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Disney Cuts Lesbian Kiss From Singapore Release Of Star Wars ‘Rise Of Skywalker’

“The country’s media regulatory body said Disney removed the clip to avoid the film being given a higher age rating. It is PG13, which means parental guidance is advised for children under 13. … Singaporean censorship guidelines state that films containing LGBT themes or content as a subplot may be restricted to viewers aged 18 and above, while films focusing on homosexuality may be hit with a 21-and-over rating.” – The Guardian

Ugly Eddie Murphy-Bill Cosby Exchange Bespeaks History Of Bad Blood

In response to a quip about Cosby that Murphy made during the opening monologue of his return to Saturday Night Live, the now-jailed rapist‘s publicist said that Murphy “was given his freedom to leave the plantation, so that he could make his own decisions; but he decided to sell himself back to being a Hollywood Slave.” Reporter Elahe Izadi reviews the long and unhappy relationship between the two comedians. – The Washington Post

There’s Still A 50-50 Chance Notre-Dame Cathedral Could Collapse, Says Rector

The issue is that the exterior of the 12th-century structure was under renovation when the fire broke out on April 15, and 50,000 tubes of scaffolding that were in place at the time are still there. With the now-destroyed roof no longer helping hold the walls in place, removing the scaffolding will be a difficult, dangerous process. – AP

Medieval Painting Found In Old Lady’s Kitchen Blocked From Leaving France

“Christ Mocked, by the 13th-century Florentine painter Cimabue, had hung for decades above a cooking hotplate in the kitchen of a 1960s house near Compiègne, north of Paris, before it was spotted by an auctioneer who had come to value furniture for a house move. But after the unsigned work was bought at auction in October by US-based private collectors, the French state this week classified the painting as a ‘national treasure’ and refused it an export certificate. The move gives the French state 30 months to attempt to find [€24 million in] funding to acquire the picture itself.” – The Guardian

To Solve A Long-Cold Murder Case, This Police Dept. Made A True-Crime Podcast

“Neither the identity of a murdered man found wrapped in an electric blanket by a busy [Dutch] motorway in August 1991 nor that of his killer have emerged in the decades since the discovery of the body despite a nationwide probe. But a 70-minute series of podcasts made by the police detailing past efforts at the time to crack the case … has opened up [15 new leads] for detectives to explore.” – The Guardian

Not Celery

“Did you see my cardoons?” Mike pointed to a pile of leafless, longer celery. I have eaten cardoons, I remember, at an optimistic Sicilian-only restaurant in Manhattan, long- and quickly gone, and in one other place, forgotten. Never saw them in a market before, and the produce guy, who pretends to know me, was proud. I looked, touched, and didn’t buy, a cooking coward. Then I drove back. – Jeff Weinstein

“Pique Dame” at the Met — and at the Bolshoi

The formidable Norwegian soprano Lisa Davidsen, making her Metropolitan Opera debut in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades, is right now New York’s most talked about opera singer. I caught the final performance in the run, on December 21 – and discovered myself mainly thinking about the Bolshoi Opera’s historic four-week New York season of 1975. – Joseph Horowitz

Hollywood Is Digitally “De-Aging” Stars – What Will This Mean To The Business?

As Hollywood continues to enjoy its ability to recast mega-stars as their younger selves, it has brought fears that younger and less experienced actors are being pushed out. At the same time, some experts fear the rise of the digital actor could one day threaten the livelihoods of all actors, with the possibility of a movie starring a fully artificial performer potentially just beyond the horizon. – CBC

Popular Songs , Social Justice, and the Will to Change with Brad Schreiber

Author Brad Schreiber joins S.T. Patrick to discuss his new book Music is Power: Popular Songs, Social Justice, and the Will to Change. For two hours, Schreiber and Patrick discuss the impact of protest music (or more aptly, socially conscious music) on the culture and on their lives (while playing many of the songs discussed). Some of the topics discussed are the qualities that make up a socially conscious song, if American and British popular music working bottom-up made socially conscious music more plentiful, the Vietnam era, the misuse of Bruce Springsteen songs,  what “This Land Is Your Land” really means, The Man in Black, The Dixie Chicks versus “W,” the impact of “the end of the Sixties,” Marvin Gaye in 1970, whether the music of the 1980s is underrated as socially conscious music, and much more. – Midnight Writers News