These are the top maybe-not headlines from the past 84-hours presented by The Conversation Project from raw engagement data from our social media to the headlines posted over the past weekend.
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The 8 topics that our followers ranked as the most conversational are:
CHINA SENDS DOCTORS TO NORTH KOREA AS TV REPORT FUELS SPECULATION ABOUT KIM JONG UN’S HEALTH
China has sent a team of doctors to North Korea to help determine supreme leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un’s health status, Reuters reported on Friday. Hong Kong Satellite Television reported that Kim was dead, though there has been no confirmation from U.S. sources at this point. Kim’s last confirmed public appearance was on April 11, at a politburo meeting, though state media also shared footage of him attending aerial assault drills the following day. It was his absence from April 15 Day of the Sun celebrations dedicated to his grandfather, North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, that first sparked speculation regarding his well-being. On Monday, rumors spread that the North Korean head of state was in ill health after undergoing heart surgery on April 12, sparked by an anonymous source featured in the South Korea-based Daily NK outlet, a publication linked to a U.S. Congress-funded think tank among other institutions, along with a CNN article citing an unnamed U.S. official that said Kim was in grave danger following the operation. These rumors were subsequently discounted by U.S. intelligence, with two U.S. officials telling Newsweek on Tuesday they had no reason to think that Kim had suffered any kind of serious illness. Similarly, at the time, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency cited a government official who said there was nothing unusual coming from North Korea that could suggest Kim was ill.
Commentary: The devil you know versus the devil you don’t. If Kim Jong Un is ill and does not recover, the world has no idea what the ramifications will be and just who will be in charge going forward. This is disturbing.
[SOURCE: newsweek.com]
KRISTIN CAVALLARI AND JAY CUTLER ANNOUNCE DIVORCE
Kristin Cavallari just dropped some sad and actually shocking news … she and Jay Cutler are throwing in the towel on their decade-long relationship. Kristin just said, “With great sadness, after 10 years together we have come to a loving conclusion to get a divorce. We have nothing but love and respect for one another and are deeply grateful for the years shared, memories made, and the children we are so proud of.” Kristin and Jay met during a Chicago Bears preseason game back in 2010. They married in 2013. They had a son, Camden Jack, who was born in 2012 and another son, Jaxon Wyatt, who was born in 2014, followed by a daughter, Saylor James, born the following year. This isn’t the first split for the couple, remember back in 2011 Culter called off their engagement. However, they reconciled and got married in June 2013. Both Kristin and Jay have been super successful. Obviously, he made a fortune — $122 mil — QB’ing for the Bears and the Miami Dolphins, and she’s got a reality show, a jewelry company and lots of other stuff.
COMMENTARY: Famous people break up all the time. The irony is that the famours people get so much attention for their relationships and exploit it to their advantage. This time last year, this couple made the Weekly=Wrap Up with the headline, “Husband of the Year Jay Cutler Unclogged Kristin Cavallari’s Milk Ducts By ‘Sucking Harder Than He’s Ever Sucked,‘” so…
[SOURCE: tmz.com]
ALINITY SUSPENDED FROM TWITCH FOR WARDROBE MALFUNCTION
Popular and controversial Twitch streamer, Natalia “Alinity” Mogollon, has been suspended from Twitch, again. The Amazon-owned streaming platform suspended the streamer after her wardrobe malfunction went viral. At first, it looked like Alinity had escaped the ban, but after fellow streamers complained, she was kicked from Twitch the following day, also known as this morning. The banning follows Alinity’s self-suspension, which she announced on Twitter. “Hey so regardless of whatever Twitch decides to do, I’m gonna give myself a 3 day suspension from the platform,” said the streamer. “I think it is fair.” In a follow up tweet, Alinity addressed criticism that Twitch hadn’t suspended her yet, noting it’s not her fault if she doesn’t get booted from the platform. Further, she corrected those saying she never gets trouble with the platform, pointing towards her multiple suspensions in the past. Fast-forward a few hours, and Twitch made the suspension official. However, at the moment of publishing, it’s unclear how long the streamer has been suspended for. What is clear though is Twitch has not banned her. In other words, Alinity and her channel will return as normal following the suspension.
COMMENTARY: The things that entertain us, and the amount of cash we are will to throw to get more of those things, are amazing. Not necessarily rational, but amazing.
[SOURCE: comicbook.com]
ELIJAH WOOD DROPPED BY A FAN’S “ANIMAL CROSSING” ISLAND TO SELL TURNIPS AND WAS THE PERFECT GUEST
When Elijah Wood visited Jessica’s island, Ahch-to (named after the island from Star Wars: The Last Jedi), he also got to virtually meet some of her friends. “We were in a group chat at the time and couldn’t believe it. We felt so foolish following him around, frolicking my island, and hitting one another with nets.” Elijah was kind enough to stay for a bit and chat with Jessica and her friends, even politely asking if he could pick some of her fruit. “I thanked him again for visiting, and he was equally thankful that i let him sell his turnips!,” she said.
COMMENTARY: You need to read the whole article to get the full meaning of why turnips are such a big deal in Animal Crossing. This game is becoming a lifeline for people dealing with the loneliness of social distancing and quarantine.
[SOURCE: buzzfeed.com]
HAROLD REID, STATLER BROTHERS BASS SINGER, DIES AT 80
Harold Reid, who sang bass for the Grammy-winning country group the Statler Brothers, has died after a long battle with kidney failure. He was 80. Reid died Friday in his hometown of Staunton, Virginia, his nephew Debo Reid said. The Statler Brothers frequently sang backup for country icon Johnny Cash. Some of their biggest hits included 1965′s “Flowers on the Wall” and 1970′s “Bed of Rose’s.” Harold Reid was a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. He was also a comedian. “He is and will always be loved by his family, friends and millions of fans,” a statement on the band’s website said. “His singing, his songwriting and his comedy made generations happy. He has taken a piece of our hearts with him.”Reid and three boyhood friends — Lew DeWitt, Phil Balsley and Joe McDorman — formed the Four-Star Quartet in 1948. The group, later known as the Kingsmen, sang mostly gospel music. McDorman quit and was replaced by Don Reid, Harold’s younger brother. DeWitt once said the group changed its name again because several other acts — all better known — were billed as the Kingsmen. The new name came from a box of Statler tissue, he said. The quartet switched to country music in 1964, after meeting Cash and joining his road show. Over the next two decades, the Statlers won three Grammy Awards and were named top vocal groups nine times by the Country Music Association.
COMMENTARY: When I saw this story go live I knew it would resonate so I immediately tried to post it…only to finally have it go live in the feeds about 12 hours later. Still you marked it as one of the most conversational stories of the weekend.
[SOURCE: billboard.com]
NFL COMMISSIONER ROGER GOODELL EXPECTS 2020 SEASON WILL BE “ON TIME” BUT IT MAY BE “DIFFERENT”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he expects the league’s 2020 season will be “on time,” despite concerns over the coronavirus pandemic delaying and canceling other sporting events. Goodell also said he was “very happy” with how Thursday night’s first-round draft went, which he hosted from his basement for the first-ever virtual broadcast of the event. Goodell said he expected 2020 season schedule will be out within two to three weeks, and the league is consulting with medical experts on “safety guidelines” on its summer pre-season training. Despite concerns over COVID-19 cases still rising in the summer, Goodell acknowledged the uncertainty of the pandemic’s shifting nature. One item the commissioner specified was on the table during these talks was widespread testing. So far, two players and one coach have tested positive for COVID-19.
COMMENTARY: The other main headline involving Roger Goodell is the huge ratings success that was this year’s virtual draft. Mostly because it was new and live television involving real sports. But the real sport of football returning in the fall will be the real feat to conquer.
[SOURCE: cbsnews.com]
GIANT ASTEROID FLYING BY EARTH NEXT WEEK LOOKS LIKE IT’S WEARING A FACE MASK
An asteroid estimated to be 1.2 miles wide will fly by Earth next week, but it’s not expected to collide with our planet. And if an asteroid could be aware of such things, it appears to be wearing a face mask in deference to the pandemic, according to new images from Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The asteroid is called 52768 (1998 OR2), and it was first spotted in 1998. On April 29, it will pass within 3,908,791 miles of Earth, moving at 19,461 miles per hour. That’s still 16 times farther than the distance between Earth and the moon. If it did impact Earth, the asteroid is “large enough to cause global effects,” according to NASA, back when the asteroid was first discovered. The flyby is expected to occur on Wednesday, April 29, at 5:56 a.m. ET, according to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies. The center tracks Near-Earth Objects, or NEOs, that could collide with Earth.
COMMENTARY: I’m not sure if we would have made much of a deal with this asteroid if we weren’t in a crunch for news, or if anyone would have notices that it looked like it was wearing a face mask. But we did.
[SOURCE: ksl.com]
DRIVER IN CRASH MAY HAVE PASSED OUT FROM WEARING N95 MASK TOO LONG
The driver of a single-car crash in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, is “believed” to have passed out behind the wheel after wearing an N-95 mask for too long, police said. Lincoln Park Police Department responded to an accident on Thursday where a vehicle careened, front bumper first, into a wooden pole. After the officers cleared the scene where the driver was the only occupant of the car, they posted photographs of the crash on their Facebook page with a caption that created an “overwhelming response.” Lincoln Park Police Department in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, police said it’s believed that the driver crashed after excessively wearing an N95 mask. Lincoln Park, New Jersey, police said it’s believed that the driver crashed after excessively wearing an N95 mask. After the police published the post, several commenters questioned the legitimacy of the images and the information provided from the accident report. The police continued the post by confirming that the driver was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and enforced that New Jersey residents should continue to following Governor Phil Murphy’s directive to wearing face coverings.
COMMENTARY: The offshoot of the dangers of COVID-19 going wel beyond getting sick from the virus is maddening. From the worries of people ingesting poison as prevention to something like this.
[SOURCE: abcnews.go.com]
Eight Things To Talk About uses the raw engagement data from the social media engagement from The Conversation Project to generate the top-ranking headlines over the course of a weekend.
A full weeks’ data (from Friday to Friday) is compiled, weighed, and sorted to produce the content for the Wrap-Up Show with J Cleveland Payne, published every Saturday as a podcast available at ThisIsTheConversation.com or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.
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