Culture

Monday Notes: NBA Playoffs, Startups brace for a tough summer

On Sunday, April 23rd, the NBA Playoffs delivered an exciting slate of four games. The technology industry is also undergoing significant upheaval, including startup valuations, layoffs, and AI for voice actors. Read about two Chefs redefining and keeping alive Soul food.

Culture

Sunday Notes: NAACP vs. Mississippi, Sixers 1983 Championship

The NAACP files suit against Mississippi over racially unequal policing in a landmark civil rights challenge. Sunday also honors the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers champions.

Saturday Notes: NFL x Gambling, AI, Kofi Kinaata

The NFL wrestles with the ethics of sports betting as AI disrupts media. Kofi Kinaata brings Ghanaian music to wider attention in Saturday's roundup.

Culture

Friday Notes: Swizz Beatz, Fear of God, NBA Playoffs, Jalen Brunson

Swizz Beatz, Lloyd Banks, Suté Iwar, and The Weeknd all drop today. Fear of God returns to the Hollywood Bowl stage after a decade away, and the Cavaliers are systematically hunting Jalen Brunson in the NBA Playoffs first round.

Thursday Notes: NBA Playoffs, Bringing your whole self to work and more

NBA Playoffs continue, Barkley Hendricks' Jack Shainman retrospective opens, and Netflix's Cleopatra documentary sparks controversy in Egypt.

Personal Finance

Wednesday Notes: Buy Now, Pay Later, Music x AI, NBA Playoffs, Afro-pop and more

Buy Now Pay Later comes to the grocery store, UMG removes an AI-generated Drake and Weeknd track, and Rema makes the Billboard Hot 100.

Philadelphia Eagles

Tuesday Notes: Ralph Yarl, Jalen Hurts, NBA Playoffs Recap, Sakhile Mhlongo

16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot at the wrong house in Kansas City. Jalen Hurts signed the largest deal in NFL history the same week.

JAY-Z

Monday Notes: Fashion, Brooklyn Real Estate, JAY-Z, NBA Playoffs

Ahmad Jamal died at 92, the same week JAY-Z sampled Gil Scott-Heron, Brooklyn speculators targeted Black-owned brownstones, and the NBA Playoffs began.

Daily Notes

Sunday Notes: Oprah, NBA Playoffs, Coachella, and more

Oprah Winfrey returns to Tennessee State University for commencement, the NBA Playoffs open strong, and Ghana becomes the first country to approve Oxford's malaria vaccine.

Culture

Saturday Notes: NBA Playoffs, Mannie Fresh, Basquiat x Warhol Exhbition

The 2023 NBA Playoffs begin Saturday. Mannie Fresh becomes the latest hip-hop producer to sell his catalog, while the Basquiat x Warhol exhibition opens in Paris.

Daddy Yankee

Friday Notes: Joel Embiid, Music Release Day and more

For the first time since 1994, all five New York winter sports teams are in the playoffs — on the same Friday that Daddy Yankee's Gasolina became the first reggaeton song in the National Recording Registry.

Culture

Thursday Notes: The Shade Room, "Sweetwater", NBA Play-in Tournameent

The Shade Room and No Jumper, built to serve Black audiences, have become platforms for right-wing disinformation — the latest sign that cultural reach and editorial responsibility are increasingly at odds.