Viewpoints Explained: Why Are Teen Reading Scores At A 30-Year-Low?

This is Viewpoints Explained… The country’s report card recently came back, and it’s not good news. High school reading scores have sunk to their lowest point in more than thirty years. Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is considered the nation’s most reliable benchmark test, show that about a third of last year’s seniors scored below basic reading proficiency. About 35 percent of students scored just proficient marks in reading. So – what’s behind the big drop? […]

September 24, 2025

Viewpoints

Culture Crash: What Sabrina Carpenter Learned From Jack Antonoff

Welcome to Culture Crash, where we examine American culture – what’s new and old in entertainment… Fresh off her success with 2024’s Short n’ Sweet, Sabrina Carpenter is right back at it in 2025 with her latest album Man’s Best Friend. Carpenter has taken some heat online and in the press for releasing two albums so close together, with some questioning how much artistic growth is really evident from last year to this year. The argument is that she is simply releasing […]

September 24, 2025

Entertainment

Glinda and Elphaba clash, then unite against the Wizard in final ‘Wicked: For Good’ trailer

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in 'Wicked: For Good.' (Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures)The final trailer for Wicked: For Good is here, and it reveals more of what's happened to Ariana Grande's Glinda and Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba since the end of the last film.Glinda has been recruited by Michelle Yeoh's Madame Morrible to be a mouthpiece for the Wizard, and equipped with a magic bubble and a wand to sell her role as Glinda the Good. Elphaba, meanwhile, has been hiding out in the […]

September 24, 2025

Entertainment

What Jimmy Kimmel said as he returned to the air after show was preempted

'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' returned to ABC on Sept. 23, 2025. (Disney/Randy Holmes)Jimmy Kimmel returned to the airwaves on Tuesday evening after his late-night show was preempted for nearly a week.In a more than 15-minute monologue at the top of the show, Kimmel gave an impassioned defense of free speech, needled the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and President Donald Trump and explained his comments about the response to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk."It was never my intention to make light of the […]

September 24, 2025

Entertainment

In brief: ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ official trailer and more

The official trailer for IT: Welcome to Derry has arrived. It shows off the picturesque town of Derry, Maine, in the year 1962. Bill Skarsgård returns to star as Pennywise the killer clown in the prequel series, which he also executive produces. The nine-episode series premieres Oct. 26 on HBO Max ...Nicolas Cage is set to lead the star-studded cast of the upcoming film Fortitude. The film, which will be directed by Simon West, is a World War II espionage action-adventure. It began filming on Sept. 8 in London […]

September 24, 2025

Entertainment

Regina Hall says she once considered becoming a nun

Regina Hall attends the 'One Battle After Another' screening at The Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theatre on September 21, 2025, in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy/WireImage via Getty Images)Regina Hall is opening up about how she once considered becoming a nun.The actress said she seriously considered becoming a nun at several moments in her life while guesting on a recent episode of Amy Poehler's Good Hang podcast.“I went to Catholic school, and so we had the nuns, who I loved. I […]

September 24, 2025

Music

Original artwork print for cover of David Bowie’s ‘Aladdin Sane’ going up for auction

Cover of David Bowie's 'Aladdin Sane'/(Parlophone)The original artwork for David Bowie’s iconic album Aladdin Sane, shot by photographer Brian Duffy aka Duffy, is going up for auction.The original dye transfer artwork print will be part of The Mona Lisa of Pop: The Duffy Archive auction, taking place Oct. 22 through Nov. 5 at Bonhams in London and bonhams.com. The print is expected to sell for somewhere between $340,000 and $400,000.The cover art is one of many Aladdin Sane-related pieces that will be part of the auction. Others include the […]

September 24, 2025

Music

Paul McCartney to share behind-the-scenes of February’s New York club shows

Paul McCartney performs live on stage at Paris La Defense Arena during the 'Got Back!' Tour on December 04, 2024 in Nanterre, France. (Photo by Kristy Sparow/Getty Images)Paul McCartney headlined three club shows at New York’s Bowery Ballroom in February, and now he’s giving fans an insiders look at the shows.The rocker is set to release a new tour diary, Paul McCartney Rocks The Bowery, on Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube.“In February 2025, Paul McCartney took over New York City's […]

September 23, 2025

Music

Director says fans will learn ‘new information’ about Bruce Springsteen in ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere’

Poster for 'Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere'/20th Century StudiosScott Cooper, the director of the upcoming Bruce Springsteen film Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, says fans should expect to learn some new things about The Boss in the movie."[Bruce] said to me, 'Scott, the truth about yourself isn’t always pretty,'" Cooper, who previously directed 2009's Crazy Heart, tells Empire in a new interview. "We discussed that this was going to be a film so far removed from the mythology of the rock star. The thing that was most […]

September 23, 2025

Month: September 2025