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Key Senate Democrat wants details on probes overseen by arrested former FBI official

February 2, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee wants more information about investigations overseen by the former head of the FBI New York Field Office Charles McGonigal.

McGonigal, who was the special agent in charge of counterintelligence in the FBI’s New York Field Office, was arrested last month over his alleged ties to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire who has been sanctioned by the United States and criminally charged last year with violating those sanctions.

“These allegations are extremely disturbing and raise concerns about the potential impact this misconduct may have had on the FBI’s counterintelligence matters and criminal investigations,” Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, writes to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland. “As a SAC for the New York Field Office, Mr. McGonigal oversaw many sensitive counterintelligence investigations, including investigations involving individuals he has now been accused of working to benefit.”

Durbin points out U.S. officials have said Deripaska was a close associate of former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort and also on the U.S. sanctions list.

Noting the indictment alleges that McGonigal concealed his receipt of $225,000 cash from a former Albanian intelligence agency employee, Durbin writes, “Both indictments include alleged conduct that occurred while Mr. McGonigal served as the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of FBI’s Counterintelligence Division in the New York Field Office from 2016 to 2018 and after his retirement.”

Durbin is wanting to know if any investigations were impacted and how many investigations that he oversaw were potentially compromised.

Durbin is asking for a response by Feb 15.

“Mr. McGonigal’s alleged misconduct may have impacted these highly sensitive matters, including whether he compromised sensitive sources, methods, and analysis,” Durbin writes. “Whether his alleged misconduct materially impacted the outcome of any investigations or further compromised our national security also remains unknown at this time.”

Previously, FBI Director Christopher Wray said McGonigal’s actions don’t represent his agency.

McGonigal, who retired from the FBI in 2018, has pleaded not guilty to the four-count indictment unsealed Monday in Manhattan.

ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.

The Smashing Pumpkins announce The World Is a Vampire Australian festival with Jane’s Addiction

February 2, 2023 by WDNY Radio

When Billy Corgan famously sang “the world is a vampire” on The Smashing Pumpkins‘ “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” he apparently really did mean the whole world.

The Pumpkins are headed all the way to Australia to stage their The World Is a Vampire festival. The touring event will make stops in 10 different Australian cities in April and will also feature Jane’s Addiction on the bill.

For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit OneWorldEntertainment.com.au.

If you’re looking to see Corgan and company a little bit closer to their hometown of Chicago, The World Is a Vampire festival will also take place in Mexico in March. Interpol and Turnstile will be on the lineup.

Meanwhile, The Smashing Pumpkins have been releasing new music from their three-act “rock opera” album, Atum. The first two parts are out now; part three arrives April 21.

Tom Jones’ “Delilah” banned from Welsh stadium

February 2, 2023 by WDNY Radio

One of Tom Jones’ classic tunes will never be played in a Cardiff, Wales, stadium again. Sky News reports that Principality Stadium has officially banned choirs from performing Jones’ tune “Delilah” due to its controversial lyrics about the murder of a woman by her jealous partner.

The Welsh Ruby Union says the song was removed from halftime playlists at the stadium in 2015, but now the stadium has issued the same ban to choirs performing there.

“’Delilah’ will not feature on the playlist for choirs for rugby internationals at Principality Stadium,” says a spokesperson for the stadium. “Guest choirs have also more recently been requested not to feature the song during their pre-match performances and throughout games.”

The song has been popular with fans at rugby matches, and while the stadium won’t play it anymore, there are no restrictions placed on fans who want to sing it.

Jones has commented on the controversy surrounding the tune, arguing people were taking it too literally and adding that it didn’t make light of violence against women.

Warren Zevon’s family reacts to his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination

February 2, 2023 by WDNY Radio

The late Warren Zevon is one of this year’s nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and the news left his children pretty emotional.

“When I first saw it, tears came to my eyes first and then sort of the shock of it being 20 years later since he passed away,” daughter Ariel tells Billboard. “It feels like a significant moment for the Zevon family.” Son Jordan adds, “I’m excited. I had to wake up at 4:50 in the morning to get the news firsthand, so I’m very caffeinated and possibly a little dizzy, but I’m excited.”

As for how they think their dad would have taken the news, Jordan says, “There’s this misconception that dad wouldn’t have cared.” He added, “It’d be like, ‘Hey Johnny, hey Ariel, guess what?!’ It would have been, ‘It’s a big deal.’ It was his business. He wanted to be good at it. You want to win, you know, best plumber of the year.”

Ariel says she feels like her father’s music resonates with a lot of people these days, noting, “I would say that’s a good sign of somebody who probably deserves to be recognized, for a contribution to the arts, just generally speaking.”

“I just think the quality of the music and the songwriting, it’s such a different level, and I think that he put so much care into it,” Jordan adds. “And commercial put aside, quality-wise he still kept writing some songs that I think are just really, truly amazing, throughout his career. I just think he is pretty f–king good!”

Justice Department in talks to search former Vice President Mike Pence’s home for classified documents

February 2, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice is in contact with former Vice President Mike Pence’s lawyers about scheduling a potential search of his home in Indiana, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

The discussions come after classified documents were found in Pence’s Indiana home and turned over to the FBI for review. A lawyer for Pence conducted the search of Pence’s home in Indiana last week and found the documents.

The search was done proactively and in the wake of news that classified documents from before he was president were found in Joe Biden’s home and old office at the Penn Biden Center.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the Department of Justice and Pence’s legal team were in discussions about scheduling a search.

Pence’s team believes an additional search by federal investigators won’t reveal any additional classified documents but intends to comply fully with the DOJ review of the matter, including any search of his home.

The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

What’s the deal with AI? Endless, computer-generated ‘Seinfeld’-like show goes viral

February 2, 2023 by WDNY Radio

There have been a lot of stories lately about how AI programs like ChatGPT will someday replace the need for actual humans writing articles and ads, but for now, sitcom writers’ jobs are safe. That said, a new example of the tech has people laughing.

Generated by Chat GPT and DALL-E — the latter which makes art based on human descriptions — Mismatch Media’s Nothing, Forever is a Seinfeld-like show that launched on the watchmeforever channel on the streaming platform Twitch December 14, and has been playing ever since.

Endlessly.

That’s not to say it’s on a loop, but it’s literally a low-fi looking, endless send-up of the sitcom that plays 24/7, with the comedic touch that only a synthetic mind could create. There’s a Jerry character called Larry Feinberg, an Elaine (named Yvonne Torres), a George (dubbed Fred Kastopolous), and, of course, a Kramer (named Zoltan Kakler). The humor is as random as the character names.

This particular “show about nothing” is truly absurdist art at its finest: ‘Larry’s’ stand-up is often not funny — again, machines don’t have funny bones — and the camera angles are as wonky as the characters’ motions. But at any given time, thousands of people are watching it, and Nothing, Forever has even spawned its own memes.

And because the tech is constantly churning out new material, there are no reruns.

Tool’s Danny Carey teases “big tour coming in the fall”

February 2, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Better check your enlistment status in the Tool Army.

Maynard James Keenan and company are set to return to touring later this year, if drummer Danny Carey is to be believed.

While accepting his award for Progressive Drummer of the Year at the recent Drumeo Awards, Carey declared, “We have a big tour coming in the fall.”

Carey added that Tool will play a number of festivals this summer. The group has already been announced to play the Welcome to Rockville and Sonic Temple festivals.

Tool played their most recent live show at last year’s Bonnaroo. They’ve been touring over the past couple years in support of their 2019 comeback album, Fear Inoculum.

Beyoncé fans in UK say Renaissance Tour presale is a “fiasco”

February 2, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Looks like Ticketmaster might have to worry about the Beyhive soon because some of Beyoncé‘s British fans are having trouble getting tickets to her tour.

Bey announced the Renaissance Tour, her first in about seven years, on Wednesday, and some select venues are already having a presale — such as London’s O2 Arena. Unfortunately, it appears people are having the same kind of difficulties Taylor Swift fans had when it comes to buying presale tickets for the tour.

One angry member of the Beyhive called the presale a “waste of time” after waiting in line behind 200,000 people and leaving left empty-handed. Numerous stories with similar claims began flooding Twitter, with some calling the presale another fiasco due to site crashes, long wait times, glitches in the queue and other difficulties.

Here in the U.S., ticket presales start February 6 for those who signed up via Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan technology at beyonce.livenation.com.

Insiders agree this marks a new test for Ticketmaster, which is looking to redeem itself following the disastrous rollout of the Swift presale.

The Hollywood Reporter says demand for Bey’s Renaissance Tour is predicted to rival that of Taylor’s tour. Ticketmaster released a statement about the changes it made to ensure more tickets wind up in fans’ hands.

“It’s expected there will be more demand than there are tickets available and a lottery-style process will determine which registered Verified Fans receive a unique access code for the sale and which are put on the waitlist,” the company said.

On This Day – February 2, 1942: Two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Graham Nash was born

February 2, 2023 by WDNY Radio

On this day, February 2, 1942…

Singer/songwriter Graham Nash was born in Blackpool, England. He first gained fame in the early 60s as a member of the Hollies, and then in 1968 he teamed with Stephen Stills and David Crosby to form Crosby, Stills & Nash, with Neil Young joining them a year later. They performed their second-ever gig together at Woodstock. Their first album as a foursome, 1970’s Déjà Vu, went to number one.

Nash has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice:as a member of Crosby, Stills, & Nash in 1997, and again as a member of the Hollies in 2010. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours List for services to music and to charity.

Nash is scheduled to start a new tour on April 12 in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

Pedro Pascal can’t shake his job on ‘The Last of Us’ in new ‘SNL’ promo

February 2, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Pedro Pascal is making his Saturday Night Live debut this weekend, but he’s having some trouble transitioning away from his hit HBO show The Last of Us.

A new spot shows the Game of Thrones and Mandalorian vet taking in SNL’s studio 8H. “Little Pedro Pascal from Santiago, Chile, hosting Saturday Night Live,” he muses. Suddenly, he hears something suspicious and spots a shadowy form creeping around. He spots a “clicker,” one of the infected, zombie-like humans that stalk him on The Last of Us, and grabs a hammer to dispatch it.

Just as he’s about to strike, Sarah Sherman interrupts him: “What are you doing, you psycho?!” she asks. “That’s Matt, our new cast member,” she says of the hideous creature, consoling him with fellow SNL player Molly Kearney.

Sarah then tells Pedro, “Listen, I know this is your first time hosting SNL, but a little advice: Don’t hit the cast members with a hammer, you maniac!”

Kearney advises him, “We’re gonna get past this, but gotta be honest: Not the best first impression. Get better.”

Pascal then says to himself, “This place is nuts,” adding with a crazy grin to camera: “I LIKE IT!”

Coldplay returns to SNL this weekend as the musical guest.

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