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Culture

Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté and his beloved 21-string kora, photographed at WOMAD -- the World of Music, Arts and Dance festival held yearly in the United Kingdom.

Musician Toumani Diabaté of Mali and his 21-string kora, photographed at WOMAD -- the World of Music, Arts and Dance festival held yearly in the United Kingdom. Diabaté died on July 19 at age 58.
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Judith Burrows/Getty Images/Hulton Archive

Goats and Soda

Toumani Diabaté plucked the kora's 21 strings. The world fell in love with his music

The musician died this month at age 58. His collaborators are paying tribute to "a great artist who belongs to the world.”

Edith Bouvier Beale at her home

Edith Bouvier Beale at her home "Grey Gardens" in January 1972 in New York. A 1975 documentary by that name explores the reclusive lives of Beale and her mother, living in their dilapidated house with over 50 cats. Tom Wargacki/WireImage hide caption

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Tom Wargacki/WireImage

Pop Culture

JD Vance went viral for ‘cat lady’ comments. The centuries-old trope has a long tail

Vance lamented the country being run by "a bunch of childless cat ladies," including Vice President Harris. The trope has dogged women since the Middle Ages.

Nikki Glaser's new Emmy-nominated HBO comedy special is Someday You'll Die.

Nikki Glaser's new Emmy-nominated HBO comedy special is Someday You'll Die. Jennifer Clasen/HBO
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Jennifer Clasen/HBO

Television

After a roast, comic Nikki Glaser says she needs to cleanse her brain

Glaser made headlines for her roast of Tom Brady. "I don't love people getting offended," she says of her comedy. "All I want is people to like me." Glaser's new HBO special is Someday You'll Die.

After a roast, comic Nikki Glaser says she needs to cleanse her brain

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Francisca Chagas Dos Santos. Taquari District. Terence McKeen with his mother Gloria. Blackcreek, Middleburg, Florida. USA. September 2017

From left: Francisca Chagas Dos Santos. Taquari District. Rio Branco, Brazil. March 2015. Terence McKeen with his mother, Gloria. Blackcreek, Middleburg, Florida. United States. September 2017 Gideon Mendel hide caption

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Gideon Mendel

Goats and Soda

A flood of emotions in these stoic portraits of people returning home after a deluge

Photojournalist Gideon Mendel has made it his mission to show how ordinary people around the world are affected by the consequences of a changing climate.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, wearing Boeing spacesuits, wave as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center for Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to board the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for the Crew Flight Test launch, on June 5.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams wave as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to board the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on June 5. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP via Getty Images

Opinion

Simon Says

Opinion: Think you have a rough travel story? Try 52 days stuck in space

Two astronauts have been hanging out on the International Space Station since last month, waiting for the Boeing capsule that got them there to be repaired to bring them home.

ESSAY 7-27-2024

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Simone Biles at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history. But she withdrew from the last summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, a journey that is chronicled in the new Netflix series Simone Biles Rising. Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images hide caption

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Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Simone Biles reminds us: You never know what Olympic athletes are going through

Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history. But she withdrew from the last summer Olympic Games due to mental health struggles. Her journey is chronicled in the new Netflix series Simone Biles Rising.

To learn 'The Truth About Dragons,' go on a quest through this kids' book
Hanna Cha / Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Picture This

To learn 'The Truth About Dragons,' go on a quest through this kids' book

A little boy must go on a hero's quest — through woods full of oak trees and a bamboo forest — to discover "The Truth About Dragons" in Julie Leung and Hanna Cha's Caldecott Honor children's book.

PICTURE THIS: THE TRUTH ABOUT DRAGONS

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Kathleen Hanna talks musicals and roller coasters
Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

Kathleen Hanna talks musicals and roller coasters

This week, punk icon and author Kathleen Hanna joins panelists Peter Grosz, Meredith Scardino, and Mo Rocca to talk about her new memoir and the SooperDooperLooper

Kathleen Hanna talks musicals and roller coasters

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Prince on the custom motorcycle featured in Purple Rain.

Prince on the custom motorcycle featured in Purple Rain. Cinematic/Alamy hide caption

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Cinematic/Alamy

Movies

40 years after 'Purple Rain,' Prince’s band remembers how the movie came together

Before social media, the film Purple Rain gave audiences a peek into Prince’s musical life. Band members say the true genesis of the title song was much less combative than the version presented in the film.

Prince's band The Revolution talks about the legacy of 'Purple Rain' after 40 years

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Kathleen Hanna of The Julie Ruin performs onstage at the 2016 Panorama NYC Festival - Day 2 at Randall's Island on July 23, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images)

Kathleen Hanna of The Julie Ruin performs onstage at the 2016 Panorama NYC Festival - Day 2 at Randall's Island on July 23, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images/Getty Images North America hide caption

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Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images/Getty Images North America

Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!

'Wait Wait' for July 27, 2024: With Not My Job guest Kathleen Hanna

This week, Wait Wait is live in Chicago with special guest Kathleen Hanna and panelists Mo Rocca, Meredith Scardino, and Peter Grosz

'Wait Wait' for July 27, 2024: With Not My Job guest Kathleen Hanna

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Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool and Hugh Jackman is Wolverine.

Ryan Reynolds stars as Deadpool and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in an odd-couple action hero pairing. Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios hide caption

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Review

Movie Reviews

'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a self-cannibalizing slog

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have good, thorny chemistry in this odd-couple action hero flick. But brand extension disguised as a satire of brand extension is still just ... brand extension.

'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a self-cannibalizing slog

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Denzel Washington plays Macrinus in Gladiator II.

There's been a lot of online chatter about Denzel Washington and his accent in the upcoming movie Gladiator II. There are longstanding conventions around using a posh-sounding British accent for ancient characters ... but why? Nobody spoke English in Rome. Cuba Scott/Paramount Pictures hide caption

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Cuba Scott/Paramount Pictures

So how do you 'accurately' speak English in ancient Rome?

Many studios and viewers cling to longstanding conventions around using a posh-sounding British accent for ancient characters — even though this defies logic. Absolutely no one spoke English in Rome.

Denzel Washington's Gladiator 2 accent

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'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a feast of inside jokes

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in Marvel's Deadpool & Wolverine. Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios/Marvel hide caption

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Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios/Marvel

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a feast of inside jokes

In the highly meta Deadpool & Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman finally meet up for their own big movie. Deadpool is still smarmy, Wolverine is still tragic, and they have to get together to save the world. Along the way, Deadpool continues his usual routine of endless wisecracking. The movie is jam-packed with fan service and Easter eggs. But how will casual Marvel fans like the movie?

'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a feast of inside jokes

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Olympic hurdles for women athletes; plus, big trucks and big questions

A group of runners at the Tokyo Olympics - one of whom is Christine Mboma (second to the right), who has been impacted by restrictions on athletes with differences of sex development. Ryan Pierse/Getty Images hide caption

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Analysis

It's Been a Minute

Olympic hurdles for women athletes; plus, big trucks and big questions

This is the first year the Olympics have gender parity between men's and women's teams - but does it mean gender equity? ESPN writer Katie Barnes and Rose Eveleth, host of NPR's Tested, join Brittany to discuss the barriers that women athletes still face - from men-only categories to women-only sex testing.

Olympic hurdles for women athletes; plus, big trucks and big questions

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The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that 'boneless' refers to a cooking style, finding Wings on Brookwood not liable for injuries caused by swallowing a bone from one of their 'boneless' wings.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that 'boneless' refers to a cooking style, finding Wings on Brookwood not liable for injuries caused by swallowing a bone from one of their 'boneless' wings. Matt Rourke/AP hide caption

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Matt Rourke/AP

National

‘Boneless’ chicken wings can have bones, the Ohio Supreme Court says

In a 4-3 verdict against a patron who sued a restaurant after swallowing a bone from a “boneless wing,” the court ruled that “boneless” doesn’t guarantee that there will be no bones in a chicken wing.

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