Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick made national headlines five years ago when he started taking a knee while the U.S. national anthem played before his games. Kaepernick was exercising his freedom of speech by using this silent gesture to draw attention to the killing of Black men by the police across this country. His simple gesture fueled a national debate that continues to this day, as the Black Lives Matter campaign has become a powerful national movement. Colin Kaepernick was blackballed by the league for his actions, but his influence as a public figure is exponentially greater today than if... Read more →

The United States is a sports-obsessed country, but millions of fans remain apathetic at best about the rampant sexism and misogyny that permeates every corner of professional athletics. We largely turn a blind eye to criminal behavior like domestic violence committed by athletes because we don't want to think about our heroes committing such terrible acts. There's also the reality that so many men seem to get angry about women participating in sports at any level, whether it's as athletes, reporters, or in other roles. While some progress has been made over the years, this country has so much further... Read more →

The story of Jeffrey Epstein is a stain on the United States. The wealthy businessman spent years sexually abusing underage women, while forcing many of them to also perform services for his associates. He faced little to no repercussions for his actions for the majority of his life until his suspicious death in a prison cell in 2019. This monster ruined many lives, and rather than provide justice, the U.S. judicial system failed his victims at almost every turn because he had the vast resources to evade meaningful consequences. Many people know the general outline of the story as we... Read more →

Richard Marx is not a modest man, and his new memoir, Stories to Tell, is better off for it. The singer/songwriter/producer has had an amazing career for almost 40 years. Many remember his 1987 debut album which included the classic hits, "Should've Known Better," "Endless Summer Nights," "Don't Mean Nothing," and "Hold on to the Nights." He's sold over 30 million albums over the course of his career. However, some people may not know that he was a successful backup singer for years before going out on his own, and he's also written and produced many hits for other artists... Read more →

The United States struggles with few issues as much as the undying prevalence of racism in this country. Discrimination shows its ugly face daily in every aspect of American life, from police brutality, to unequal employment and education opportunities, to the racial hostility that put Donald Trump in the White House as a backlash to eight years of Barack Obama in the Oval Office. "Black Lives Matter" protests dominate the headlines because this country consistently shows that we collectively don't believe it. As debates about civil rights rage on, it would be helpful for many members of our society to... Read more →

I started getting into music around 1984-1985. I liked a little bit of everything, but Van Halen was the first band that really grabbed me. They were right in the middle of the David Lee Roth - Sammy Hagar switch, but I didn't have an allegiance to either singer. It was all about Eddie Van Halen making these incredible sounds come out of his guitar. From there, I gradually developed a love of hard rock and what is described by some as "hair metal." That's considered an insult in certain places, but let's be clear, it's used here as a... Read more →

The LGBT movement has made great progress since the Stonewall riots of 1969. Members of this community have organized over the years to achieve both significant economic and political clout in the never-ending fight to live their lives openly without fear of discrimination. Of course there's always much more to be done and gains to be defended. One of the lagging areas that comes to mind is in professional sports, specifically baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. Despite all of the stereotypes that have been disproved over the years, there's still an overwhelming sense that gay men are not welcome in... Read more →

Samantha Power has led a remarkable life. She immigrated to the United States from Ireland when she was nine years old with her mother (a doctor) and young brother. She went to Yale University and then became a war zone correspondent, with a focus on the conflict in the former Yugoslavia in the mid 1990's. Power then earned her J.D. from Harvard Law, wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning book called A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, and she eventually became a foreign policy adviser to an up-and-coming U.S. senator named Barack Obama. The future president later appointed... Read more →

Malcolm X is one of the most fascinating and compelling religious and political figures of the 20th century. His transformation from street hustler to one of the driving forces behind the Nation of Islam (NOI), and his subsequent break from that organization as he embraced traditional Islam, shortly before his assassination in 1965, is a gripping tale. Many have learned about his story and message of Black strength and independence via the classic Autobiography of Malcolm X, co-written by Alex Haley and published after Malcolm's death. We can not recommend that book highly enough. However, there is a new biography... Read more →

With all of the insanity of 2020 raging at full speed, a reader probably has two basic options when choosing a book this year. First, you can find something that will distract you from a tension of a global pandemic and presidential politics. Maybe something lighthearted that features a puppy who gets separated from his family and has a great adventure as he makes his way back home. The other choice is that you can lean in hard to the madness and dive into something like Chuck Palahniuk's new novel, The Invention of Sound (out now.) The Fight Club author's... Read more →