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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
An NYC Bar Played a Surprising Role in Shaping Bob Dylan's Most Iconic Album
An NYC Bar Played a Surprising Role in Shaping Bob Dylan's Most Iconic Album originally appeared on Parade. In 1963, the times were in fact a-changing, but no one captured it quite like Bob Dylan. It was 62 years ago on August 6 that a spry 22-year-old Dylan walked into the studio to record the ground-breaking album, The Times They Are A-Changin', that changed music forever. He completely bucked tradition a recorded a folk album devoid of any covers. His completely original score was a political protest album from top to bottom amid a backdrop of tumultuous times including the civil rights movements, the Cold War, and dropping mere weeks prior, seemed to eerily predict the assassination of JFK. And it all came to be thanks to one bar in Greenwich famously hung around the Irish bar The White Horse Tavern which was filled with Irish locals and expats who'd sing songs from their motherland. 'All through the night they would sing drinking songs, country ballads, and rousing rebel songs that would lift the roof,' Dylan wrote in Chronicles. 'The rebellion songs were a really serious thing. The language was flashy and provocative – a lot of action in the words, all sung with great gusto.' Dylan took the rebellious tunes and paired them with original lyrics that really spoke to the American people. However, it also spurred some controversy within the Irish community. According to Music Radar, Irish songwriter Dominic Behanaccused him of "plagiarizing" his tune to "The Patriot Game" and putting it behind his song "With God On Our Side." Dylan never acknowledged the criticism as Behan's song borrowed the tune from the traditional Irish song "The Merry Month of May." Dylan actually recorded a few covers for the album, but through his own vetting process decided to keep it all his own work. And that "small" decision changed the course of music history. Sláinte! 🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬 An NYC Bar Played a Surprising Role in Shaping Bob Dylan's Most Iconic Album first appeared on Parade on Aug 6, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
North Wales Live
02-08-2025
- Business
- North Wales Live
Government wants to put spinning skyscapers next door to Welsh 'paradise'
A sign on the outskirts of Abergorlech proudly proclaims its status as Carmarthenshire's best kept village for four years between 1964 and 1970, a period when coal was the primary source of electricity in the UK. Nestled by Brechfa Forest, Abergorlech remains picturesque - local resident Patrick Brotherton even describes it as "a paradise". However, the landscape of electricity generation is shifting, echoing Bob Dylan's 1964 anthem 'The Times They Are A-Changin''. A proposed map for the new Glyn Cothi wind farm shows most of the turbines situated in the central and eastern parts of the Welsh Government-owned woodland, located in the hills above Abergorlech. Another wind farm, Alltwalis, already exists west of Brechfa Forest. Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru unveiled plans in early July for three state-backed wind farms in Wales. Opinions on the Glyn Cothi project among residents of Abergorlech and nearby Brechfa are divided, reports Wales Online. The Reverend Canon Delyth Wilson, of Abergorlech, said: "We seem to be bombarded in this beautiful part of Wales by these turbines. I am keen that we are more sustainable, but these things are going to be really high. I don't think that we will see them, but I don't know if we will hear them. "And how are they are they going to get them here on these tiny roads? That is perhaps my main concern." Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru is proposing to run a wire from the wind farm on wooden poles to a new substation planned near Llandyfaelog, between Carmarthen and Kidwelly, and Mrs Wilson wondered if the route would follow the Cothi Valley. "The Cothi Valley is a gem," she said. When Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru was launched last summer, Economy Secretary Jeremy Miles said it would generate significant returns for people in Wales - energy projects have often led to profits going to foreign companies. Richard Evans, chief executive of Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru, said the renewable sector would need to "visibly embed benefits into local communities". Wind farms have community benefit schemes which parcel out grants to local projects. According to Mrs Wilson, the existing Brechfa wind farm has "thrown money at Brechfa but not us" and that, in her view, subsidising local residents' electricity bills would make more sense as a benefit. The 72-year-old also said she had tried to install solar panels on her home but hadn't been able to because she lived in a designated conservation area. "Now they're going to have these turbines behind us," she said. Her husband, Paul, said he had never really noticed the turbines already in place in Brechfa Forest. Referring to the Glyn Cothi wind farm proposal, he said: "As long as they are reasonably out of sight then I would not mind them at all. If we are going to have them, I think it's only reasonable that we could benefit from them. I think everybody would say that." A few doors down, Mr Brotherton said he didn't know that much about the project, but added that "a few people are really up in arms about it". He said Abergorlech was "a paradise", so would he be upset if the wind farm was built? "I don't think so," he said. "It's the future. And would it make a difference if we did complain? I believe it's definitely going to happen - I've been in this world long enough." In Brechfa, four miles to the south west, Mari Mitchell said siting concrete foundations, tracks and turbines in a woodland ran counter to the Welsh Government's National Forest for Wales plan, which aims to develop a network of woodlands the length and breadth of the county. In her view it also jarred with requirements for farmers to have tree cover on 10% of their land as part of a subsidy scheme - a move which sparked protests and changes to the scheme that's now due to launch in 2026. Mrs Mitchell said she did not oppose wind turbines in general but was worried about their impact on wildlife and what she claimed was ancient woodland in the area of Brechfa Forest where the Glyn Cothi turbines were proposed. "We are leaving a legacy to future generations of vast concrete foundations and carbon fibre blades which can't be recycled," she said. Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru said there weren't any ancient trees in Brechfa Forest, and that planning permission for wind farms included details on how they would be decommissioned. It said foundations tended to be left in situ as excavating them could be more harmful and that many elements of a wind farm could be recycled or reused. Mrs Mitchell maintained there were "hard woods" towards the east of the forest. Jillie Gardiner said she moved to Brechfa 24 years ago because of the open access land and opportunities for horse riding. She has two horses and a pony, and also used grants to develop a bunkhouse for visitors. She felt the Glyn Cothi plan would undermine decades of work to build up the Brechfa Forest's tourist appeal and, based on feedback from visitors locally, put them off from coming. Any loss of open access would be a major concern for her. "This is a case of a wind farm being sited in the wrong location," she said. "If it was put on private land, that's completely different." According to Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru, there was no conclusive evidence to indicate that wind farms had an adverse impact on tourism, and that should the Glyn Cothi project proceed it would enhance access for walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riding. Sarah Eyles, who lives in Llanfihangel-ar-Arth, north-west of the Brechfa Forest, said she objected to the scale of projects known as developments of national significance like Glyn Cothi and claimed people had very little say in them. She said she could see the Alltwalis wind turbines from her home and that the ones planned at Glyn Cothi would be considerably higher. "They're completely out of proportion to the area," she said. "People will see them from a very, very long way - they will dominate the landscape." Ms Eyles was also worried about noise made by turbines, light disturbance known as flicker, impact on habit, biodiversity and tourism, and the potential outsourcing of jobs to deliver the Glyn Cothi wind farm. "For all these reasons it's a very bad idea," she said. For her, developing what would be more expensive wind-generating capacity offshore would be a worthwhile trade-off. Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru said the proposed wind farm aimed to strike the right balance between optimising electricity generation, which larger turbines did, and being sensitive to the local environment. Modern turbines of 200 metres-plus could generate significant amounts of power, it said, but the the scale of the Glyn Cothi ones would be determined through stakeholder engagement and environmental and technical assessments. Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru said it would also rigorously examine existing habitats and species at the commercially-run forestry to ensure it knew how to avoid any potential impacts. Birds surveys, it said, would be conducted over two years. The company added that it would look to improve habitats a bit further away from the planned infrastructure, such as replanting conifers with other tree species, particularly broad-leaf ones. Leah Dee, of Gwernogle, north of Brechfa, said being able to see the existing Brechfa Forest turbines, and being aware of another plan for a wind farm, hadn't deterred her from buying her house a few years ago. She backed the production of green energy but she did have worries about the potential size of the Glyn Cothi turbines and the disruption if it was built. "We just don't know," she said. "If we saw benefits in the local area then people perhaps wouldn't be so upset about it." Around 80% of people in the UK support or strongly support renewable energy, according to data published this spring by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, although people in Wales were among the least likely to show strong support. Support specifically for onshore wind was around 73% in the UK, but only 37% said they would be happy for a wind farm to be built in their local area. The numbers are telling. The UK's move away from coal and oil in the production of electricity in recent decades has been an environmental success story. In 2024 just over 50% of the UK's electricity was generated by renewable schemes, a 4% rise on the previous year. But there is more to do to meet legally-binding environmental targets. The transition away from large fossil fuel-powered plants has cut the greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to the warming of the planet, but a larger number of distributed power sources like wind farms - often in less populated areas - requires more substations and pylons and also measures to smooth out their intermittency so that supply matches demand. The Glyn Cothi proposal includes battery storage to hold and release electricity generated at appropriate times. The Welsh Government wants 100% of Wales' electricity needs to be met by renewable sources by 2035, and demand for electricity is rising as transport and heating systems start to go electric and power-hungry data centres are rolled out. Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru said the Glyn Cothi wind farm was expected to generate the equivalent electricity used by 144,000 households, which factored in intermittent wind speeds rather than an unachievable consistent wind blowing 24 hours a day. It said it would have to go through the same consenting process as any other developer despite being Welsh Government-owned. The intention at this stage is to submit a planning application early in 2027, it said, and if permission is granted by Welsh ministers, to start work after 2030. The company's development director, Simon Morgan, stressed the proposed Glyn Cothi wind farm was in a commercial timber forest. "Trydan propose to either 'keyhole' (cut) around turbine locations – removing just a very small area of trees – or schedule the turbine installation to coincide with planned felling cycles," he said. Mr Morgan said it would seek to enhance recreational access, and improve biodiversity at appropriate places within the wider forest. Public engagement, he said, would start this autumn. "We look forward to lots of face-to-face, evidence-based conversations," he said. The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted the Welsh Government to ask if it wanted to comment, but it declined. People in Abergorlech and Brechfa seemed to have a genuine affection for and tie to their landscape, which was badly impacted by Storm Darragh last December, resulting in several forest trails becoming inaccessible. Natural Resources Wales, which manages the woodland, said visitors should check its website for up-to-date information. Climate change poses serious threats to nations' economies but also opportunities - whether more Brechfa Forest wind turbines would negatively impact the local tourist economy remains to be seen. Keen mountain biker Sam Ralton said he didn't think a wind farm would deter mountain bikers from visiting. "It's not going to put people off," he said. "If the trails are good enough and the riding is good enough, that's what makes a difference." Mr Ralton, the owner of Friction Cycles, Bristol, said he had ridden trails all over Wales including at Brechfa, but he could see why people living close to planned wind farms would have mixed feelings. "If you've had views of the forest of course you might be upset about it," he said. "I can see both sides of the story." Andrew Morgan, chairman of Swansea Ramblers, said the key thing for walkers was access to the countryside and good-quality walks. "If a wind farm negatively impacted on access and rights of way then obviously we wouldn't be happy with that," he said. "I don't think there would be many people who would be deterred as long as they could still go out and enjoy the natural environment." Carreg Wen in Rhondda Cynon Taf is another location for one of three planned Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru wind farms. The third is in Denbighshire / Conwy. At Carreg Wen, 18 wind turbines are proposed, with the electricity generated being the equivalent needed for 96,000 homes. Officials have also said that grid connections are possible at the site. We went to speak to residents in Maerdy in the Rhondda Fach and Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley, two places which are close to where the turbines are planned to be built, to get their reaction. Ernie Travers, from Maerdy, said: "I wouldn't like it. It's a bit close isn't it?" He added: "They just turn up and they think they can do it. It could be in some less intrusive place." He said they wanted to put solar farms where he used to live and it took a lot of hard work to stop that. He also said that no-one mentioned the non-green power needed to manufacture things like wind turbines and solar panels. And he said you could hear a buzz when you were near them, saying: "They do make a noise." Colin Marsh, from Maerdy, said: "We've got to have power haven't we? It's hard to please everybody. We have got to have power from somewhere." But he said it should not be too near to people's houses. "A lot of people I know don't like them. Wherever you look there is a windmill." He said one or two didn't look too bad, but when he was walking up to Llanwonno a few years ago he thought, 'How many have they put up?' He said: "It was like a forest of them up there." But he also raised the prospect of cheaper energy bills for the community. He said: "They know how much they are sending to the national grid" and that they could knock a couple of pounds of people's bills in RCT. Pauline Thomas, from Maerdy, said: "If the local community can have money from it, fair enough. Like we have done for the last few years. If we have that money, if we benefit from it who are we to moan?" Gayle Griffiths, from Maerdy, said: "They are ugly. There is enough of them up there now. They are an eyesore on the landscape." She said they gave to local charities now and again but that normal people didn't get a reduction in their energy bills. Locations of three huge new Welsh wind farms revealed that will dominate skylines and power 350,000 homes But Terry Hartnoll, of Cwmaman, was very much in favour of wind farms and stressed the benefits of cheap electricity. He said: "I'm all in favour of it. I like my electricity cheap. I know what hurts the world and I know what is good for it." Mr Hartnoll said they were going to have to keep nuclear power for days when there was no wind and when it was dark and as a mountain biker he said there seemed to be more turbines up there everytime he went up. He said: "How can you be negative about it unless it is on your doorstep?" We've got to have it." Allan Jones, also from Cwmaman, said: "I have nothing against it if it leads to cheaper, greener energy. It's cleaner, more economical. I am all for it. I don't see why people are moaning and groaning. I don't see any problem. If they are in your back garden you can complain but not on top of the mountain." Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru intends to create 650 construction jobs with the three new wind farms having the potential to generate enough electricity to power 350,000 Welsh homes. Constructing the sites is expected cost around £500 million and in total 67 wind turbines would be built across the three sites, if approved, with the turbines expected to be around 200m tall. The plan is for consultation events to take place before planning permission is submitted by mid-2027. Construction, if planning permission is granted, will likely begin in the early 2030s, with energy likely to be generated from 2035.
The Herald Scotland
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Bob Dylan announces UK and Ireland tour with two Glasgow dates
The shows will be phone-free, and people will be asked to put their phones in a Yondr pouch, which closes automatically when in the venue and unlocks in the venue's concourse. It comes amid a surge in interest in the Hurricane singer's career, following the release of the biopic A Complete Unknown last year, which starred Timothee Chalamet as Dylan and followed the story of his career beginnings and infamous decision to go electric in the mid-1960s. The singer is one of the most acclaimed songwriters of all time, winning 10 Grammys and being nominated on 38 further occasions. Dylan has had six UK top 10 singles and nine UK number one albums. Read More He began his career in 1962 with the single Mixed-Up Confusion, which failed to chart in the UK and US. But he shot to stardom with a string of successful singles in 1965, including The Times They Are A-Changin', Subterranean Homesick Blues and Like A Rolling Stone. He was the first songwriter to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, with the Swedish academy crediting him with 'having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition'. Dylan's songs have been covered by the likes of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Rolling Stones and Adele. Tickets for the tour will go on sale on Friday July 18 at 10am. Bob Dylan's 2025 UK and Ireland tour in full November 7 – Brighton Centre, Brighton November 9 – Building Society Arena, Swansea November 10 – Building Society Arena, Swansea November 11 – Building Society Arena, Swansea November 13 – Building Society Arena, Coventry November 14 – First Direct Arena, Leeds November 16 – Armadillo, Glasgow November 17 – Armadillo, Glasgow November 19 – Waterfront, Belfast November 20 – Waterfront, Belfast November 23 – INEC, Killarney November 24 – INEC, Killarney November 25 – 3Arena, Dublin
Politico
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Politico
8 Top Democrats on Zohran Mamdani's Win and the Future of Big City Politics
Zohran Mamdani ran for mayor of New York on a campaign to freeze the rent, provide free buses and establish city-owned grocery stores. Critics scoffed at the 33-year-old democratic socialist's pie-in-the-sky agenda. And then he trounced everyone. The stunning outcome of the Democratic primary for New York City signals a potential sea change in the politics of the city — and could reshape American politics writ large. To get a sense of what a Mamdani victory would mean for the future of urban governance and the Democratic Party, we reached out to current and former mayors as well as politicos with significant knowledge of city politics. The responses varied — from 'what plays in NYC won't necessarily play everywhere' to 'it's pretty clear that people are ready for meaningful steps to improve their lives.' But there's one assessment everyone seemed to agree on: 'People across America are voting for change.' Here's what they said. 'Affordability was the jet fuel that drove his surge' BY DAVID AXELROD David Axelrod is a political consultant and strategist who was the former chief strategist and senior adviser to President Barack Obama. Come senators, congressmenPlease heed the callDon't stand in the doorwayDon't block up the hallFor he that gets hurtWill be he who has stalledThe battle outside ragin'Will soon shake your windowsAnd rattle your wallsFor the times they are a-changin' — Bob Dylon, The Times They Are A-Changin' My other major takeaways are these: 1) Affordability was the jet fuel that drove his surge. It's also an issue that travels. 2) The results reflected a generational and educational cleavage within the party. He does best with voters under 50 and highly educated voters. But despite his emphasis on affordability, he did less well with non-college, working-class voters, perhaps driven away by cultural concerns. 3) Andrew Cuomo was a symbol of a discredited status quo. Zohran Mamdani was a fresh and uniquely talented counterpoint to him. He is a powerfully articulate, authentic exponent of change. 4) Some of Mamdani's positions will quickly become fodder for Eric Adams in November and for the GOP, eager to paint Democrats as a Far Left party. He will have to decide if and how to blunt those attacks without compromising his principles and authenticity. 5) What plays in NYC won't necessarily play everywhere, so the idea that he has offered a template for Democratic victories in the future is overblown. 6) BUT there is much to learn from him about the appeal of generational change, the value of authenticity, the focus on economic issues and the use of new media techniques to reach voters who have checked out of politics. 'People are hungry for government to work again' BY MICHELLE WU Michelle Wu is the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. It's an exciting moment to see that a candidate who ran on big ideas and delivering things that really matter to people can overcome a ton of negative attack ads and outside money flowing in and all the usual ways that it feels like politics has been becoming more and more driven by big money. We saw an operation built from the ground up, connected to people's daily lives, and it had a huge impact. People are hungry for government to work again and to be proof that we can still come together and do big things and improve people's lives. That's what I ran on four years ago. That's what my administration has been focused on, and that's what I'm running on in this reelection campaign as well. It's the belief and the faith in our community that we can still get things done and we can come together to make sure that people can have an easier time raising their families, feeling a sense of belonging and connection to their community, and building a life for themselves that makes everyone better off. When you talk to people at neighborhood association meetings, or in coffee shops, or after church, it's not about buzz words or litmus tests on different political issues. People just want to feel like the hard work that they're putting in is going to lead to supporting their families and building the life that they dream is possible. Cities, local governments especially, have a huge role to play in that, because we are the only level of government where you can get things done on a day-by-day, sometimes hour-by-hour basis. Oftentimes, we're focused on issues that didn't happen overnight, and are long-standing, big, complicated challenges, but they really matter to our residents, and there's something that you can do to move forward. The big question is whether you choose to take that step and try the new approach… or you become complacent with the status quo and let time go by. I think it's pretty clear that people are ready for meaningful steps to improve their lives and to improve our community's health and opportunity overall. 'It's also about national politics and Donald Trump and the anxiety that he's created' BY JOE CROWLEY Joe Crowley is a former congressman for New York's 14th congressional district and current senior policy director at Dentons. New York is a very unique place. Mamdani ran a very excellent campaign and spoke to many of the issues that New Yorkers are concerned about — affordability in particular. But I would also suggest that it's also about national politics and Donald Trump and the anxiety that he's created in a place like New York: We saw it in 2018 after the 2016 elections, we saw some of that anxiety come to fruition for the Democratic Party, and I think you're seeing it again now. We have to be cautious to look at New York and apply it elsewhere though. I do think that Mamdani still has questions that need to be answered in terms of his representation of all New Yorkers, and how he's going to have to address that, as well as how he's going to pay for some of the things he's campaigned on. So I do think that this general election is not over yet — although it seems it's likely he'll win — so that's also out there. 'You do not win elections, in my view, by begging billionaires for huge amounts of money' BY BERNIE SANDERS Bernie Sanders is the senior senator from Vermont and a former mayor of Burlington, Vermont. Mamdani ran a strong grassroots campaign around the progressive agenda. They go together. You cannot run a grassroots campaign unless you excite people. You cannot excite people unless you have something to say. And he had a lot to say. He said that he wants to make New York City livable, affordable for ordinary people, that the wealthiest people in New York City are going to start to have to pay their fair share in taxes so that you can stabilize the outrageously high costs of housing in New York, which, by the way, is a crisis all over this country. That you could deal with transportation in a sensible way, deal with child care, deal with health care, deal with the needs of ordinary working-class people. So you come up with an agenda that makes sense to people. They get motivated in the campaign. They are prepared to knock on doors. That's how you win elections. You do not win elections, in my view, by begging billionaires for huge amounts of money. That's what Cuomo did: put stupid ads on television that nobody pays attention to. We need an agenda that speaks to working-class people, activates millions of people around this country to get involved on that agenda. Take on the billionaire class, take on oligarchy. That's how you win elections. 'Let's tax the rich? I don't know if that's a winning formula' BY LORI LIGHTFOOT Lori Lightfoot was mayor of Chicago, Illinois from 2019 to 2023. I'm surprised Mamdani pulled it off with such a comfortable margin. I think it's a significant win, but it's also a significant rebuke of Andrew Cuomo. I think the reality of having Cuomo back in power, as mayor of one of the most important cities in the world, I think sunk in. There were a number of voters who said, 'No thanks.' The idea that it's a resurgence of the far-left wing of the Democratic Party, I'm not so certain that's right. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around a democratic socialist being the mayor of one of the most important financial cities of the world. I have a hard time seeing that happening. In November, the Republicans did a very good job of portraying Democrats as being out of touch with reality and being out of touch with the common man and woman, and really focusing on cultural issues over meat and potatoes issues that people care about: affordability, health care and that industry doesn't leave working class people behind. Mamdani tapped into that, but his solutions to those problems are not ones that will be roundly embraced in New York City, and I don't think they will be roundly embraced in the larger Democratic diaspora. Leading with 'Let's tax the rich'? I don't think that's a winning formula. And I don't think it's a winning issue in New York, where you've got so many people who are wealthy. It definitely appeals to a certain populace — people who believe there are people not paying their fair share of taxes. But I don't know if that's a winning formula. 'Voters are willing to invest in younger candidates' BY DARRELL STEINBERG Darrell Steinberg was mayor of Sacramento, California from 2016 to 2024 and a longtime member of the California state legislature. In this wilderness period for my party, voters are looking for hope and inspiration. Experience still matters, but voters are willing to invest in younger candidates who may see our most difficult challenges with fresh eyes. 'Any entrepreneur or company looking to leave New York would find a warm welcome in San José' BY MATT MAHAN Matt Mahan is the mayor of San Jose, California. People across America are voting for change. But change comes in many forms — and from across the ideological spectrum. Zohran and I happen to have very different visions for how to create that change, and our ideas will be tested by real-world implementation over the coming years. But here's what we agree on: The status quo is broken. Housing is too expensive. Homelessness is a moral failing. Everyone deserves to live in a clean and safe neighborhood. And anyone who wants to work should be able to earn a decent living in our economy. That's where the agreement ends. I believe that to deliver these outcomes, we don't need bigger government — we need better government. We need practical policies that work. After three years in office, we're starting to see results. San José is opening more interim housing than any other city on the West Coast — and likely the nation. We're the only large city to have solved every single homicide over the past three years and have the lowest crime rates we've seen in 20 years. Bus ridership is back to pre-pandemic levels. We have the nation's highest number of new AI patents per year, highest wages for new grad hiring, and second-fastest post-pandemic rebound in downtown foot traffic. And we're building a movement of thousands of residents who choose to spend their Saturdays giving back to their communities through service. Our policy differences will be tested by reality. And in closing, I'll just offer: any entrepreneur or company looking to leave New York would find a warm welcome in San José. 'Zohran ran a movement campaign' BY AYANNA PRESSLEY Ayana Pressley is the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 7th congressional district and a former member of the Boston city council. Zohran Mamdani's victory in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York is nothing short of historic. Zohran ran a movement campaign that met people where they are, and he showed what is possible when we run campaigns that lay out an affirmative vision for a more just city. As someone who got her start in municipal government as the first Black woman elected to the Boston City Council, I know firsthand the power and potential of local leadership to transform lives. In this critical moment, when our rights and freedoms are under attack, we need visionary leaders who serve the people — not special interests or billionaires — and who are committed to building a more just, livable America where everyone has their basic needs met. That's the kind of city that Zohran wants to build together with New Yorkers from every walk of life. I know Zohran is taking nothing for granted in November. This historic primary shows us what we can accomplish when we lead with a politics of transformation — not transaction — and run on good ideas that meet the scale of the hurt and harm, with a clear affirmative vision. I'm all in on a New York and nation where everyone can afford to live and afford to dream. Holly Otterbein, Kelly Garrity and Shia Kapos contributed to this story.
New York Times
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
In ‘A Complete Unknown,' Bob Dylan's Politics Are Blowin' in the Wind
It might at first seem obvious why filmmakers won't leave the subject of Bob Dylan alone. Search 'Dylan' and 'movies,' and the list — from documentaries like 'Don't Look Back' (1967) to fictionalized treatments like 'I'm Not There' (2007) — turns out to be surprisingly extensive. The man was one of our most idiosyncratic and arresting artists during a revolutionary period in our popular music. And for all its diffidence and evasiveness, his was the work most often held up as Important — no small claim in the realm of pop music, especially then — and he was the one ratified as profound, even before the Nobel Committee's intervention. What actor doesn't want to play a charismatically elusive genius? What director wouldn't like to imagine himself or herself as a kindred spirit? But there are other reasons Dylan remains snagged in our collective consciousness, especially now. Though at least two of his songs — 'Blowin' in the Wind' and 'The Times They Are A-Changin'' — have been irrevocably shanghaied as the examples of Protest Songs of the '60s, his more fundamental role might have been to serve as America's political songwriter for the apolitical. The lyrics for the albums 'Bringing It All Back Home' and 'Highway 61 Revisited' are not only irreverently funny and freewheeling in their pillaging of high and low culture, but they're also sardonic, ambiguous and offhand. They're the opposite of earnest, and when they point out problems, they do it with a shrug. Like many of his countrymen and women, he periodically registered with clarity or even outrage the state of the status quo, but he mostly dismissed any notion that he should extend his fretting over it. Those two albums were recorded roughly in the period covered by James Mangold's 'A Complete Unknown,' the most recent cinematic tribute to Dylan, starring Timothée Chalamet, and the latest stone added to the Everest of such works. Though the drama begins and ends with Dylan's devotion to Woody Guthrie's work, the movie makes vividly clear how much more anarchic and exciting Dylan seemed than folk music's other standard bearers, singer-songwriters like Pete Seeger and Joan Baez, since they were stuck not only lamenting injustice but also promoting an agenda for social change. Dylan's lyrics, on the other hand, mostly seemed to suggest It's All Absurd or, more pointedly, They're All Assholes, a sentiment that adorned more than a few political lawn signs in 2024. A huge number of our cultural heroes, fictional and otherwise, have prided themselves on not being political, on their individuality as their ultimate value. Think of our western heroes, or our private eyes, or the way so many presidential candidates, the very definition of the triumphant insider, try to position themselves as outsiders. And as anyone who has attended one of his concerts knows, the central characteristic of Dylan's career has been to not do what's expected of him, even to the extent of putting out one of the most godawful Christmas albums in the history of the genre. Dylan's version of rebellion much more resembles that of Brando's in 'The Wild One.' When asked, 'Hey, Johnny, what are you rebelling against?' Brando famously replied 'Whaddaya got?' In 'A Complete Unknown,' that same orneriness causes Dylan to rebel against the expectation that he will be a crusader for social justice, a rebellion we're encouraged to support. Bob Dylan should be allowed to be Bob Dylan, after all, and we Dylan fans know that going electric enabled some of his greatest music. Poor Pete Seeger and Joan Baez are portrayed as sweet and well meaning but also comparatively pallid and hopelessly unprepared for the ferocity of the tumult that's about to upend American life. But while valorizing yourself as unwilling to dance to someone else's tune might make you sound like a revolutionary, and even make you sympathetic to revolutionary impulses, it also most likely leaves you poorly suited to contributing to collective action. Back in 1994, Noam Chomsky demolished Dylan as the model of the progressive artist, putting his finger on what the enshrinement of the personal cost him: Americans like to consider themselves no one's stooges — Rick in 'Casablanca' or the Ringo Kid in 'Stagecoach' may say they wish to be left alone, but they also pride themselves on knowing what's what, and on the knowledge that they would intervene if it became necessary. But the hands-on work of organizing at the grass-roots level for a better tomorrow? That's not for the hero. At its best, 'A Complete Unknown" is not so much about Dylan as about how we react to Dylan: Some of the most galvanizing and successful scenes, like the ones in which we see the first takes of 'Highway 61 Revisited' or 'Like a Rolling Stone' coming together in the recording studio, capture the exhilaration of encountering his music at its apogee. Mangold's visual style, which feels unhurried in its focus on the performers, maximizes that pleasure. Timothée Chalamet evokes an aspect of Dylan remarked upon in one of the first flattering reviews he received in New York — that he looked like 'a cross between a choirboy and a beatnik.' Chalamet presents him mostly as a semi-amiable cipher (which shouldn't surprise us, given the movie's title) who just wants to play his music and be left free of everyone else's ambitions for him. And to a large extent we're willing to grant him that grace, even if presenting himself as political was crucial to how he became the phenomenon that provided him that space and power in the first place. Chalamet's Dylan takes a sly pride in being provocative and off-putting but underplays the wit and only lightly touches on just how self-serving Dylan's progressive gestures at that moment in time might have been. That shrug of surrender spoke to many then and may resonate with even more now. The political nature of Dylan's work has no doubt been an exhaustively contested issue among Dylanologists for decades (I have to assume, since I'm not one). But why shouldn't we separate a work's effects from its creator's intent, or even its creator? The more radical members of the Students for a Democratic Society, the Weathermen, took their name from a lyric from 'Subterranean Homesick Blues': 'You don't need a weatherman/to know which way the wind blows.' But that entire song is about both registering society's oppressive reach and then offering opting out as the only solution: Those intending to go on the Freedom Marches, for example, probably found advice like 'Better stay away from those/that carry around a fire hose' of limited utility. Ultimately, 'A Complete Unknown,' in its determination to focus on the music and remain noncommittal about politics, echoes its subject's preferences. At the end of D.A. Pennebaker's documentary 'Don't Look Back,' about nearly the same period, Albert Grossman, Dylan's manager, teases him as they take a limousine away from his triumphant performance at the Royal Albert Hall. The British press has taken to calling Dylan an anarchist because he doesn't offer any solutions. And Dylan seems struck, but not particularly put out, by the news. He smiles and says: 'Give me a cigarette. Give the anarchist a cigarette.' And having gotten what he wants, he spends the movie's final moments with his chin in his hand, gazing neutrally out the limousine's window.
