These are the top maybe-not headlines from the past 36-hours presented by The Conversation Project from raw engagement data from our social media to the headlines posted over the past day.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE EMAIL NEWSLETTER | BECOME A SUPPORTER ON PATREON
The 8 topics that our followers ranked as the most conversational are:
KENTUCKY MAN TUPAC SHAKUR ACCEPTS APOLOGY FROM GOVERNOR WHO MISTAKENLY ACCUSED HIM OF UNEMPLOYMENT PRANK
This unemployed Kentucky resident is keeping his head up. The man, Tupac Shakur, was brought up by Gov. Andy Beshear during a news conference Monday night as an example of people filing for unemployment benefits under fake names. But the governor was wrong. Shakur, a 46-year-old Lexington resident, was not trying to use the late rapper’s identity to get a government check. That’s his real name and he’s one of thousands of people who lost their jobs in Kentucky during the coronavirus pandemic. Shakur — who goes by his middle name, Malik — said Beshear called him Tuesday morning to apologize and he forgave him, apparently figuring it’s no biggie. “I understand, he’s dealing with a lot. Mistakes happen,” he told the Lexington Herald-Leader.” The unemployed restaurant worker, who had his name legally changed in the late 1990s, chose the last name because it means “thankful to God” in Arabic, according to the Herald-Leader.
COMMENTARY: This is not the first time we’ve heard from this Tupac Shakur. We pulled a story about this man after another weird mistuned identity story, which makes us wonder if his choice of a beautiful name once owned by an incredibly famous person was worth it. [SOURCE: nydailynews.com]
KRISTIN CAVALLARI, JAY CUTLER CHOSE A ‘CONSPICUOUS TIME,’ TO ANNOUNCE DIVORCE, LEGAL EXPERT CLAIMS
Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler have found themselves entrenched in a divorce battle right smack in the middle of a global pandemic, but according to one legal expert, the divorce filings by both parties after nearly seven years of marriage shouldn’t come as a surprise to some. Kelly Frawley, a partner and matrimonial and family attorney at the New York City-based law firm Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, told Fox News on Monday he thought the annoumnets were at “sort of a conspicuous time when we’re all just looking at our phones and the news all day and we’re looking for something that distracts us.” Frawley also found it unusual that Cavallari, 33, even filed for divorce from the 36-year-old former NFL gunslinger, given the fact that Cutler filed first, citing irreconcilable differences, according to Tennessee court documents obtained by TMZ. For her part, the “Laguna Beach” alum claimed marital misconduct as her grounds for divorce. The author-attorney believes that Cavallari potentially filed her own divorce documents in court simply to get the jump on Cutler’s narrative that their split was amicable, at best.
COMMENTARY: No, we are not getting away from Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler news anytime soon as we are starved for anything none COVID-19. Celebrity is a lot like a drug, and the need to be in the spotlight, despite how well you look to the public, is hard to kick.
[SOURCE: foxnews.com]
WILL REEVE WENT ON AIR WEARING A SUIT COAT AND NO PANTS, NOT REALIZING EVERYONE COULD SEE HIS LEGS
Most of us have lost count of the days we’ve been in quarantine, working at home in pajamas and forgetting when we last went outdoors. ABC News reporter Will Reeve might relate, except he seems to have forgotten something slightly more important: pants. Reeve appeared Tuesday on “Good Morning America” for a segment about pharmacies using drones to deliver prescriptions to patients. But at one point, Reeve, who acts as his own cameraman as he broadcasts from home, was positioned so it was quite clear he was dressed in a suit jacket — but no pants. Viewers quickly took to Twitter to call him out. In response to a tweet asking him to put on some pants, Reeve assured everyone he’d been wearing shorts. The reporter also joked that he won’t be getting hired as a camera operator “any time soon.”
COMMENTARY: ‘Pantless’ broadcasting is an inside joke within the world of broadcasting, and bring tom mind an iconic episode of the sitcom ‘Sports Night.’ But GMA has had fun with on-air wardrobe gaffes, including the day Lara Spencer showed up to work in front of the green screed wearing a green dress.
[SOURCE: cnn.com]
FRUSTRATED CUSTOMERS AT KAY, ZALES, AND JARED SAY THEIR WEDDING AND ENGAGEMENT RINGS ARE STUCK IN ‘JEWELRY JAIL’ DUE TO CORONAVIRUS-RELATED STORE CLOSURES
With Kay Jewelers, Zales, and Jared stores temporarily closed across the country, some customers who had sent in their rings for repairs are wondering when they’ll be reunited with their jewelry. The Facebook pages for Kay, Zales, and Jared have recently been flooded with comments from customers describing their frustrations. At least one customer described their rings as being locked up in “jewelry jail.” Some haven’t seen their rings in over a month. For some, missing rings are just the cherry on top of a series of frustrating situations brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. A representative for Signet, the parent company of Kay, Zales, and Jared, said that the retailers have been making an effort to get jewelry back to their owners. Meanwhile, the stores are promoting virtual consulting services that would allow customers to make new purchases online or over the phone. Those orders are able to be shipped to customers.
COMMENTARY: No, jewelry stores ae not essential commerce. Yes, pandemic procedures are playing a serious toll on what we want to call regular life, and what we want to continue to be regular life. Loss of life in the immediate fear from COVID-19, but the loss of hopes and dreams from missed opportunities is another serious side effect.
[SOURCE: businessinsider.com]
PROMINENT RADIO HOST RICHARD HAKE, WHO ‘WOKE UP NEW YORK,’ DIES SUDDENLY
Prominent New York radio host Richard Hake died suddenly on Friday. In a statement to staff on Saturday, New York Public Radio CEO Goli Sheikholeslami said the longtime WNYC journalist, who hosted the city’s broadcast of Morning Edition, died in his home on Friday. “He loved to say he ‘woke up New York,’ and he brought the same warmth and generosity to listeners that he shared with his colleagues everyday,” Sheikholeslami said. According to the WNYC chief, the cause of Hake’s death “hasn’t yet been determined.” Hake was one of the most recognizable radio voices in the city, appearing on WNYC daily and other NPR stations regularly. He was still broadcasting as recently as this week, appearing on WNYC’s Morning Edition on Monday.
COMMENTARY: We don’t have a lot to go on with this story, so we will keep an eye out for updates and make sure they are posted in the feeds for you to see. If they get a response as engaging as this one, we will keep talking about it.
[SOURCE: thedailybeast.com]
NFL CONSIDERING MAJOR SCHEDULE CHANGES TO 2020 SEASON
The NFL might be ready to admit this coming season could be as unprecedented as the virtual draft that concluded Saturday. Schedule-makers are in the process of designing several versions of the 2020 slate, some of which include a Super Bowl on Feb. 28, the regular season starting as late as Thursday, Oct. 15, and a season without bye weeks or a Pro Bowl, according to Sports Business Daily. It marks a striking but also unsurprising about-face in the league’s thinking since the end of March, when NFL executive vice president and general counsel Jeff Pash said he was “planning on having a full season,” and “in the same way” as previous years. Since then, commissioner Roger Goodell has said the league is prepared to make changes as the coronavirus pandemic has left many professional leagues around the world, including the NFL, with uncertain futures. The schedules are expected to be released early next month and include the standard 16-game, 17-week slate but will allow for flexibility, if necessary. One version would delay the season’s start by up to five weeks while pushing back the Super Bowl, currently scheduled for Feb. 7, 2021, in Tampa, by as much as three weeks.
COMMENTARY: The NFL exists to make money off the fans, with the by-product of entertainment for those same fans. If games don’t get played, they make no money, and the weird fights over money between billionaire owners and million players will being to make more sense to the fans. In the goal to get back to normal, attending events will be key, and the trivialness of football games will be key.
[SOURCE: ://nypost.com]
BLUE ANGELS, THUNDERBIRDS TO HONOR CORONAVIRUS WORKERS IN NY AND NJ
The U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels and the Air Force’s Thunderbirds will take to the skies this week to thank frontline workers battling the pandemic in New York and New Jersey. Each show will last roughly 35 minutes at average altitudes of 1,500 feet. Monday on Twitter, the Thunderbirds shared photos of the flight paths. Friday, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that the multi-city flyovers over the next two weeks. While helping the pilots fulfill their training requirements, the performances will incur no additional cost to taxpayers, the press release noted. Sunday on Instagram, the Blue Angels explained the reason behind the patriotic displays: “We’ve seen heroes emerge throughout all segments of society, whether it’s the cashier, the truck driver, the police professional, the folks staying at home socially distancing and doing their part,” a flight leader said in the video.
COMMENTARY: This story made me proud of my military service and hot over the hot takes that came across social media against the act. In a world where there is plenty of things to be mad at President Donald Trump for doing or taking responsibility for, this is not one of them. The complaints to the waste of money (already invested in fuel, maintenance, and training costs) and time (a morale boost that brought ‘something to see’) were unwarranted. There are plenty of things to really dump on Trump for. This one is not.
[SOURCE: breitbart.com]
MIKE GREENBERG, DAN LE BATARD IN MIDDLE OF POTENTIAL ESPN SHAKEUP
ESPN Radio is in the process of what could be a complete transformation that may impact every part of its schedule and eventually lead to Dan Le Batard no longer being on the network and the potential return of Mike Greenberg to radio, The Post has learned. While these plans may play out over the next year-plus, the departure of afternoon host Will Cain from ESPN Radio appears imminent. He is soon expected to sign a contract with Fox News and Fox Nation, according to sources. ESPN declined comment, while a Fox News spokeswoman did not immediately return a message seeking comment. ESPN is also strongly considering changing up its morning program of “Golic & Wingo,” as Trey Wingo’s contract is up this year. While the impact of the coronavirus pandemic could alter decisions, discussions regarding the potential changes are in progress. ESPN has not yet decided how it could replace “Golic & Wingo,” though Mike Golic and Mike Golic Jr. could remain in some capacity. The Big Lead has previously mentioned that Wingo hoped to be taken off the program.
COMMENTARY: As a person affected professionally by a shakeup in radio programming, this story means a lot to me from the standpoint of an industry I’d love to be a great part of. To all of you, it seems like a curiosity play about the people who will take to the air to entertain you. The loss of a gig is hard on everyone as it ripples through the industry, and we will see how this all shakes out.
[SOURCE: nypost.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 the past day.
A full weeks’ data (from Friday to Friday) is compiled, weighed, and sorted to produce the content for the Weekly Wrap-Up with J Cleveland Payne, published every Saturday as a podcast available at ThisIsTheConversation.com or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.
To ‘participate’ in the rankings of the headlines for this newsletter or the podcast, follow the Conversation Project on social media and engage with the posts to give them more ‘votes.’ The Conversation Project can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Connect with us directly by emailing us at theconversationinbox@gmail.com or by simply visiting thisistheconversation.com.
