Northern Rhode Island where I learned how to stuff this glorious fish with Ritz Crackers and other spices by this beautiful Indigenous woman who has such an infectious smile and laugh.
Hulu
‘Taste The Nation’ is currently streaming on Hulu.
Reno 911!: The Hunt for QAnon (Paramount+ special) — Is it time for some more New Boot Goofin’? Probably not, but Lieutenant Dangle is back for the third incarnation of this show after the Quibi adventure and the Comedy Central storied history. In this special adventure, the Reno Sheriff’s deputies will somehow land on Jeffrey Epstein’s island and attempt to hunt for Q of QAnon fame. The gang will largely be back, so expect to see Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney-Silver, McLendon-Covey, Niecy Nash, Mary Birdsong, Ian Roberts, and many more to return to one of the most beloved mockumentaries of all time.
Dragons: The Nine Realms: Season 1 (Hulu series) — Who didn’t love the How To Train Your Dragon movies? Only a monster, that’s who. This series takes place in the same world and approximately 1,300 years later when dragons no longer exist, other than legends. However, an enormous fissure appears in the Earth’s surface, and this allows room for official scientific research into exactly what’s going on here. If you guessed that a group of kids would be the ones who figure this thing out, you’d be correct. Long live the dragons.
Yearly Departed (Amazon Prime comedy special) — Some of the world’s funniest women (Chelsea Peretti, Jane Fonda, Megan Stalter, Aparna Nancherla, Dulcé Sloan, and X Mayo) have gathered here today to foast the hell out of another horrible year. Let’s hope we can finally leave all the bullsh*t of the past two years behind in 2022. You gotta drink to that.
In case you missed these streaming picks from last week:
Finding Magic Mike: Season 1 (HBO Max series) — Producers Steven Soderbergh and Channing Tatum bring their Magic Mike-themed reality series to life while zeroing in on a bunch of dudes who want to recapture their own mojo, so they go to a stripper bootcamp and let it all hang out. No word whether Ginuwine’s “Pony” will make an appearance or if we will see Tatum, but guest hosts will include Whitney Cummings, Nikki Glaser, and Nicole Scherzinger. Lighten up and enjoy this one from afar as these guys compete for a cash prize and notoriety aplenty.
Firebite: Season 1 (AMC+ series) — Finally, we’ve got a new vampire series, and this one looks highly original and stars Yael Stone from Orange is the New Black. The story goes down in Australia and follows indigenous hunters who want to take out the only remaining vampire colony in the South Australian desert, which sounds wild because, you know, sunlight.
For almost as long as there have been movies, there have been Christmas movies. And in the century-plus since that time, watching a handful of your very favorite Christmas movies has become as traditional a part of the holiday season as decking the halls, trimming a tree, and arguing about whether or not Die Hard is indeed a Christmas movie (more on that later).
Whether you’re looking to watch an old-timey favorite, a contemporary classic, or a total oddball pick, Amazon Prime boasts an impressive array of choices, making it one of the more solid yuletide libraries out there. Here are 11 of the holiday movies you can stream right now (in chronological order… because the holiday season is stressful enough without being forced to pick favorites).
It’s a Wonderful Life has become The Christmas Movie against which all other Christmas movies are measured, but no one would have likely guessed that when it was first released. While director Frank Capra and stars James Stewart and Donna Reed all went on record as saying it’s their favorite film in their respective (and impressive) filmographies, the movie began its life as a box office bomb. And it might have been forgotten completely if someone had remembered to renew its copyright. As a result of that little oopsie, the film entered the public domain in 1974 and remained there — making it free to anyone who wanted to air it or play clips from it in their own movies. Which is why it has always seemed to be everywhere. And if you’re only experience with the movie is through those clips, you’re probably thinking it’s one big sappy drama in which Stewart runs down a snowy street declaring his love to inanimate objects and impossibly precocious kids talk about bells ringing and angels’s wings. While those things do happen, the bulk of the movie is much darker, with Stewart drunkenly despairing over the choices he’s made and the opportunities he let pass him by, then nearly offing himself before realizing — just in time — that life isn’t so bad after all.
With a running time of just over 45 minutes, Jack Frost is a great way to introduce kids with short attention spans to the magical wonders of the Rankin/Bass filmography. Buddy Hackett voices a kindly groundhog named Pardon-Me-Pete, who makes a deal with winter sprite Jack Frost to extend winter by six weeks so that Pete can get a little more shut-eye and Jack can attempt to woo the woman he loves. If Jack succeeds, Father Winter will turn him into a human — but he only has until Groundhog Day to do it. Hackett, as Pete, narrates the tale, which is one of the lesser-known entries in the Rankin/Bass catalog, but no less charming.
A simple plot summary alone makes it clear why we’re including it here: NYPD officer McClane (Willis) travels to Los Angeles on Christmas Eve to spend the holidays with his kids, who are living on the other coast with his estranged wife. McClane travels with a giant stuffed animal (a gift for his daughter), and heads straight to his estranged wife’s office Christmas party, where a terrorist plot is unfolding and he’s forced to save the lot of them. There are Christmas trees and decorations, egg nog and presents, holiday tunes (including a perfect usage of Run-DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis”) and Hans Gruber’s (Alan Rickman) quotable delivery of one of the movie’s most memorable lines: “Ho, ho, ho.” When else could this movie happen if not the yuletide season?
While Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands is not necessarily about Christmas, it takes part during the Christmas season and brings the magic of the yuletide season to life. When Avon saleswoman Peg Boggs (Dianne Wiest) comes knocking on the door of the imposing Gothic mansion that overlooks her family’s picture-perfect (if not cookie-cutter) suburban neighborhood, she finds Edward (Johnny Depp), a confused young man with razorblades for fingers who has no experience with the world beyond his doors. So Peg takes Edward home with her, much to the horror of her family, friends, and neighbors. But as he acclimates to the real world, he also begins to find his way in it — both as a hairstylist and as a topiary designer. Along the way, the spirt of the season, and Edward’s gentle, childlike ways, catch the attention of Peg’s teenage daughter Kim (Winona Ryder). One of the key “hey, maybe this is a holiday movie” moments comes when Edward uses his hands to create an ice sculpture of Kim, with the leftover shavings creating a Christmas snow.
Winona Ryder strikes again in Little Women — yet another movie that isn’t all about Christmas, yet many of the story’s key moments take place on and around the holidays. Though Greta Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s famed novel might now be the gold standard among adaptations, Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 film — featuring Ryder as the headstrong aspiring writer Jo March and Christian Bale as Laurie, the Marches’s neighbor and Jo’s BFF — is a well-made and gorgeously shot celebration of family and the sacrifices one makes in order to spread joy both during and outside of the holiday season.
In between Eraser and Batman & Robin, Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped away from the action game long enough to make this seminal ‘90s Christmas movie. He plays against type as a workaholic dad who is determined to get his son a Turbo Man, the biggest toy of the season. Unfortunately, he waits until Christmas Eve to find one, which means that they’re impossible to find. His task is made even more impossible by Myron (Sinbad), a postal carrier who is on the same quest as Arnold. Things get nasty, and a jetpack is involved.
Note: The 2014 sequel, starring Larry the Cable Guy, is also on Prime... but might be best saved as a last resort.
If you do decide to watch the aforementioned Rankin/Bass film Jack Frost, be sure that you’re pressing play on the stop-motion animation film before you leave the room. Because this campy, cult classic horror movie is definitely NOT a remake of the family-friendly 1979 holiday special. Instead, it’s the story of a serial killer whose soul is transferred into the body of a snowman. A very rapey snowman. Which is a much different thing altogether.
If you’re a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 or RiffTrax, then Elvira’s yuletide celebration of the beloved B-movie Santa Claus Conquers the Martians could very well become your new holiday tradition.
Newly anointed Sexiest Man Alive Paul Rudd and not-yet Sexiest Man Alive Paul Giamatti are always enjoyable to watch, even if the material they’re working with isn’t grade A stuff. But for anyone who has ever experienced sticker shock after buying a Christmas tree in New York City, this comedy about two con men pushing overpriced evergreens on unsuspecting New Yorkers is a pleasant-enough diversion.
Somewhere between Halloween and Home Alone is Better Watch Out, in which a babysitter and her 12-year-old charge are forced to defend the tween’s house from what turns into a rather bizarre — and surprisingly bloody — home invasion. If you really want to indulge in a top-tier Christmas horror movie, Black Christmas (1974)—which is free with Amazon’s Shudder add-on or available to rent from $1.99 — is the best of the best. Adding to its intrigue: It was a direct inspiration for Halloween and written and directed by Bob Clark, who would later go on to make A Christmas Story. And we all know where to find that one.
If you’re having trouble deciding between watching a classic holiday movie like White Christmas, or turning on Jaws for the thousandth time, let us suggest a compromise: Santa Jaws tells the story of a wanna-be comic book writer who receives a magical pen that brings his doodles to life. Which is most unfortunate when he decides to create a character named Santa Jaws, who spends the rest of the movie attempting to consume the artist and his family. Which, if you like, you can take that to be a metaphor for best-laid plans around the holidays and how they often backfire and lead to your downfall. Or not!
Last summer, Tekashi 69 postponed a number of his upcoming shows to deal with some family issues and “court matters,” but it now looks like one of his recent concerts is now the source of more of his legal issues. The rapper reportedly skipped out on a concert after taking money for it, so he’s now being sued.
According to a report from Complex, who obtained court documents, Tekashi was hit with a lawsuit by promoter JJD Entertainment. The company claims the rapper was set to take the stage on June 27 in Humble, Texas. But when the time came for the show to start, JJD Entertainment claims Tekashi flew in, grabbed the $75,000 he was owed for the show, and left without performing.
Per the lawsuit, Tekashi’s contract for the show denoted that he’d get $45,000 when signing the paperwork and $75,000 when he arrived to perform. The entertainment company even shelled out $28,000 to fly the rapper on a private jet from Florida to Texas. After Tekashi skipped out on the performance, JJD Entertainment was left with no choice but to refund all the tickets from the concert.
Back in June a day after the performance didn’t happen, Tekashi told TMZ that his reason for the no-show is that JJD Entertainment never paid him, a claim which is at direct odds with the promotion company’s lawsuit. Because of Tekashi’s statements about the performance, JJD Entertainment is also suing the rapper for defamation, saying his comments damaged his business’s credibility.
The court documents read:
“Shortly after Defendant, Daniel Hernandez, failed to perform in accordance with the agreement, he went on a livestream with DJ Akademiks where the Defendant, Daniel Hernandez stated that the contract price was $250,000.00, that he received a $45,000.00 deposit, and $70,000.00 in cash, knowing that those statements were false. On that livestream, Defendant, Daniel Hernandez, adamantly states that the only reason he left the concert site was because he did not get paid, knowing that statement was false.”
Last year’s Phoenix Suns didn’t come out of nowhere, but it sure felt like it. When Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals tipped off, Devin Booker was the only person from the coaching staff or roster who had been in Phoenix prior to 2019. Their rise was fast, but after surging to a 25-5 start this season, there’s no more doubting it. If rival NBA teams can take anything away from this quick catapult to the top of the league, it’s how competency can make middling teams good, and good teams great.
For James Jones, it was no accident. When he took over as general manager in 2019, he told reporters, “We need to add guys in their prime. We need to raise the floor of our team. And you only do that with NBA players – not prospects, but NBA players. So, we’ll focus on acquiring those guys via all the channels we can.” In the next 18 months, Jones would trade for Dario Saric, draft a 23-year-old Cameron Johnson, sign Ricky Rubio, trade for Chris Paul, sign Jae Crowder, and trade for Torrey Craig. Having better players up and down a roster makes it harder for a team to lose, but the Suns had spent years losing, eroding away anything approaching a foundation. For Jones, the additions of Rubio, Paul, and Crowder, in particular, helped lay a foundation of competency and professionalism, which was desperately needed in order to get the Suns’ young core get to the next level.
Jones isn’t the first GM to see this dynamic play out on his team, though he may have been more aggressive in pursuing it. The Suns also aren’t the only NBA team that has seen competency pay off in recent years. Across the league, a premium has been placed on being good as soon as possible due to evened-out lottery odds, increased star movement, and players using their leverage over teams earlier in their careers.
As the NBA says goodbye to an era in the late 2010s in which seemingly a half-dozen teams entered every season prepared to tank, one can argue the Suns were one of the teams that showed the perils of pursuing that model without the requisite level of patience and franchise-wide buy-in. When Ryan McDonough was running the franchise and shooting for high lottery picks every year, Suns fans learned quickly the pain of half-heartedly tanking. One year the Suns might bench Eric Bledsoe during a career-best year in the name of losing, but then turn around and give Trevor Ariza nearly $20 million in free agency a couple years later. Without top-down buy-in, tanking does not work, and getting an organization from ownership through the coaching staff on board is a difficult task.
That’s especially the case now. Because the three worst teams in the NBA all getting an equal shot at the No. 1 overall pick (14 percent) due to lottery rule changes, it hardly makes sense to set your team up for failure for too long. That’s why in 2021, Orlando and Oklahoma City are the only franchises that don’t seem to care about winning all the much. Fellow bottom-dwellers Houston and Detroit are playing their veterans or at the very least empowering young players to develop, and even the Thunder and Magic have been competitive for stretches when they’ve been healthy.
As the franchise decided to prioritize bringing in players who raised their floor over continuously swinging high in the lottery, the Suns reinforced another lesson in the NBA. As we saw in the summer of 2019 when Kawhi Leonard chose the Clippers and the Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving package went to Brooklyn, being an appealing market helps, but it’s not enough to woo superstars anymore.
When Durant got to Brooklyn, he explained that the Nets’ continuity, player development, and winning culture appealed to him. Playing near home was a big factor for Leonard, and teaming up with Paul George was clearly appealing, but it’s hard to imagine that being enough if not for the Clippers’ track record of winning in years leading up to his free agency. The Clippers can thank the Lob City stars for that, but even as they transitioned out of the Lob City era, they remained competitive even without much in the way of superstar talent.
Likewise, this Suns team can thank Rubio, Aron Baynes, and even Kelly Oubre Jr. Those are the guys who helped pull the Suns out of the black hole they were facing down, bringing the Suns’ young core along with them, and ultimately opening up a window for the team to go 8-0 in the Orlando Bubble, attract the attention of Chris Paul, and make way for a Finals run.
The Suns weren’t the only team in last year’s playoffs who benefited from embracing competency. Atlanta, pushed by an ownership mandate and pressure from All-Star point guard Trae Young, added veteran talent in the form of Clint Capela, Danilo Gallinari, and Bogdan Bogdanovic en route to a conference finals berth. The Knicks, beaten down after missing out on Leonard and Durant, turned to a floor-raising coach in Tom Thibodeau and got important contributions from players like Alec Burks, Reggie Bullock, and Nerlens Noel to earn the 4-seed in the East after years out of the postseason.
In Atlanta, New York, and Phoenix, competent players not only helped insulate the team from mistakes and inefficiency, but helped develop young players as well. The impact Paul has had on Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges is obvious in Phoenix, with both turning in career seasons this year. The same is true for Young, who doesn’t have to worry as much about being swallowed up by opposing defenses with better talent around him. Elsewhere in Atlanta, players like Kevin Heurter, De’Andre Hunter, and Cam Reddish could settle into roles that suited them well rather than being dropped onto a bad team that they were expected to help fix. Even Knicks forward Obi Toppin has had a promising second season so far in Thibodeau’s veteran-laden second unit, a season after rookie Immanuel Quickley was the talk of Manhattan.
This year, it’s the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls making leaps thanks to investing in floor-raisers this offseason. The Bulls almost completely revamped their roster in the course of 12 months, eschewing a slow rebuild in an effort to get Zach LaVine to buy in long-term by showing they believed in him enough to make a real effort to build a contender. Chicago traded for Nikola Vucevic, signed-and-traded for DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball, and added Alex Caruso to bolster a roster that has them in the top half of the East. In Cleveland, it was savvy acquisitions of the likes of Jarrett Allen and, once again, Rubio playing the role of steady hand alongside some breakout youngsters in Darius Garland and Evan Mobley.
NBA minds love to copy one another, especially the best teams, and structural changes like lottery reform have pushed execs to adjust their philosophies as well. Still, common assumptions about how to build teams have come a long way in a short time. When Jones came out swinging for the middle rather than betting on ping-pong balls, he was lampooned. This was a time when “the treadmill of mediocrity” was a phrase that NBA fans who were read-up would throw out to prove why losing was always the right answer.
If you’re going to operate like Process architect Sam Hinkie or Thunder GM Sam Presti, it requires a full commitment from ownership throughout the organization. But when faced with the realities of keeping fans engaged, building a culture, and being an attractive place for the best players and coaches, it can’t be permanent. A leap up has to come eventually, and different team dynamics mean that moment will arrive differently city to city.
But in an NBA that has increasingly seen even teenage stars wielding influence over management, the window for building around a young star has shrunk considerably. No longer is it an 7- or 8-year project to prove to a young standout they should stick around for a third contract. It starts in year two or three now, and teams are starting to recognize the value in a quicker leap to competitiveness, because keeping those guys is a bear, and winning seems to be the best way to do it, no matter what city you reside in.
The league knew it had a problem during the tanking era, but teams knew it, too. Most weren’t committed to it, not fully. The Suns sure weren’t. Competency suited them better, and others are finding the same.
While we should definitely thank all of the various European countries that paved the way for brewing in America, today we want to specifically give Belgium its due. There are over 370 breweries in Belgium (a number that has doubled in the past five years) and it’s never been easier to seek out these beers on a regular basis.
Not surprisingly, Belgium has had a massive impact on American craft brewing. Witbiers, sours, farmhouse ales, saisons, lagers, fruited sours, wild ales, Trappist ales, and so many more styles have strong traditions rooted in craft that American brewers are constantly chasing at their own breweries. Truly, there’s so much admiration for Belgian beers that even experts have a hard time picking their favorites.
Of course, we had them do it anyway. We asked — borderline cajoled — beer brewers, brewing professionals, and beer experts to tell us their go-to Belgian beer for any time of year. Keep scrolling to see all of their selections.
Saison Dupont
Dupont
Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery in Brooklyn, New York
Though many newer brewers have re-thought the saison and offered the style as something with lactic acidity and Brett flavors (and some of these are excellent), the austere lemony peppery effervescent attack of Saison Dupont remains remarkable. It’s a beer that can do almost everything at the dinner table, and that’s quite a trick. It’s also a great example of the vibrancy of 100 percent bottle re-fermentation.
If I was to be stuck on a desert island for a month, this is the beer I’d want to take with me.
This one is a bit like the “favorite child” question since Belgian beers are so varied in style and flavor profile. I’m a big fan of tripels and really enjoy the Tripel Karmeliet from the Bosteels Brewery. This classic tripel style has the effervescence of champagne and will pour with a rich head and deep golden color in a glass.
The aroma is a complex balance of honey, ripe apple, pear, citrus, spice, and delicate, floral hop notes. On the palate, sweet notes up front give way to a clean finish that is only mildly bitter.
Duvel Belgian Golden Ale
Duvel
Alex Wenner, owner and brewer at Lasting Joy Brewery in Hudson Valley, New York
Duvel’s Belgian Golden Ale was the beer that opened my mind to great beer. Exceptionally crisp with a slight fruitiness and a slightly bitter finish, it is the epitome of the style. It’s a great gateway beer because it is so clean and refreshing, but still full of flavor.
A full glass of Duvel is the complete beer experience.
Rodenbach Caractere Rouge
Rodenbach
Andrew Hood, wood cellar manager and brewer at Sun King Brewery in Indianapolis
My favorite Belgian Beer is Rodenbach Caractere Rouge. It’s the perfect marriage of beer and wonderful fruit fermentation. There’s a great combination of oaky wood and ripe berries and dried, tart cherries.
3 Fonteinen Oude Gueze
3 Fonteinen
Derek Gold, director of brewing operations at WeldWerks Brewery in Greeley, Colorado
Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen Oude Gueze is an incredibly complex blended lambic that’s bursting with notes of fresh lemon zest, white wine, hay, tart apples, and kumquats. Every sip tastes just a little different and leaves you wanting more.
Chimay Reserve Blue
Chimay
Erika Wojno, US director of marketing at BrewDog in Columbus, Ohio
Ooh, this is a hard one. But I’m going to have to give it to Chimay Blue Reserve. It’s sweet, yeasty, malty, and filled with dried fruit flavors and just a hint of peppery spice. It’s the perfect pairing for a nice plump plate of mussels.
I love the Belgian tripel style. It’s always so unique and incredibly layered. The range of flavor from historic Belgian yeast strains is absolutely fascinating, from banana to clove and nutmeg, intense tropicals, and stone fruit. Particularly, the Tripel Van De Garre from Brouwerij Van Steenberge is incredible. It’s full of pear and allspice notes, lemongrass, and coriander.
Every sip of this beer is an adventure.
Orval Trappist Ale
Orval
Stephen Hale, founding brewer at Schlafly Beer in St. Louis
Tough question. Let’s go with Orval Trappist Ale at this moment in time. Paring down to just one in this category is pretty challenging, but this is such an impressive beer for all the right reasons: it’s malty and it’s fruity, with so many subtle and complex layers throughout, just so magical. And let’s not forget that divine intervention of Brett to help make it what it is.
Delirium Tremens tops the list for me. It is relatively easy to get, holds up well, and the etymology combined with the pink elephant has always made me smile. It has the traditional spiciness and intensely floral, fruity, and slightly herbal notes that I love in a solid Belgian golden ale.
I love a good wheat beer and Blanche De Bruxelles ticks all the boxes I’m looking for. This 4.5 percent ABV wheat beer is unfiltered, hazy, and filled with complementary flavors like tangy yeast, coriander (and other spices), and tart, sweet orange peel. Overall, it’s a very complex, delicious, and full-flavored beer perfect for any time of year.
Eben doesn’t have to go far for an epic holiday light show. “We have the best light show in the country at the Cincinnati Zoo and I go every year,” he tells Uproxx over email. It’s part of an annual celebration that starts with the traditional Christmas breakfast and ends with the entire family lounging around the house in matching pajamas “Last Christmas me and my Meemaw got super drunk off of mimosas before 10 am. My mom came in and yelled at us to pull our shit together so we could open presents.”
Holiday music is a comfort blanket for Eben that helps him to get in what he calls “a state of zen.” “Nothing more nostalgic than Christmas music.” To get in the holiday spirit, Eben sat down to list his favorite seasonal tunes in the final Uproxx holiday playlist series. Check out all of his picks, as well as the full playlist, down below.
Brenda Lee – “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree”
This is my favorite Christmas song ever it reminds me of every happy childhood Christmas memory.
Bobby Helms – “Jingle Bell Rock”
This one reminds me of walking through Macy’s around Christmas and taking a picture with Santa at the mall.
Justin Bieber – “Mistletoe”
This one is just undeniably incredible. If you don’t have this in your Christmas playlist it’s disrespectful.
Frank Sinatra – “Let It Snow! Let Is Snow! Let It Snow!”
If this song had a smell it would be a warm home-cooked meal.
Perry Como, The Fontane Sisters – “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas”
This song reminds me of baking cookies with my meemaw when I was younger.
Burl Ives – “Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer”
When I was younger I was in a show called A Christmas Carole and we would always sing this song after the show in the park for families.
Eartha Kitt – “Santa Baby”
This one straight gets me going.
Nat King Cole – “Deck The Halls”
I remember singing this in my school choir in 6 grade our harmonies were elite.
Eben is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Like most hyper-partisan Republicans in Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene has a been fierce critic of the COVID vaccine and basically any sort of pandemic restrictions. (She’s reportedly racked up an insanely large amount of fines for refusing to mask on the House floor.) However, despite being such a vocal anti-vaxxer that she was suspended from Twitter for spreading misinformation earlier in the year, Greene doesn’t seem to have a problem with owning stock in three major pharmaceutical companies who make the COVID vaccine.
Greene holds stock in AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, each worth between $1,000 and $15,000, according to an August 13, 2020, filing from Greene with the clerk of the House of Representatives.
The discovery was made as part of Insider’s Conflicted Congress project, which revealed that multiple US lawmakers held stock in vaccine makers as the pandemic raged in 2020.
Earlier in the year, Greene told Insider, “I have an independent investment advisor that has full discretionary authority on my accounts. I do not direct any trades.” While that may be true, it speaks to Greene’s hypocrisy that she hasn’t made an effort to divest herself of the stocks considering her stance that the vaccines are a societal evil.
Just this past weekend, Greene told a crowd at the Turning Points USA AmericaFest, “I’m not vaccinated, and they’re going to have a hell of a time if they want to hold me down and give me a vaccine.” And, yet, she doesn’t seem to mind profiting from those vaccines.
Marge Greene today: “I’m not vaccinated. And they’re going to have a hell of a time if they want to hold me down and give me a vaccine.” pic.twitter.com/xvX4QD2zOI
The Western drinks industry is painfully white. A large reason for that is that our modern ways of making and selling beer, wine, and spirits all derive from European commerce that spread around the world on the back of Indigenous and Black labor (and often ideas). But 2021 isn’t 1605 and the world of beer, wine, and spirits are (finally) changing, with more Black-owned breweries, wineries, and distillers (and blenders) working to reshape their respective industries than ever before.
To help you find and support Black-owned drinks brands, we’re calling out some of our favorites to add to your rotation. Buying your beer, wine, rum, or whiskey from these brands offers a chance to 1) drink something truly delicious, 2) engage in the history of these unique companies (while buzzed!), and 3) support the movement for Black equity and ownership in the drinks space. Check out the seven entries below and let us know in the comments if you’ve got a Black-owned brand that deserves more shine in 2022!
Weathered Souls Brewing Co.
Weathered Souls Brewing Co.
The Brand:
In all of Texas, there are less than a handful of Black brewers. Among them, Marcus Baskerville of Weathered Souls Brewing Co. is the only Black-owner. In 2020, Baskerville wanted to not only make a change in the beer industry but combine that passion with social change. So in response to the killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, Baskerville decided to bridge the gap between the Black community and beer by creating a beer literally called Black is Beautiful.
The Change It Brings:
Black is Beautiful is a stout recipe that Baskerville created and then freely shared with other brewers with one condition. However brewed, the beer had to give 100 percent of the proceeds to local organizations that support equality, inclusion, and social justice reform. At the same time, Baskerville encouraged brewers to put their own spin on the recipe and to have the beer inspire conversation and awareness about the issues affecting the Black community and lack of inclusivity in beer.
You can find a version of Black is Beautiful all over the country at various breweries and select Walmarts.
McBride Sisters Collection
McBride Sisters Collection
The Brand:
McBride Sisters Collection, helmed by sisters Robin McBride and Andréa McBride John, has become an empire in the wine world. As soon as they could, the McBrides decided to give back with the hope of empowering other women to become leaders in the very male-dominated space. They created SHE CAN Wine in 2019, which is both a delicious line of canned wine and a way to support their foundation, The McBride Sisters SHE CAN Fund.
The Change It Brings:
The SHE CAN Fund awards scholarships to close the gender and race gap in wine production. To date, 42 women have been awarded scholarships worth over 340 thousand dollars. Look, I didn’t want to sip delicious Rosé all day, but I’m a good feminist. So, I’m just doing my part!
Chris Montana’s Du Nord Craft Spirits was America’s first Black-owned distillery and their motto says it all, “Make good. Do Good.” Montana set out to make spirits in the middle of Minneapolis that blended his wife’s rural farm upbringing with his own love of the city while using his platform to diversify alcohol distilling. Since 2020, he’s stepped up even more. When George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis, the following protests and unrest led to the Du Nord warehouse being burned down. As he looked to bounce back from the damage, Montana decided to help rebuild his city as a whole, rather than just his own little corner of it.
The Change It Brings:
In response to the tragedy, Montana founded the Du Nord Foundation to help BIPOC business owners and address racial inequities in the Twin Cities. Since then, they’ve worked to invest in rebuilding the community by providing financial support for minority small business owners and promoting BIPOC business and property ownership while still crafting some damn fine spirits.
Beny Ashburn and Teo Hunter, Crowns & Hops’ co-founders, don’t want to copy culture, they want to be the culture. And as such, they’ve made it their mission to blend their love of craft beer with their community. The Inglewood-based beer brand even named a beer, “Black People Love Beer,” to raise awareness and spark conversation about the lack of inclusion for both consumers and brewers in the craft beer industry.
The Change It Brings:
Ashburn and Hunter want to change beer culture to its core by being a central part of their community as a brewery and brand. They’re helping build their neighborhood by creating family-friendly spaces and providing economic growth for communities of color all while having a pretty fantastic beer in hand.
Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey’s namesake is a fantastic part of whiskey history. Nearest Green started distilling as an enslaved laborer. After being freed, Green became the first master distiller for Jack Daniel and taught him how to make whiskey. While this history is little-known outside of the whiskey-drinking community, it’s always been at the core of Jack Daniel’s brand.
When Fawn Weaver read about that in 2016, she knew she wanted to honor “Uncle” Nearest Green, so she bought land in Tennesee to found a distillery. Since then, the award-winning Uncle Nearest whiskey has become the fastest-growing American Whiskey brand in U.S. history with Victoria Eady Butler, Nearest Green’s great-great-granddaughter, in the role of the brand’s Master Blender.
The Change It Brings:
Uncle Nearest is about more than just making award-winning whiskey. Weaver is working to make whiskey more inclusive for women. 50 percent of Uncle Nearest’s customers are women, chiseling away at the idea that whiskey is for men (honestly, who still thinks like this?).
This year, on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre, Weaver pledged a 50-million-dollar fund to invest in minority-founded spirit brands. They’ve given out 2 million dollars so far. You can read about that program and support it here.
Lastly, any descendent of Nearest Green is entitled to a full college scholarship from Uncle Nearest’s proceeds. That’s a powerful statement in an industry that relies heavily on heritage.
Vanessa Braxton is one of the first African American women to become a Master Distiller/Blender, owner, and operator of a nationally distributed vodka in the United States with Black Momma Vodka. The former engineer and Harvard graduate decided to pursue her passion for alcohol in 2012 and since then her brand has spread throughout the whole world.
The Change It Brings:
In 2020, Braxton stepped up to produce hand sanitizer, using her Long Island distillery to support the greater good. It’s a brand you can feel good about supporting as they’ve actively been a part of the solution to the pandemic we all wish would end.
Brough Brothers is Kentucky’s first black-owned distillery. The brothers — Victor, Bryson, and Chris Yarbrough — have been working tirelessly to build a distillery and brand in the heart of whiskey country. And they’re killing it. Their first bourbon release made it onto our list of the 50 best bourbons of 2021. Beyond the beautiful whiskey they’re putting out, the brothers are also working to revitalize West Louisville and their community.
The Change It Brings:
West Louisville is the most economically depressed section of the city. The Yarbrough brothers decided to build their distillery right in the middle of the neighborhood to both infuse jobs and bring in tourism (for distillery tours). While the whiskey is great (we stand by that), when you buy a bottle of Brough Brothers Bourbon or take a tour of their distillery, you’re helping a neighborhood’s revitalization without supporting gentrification. That’s a win-win-win all around.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
pic.twitter.com/W0sOPAhxKY
