What Else?

Allegedly, stories about Prince William and Rose Hanbury, Marchioness of Cholmondeley, are like “water off a duck’s back” to William. I’m not sure I buy that, but I bring this up mostly to once again marvel that “Cholmondeley” is pronounced Chumley. English aristos, what are you all about! (Celebitchy)

Okay but why ISN’T IUD pain being taken more seriously? You can’t tell me that after decades of development/use, no one has figured out a way to at least alleviate it, if not eradicate it? My doctor is, fortunately, very compassionate to pain and always has a plan of care for after removal/insertion, but I know not everyone is so lucky. This should be taken more seriously, except for so many people, pain and suffering is a feature, not a bug. (Popsugar)

Rating the trousers of the ESPYs. (Go Fug Yourself)

I generally don’t watch Kevin Hart’s interview show, Hart to Heart, because like so many celebrity interview things, Hart isn’t a great interviewer so if his guest is also uninteresting, it’s a bomb. But Andy Samberg was on the most recent episode, and Samberg is endlessly fascinating. He’s a legit comedic genius who uses his powers for good—Andy Samberg: unproblematic king!—and is part of a comedy ensemble, Lonely Island, that is already talked about among the great sketch groups of all time (that they are genuinely also musically talented is almost unfair). On top of all that, he’s pretty quiet, we don’t often get to hear from him. But he’s taking on a dramatic role in Kate Winslet’s upcoming war biopic, Lee, so I’m sure he’s about to be more visible than usual.

His conversation with Kevin is interesting, because their approaches to work are so opposite. Kevin Hart embodies hustle culture, while Samberg openly discusses leaving SNL to prioritize his health after seven years of SNL’s famously terrible schedule left him “[falling] apart physically”. It’s funny-sad how Kevin needs Andy to unpack the idea of walking away from success for one’s own good. Hart to Heart is on Peacock, if you’re interested.

Sidenote: I think this is why SNL has such a big cast now. Andy was part of the quite tiny cast of the 2000s, which at one point was only 11 people. Everyone had to be on every week. Now, the cast is 17 people between featured and repertory players. That creates a little breathing room for everyone. Oh, and the Please Don’t Destroy guys who are currently providing digital shorts? They’re not expected to feature in sketches. Andy Samberg was, though. He was doing digital shorts almost every week, AND he was appearing in and writing sketches. No wonder he burned out. (Pajiba)

I have friends whose primary occupation is podcasting, and like everyone in digital media, they are struggling right now as ad rates are all over the map. Paid platforms like Patreon help, but I don’t know anyone who’s gotten rich off a podcast. Except celebrities. They keep getting mega-deals. The latest is Dax Shepard, who just signed an $80 million deal with Wondery. I wonder how much more equitable the podcasting industry would be if celebrities didn’t suck up 90% of the resources? (THR)