Latest news with #Razor
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Letters: We should hang our heads in shame at the state of Auckland's CBD
Complex problems can take time to solve but we could be exploring immediate, relatively cheap short-term options. Figuratively speaking, one or two fewer road speedbumps would go a long way towards restoring a sense of civic pride and economic wellbeing. Perhaps it is time for the famed and under-utilised creatives of New Zealand to play a part. Vacant shop windows could be brimming with hired paintings and sculptures. Ugly external walls – think globally, think Italy and Singapore – could be plant-adorned hanging gardens. Street art could be part of the mix. Think nooks of pavement planters – Dublin-style multi-layered planters of riotously coloured cascading blooms. Think No 8 wire mentality! But also think of putting it out there to the Auckland community – some of whom may want to financially contribute to this essential CBD recovery. And we are the ratepayers – let's insist to our council through the upcoming elections that it has to do better. Angela Yatri, Oratia. Luxon's turnaround job Warren Cossey's letter (August 6) defending Christopher Luxon from the criticism of him and his coalition is timely, given that the previous Government spent six years destroying the economy and causing social division that has only worsened. During those six years we were constantly told to be kind to one another as if we were children in need of some sort of patronising reminder on how to be an adult. Then, when Labour ministers were asked about particular pressing issues, such as migrant exploitation and ram raids, a lot of the time their inevitable response was a rather lame, 'we're looking into it'. At least Luxon and his team appear to be far more forthright and proactive in what they are doing rather than acting like a possum caught in the headlights. Bernard Walker, Mt Maunganui. Razor needs to find innovation Not long ago when the scribes got together to pick their top 15 rugby players for the year, it was dominated by All Blacks. If they were to pick a squad this year, not many All Blacks would be in the running. Ardie Savea and Tamaiti Williams might get a look-in for the forwards and maybe Cam Roigard and Will Jordan in the backs. The All Blacks have certainly gone backwards, and our new coach is struggling to improve the situation. Razor needs to be a bit more innovative like Rassie if he is going to improve. The next few weeks will show if he is on the right track. Jock MacVicar, Hauraki. Tunnels to nowhere? It must be particularly painful and galling for our older residents who have been waiting for years for urgent surgery to observe how $5.5 billion of public money has been squandered on the rail tunnels to nowhere? It is patently obvious that this emerald-plated project has had no independent fiscal scrutiny or cost-benefit analysis. This has allowed a phalanx of assorted consultants and contractors to have a field day paid from the public purse. The pigs-in-the-trough syndrome still appears to be alive and well in Aotearoa. For example, how much has been paid to Mana Whenua in consultancy and other fees? Bruce Tubb, Devonport. Alternative to butter Unlike Wendy Galloway (letters, August 3), I have no qualms about using an alternative to butter to make a white sauce. Indeed, my granddaughter once announced, to her mother's chagrin, that I made the best cheese sauce in the world. Mind you, she was only 4, and hasn't repeated that in the 20 years since, so maybe her palate has become more refined. Or perhaps she was simply currying favour. Peter Jackson, Kaitaia. Not all doom and gloom What a balanced and thoughtful piece by Liam Dann (August 3). In particular it was interesting to learn that Paul Bloxham, HSBC Australia-New Zealand chief economist, while negative about Australian growth, is one of the most positive economists about New Zealand growth. As we continue to consider our economic, political, social, cultural and environmental future, we always need to be mindful of the way in which social and other media distorts the picture of where we are heading. Dann's piece shows the important role of the media in political reporting. As Sir Geoffrey Palmer wrote, 'The media plays a vital role in sending communications from the governors to the governed.' Glennys Adams, Oneroa.
Time of India
06-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
Tired of toxic office drama? This one-line philosophy can keep you calm and stress-free
'Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity.' This sharp and almost cynical line from writer Robert J. Hanlon may sound dismissive at first, but in an age of rising workplace stress, instant outrage, and constant assumptions, it offers a surprisingly profound survival tool — one that's more relevant today than ever. When Workplaces Turn Into Battlegrounds of Assumption We've all been there. You were left out of a team email. Someone botched your name during a crucial presentation. A colleague seemed to take credit for your idea in front of the boss. The reflex? Anger. The assumption? It must have been deliberate. In high-pressure office environments, it's easy — even comforting — to assume that others are out to get you. But what if they weren't? What if the snub, the oversight, the poor communication wasn't rooted in malice, but in mere forgetfulness, ignorance, or human error? by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like [Click Here] 2025 Top Trending local enterprise accounting software Esseps Learn More Undo That's where Hanlon's Razor steps in — a mental shortcut that urges us to pause, breathe, and reconsider. Originally coined in Arthur Bloch's 1980 book Murphy's Law Book Two, the adage has now become part of digital-age wisdom, especially among techies and cognitive scientists trying to untangle the psychological chaos of human behavior. — sketchplanator (@sketchplanator) A Philosophy with Ancient Roots Although Hanlon popularized it, the logic behind this 'razor' has been echoed through centuries. St. Augustine believed that most wrongdoing was due to ignorance, not evil. The Stoics, like Epictetus, warned against rushing to judgment. Even German writer Goethe, in 1774, lamented that 'misunderstandings and neglect occasion more mischief than wickedness.' You Might Also Like: Are we deciphering 'Ikigai' all wrong? The truth behind Japan's most misunderstood philosophy In the 20th century, science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein captured the same essence in his novella Logic of Empire (1941): 'You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.' The thread is consistent — more often than not, we misread the intent behind actions because we're viewing them through a narrow, self-centered lens. Why It Matters in the Modern Workplace Today's office culture, marked by Slack pings, overflowing inboxes, and endless meetings, thrives on speed — but also breeds confusion. In such environments, Hanlon's Razor can offer much-needed mental clarity. Instead of jumping to conclusions, it reminds you to consider: Could this be a mistake rather than a personal attack? The Britannica entry on Hanlon's Razor explains it as a heuristic reasoning tool — one that helps individuals avoid harmful assumptions and emotional spirals. The philosophy serves as a counterbalance to cognitive biases such as egocentric bias (assuming others see things your way), confirmation bias (looking only for evidence that supports your suspicions), or the fundamental attribution error (blaming people's character rather than their circumstances). Douglas W. Hubbard, in his 2009 book The Failure of Risk Management, even updated the razor for modern systems thinking: ' Never attribute to malice or stupidity what can be explained by moderately rational individuals following incentives in a complex system. ' In simpler words: not every bad thing at work is sabotage — sometimes it's just the system grinding imperfectly along. You Might Also Like: Stuck in a heated philosophical debate? Here is how 'Straw Man' and 'Steel Man' might just save the conversation But Doesn't This Let People Off the Hook? That's a fair question. Hanlon's Razor doesn't suggest that malice doesn't exist — only that it's not as common as we think. It's not a moral excuse, but a practical mindset. You're still allowed to set boundaries, demand accountability, and call out poor behavior. The difference is in your emotional approach: instead of reacting in rage, you respond with clarity. Think of it as emotional first aid. If someone forgets to schedule you for a meeting or misquotes you in front of a client, jumping to 'they hate me' or 'they're trying to sabotage me' might only harm your own peace. Assuming incompetence or oversight may not only be more accurate, but it also protects your energy and maintains professional composure. Calm Minds, Better Work Lives In the constant churn of modern work, where messages are misread and intentions often lost in translation, Hanlon's Razor offers more than just a mental trick. It gives you a way to choose grace over grievance, and response over reaction. Because let's face it — most people aren't villains in a corporate thriller. They're just trying to make it to 5 PM without spilling coffee on their shirt. And sometimes, the best way to keep your sanity intact is to remember that the messiness around you isn't always personal. It's just… human.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
What happens to Nashville Severe Weather Service as founder steps down? 'We all good fam'
If you've been through a severe weather event in Middle Tennessee, you know about Nashville Severe Weather. What started as just a couple dudes interested in weather has ballooned into a cult following on social media, where they turned a hobby into "an accidental public service." But the founder, David Drobny, has decided his "race has been run," he said in a letter on Nashville Severe Weather's website, published June 6. "No scandal, no internal discord, no problems, we all good fam," Drobny wrote in his letter. "I'm emotionally and mentally exhausted from 15 years of running NSWX from the margins of my free time." But don't worry, Nashville Severe Weather isn't going anywhere. More: Weathering staffing cuts, National Weather Service perseveres to protect public In a thread on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, the Nashville National Weather Service thanked Drobny for his service. "For over a decade, David has worked tirelessly (and voluntarily!) to keep our community informed during severe weather in real time and with unmatched clarity," the weather service said. "We thank him, his wife, and family too for all of their sacrifices!" Drobny, who is a practicing attorney, got high quality radar software in 2009, according to a biography on their website. "In 2010 storms were incoming and two of my friends were overtexting me for weather information specific to Nashville and Franklin," Drobny wrote in their bio. "I got sick of typing texts on an old Razor phone so I opened a Twitter account and answered questions and put updates there. In February 2011, the account had 100 followers. By July, Nashville Severe Weather had teamed up with the local National Weather Service office to share local reports. The next year, a tornado dropped in Cheatham County during a March storm. Their work that night skyrocketed their following by 6,000 people. It's only continued to grow. Their account on X has more than 328,000 followers. On Instgram, they've got 103,000, and on Youtube, where they go live until all warnings are expired, there are almost 59,000 subscribers. Along the way, the team expanded with the addition of Will Minkoff and Andrew Leeper. In 2015, the team was awarded the National Weather Association's Walter J. Bennett Public Service Award. "We were welcomed into the operational meteorology community. I admit it, I got emotional," Drobny wrote. Drobny will be spending more time relaxing. "My part in all this came from the margins of my free time and at the expense of sleep, family, vacations, my beer league hockey teams, friends, families: pretty much any margin in my day went to weather, work always came first (I'm a practicing attorney, btw)," he wrote. "I have tweeted from hockey rinks (playing and watching), my bed, the bonus room, the kids room, my office, my home office, from y'all's kitchen tables or gym, from (my) shower (many times), a tarmac, my uncle's Green Bay basement, etc etc etc, the radar and data was always (ALWAYS) by my side whether awake or asleep, watching me run myself ragged to be sure the weather lighthouse is turned on and the beam is pointing in the right direction." Years of trying to balance everything, and the trauma of some of these deadly storms, has finally caught up to Drobny, he said. " It all worked in me a trauma, which caused hypervigilance, which caused burnout," he wrote. "For years, I've tried to find ways to stay—boundaries, time off, therapy—but nothing has been enough. I admit I lack limitless energy. My race has been run." While he'll no longer be involved in the day-to-day operations of weather, he will remain in his board position with the National Weather Association Foundation that helps support meteorlogy students and weather education. "You were, you are, and you will remain: well loved by these NSWX strangers. Please be nice to them. They work hard. Their families sacrifice a piece of themselves to run this. You are worth it," he wrote, signing off. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Severe Weather founder stepping down, service to continue
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cynthia Erivo Opens Up About Her Queerness: ‘The More Yourself You Are, The Better Understanding Starts to Happen'
There was a time when could glide around town on her Razor scooter in peace. 'Don't laugh!' she quips as she reminisces about those halcyon days while sitting in a cozy loft above a cavernous Los Angeles studio. 'I've been doing it for years!' Whether maneuvering New York's busy streets or transporting her from her L.A. home to a nearby studio to record voice-over work, Erivo's reliable kick scooter was once her preferred mode of transit. But even a decade ago, she was warned that her hobby wasn't sustainable with the life she was building. '[Director] John Doyle said to me, 'Cynthia, you're not going to be able to do that for very long,' ' she recalls. 'And I was like, 'But why? I'm good! It's fine!' ' More from Billboard Cynthia Erivo: Photos From the Billboard Cover Shoot The Roots Apologize to Fans After First Day of 2025 Roots Picnic Marred By Long Lines: 'Safety Will Always Be Our Number 1 Priority' Rod Stewart Postpones Las Vegas Colosseum Residency Gig Due to Unspecified Illness His prediction ultimately came true. In the years since making her 2015 Broadway debut in Doyle's production of The Color Purple, Erivo has transformed from buzzy theater ingenue to certified, capital 'S' star by practically every metric. At just 38, the multihyphenate is already nearly an EGOT (she's only missing her Oscar, despite three nominations); has starred in prestige TV series like The Outsider, Genius and Poker Face; paid tribute to musical legends at the Kennedy Center; and, most recently, scooped up that third Oscar nom with Wicked, the highest-grossing musical adaptation in film history. Along the way, Erivo hasn't lost sight of what matters to her, using the star power she has accrued for good. When she publicly came out as queer in 2022, she cited the importance of helping 'some young Black queer actress somewhere' feel less alone in the industry. At the top of 2025, she took home GLAAD's prestigious Stephen F. Kolzak Award for her continuing commitment to promoting visibility for the LGBTQ+ community. And in June, she'll bring her talents to the massive WorldPride celebrations in Washington, D.C., making sure that everyone hears her voice — including politicians aiming to strip her community's rights. For her latest endeavor, though, Erivo decided to take the same energy she puts into both her community and others' projects and turn it inward. She didn't take to the stage or the screen, but rather the studio, looking to reinvigorate her solo music career — and the result is her revelatory second album, I Forgive You, out June 6 through Verve and Republic Records. Back in September 2021, Erivo released Ch. 1 Vs. 1, her debut LP of adult contemporary tracks where she aimed — and, reflecting today, thinks she failed — to provide a soundtrack to her life up until that point. 'It never quite felt like it was mine,' she says. She recounts working with a group of 'lovely' producers and writers who provided plenty of new ideas and sounds — yet the project itself underutilized her own vocal dexterity. 'It didn't feel like it was one uniform story.' So when she began thinking about her next album, she started from scratch. On the advice of Wicked co-star Ariana Grande, Erivo met with Republic Records co-president/COO Wendy Goldstein to discuss her strengths and figure out a path forward. What could Erivo do that nobody else could? 'Everything fell into place really fast from there,' Goldstein recalls of their first meeting. The answer was simple: Erivo's greatest asset is and always has been her protean voice, an instrument that belies her diminutive frame and lets her craft entire worlds of intricate harmonies. Her mother has said she first heard her daughter sing beautifully at a mere 18 months old, though Erivo has since said she first recognized her own innate talent around the ripe old age of 11. Following a brief stint studying music psychology at the University of East London, she dropped out, later enrolling at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London (where she now serves as vice president). After graduating in 2010 and spending three years performing around the United Kingdom, Erivo landed a breakthrough role in the off-West End production of The Color Purple in 2013. 'Anyone who saw her in that performance knew pretty quickly that she was just a generational talent,' says Jessica Morgulis, Erivo's longtime manager who began working with her a year before The Color Purple transferred to Broadway in 2015. 'In all my days of going to the theater, I've never seen the entire audience leap out of their seats mid-song in applause.' So when it came to creating her own music, Goldstein asked why Erivo wasn't leaning into her biggest strength. 'When you hear Cynthia's voice, you're transfixed. I felt like we needed to lead with that,' Goldstein says. 'We spoke a lot about how to really highlight her vocals, using it as an instrument with stacking and layering to create beautiful production.' That, Erivo says, unlocked something for her. 'Wendy is a very singular human being who just gets it,' she says. 'It was the first time that everything became really clear. To have someone who understands who you are as a musician and a singer and an artist was just a new experience within this space for me as an artist.' The subsequent project, executive-produced by Erivo and her longtime collaborator, Will Wells, spans pop, soul, jazz, disco, gospel and more, with her voice front and center. But more importantly, after a career dedicated to portraying characters, I Forgive You is just Erivo, telling the world who she is. 'People see a very cookie-cutter version of me, and we do this thing with people where we isolate them or crystallize them in one space and go, 'She's just that,' ' she says. 'People don't know me as a musician in the way they're getting to know me now.' As Erivo arrives for our conversation, you'd never guess that she's coming off one of the biggest performances of her life. Less than 48 hours earlier, she was belting out her forthcoming ballad, 'Brick by Brick,' and Prince's 'Purple Rain' alongside maestro Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic during a surprise appearance at the orchestra's Coachella set. 'I was so surprised at how vast that audience was,' she giddily admits. 'It was unbelievable.' Though Erivo remains humbly awestruck by the ensemble inviting her to perform for her biggest crowd to date, her own reputation has preceded her from the jump. 'I mean, for anyone who likes singers, all of our algorithms were just filled with endless bootlegs of her singing her f–king ass off,' all-star songwriter Justin Tranter says of her Tony Award-winning Broadway debut. But while the world was tuned into Erivo's jaw-dropping performances of The Color Purple's showstopper 'I'm Here,' she found herself focused on something else entirely while playing the character of Celie: her sexuality. 'I hadn't really ever explored [my queerness], I hadn't really ever discovered or understood or really learned about it,' she says. 'I was like, 'Oh, I get to play this woman who is exploring and learning about her own queerness at the same time as trying to discover what love is.' This sort of wonderful thing happened at the same time — I got to do the same for myself.' Erivo had been out to her close friends and family since her early twenties, but playing Celie for two years began to open the door to come out publicly, as fully embodying the experience of a queer woman eight times a week slowly made her more assured. 'It's like your feet finally hit the ground,' she explains. 'Even the work that I started doing, whether I'm on a set or in a studio, I just felt a lot more relaxed.' With that newfound sense of ease came a wave of projects. After closing out her run in The Color Purple, she booked her first film roles, in Drew Goddard's Bad Times at the El Royale and Steve McQueen's Widows, holding her own on-screen with stars like Viola Davis and Jeff Bridges. With her starring performance in 2021's Harriet, Erivo earned her first pair of Academy Award nominations (for best actress and best original song) — had she won, she would have become the youngest person ever to earn EGOT status. 'How lovely is that? To be in this position at this point in my career is one, a privilege — but two, a massive surprise,' Erivo says of her near EGOT. 'To be one of those people that's on the edge of even looking that in the face is quite wonderful.' Morgulis credits Erivo's sharp instincts, saying she's 'almost never wrong' when picking projects and pointing to her client's multiple viral performances at the Kennedy Center Honors, where Erivo has honored Dionne Warwick, Julie Andrews and Earth, Wind & Fire, as an example. 'Often, the producers of something like that will be leaning one way, because whoever it is you're paying homage to has some favorite song of theirs they want to hear,' she says. 'But Cynthia knows herself so well and will say, 'I know I can really give this individual the best performance from me if we do this other song.' And every time, she nails it.' Yet despite her many successes, Erivo says nothing could have prepared her for the cultural phenomenon that was Wicked. She knew the film would do well, but she never predicted it would break box-office records and earn a whopping 10 Oscar nominations. 'It's insane,' she says. 'And it's insane while it's happening, too.' Of all Wicked's achievements, none shocked Erivo as much as the soundtrack's immediate Billboard chart success. It bowed at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 (the highest debut for a film adaptation of a stage musical in the chart's history), ruled the Top Album Sales and Vinyl Albums charts, and landed seven songs on the Billboard Hot 100, with her own version of 'Defying Gravity' earning the highest position among them at No. 44. 'The cast was like, 'Oh, so it's just in the ether now? People are just listening to it on their way to work at this point?' ' Erivo recalls. 'It's really wonderful.' The second part of the duology, Wicked: For Good, will arrive in November, and Erivo warns fans unfamiliar with the source material that her viridescent heroine, Elphaba, enters much darker territory in the second act. 'She's able to access her rage more,' she says. 'The scent I wore changed. The makeup changed. Little shifts that bring you to a more mature version of who Elphaba becomes. And she is delicious in this next one.' The Wicked Witch of the West isn't the only one who has changed in between the two films' releases — with rave reviews and another Oscar nomination for her stellar performance in the first act, Erivo became a household name practically overnight. That transition has occasionally felt scary, especially when it comes to maintaining her personal privacy. 'I think there is an interesting thing that happens, where it's assumed that because you're in the public eye, everything is for everyone,' she explains. 'But being in the public eye does not stop you from being a human being — you just have eyes on you now. I am totally OK to share some of my life — whenever you see me on the stage, whenever you hear me sing, whenever you see me act, I am sharing. But that doesn't mean that everything gets to be yours. I should be able to keep something for myself.' That 'something' likely includes her visible, but never publicly confirmed (including for this story) relationship with lauded producer-writer Lena Waithe. 'You also wouldn't want me to share everything — nobody should have to, because then what's left?' she says with a half-smile. 'You can be grateful, but you can still have a boundary.' But thanks to the groundwork she has laid over the course of the last decade, Erivo says she doesn't feel flummoxed by her sudden stardom. 'I'm glad that I had those breakthroughs before — it's school for what might come, and it means that here and now, it doesn't feel like it's going to sweep me up,' she says. 'A lot of us fear that if this happens, you'll sort of lose yourself. But I still feel like myself.' There is a moment in 'Play the Woman,' an early, R&B-adjacent standout from I Forgive You, when Erivo taps an unexplored topic in her career thus far: unabashed desire. 'I could run these hands of mine down the map of your spine/Feel how your heat against my fingertips could make the blood in me rush,' she croons on the pre-chorus before blooming into her glossy head voice: 'Could you play the woman for me?/Go slow, 'cause I like what I see.' Erivo had long wanted to explore sensuality in her acting. But when the parts didn't materialize, she decided to take matters into her own hands. 'Honestly, you rarely get that opportunity as Black women anyway,' she says. 'So I was just like, 'Well, if I don't put it in my own music, I'll never get to put it anywhere else.' ' That ethos runs through I Forgive You, as Erivo breaks out of the boxes that the industry at large constructed around her ever-growing career while simultaneously giving voice to the parts of herself that she was once too scared to reveal in public. Whether she's providing a grooving rumination on self-doubt with 'Replay' or delivering an airy ballad about finally finding connection after years of trying on 'I Choose Love,' Erivo lays all her cards on the table. 'It wasn't scary to write because I really didn't know how else to write it. It had to come,' she explains. 'The scary thing was getting ready to share it. When something is personal, you hope that people understand that your humanity exists and they're not just listening to random stories that come from nowhere.' When going into their sessions with Erivo, Tranter was already well-aware that she had one of the best voices in the business. What they quickly discovered was just how adept a songwriter she was, too. 'She's a real visionary in that she knows what the f–k she's doing,' Tranter says. 'It's not even that I was surprised, it's just that the world doesn't know her that way. You don't know what to expect when someone like Cynthia hasn't been able to reveal all her talents yet.' That's a recurring theme in Erivo's career: One of the main hurdles she faced while working on her debut album was record executives who were unsure how to utilize her talents or market her. She recalls one telling her, 'You can sing everything, and we don't know what to do with you.' Her response? ' 'Why don't we just try everything, then?' ' she remembers. ' 'If I can do it, then why not try?' ' It's a refrain Morgulis returns to often. With her client's aspirations spreading across multiple fields of entertainment, the manager says that it's vital for her to help Erivo remain in control of the projects she's working on. 'That conversation of not putting her in a box and, importantly, not allowing others to put her in a box, is happening on every single level of her team,' Morgulis says. 'That act alone kind of sends a message to the industry of who she is and what direction she's going in.' And recently, Erivo has applied that philosophy to discussing her identity. After coming out publicly on the cover of British Vogue in 2022, she assumed a rare position in the entertainment business as a Black queer woman in the public eye, and it's a platform she takes seriously. Her decision to come out, Erivo says, had less to do with her own sense of self-actualization and more to do with the deep sense of care she feels toward her community. 'I think I was actively looking for those who were encouraged to be more themselves,' she says. 'I can't change a person's opinion of me; if they want to feel some way, there is nothing I can do about that. But I was so excited about being able to at least be one more face where someone could say, 'Oh, my God, she did it and can still do it. She's still creating, she's still making. So maybe I can also do the same.' ' In hindsight, Erivo says she didn't feel any trepidation about her decision to come out and didn't notice any significant change in the roles she booked or the feedback she received for her performances. 'Maybe I'm naive and wasn't paying attention to it, because I'm sure there was [pushback],' she confesses. The one notable exception came in early 2025, when the Hollywood Bowl announced that Erivo would star in the titular role of its upcoming three-night production of Jesus Christ Superstar. A predictable wave of conservative outrage followed at the thought of a Black queer woman portraying Jesus Christ, accusing the actress and the production itself of 'blasphemy.' Erivo can't help but laugh. 'Why not?' she chuckles with a shrug, before adding that most of those comments don't seem to understand the critical lens of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. 'You can't please everyone. It is legitimately a three-day performance at the Hollywood Bowl where I get to sing my face off. So hopefully they will come and realize, 'Oh, it's a musical, the gayest place on Earth.' ' It's easy for Erivo to dismiss a vocal minority decrying the mere announcement of her casting in a limited-run performance; it becomes much harder when the conversation turns to politics. Like many, she has watched in horror as the Trump administration has attempted to strip the rights of and federal protections for queer and trans people across the country through a flurry of executive orders. Erivo doesn't pretend to have all of the answers. 'I'm trying to be a person you can get positive things from, because that is the only way you can balance this stuff,' she says with a sigh. But when she looks at something like the current administration's 'anti-woke' takeover of the Kennedy Center — the place where she has delivered some of her most iconic performances to date — she can't help but feel a sense of dread. 'I don't know who gains what from that. I hope that it comes back,' she says. 'It's really sad to have to watch this happen to it. The Kennedy Center is supposed to be a space of creativity and art and music for everyone.' Yet Erivo refuses to let that dread rule her actions. It's part of why, during Pride Month, she will perform a headlining set at the closing concert for WorldPride in Washington, D.C., alongside Doechii. 'I want to encourage people to not decide to just tuck away and start hiding and not being themselves anymore, because that is exactly what they want,' she says. 'The more yourself you are, the more you are in front of people who don't necessarily understand, the better understanding starts to happen.' Tranter points to that sentiment as a perfect example of why Erivo has become such a powerful voice in the entertainment industry. 'Cynthia being Black and queer, and being one of the most famous people alive in this moment while our community is dealing with what we are dealing with, is no mistake,' they say. 'For someone as talented as her to be a beacon for young Black queer people all over the world, to be in the most successful movie and releasing a gorgeous, poetic album in this moment is no accident.' It's apparent that Erivo holds herself to an incredibly high standard. As Morgulis rattles off the singer's schedule for the next few months — wrapping up filming on the forthcoming feature film adaptation of Children of Blood and Bone, hosting the 2025 Tony Awards and performing at least six solo concerts around the country, among dozens of other obligations — she must pause for a breath. 'It's a lot,' she says. 'But she can do it.' But today, the singer stops short of perfectionism. Even in a career as fortunate as hers, she knows that she cannot be everything to everyone. 'I used to say, 'I don't want to make any mistakes. I don't want to get anything wrong,' ' she recalls. 'What I'm leaning toward is just trying to be the best version of myself, full stop. And hopefully, the best version of myself is enough for those who want it.' Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
11-year-old boy seriously injured in Joliet dirt bike crash over Memorial Day weekend
JOLIET, Ill. — An 11-year-old boy was seriously injured after his electric dirt bike collided with a vehicle in Joliet on Sunday evening, police say. Joliet police responded to the 5800 block of Arbor Gate Drive on reports of a traffic crash with injuries just before 6:30 p.m. Police say the boy was riding a Razor electric dirt bike westbound when he entered the roadway from a driveway and was struck by a Chevrolet Silverado. He was transported to St. Joseph Medical Center with serious injuries and was later airlifted to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. The driver of the Chevrolet, identified as a 20-year-old man from Plainfield, was uninjured. The roadway was closed for a significant period of time, police say. The crash remains under investigation. Anyone with video footage or further information is asked to contact the Joliet Police Department Traffic Unit at 815-724-3110. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
