YeardleySmith has not only been the iconic voice of Lisa Simpson since The Simpsons began more than 32 seasons ago, but she’s also the producer and co-host of her hit podcast, Small Town Dicks.
The true-crime series is co-hosted by two anonymous identical twin detectives Dave and Dan — the latter of whom is married to Smith — and investigates big crimes that happen in small towns. Smith tells ABC Audio the series is a fun transition from Simpsons.
“I mean, it’s it sort of couldn’t be more opposite,” she says, before switching to Lisa’s voice, “‘Lisa Simpson is, even when she’s having a bad day, she finds the silver lining in the dark cloud.'” Whereas “Small Town Dicks is murder and mayhem, and what’s the worst possible thing a person could do to another person?”
Smith adds, “People ask me, ‘why do you think people are obsessed with true crime, and particularly women?’ I think it’s multifold, obviously, but I do think that people like the good guys to win,” she says.
“And even as we have this really relevant conversation about policing in America, at the end of the day, if somebody is breaking into your house who you’re going to call right, you’re going to call 9-1-1.”
The Simpsons just ran its annual pre-Halloween “Treehouse of Horror” episode, which Smith says the cast likes as much as the fans do. “[Y]ou get to go even further, and you get to parody some of your favorite stories, favorite shows, genres, whatever it is for us as the actors, it’s so fun,” she explains.
Smith even spilled some tea. “We actually just recorded the next ‘Treehouse of Horror’ already because they’re so labor-intensive for the writers and the animators. There is a…a fantastic parody of Westworld where Lisa becomes Bart and basically like takes on his bratty, bratty, and Bart becomes the goody two shoes and the world is falling apart. So, yeah, it’s pretty good.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration on Friday said it would make another attempt to end the “Remain in Mexico” protocols, a Trump administration initiative that forced tens of thousands of asylum seekers back into Mexican border towns to await their court dates in the U.S.
The administration has been under pressure from immigrant advocacy groups to end the policy but has met with legal roadblocks.
In a briefing before the announcement, Department of Homeland Security officials told reporters they had reassessed the policy, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas once again determined it was appropriate to end it despite acknowledging its impact in reducing unauthorized migration. One official pointed out that multiple factors can drive migration, but based on the department’s own assessment, the protocols had been effective in deterring border crossing attempts.
“In looking at the data from 2019, there is a fairly clear reduction in encounters at the land border starting around the time that the MPP was implemented across the entire border,” one DHS official said. “That said, you know, correlation is not necessarily causation.”
However, the officials said the humanitarian consequences outweigh the potential benefits of reduced illegal entries. Humanitarian organizations have documented high rates of murder, kidnapping and extortion on top of squalid conditions facing those subjected to “Remain in Mexico.”
A new policy memo to DHS officials dives deeper into the decision-making process by considering potential costs to states as well as potential improvements that could be made to MPP. However, the officials maintained that certain issues with returning migrants back across an international boundary will persist. Immigrant advocacy organizations have been principally concerned with the lack of access to legal services for migrants who are sent back.
“Once individuals are returned across an international border, there’s limited opportunities for the United States to be able to affect their safety and security once they’re in the control of another sovereign nation,” one DHS official said.
The acknowledgment of MPP’s deterrence capabilities is a significant concession for the Biden administration. For months, Republicans have condemned the administration for repealing “Remain in Mexico,” citing the decision as a driving force behind the record number of arrests at the border.
Biden suspended “Remain in Mexico” on his first day in office and Secretary Mayorkas attempted to officially end it in June. A federal judge ordered the Biden administration to reinstate the protocols last August in response to a legal challenge by the state of Texas and Missouri. The Justice Department continues to fight the order and hopes an appellate court will reverse it or remand the decision back to the district court.
Embedded in the district court’s order to reinstate was a suggestion that the administration needs to be capable of either detaining every migrant who attempts an illegal entry or subject them to “Remain in Mexico.” MPP was implemented by the Trump administration in 2019 and, as DHS officials point out, Congress has never provided enough funds to detain every unauthorized migrant.
Much of the administration’s ability continue the practice relies on cooperation from the Mexican government, which was initially opposed to the idea, but has since considered conditions under which it could be reinstated. Talks with Mexican officials are ongoing, DHS officials said.
Depending on whether the Mexican government will agree, the Biden administration is on track to reinstate “Remain in Mexico” by mid-November. Oral arguments are scheduled in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 2.
Drake is bringing together twelve of the top battle rappers for a special competition that will be livestreamed on Saturday. He has teamed with the Ultimate Rap League to host Drake’s Til Death Do Us Part.
“I really put this event together because so much time we spend debating in sport, in competition, what would happen if this person had to go up against this person,” Drizzy said in a promo video.
“A lot of the time our debates stem from our dream matchups, and this event, fortunately for us in battle rap, is that exact debate coming to life,” Drake continues. “These are battles that are fueled by rivalry, hate, a true chance to silence all the talking and definitely set up moments that will rewrite legacy and rewrite history for some people.”
The event continues Drake’s month-long birthday celebration, and marks the Ultimate Rap League’s 12th anniversary.
“Drake isn’t just a casual battle rap fan and has been a supporter behind the URL movement for years,” Ultimate Rap League CEO Troy Mitchell says in a statement. “Over the last 20 months, he’s helped our brand grow by facilitating our partnership with Caffeine, which allows us to stream our premium content for free to our fanbase.”
“Drake’s Til Death Do Us Part is not just a birthday celebration for our friend,” Mitchell continues. “It is a shifting of the culture and is going to be the biggest event ever witnessed in battle rap history, bigger even than Summer Madness 2.”
Drake’s Til Death Do Us Part airs live on URL’s Caffeine channel on Saturday, October 30th at 6 p.m. EDT/3 p.m. PDT and will stream exclusively on URL’s app,
Jake Owen, Ronnie Dunn and Texas-based singer Jake Worthington take the wheel on “Jonesin’,” the newest release off of the Hardy-curated Hixtape Vol. 2.
The track — which Florida Georgia Line band mate Brian Kelley co-wrote with Nashville hitmakers Ernest K. Smith and Corey Crowder — is a feel-good ode to a couple of the titans of the country genre.
“Well, I’m jonesin’ for some Jones / I’m hankerin’ for some Hank / And I’mma two-step across the dance floor / With a little lightning in my drink,” the trio sing in the chorus. “And I’m out here for a good time / Yeah, I’m trying to find some love / Gonna keep this tractor rolling / ‘Til they kick me out the country club…”
Of course, those lyrics are clever tips of the hat to songs from the Possum himself, George Jones, with another honorable mention for another country great, Hank Williams.
“Jonesin’” is the latest release off of Hixtape Vol. 2, which drops in full this December. A collaborations project also featuring the likes of Jon Pardi, Jimmie Allen, Dierks Bentley and many more, the Hixtape is a follow-up to Hardy’s 2019 duets project, Hixtape Vol 1.
Speaking of Hardy, he’s got plans to make his late-night TV debut next month. He’ll make a stop on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he’ll perform his current single, “Give Heaven Some Hell.” That spot is set for November 8, just a few days after the 2021 CMA Awards, where Hardy’s nominated for New Artist of the Year.
The lawsuit between Bad Wolves and the band’s former frontman, Tommy Vext, has been settled, Billboard reports.
Vext, who fronted Bad Wolves for their first two albums, parted ways with the group earlier this year in January. In July, Vext filed a lawsuit against Allen Kovac, the CEO of Bad Wolves’ record label, Better Noise Music, alleging that Kovac had orchestrated his exit from the band due to his political views, including his support for former President Donald Trump and his stance against the Black Lives Matter movement. Vext also alleged that Kovac used racial slurs in conversations with him.
Bad Wolves and Better Noise then countered with their own lawsuit, saying Vext infringed upon copyright in using his former band’s name to promote his own solo tour.
Now, in a joint statement to Billboard, the parties declare that they’ve “collectively resolved their disputes.”
“This is a settlement with no winners and no losers; it’s beneficial to everyone in order to move on and bury the hatchet,” the statement reads. “This is a new beginning and a bright future for all those concerned.”
It continues, “We’re all excited to get back to what’s important, and that’s the music. Bad Wolves and Tommy wish each other the best going forward, and ask that their fans respect this decision.”
The result comes at a fitting time, since Bad Wolves’ new album, Dear Monsters, is out today. The record is the group’s first with new lead singer Daniel “DL” Laskiewicz.
The earnest track finds frontman Jacoby Shaddix singing, “I’m dying to believe/That we’re more alike than we think/That we’re all the same underneath.” You can listen to it now via digital outlets.
“Dying to Believe” follows the recently released tunes “Kill the Noise” and “Swerve,” featuring FEVER 333‘s Jason Aalon Butler and rapper Sueco. All three are set to appear on the next Papa Roach album, due out in 2022.
Papa Roach’s most recent record is 2019’s Who Do You Trust?
(WASHINGTON) — Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans serving on the House Jan. 6 select committee, and one of the most vocal critics of the GOP’s embrace of former President Donald Trump and the “big lie,” announced on Friday he is not running for reelection to Congress next term.
In referencing his first campaign, Kinzinger made the announcement in a nearly five-minute video to supporters and posted to social media.
“I also remember during that campaign saying that if I ever thought it was time to move on from Congress I would, and that time is now, but let me be clear, my passion for this country has only grown. My desire to make a difference is bigger than it’s ever been. My disappointment in the leaders that don’t lead is huge. The battlefield must be broader and the truth needs to reach the American people across the whole country,” he said.
“I cannot focus on both a re-election to Congress and a broader fight nationwide,” he said.
Gemma Chan is no stranger to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although she’s set to star in the upcoming Eternals movie, she first joined the MCU almost three years ago as the blue-skinned villain Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel.
Minn-Erva met her demise toward the end of the 2019 film, thus allowing Chan to take on the mantle of Sersi in Eternals, a hero who is almost the complete opposite of Minn-Erva.
“To be honest, I was as surprised as anyone else. I was not expected to be back,” the 38-year-old told ScreenRant about returning to the MCU. “I obviously jumped at the chance…And you know what? This time I don’t have to be painted blue, so I didn’t have to do the 2:30am or 3am call times to be four hours sprayed with body paint. So, that was good.”
Eternals, directed by Chloé Zhao and also starring Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden and Kit Harrington, arrives in theaters on November 5.
Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — ABC News’ Amy Robach was diagnosed with breast cancer eight years ago, on Oct. 30, 2013.
Following a live mammogram on “Good Morning America” to kick of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Robach, then 40, received a phone call several weeks later, on Oct. 30, telling her she had stage 2 invasive breast cancer.
“It can make me emotional literally thinking about it right now,” Robach said of that phone call. “When I first got diagnosed, it’s just a whirlwind of so many decisions … and it all happens so quickly.”
Very soon after her diagnosis, Robach underwent a double mastectomy, followed by eight rounds of chemotherapy and then breast reconstruction surgery.
She also began to take a daily medication, tamoxifen, that she will continue to take for three more years. The drug, which helps lower the risk of cancer recurrence, can induce symptoms of menopause, like hot flashes, night sweats and menstrual changes, according to the American Cancer Society.
Robach described the treatments she underwent as grueling, and the process of fighting cancer as a long and dark tunnel, one that included mental and physical changes including short-term memory loss and the loss of her hair.
What surprised Robach even more in her cancer journey was what happened once she finished treatment and was declared a cancer survivor.
“You think you’re going to celebrate,” said Robach. “But you’re so sick still. You’re so weak still. All of those chemicals are still in your body.”
Robach said she struggled emotionally and physically as she adjusted from fighting breast cancer to surviving it, noting, “Cancer never leaves you.”
“Once you’re finished with the treatments and the surgeries, there’s a fear that steps in,” she said. “You don’t even have time to really think about it when you’re fighting. When you stop actually fighting with treatments, you then think, ‘Oh no, what’s next? What happens now?'”
Those are questions likely asked by millions of people who have battled breast cancer, the second-most common cancer among women in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But while people and organizations rally around those undergoing breast cancer treatment, it can still be taboo to talk about breast cancer in general, and the struggles that survivors of breast cancer can face in the weeks, months and years after treatment.
“I’ve had so many conversations where if I mention cancer or talk about being a breast cancer survivor, or thriver, people immediately get uncomfortable,” said Robach. “It’s something that nobody necessarily wants to talk about it, and some people feel really uncomfortable knowing what to say next about it.”
Following treatment, Robach and other breast cancer survivors face bodies that can be dramatically different than pre-cancer.
“When you’re fighting for your life, it sounds silly to think about vanity, but it is a part of the cancer journey,” said Robach, who experienced hair loss, changes in her skin tone and scars and the loss of her breasts from her double mastectomy. “Looking at your body, and not recognizing it is a really frightening thing, actually, because it happens so suddenly, and even with reconstruction, things are not the same, they never will be.”
Physically, after finishing chemotherapy, Robach said it took at least one year for her to rebuild her strength, noting that in the aftermath of treatment, “You just feel weak, and you feel scared and you are dealing with all of the aftermath of chemo for months and months and months.”
Mentally, it would take another year for her to feel like she could regain control of her life.
“I would say it took me a full two years before I felt like, ‘OK, how am I going to live my life? What am I going to do with my life?'” she said. “The truth is, I was scared to even plan for a future, to even plan for the next year or five years or 10 years. I felt like it was maybe jinxing my health, jinxing my remission.”
Robach said what has helped her navigate the unknowns of her breast cancer journey has been finding someone she can talk about it with honestly, someone who has walked the same path before.
In Robach’s case, that person has been “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts, also a breast cancer survivor, whom Robach called a “beacon of light.”
“I remember when I finished treatment, she told me this, ‘Be careful. We all want to celebrate the end of chemo. We all want to celebrate the end of surgery, but you should prepare yourself for the next phase of cancer,'” Robach recalled. “When you’re in remission, sure you’re grateful, yes, you’re excited, but there’s a fear. … You always have the threat of recurrence.”
Like many breast cancer survivors, Robach gets blood work done twice each year to check if any cancer has returned in her body, a reminder, she says, that cancer is “something that you live with for the rest of your life.”
“I have a tough time, every time,” she said, noting the days leading up to the test can be filled with “depression” and “fear.”
But the biannual tests have also, in more recent years, become what Robach calls her “biannual reminder to live, and to live out loud.”
In Robach’s case, that has meant climbing mountains, traveling the globe, running marathons, feeling gratitude every day and fighting to become the healthiest version of herself in the years since her diagnosis.
“It makes me feel so joyful to know that I am challenging myself physically, and believing in my body again, trusting in my body, again, investing in my body again, and really doing everything in my power to make sure that if this thing comes back, or even if it’s living in me now, I am in fight mode,” said Robach. “At 48 years old, I’m significantly more healthy than I was in my 20s and 30s.”
“Cancer gave me a reason to be the best version of myself, and that’s what I’ve done,” she said. “You realize that fear can either cripple you or it can motivate you, and it had been crippling me. And I decided to change it, and let that fear be motivating.”
Robach said that after not wanting to do the mammogram on-air eight years ago because she did not want people talking about her breasts, she is now incredibly proud and grateful that she shared her breast cancer battle publicly.
“I would just encourage everyone to tell your story because it does save lives, it does impact lives and it frees you,” she said. “I find talking about it makes it a little bit less painful because you’re releasing it and you can have a shared experience with someone else because there are so many of us out there who’ve been through it. We’re all brothers and sisters in this fight.”
(NEW YORK) — Puerto Rico is the most vaccinated place in America, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 73% of its 3.3 million citizens are fully vaccinated, beating several states like Vermont and Connecticut with high vaccination rates.
The island also has the highest rate of total vaccine doses administered: 154,563 doses per 100,000 people.
Puerto Rico has outpaced several states in the race to the top vaccinated spot in the U.S. despite the odds stacked against it. Not only is it home to a larger population than 21 U.S. states, but it’s also been battered by COVID-19, poverty, climate change and an ongoing financial crisis.
“It’s impossible to talk about the pandemic without the context in which Puerto Rico encountered and faced the pandemic,” Daniel Colón-Ramos, a Yale medical school professor and the president of Puerto Rico’s Scientific Coalition, told ABC News.
“Vaccinations are an individual decision, but it’s an individual decision that has an impact on the collective health and I think this is something that Puerto Rico understood well after Hurricane Maria — how we’re so codependent,” Colón-Ramos said.
Hurricane María uncovered Puerto Rico’s fragile infrastructure that has yet to recover. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the island has a poverty rate of 43.5%, with some municipalities struggling with little to no operational clinics or hospitals for long periods of time. Residents have also been struggling with ongoing power outages triggered by the unstable electric grid.
COVID-19 only exacerbated the weight of these pre-existing structural issues on the territory, Colón-Ramos said.
COVID-19’s toll on Puerto Rico
The island was hit hard by the pandemic. Puerto Rico reported at least 151,432 COVID-19 cases and over 3,200 deaths linked to the virus, according to Puerto Rico’s Health Department. Amid the threat of the coronavirus, the island was the first place in the U.S. to implement the strictest COVID-19 restrictions, including a curfew that lasted over a year.
“Together, we have achieved good results through vaccination efforts and measures that were implemented,” Governor of Puerto Rico Pedro Pierluisi said in a press release written in Spanish. “Although we are doing very well, we still cannot let our guard down and we have to continue to protect ourselves.”
Until recently, the local government prohibited certain businesses from operating between midnight and 5 a.m. and banned alcohol sales after midnight. Some requirements, like indoor mask and vaccine mandates, remain.
Now, Puerto Rico is on a steady decline in COVID-19 cases and deaths, with a positive test rate of 2.43%, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Marieli González-Cotto, a molecular biologist and educator, urges the community to remain cautious and vigilant about their health and safety, even as the virus slows its course.
“People should understand that we still need to take care of ourselves, take care of our communities and really take this one step at a time because [we could regress] and start all over again,” González-Cotto told ABC News.
The method behind Puerto Rico’s successful vaccine rollout
“It was an all-hands on deck type of plan,” Colón-Ramos told ABC News.
The effort to get Puerto Ricans vaccinated included local officials, community leaders, health care providers, Public Health Department officials and scientific experts, according to Colón-Ramos.
TV ads, social media posts and radio commercials were rolled out to educate residents across the island and combat misinformation before it had a chance to spread.
“The information channels were flooded with the right kind of information,” Colón-Ramos said. “The scientific and the health care community got very engaged and proactive in educating people in collaboration with journalists, civic leaders, and public leaders.
“Communities had conversations with the population about concepts from flattening the curve to herd immunity,” he added.
A study by Direct Relief, Facebook Data for Good and the vaccination advocacy organization “Voces Coalición de Inmunización y Promoción de la Salud en Puerto Rico” found that influencers and celebrities were also powerful voices in the effort to educate people on the importance of vaccines.
The research showed that thousands of consumers were more accepting or knowledgeable about vaccines after viewing digital ads and messaging.
“At the very beginning, it was very hard for the people to grasp because it was an ‘info-demic’ — there was too much information out there,” González-Cotto said. “What we focused on was not only putting out the information but also putting it in a way that would be easy for people to understand.”
All educational efforts from public and private sectors towards individuals had a significant impact on Puerto Ricans’ response to the vaccine rollout. Public health policies, like lockdowns, curfews and mandates, helped solidify messaging and protocol across the island, according to Colón-Ramos.
