Healthy lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle is one which helps to keep and improve people's health and well-being.Many governments and non-governmental organizations have made big efforts in healthy lifestyle and health promotion.
Mental Health
Mental health can be considered a very important factor of physical health for the effects it produces on bodily functions. This type of health concerns emotional and cognitive well-being or an absence of mental disorder.
Public health
Public health can be defined in a variety of ways. It can be presented as "the study of the physical, psychosocial and socio-cultural determinants of population health and actions to improve the health of the population.
Reproductive Health
For the UN, reproductive health is a right, like other human rights. This recent concept evokes the good transmission of the genetic heritage from one generation to the next.
Health
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
vendredi 30 mars 2018
What Is Concealed Depression and How Can You Spot Its Sneaky Symptoms?
When you think of depression, you may be inclined to picture someone who struggles to get out of bed every morning and is barely able to function. But unlike many medical conditions, depression is one that often goes unseen and undiagnosed. That's because many sufferers actually experience concealed or smiling depression, in which they put on a happy front while hiding the fact that they may be fighting inner demons and feelings of sadness. By better understanding this condition and the signs that accompany it, you can take steps to help yourself or a loved one who may be struggling with this very common mental condition.
What is concealed depression?
Someone who suffers from concealed depression specifically is programmed to deal with their symptoms in a way that makes them easy to miss by outsiders. These people often bottle up their thoughts and emotions, putting up a happy front for everyone else when in reality, they struggle with sadness or finding a purpose in life, in extreme cases even having suicidal thoughts.
"Concealed depression is sometimes called 'smiling depression' because the sufferer seems fine," said Sally Winston, PsyD, a member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. "They go about their lives fulfilling their responsibilities, interacting apparently normally, and do not complain or share with others how they are feeling. They may be so used to being silently depressed that it is just experienced as 'this is just the way I am; I am just a loser' or 'this is the way life is' rather than 'I am depressed.'"
What are the signs of concealed depression?
If you find yourself often feeling low but going to great lengths to make others believe you're perfectly fine and happy, you may be suffering from concealed depression. Other signs to watch for are changes in your sleep and eating habits, feelings of fear and anxiety, using lifestyle hobbies like music and exercise to ward off feelings of sadness, and constantly making excuses to not spend time with friends and family members. "Vegetative signs like poor sleep or no appetite or pleasure do occur, but the sufferer feels there is no reason to seek help as it is hopeless to expect change," Winston added.
What should you do if you have it?
If you know you have concealed depression, hopefully that means you've been diagnosed by a mental health professional. The best thing you can do for yourself is to continue seeing a therapist regularly to work through your feelings. If you simply suspect that you have it because you are often sad, panicked, and sleepless, yet forcing yourself to appear happy, consider seeking counseling. Oftentimes the best place to start is through a referral from your physician.
What should you do if a loved one has concealed depression?
One of the biggest things sufferers of concealed depression experience is a fear of abandonment, which makes them hesitant to share their true feelings with those close to them. If you think a loved one is going to great lengths to hide feelings of depression, reach out to them and ask if they want to talk. If they confide in you, be there for them. They want to be loved, accepted, and understood. So hear them out, encourage them to seek help, and make sure they know you're there when they need a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. By being outwardly accepting, you can help your loved ones to see that mental illness isn't something to be ashamed of.
"If you suspect that someone you know has concealed depression, simply let them know your concerns and that this kind of depression is just as biologically based as more obvious kinds of depression," Winston said. "Some people who are clinically depressed wrongly blame themselves for how they feel or are ashamed of their thoughts and feelings unnecessarily. Seeking treatment either by medication or therapy can make a huge difference in their quality of life."
Why Drinking This Kind of Tea Could Help Shed Those Last Few Pounds
The health benefits of tea are vast, including soothing an upset stomach or helping to ease congestion. And while we've heard that matcha or peppermint tea are good teas to try if you're looking to lose weight, there's another tea out there that can help as well: white tea. While chatting with Bernadine Tay, global tea curator for Wedgwood, she shared this lesser-known benefit of sipping white tea.
"White tea actually stops new fat cells from forming," Tay told me while showing off Wedgwood's new Wonderlust Tea collection. The weight-loss benefits of white tea have been studied many times, including this study published in the journal Nutrition & Metabolism, and Tay pointed out that while it's been heavily studied, not many people realize that just drinking a few cups of white tea a day can help with losing weight.
White tea shares a lot of health benefits with black tea and green tea, but it goes through the least amount of processing, which makes it the most beneficial overall. It comes from the camellia sinensis plant and appears pale yellow when brewed. Besides stopping new fat cells from forming, white tea is also rich in antioxidants.
Tay noted, however, that while white tea boosts the breakdown of fat and slows down the growth of new fat, it is not a miracle worker. "It can help with weight loss, but it works best if you're healthy otherwise," she said. In other words, you can't eat whatever you want and think the white tea cancels it out. Livestrong recommends pairing the white tea with each meal and keeping up a regular fitness regimen.
No Wonder Michael B. Jordan Is So Hot in the Black Panther Trailer - These Are His Workouts
It may not sound like it's that far away, but having to wait until Feb. 16 to see Black Panther in theaters feels like an eternity. With such a stellar cast - Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong'o, Angela Bassett, and Forest Whitaker, just to name-drop a few - and a compelling plot, it's safe to say that this just might be the movie of the year.
But there's one cast member of Black Panther in particular who is known to make us weak at the knees, and seeing him in the final trailer reminded us just how drool-worthy he really is. We're talking about Michael B. Jordan, who plays the antagonist in the film, Erik Killmonger, and you may recognize him (and his abs) from the 2015 Rocky installment Creed, in which he played the lead role.
If you've never laid eyes on Michael, we're about to rock your world. He's one of the fittest dudes out there, and he's so dedicated to his fitness routine that the Nike Training Club app has three different workouts that were inspired by Michael. There's Quick Quarter, a 15-minute bodyweight workout that features challenging plyometric exercises to burn major calories. You can also try Slim Chance 2.0, which mimics the typical workout of a boxer. You'll go through a lot of quick feet drills and rotational core work. Finally, there's The Big 4, a workout designed for a villain - we're talking barbell work, like squatting, pushing, and pulling.
It's no wonder Michael is looking so perfect so fit these days. He's training like a professional athlete! Here are some intimate shots of him doing what he does best - sweating, working out, and stealing our hearts all at once. You might want to sit down for this.
11 Netflix Documentaries That Will Make You Want to Be Healthy
After an indulgent period, I need a little bit of a healthy reboot. Streaming an awesome documentary on Netflix always inspires me to get my head back in the game and get serious about my health. If you're in need of a healthy reset, turn on one of these flicks tonight. You might just be inspired to clean up your diet, get back to yoga, or even sign up for a crazy-challenging race.
Forget Juice (or Tequila) Shots - Veggie Shots Are Where It's At
Shots are more popular than ever now - and we're not talking about the boozy kind. If you're into juicing or a frequent customer at a juice shop in your area, chances are you're into fresh ginger shots and turmeric shots - even wheatgrass shots! A little blast of concentrated plant-based goodness can give you the micronutrients your body is craving as well as aid your immune system and your body's inflammatory responses.
Brands have become more creative with the way they pack nutrient-dense veggies and herbs into shots, including Zupa Noma, a plant-based soup brand that recently launched veggie shots. You read that correctly!
From Carrot Ginger Turmeric to Tomato Vinegar Habanero and Kale Cucumber Jalapeño, these micro soups are the savory complement to a sweeter juice shot regimen - and they each have different health components and bring something unique to the table . . . and your body!
The curry-inspired ginger turmeric shot is great for inflammation, digestion, and immune support, while spicy Bloody Mary-esque tomato shot is a great gut healer for your microbiome. And you'd be remiss to skip the spicy green-juice-style kale cucumber shot that gives you a surge of energy and tons of vitamins and minerals.
They're $3 per shot (less if you subscribe!) and they're delivered to your door, fresh, chilled, and ready to drink. You can even build a crate with soups and shots, making for easy plant-based swaps for your busy week.
My favorite so far is the Tomato Vinegar Habanero (what can I say, I actually love virgin Bloody Marys!) - but you'll definitely want to try all three for a bite- (sip-?)size treat of tasty nutrition. You know the deal . . . shots, shots, shots, shotshotshots - EVERYBODY! OK, I'll stop now.
This Is What It Looks Like to Lose 30 Pounds in 4 Months
While the terms "TIU" and "accountability partner" might not be a part of your vocabulary just yet, they were some of Kara Hamill's crucial secrets to success; the Canadian mom of two lost 30 pounds in just four months, and she's feeling healthier than ever.
Kara: Before
The Tone It Up program (TIU) introduced Kara to a world of weight loss, health, and fun that she didn't know before. Beginning her journey at the end of April, Kara has been seeing massive progress in a short period of time, and through her workouts and clean-eating plan, she was able to change her habits to create sustainable changes for incredible results. She doesn't count calories, loves drinking wine with her husband, and "sweats for date nights." Amen to that! Check out Kara's inspiring story and pick up some tips for your own journey!
POPSUGAR: What made you decide to start your weight-loss journey?
Kara Hamill: I just had our second baby within 19 months. I was the heaviest I've ever been, none of my clothes fit, and I was sick and tired of feeling self-conscious. My husband and I had our two perfect and healthy babies; now it was my turn to get my body back and I was determined to do it this time. My good friend was over one afternoon and she mentioned Tone It Up was starting their eight-week Bikini Series challenge right away and she suggested we do it together. I tentatively agreed, signed up, started up my TIU Instagram account, began meal prepping, and followed the TIU weekly workout schedule with my friend, aka my "accountability partner." I had no idea at the time, but my life was about to drastically change for the better.
PS: What's your favorite way to work out?
KH: Total body! Why not get it all done in one shot? I love the kettletoning workout from TIU. You hit total-body toning, cardio, and yoga in a quick 30-minute workout. I also love to kickbox. My husband owns all the gear so on some evenings after dinner, we'll get outside and hit some pads.
"You always need those recovery days, and it's on those days that I notice the most changes in my body."
PS: What's your weekly exercise schedule?
KH: I always attend a 6 a.m. Spin or circuit class one to two times a week with my accountability partner. One day a week I take an Orangetheory class, and on either Saturday or Sunday, I run a minimum of 5K. In between those days, I follow the Tone It Up schedule and throw in some kickboxing, running stairs, gym with my husband, etc. On average I work out five to six days a week. You always need those recovery days, and it's on those days that I notice the most changes in my body.
Kara: After
PS: How do you keep workouts exciting?
KH: Variety is key. I am a member at a couple of local fitness studios in our neighborhood that offer Spin, barre, yoga, and circuit classes; therefore on the days we work our legs and booty, I'll take a barre class with a friend. If cardio is on the schedule, I'll take a Spin class. Now that I love working out, I'll also tag along when my husband goes to the gym. Although getting out of the house with two little ones is not always easy, on some days (most days) I'll scrap the free weights, scoop up my kids, and squat around the kitchen! This workout comes along with a ton of laughs!
PS: What was the first big difference, other than the number on the scale, that really made you feel proud and excited?
KH: It was probably two weeks into the Tone It Up Bikini Series and my husband and I were going out for dinner. I had lost nine pounds by this point, and my closet was finally starting to fit again. I tried on a top I hadn't been able to wear for two years, and not only did it zip up, but it was loose! I could have cried at that moment. I felt so good again and insanely proud of myself!
Kara: Before and After
PS: How do you track your weight loss?
KH: Every week on Monday morning I throw on the same bikini, take my weekly progress pictures, my measurements, and step on the scale. Monday mornings soon turned into my favorite day of the week! When the scale wouldn't budge for a while, that's when I blew the dust off my old skinny jeans to see how well they were fitting. The scale can be a total jerk, but the way you look and feel in your skinny jeans is the true test.
"The scale can be a total jerk, but the way you look and feel in your skinny jeans is the true test."
PS: What's a typical day of meals and snacks?
KH: When I started my fitness journey with TIU, I was also breastfeeding my 2-month-old baby girl and intended to for a full year. Therefore I needed more healthy calories and feeling hungry wasn't an option. The nutrition plan gave me a list of healthy calories and preached how we need to listen to our bodies. I drink a ton of water all day, mainly because I am breastfeeding, but it also helps me feel full sooner. Meal 1: usually a berry, spinach, almond milk smoothie with a touch of cinnamon. Meal 2: apple with two tablespoons peanut butter. Meal 3: chicken salad with quinoa, feta, and a ton of raw veggies. Meal 4: veggies and hummus. Meal 5: one of my family's favorite dinners: lean ground turkey in tomato sauce over zoodles (zucchini noodles). It can't be beat. I always make an effort to limit my carbs at dinner so I don't go to bed with such a full stomach.
PS: What's the range of calories you eat per day?
KH: There is way too much stress involved with counting calories! I used to do it but quickly realized it was all I would think about all day. I eat clean Monday through Friday and dabble with some comfort food on the weekends. My husband and I love good food and wine, which is something we will enjoy doing together forever. We sweat for those date nights!
PS: What are the healthy staples that are always in your fridge?
KH: Spring mix organic lettuce, baby spinach, hummus, Greek yogurt, Pinty's Oven Roasted Chicken Breast Strips, coconut water, and kombucha.
Kara: After
PS: How do you strategize for meals out?
KH: When we get an opportunity to go out for dinner, I'm not overly hard on myself to eat strictly. Balance is so important. I enjoy good food - and that usually means healthy food - so I tend to focus on proteins, vegetables, and limit carbs, fats, and sugar. As always, I drink a lot of water throughout the meal, too. If I do indulge in a heavy, unhealthy meal, my body now reacts poorly as it's become so accustomed to clean ingredients; therefore I find myself struggling to gather energy or I'll feel just plain sick, so I've really stopped eating anything I know is going to make me feel sluggish.
"My husband and I love good food and wine, which is something we will enjoy doing together forever. We sweat for those date nights!"
PS: What advice do you have for anyone starting out on a weight-loss journey?
KH: Everybody needs to start somewhere, and there's no better time than the present. Know [that] there aren't any instant results, and you have to commit to a regimented program that will eventually show results and make you feel awesome about yourself. The feeling that comes over you when you see your hard work paying off is a proud happiness everyone deserves. TIU had the best line that has stuck with me. Especially on those tough weeks when I feel discouraged: "Even if you don't see results as soon as you'd hope, know there are changes happening on the inside - it's science! One day you'll wake up and the pounds will start melting away. Trust the process and be patient."
Meghan Markle Reveals the 1 Dessert She Eats Weekly - and It's Healthy
Meghan Markle is one healthy eater. During a recent interview with Good Housekeeping, the 35-year-old actress and current girlfriend of Prince Harry shared her five refrigerator must haves, and we're pleasantly surprised. In addition to hummus, almond milk, green juice, and carrots ("Because I love them and so does my dog, Bogart, strangely."), Markle also revealed her love for chia seed pudding. The Suits actress even confessed to making the dessert "every single week."
Fun fact: chia seed pudding is actually low in calories and will leave you feeling full after, so it makes sense why Meghan Markle is a fan of the yummy dessert that we often eat for breakfast. If you want to try out chia seed pudding for yourself, you're in luck. We have our go-to chia seed pudding recipe and eight other chia seed pudding recipes that will make your mouth water so you, too, can eat like a soon-to-be princess. Read her full interview with Good Housekeeping.
What Zodiac Signs Would Look Like as Pokémon
As Pokémon enters its 21st year of existence, it's important to note how it has become part of our everyday lives, even in the tiniest of ways. For this reason, we were pleasantly surprised to come across these beautiful illustrations of zodiac signs as Pokémon.
Drawn by Tumblr user cuteskitty, the Pokémon chosen for each of the zodiac signs match up remarkably well. For example, Rapidash is a generally competitive Pokémon that moves very fast, which is similar to Sagittarius people that refuse to be bored and are constantly on the move.
Check out the rest of the collection below and be sure to follow cuteskitty on Tumblr, as she reguarly posts her art there.
Prepare to Spit Out Your Water When You Hear What These Men Think About Birth Control
A recent study is causing quite the uproar, and once you learn about its findings, you'll likely want to scream in frustration, too. PerryUndem, a non-partisan public opinion research firm, surveyed slightly more than 1,000 registered voters nationwide about contraceptives and the policies that surround them. One statistic in particular really stood out among the rest.
Only 37 percent of men noted that they had benefitted personally from women having access to affordable birth control. Allow me to repeat that: only 37 percent. That meant a whopping 52 percent of men who stated they did not personally benefit from the presence of affordable birth control (with the other remaining percentage saying they were unsure about the matter or refusing to answer).
Apparently these men are unable to comprehend how many babies they could have potentially had roaming the earth if it weren't for birth control. As news of this survey's particularly ludicrous finding spread across social media, so did the plethora of disgusted reactions from people who couldn't seem to wrap their heads around the absurdity of it all. Check out their reactions ahead.
These Memes of Joe Biden Pranking Donald Trump Will Make You Giggle For Days
The days of President Obama's time in the White House are dwindling down, which also means we need to start saying goodbye to Vice President Joe Biden. Of course, the internet only knows one way to do this properly: make Biden a meme.
The Biden memes have one general theme: what people wish Biden would say or do to antagonize Donald Trump. Keep reading to see some of the best ones ahead - it might be the dose of laughter that you need today.
SNL Alum Says Working With "Moron" Host Donald Trump Was "Not Fun"
Way back when Donald Trump was a presidential hopeful in 2015, he hosted Saturday Night Live - exactly one year before Election Day. Taran Killam, who once impersonated Trump and later joined him on stage when he hosted, was stunningly candid about the now president in a 2017 interview with Brooklyn magazine.
Killam responded to a host of questions about his post-SNL career and joining the cast of Hamilton right after Mike Pence famously attended the show (and heard a compassionate message from the cast). President Trump was especially incensed by the incident, to which Killam replied with the utmost honesty. "Yeah, well the president is a moron," Killam told the magazine.
Later in the interview, Killam elaborated on what it was like to work with Trump on the show, and you might not be surprised by how difficult he said it was. "It was not fun, and most of the cast and writers were not excited to have him there," Killam said. "I didn't get the feeling that he was excited to be there, and it felt like a move for ratings from both sides."
Perhaps most unsurprising of all, Killam revealed how the president . . . struggled to read his lines. "What you see is what you get with him, really. I mean, there was no big reveal," Killam added. "He struggled to read at the table read, which did not give many of us great confidence. Didn't get the jokes, really. He's just a man who seems to be powered by bluster."
We're pretty sure Trump would write off Killam's account of his time on the show as "fake news."
These Adorable Illustrations of Geeky Villains Will Totally Change Your Perception About Them
It's easy to paint villains from comic books and movies as soulless people who care about nothing. But one artist wanted to look past this perception, so he created adorable illustrations of villains getting hugs from the heroes that try to destroy them.
Created by Spain-based designer Nacho Diaz, the "Villains Need Love" project is about showcasing these characters in a different light - and in a book. Diaz's Kickstarter campaign to put his illustrations in a book and on stickers, prints, and even phone cases was successfully funded.
Diaz chose villains because of how much he enjoyed drawing them and changing the message of who they are. "Most of the time [the villains] are the way they are because they had a hard time in the past, so I thought . . . Would they be different with some love in their lives?" Diaz wrote on the Kickstarter description.
You can check out some of our favorite illustrations ahead.
Every American Needs to Watch This 11-Year-Old's Impassioned March For Our Lives Speech
Naomi Wadler may only be 11 years old, but she's already shaping up to be a prominent voice in the effort to end gun violence. On March 24, Naomi stood in front of thousands at March For Our Lives in Washington DC to deliver an impassioned speech about how black women in particular are affected by gun violence in America, and her eloquent words were nothing short of brilliant.
"I am here today to acknowledge and represent the African-American girls whose stories don't make the front page of every national newspaper . . . whose stories don't lead on the evening news," said the fifth grader, who led the walkout at her school in Alexandria, VA. She continued, "I represent the African-American women who are victims of gun violence, who are simply statistics instead of vibrant, beautiful girls full of potential."
Naomi acknowledged the fact that her age has been a topic of discussion since she began speaking out in favor of gun safety, with many claiming that she's not old enough to do so. "People have said that I am too young to have these thoughts on my own," she said. "People have said I'm tool of some nameless adult. It's not true."
The 11-year-old went on to note that she and her elementary school friends only have "seven short years" until they vote, before concluding with a Toni Morrison quote. "If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, you must be the one to write it," Naomi said to the cheering crowd of protesters.
Something tells us this isn't the last we'll see of this courageous, well-spoken girl. Listen to her impassioned words of wisdom below, and then be sure to check out the most powerful signs from the gathering.
Hope Has Officially Left the White House - but We'll Keep Reliving the Awkward Hicks-Trump Farewell
On March 29, Hope Hicks served her last day as Donald Trump's White House Communications Director. The 29-year-old aide's resignation came after she admitted that her position required her to tell white lies in a private testimony before the House Intelligence Committee in February. On her last day, the president staged a very public farewell in front of the West Wing.
WATCH: President Trump poses with outgoing Communications Director Hope Hicks, declines to respond to questions before departing for Ohio. pic.twitter.com/nsDkeYzKzw
- NBC News (@NBCNews) March 29, 2018
Here's a breakdown of their brief goodbye: Trump points at Hicks in a joking manner, they shake hands, and exchange a kiss on the cheek - which is then followed by more pointing and another jerky handshake. The president didn't respond to any questions at the farewell and promptly left for a trip to Ohio. Hicks has yet to announce what's next for her in her career.
The Insane Beauty of the Largest Photo Ever Taken by NASA
Ever wondered what a trillion stars looks like? Reddit user floatyverve transformed the largest, most high-resolution photo ever taken by NASA into a stunning video you can experience on your own computer in 4K resolution. The Hubble Space Telescope compiled 7,398 exposures into a single mosaic that captures the Andromeda Galaxy (which, by the way, is 2.5 million light-years away from Earth) like never before.
According to NASA, there are over 100 million stars packed into the image, which was released earlier this month. Who knows what mysterious planets and solar systems await us in our galactic next-door neighbor. Watch the video to get a close-up of the gigapixel photograph in all its glory!
Meg Wolitzer on Her New Novel, The Female Persuasion, and the Future of Feminism
Meg Wolitzer is one of those extraordinarily rare writers who not only understands the human experience but can also fully articulate that experience on the page. It's for that very reason that her 2013 novel, The Interestings, became a cult phenomenon; by dissecting the shared experience of summer camp and the cascading effect it has on the maturing adolescent, she tapped into a rich vein of many generations of American women, telling a story that has rarely been told in such beautiful, resonant detail.
Now, Wolitzer is back with an equally compelling and thought-provoking tale. The Female Persuasion tackles the ideals of feminism as seen through the ever-shifting lens of power, influence, and passion. At heart, the book is centered around two characters - feminist icon Faith Frank and a young, ambitious woman named Greer Kadetsky - but equally important are the individuals they meet along the way.
From Greer's high school sweetheart, Cory Pinto, to Faith's complicated ex-lover turned business partner, Emmett Shrader, each individual in the central narrative is given an extensive inner life. And as readers travel through decades of character-based history, a richly woven web of characters and causal actions emerges, one that ties up every last loose end yet leaves you guessing until the very last page.
In early 2018, POPSUGAR caught up with Wolitzer for a wide-ranging conversation about The Female Persuasion, the questions facing modern feminism, and the 2016 election, an event that occurred well after most of the book had been written but, as a backdrop to the book's release, is impossible to ignore. A transcript of that conversation - lightly edited and condensed for clarity - appears in full below.
POPSUGAR: Let's start at the very beginning. I'd love to hear what made you decide to tackle such an incredibly difficult subject matter, especially during such a complex moment in history.
Meg Wolitzer: You always want to challenge yourself as a writer, of course. But more than that, I think you write about the things you keep thinking about again and again. People always say "write what you know," but I've always felt that it's really more "write what obsesses you." And I realized that there are some things that I kept returning to. Female power - who has it, what does it mean? What about mentors and protégés? Making meaning in the world but also the person you meet who can change your life forever. All of these things were ideas that were kind of percolating in my mind for a long time. And, of course, feminism. As a feminist, that's somewhat of a given in me, but at the same time, a story that could address some of these things just sort of began to reveal itself to me.
PS: To that end, which of the storylines do you think was easiest to write - and which was the hardest?
"Who are these people? How do they want to make meaning in the world? What is it like to be them?"
MW: I don't think I distinguish them in that way. Writing a book that takes place over time, that goes back and forth into different characters' lives, it's always going to be difficult in its own way. But I'll say this: it's not more difficult, but it's more interesting to me to write younger characters as well as older ones because you really have to try to sort of absent yourself and say, "Who are these people? How do they want to make meaning in the world? What is it like to be them?" It is very moving going outside myself and into other characters, so I don't know that one is more difficult than another, but it's all hard.
PS: With the characters, was there one in particular that you felt you related to most? Or were you truly just inhabiting an altogether different world?
MW: I mean, you have to be able to imagine your characters' interior lives or else you can't write them. They have to be human; they have to feel like there's that sense of one's own inner life. I don't know that there's anyone in particular, since I like standing in the middle, age-wise, between Greer, my younger character, and Faith, my older one. I like the vantage point.
I'm a daughter of a writer-mother, Hilma Wolitzer, and she was always incredibly supportive of my work, speaking of older women helping and teaching younger ones. I saw her struggle to become a writer at the same time that second-wave feminism came about. I saw how the women's movement helped her work up the courage to say, "I can do this; I can write freely." I watched that when I was a child, a young person. And when I got older, she was always encouraging to me, and it gave me a kind of energy and self-reliance that I wouldn't have had, I don't think, if I hadn't had a mother like that.
"It's like when you stop at one of those roadside places and they have a machine that you can put a nickel in, and you can see all over the valley; you can turn it around."
As I got older and became a mother myself, I tried to sort of pass that on as well. So I think that the young person wanting to make meaning and an older person wanting to make meaning - having both experiences and looking both ways - it's not that I related to one or the other, but [I] had a vantage point of looking all around. It's like when you stop at one of those roadside places and they have a machine that you can put a nickel in, and you can see all over the valley; you can turn it around. It's kind of like that. I put the nickel in, and I got to turn the viewer in a bunch of directions. So that's how I wrote the book.
PS: What research did you do in order to give these characters such incredible depth, to put all the pieces together in a way that so intricately represents so many different times, so many different feelings?
MW: Listening to people is something that I always want to do. I spent a lot of time listening to people and talking to people, even before I knew I was writing the book about these issues, though this book is landing in a very heightened moment, of course. Obviously, I wrote the book before that became the moment that we're in - most of the book, anyway. But these were things I've been thinking about for a really long time, so it's not like it was just new. I'd been thinking about them for years before knowing I was going to write about them.
I think that that's what often happens, since it also happened with The Interestings. You're marinating ideas about something, and then one day you think, "Right. These are the things I keep returning to. There's something to explore in them."
PS: How are you feeling about the book being released in such a different moment than the one in which you wrote it?
"Somebody said to me, 'We're in a time of so many hot takes,' and I joked that I was the master of the warm take."
MW: It's a novel. And because of that, I don't want to satisfy the 24-hour news cycle, happily. If you ask me a question, realistically, I should get back to you in three years [laughter] because I really give things a lot of thought, which is why I'm a novelist and not writing for a newspaper. I think I really appreciate having the time to go in a very interior direction. Headlines don't allow (or often don't allow) for the nuance that I, as a fiction writer, really crave. Somebody said to me, "We're in a time of so many hot takes," and I joked that I was the master of the warm take. And it's true because, I mean, I just want the time to think it through. I want to go deep with the characters, to ask, "What does it feel like now?"
PS: So was it intentional that the book was set outside of the then-Trump frenzy and now-Trump fatigue?
MW: I wrote most of the book before the election, with an assumption that Hillary would win and the book would be out in a time when we would have a woman leading us, yet even that was sort of in the background. But when at the very end of the book we plunge forward into the dark, into that darker time, that was when I was working on the book still, and I wanted to kind of acknowledge the future a little bit because the idea that feminism - really, any social justice movement - the notion that you'll have a little progress and then maybe a little slippage . . . it isn't necessarily always true. Sometimes the whole thing can be taken out from under you. How do you think about it then? And what happens to my older character, to my younger character in those moments?
"I wanted it to feel like when you go into the book, you're deeply experiencing this book, rather than just thinking, 'This is our society.'
I wanted to give a nod in that direction, but as a whole, the book was written outside of that. I think that I live in a society and in a culture, like all novelists, where I'm not off the grid (I'm on the grid!) but trying to create a world that has a lot of things in common with our world but is also very much its own textured, nuanced world. I wanted it to feel like when you go into the book, you're deeply experiencing this book, rather than just thinking, "This is our society." But, of course, the book does comment on many things from our culture as well.
PS: Yes, I have to ask you about that. At times, it felt a little bit like every character represented a larger issue that we're currently grappling with as a society.
MW: If you make yourself open to your characters, what's important about them and what the dominant ideas are for them start to sort of organically come out - and you follow those trails. I certainly tried to do it that way, rather than sort of having characters stand for something that they might not. The writer Mary Gordon - who was an early teacher of mine and one of the people who taught me so much - she always said to our class, "Write what's important. Only write what's important." And what she meant there, I think, is write what's important to you. And in writing what's important and what you care about, it becomes important to the characters, and what they do on a page also in a kind of micro way seems to come out a little bit. So it's not that I saw them as representing these ideas. But these were the things that we should illustrate how they are in the world, how these people are in the world.
PS: Right, so with Emmett Shrader, in particular, I'd love to hear a bit more about him as a character and as an idea. He feels like a stand-in for the patriarchy, but at the same time he is a sympathetic character in certain ways . . . particularly because of how incredibly misguided he truly seems to be.
"As with most characters and with most people in our lives, as people say on Facebook about their relationships . . . it's complicated, right?"
MW: As with most characters and with most people in our lives, as people say on Facebook about their relationships . . . it's complicated, right? It's complicated because no one is one thing or another. In fact, when I teach writing, sometimes I'll talk about characters and how there's a feeling when you're at home and you want to talk to a friend and you don't know exactly why you want to talk to them. You don't have a particular need to say anything to them, but you want the feeling that you get around them, which is hard to describe. And I feel that way about characters. When a character is successful, there's a feeling being around a character. So you want that. If you're not feeling that, then maybe it's not working.
Emmett is definitely an establishment patriarchal figure, without a doubt. But for me, I just want to know him. I think the theme of this conversation is immersion, really. It's the idea that if you immerse yourself in a world, with a little luck, the most important aspects of things about it will come to the forefront. And once you start looking at people and who they really are, often sympathy will arise, too. Or sometimes rage. I mean, it depends on the character. But I think that as the writer, I'm not writing polemic; I'm not writing a parody. I'm trying to create fully lived-in characters, so they're never all one thing - they're many things. I try to just do that again and again, book after book.
PS: I'm curious about Faith as a character. I liked her a lot more than I liked Greer, and she felt so original and striking and had all these characteristics that we all know and understand but don't typically see put together. So I was curious to know why you decided to make her fail, in the larger sense, by having these big ideas and not really being able to take it to the next level - and whether you felt, in retrospect, that it came across as something of an analogy to Hillary Clinton. It's how I read her, frankly, in many ways.
MW: Again, I just tried to really know her. I mean, I certainly would never want to have her do things, to succeed or fail, just because I was making only a larger point. I couldn't do that. I wanted to know her; she's poignant to me because she comes from a very different time than the younger characters. She's not perfect, but she struck me as, you know . . . she's kind in the way she reaches out to this younger woman and to other young people. And she's more genuine in that forum and more comfortable in that forum than she necessarily is one to one. So, therefore, she's a kind of person with particular qualities that maybe you don't love or even find maddening. But yeah, I mean, with Hillary Clinton, it's certainly true that we've had images of powerful women who can go the distance or not go the distance, seen the intersection of a powerful woman and the impositions of society. To me, that's an interesting topic - but a topic isn't a character. We need to flesh those characters out.
"I want to live in a world where there's a lot of famous feminists. So I have to create one. I have to create more."
Faith grows up during second-wave feminism and is from that time. And therefore she learned about the world in a different time from the younger characters. So she's going to be different. Her perspective is one that, as a student of feminism, I certainly was like, "Yes, I know this part. I know where this part comes from, and I can't wait to see what others - who maybe don't have that sort of education - if it sparks a new understanding of that time and place, which I think people have looked over for quite a while now."
It's moving to look at the history of feminism, the fights that were fought, the mistakes that were made - it's moving, and a lot of other things. But Faith is not Hillary. But, look, I want to live in a world where - and I've said this to friends and said it before - I want to live in a world where there's a lot of famous feminists. So I have to create one. I have to create more.
PS: More people who, even if they are flawed, give back to a younger generation and teach them what they wish they knew at certain points in their lives - the mistakes they made - and tell the story they have to tell.
MW: Yeah, because I think that the mentor story - I haven't seen it represented or spoken about that frequently in fiction. Is there a kind of positive story that we're not hearing? Even though it's complicated and they fall apart at some point, so many women I know have an older woman - at least one - who at a pivotal moment gave them something, and they think about that a lot. I wanted to capture that, and Faith seemed like somebody . . . as I thought about that character, she just sort of got filled out for me. In my own life, those relationships are still so powerful to me. They are so important to me. That, again, is something that I was thinking about anyway for a long time.
PS: It's hard in this moment in time, specifically, to be a young woman trying to grow up, trying to learn lessons. Who do you turn to, and how do you speak your mind without being lumped in with 50 other people who maybe don't have the same views? I think it all becomes a much bigger question, and I think - I hope - it will ultimately lead to a new wave of feminism.
MW: I mean, I have the very young character at the end, Kay, the babysitter - she sort of stands for the future . . . going into a moment we don't know yet, a moment we don't understand, filled with all the feelings that a young woman would have. And I like imagining that.
PS: From your perspective - and I know this is a very complicated question - what does the next wave of feminism look like?
"We're in a moment right now where we're all watching, listening, speaking, learning, [and] feeling surprised at the speed at which things have picked up."
MW: I mean, while the media definitely is interested in the frictions between generations - which is real and there - I think that, generationally, women want so many of the same things. And intergenerationally, certainly, that will continue. Imagining equality, fighting for it. Continuing that fight, broadening that fight. A lot of the things are going to just be continued, and maybe the fight will take different forms. Who knows? We're in a moment right now where we're all watching, listening, speaking, learning, [and] feeling surprised at the speed at which things have picked up. But I couldn't possibly say that I know where it will go.
PS: But where would you hope it would go?
MW: Well, equality is the word that one comes back to. Equality. That's what it's all about.
A Subtle Form of Slut Shaming You May Not Realize You're Perpetuating
On May 23, the Trump administration put another dollar in its "Swear (that we are trying to f*ck over women) Jar" when it rolled out a new rule. The proposed legislation would amend the Affordable Care Act to allow employers to opt out of providing contraception coverage for employees if they have a "conscience-based" objection. This means that if a company has a religious or moral (or really any) opposition to birth control, it can remove free preventive coverage from the medical insurance plans it offers its employees. Because honestly, who hasn't wanted their boss and their government in their panties?
Under the 2010 ACA, contraceptives are free for women because birth control is considered a necessary component of healthcare coverage. But the Obama administration made an exception to the ACA's coverage, allowing religious nonprofits and closely held for-profit companies with religious objections to deny coverage for some - or all - contraceptive purposes. Trump's new draft rule takes this a step (or rather, a giant leap) further and is much broader in its exemption allowances, which will inevitably affect millions of women around the country. In 2013 alone, the ACA contraception mandate helped 55 million women obtain birth control and saved them $1.4 billion in out-of-pocket healthcare spending. That's $1.4 billion with a capital "B" - money that could then be spent on feeding families, higher education, securing a roof over one's head . . . ya know, the little things.
Anyone can understand that if women are forced to spend, on average, $1,200/year on contraception, making birth control free will aid women in taking control of their physical and financial health. In terms of securing economic freedom and bringing families out of poverty, this is paramount. As women of the 21st century, we should all be on the same page there. But we too often tend to lose our spot in the Why Birth Control Is Necessary book we were all given as fourth-wave feminists.
Whenever the discussion of birth control arises, so does one of justification. We hear our friends and coworkers exclaim that, "This is BS! I'm on the pill, but it's for acne," or, "WTF, don't these Republicans know that a lot of women take the pill for endometriosis?! Like Lena Dunham . . . ," and, "Before birth control I had the worst cramps - I need this covered!" Which are all completely valid and reasonable arguments, but they kind of miss the point.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, a whopping 86 percent of women who use birth control use it for pregnancy prevention, aka its intended purpose. And that's awesome. But for some reason, when the topic of the pill comes up, we feel we need to offer up some other explanation besides, "I would like to have sex without having a child before I'm ready or can afford one." But why? Are we trying to appease reproductive-rights foes by offering up medical ailments that can be treated with the pill? Or do we still feel that, in 2017, we cannot be open and honest about the fact that we are sexually active?
As someone who has been guilty of the "acne" disclaimer on more than one occasion, I'm going to proffer that the majority of us, whether subconsciously or not, are still not completely comfortable with announcing that we have sex. We still fear that if we reveal that we use birth control to have sex, and not babies, that we'll be considered sluts - even though we know, as millennial women, that this is an antiquated and erroneous mindset. And yet, we perpetuate the cycle of slut shaming when we continue to use "acne" as an explanation for our BC prescription. Even if the aforementioned, alternative reasons explain your prescription, we still do not need to offer them up as some sort of mechanism to remove the pill's scarlet letter.
Clear skin and cramp-less periods are awesome, but so is having sex without an unplanned pregnancy. Wanting to have sex without an unplanned pregnancy should be enough of an explanation for our birth control. Wanting to have sex without an unplanned pregnancy should not require statistics and numbers to justify. Wanting to have sex without an unplanned pregnancy should be enough of a reason to demand access to birth control.
Our feminist foremothers didn't fight for our sexual liberation so that we could say we have "acne." We must direct the conversation around birth control by demanding that protected sex is our right and that no other explanation is necessary.
This Optical Illusion Is Blowing the Internet's Collective Mind
Terrific optical illusion by Victoria Skye. @RichardWiseman @chriscfrench pic.twitter.com/IeSFupAcfU
- Martin S Taylor (@martinstaylor) August 7, 2017
From a brick wall to the dress, we may be the most technologically advanced generation, but there's nothing we enjoy more than a good mental magic trick. It should come as no surprise, then, that any time someone spots one of these gems in the wild, it immediately makes its way to social media . . . and immediately goes viral. The latest example of our enduring love for optical mind-trickery, which made its way to the internet this week, comes in the form of a magician's brand-new take on a classic optical illusion.
Fifty-eight-year-old Roswell, GA, resident Victoria Skye bills herself as a magical entertainer and illusion artist, and her personal website is chock-full of reasons that's the perfect way to describe her work. But it took Martin S. Taylor posting one of her artworks to Twitter on Aug. 7 to make her truly go viral - and to spark a fierce debate over whether or not the many lines in the image are bent or, as many claim, are parallel and straight.
The "cafe wall" illusion is traditionally "an optical illusion produced by a black and white rectangular tessellation when the tiles are shifted in a zigzag pattern," according to Wolfram Alpha, which also confirms that "while the pattern seems to diverge towards the upper and lower right corners in the upper figure, the gray lines are actually parallel." In other words, it's all about the combination of math and colors, which Skye excellently illustrated in her image.
Don't worry, though - if you don't really see what you think you're supposed to, you're not alone. The internet is awash with individuals speculating on whether they just fell victim to a hoax or if there's something wrong with a large percentage of the population's brains. Fortunately, thanks to mathematicians over the past couple of centuries, we can unequivocally say that the lines are in fact straight. You just have to convince your mind to see what it's supposed to.
Real talk: when you do actually see it correctly after staring at it for hours, boy is it a satisfying feeling. Spend some time with a full-size version of Skye's photo, below.
Everything You Need to Know About the Stormy Daniels 60 Minutes Interview
Not long after the magazine story was killed, Stormy Daniels says she was threatened by a man who approached her in Las Vegas. "A guy walked up on me and said to me, 'leave Trump alone. Forget the story.'" pic.twitter.com/JMskKQiYCi
- 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 25, 2018
Stormy Daniels has spoken.
The adult film actor, producer, and director sat down with Anderson Cooper on the March 25 episode of 60 Minutes, and she did not hold back. The greatly anticipated appearance came only weeks after President Donald Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, sued Daniels for $20 million in damages for violating her nondisclosure agreement and mere days after Daniels's lawyer, Michael Avenatti, sent a cryptic, now-viral tweet about a disc associated with the interview.
Accordingly, the interview itself was both the Trump bombshell and nothingburger that many anticipated it to be. Daniels began her relationship with Trump when they met at a golf tournament, and it was her moxie that caught Trump's eye. Daniels then wooed Trump with her ability to stand up to the now-president when the two met in a hotel suite in July 2006; Trump - then aged 60 - bragged about a magazine cover he appeared on which prompted Daniels - then aged 27 - to reply with, "Someone should take that magazine and spank you with it." What came next? Trump dropped his pants and she gave him "a couple of swats." Trump then began to treat Daniels more appropriately, reportedly telling her, "Wow, you - you are special. You remind me of my daughter." The daughter in question is, of course, Ivanka Trump.
Daniels and Trump did indeed have sex, but Daniels noted that this isn't a #MeToo type of story: the relationship was consensual. "I didn't say no," she explained. "I'm not a victim." This July 2006 encounter was the only time the two had sex despite an encounter in July 2007 wherein Trump tried to initiate sex after inviting Daniels to his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel to watch Shark Week.
When Donald Trump won the Republican nomination, Daniels says she started getting calls again with offers to tell her story. And she got one offer not to tell her story. Mr. Trump's attorney Michael Cohen agreed to pay $130K in exchange for signing a non-disclosure agreement. pic.twitter.com/HB98pik8bj
- 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 25, 2018
One of the biggest surprises of the interview, though, was when Daniels revealed how she has been repeatedly threatened and intimidated by Trump's team to keep quiet about her story. Daniels sold her story for $15,000 to InTouch in 2011, but said story was canned after Cohen threatened the magazine with a lawsuit. That same year, Daniels mentioned being intimidated in person when a man came up to Daniels and her daughter, saying, "Leave Trump alone. Forget the story," before noting, "That's a beautiful little girl; it would be a shame if something happened to her mom."
Similar threats ultimately caused Daniels to lie about the affair, noting that she felt as if she "had no choice" but to lie. Ultimately, the truth is only emerging now because Daniels is hoping to set her record straight, particularly in light of the 2016 payoff of $130,000 by Cohen. This payoff is significant because it was timed in the aftermath of the release of the now-infamous Entertainment Tonight tape and was an "in-kind contribution" to the Trump campaign. This is a problem, as former Federal Election Commission Chairman Trevor Potter explained to Cooper, that the donation might be illegal because it was "about $126,500 above what he's allowed to give."
While the interview may have been just an hour in the ongoing saga that has been years in the making, the moment is being interpreted in many ways. First, it seems to have done little to sway conservatives and Christians who support Trump - despite the fact that extramarital affairs and paying porn stars for silence are not traditionally seen as appropriate behavior. Analysts have observed that Daniels's story likely won't make a difference in this voting section because of their view of America as a Christian nation that harbors anti-Muslim sentiments. Commentators, like George W. Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen, reiterate this by boiling support down to one thing: Trump keeping his promises, particularly to protect Christian beliefs and freedoms.
Trump hasn't spoken about the interview directly, but supposedly subtweeted the happening by noting, "So much Fake News. Never been more voluminous or more inaccurate," before assuring followers that the country is "doing great." Cohen has also sent a cease and desist notice to Daniels in response to the interview's airing.
If anything, Daniels's story and situation with Trump have been amplified beyond what either party intended: the episode gave 60 Minutes its highest ratings in 10 years, drawing more than 23 million viewers.
Donald Trump Called Roseanne to Congratulate Her on "Unbelievable" Ratings, Because of Course He Did
In case you missed it, Roseanne is back, and millions of Americans are excited about it - 18 million, to be exact. The much-anticipated television reboot premiered on ABC on March 27, and it actually broke records with its astounding ratings. In addition to other storylines like David and Darlene's divorce, a plot point in the new Roseanne is that Roseanne Conner is a Trump supporter. So what do you get when you combine a classic American sitcom mentioning Trump and the topic of ratings? A congratulatory phone call from Donald Trump, of course.
According to BBC, the president confirmed he called Roseanne Barr to talk about her show's success and "unbelievable" ratings. He mentioned the phone call during a speech about infrastructure in Ohio on March 29, saying, "Even look at Roseanne, I called her yesterday. Look at her ratings! Look at her ratings! I got a call from Mark Burnett, he did The Apprentice. He's a great guy. He said, 'Donald, I called just to say hello and to tell you did you see Roseanne's ratings?'"
Making it very clear that he is happy with how he was portrayed in the show's first episode, Trump said, "They were unbelievable. Over 18 million people. And it was about us." I guess we can't expect any tweets about an "overrated" show in this particular case.
The 8 Winners of This Year's Smithsonian Photo Contest Will Completely Blow You Away
After reviewing 48,000 submissions from photographers from around the globe, the photo editors at Smithsonian magazine narrowed its 60 photo contest finalists down to eight well-deserving winners. Contestants had the opportunity to submit their work in the following categories: Natural World, the American Experience, Travel, People, Altered Images, and Mobile. In addition to determining the most unique and memorable photos within these six categories, the 15th annual Smithsonian.com Photo Contest also selected a Grand Prize winner and Readers' Choice winner.
If you missed your chance to enter the last one, you can submit your work for consideration for the 16th Annual Photo Contest beginning now through Nov. 30.
Prepare to be stunned by the eight winners ahead, and head over to Smithsonian.com to see all the finalists!
A New Theory Suggests Voldemort Isn't the Only Descendant of Slytherin - Dumbledore Is Too!
From the beginning of Harry Potter, it's clear that Professor Dumbledore is a brilliant man. He understands magic so well that anything he knows or does isn't a surprise. So when Dumbledore appears to understand Parseltongue in several of the books, we thought it was simply because he's smart. However, a new theory suggests that it's actually because he's a descendant of Salazar Slytherin.
The theory, written by Reddit user Obversa, is long and detailed but explains exactly how Dumbledore and Slytherin could be related. It begins with Isolt Sayre, the founder of Ilvermorny and the daughter of Rionach Gaunt - a descendant of Slytherin. Sayre marries James Steward and the two have twins: Rionach and Martha. Though Sayre couldn't speak Parseltongue, she still carried the gene for it and passed it on to her children. Martha, a squib, eventually marries a Muggle from the Pocomtuc tribe but still carries the Parseltongue and magical genes.
Fast forward a few generations, and Kendra, Dumbledore's mother comes into the picture. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the following is revealed: "Despite the high-necked silk gown she wore, Harry thought of Native Americans as he studied her dark eyes, high cheekbones and straight nose." This is a small detail but alludes to the possibility that Kendra is a descendant of Martha, thus also making her related to Slytherin. So, when she had Dumbledore, she too passed down the Parseltongue gene, which lets Dumbledore understand the language.
According to Pottermore, you can't learn Parseltongue; a person merely inherits the gene to understand and speak it. Based on all these clues, it looks like Dumbledore is actually related to Slytherin. It would explain why he's never opposed to Slytherin students as some professors are at Hogwarts. Unconvinced? Read the full theory below.
[Harry Potter] How Dumbledore can understand Parseltongue. from FanTheories
Gal Gadot, Pedro Pascal, and Everyone Else Set to Kick Some Ass in Wonder Woman 2
What do we know about the Wonder Woman sequel so far? Honestly, quite a bit. Gal Gadot's titular superhero will drop by the Soviet Union during "the closing days of the Cold War" in the 1980s, might pop up in America at some point, and will face off against comic book villain Cheetah. On top of all that, we also know who's on board for director Patty Jenkins's follow-up to the 2017 hit. While sadly we won't see characters from the first film like Etta Candy (Lucy Davis) or Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), a few exciting newcomers have been added to the cast to make up for it. See everyone who's joined so far below.
Who Has Paris Jackson Dated? A Look Back at Her Past Loves
Paris Jackson has been at the top of headlines ever since she was photographed kissing Cara Delevingne during a dinner date in LA last week. While the status of their relationship is still hazy, this certainly isn't the 19-year-old's first shot at love. From musicians to athletes to models, Paris has had her fair share of romances, and it's clear she doesn't have a specific type. Keep reading for a look at Paris's past relationships.
The Hands-Down Sexiest Shows on TV in 2018
If you're looking to lose yourself in a TV show that generates some serious heat, then you've come to the right place. Sexy might just be the watchword for the 2018 television season, because everyone from Netflix to PBS is serving up smoldering goodness. Whether you're looking for some NSFW hookups set against a sci-fi backdrop or a bit of good, old-fashioned (consensual) bodice-ripping, TV has you covered this year. From swoon-worthy romantic moments to passionate sex scenes you won't be able to believe made it to the small screen, these are the sexiest shows of 2018.
Can You Imagine Macaulay Culkin Playing D.J. Conner in Roseanne? It Almost Happened
Image Source: Everett Collection
Roseanne has been on everyone's radar this week, thanks to the massive success of the reboot, but one surprising detail that might shock fans has to do with the original series. During a recent interview with SiriusXM, the cast sat down with Sandra Bernhardt, who played Roseanne and Jackie's longtime lesbian friend Nancy Bartlett on the show, and answered questions about what it was like working together again.
One of the most surprising revelations from the interview came courtesy of Michael Fishman, who plays D.J. Conner. The actor revealed he wouldn't have gotten the part back in 1988 if the ABC network executives had gotten their way. "Roseanne [Barr] wanted me, and the network wanted Macaulay Culkin," Fishman shared. Can you imagine Culkin as D.J.?! It's crazy to think what might have been.
Watch the full interview below to hear what he did that won the comedian over and landed him the role we've come to know him for today.
3 Things Angelina Jolie Has Said About Dating Again Since Splitting From Brad Pitt
News broke earlier this week that Angelina Jolie is reportedly dating a "handsome, older-looking" real estate agent following her separation from Brad Pitt in September 2016. However, other reports are claiming that the 42-year-old actually has "no interest in dating at all" and that "she is absolutely not seeing anyone." While the actress has yet to confirm or deny the speculation, she has briefly opened up in the past about how she doesn't enjoy the single life. Still, Angelina has stressed that the well-being of her family is the only thing she's focused on at the time. As we wait for more details about Angelina's relationship status to unfold, take a look at the few things she's said about dating since splitting from Brad.
- On not enjoying the single life: "I don't enjoy being single. It's not something I wanted. There's nothing nice about it. It's just hard."
- On dating not being a priority: "My focus is my children, our children . . . and my focus is finding this way through. We are and forever will be a family. I am coping with finding a way through to make sure that this somehow makes us stronger and closer. It's been a difficult few months. Right now, I'm going through a moment when just everybody's in my room. Two dogs, two hamsters, and two children at the moment. It's wonderful. But, usually, I just wake up trying to figure out who's going to get [the] dog out, who's going to start the pancakes, and did anybody brush their teeth."
- On all of her focus being on her family: "We all have our difficult times, but as a mother, you also have a responsibility first and foremost toward the kids. They are going through their formative years and everything else comes second to that."
Kacey Musgraves's Golden Romance With Ruston Kelly Will Give You Butterflies
Over the past few years, fans have fallen in love with Kacey Musgraves's no-nonsense attitude and witty lyrics, but now she's showing a softer side with her third studio album, Golden Hour. As she sings about falling in love and finding the right person, it's pretty obvious the inspiration behind her songs is her real-life love story with fellow country singer Ruston Kelly. In fact, she wrote her hit single "Butterflies" after meeting him. "[I'm] in a really happy stage of my life, a really beautiful chapter," she told The Fader. "And I obviously was very inspired to write about that."
The two first started dating in early 2016, and they got engaged on Christmas Eve later that year when Ruston proposed in Kacey's childhood home. In October 2017, the pair made things official when they tied the knot during a gorgeous woodsy wedding in Tennessee. While they've only made a handful of public appearances together, it's clear from their photos that they do, in fact, give each other "butterflies." See some of their sweetest moments together ahead.
Jennifer Morrison Says an Emotional Goodbye to Once Upon a Time, Once and For All
Jennifer Morrison is officially saying goodbye to Once Upon a Time. After making a quick cameo earlier this season following her departure as a series regular in season six, the actress reprised her role as Emma Swan one last time for the much-anticipated series finale. Aside from catching up with her onscreen daughter-in-law Dania Ramirez (aka Cinderella) and giving us all the "Captain Swan" feels as she reunited with her onscreen husband and close friend Colin O'Donoghue (Captain Hook) on set, she also made us incredibly emotional with her heartfelt goodbye note.
"That's a wrap! Wow! What a journey," she wrote alongside a selfie of her donning Emma's signature long blond locks. "Thank you to everyone in the cast and on the crew for making my last day so special. #emmaswan will live in my heart for ever. And I will be forever changed by #onceuponatime thank you to #StevePearlman for the very very kind words at wrap today. It really meant a lot to me. Cheers to spreading the magic! 💫" See all of her sweet photos from her last day of filming ahead, then find out who else is returning the finale.
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