Monthly Archives: April 2023

An Oklahoma court has effectively banned an online Christian preacher from posting Bible verses on social media for the next five years.

Thats his punishment for expressing his moral and religious concerns in three posts about a church that endorses same sex marriage and drag queen events for children.

Lawyers from civil liberties advocate The Rutherford Institute have appealed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court to overturn the restraining order on Pastor Rich Penkoski who leads the Tennessee-based online ministry Warriors for Christ.

The lawyers called the penalty excessive and a clear violation of the pastors First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion.

They point out the preacher made no threats or incitements of violence and had never met any of the complainants from an LGBT+ group.

The lawyers argued his social media ban is based solely on claims the plaintiffs felt harassed and fearful about how others might react to Bible verses cited in Pastor Penkoskis social media posts.

Religious individuals have a clear First Amendment right to publicly cite Bible verses that reflect their concerns about moral issues of the day without being accused of stalking, harassing, or terrorising those who are offended by the sentiments, said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute.

He warned, This case is a foreshadowing of the governments efforts to insulate the populace from all things that might cause offence by criminalising non-violent First Amendment activities such as speech, thought, and actions perceived to be politically incorrect.

In his first allegedly offensive post, Pastor Penkoski posted a generic photo of a same sex wedding and quoted Bible verses describing Gods judgment of sin.

In the second post, he criticised a churchs publicly shared photos of children celebrating Pride Month.

In the third, he weighed in on a local campaign to ban adult-oriented entertainment in public spaces.

In response to the LGBT+ group claiming that no adult-oriented entertainment had occurred at a pride event, the pastor posted a video and photos of a drag queen behaving in a suggestive manner near children at the event.

His lawyers say the five-year protective order against him is so vague it effectively prevents him from posting Bible verses or anything else which could prompt his accusers to complain about fearing for their safety.

See the original post here:
Five Year Social Media Ban For Online Preacher - Vision Christian Media

Hes been getting his melancholy everywhere since episode two. Photo: HBO

As this weeks episode, Honeymoon States, proved, when things are tense on Succession, there are two things we can count on Tom Wambsgans to do: offer to be of service and eat a little snack.

Despite his insistence throughout the series four seasons that all he wants is an opportunity to serve whoever will have him, Tom is perpetually the odd man out among those at the top of the Waystar Royco food chain, and actor Matthew Macfadyen sells that identity with his flat uh huh line deliveries, his shrugging shoulders, and the occasional outburst of incandescent, office-furniture-destroying fury. But Macfadyen is great at something else, too: shoving food into his mouth.

Compared with the rest of the Roys who barely seem to prioritize meals, consider dclass those who dare to order fresh za for a long night in the office, and are overly fond of using trough as an insult Toms willingness to indulge in a nosh makes him only more of an outsider. It also provides Macfadyen with opportunities to go performatively big with a chomp or chew, to reflect Toms humanity, and occasionally to project Toms discomfort through the food-based torment of others, usually Cousin Greg. Lets revisit some of the most memorable ways Tom has used food and drink to convey his headspace. May his plate forever groan.

S1E2, Sh*t Show at the F**ck Factory: The cake

Yes, Logan has had a stroke that lands him in the hospital with wife Marcia and the Roy children at his bedside. Youre saying this isnt the time to eat a piece of cake and then randomly propose to Shiv outside a hospital bathroom? Why did no one tell Tom? Theres a brief cutaway back to him later when the plate is on a table next to him and he longingly looks at the last few bites; thats far more relatable than any of the scheming machinations the Roy children are already entangled in.

S1E3, Lifeboats: The doggy bag

Im sorry, but Tom isnt wrong. If youre going to take the free food from work home with you, you gotta do it in something other than a receptacle specifically designed for feces. This is one of Toms first lessons to Greg about Waystar Roycos emphasis on optics, and, of course, it involves Tom humiliating Greg for probably reminding him too much of himself. Get ready for a lot more of this.

S1E5, I Went to Market: The Thanksgiving toast

Tom and Shiv toasting at Thanksgiving dinner is simply a nice scene before Logan loses his mind and hits his grandson with a can of cranberry sauce. Normal family stuff! Its included here as a rare instance of Tom and Shiv getting along and our first indication that wine will play a symbolic role in the couples relationship. Keep reading for when it goes vinegar sour.

S1E6, Which Side Are You On?: The ortolan

It didnt take long for Tom to go from ridiculing Greg to trying to seduce him, did it? The ortolan scene captures so much about the Tom-Greg dynamic: Toms bullying of Greg, the insistence that something gross is good because rich people do it, Gregs acquiescence because he too would like to be rich one day, and if Tom could do it, why not Greg? Succession left out some details about how ortolans are prepared force-fed and then drowned in brandy and the fact that the birds are on the verge of extinction because people are really into eating gamy brains while hiding behind a napkin. Thanks a lot, Tom.

S1E8, Prague: The load

If you swallow something, does it count as food? Discuss amongst yourselves.

S1E10, Nobody Is Ever Missing: The wine contribution

Lets say your spouse has told you on your wedding night that they dont think theyre suited to monogamy, and when you return to the reception, you see the person theyve been cheating on you with. Wouldnt you choose a full-on spite response too? Tom is often a braggadocious blowhard, but in this moment, its difficult to root against him for embarrassing Shivs fuck buddy, Nate, by commanding that the guy pour the wine he was drinking to which Toms parents made a contribution! back into the bottle. Its petty and perfectly Tom; whats more surprising is that Nate goes along with it. (This will not be the last time Tom takes his frustration with Shiv out on another man she cares for.)

S2E3, Hunting: The sausage and the breakfast

Logan Roy expressed many racist, sexist, xenophobic, and politically incorrect sentiments in his time, but were any of them as horrifying as Oink for your sausages, piggies? This is real Deliverance-style stuff, making your employees crawl around on the floor and fight over sausages as a display of humiliation and domination, and its upsetting watching Tom vacillate between refusing and giving in to the peer pressure.

But Tom does protect Greg by letting him take one of the sausages, another example of food playing an outsize role in their bond. Tom putting his hand on Gregs arm at breakfast the next morning probably launched a thousand fanfic ships.

S2E4, Safe Room: The water bottles

How does Tom keep missing on these throws when Greg is such a gigantic target? Isnt the Midwest baseball country? I would have expected better form!

S2E5, Tern Haven: The monarchal vegetable

The Pierces may see themselves as better than the Roys, but they do deserve Tom, of all people, poking fun at their penchant for quoting Shakespeare at the dinner table with his delivery of Ooh, king of edible leaves, His Majesty, the spinach! Get over yourselves. Youre still billionaires with inherited fortunes! Theres no real moral high ground here!

S2E9, DC: The finger licking

Sure, this 60 Minuteslike segment on Waystar Roycos cruises, the legacy of Lester Mo McClintock, and the no real person involved designation is damning, but what better way to signal your unimpressed reaction than eating from a communal bowl of tortilla chips and licking your fingers in mixed company?

S2E10, This Is Not for Tears: The chicken

You know how Pride & Prejudice devotees love to share the GIF of Macfadyens hand flexing after his Mr. Darcy touches Keira Knightleys Elizabeth for the first time? My hope for our World Wide Web is that Macfadyens work as Tom chowing down on Logans chicken will have the same long internet life. This is a step up from when he was angry at Shiv and took it out on Nate at their wedding; what better way to hurt his wife than embarrass her father? The unbroken eye contact, the sequential bites, that little nod to Logan after he puts the bone back on his plate! Logan has never been this thrown off his game. Congratulations to Tom for achieving that.

S3E4, Lion in the Meadow: The muffin

Everyone remembers this scene because its when Tom tells Greg the story of Nero and Sporus (Id castrate you and marry you in a heartbeat). But in typical Tom-feeds-his-feelings fashion, that HR-unfriendly declaration of love arrives after he pilfers a muffin from Gregs pastry basket. This may be his most midwestern moment of all eschewing some very luxurious-looking croissants and danishes for a humble frostingless cupcake.

S3E6, What It Takes: The Griddle Hero special

What It Takes arrives at the height of Toms personal and professional insecurity, which results in a food-packed episode where Tom tries to wrap his mind around his potential prison time, the dissolution of his marriage, and his own inconsequence through various shared meals. Its all very self-involved, but it also makes for the saddest waffle ever ordered. Consider Toms dejected assessment of the terrible wine from his and Shivs vineyard, a symbol of their failed union; his bizarre denial to Greg of never before having a diner breakfast of mostly brown foods, as if his midwestern childhood didnt happen; and the practiced resignation with which he orders a second breakfast with Kendall, as if hes actually in training. Given Toms emotional eating in this episode, Ron Swanson is perhaps not the only midwesterner who can put away a stunning amount of breakfast food.

S4E4, Honeymoon States: The fish taco

Theres no way this dainty canap is actually a fish taco because Marcia would never order such a thing. But its perfectly in line with Gerris whip-smart diminishment of all the men in the room that she would suggest a chain-restaurant appetizer, a happy-hour two-for-one special, as Toms snack of choice, a subtle Who is this guy? dig before he dares to throw his hat into the proverbial ring. If Tom has finally bitten off more than he can chew, well, he had a good run there, didnt he?

Read more:
A Toast to Tom Eating His Feelings on Succession - Vulture

When I was eight years old, our family dog died. He was a black labrador named Black Dog who had been my fathers best friend long before he met and married my mother. In those days, dogs were not always walked on leads. Black Dog, who must have been 12 or 13 at the time, liked to roam the streets and go on runs with my father. One day, my father came home after his run but Black Dog was not with him. At some point on their route, my father guessed, Black Dog fell behind, staggered into the bush, collapsed and died. It was a week before my father found his body, in the bush afew kilometres from our house.

Thats the story as I remember it. I also remember crying for days afterwards. For years, every time we passed the bushy rise on the south-bound freeway near our house, I looked out the car window and remembered him.

Despite having grown up with dogs, I have so far managed to avoid getting one for my own children. Its a lot of work and it will fall to me, I tell them. I know, like every other parent, that although they will delight in their new best friend, the full responsibility of caring, cleaning, walking and training will be mine.

So, when a friend offered to pass on her grown-up sons 16-year-old pet turtle, I leapt at the opportunity. The cheapest, most low-maintenance pet youll ever have, my friends husband said.

We took delivery of Jeffery, along with his metre-long tank, and a few fishy friends, in the middle of pandemic lockdowns. It was a flying visit, and afterwards my friends husband sent me a long email with everything I needed to know about short-necked Murray River turtles. Jeffery ate bloodworms and water plants, and he could live in captivity up to the age of 75. He needed time out of the tank, in the sun, to combat bacteria. And his tank needed to be lit, heated, topped up and regularly cleaned. My friends son, Andreas, got Jeffery when Andreas was six and Jeffery was penny-sized, just a few months old. I felt a great responsibility to care for him and pass him on to the next generation.

Jeffery proved a curmudgeonly companion. He begged for food whenever Iopened the refrigerator, craning his neck and paddling hard against the glass. He gulped down what I gave him and paddled again. Ilearnt that turtles are great overeaters and will eat to the point of vomiting, then beg for more. He ate most of his water plants and the feeder fish within a few weeks. I found myself at the pet shop, replenishing his supplies, more often than I cared to. Then I read that he could also eat the leftover carrot and cucumber sticks from my kids lunchboxes. Finally, Jeffery and I had ourselves a deal. He was a living, breathing, begging compost bin.

Tragically, less than a year after he came to live with us, Jeffery escaped. He had been sunning himself in the garden, but somehow found the strength, despite being no bigger than a handspan, to tip out of the wheelbarrow Id put him in. My children and I searched the garden but I knew it was hopeless.

Part of me also knew that Jeffery would be having the time of his life. The lovely words of Roald Dahls Esio Trot, about a lonely old man and his apartment full of tortoises, came to mind. Gorge! Guzzle! Stuff! Gulp! Put on fat, tortoise, put on fat. Eat, eat, enjoy your freedom Jeffery, eat, eat, eat!

But the next morning I found him on the road outside our house, run over by a passing car. His body was still limp, which meant Ionly just missed him. My heart sank when I spotted the shallow green dome of his shell against the bitumen and I steeled myself as Iwent to tell my children. We buried him in asunny spot near our back door and marked his grave with small mossy rocks.

The grief my boys felt was overwhelming they cried hot streams of tears. Then they stopped. After that, they didnt want to talk about Jeffery. It upset them too much, they said. I took a deep breath and messaged my friend. She responded with warmth and kindness. I felt as if I had let everyone down my friend, her husband, their son, my children, Jeffery, and the next generation of children who should have cared for him until his death many years hence.

I remembered our old labrador. It was such pure love I felt for him that my outpouring of grief was equally genuine and unreserved. So different from the complicated griefs I felt as a teenager and then again as a young adult the anguish over the death of my grandmother at the end of a long illness and the heartbreaking end of my first relationship.

Already in their short lives, my boys have experienced more grief and loss than should be necessary. Friends and family have moved away, gone overseas and, in some cases, exited our lives forever.

About the time Jeffery died, my relationship with a man who had become afather-figure to my boys ended. I watched their grief play out in different ways. One cried himself to sleep each night for weeks, then bounced back, good as new my shiny, happy boy. The other was circumspect at first, but the seam of suffering ran much deeper. He didnt want to go to school and tussled with teachers and friends. It took me a while to realise what was happening.

For all the books on managing childhood loss, my boys seem to have found most comfort in the twin memoirs of Roald Dahl Boy: Tales of Childhood and Going Solo, about Dahls time flying with the Royal Air Force during World War II. For a man who enjoyed so much fame and wealth in later life, Dahls private life was full of torment. His sister died when he was three, his father a few weeks later. Dahls daughter Olivia died when she was seven, and his only son, Theo, and wife, Patricia Neal, both suffered serious illnesses.

What my boys seem drawn to in Dahls memoirs, beyond the Tiger Moths and green mamba snakes, is the rich texture of life he paints. Grief and loss are normal, he seems to say. Sure, we all want a happy ending, but no one comes through unscarred. Not Matilda, who is abandoned by her horrible parents. Not Charlie, whose life is shaped by poverty. Not poor old Mr Hoppy, who gets the girl in the end but has to put up with an apartment full of tortoises to do it. Not even Dahl himself.

Recently, my children became quite indignant about news that censors had taken a red pen to Dahls politically incorrect language. What they say, quite insightfully, and I agree, is that the people in Dahls stories will always be hurting and in pain. Augustus Gloop will always be the ostracised kid, no matter whether hes described as enormously fat or just enormous. Dahl will always be a boy who grew up without a father. No sensitivity edit can alter that.

As parents we so much want to rewrite, edit, delete and red-pen the pain in our childrens lives. Rewind the moment the turtle escaped. Sketch the father-figure back in. Bring the beloved family member back from overseas. Ultimately, we know we cant. We just hug them fiercely and hope the world will be kind.

What Roald Dahls stories whisper to my children is a comforting message you are not alone in your grief and it will all work out in the end. Its a message we could all do well to hear. And if not, well then, there are always animals to love. Or chocolate.

This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper onApril 22, 2023 as "Turtle love".

For almost a decade, The Saturday Paper has published Australias leading writers and thinkers.We have pursued stories that are ignored elsewhere, covering them with sensitivity and depth.We have done this on refugee policy, on government integrity, on robo-debt, on aged care,on climate change, on the pandemic.

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Turtle love and the messages of Roald Dahl - The Saturday Paper

Image: Thomas Aquinas, via Aquinas.Design.

We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.

Order a copy now or download a free chapter.

The world indeed, the universe is charged with grandeur. Everything speaks of its beauty, power, and purpose of its exquisite and intelligent design. Yet many scientists today flatly deny that the world was intelligently designed. Even some Christian scientists and theologians downplay or deny the evidence nature supplies of intelligent design, especially in biology. Out today from Sophia Institute Press, Gods Grandeur: The Catholic Case for Intelligent Design is a thought-provoking anthology that shows why they are wrong, why it matters, and why intelligent design provides a compelling way to reconcile science and faith in todays culture.

Of interest to Catholics and non-Catholics alike, Gods Grandeurchallenges the claim that Gods design in nature is hidden and cannot be detected. It presents convincing scientific evidence of intelligent design in cosmology, the origin of life, and biology. It clears up common misunderstandings about how Catholic theology relates to debates over science, evolution, and intelligent design.

Edited by Discovery Institute biologistAnn Gauger,Gods Grandeurfeatures chapters by an array of distinguished Catholic scientists, philosophers, theologians, and laypeople, including Lehigh University biochemistMichael Behe, author ofDarwins Black BoxandDarwin Devolves; award-winning brain surgeonMichael Egnor; noted theologianJohn Bergsma, author ofStunned by Scripture: How the Bible Made Me CatholicandA Catholic Introduction to the Bible: Old Testament;Fr. Pedro Barrajn, LC, Rector of the European University in Rome;Jay Richards, co-author ofThe Privileged Planetand editor ofGod and Evolution; Fr.Michael Chaberek, author ofAquinas and Evolution;Benjamin Wiker, author ofThe Catholic Church and Scienceand Director of Human Life Studies at Franciscan University of Steubenville; philosopherJ. Budziszewski, author of numerous commentaries on works by Thomas Aquinas for Cambridge University Press;Bruce Chapman, founder and chairman of Discovery Institute; andAnthony Esolen, translator ofDantes Divine Comedyand author ofReclaiming Catholic Social Teaching,The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization, and other books.

Gods Grandeurstimulates us all to investigate current scientific knowledge with the question of how a loving God made His most beloved children. Since we are not an accident, then how we came to be is a most important question of our times. Surely this discussion needs to occur with vigor and intellectual honesty within the Church itself.

The most compelling case yet for an intentional and intelligent Designer.

Without an acknowledgement of intelligent design, one cannot have an objective ethic which is universally binding on all people. This book should be read by every teacher in Catholic schools, and essays from the book should be assigned to students in the upper grades. These essays will contribute greatly to confirming in peoples minds that there is a Creator God who can be known by the intelligibility of what we encounter in the order of nature and that living out an objective morality is essential for human happiness.

A most welcome gift to all of us who have been searching for a long time for a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to this fascinating and important subject.

A new science-faith synthesis is needed, andGods Grandeuroffers a welcome contribution to the formation of this synthesis.

Gods Grandeur shows up the lack of empirical evidence for Darwinism and specifically makes clear to Catholics what are the philosophical and theological consequences of kowtowing to it. I hope that many Catholics (and other truth seekers) will read it.

InGods Grandeur,scientists of all kinds will help you to see and appreciate the grandeur of the divine art and the Divine Artist. Thanks be to God for these Catholics, all professionals in their respective fields, who have the courage to bring the light of truth to shine This collection of essays should be read and reread by every Catholic Bishop and educator in America!

Continued here:
New Book Offers the CATHOLIC Case for ID - Discovery Institute

Controversial comic Roy Chubby Brown will be performing at the Victoria Hall tonight - despite his other UK shows previously being cancelled.

The foul-mouthed funnyman is playing the Hanley venue this evening (April 15).

It comes as some of his other shows in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and Colne, Lancashire, have been axed in recent years amid racism, homophobia and sexism concerns.

READ MORE: 'I can't stand Katie Hopkins but free speech means her show should go ahead'

Famed for his flying goggles and outrageous outfits, the comedian is well known for his x-rated sense of humour. However, his politically-incorrect jokes have caused offence and Frank Skinner once called him a racist on air during a TV interview.

Caroline Key previously wrote to Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Jo Gideon and Stoke-on-Trent City Council calling for a Roy Chubby Brown gig to be scrapped in Christmas 2021.

She pointed to the fact that the Victoria Hall was the scene of the famous 'Lidice Shall Live' gathering in 1942 in response to the Nazi atrocity which wiped out the Czech village in the Second World War.

Caroline said: "I am very concerned that the comedian Roy Chubby Brown has been booked to appear at the Victoria Hall.

"The people of North Staffordshire are rightly proud of having a venue like the Victoria Hall on their doorstep and many, many people will have memories of attending great concerts there.

"Lets be clear, this is not a comedian who is just a bit controversial or who uses language that could be viewed as outdated. His entire act is a stream of unrelenting racism and misogyny.

"This is an act that normalises and encourages racism and misogyny. Is that really reflective of the values of the Victoria Hall?

"When the people of North Staffordshire gathered there in 1942, they did so because they hated Nazi brutality and had a vision for a better future. To allow that same stage to be used to insult people because of their skin colour, mock them for the shape of their eyes, and abuse them for their gender, is a gross betrayal of all that those people stood for.

"I urge you to do all you can to ensure that this performance does not go ahead. Many areas have previously refused to host this act. The people of North Staffordshire deserve more than having one of their major venues associated with this."

Roy got his big break on the tv talent show New Faces in the 1970s, and earned notoriety for the his profanity-laden act. His shows have been pulled by a number of councils over the years for fear of his material not reflecting the values of their communities.

Hitting back previously, the comic, real name Royston Vasey, said: I repeat its just COMEDY behind closed doors and a bit of fun for all. If you are in the minority and the nature of my show is not your cup of tea, I totally respect that, so dont buy a ticket that is your choice, but dont spoil it for the majority with complaints or bans, let people decide for themselves!

The Victoria Hall advises under-18s to stay away from the show. Tickets for the one-night only show are currently on sale. They are priced at 21.50.

The venue's promotional material states: "As politically incorrect as ever The Worlds Most Outrageous Comedian is far too rude for TV, so this live performance is the only place to catch the flamboyant comedian!

"Hes still rude, hes still crude and this time hes turning headlines into punchlines as his rip-roaring brand of banter continues to burst bellies across the country.

"Chubby doesnt hold back from sharing his outlandish views on the news, women and gender, sailing so close to the mark, even the most seasoned of fans will be left gob-smacked. If easily offended please stay away."

The Victoria Hall has been approached for a statement. For tickets, click here.

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More:
Roy Chubby Brown to play Hanley gig tonight despite calls for show to be cancelled - Stoke-on-Trent Live

WASHINGTON. KAZINFORM Four people died and 28 others were wounded at a birthday party in Dadeville, the U.S. state of Alabama, over the weekend.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday that their special agents have launched a death investigation at the request of the Dadeville police chief, Xinhua reports.

The investigation, according to the agency, is a result of a shooting that occurred at approximately 10:34 p.m. local time Saturday (0334 GMT Sunday) near the 200 Block of Broadnax Street in Dadeville, located in Tallapoosa County.

Currently, there have been four confirmed fatalities and multiple injuries, the post wrote.

One of the fatal victims was Philstavious Dowdell, a stellar high school football player and the brother of the birthday girl, according to reports.

Dowdell had committed to attending Jacksonville State University and joining its football team.

Rich Rodriguez, Jacksonville State's head football coach, tweeted that the death of Dowdell and the other victims is a senseless tragedy.

He was a great young man with a bright future, Rodriguez wrote. My staff and I are heartbroken and hope that everyone will support his family through this difficult time.

Twenty-eight people were injured during the course of the incident with some of those injuries being critical, according to the ALEA.

Authorities didn't mention a suspect or suspects, or an arrest, as of Sunday evening.

A small city with a population of some 3,000 people, Dadeville is located about an hour's drive from Alabama's capital Montgomery.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey tweeted on Sunday that she was grieving the events in Dadeville.

This morning, I grieve with the people of Dadeville and my fellow Alabamians, Ivey tweeted. Violent crime has NO place in our state, and we are staying closely updated by law enforcement as details emerge.

Also on Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement that the nation is once again grieving for at least four Americans tragically killed at a teen's birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama.

What has our nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear? When parents have to worry every time their kids walk out the door to school, to the movie theater, or to the park? he said.

There have been 161 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter.

Meanwhile, more than 12,200 people, including hundreds of children and teens, have lost their lives to gun violence in the past several months, the website's data showed.

Guns are one of the most divisive issues in the United States. Democrats are in general in support of more gun control while most Republicans argue that gun rights should not be infringed upon.

The Dadeville shooting came only a day after the National Rifle Association (NRA) convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. The NRA is an influential American gun rights advocacy group.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, the early frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, vowed in Indianapolis that he will protect the Second Amendment of the Constitution.

The politically incorrect truth that no one on the left wants to admit is that violent crime is rarely committed by illegal gun owners, Trump said. It is committed by a brutal class of hardened repeat criminals.

I promise you this -- with me at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue no one will lay a finger on your firearms, he added.

In his statement on Sunday, Biden, a Democrat, criticized Republican figures' remarks at the NRA convention.

Americans agree and want lawmakers to act on commonsense gun safety reforms, Biden said. Instead, this past week Americans saw national Republican elected leaders stand alongside the NRA in a race to the bottom on dangerous laws that further erode gun safety. Our communities need and deserve better.

The rest is here:
4 dead, 28 wounded at U.S. birthday party shooting - inform.kz/en

Washington, US | Xinhua | Hundreds marched to the Capitol to protest for a ban on assault weapons, in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 17, 2023.

Four people were killed and at least 28 others injured in a shooting at a birthday party on Saturday night in the small Alabama town of Dadeville, the United States, authorities said Sunday.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday that their special agents have launched a death investigation at the request of the Dadeville police chief.

The investigation, according to the agency, is a result of a shooting that occurred at approximately 10:34 p.m. local time Saturday (0334 GMT Sunday) near the 200 Block of Broadnax Street in Dadeville, located in Tallapoosa County.

Currently, there have been four confirmed fatalities and multiple injuries, the post wrote.

One of the fatal victims was Philstavious Dowdell, a stellar high school football player and the brother of the birthday girl, according to reports.

Dowdell had committed to attending Jacksonville State University and joining its football team.

Rich Rodriguez, Jacksonville States head football coach, tweeted that the death of Dowdell and the other victims is a senseless tragedy.

He was a great young man with a bright future, Rodriguez wrote. My staff and I are heartbroken and hope that everyone will support his family through this difficult time.

Twenty-eight people were injured during the course of the incident with some of those injuries being critical, according to the ALEA.

Authorities didnt mention a suspect or suspects, or an arrest, as of Sunday evening.

A small city with a population of some 3,000 people, Dadeville is located about an hours drive from Alabamas capital Montgomery.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey tweeted on Sunday that she was grieving the events in Dadeville.

This morning, I grieve with the people of Dadeville and my fellow Alabamians, Ivey tweeted. Violent crime has NO place in our state, and we are staying closely updated by law enforcement as details emerge.

Also on Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement that the nation is once again grieving for at least four Americans tragically killed at a teens birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama.

What has our nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear? When parents have to worry every time their kids walk out the door to school, to the movie theater, or to the park? he said.

There have been 161 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter.

Meanwhile, more than 12,200 people, including hundreds of children and teens, have lost their lives to gun violence in the past several months, the websites data showed.

Guns are one of the most divisive issues in the United States. Democrats are in general in support of more gun control while most Republicans argue that gun rights should not be infringed upon.

The Dadeville shooting came only a day after the National Rifle Association (NRA) convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. The NRA is an influential American gun rights advocacy group.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, the early frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, vowed in Indianapolis that he will protect the Second Amendment of the Constitution.

The politically incorrect truth that no one on the left wants to admit is that violent crime is rarely committed by illegal gun owners, Trump said. It is committed by a brutal class of hardened repeat criminals.

I promise you this with me at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue no one will lay a finger on your firearms, he added.

In his statement on Sunday, Biden, a Democrat, criticized Republican figures remarks at the NRA convention.

Americans agree and want lawmakers to act on commonsense gun safety reforms, Biden said. Instead, this past week Americans saw national Republican elected leaders stand alongside the NRA in a race to the bottom on dangerous laws that further erode gun safety. Our communities need and deserve better.

This incident took the United States to a bleak milestone of more than 160 mass shootings so far this year, with 12,277 deaths from gun violence, according to a database run by the nonprofit research group Gun Violence Archive.

Read more from the original source:
People protest for ban on assault weapons in Washington - Independent

Over the past ten years, there has been a frenzied output of books that decipher the phenomenon that is the Chinese President Xi Jinping. If one includes news articles, mostly Western ones in the English media, the cumulative body of work is daunting.

This past week, Gunjan Singh, who is an assistant professor at OP Jindal Global University,reviewedanother book on the Chinese leader,Xi: A Study in Power, by Kerry Brown.

Like all history, the history of the Chinese Communist Party has been a source of divergent readings. Many have sought to look at the continuities between the current regime and previous ones the most popular comparison is with Mao Zedong, which this book also appears to draw on. These works often approach the subject as though it is something exotic, a quest to divine the secret ingredient in the secret ingredient soup, to paraphrase a dialogue from the hit Hollywood movieKung Fu Panda.

The book under consideration looks at Xis past to piece together the puzzle, especially the impact of the Cultural Revolution. Singh says, The book traces [Xis] personal and political growth by weaving a narrative juxtaposing his early life, his family history with his experiences during the Cultural Revolution and his role as a party worker and provincial leader.

Singh says the book fills gaps in the stories often told about Xi. It helps the readers understand the Chinese leader a bit better than what one can attempt to do by just trying to analyse him from the prism of an authoritarian and power-hungry politician heading a Leninist Party with the goal of holding on to power for life, she writes.

There are some other recent books that might also be of interest to the reader. For one, there is Isabella Webers excellent bookHow China Escaped Shock Therapy, which argues that, unlike popular narratives of a sharp turn under Deng Xiaoping, the CCP chose a smoother transition from a socialist to an international trade-oriented economy. And that the party fears radical change overnight.

There is also Alex RussosCultural Revolution and Revolutionary Culture, a deeply researched book that suggests that the current changes in the CCP, indeed the changes since the mid-1970s, have been made with one aim that the Cultural Revolution must not be repeated. According to the book, the principal aim of the Cultural Revolution was to thwart a tendency towards an overtly bureaucratic state, like in the USSR.

Religious sentiments

Elsewhere, journalist Nilanjan MukhopadhyayreviewedHurt Sentimentsby Neeti Nair, a book that explores the narratives of victimhood that abound in the politics of India and the subcontinent.

This sentiment is at the root of the primary political divide in India, which exists, in the words of the author, between Mahatma Gandhi and Nathuram Godses visions and the imagination of India, writes Mukhopadhyay.

As Mukhopadhyay points out, referring to the book, the phrase hurt sentiments gained significance after the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Given the inverted political logic in todays India, also Pakistan, a reasoned investigation and analysis of this divisive mind-set could not have been timelier, he writes.

Safeguarding religious sentiments also took institutional form, with affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) drawing the boundaries around what were and werent acceptable as cultural expressions.

The books accomplishment, writes Mukhopadhyay, is being able to simultaneously address those uninitiated in the politics of Hindu majoritarianism and minority communalism with a thought-through and riveting text, as well as provide food for contemplation for those who track the rise of divisive politics in India and its neighbours.

Also, this past week, Debarghya SanyalreviewedAmit SchandilliasDont Forward That Text!

The author breaks down some of the most obvious facts, not into an over-simplified judgement of true or false but carefully crafted analyses, writes Sanyal.

From the Aryan invasion theory to the Sarasvati river and Kosambian elephants, Sanyal writes that Schandillia covers a wide range of topics. Most crucially, the author hasnt shied away from calling a spade a spade, says Sanyal.

However, the book has limitations, writes Sanyal. The author focuses on Indian history mostly ancient and medieval and looks at a specific strand of misinformation, dealing mostly with those of the hard right.

But when one is addressing the vast world of misinformation and WhatsApp facts, one cannot limit oneself to such a narrow strand, writes Sanyal.

A distinction must be drawn in the literature between misinformation and disinformation. Misinformation need not be intentional, whereas disinformation is a deliberate attempt to mislead.

Market mania

And finally, Samie ModakreviewedThe Big Bull of Dalal Streetby Neil Borate, Aprajita Sharma & Aditya Kondawar, which looks at the life and investments of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.

Jhunjhunwalas appeal, or at least the appeal of the stock market, has only seemed to have grown since the crash of 2020 after lockdowns were announced worldwide to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This appeal is heightened thanks to the many myths that surround Jhunjhunwala, a revered figure among investors. Says Modak that the book corrects many such myths, including the one that he turned Rs 5,000 into Rs 35,000 crore during his career he started with a loan of Rs 2 lakh.

The authors use public information and interviews with his contemporaries to discern his investment decisions. Luckily, there is no shortage of public information on the man. Unlike most stock market stars in India, Jhunjhunwala, a larger-than-life personality with a penchant for the politically incorrect, was not publicity shy... People gathered in their thousands to hear his investment outlook and stock tips (which he famously refrained from offering), writes Modak.

Importantly, the book also looks at some of Jhunjhunwalas bad decisions, apart from the obvious winners he backed, like Titan.

Despite all this detail, the book is incomplete. For instance, the authors tell us little about Jhunjhunwalas life... Nor does it delve much into Jhunjhunwalas investment in unlisted stocks (such as Start Health, the second-most valuable stock in his portfolio after Titan) or how he went about identifying companies in which to invest, writes Modak.

Read more:
The shadow of Xi Jinping, misinformation and hurt religious sentiments - Business Standard

People from all over the world on most weekdays eagerly line up across New York City ready to do something theyd likely never do at home.

Dozens of tourists, fun-seekers and fans snake across the floor in the middle of the afternoon in the luxurious lobby at NBCs 30 Rockefeller Plaza, all anxious to see Seth Meyers do a live-to-tape run-through of his Late Night, a program that has been on in one form or another on the network since David Letterman launched it in 1982. Attending one of the shows means agreeing to take part in an hours-long process that requires everything from security checks to a light verbal grilling by a warm-up comic who aims to get attendees ready to laugh. Many blocks away, a similar crowd queues up under a marquee on the west side of Manhattan, ready to take part in a taping of Comedy Centrals The Daily Show, a TV institution that debuted in 1996 and, at present, has no regular host.

Visitors to these programs come from as far away as Italy or Holland to see how they get made. Some live closer and just see the shows as a fun place to take a date or spend a few hours off from work. But theres no getting around their task: Fans must sit through a whole hour, from opening monologue to last-minute good night. Some people may watch Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel or Stephen Colbert at home in the same way, but their number is diminishing.

Those late night hosts like to make people laugh. But the wee hours often serve as home to something else: horror stories. Maddie Luke, a 26-year-old who works at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, is very interested in hosts like Meyers, Fallon and Colbert. Like a growing number of TV consumers, however, she doesnt have a cable or satellite-TV subscription. Instead, she says, I just follow the socials, and Ill find the interview if Im interested in the guest. Shes not sure shes missing out on anything. When Im home, I will watch an hour-long drama or Ill watch a couple of comedy episodes, but for interviews with celebrities, I kind of like where I dont have to watch one guest after another. I dont mind watching a guest that Im interested in, but sometimes, Im not interested in whats next. Megha Kakaraparti , a 26-year-old product manager from Leesburg, Va., prefers to use late-night hours to watch her favorite crime procedurals. When she does take notice of a late-night show, she says, its just clips on TikTok or YouTube, or just something I see on Instagram thats trending.

Its no secret among TV executives that the younger people who once stayed up past midnight to watch David Letterman drop objects off a five-story building are not tuning to this generations cadre of late-night hosts in the same way. Changing habits like those described above make decades-old late night shows such as Tonight, Late Show or Late Night less easy to monetize and, if executives arent careful, less alluring to keep putting on the air one evening after another.

In 2018, seven late night programs NBCs Tonight and Late Night, CBS Late Show and Late Late Show, ABCs Jimmy Kimmel Live, Comedy Centrals Daily Show and NBCs Saturday Night Live drew more than $698 million in advertising in 2018, according to Vivvix, a tracker of ad spending. By 2022, that total came to $412.7 million a drop of approximately 41% over five years. Fallon, Kimmel, Colbert and the others have all in recent years had to grapple not only with viewers moving to streaming, but with a coronavirus pandemic that forced their shows to embrace performances without a band and live audiences and absences due to infection.

All of this gives Madison Avenue a good reason to try something else. Late-night shows have made themselves more alluring to advertisers by offering product placements, even segments during which the host offers a shout out to a sponsor. But viewers are seeking out and finding their cut down highlights, or moments, rather than making the live episode appointment viewing, says Dave Sederbaum, executive vice president and head of video investment at Dentsu Media US, a large ad buyer that works for General Motors and Heineken, among others. My job is to balance our investments in full episodic content as well as highlights in short-form video.

And so, everyone seems to have night jitters. Over the course of the past few years, NBC has gotten out of the practice of programming a show for 1:30 a.m. after doing so since 1988, and Comedy Centrals portfolio of wee-hours programming has been cut from three to one and that one, Daily Show, has yet to replace Trevor Noah, who abruptly told a studio audience while taping an episode in September that he planned to leave to escape the late-night grind after seven seasons. After James Corden ends his run on CBS The Late Late Show in the next few days, CBS will cancel the program, even though it has been a fixture on its schedule since Tom Snyder launched it in 1995. In its place, the network is expected to air a revival of the Comedy Central game show @midnight, which will cost significantly less than a bells-and-whistles Corden production that includes signature bits like Carpool Karaoke.

Others have also been wary. When Conan OBrien arrived at TBS in 2010, it was seen as a bid to compete more directly with the cable networks broadcast rivals. But Warner Bros. Discovery, TBS new corporate parent, has made no move to find a replacement since OBrien departed in 2021, and also cancelled a weekly program from Samantha Bee that emulated late-night antics. Efforts by streamers to harness some of the formats power have not been successful. Netflix stopped production on a nightly program led by Chelsea Handler, while Hulu canceled a weekly show from Sarah Silverman. Apple currently runs a program featuring the legendary Jon Stewart, but any buzz around it has been minimal the result, perhaps, of trying to run a series of this sort without the ability to promote it to a big audience turning in regularly to a primetime or daytime schedule. NBCU has tested a show led by Amber Ruffin for Peacock, but is producing fewer episodes as she works on a comedy pilot.

Late-night TV is one of the industrys signature products. Some veterans of the late-night wars arent optimistic the programs can continue in the same fashion. Youre dealing with some heavy legacy costs and infrastructure: staff, studio crew, hosts. In a time of diminishing audiences, its tough to make that math add up, says Jim Bell, a former showrunner at NBCs Tonight and executive producer of Today who is now head of strategy for NewsBreak, a local news and information platform. You can hope that things like social media Instagram, YouTube might be complimentary, but it just now feels like its cannibalizing.

No one is sending Stephen Colbert to the sidelines not tonight, and probably not next year. Fallon, Kimmel and their cohorts continue to lure a decent audience each evening, and their monologues, sketches, pranks and interviews turn up all over the digi-sphere within minutes of being broadcast, sometimes even in advance. Many of the hosts create bespoke content for Twitter and YouTube. Seth Meyers team releases his signature analysis segment, A Closer Look, in the early evening on social media well before his program airs. He also does a weekly Corrections segment for YouTube that tackles viewers complaints and comments no matter how mundane or odd. Its very heavy on inside jokes. Many hosts are creating other content as well, including a pickleball tournament backed by Colbert or NBC shows such as Thats My Jam or Password that are produced by Fallon.

The networks dont want to give up. The hosts play a big role in influencing the national conversation. Johnny Carson essentially tucked the nation into bed when he led Tonight and it was David Letterman who helped America move on from the tragedy of 9/11 with, of all things, a late-night monologue. Its an important part of the dialogue and culture, says Jen Flanz, executive producer of Daily, which observers note is likely reducing expenses by relying on guests to lead the program. Not every country allows TV personalities to poke fun at the government or influentials, she adds. I think its important to appreciate the platform that late-night hosts have.

The jobs still carry appeal. Kal Penn, who recently completed a week-long stint as a Daily Show guest host, would be eager to take the job full time. The first time I remember watching, I was 18 or 19, he says. So this was a real dream come true to host for a week.

And while its true no single host is bringing in the numbers Carson did when he had only an occasional rival to worry about, there is still admiration for what a late-night host does, putting up hundreds of hours of TV every year under great time pressure. These are difficult jobs. It takes a special talent to be funny and topical while tackling tough subjects and writing great jokes about current events on a nightly basis. The hosts need to be the managing editors of their shows and have a distinct point of view. Its rarefied air to find people who are the best of the best at it, says Jim Dixon, the veteran WME agent who represents Colbert, Kimmel and Jon Stewart. I dont think the networks would be in the late-night business if it wasnt profitable.

How profitable remains a key question. As money gets tighter, executives begin to worry about costs. The move from watching TV programs on a specific night and at a specific time to binge-viewing a favorite on a streaming hub at moments of ones own choosing has destabilized the TV economy, and Wall Street has put pressure on media giants to show profits as well as digital growth. Media CEOs now have this intense focus on cost management and cash flow generation. Theres just such an appetite today to look at old standbys, whether its programming or even assessing entire dayparts and saying, Does this meet our needs over the near term?, says John Harrison, who leads the Americas media and entertainment practice at EY. Some of the late-evening and late-night dayparts could get caught up in that.

TV executives are increasingly pushed to consider whether a live band is truly critical to a new shows midnight success, or forced to count how many field pieces, or sketches produced outside the studio, a show can really do. Producers can tell when things are flush and when they are not, says one executive familiar with late-night programs, and when thats the case, writers and hosts understand we should do the ones we love, and not every idea that pops up in a meeting.

When Johnny Carson held sway behind the desk at NBCs Tonight, it was fun to try and pick at the unknown. Carson routinely played a character named Carnac the Magnificent, who would hold an envelope up to his forehead and guess the answer to a question that was tucked inside. If only someone could see into the future now! Its definitely time for some Carnac, says Bell, the former producer.

Carson never had to worry about the problems that plague late night today. And besides, some of the formats current challenges might best be pinned on Letterman.

Its not Lettermans fault viewers are scrambling to stream when they stay up late. Yet when the host came out to the stage of The Late Show at New Yorks Ed Sullivan Theater on an early April day in 2014 and surprised the live audience by announcing his intentions to retire, he set in motion a series of maneuvers that have weakened late night, rather than bolstering it.

Letterman exited the format in 2015, after 6,080 episodes of CBS The Late Show and NBCs Late Night. In doing so, he opened what many rivals perceived as an opportunity. Lettermans retirement as well as an announcement that Jon Stewart would step down from The Daily Show in 2015 after a 16-year tenure spurred others to see if they couldnt get in on the late-night game. The idea, however, wasnt to capture everyone, as had been the goal for decades, but just a sliver of the overall crowd.

National Geographic Channel lined up astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson for a weekly late-night series aimed at viewers with an inner geek. CMT in 2015 hired comedian Josh Wolf to try his hand at a Wednesday-to-Saturday program that would examine country-music notables. MTV tested Middle of the Night Show, a series that forced a celebrity to host a late-night program on the spot from his or her home.

When Carson held sway, late-night rivals were few and far between. Arsenio Hall made a mark in syndication, but Pat Sajak did nothing for CBS. Joan Rivers famously flopped on Fox. After Letterman moved to CBS from NBC, Fox tried again with Chevy Chase. The attempt didnt last long. But with Letterman and Jay Leno splitting the field, ABC broke new ground, first by launching Bill Maher in Politically Incorrect in 1997 (grabbing the show from Comedy Central) and then by placing Jimmy Kimmel after Nightline in 2003. And HBO nibbled on the edges by developing Maher (after an exit from ABC) in Real Time, and, later, by launching John Oliver in a Sunday format, Last Week Tonight that, if the weekday crew offers the comedic version of the nightly news, stands as a sort of laughterinducing 60 Minutes. Suddenly, everyone wanted to make a late-night play. TBS soon launched Full Frontal with Samantha Bee once a week at 10 p.m. in a program that appealed mainly to viewers with liberal political leanings. BET and Vice tried shows led, respectively, by Robin Thede and Desus & Mero. The Vice duo would jump to Showtime.

As the election of President Donald Trump polarized the nation, some of late-nights voices chose to lean into politics. The fragmentation of viewing and the trickier conversational terrain have hurt the programs, says Harrison. There has been so much political news over the last six to eight years, and that has filtered into late night. When that becomes a large part of your program, in this environment, you are by math probably not appealing to half your potential audience, he cautions. Meanwhile, as more viewers bypass linear TV, he says. Its difficult to discover these shows or promote them.

Enter Fox News Channel. In 2021, the Fox Corp.-backed cable outlet added Gutfeld! to its lineup at 11 p.m. The program features commentator Greg Gutfeld and a panel of contributors who talk politics and culture. Fox has positioned the program as a competitor to Colbert, Fallon, Kimmel and The Daily Show. We are not having celebrities to promote some movie, says Tom OConnor, the programs executive producer. We are just having interesting people that we think are funny. In the first quarter of 2023, Gutfeld! captured more viewers on average than either NBCs Tonight or ABCs Jimmy Kimmel.

Little wonder that the TV companies with longstanding ties to late-night have begun to retrench.

People behind the scenes estimate the CBS reboot of @midnight will cost millions of dollars less per year to produce. There may not be as big an investment in a talent like Cordens, these people say. George Cheeks, president and CEO of CBS, wont divulge additional details, but notes, All the broadcast networks in that space have to be really thoughtful about what we spend, how we spend and how we invest. You cant be locked into some of the legacy elements of the format.

There are other ways to keep late-night going, he argues. I do think the late-night daypart is really critical to the broadcast platform. I think you have iconic franchises in The Late Show, Tonight Show, Kimmel. I think there is genuine interest in maintaining that space. That being said, one of the opportunities we see with the 12:30 spot is a chance to widen the aperture when it comes to format, when it comes to talent, making sure we have diversity both behind and in front of the camera.

Comedy Central may still rebuild The Daily Show around a central personality starting in the fall, but the show has been test-driving guest hosts since January. We were incredibly impressed and,frankly, thrilled with the guest hosts, says Chris McCarthy, president and CEO, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios & Paramount Media Networks. Each one has brought something unique over many of these weeks. Weve had some weeks with higher viewing than we did at this time last year, so theres always room for growth. McCarthy adds that the guest hosts will continue until around the end of Spring, and then, we will finalize our choice. Even so, use of guest hosts may remain an option. I think there are a lot of people who want the job, says Flanz. I would like to see a lot of people do it before we make any kind of decision.

Yet the days of offering multiple late-night programs may be over at the network at least for now. What we were finding in in linear, you need things that have the help of big marquee IP, something that has big, broad awareness. We tried really hard to launch new companions. We were finding that people came to linear for their habits. In a lot of cases, that is insurmountable, launching a show when you are up against not having a built-in audience, and so, its challenging, says McCarthy. Thats not to say we might not try down the road to drive a Sunday show or a weekend show, but right now we are laser focused on building out the new version of Daily with an iconic new face. Any new program, he adds, would likely be launched under the Daily Show franchise.

The company that runs what is arguably the biggest portfolio of late-night shows in the industry has been working aggressively to monetize them and could make radical shifts soon, depending on circumstances. NBCUniversal expects to evaluate how it should program 10 p.m. after the 2023-2024 season, says Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUs TV and streaming operations, and depending on its findings, the way it presents late-night shows could change. If NBC were to stop putting original scripted hours in its weekday 10 p.m. slot, he says, We would obviously think about how that affects late night and maybe run late night a little earlier, if that became the case. We have made no determination. We will evaluate it a year from now. As of right now, we are firmly set with three hours of prime time.

This wouldnt be the first time NBCU has tested such a strategy. In 2009, it ran a talk-and-comedy show led by Jay Leno at 10 p.m. each weekday, until complaints from affiliates that low ratings were hurting late local news forced its cancellation just months later. When Peacock launched in 2020, NBC proposed airing both the Fallon and Meyers programs in early evening well before Tonight and Late Night turn up on local stations. NBC heard from its affiliates on the matter, and ultimately felt it wasnt the right decision, says Lazarus. It wouldnt bring enough to Peacock to justify what it might do the linear broadcast.

NBCU has already made one big night shift. In a different era, says Lazarus, running a show at 1:30 a.m. made sense and got ratings. After airing programs in the hour led by Bob Costas, Greg Kinnear, Cynthia Garrett, Carson Daly, and, most recently, Lilly Singh, we thought in partnership with our affiliates, we could drive more value by doing other things, and having them program that time slot, he says. Theres no magic to it. Its really late at night and theres a lower audience level.

Even the smallest investor in late-night TV could face challenges in years to come. At ABC, Jimmy Kimmel recently signed another three-year deal, but executives at rival media companies wonder whether the host, who is currently the longest-serving on air and will take off the summer as he has for the past two years, might choose to step down. With Kimmel involved in the Oscars and producing other specials, you cant put a price on what Jimmy means to Walt Disney Company as well as late night, says Rob Mills, executive vice president of unscripted and alternative entertainment at Walt Disney Television, who adds: I dont think hes going to stay for another 40 years, but I certainly am praying hes going to stay beyond these three. The show employs both the host and his spouse, Molly McNearney, who is an executive producer, and it has also given Kimmel more presence as he delves more into creating other programs and content under his production venture, Kimmelot.

What would Disney do if Kimmel chose to exit? The host might have some say in who succeeds him, says Mills. A lot of it is just timing. Is there some new, amazing talent? he asks. If not, absolutely, I think we would look at some other types of formats or things we should do. Could Nightline return to the post-late-news slot it held for years before Disney gave that space to Kimmel? Im sure that news would absolutely be in the conversation, says Mills.

TV networks may not want to have these talks. But they already seem like theyre rehearsing for them.

One late-night show is not like the others.

While the networks explore new models and cut costs, NBC re-engineered Saturday Night Live several years ago. In 2017, NBC took the program, which has long aired at 11:30 p.m. on the east coast, then across the rest of the country in delayed fashion, and ran it live all at once. Doing so was the absolute right thing to do, given how technology allows people to consume media, says Lazarus. I dont think we should treat people on the west coast as second class citizens. As part of the process, NBC cut back the number of commercials in the ad breaks that accompanied SNL, leaving viewers with less time to search other channels or run out for a snack, and prodding Madison Avenue to pay higher prices to appear in the show.

The maneuver has helped stoke continuing interest in the program, which executive producer Lorne Michaels has pushed to morph with the times. SNL is a cultural behemoth. Even Axios, the newsletter publisher focused on politics and technology, has on occasion posted a re-cap of the program, joining dozens of other media outlets who summarize SNL highlights each week.

SNL could face a challenge of a different sort, however. Michaels, who founded the show and guided it through nearly all its tenure on air, is nearing 80. That, combined with some of his own recent remarks, have fueled speculation that the show could, at some not-too-distant point, have other people guiding it from behind the scenes.

I think Im committed to doing this show until its 50th anniversary, which is in three years, Michaels told CBS News in 2021. Id like to see that through, and I have a feeling thatd be a really good time to leave. But heres the point: I wont want the show ever to be bad. I care too deeply about it. Its been my lifes work. So, Im gonna do everything I can to see it carry on and carry on well. Months later, the producer appeared to change his plans. I have no plans to retire, he told The New York Times in 2022.

One theory has it that Michaels could hand the reins to someone like Seth Meyers, Colin Jost or Tina Fey. All three have served as head writers of SNL. Jost is still with the show, while Fey and Meyers have gone one to their own successes in front of and behind the camera. Would Michaels consider stepping back by a few degrees, maintaining oversight of the program while letting someone else take on more routine management tasks? Michaels does, after all, also have oversight of Tonight and Late Night through his Broadway Video production company, and he is also involved with projects tied to Pete Davidson, Maria Taylor and Rachel Maddow, among others. Or will he just keep on keeping on?

NBC declined to make the producer available for comment.

A Michaels departure could create a major change in the way SNL is run. The instructive thing about Lornes stewardship of SNL is he is in charge of the whole thing the business side and the creative side. He is truly the executive producer of the show. He has great lieutenants, but if youre going to bring in a creative person like Colin, Tina, Seth or whoever, you would probably want to place them in charge of the creative elements, and find others who would handle the business side, says James Andrew Miller, co-author of the 2002 SNL oral history, Live From New York. I dont think any one person can do all of the things that Lorne does.

NBC expects to continue working with him. This is not a man who is slowing down at any great rate, says Lazarus. If there is a succession decision to be made, says Lazarus, Lorne is going to have major input on all of that. Its Lornes show. Its Lornes legacy. Let me put it this way: Everybody who has sat in my chair, he has been here to say hello and goodbye to. Hes still here. Hes calling the shots.

Michaels departure would be a once-in-a-lifetime TV event, except for one thing: It has happened before.

The producer left Saturday Night Live after its fifth season, hoping to try his hand at other projects and to get away from the whirl of getting such an unusual program on the air each week. One of the potential successors considered at the time was Al Franken, a writer and occasional on-screen contributor who would go on to become a U.S. Senator from Minnesota. The idea was scrapped by then-NBC chief Fred Silverman, who didnt like the fact that Franken made fun of him and NBCs ratings in a Weekend Update sketch.

Only one thing about Michaels tenure at SNL is certain, says Franken: Its up to Lorne.

As Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon, Meyers and others continue their late-night antics, TV executives acknowledge the terrain once trod by Carson, Letterman and Jay Leno has become more difficult to navigate. Five years from now, it will probably be the same, NBCUs Lazarus says of current late-night formats. Ten years from now, all bets are off. There are a lot of pieces to that what are our relationships with distributors? Is something the norm as opposed to the new entry? What is the relationship between broadcast and affiliate partners?

Even so, some are trying to figure out what viewers will watch late in the evening. I think it can be a moment of opportunity for outlets with open real estate or who havent been in the space in some time or at all, says Allan Hadelman, who heads the New York office of talent agency UTA. Im curious as to whether there is some type of programming that exists in this format that is compatible with new audiences and distribution, for people who may no longer turn on a tv and flip through the channels but still may be interested in something consistent, reliable, and entertaining at the end of the day.

Netflix recently did a live broadcast of a Chris Rock stand-up concert, complete with a pre-show and post-show. And Sony Pictures Television hopes to launch a new half-hour syndicated late-night talk show in the fall led by Craig Ferguson. The program aims to focus on surprising and hilarious TV moments and would launch, presumably, as CBS and Comedy Central are trying to get viewers excited about the new post-Corden game show and a new Daily Show set-up. There may also be new opportunities for the regulars, says one person familiar with some of the late-night programs Fallon, for instance, would likely greet a bigger crowd at 10 p.m. than he does at 11:30 after the local news.

The question, of course, is whether the entries of the future will get people lining up around New York as the current crowd does. For now, late-night hosts are holding sway. The job is unique, influential and lucrative, and these masters of midnight can still laugh all the way to the bank. Unfortunately, the networks that broadcast them cannot.

More:
Night Jitters: TVs Late Crowd Grapples With Weakness in the Wee Hours - Variety